I completely blame this on my friends that work at the Mac Superstore. After a lifetime of using Windows, they finally convinced me to get a MacBook Pro.

What it came down to was a combination of curiosity about unknown territory and a realization that if I’m going to explore it, now is probably the best time to do it given that I’m at the age with the highest amount of expendable income. (Also, I have to admit that the musician/writer/web addict/hipster in me would get a little ego boost from all this. Sad, I know.)

I originally intended to wait for the soon-coming announcement of the next line of MacBooks, but Josh and Andy, my friends at the Mac Superstore, told me the other day that they had a couple top-end models of the last line on major sale. So yesterday I went in on my lunch break and picked up the last one they had.

(For the nerds: 17″ hi-def 1920×1200 display, Intel Dual Core 2.6GHz processor, 200GB 7200 rpm hard drive, 4 GB RAM, 256 MB video.)

So far I’m still figuring things out. Though I’ve used Macs before, it’s an adjustment to use one for more than a few minutes because I’m used to being able to zip around in Windows. This is The Great Experiment, after all. I do have to say that it’s a lot easier to figure out from the get-go. I’m not really used to that so it’s a little unsettling for some reason.

I’ve got Firefox running with most of my plugins, I’m running Adium for chat, Twhirl for Twitter. I still need to import all my music and pictures.

Things I love? Multi-touch mouse, the speed improvement, way more screen space, pretty looks and the kind of highly intuitive interface I always aim to create when making websites. I’m also looking forward to using GarageBand.

My two unsolved problems: I can’t get the hot keys working for Spaces and I can’t figure out how to keep the computer from sleeping when I close the lid. Relatively small issues.

Oh, and I miss my Home, End and Delete keys. Fn+Backspace doesn’t quite cut it.

Ryan Catbird of Catbird Records wins the award today:

Q: Are you posing for the cover of Italian Vogue?

If the answer is “no,” then you can probably stop this whole “pursing-your-lips-whenever-someone-takes-your-photo” thing, I think.

The curse of the Myspace/digital camera age. Even I did this occasionally for a while, and I hated myself for it. Somehow I broke the habit. It just goes to show how we are so easily and subliminally influenced by the most trivial of things.

A fun comic that I identify all too well with. (Update: Err… looks like you’ll have to click it to see the whole thing. Hooray for inflexible Blogger profiles.)

CS3 does not a good designer make. Ask anyone that actually does it for a living.

The next song is in progress. I’m actually halfway enjoying how this one is turning out. We’ll see if the end product lives up to what I’m imagining in my head.

I saw Ryan Adams at the Arlington Theater in Santa Barbara the other night. It was absolutely phenomenal. Great artist, great venue. Adams had a cold, but the band played a 2+ hour set. Makes me wonder if he could possibly be any better when healthy. I’m anxiously browsing the web in search of a bootleg.

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The Coachella lineup is pretty mediocre this year. Jack Johnson is headlining the first day? Enough said. After last year’s lineup that pretty much kept me going all day for all three days, I’d say this lineup has about half as much draw for me. Plenty of criticism from the music nerd world already, but the powers that be had to have seen that coming.

Needless to say, I won’t be going. Instead I’ll be doing whatever it takes to get Radiohead tickets for their Santa Barbara date. If it costs me less than the $300+ per ticket that Coachella does, I’ll have come out ahead.

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A few years ago, when Rhapsody was taking off, I predicted that it wouldn’t be too long before we would be able to stream an unlimited amount of music to a portable player on the go. Check out the Ibiza Rhapsody player. A huge step in the right direction. Now we just need better widespread Wi-fi and the possibilities will be endless.

My dream portable player has Wi-fi web access, stereo Bluetooth for wireless headphones, BitTorrent accessibility, FLAC compatibility, a 500+ GB solid state drive (to store all those FLACs, solid state for better battery life), gapless playback, ReplayGain capability and full, ID3 support with lots of options (for flexible library organization). It’s going to be a while before that happens, but hey, I can dream can’t I?

