Let’s Get It Over With
2009 is almost over, and I’ve got to say that it hasn’t been too bad for me. Sure, our economy is still in the toilet, American cars have become late-night punchlines, and the Texas Rangers still suck, but it’s been decent. I have a good job, I’m going to a great school, I have great friends, and everything is looking up. This past semester was probably my most difficult, but this spring should hopefully be a bit more calm.
As for tonight, I probably won’t do too much besides hanging out with a couple of friends. Tomorrow I shall partake in the customary new year’s black-eyed peas and cabbage at the parents’ house. I’m just now getting over a bit of a stomach virus, so partying really isn’t something on the agenda. Thanks a lot, Waffle House. Bastards.
Now on to my resolutions for the coming year! Let’s go:
- Get into photography. This goes back to my last post about DSLRs. Before I get into it, I still need to get me a good camera.
- Volunteer at KNTU. I’ve applied to volunteer at our campus radio station but haven’t been called yet. I’ll probably drop by and see about it next week when people are actually there. This is more career requirement than resolution.
- Start writing again! I can’t count how many ideas have popped into my head only to be forgotten once I feel like putting ideas on paper. This brings me to my next resolution:
- Actually win a NaNoWriMo. I failed miserably this year, and all previous years. Granted, 2009 gave me my highest NaNoWriMo word count to date: 6,500 words. I could blame it on school, but it’s still pretty pathetic. Hopefully I can get myself to actually outline the story before writing it.
- Ride my bike more. I already ride my bike to work and to class everyday, but when it comes to running errands or buying things, I usually do it with the car. A car that I will hopefully someday replace with:
- Buy a classic Volkswagen. This probably won’t happen, but hey, I can dream, right? I would definitely like a Super Beetle, but would also be perfectly content with a Karmann Ghia or even a squareback. The trick is buying one that isn’t a rust bucket.
- Start a podcast. I’ve always wanted to do this, but I’ve never had the resources to do it. Someday this year I’ll finally splurge and get a couple of mics and start a podcast with one of my good friends. We could definitely do it.
It looks like a lot, and it is, but it’s something to go on in 2010. Heck, I may even try to get my crappy political satire blog back up and running. We’ll just have to see what this next decade brings us. Happy New Year, everyone.
The Post-Christmas Show
Christmas was pretty good this year, apart from being snowed in on Christmas Eve and not being able to go to the grandparents’ house for the first time in my entire life. Christmas day was great, however. I got just what I needed for my apartment. A new lamp, a Crock Pot, and a new HDTV. I think I was the most excited about the Crock Pot. Later in the day we had our traditional dinner and poker game with relatives. And on top of all that, it was a white Chrsitmas. Awesome.
On Saturday, I proceeded to go to Best Buy to find and HDMI cable for my Xbox. I wriggled my way through the madhouse, only to find that they had nothing shorter than 6′ and nothing cheaper than $30. I went to Wal-Mart instead and found a 3-footer for $17. Still fucking ridiculous, but Forza 3 never looked so good.
There was also another reason why I went into the Best Buy hellhole yesterday: to look at digital SLRs. I’ve been looking for a camera since my parents have all but adopted my old Olympus point-and-shoot. I’ve really wanted a DSLR that shoots video, so I won’t have to decide on whether to buy a video or still camera, so I looked first at the Canon Digital Rebel T1i. I really liked the controls on this camera. I was changing modes and tweaking f-stops in short time, and this is coming from a guy whose only SLR experience was with a Pentax K1000. I played with the T1i for a bit, and then a gave a Nikon a chance. I can’t remember what model it was, since I couldn’t decipher the confusing buttons and interface. It could have been the D90, but I dunno. Then I went back to a Canon, in particular the EOS 5D. It had the same easy-to-use controls, but the kit lens and continuous shooting was kickass. I have never played with continuous shooting before, so I was almost giggling with delight at the prospect of shooting several pictures a second with relative ease.
I’ve also looked on the web for that perfect camera, and I’ve found another candidate: the Pentax K-x. In the same body as the K2000, another former candidate, it adds a better sensor and 720p HD video. It’s also cheaper than the Canon T1i. It may end up my final decision, once money becomes available.
Now, on to a restful week of nothingness and New Years.
Updates
Well, the couch is great. Outrageously comfortable and pretty good looking. All I need is a TV and I’ll be set.
I did get back into WoW this week, with most of my time playing wasted by downloading patches. I have gotten my character to level 9, so it’s not as much of a frustrating mess as it is when you begin. But I promise that I won’t endlessly ramble on about the game, since most conversation on it makes for dull material.
Staying up late to wait for said patches to download, I watched a really great documentary on Roy Orbison on KERA. Afterward, when the download finally finished, I downloaded his greatest hits. I never realized how awesome this guy was. Some of his stuff can be really haunting, but so enjoyable. If only I wasn’t creeped out every time I hear In Dreams. Thanks, David Lynch.
This week I also discovered an amazingly stupid feature of my Mac mini. The microphone jack isn’t powered. I was wanting to use my run-of-the-mill Logitech headset to see if I could use Skype or talk on WoW, but no sound would be recorded. It detected the microphone, but picked up nothing but silence. A little searching around on teh interwebz revealed that unlike most computers made in the past two decades, the microphone jack is unable to power passive mics. I pretty much have to have a mixer or a USB microphone. Oh well, guess that gives me an excuse to get a badass mic and try to get a little voiceover business going.
This next week is going to be busy as hell, with work plus finals. It won’t be fun, but it’ll pass by quick, to be sure.
A New Couch
I’m picking up a new couch this afternoon from the Goodwill. Well, my Mom actually bought it on one of her thrift store excursions, and simply explained it as a “very nice and clean black velour.” I guess that’ll look okay.
I was accepted for a credit card this past week, a Citi student credit card with a shockingly high $1,200 limit. Now I can see how dumb bastards get carried away with these things. My first purchase? I dinner at Long John Silvers, followed by a $48 tire from NTB. Look out! I’m goin’ craaaaaazy!
A friend of mine just got back into World of Warcraft this past week, and has been trying to get me back into the fold. I quit WoW after a little over one month due to my moving out and being unsure if my budget would allow for it. Now, I think it can allow for it, but I just have trouble spending that much time in a fucking computer game. My friend has said, however, that they’ve dumbed down the game a bit for noobs, and leveling up has gotten easier. Who knows, maybe I’ll do it, because there is a shockingly large amount of people on campus that play. I see gobs of laptops with WoW icons on the desktops.
Oh, what a moral conundrum.
leave a comment