I bought a new watch. Tagged at $299, but at 40% off, the total came out to $185.85. It looks something like this.

So why did I buy it? I already have a watch I paid $200 for. That's the Casio "Wrist Camera" watch that can take pictures and upload them to my computer via an infrared sensor. No lie. An amazing watch, but something that I don't think I want to continue to wear each and every day. It looked somewhat big for a watch, almost like a small beeper. The only other working watch I had was my Iron Man with the cracking band. But I've been wearing Iron Man watches since I was in junior high.

So why did I buy this new watch? Aesthetics. I wanted something that looked a little better. For one thing, it's a chronolog watch. They tend to look a little classier these days. I've more or less been wearing digital watches ever since grammar school. I have two degrees in mathematics, so yeah, knowing how to count by 5s should be a reasonable skill.

Does that mean this purchase was for all-looks-and-no-use? Oh no. There were a few requirements I had: 1. numbers or markings (I didn't want one of those watches with just two hands on the face; it gives new meaning to that designer name "Guess") 2. date AND day of the week indicators (because I do find myself checking my watch for that) 3. water resistant (one less thing to worry about) and 4. light-up arms and numbers for the dark. I thought "How often do I really use my watch's alarm, stopwatch, and count-down timer?" Not every day.

I see this battle a lot, of aesthetics vs. practicality. And I get irritated with people who are stuck at either extreme. A lot of male vs. female jokes play on this theme - the lady packs 3 suitcases for a two day trip, the man won't buy new underwear for 10 years, etc. But c'mon. Neither gender has a monopoly at either end of that spectrum. There are plenty of women who outright brand make-up as evil, and guys who buy sportscars with windows so tiny that they constantly drive with 20 blindspots (I got a ride in such a car this weekend).

I'm sure I'll have plenty more to say on the aesthetics/practicality debate later. In the meantime, I'm a proud adherant of a religion that likes to point out "Third Sides", and where "Lack of Aesthetics" and "Counterproductive Pride" are sins. Literally.

"She brought the glass paperweight over to the bed to have a look at it in a better light. He took it out of her hand, fascinated, as always, by the soft, rainwatery appearance of the glass. 'What is it, do you think?' said Julia. 'I don't think it's anything -- I mean, I don't think it was ever put to any use. That's what I like about it. It's a little chunk of history that they've forgotten to alter. It's a message from a hundred years ago, if one knew how to read it.' "
- 1984, George Orwell