I was just thinking about the last major natural high I was on the receiving end of. No, not chocolate-induced, but gadget-induced. The gadget in question was nothing special, just my new cell phone, a Samsung C100, to be exact. This was a year ago and now it's that time of year again when I get to add to my secret collection of electronic goodies that I guard as zealously as Gollum guarded his ring.

Dubba-pack. Just that strange little lingual hybrid of a word is enough to inspire the familiar excitement. There's something almost holy about an unopened box with something in it just for you, even if it's not even gift-wrapped and you can clearly tell from the box what the contents must be. However, despite the lack of surprise, there is absolutely no lack of awe. Normally what happens is that I sit there for about ten minutes, just drinking in the box, with its shinier-than-humanly-possible, unsoiled exterior and the contents displayed enticingly on the outside, unable to bring myself to touch it. Next, I gently break open the seal. There, no longer "dubba-pack". Now once you get the contents out, be it a cell phone, camera or music player, it is awesomely exciting, because it's new, it's absolutely untouched by any other human hand (I realize someone must have touched it to manufacture the product and I choose to ignore it) and it's yours. Precioussss...