Awesome!

Lately I find myself surrounded by all things awesome. I can't stop using that word and I've been called out on it a few times. Usually that would give me pause for thought, this time I just paused long enough to realize that I'm right - at this moment in my life there is awesomeness just about everywhere I look.

There is my awesome family, of course. But that's not what I'm talking about.

I'm talking about stuff.

First off my new iPhone. I bought the original on the day it came out and it served me very well. But my new one is AWESOME! I can't get over the quality of the video that I've shot and the photos are much improved as well. I have yet to experience the much reported connection problems and I still got a free case out of the deal - how awesome is that?

On the subject of all things Apple, the iPad is, in a word, awesome! Every week a new app comes out that blows my mind. A couple of weeks ago it was Flipboard which collects content from various sources and presents in a way that could only be delivered on the iPad, including your Facebook feed. This week it's Uzu - a totally awesome time waster that takes full advantage of the iPad's multi-touch capability and lets you create an on-screen "fireworks" display. My awesome six-year-old Liam showed me how to use it.

I recently got a new guitar tuner, the massively awesome PolyTune from TC Electronic. Unlike other tuners, with the PolyTune you just strum all six open strings and it instantly shows you which ones are out of tune! Until you use it, you won't know just how awesome this thing is!

The other day Lizz and I took her parent's out for their birthdays which are a few days apart from each other. We went to brunch at Robke's, where they extend their awesome ten dollar lunch menu with a bunch of black-board specials and a nice selection of five dollar cocktails. We have never been disappointed there and Robke's is the only place that I can truly say that everything on the menu is, well, awesome.

On Friday nights we have been taking advantage of the awesome little free music program in Northport village. This week it was an awesome bluegrass band which we enjoyed as we sat on a bench in the park and watched the awesome sunset frame our beautiful little harbor.

This past weekend my - if I may say this - awesome band, The Blaggards, played out at Nick's in Montauk. The weather, the crowd, the food, the drinks, the bartenders, the ride there and back and our super-talented friends were all absolutely awesome.

You may think that I'm exaggerating a bit with all this awesomality (I just made that word up - just like Sarah, who is most definitely NOT awesome), but believe me, I'm not. I didn't even mention 3D movies, butter your own pop corn, Elvis on the big screen, Stevia sweetened Frappucinos, setting my DVR from my phone, velcro, the NY Yankees, NYRMA, Mick's Fender Acoustasonic amp, $69 1TB hard drives, my new office or the new Elvis guitar picks that Melanie just gave me.

All awesome.

iWant

If you are one of the Apple faithful, then you pretty much think that they are going to change the world once again on January 27th when - if all of the buzz is correct - they announce the release of the mythical Apple tablet, possibly called the iSlate. I don't care what they call it - iWant it.

What has been described as an "overgrown" iPod touch will no doubt be one of the coolest products ever. I had absolutely no problem typing that previous sentence. After all, Apple has only had a few foul balls along the way in what has basically been a home run derby of technology. I have no doubt that I will be floored at what this thing will do besides all of the things I am taking for granted that it will do.

I was one of the first Mac owners. I have probably owned and/or worked on every model they have ever made, with the exception of the 20th Anniversary Mac and the Cube. I bought the original iPod and the iPhone on the day it was released. I own an Apple TV. My entire music library is based around iTunes and just surpassed 40,000 songs. I currently have six Macs in my house, though only 3 are truly in operation.

In the past few years, for whatever reasons, I have slowed down in regards to having the latest and greatest. I have not upgraded my iPhone, it works just fine for me. My last iPod is a bulky monster compared to the new models. My family iMac is - hold your breath - not aluminum. Even worse, since it is not an Intel based model, it won't run the latest OS, making me feel like I'm watching television in black and white when I check my email. While there is nothing to stop me from updating any of these machines I have held back.

But this new, un-seen device? iWant, iWant, iWant!

My wife will roll her eyes and wonder why. But when she gets her hands on it - and then realizes that it can most likely replace the iMac in the living room AND the big cabinet that holds it AND realizes that Liam will not only embrace it instantly but that it will very likely be the model for every computer he may ever use in his lifetime, well she may even admit that it's pretty darn cool.

Whatever it is.