I nearly forgot about posting a blog for the 10th. It's technically the 11th right now but since I haven't gone to sleep yet, I still consider right now "today" and tomorrow won't come until I wake up, no matter how far away that is. So, I'll make this entry short, since it would've been anyway. It's not that I'm unable to write, it's just that there are no burning issues at the moment I feel the need to vent about. Sorry journal, but you're not the biggest priority right now.

Today was about material things. That was my priority today. I got my Zune back, er...a Zune. They couldn't seem to fix the headphone jack, which I thought would've been a seemingly simple repair job, and instead sent me a replacement Halo 3 Limited Edition Zune to compensate for my own Halo 3 Limited Edition Zune + all my music and pics. Oh well, I still have the files so I can just resync them. But now I have two worries on my mind: there are pictures of me and my friends floating around Microsoft Corp. somewhere and also...just how limited is that model Zune if they can just throw replacements around like confetti. I say like confetti because all that needed to be fixed was a $2.00 headphone port.

Oh well, I have a Zune again and this one's new so there's no scratches on the the screen. Not that there were many on the other, since I take very good care of my electronics, but still, any scratch is a bad scratch...at least on electronics. That was my big moment for today, aside from buying a new video card for my computer, something I've been meaning to do for a long time. Since I can't upgrade my motherboard or CPU without getting a whole new setup, I decided to save $$$ and buy a midrange 512MB Radeon HD 26000 XT. I do more multimedia than gaming, so the limited gaming capacity is fine by me. What really sold me was the dual DVI-out as well as the HDMI out functionality. What this means is that I can hook it directly to my TV and have full 1080p signal and 5.1 audio from my PC.

The audio is only a boon due to the fact that I can have multi-source sound from my PC. I have a 7.1 hi-def XiFi sound card in that will soon be running to some Logitech z5300e's, so I can have music playing on one 5.1 setup while I watch TV or movies on the other 5.1 setup. Plus, if I ever want to get a second 22" monitor, the card can support dual displays just fine.

The biggest reason I looked at the card aside from the HDMI output is that it's designed for Vista, DirectX 10 and watching HD movies. And we all know how much I like streaming my HD rips from my PC to my TV. Hell, I just got a 750GB external HD drive because I was running out of room on my 320GB external that I'd been using solely for movies. So, I now have a 120GB Seagate FreeAgent Go, a 320GB Seagate FreeAgent Pro and a 750GB Seagate FreeAgent Pro. That's 1.19 terabytes of external storage, plus the onboard 160GB HDD that I use for OS, programs, and games. I shouldn't be low on space for at least a year.

However, with the recent news that HD-DVD has pretty much lost to Blu-Ray, due to Warner Brothers shifting over to Blu-Ray in May, I may be buying a Blu-Ray player this summer and backing up those discs in my computer, so I may in fact still eventually need more room. Oh just think of all the USB slots I'll need...

But a lot of that is in the future. Right now I have books to buy (and sell), fraternity dues to pay, a TV to pay off, a looming massive print quota fee...I've got a lot of financial obligations to look toward, so a Blu-Ray player and all that, as much as I lust after the idea, are just going to have to wait. The video card was a needed upgrade that I'd been planning for a while and holding out on until I saw someone put the card on clearance. And even that took some self persuasion. I kinda of had to decide between that and chipping in for Rock Band...but my anticipation of Rock Band waxes and wanes depending on how pissed off I am at Guitar Hero. And today it pissed me off. I got 5 stars on every song on the set list and bonus list on medium except Through the Fire and Flames.

Did I try and 5-star it? Once. And I got tired of hearing clanking and plinking, so I said "screw it, I'll start a new career track on Hard" and guess who kicked my ass. Just guess. Fucking Brett Michaels! Brett Michaels of all people! Ok, fine, technically Poison did, but Brett Michaels represents the band and I hate pretty much anything tainted by the over-indulging ego-maniacal self-worshiping cockbuckler that is Brett Michaels.

