HERE's the one I wanted, dammit! Amazon.com DOES have it, but it didn't show up when I searched their DVD section for the words "KAMA SUTRA" (21 other results were yielded, however.)

Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love.

Can be bought here.

It wasn't released in 1998 like the Best Buy guy claimed, but in 96 (or 97, if I reload the link -- and I swear I'm not crazy). That's more in line with what I remember. I THOUGHT I had seen it sometime AFTER my first big crazy episode, but BEFORE I went to ucollege.edu. That fits.

Now, since I've gone to all this trouble, and Amazon DOES have it available, I'm going to take a trip across town to retrieve my Discover Card, pull the card out of the envelope, return back here, and make the transation before I post this. That way, I can be assured that I'll be first in line, and my avid readership won't beat me to the line of my own discovery.

I've fought long and hard to find this movie again, so I think I deserve some satisfaction. Or.... I could just grap the capital one card from my car, and put ONE more little transaction on it. I'd still be under my limit. That seems like the wiser, and more productive choice. I'll use the capital one card again. One more time. At amazon.com.

If one is committed enough to any purpose, even if it is as frivolous as finding a movie one saw in a small theatre years ago, one can achieve one's mission. That is my lesson. Let's see if it pays off.

Clicking "Add to Shopping Cart".

The page that loads immediately after prominently shows a very select list of other products I might find interesting. Some of them are movies. Others are books. I see some books by Jacqueline Carey about "Kushiel's ????". They are from the same series out of a book that lies near my bedside, still unopened, which I bought at the Boulder Bookstore on Pearl back in June. The book I already bought is not displayed here, but others by the same author are.

WOW.

With the information I have given to marketers, they have targeted me with an astounding level of power. They know what I am willing to pay for a good book, and they know that I found all this extremely difficult to resist. My credit limit would also allow me to buy some of these items. So I think I will.

Be CAREFUL. Very, very careful. But this is a debt that I am willing to work off. So here goes...

Ah.... They're offering to charge my Mastercard instead, since it's already in their database. Hmm... Free shipping. The first 2 items, which are currently in shock, can be shipped immeiately for free. But what about the other items I agreed that I wanted?

Ah, those can ship later, and they won't even charge my card until that order is ready. When it is, they will ask me to confirm if I still want it. Since the other two "usually" also ship within 24 hours, I won't have to wait long for them either. Wait, how much is my total bill going to come to? Whew!

This is sophisticated. But I trust it up to now. Because the movie I said I wanted most is in the first batch of items to be changed and delivered with immediate urgency. For the others, I can wait, peruse, and decide if I still want them when they're ready. Good.

I am now authorizing a transaction of $25.37 to my Mastercard for .... wait, nope. Double checking reveals that I already have that book, bought from a different source. But it has a different cover than the graphic they're displaying. So I'll remove it.

Time passes. Bitscape clicks, clicks, retabs, searches back through his order, tries to find a complete list of everything in the shopping cart. More bargaining, and finally.... a Deal is reached!

Amount charged (in this transaction): $32.36. I got free shipping.

Items that are scheduled to come in with the order:

Well, I'll just take a screenshot. It's easier.

It might take them a couple weeks to arrive though. Here's the portion of the screenshot that doesn't reveal anything that doesn't need to be public:

Screen of the confirmed invoice. (Red and black gradient marks are mine to protect info I don't want revealed right now.)

Now I'm waiting for the email confirmation. I got ONE email confirmation for the used book I ordered, but the receipt for my main order has not yet arrived. This is turning out to be an endless loop. Before they send me a final email indicating that the transaction has gone through, I think they (1) want to verify my identity befond the shadow of a doubt (since I made the order with no card in hand), and (2) they want to be sure that I really want to purchase what I told their server I wanted to purchase. This might involve a few more emails and passwords before it finishes...

Yes Amazon, that is my password, that too was once my email address, and here's the new password I'd like to use with you in the future. Now can we please finish the deal? I mean the deal between you and me, not the one between me and the used book vendor, for whom you are acting as a broker.

Finally, I think they're trusting me again. The last time I ordered from them, I had to return one of the products, because it didn't work in my computer's cd player. They lost money on that deal. So this time, with every product, when I went back to it a couple times, I got to see lots and lots of technical details, which I confirmed I wanted before adding each item, verifying quantities, and deleting the one book I realized I already had.

We've already gotten the deal with the small book vendor (for Kushiel's Avatar) confirmed, and I bet it's already reaced the credit card company, and the independent vendor will be shipping my book in short order. But wwhat about YOU, AMAZON? Are you going to send me the order we agreed upon? I still haven't received the "confirmation email".

I'm willing to pay the amount that was displayed. Are you willing to deliver the products that you promised you would have? Are you ABLE to do so?

Still no confirm email on that order. Oh well. At least I should be first in line if they do decide it's ok to do business with me in this cut throat market. Go ahead, everybody. Make a run on their servers so you too can try to grab the products I found, if you dare.

I'm going to get on jabber and see if scott's online. Maybe also get some fresh air and sunshine outside. Wow, what a trip! I love this game. No wonder some people get addicted to business, American style. Making deals, wheeling, dealing, spinning.

Kaploosh.