Christmas Catalogue

Although I don't exactly subscribe to the rabid consumer culture that reaches its dire apogee during the Yuletide, there are nonetheless a few items that I've been eying. Allow me, if you will, to indulge in a bit of virtual window-shopping.

Wacom Cintiq 21UX Drawing Tablet (MSRP: $2,499; Best Price: $2,195):


Let's establish something: The Cintiq 21UX is not a twenty-one inch drawing tablet--rather, it is an instrument of artistic perfection forged in Mount Vesuvius by Vulcan himself. Had Apollo been the god of the visual arts, then this would certainly have been his tool, sine qua non. Forsooth, one does not employ such a work of art so much as experience it.

Wacom Cintiq 12WX Drawing Tablet (MSRP: $999; Best Price: N/A):


A new, more portable model in the Cintiq line of on-screen drawing tablets, the 12WX, while decidedly inferior to the 21UX (what isn't, I ask you), is nevertheless something that's more, shall we say, in my humble price range. True, it doesn't quite communicate the selfsame divinely-inspired ecstasy, but it's a fine substitute.

Wacom Intuos3 9x12 Drawing Tablet (MSRP: $449; Best Price: $365):
Alright, I confess; this is actually not a picture of the tablet of record--it's a photo of the special edition of the said item, which, as you will note, has a much more sensual coat of exquisite black paint. Wherefore did I not list the Intuos3 12x19 tablet, you ask? Simple: My desk cannot accommodate such a monolith, and I'd probably have to purchase a small parcel of Hyde Park and construct an appropriate facility thereupon in order to house it.

At any rate, I've no doubt that all three models are categorically fine purchases that can only aid my artist industry (at the expense of my coffers, of course).

Mmm...capital investments...economies of scale...