The Chronic Consumer

I don’t buy DVDs that often, but even so, I’ve managed to accumulate a bunch of them over the years. Since I’m not the kind of person that can watch stuff over and over again (well, there are a few exceptions) I’ve decided to try and sell a bunch of the older, non-collector’s editions of movies and TV shows that are just taking up space. There are a couple of things I need to buy right now, such as iguanamed scrubs for my aunt’s birthday and a new floor lamp to replace a broken one in the living room, and selling DVDs would help defray those costs.

Anyway, there’s a CD Replay (used disc) store in town that I plan to check out. However, I think I’ll probably have better luck getting higher prices on eBay, so we’ll see!

I’m going on vacation next week to visit some relatives I haven’t seen in a long time. Right now I’m just trying to pack and get all my work done before the departure day. I’m also looking for gifts to bring, and have found the perfect thing for my uncle. He loves unwinding with a brandy and cigar most evenings, so I’m going to buy him this glass top cigar humidor for his desk. It looks nice, can keep up to 100 cigars fresh, and would certainly be appreciated. Plus, from my end this humidor is a good choice because it’s neither too cheap nor too expensive. As I said, it’s just perfect!

In case you were wondering what the most expensive car in the world is, feast your eyes on this photo. It’s the Lamoborghini Sesto Elemento, and features a hefty price tag of $2.9 million dollars. I am not into cars at all, so I simply cannot understand the attraction of something like this. Sure, it looks cool and it’s probably fast as hell. But is that enough to justify paying almost $3 mil for a CAR?

On the bright side, only 20 were made. I wonder how many were actually sold???

Now that all the hoopla surrounding Kim Kardashian’s wedding is beginning to die down, I feel more inclined to look at photos and evaluate some of the fashions from the day. I have to say that I really liked Kim’s Vera Wang wedding dress. It was very elegant and classy, and was certainly far more understated than I expected from her.

Actually, considering the royal wedding from just a few months ago and some other high-profile nuptials that I’ve seen, it appears that conservative gowns are one of the latest celebrity wedding trends these days. And you know what? That’s a good thing! Kudos to Kim on her fashion choices for the big day!

My uncle is going to be hosting a high school exchange student from Spain. With the new school year just around the corner, the boy should be arriving in a couple of weeks. My uncle wants to have a small gift waiting for the kid when he arrives, and asked for my advice. I suggested an electronic speaking dictionary and thesaurus because it would be very practical and get a ton of use. The only problem with my suggestion is that we don’t know if the student already has something similar. I guess my uncle can always buy one and then just return or exchange it if it turns out to be a duplicate!

So my husband is looking for a new backpack to replace the one he’s had for 12 years. The old pack’s straps finally gave out, and it’s unsalvageable at this point. After looking around at some popular models, my husband wants to get this Oakley Bathroom Sink pack. It’s called the Bathroom Sink because apparently there’s a bigger “Kitchen Sink” model, too. This one is slightly smaller than the Kitchen Sink, and thus is called the Bathroom Sink.

At any rate, I think it looks okay, but the price tag is incredibly big for a backpack: $150, to be exact. A hundred and fifty bucks??? For real? I know it’s Oakley and all, but come on!

So what do you think, yay or nay on this model (either because of the price or the looks)?

I posted just last week about a ballpark selling designer hot dogs for $80. Well, that price is an absolute steal compared to what this upscale iPad costs! It’s from Stuart Hughes (who apparently always upgrades gadgets to ridiculously expensive prices) and comes with the usual gold and diamonds that you would expect. But it also features Ammolite rock (which I guess is pretty rare — so rare that I’ve never heard of it!) and splinters from a 65 million-year-old T-Rex’s thigh bone.

Okay, yeah, that’s fairly unique… but still — $8.1 million dollars??? Riiiiight.

Okay, I know ballpark food is far more expensive than it should be, but an $80 hot dog takes the cake! I just read on the Post Game that the Brockton Rox, some kind of minor league baseball team out of Massachusetts, will serve up these $80 delicacies next week to mark National Hot Dog Day on July 23.

So what goes into (or on, rather) an $80 hot dog? Truffle oil, porcini dust, truffle shavings, crème fraiche, caviar, and roe. Ugh. Sounds disgusting to me, and certainly not worth the price tag.

But I bet someone with deep pockets will roll out to that stadium on the 23rd to buy one just because he can!