Sweet Rachel at Atomic Books presents our reserved (and discounted!) copy of the new Harry Potter book.

- mike lee -

Enjoying a rare break in the rain and soaking in some sun. I'm testing out the new CSK camera a bit too.

- mike lee -

I'm here at the 32nd Street Farmer's Market in the Wavery neighborhood of Baltimore. Pictured is a grilled portabella mushroom sandwich lovingly assembled by The Mushroom Man. The sandwich is topped with spiced sea salt, feta cheese, onions, and salad greens which all together fill my head with pleasure.

- mike lee - curiouslee.com

Good lord, I've started an oral tradition here!

- m -

I went down to the T-mobile store at Columbia Mall after work and snagged a CSK. The sales guy looked at me without blinking and confidently said he needed to charge me $329. I said I didn't think so, and he let me have it for $299. I asked him to check on an upgrade discount, and he said being on since Oct. 1 wasn't long enough. Whatever.

This is a first photo from my saliva-baptised camera. We're at the excellent Carlysle Club mediteranean restaurant near Johns Hopkins' Homewood Campus. It's SO nice to have a properly functioning keyboard!

The BWSK will soon join the retired tech shelf with our original Newtons, Pilot, REX, and Visor.

- mike lee - at the carlysle in color

Well the new color camera module doesn't taste very good. Maybe I will be able to attach it to something more appropriate next week.

- mike lee - tongue in cheek with camera

Thinking I successfully bought my CSK this afternoon, my wife sent me this photo from the commuter train with this message:


Do you see pink and blue? --amy


No, I'm seeing a little red because after the Towson, Maryland T-Mobile store (the one behind the B&N) said they would hold their last CSK for me until I could drive over after work, the manager changed their policy and sold it to someone else.


I ordered the color camera for delivery tomorrow and could have ordered the CSK as well, but I thought I'd support my local dealer who was so nice to me back in October. Truth is, phones and customers are commodities and these stores have no incentive whatsoever to promote a loyal bond between one type of customer and a specific product.


Danger, here's an idea: e-mail your loyal customers' Sidekicks a week or more before release and offer them the opportunity to buy a phone. Why throw us to the clueless retail channel every time?


I'll bite my tongue now and cool my jets a little longer...


- mike lee - black and white in baltimore

... Showing off my old B&W Hiptop to magician friend Paul ...

- mike lee -

What Div, Kale, and orionm said plus you: convince your wife to get one too and conduct your life via IM all day ... IM your wife while sitting at the same restaurant table to see if it can be done ... pause for a few seconds to watch the little radio waves icon disappear to confirm that your HN post is off ... become practiced at holding the Hiptop with camera in left hand while shooting with a digital camera in right hand ... buy books on Amazon right after flipping through them at Barnes & Noble ... show off the thing to cab drivers, conductors on Amtrak trains, NYC street cops, taxi cab drivers, and random people you meet in airport waiting lounges ... manage to become the most prolific poster on Hiptop Nation despite a sticky N key, and dust-filled screen.

- mike lee -

There are more movies I want to see this summer than in recent memory. Wife and I will be spending many hours in dark auditoriums. In the can so far:

* X2: X-men United * Matrix Reloaded (and Animatrix) * Finding Nemo * The Italian Job

The preliminary list of films to take in:

O Bend It Like Beckham O The Hulk (6/20) O Alex and Emma (6/20) O The Legend of Suriyothai (6/20) O Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (6/27) O 28 Days Later (6/27) O Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (7/2) O The League of Extraordinary Gentleman (7/11) O The Anarchist Cookbook (7/18) O Johnny English (7/18) O Sea Biscuit (7/25) O Lara Croft Tomb Raider 2: The Cradle of Life (7/25) O Underworld O Matchstick Men O Gigli

We are going to need butt therapy after all this.

- mike lee -