Thursday, June 19, 2008

compensation

I'm pretty sure that my luggage is gone for good and I'm thinking regretfully of all the photos I've lost.

There were the close-ups of the tray of Eiffel Tower keychains, taken at one of the souvenir stalls along the Left Bank, while the stall's proprietor (despite the fact that I'd already purchased several more keychains than were strictly necessary) made uncomplimentary remarks about American tourists in a muttered French that I pretended not to understand.

There was the series of shots, taken from as many angles as I could manage before the battery ran out, of the stone snakes curling from the stone brows of the Medusas standing braced against the atrium's adamantine light.

There was the not-very-successful attempt to capture a late medieval painting of St. Marguerite being devoured by a dragon that looked less like the symbolic representation of the Forces of Darkness and more like a greenish weasel with adorably googly eyes.

But the good thing is that it looks like my insurance is going to pay to replace the laptop. So, O Internets, which laptop -- make, model, and size -- would you recommend?

32 comments:

Tash said...

Fuck. So sorry. You seem remarkably calm about this -- I'd be writing nasty letters around the clock, going to the press, etc. I send off some charge that Macs apparently loathe but my friends without such chemical/ionic restrictions really love their MacBooks and the new Air model. Mine is currently refusing to put out its cig and hurling swear words at me and Safari so I'd better post this comment, stat.

Tash said...

Oh, and we weep for the lost pictures too. Sigh.

Rosepetal said...

I am interested in buying a laptop and cannot find the time to do any of my own research so will be reading the comments with selfish interest.

Missing_one said...

Love the Macs. Especially for photo and video editing. I have a MacbookPro. since you do so much traveling, what about the Macbook Air? The couple people I know who have one love them. And apple stands by all their products

flutter said...

crapola. Maybe a macbook?

the dragonfly said...

Macs and I don't get along. At all. I have a Sony Vaio, and I rather like it.

It's great that you get a new laptop...but awful about losing the pictures! Yuck.

EmmaL said...

Oh no - I'm so sorry! I personally love my Mac!

Amelie said...

Ouch. I'm sorry about the pictures. (Can you go again and take some more, and not give camera and laptop out of your hands until you're back? I know it's not the same, but it might be fun anyway. Except for the souvenir stall guy.)

R has a MacBook Air and loves it. I'd certainly consider that if someone wanted to buy me a new laptop.

Magpie said...

Get a mac, get a mac, get a mac mac mac - I love mine.

Aurelia said...

MacBook Air looks cool, but seems to have very little memory? And a pretty small hard drive, unless I'm reading that stuff wrong.

I say get the fastest MacPro you can afford, and then also buy into a service that backs up your hard drive online so if you ever lose a computer again, you won't care about lost photos.

They sound cool, I miss them too.

Which Box said...

Oh, boo. I"m so sorry. You are remarkably calm about it.

And, once you go Mac, you never go back.

mama said...

Oh Oh Oh!

Niobe, I'm so sorry about your luggage WTF!

I recomend a lovely little MacBook!
The new Iphoto that comes with it is pretty amazing.....it had many features that PhotoShop has without having to buy PhotoShop!

Plus, Macs are so user friendly!
No viruses!

Yeah!

Bon said...

oh, pictures, we hardly knew ye.

and i think it was a mac you lost, yes? i like 'em but actually use our pc laptop more than our ibook...because i am a philistine apparently. or more because after a year or so Safari started doing ridiculous things. mac is cool, but i actually like open source better...philosophically as well as in terms of irritant factor.

i cannot say i loooove the hp pavilion dv6000 we bought in february but i do like it just fine and it was half the price of a Mac.

Maggie said...

What a bummer that it's gone for good! All those lost pictures...

But at least they are going to replace your laptop - that's much better than just an "oh, sorry".

I seem to be in the minority, but I don't have a Mac. I have a PC - a Toshiba that I have been really happy with.

Anonymous said...

We are very, very happy with Dells, fairly happy with Gateways, don't care for MACs and had a Toshiba disaster.

I'm getting one of those Dell Inspirons (in pink, no less) around the holidays.

Hope this helps.

And crappo about the luggage. :(

christina(apronstrings) said...

ohno! who cares about everything-but the pictures! i am so sorry. tell us which airline so that i can glare at the sgns on the way home. all snarky like.
i tihnk you need a mac. they rock. and they are for the arty among us.

The Nanny said...

I have a MacBook & LOVE it. It's so true, what you've mentioned above--once you go Mac, you never go back. Mine is SO much better than the Dells I've had previously.

debbie said...

i'm a mac girl myself--always have been (except when i'm at work--but of course, i have no choice there). I don't know anyone with the macbook air, but my friend just got the new macbook pro and we haven't seen her since as she is now so happy and eternally attached to it.

Katie said...

Another vote for a macbook from this corner.

Julie Pippert said...

Can't help on the laptop but sorry it is lost for good, all your things.

You've had so many lovely photos but something about this one is especially speaking to me.

Lollipop Goldstein said...

I am so incredibly sorry about the luggage. That absolutely sucks.

Josh loves his Mac, but I am a Dell girl. I have the one that comes in all of the different colours. I like the mousepad. I always have problem with those and laptops.

Sue said...

I, too, would be saddest over the loss of the pictures. I imagine your laptop circling the world, the pictures hidden away in some cargo hold over Rio or Shanghai.

I am of no help in the computer department, but I do like my Mac. But get the extended warranty. Always get the extended warranty.

Sorry about the computer.

BasilBean said...

I am so sorry that your laptop, and all of those amazing pictures, are gone.

My suggestion is also to buy a Mac--I guess the MacBook. I love, love, love my Mac and never want to go back.

thirtysomething said...

sigh. lost pictures. I hate shopping for electronics. G'luck!

Antigone said...

Don't give up hope. They lost my bag after an extended European adventure and eventaully found it. About six months after I'd returned to the states my bag was delivered via postal carrier.

Coggy said...

Ooooh new Mac that's what I say :o)

I'd be spitting nails if this happened to me. I'm pretty possessive of my stuff. When I flew Air France last they managed to lose my luggage on the way out to Bordeaux. They gave me a toiletry bag containing a Tshirt and a toothbrush, jeez thanks. I ended up stuck in Bordeaux staying in a hotel in the red light district waiting for my baggage to be sent so I could continue on my trip.

Angry does not describe me that day.

Betty M said...

I'm really sorry about your things. The bag may well turn up eventually but the laptop is probably gone for ever. I just hate it so much when this sort of thing happens. It is so frustrating to have absolutely nothing productive you can do about it and everything is in the hands of jaded airline employees.

Anonymous said...

damn. how friggin annoying! Thank goodness you are able to paint such a lovely picture with your words. While not as visually satisfying as an actual photograph- the way you describe the photos is pure bliss.

as for computer- it's all about the mac. seriously. We aren't making it up. they are better :)

Pamela T. said...

I'm heartbroken about the loss of so many amazing photos and other treasures on your laptop ... and in your luggage :-(

Christine said...

i wish i could help, but i would have no idea what to get.

Anonymous said...

I recently switched to a Mac and love it.

Julia said...

My new laptop for work is very loaded Dell Latitude D630. So far, I love it.
It's bigger than the two work laptops I had before, but thanks to the newer components, not really much heavier (if that is a consideration).