It took the better part of four hours but there it is: my bookcase built by me. I having been looking forward to this day all week because it meant I would have something to blog about. I wanted you to see all the wonderful tomes I have ploughed through since I was about fifteen and make observations, criticism, jokes in the comments page. However, my “After” shot doesn’t really live up to the expectations I had in my head. Somehow I remember packing a lot more books before I left for Melbourne.

When the job was done and I was cooking my evening meal I felt this strange emptiness come over me. I was pleased that my home was more organised than before and even more pleased that all my favourite books were in place where I could admire then. But, at the same time, I felt disconnected, lonely, depressed. Not because I was alone or particularly sad for some reason but, I think, because I was so satisfied by something so meaningless.

This must be how Edward Norton’s character feels when he talks about being a “slave to the IKEA nesting instinct” at the beginning of Fight Club. I have been looking forward to getting a bookcase ever since I got to Melbourne because it would mean that my living room would like less of a shit heap. But now that I have fulfilled that goal I feel dissatisfied. Perhaps, I should take some advice from Tyler Durden: “I say never be complete. I say stop being perfect. I say lets evolve, let the chips fall where they may”.

I am stuck in a rut. I have been in Melbourne two months and I have become a little too comfortable. As much as I like Fight Club I think it is a good idea to avoid the Tyler Durden solution to this problem, i.e. make soap out of human fat and overthrow society from the bottom up. I need to spend less time with computers and television sets and more time with real people. Break out of my self-involved lifestyle and go help someone.

Speaking of materialism, I am thinking about buying a digital camera. There are two models that stand out but I can’t make a decision. Please help.

(1) Canon Powershot A550 for about $260. This camera operates at 7 megapixels, 4x optical zoom and has an optical view finder. The downside is that has no manual focus option and a small LCD (2 inches). Does manual focus matter?

(2) Kodak C875 for about $300. This camera operates at 8 megapixels, 5x optical zoom and has a manual focus option. The downside is that there is no image stabilisation and no optical viewfinder.

I have a favorite but I will keep it to myself. What do you think? Or should I go for another model?