Maria?s new lifestyle: Short story about the benefits shopping on the Net has given to a dedicated artist.

I?ve got this strange friend; her name is Maria. Maria?s always been a little weird but now things have gotten unworldly altogether. You see, Maria?s an artist; she?s into sculpture in particular, of which she specializes in the manipulation of Perspex with a blowtorch. Lately I haven?t seen too much of her as she?s hooked up the Internet. Actually not many people at all have seen her recently; she says she?s working on a big project.

Now that she?s got the Internet she reckons she can focus a lot more on her work without distractions. She doesn?t ?waste? time doing grocery shopping anymore. Now she orders all her food and household items. She says if she?s extremely busy, her weekly list is saved into the computer, and she just clicks on ?order? and the usual stuff is delivered to her door every week. No more driving, parking, searching for stuff, standing in line, dealing with bored and under slept cashiers. I?m starting to think it?s not such a bad idea. Maria is pretty proud. She?s now organizing for a local greengrocer to deliver her fruit and vegetables too.

Maria has always had a ?thing? for Donald Duck. On the Net she?s found all these rare collectable dealers like Ebay. When she?s not warping Perspex into postmodern configurations representing the need for a more spiritual existence, she?s tthriving in the consumerist world of finding and bidding for Donald Duck comic books from the 1950?s. Last I heard a friend said she?s actually starting to look like a duck herself!

All this Internet shopping is pretty new to me, it sounds