I was talking with a friend the other day and when I realized the new year was here, I said something along the lines of, “Dang, that means the gym is gonna be crowded for a few weeks.” He asked, “A few weeks?” before the light bulb went on and he laughed and nodded in understanding.

I would say that 95% of the people who resolve to lose weight (the most common of resolutions, I’d imagine) give up by the end of the first month. Or maybe they forget. The problem, as I see it, is that people aren’t planning their goals well. Actually, it’s not just as I see it. Otherwise this whole concept of S.M.A.R.T. goals that so many people talk about wouldn’t exist.

Normally I don’t make resolutions because I know they won’t hold up. But this year, I’m calling them goals, making them S.M.A.R.T. and keeping people updated on them as a means of accountability. I’ll stop yammering. Here they are:

Write and record a song every other week

The point: Increase creative output so I’m practiced and more familiar with the process.

Other details and rules:

• At least half must have lyrics.
• Each song must be at least two minutes long.
• Remixes and mashups are allowed, but they fall under the “no lyrics” category and they must show a reasonable amount of effort on my part.
• I’ll be posting each song online and asking for feedback from you (whoever you are).

Draw something every other week

The point: Again, to increase creative output. Also, to get back in the habit of drawing like I used to when I was younger.

Other details and rules:

• Drawings will be scanned and posted online so I can get your feedback.
• Each drawing must show a significant amount of effort. Nothing half-assed just to meet the goal.
• Many will probably end up being comic-ish because that tends to be my style. I might take some influence from John Campbell, so it could end up being how well I execute the idea more so than how well I draw it.

Read 15 books

Fifteen was an arbitrary number. It just happened to be the number of books that I already own that remain unread which I have a desire to read.

The list:

• G.K. Chesterton - Orthodoxy
• Mark Ferem - Bathroom Graffiti
• Nic Harcourt - Music Lust
• Stephen Colbert - I Am America (And So Can You!)
• Jeff Fischer - Investing Without A Silver Spoon
• Mark Frauenfelder - Rule the Web
• Paul Harrison - All the Clever Words on Pages
• Tosca Lee - Demon: A Memoir
• Hugh Ross - The Creator and the Cosmos
• Malcolm Gladwell - Blink
• O’Reilly - Programming PHP
• The Art and Writing of WFMU
• Haruki Murakami - The Elephant Vanishes
• Daniel J. Levitin - This Is Your Brain On Music
• Francis A. Schaeffer - Art and the Bible

Create a personal, dynamic website

The point: I’ve become curious about the possibility of doing freelance web development and I come up with more and more reasons why my own website (not just a blog) would be useful for me.

Other details and rules:

• Must be developed with PHP and MySQL (technologies I don’t know but would need to know to increase my value and open up more freelance options for me).
• Must include a blog (which means this one will be moving eventually).
• Set up a permanent email address so I never have to change it again.

Get my passport

The point: I intend to travel someday. (One more reason why freelancing is attractive.) I figure having my passport will lower the barrier and encourage me to look into it.

Refurnish my bedroom

The point: All my furniture has been inherited from several places and there was a reason people were getting rid of it. Plus, I can’t stand sleeping on a twin mattress any more. Oh, and having a multi-purpose bookshelf will help me to stay more organized (see my next goal).

Details:

• New bed and mattress (queen, minimum) by April.
• New desk & office chair by August.
• A CD/DVD/book shelf by December.

Organize, clean and throw away stuff

The point: I hate that I have so much stuff. I don’t want it to rule me. I figure the less stuff I have, the easier it will be to organize and keep clean.

Start investing

The point: Putting money into savings is great, but making wise investments that generate more interest is even better. It’s not that scary once you’ve read a book or two about it(the Motley Fool is awesome).

So those are it. It’s probably too much, but I’ve set up a Remember The Milk account to keep my tasks in order so I know exactly what’s up. I’ll also be trying to make regular updates here so that others can be aware of the status of things.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a drawing to finish by the end of the day and plenty of reading to do.