I stopped playing Bejeweled long enough to post this

I’ve been meaning to do this post for a while. Like 8 months.

I got my (first) iPhone a year ago (and since upgraded to a 3GS and sold my old one for $130 more than my new one cost). And, being a cheapskate (except when it comes to mascara) I decided to never pay for an app. I’d put up with ads, I’d have less features, but I was not going to let my iPhone become my reason to spend crazy amounts of money on things like advanced tetris.

And so here we are a year later.

The first app I paid for ever is this one. (links open iTunes)

Yes, $20, but I used an iTunes card I got for Christmas. And I luh-huh-huh-huvvvv it. I can do a search for a bird in Oklahoma with a red head, narrow it down to what I think it might be, then look at drawings, photos, and even hear a recording of its sound. Then I can read about its habitat and lifestyle and if I lost you at the photo, I understand.

The next app I paid for is Tweetie, an awesome twitter app.

Lots of Twitter apps and desktop clients try to complicate Twitter and Tweetie does the opposite, makes it so simple. When TweetDeck for the iPhone came out, Dave and I both jumped on that bandwagon, then jumped back off. Tweetie it is.

And today. Today I bought another one. I’ve been addicted (I use that word without exaggeration, I might need a 12-step program) to Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook. I DO NOT KNOW HOW my friends are getting 150,000 points. But I’ve got a secret weapon. Practice.

Now I’m sad when my light turns green and disappointed when I’m first in line at the store. I may or may not be lying when I say that after I first downloaded it, I had to go to the bathroom and brought it with me. And may or may not have been at work.

So those are my paid apps. Other apps I recommend that are free are Trace, To Do’s, Yelp, AIM (yes, it’s AOL, but I can communicate with Dave without (paying for fees for over-) texting), and Shazam.