Goodbye, Gertie... Hello, sushi skin...

Gertrude "Gertie" Gateway, my laptop, died last weekend. She was 7.



The cause of her death is unknown, but I think it was just a matter of old age. (I'll let you guys determine for yourselves whether or not it had anything to do with her, ahem, "family name".) Gertie will rest in peace - as soon as the good people at FireDog perform the autopsy to find my screenplays and lit papers from yesteryear that I just know I'll need again one day. I'll bury the wireless card (she was born long before "hot spots" were on every corner) with her, just as she would have wanted.



As a certified Web and computer junkie, I had to buy a new one. I'm still battling some pangs of buyer's remorse, just as I always do when I spend more than $500 on something. But it's a cool one and I know that , for me, it was a necessary purchase. I was looking for some laptop skins when I found this one. It would sorta' match the thumb drive I blogged about a while ago. Sweet! (Why not rock one of these while I'm at it? Gotta love Cafe Press.) And I like the fact that it is easy to change the skin, so I could change it if I got tired of seeing sushi. But I'm sure some people wouldn't want to have a conversation starter sitting on the table when they're laptopping it up at Panera, Starbucks or airport cafes. I mean... HELLO? Just because you're sitting in a public place doesn't mean you want to actually interact with other people... Am I right, or am I right?



Any writers - or public laptoppers - out there? Do you have favorite places to nosh and sip while you steep in your unpublished/unproduced funk, glaring at the blinking cursor? To what cafe or restaurant do you go so you can be left alone with your literary thoughts?