Little Computer People

I have finally got what I should have had all along. I purchased a laptop the other night. Not a laptop really, but a netbook. This purchase is something I'm still mulling over and might reconsider. There are some positives, quite a few negatives, and some other stuff in general to consider. I'll give it a few days and decide if I should just holdout for a bigger, faster laptop.

As a wannabee writer I feel this is an essential tool to add to my arsenal. It's the most important tool in any hopeful modern writer's resources. I know to some people it seems that the most important tool is creativity, ambition or the doggedness to just put your head down and write. I'd argue that those are just intuitive and can't be learned or picked up later on. You may force yourself to be ambitious, but you can't force creativity. It's there or it's not. A laptop, however, is something that must be purchased. I can tell you that a desktop computer was too much of a distraction to actually get any real work done. Again that's probably a personal problem, but even though I've had this laptop less than a day I've found myself writing quite a bit. It's portable which is great and means that I can bring my writing with me instead of being stuck in (for now) a corner of the room.

When it came time to make the purchase I went with a netbook. I had been considering it for a while and really thought that a netbook would be the right way for me to go. These are even more portable than a regular laptop. The problem with this is that you make a lot of trade offs. I had to decide on one within a $400 range, which is pretty limiting. Towards $500 there were some much better models. This one was a fair price, but that small price came with a small screen and lack of power. The meager 1gb of RAM is pretty bad. My old desktop only has 1gb and I was getting quite sick of how little it could really do.

This computer seems to be handicapped in that way from the start. It is upgradable to 2gb which might be a necessity should I keep this model. The other major, major problem is the screen resolution. It is dwarfed to 1024 x 600, which is an atrocity. Many programs that I regularly enjoy need 1024 x 768 as a bare minimum, which should just be the standard on any little computer. I really wish I'd seen this before I made the purchase. This screen seems so crowded. Expectations weren't particularly high coming in, even after using a 1440 x 900 HD monitor for two years and Ashes' gigantor LED Macbook. Even so I was hoping that it would provide a bit more in the way of screen size. It's pretty disappointing.

Nonetheless all this will do is make sure that I only use this computer for the bare essentials that I should be using it for anyway, writing and browsing the internet. Especially if I end up going overseas to South Korea, which is growing less likely by the day, I would only be able to be productive and not waste my time on games. If I had to do any heavy duty stuff like video editing, I would just do it on Ashes' Macbook. Final Cut is better than anything I could get on a PC anyway.

I'll give this a few more days as a trial, but if the limitations become too much for me to handle I'll return it without regret.

Vomit Out My Brain

I don't know if the little dialogues in my head are the mark of a good writer or the mark of a true schizophrenic. Hmmm, food for thought.

Youtube has really been lame lately. During the first month of my unfortunate unemployment it was vital to keeping my sanity and driving that "I'm totally going to make the most of this abundant time!" attitude. Now all the good vloggers have gone quiet and the midcard has been pure bunk. Vimeo is pretty damn cool though. Much more documentary style stuff, less focus on the horrifying crap that fills out Youtube.

I've been holding out for a cheap intervalometer. I'm not holding my breath for now since I don't have any extra income. I really want to start learning the art of the timelapse. Especially if (and it seems like a real IF) I end up going to South Korea. I caught some truly inspired time lapses over on Vimeo.

I have about 3 half finished posts written up in my queue for this blog. Full length opinion article type stuff. Mostly its about video games, but you write what you know and can get fired up about. I just don't have the motivation to get all the way through writing them. That has been my primary problem for years. I have a shitty work ethic when it comes to sitting down and putting my thoughts into words. Unlike on a job where I'm totally devoted to succeeding. You wouldn't even recognize me at work and at home. I'm get fired up and get the job done. I was in a whole different world when I worked at that warehouse last summer. All of my managers constantly recognized my work ethic, which led to some decent raises and promotions. Until I got laid off. Thanks for all the hard work and consistently being the best in the department! Now get the fuck out. You wonder why I have trouble getting motivated?!?! There's no reward in my world for motivation.

Final Fantasy XIII still sucks. Even the Japanese think so I've heard. Didn't stop it from becoming the biggest success in franchise history. That makes me think this format will be embraced and we'll never see a good Final Fantasy again. XII really was good, it just took me a while to realize. X was an absolute triumph, even if it was linear it was balanced. Poor one on the curb for my dead homie, the FF series. Hell might as well poor one out for the JRPG in general.

I've come up with some pretty good ideas lately. It's all genre fiction. Fantasy, sci fi, time travel, post apocalyptic, etc. A few stories about quarterlife which I actually quite like. You write what you know.

My cat Silas had to have surgery again. Second time in three years. Already paid $300 and will have to pay at least another $2o0. Y'know what though? I don't even care. I never really bonded with an animal before so I didn't know why people would be willing to cough up the money for a surgery like this one. I had a shitty pet when I was younger, Caesar. He's the most hateful animal in the world and I couldn't give half a shit about him. I'll just shrug my shoulders when he (finally) dies. Silas is mine though. He's friendly and likes me which makes him worth the money. You can't understand the human-pet bond until you have a pet that it actually happens with. I'm sure Ashes would agree that he's worth the money too.

Biking is fun and heathy, when I can get off my ass and do it. Been pretty diligent about it lately. Now that the weather is nicer I expect to be outside even more. I expect to do a lot of biking and hiking this summer since we really don't have the money for bigger trips.

I'm writing this on Ashes' MacBook and I really like the sound that my typing makes. It's much more satisfying than the click-click-click of a regular keyboard. It's more of a thunk-thunk-thunk type of sound. I'm planning on getting a laptop before going overseas. Mine won't be as good as this one, since I don't have the money or desire to own a Mac, but it'll be better than my shitbox of a desktop computer. I think I'll only be able to afford a netbook, though, so it won't be as fun to type on as this Mac. Portable though so I'm not constrained to a dusky corner of our living room.

That's all.