Remember how I said that my unstoppable self-restraint prevented me from getting, among other things, a MacBook Pro unless a scenario that justified buying it came to pass?

Well, heh. Funny thing happened. It came to pass. I now have a 13-inch MacBook Pro. Because it’s a secondary computer — I still have this very nice and current 24-inch iMac, after all — it’s the lower-end version (2.26 GHz, 2 GB RAM, 160 GB HD). Now for the justification:

There have been plenty of times when I’ve been away from home but need access not only to my regular files, but to my regular applications — a thumb drive just isn’t enough. While I could whip up a blog entry or essay from just about any machine, anywhere, there are things I can’t easily do from a friend’s or work computer: process images, edit files on my server, organize my notes. Working on two computers will have its challenges, so I’ve reupped with MobileMe (I let my .Mac membership lapse) and am putting all my important files on the iDisk, to sync between both machines (they’ll also be available on my iPod touch, thanks to its iDisk application). I’m also moving my notes back to Yojimbo (previously), which also syncs between machines. I still have to figure out the best way to deal with my 300+ RSS feeds.

There will be other uses. If I install Windows on a partition (e.g., Boot Camp, Parallels or VMWare), I can use this thing for astrophotography. The battery life is certainly impressive from what I can tell so far: the computer will almost certainly last longer in the field than I will. And I’m giving a number of grammar and writing workshops at work: while I could use a whiteboard, or just gesticulate wildly in my usual idiom, or even use a work laptop, there’s something to be said for wowing them with a little Keynote action.

Now that’s enough rationalizing. I must go back and stare at this thing and go squee.