because

-- i have been very very very good at living within my means this semester
-- i have been reasonably good at doing work when it was supposed to be done and not whining about it too much
-- i finally am done with bloody exams, and
-- it's christmas time, and there will be a guest around

i finally went into di bruno's today and picked up a shopping basket, and actually put food into that shopping basket, and paid for the food, and felt happy. cheese, and terra chips, and a wonderful farmhouse chutney with ten different fruit and balsamic vinegar and ginger and roasted garlic, and ciabatta, and gnocchi, and duck liver pate. and then i went to five guys and got one of their superb cheeseburgers, which everyone will try once they get their respective behinds to philadelphia (actually, it's a virginia thing, so maybe minz you'll have been there already). anyway, it was a very good morning food-wise, and once again i realise that, like it or not, i'm going to have to make actual money at some point, or i know not what i'll do.