My Exercise In Futility

I get to go home to NYC soon. I’m getting very excited. There are things everywhere that are starting to remind me of home. Such as:

It's not the tree in Rockefeller Center, but it will do (for now).

Check it out! This disco ball makes me miss my laser SO much!

This was my second year attending The Saint At Large’s Black Party. This year, I was determined to dress the part. Last year as I was getting ready for the Black Party, my friend Don approached me and suggested that I wear a harness. The problem was that my attendance at the Black Party last year was very last minute. I was actually afraid to attend the Black Party because of all the whore stories I had heard. (Yes, whore stories, not horror stories… that’s the second time I have used that line today, and it’s still just as funny.) As such, my attire consisted of jeans and a t-shirt. In his attempt to get me to dress the part, Don tried to get me to wear one of his harnesses. 

My friend Don is a gorgeous gentleman. But, Don and I were not built from the same mold. He is much taller than I am and he has spent much more time in the gym than I have. As a result, Don’s body is much thicker and much more built than my own. As a result, Don had cinched the harness to the smallest levels possible, and I still had a lot of wiggle room. So much so that when I turned to check one of the straps on my side, the other side of the harness fell down and came off. Don was nice enough to refrain from laughing, but I was still amazingly embarrassed. But, at the same time, it inspired me to join the gym and actually start working out. And, after a few months of training as well as a personally fitting at The Leather Man, this is how I looked for this year’s Black Party. Tell me what you think.

As of 10:15 A.M. on Saturday morning, I am officially a Verizon Wireless subscriber. I have wanted a good reason to switch from AT&T to Verizon for some time now. Until the release of the BlackBerry Storm, Verizon really didn’t have any phone that could compete with AT&T’s iPhone. Regular readers of my blog may find it surprising that, first of all, I would even consider replacing my iPhone and that second, it would be with a touchscreen BlackBerry.

I am definitely a fan of all things Apple, and I still am. My reasons for giving up the iPhone have nothing to do with Apple. I think the device itself is brilliant, and I think that in places other than New York City, it probably works on the 3G network beautifully. For example, my roommate is visiting family in Germany with his iPhone right now and he has explained that he doesn’t have half the problems with his iPhone while in Germany as he does when he is here in New York City. Both of us are avid Apple fans and love our iPhones, but we despise not being able to place a call from our iPhones that display four bars or more when we are sitting in the middle of our apartment. The sad part is that this sort of cellular service is par for the course for AT&T users throughout New York City. It is for this reason, and this reason alone, that both Tom and I have converted to Verizon. And believe you me, I plan to take as many people over to the Verizon network with me as possible.

So, those are my reasons for switching. It’s only been 24 hours with the new device on the new network, but so far I feel I have made a great decision. No, the BlackBerry Storm is NOT an iPhone, but it comes pretty close. It has similar features and applications to that of the iPhone. Although they may not be as sleek, they get the job done. But bottom line, I’ve been getting more use out of my BlackBerry Storm in 24 hours than I ever did on my iPhone.

I will write a more thorough review in a feature entry, but I need just a little more time with the device. But to give you a few good points off the top of my head, I list the following positive reasons for using the BlackBerry Storm in New York City:

• The battery life alone is reason enough to make the switch. You can do more for a longer period of time with the BlackBerry Storm.
• The Verizon network has worked everywhere I have tried to use it so far. I have been to every corner of this apartment looking for a dead zone and I haven’ found one yet. I will let you know if the same is true when I head to work tomorrow.
• BlackBerry’s are made for e-mail. Apple is doing a good job of being a BlackBerry competitor, but I feel they still have a little catching up to do.

Look for my review in the next couple of days. But until then, I would be interested to hear from any other people who may have converted from the iPhone or who may own, in tandem, a BlackBerry Storm. Leave me a comment – tell me:

• What city do you live in?
• Have you previously owned a BlackBerry device?
• What do you think of a touch screen BlackBerry?
• How do you think the BlackBerry touch screen compares to the iPhone’s touch screen?

I’m just curious – I don’t know how many techie readers I have, but I’m anxious to hear your opinions if you’re out there.