I was crestfallen and immediately turned the Xbox off and packed it up for the coming semester. I then went to the computer and said "Hey there, Mr. Video Card, are we on sale today? Why yes, we are! Oh, Rock Band? Pssh, what about Rock Band?" and then and there solidified a sudden and oddly significant change in priorities. Because I realized something...I don't really want Rock Band. I like the drums, yeah, but that's not enough allure for $170 (I only paid half that for the card) just to have a game that my friends will play more than I do. I've stooped pretty low in methods of alleviating my loneliness, but using a videogame to buy popularity is pretty much my limit.

Not that I'd mind playing it if Mike or someone else got it. But I tend to game alone or online and upon this logic...buying Rock Band just doesn't make any sense for me. Sure, I'm in a college dorm and a lot of my friends would want to come to my room and play it, but if they want to play it in my room so badly, they can chip in for the game. It's not a game I'd buy for myself, so I chose not to. The video card will probably last me longer and benefit me more in the long run.

So, yeah, the Xbox360 is packed away and all set to be lugged to Winthrop. I will be taking my computer apart and packing it too, once I record the sound clips for these scripts and send them off to G.J. Oh yeah, I don't know if I mentioned; I got cast as the (very cockney) voice of Sgt. Pipes in an upcoming Halo 3 machinima called 2152. I've gotten the scripts for the first two episodes and I need to record my lines and submit them for editing before I pack my computer up, so I'll probably be doing that tomorrow.

I may wait until Chad drops off the power supply, though. He's upgrading his PC and is giving me his old 500watt power supply (he got a new 1200W one), which saves me $80 because I was going to need a new PSU to run the video card on top of the sound card and external HDD's. I was going to use that money to buy gifts for Mike and Michelle and everyone, but they keep telling me to not buy them anything, so I guess I won't by them...much. I gotta get something, right? But I'll compromise and try and get gifts focused on sentimental value instead of dollar value, which is the point in the first place, right? Besides, I already bought them, so nothing they can do about it, right?

I'm very aware that my refund will only go so far. I still need to get a job and the silence on my cell phone is making it very known that Toys-R-Us apparently didn't find me suited for working in the electronics/gaming department, so I'll need to look elsewhere. Perhaps the RadioShack near campus if they're hiring. At the moment, I'm thinking about that damned TV and how much it costs a month and I'm also thinking of my prescription bills when the shrinks inevitably decide to put me back on meds (I don't like it...but it makes sense...) and I'm realizing that I'm going to have to take whatever job I can get if I don't want to ruin my credit. I mean, I bought the damned TV to build a credit score for fuck's sake. Wouldn't be very consistent of me to get it repo'd would it?

Plus, if they took my TV I'd probably cry...and cry...and cry some more. That TV is my red corvette. It is my mid-life crisis 2 decades early...I've gotta get a job if only to not lose it.

....wow...that's pathetic. I gain man-points for that, but I suffer the loss of an equal amount of self-respect points in return. Hell, I admit I'm addicted to technology, which in an of itself is not a bad thing....unless you're poor...which I am...and then it could be a bad thing...which it is. Aaaah goddamnit anyway. Thanks Mitch.

....Looking up, I question my definition of "short." Generally in the thesaurus, short is near to succinct, brief, terse and other such synonyms for abbreviated. Apparently my definition of "short" thinks all those words smell bad because it's an awfully far distance from them. I wonder if I could ever write an actual short blog if I tried. But unlike Journals and Diaries, Blog's aren't about trying, are they? They're about existing somewhere that's not real. About recreating a personal image of yourself that can't be rained on or punch in the nose. So the minute I actually try, this quits being a blog and begins to be a journal or diary and by default of definition I revert to an angsty high-schooler with a perpetual scowl and junior carpal tunnel.

All things aside, at least my Zune is here, the firmware upgrade is installed and it's nearly done synching. I really enjoy the new aesthetic of the firmware and the marketing of the Zune now. It's very creative and original; most unexpected adjectives to describe a Microsoft product. I'm looking forward to see what becomes of the Zune brand. Hopefully it can add some life and decidedly un-chic flavor to an equally overly-chic iPodified market. Because quite frankly, iMsick of iBalling and Hearing about goddamned iPods and iMacs that i'Dlove to shove up the iHole of half these blazer-wearing, goatee-sporting iTools.

And plus, now that I have my Zune, I can put my headphones on and ignore the real world as much as I want. And isn't that the entire point of technology?