Live from Los Angeles

Excuse me while I push Independence Day stories aside for now - I have something much more important to talk about. And of course it's all about me me me.


(Celebrating today after discovering that I had, in fact, won an iPod Mini and 50 free downloads direct from Apple.)

I'm not kidding. Here's the email, just in case you don't believe me:

To: "iTunes Marketing"
Subject: iTunes 500 Million Song Countdown
From: "iTunes Marketing"
Date: Tues, 12 Jul 2005 10:27:06 -0700

Congratulations! You've been selected as a winner in the iTunes 500 Million Song Countdown. Your recent song purchase was made at one of our 100,000-song milestones, counting up to 500 million songs.

You'll receive a 4-gigabyte iPod Mini in the color of your choice - pink, green, blue, or silver - and a gift card good for 50 songs on the iTunes Music Store. Your iPod Mini and gift card will ship 4-6 weeks after the promotion ends.

In order to claim your prize, please:

1. Complete the attached Affirmation of Eligibility and return within five (5) days of receipt to Apple at U.S. facsimile number (xxx) xxx-xxxx, Attention: iTunes 500 Million.
2. Reply to this email with your preferred shipping address and iPod Mini color choice (http://www.apple.com/ipod/).

By responding, you will not be added to an email list or contacted by Apple unless your have previously authorized Apple to do so.

Thanks for being a customer of the world's #1 music download store!

The iTunes Music Store Team
http://www.apple.com/itunes/500million/

To think I almost didn't read the email because it had the word marketing in the address. I just thought it was Apple spam. It wasn't. I had to read the darn thing twice for it to sink in. I have never won anything in my life. I know everyone says that, but with me it's totally true.

Oh, wait - I did win a ginormous tub of jelly beans one time at my elementary school carnival by coming the closest to guessing exactly how many of said jelly beans were in the tub. But to be completely honest, it was only because my dad told me what to guess. And I don't even like jelly beans - I'd have to say that they are my least favorite candy. So that prize doesn't really count in my book. Those jelly beans lasted nearly 2 years until I used them one night to foil some bumbling burglars by tossing them all over the kitchen floor. (that might be true - if I was McCauley Culkin)

And for those of you wondering - no, I don't have an iPod yet. I know I know, join the 21st century already. But I could never completely convince myself that I should spend over $200 of my hard-earned cash on a music storage device, no matter how badass. I even held back the urge when I bought my new 12" PowerBook a few months ago - even with 18 months same-as-cash financing whispering sweet nothings in my ear. It must be Fate. I was MEANT to win this iPod. Apple ROCKS. On that note, Steve Jobs is pretty cool.

I chose boring silver, by the way. Only because I could NOT make up my mind between the blue and the green. I gotta work on this indecisiveness before I spend another good 2 hours of my life standing in Target trying to decide which shampoo to buy.