Three things I own that are a constant source of joy

I was just thinking today about those things I own that I am really happy about. The pleasure of buying something, thinking it would be great, and over the years, met and exceeded your already high expectations. It's an unusal thought, I guess, in our maniac society that swings, back and forth, between consumerism and peasant chic.

I like wealth. It is a means to acquire things that sets oneself off from the blandness of living. But, the notion that living the "high life" is not for me. People that pour rivers of the bubblies down their throats, seems to me, lack the ability to enjoy things, so they must resort to enjoy the concept of enjoying things.

The three things I want to talk about are things I bought throughout the years that kept on giving. On very top is my Bulova Selfwinding. It is wrapped around a near-empty bottle of Eau Sauvage. At the base of my totem to capitalism is a copy of the Pocket Oxford.

I bought my Bulova Selfwinding on eBay in a lot with another ladies Bulova for $35. I liked the look of it. The gold hands and lettering contrasted off nicely off the white dial. For that price I thought I would have to fix it up, but it came out of the UPS box running great and has kept great time ever since.

I cannot match it to any pictures in the catalog. I have opened it up and the ebauche is stamped as a Bulova. However, all the pictures of the Bulova Selfwinding I have seen have gold-filled cases.

I suspect that the original case wore out and it was replaced, along with the crown onto a generic, stainless steel one. But, for $35, this is a great timepiece. It is not too expensive (so I would be afraid to wear it), classy enough to wear with shirt-and-tie, and laid back enough for t-shirt-and-jeans. The black Spiedel band actually makes it standout even more. Most collectors would probably not think twice of it, but I get enough compliments from the average joe to be very happy with this watch.

This classic Dior cologne is favourite over with the perfume junkies at Basenote. It's an unmistakenable citrus -- light, soft and lemony. I find the smell incredibly soothing.

ES has been around since 1966. Unfortunate, it doesn't have much of a mass market appeal. Most people complain about it disappearing after 15 minutes. Not like one of those overpowering Italian colognes then seems irradiate half a nightclub. ES is very, very smooth and stays close to the skin -- you only really smell it when you stick your nose to it. The headnotes do disappear a few minutes, I usually spray it on after showering in the morning and completely forget I was wearing it. But, the beauty of this scent is in its heartnotes and basenotes. I can always smell the basil and vetiver the next day crawling out of bed, waking me up to a new day. If I have to love a disposable object, it will have to be ES.

I looked up in the OUP that the Pocket Oxford Dictionary is in its tenth edition. So the seventh edition copy I have owned all these years is very much out of date. It's all busted up as well, I have strips of bookbinder's tape along the spine. The original dust cover is long gone, and the covers are fraying along the side. Still, I don't know if I will ever stop using it.

I guess I am sentimental. It was one of the first "adult" book I bought as a kid. Somebody, maybe it was mom, gave me twenty dollars. I don't think I really knew what to do with that much money when I was ten, so I walked around and around inside of Cole's. I was still doing ESL then, so I figured I needed a dictionary.

There was this dictionary section with a shelf full of big, imposing tomes. I was just a kid, so I figured I should buy something I can carry around. I was originally going to get one of those mini's with the plastic cover. I was thrown into a daze but I saw the Pocket Oxford, and it too big to fit inside anybody's pocket. I also saw the Merriam-Webster Collegiate which was similar sized, but only cost half as much. But the bright red cover and the bold print seemed clownish. The understated blue and serif print convinced me that the extra cost was worth.

And I guess sometimes you can judge a book by its cover. (To this day, I still cannot use the Merriam-Webster. I take their "definitions" as helpful considerations.) My Pocket Oxford has been my constant friend and teacher. Not only does it give meaning to a word, but also carefully parses out the many similar, but different meanings. For example, under "liberty," it defines as "... freedom from captivity, slavery, etc.; right or power to do as one pleases; right or privilege granted by authority; setting aside of rules or convention..." It also has a brief, but illuminating explanations of the origins of English words. For the entry "parfait", the POD traces this ice cream treat to French "(parfait PERFECT)". I remember some happiers parts of my early youth when I picked up this dictionary and read random entries. I think I can trace my love for words back to this dictionary.

I find it kind of strange that I spent so much time writing about these little things. They are, after all, just things. But when it really gets down to it, I like them more than I do over a whole lot of people. If only everything lese has had a big of an impact on me as these things...