it's a boy!

One of the reasons I chose not have children is that I knew I would feel so very, very guilty when pillaging their college funds to buy items like this:


This is the Illy Francis Francis X5, the latest in a string of luxurious purchases that I justify to myself by pointing out, "Self? Did you know that you will be 40 in six weeks?" and/or "Self? Don't you think that you deserve something special as a reward for living in a godforsaken developing country for months on end?" And so on. And there's nothing like being half a gazillion dollars in debt (please refer to Exhibit A: New Apartment) to make the purchase of a state-of-the-art Italian espresso machine feel positively trivial. (A year from now, when you find me living on the sidewalk outside my erstwhile apartment, please take pity on me.)

Incidentally, I am planning to paint my kitchen the color of a clementine, or perhaps a cantaloupe (um, the inside of a cantaloupe), so the machine should look fan-effing-tastic in there after that. Note the little indicator lights are orange, and look so very pretty against the pale blue.

Here is another interesting tidbit. Alright, another tidbit. Recently there was a piece in the NY Times about Francis Ford Coppola and his love for the soon-to-be-released Illy Francis Francis X7 espresso machine (which is not named after him, nor him after it). Now prepare to be freaked out. The Francis Francis X5 (see above) was designed by someone named Luca Trazzi. And who sleeps with the fishes? Luca Brasi. And who directed the Godfather movies? Uh huh. That's right, my friends: Francis Ford Coppola killed the guy who designed my new espresso machine.

P.S. Today's post title serves double duty as a salute to my littlest new buddy, Alex Michael, who decided to come out and join the world a few days ago. Go Alex!