iLove u

It used to be that every time that I watched "Love Actually" and I reached the scene where Colin Firth proposes in Portuguese, I would cry. My entire life would seem like a failed effort toward finding the perfect man. I would think that since no one could ever possibly propose to me so beautifully, what was the use in trying?

Those days are over. After 18 years of watching kissing scenes in chick flicks like my life depended on them, reading Jane Austen and jealously eyeing adorable couples in subways and buses on at least four different continents, I have finally found a man of my own, and this one's a keeper. His name is MacBook.

And let me tell you, he is by far the best man to ever come into my life. I've always been drawn to somewhat skinny, slightly nerdy but supremely charming young men. Well, MacBook is perfectly slender, at a slim 1.08 inches and 5.2 pounds. His features are just quirky enough to be a little bit geeky (consider, for instance, Comic Life, an entire application devoted to letting Seth Cohen-esque guys channel their emotions through words like "BAM!" and "POW!" written in fonts with names like "Borg 9" and "Foo"), yet his fun features are pure charm and delight. For example, his "widgets," or mini-me applications that pop up on my screen at the press of a button, tell me the weather in Princeton for the next week, explain how to translate "shirt" into French, enable me to use a tiny orange calculator, display an electronic sticky note reminding me to write this article and even keep me posted on the latest Harry Potter news.

However quirky, MacBook is also cultural, just as my man should be. He and I converse for hours about film, art, philosophy and music, making our way through analyses of Francisco de Vitoria's political writings and of George Braque's art together. We have fun, too, though; we watch movies and listen to music. The movie we watched last week was great ... I can't remember the name right now, but remind me to ask him. Google's the jam.

One of the best things about MacBook is that he is low-maintenance and doesn't mind me hanging out with my friends. In fact, he facilitates it, offering various avenues of friendly communication, from Facebook.com to email to AIM.

I know you've been wondering, so I'll just come out and say it. Losing my Mac virginity was mind-blowing. As soon as I heard that "ding" noise when I turned him on, I knew it would be incredible. We just ... clicked. He really knew how to press my buttons. Don't worry, it was safe sex all right, he's fully equipped with safety features. He's been tested for viruses and he doesn't have any — Macs are classy like that. Not like that PC you hooked up with last weekend.

I'm not just using him, either. I love him. I know some of you might think this is hasty of me, that I'm falling too hard and too quickly. But no. I shall be a Mac lover for life. Isia Jasiewicz is a freshman from Lexington, Va. She can be reached at ijasiewi@princeton.edu.