Alrighty then. Well, with a newly replinished bank account, I found myself unable to resist a trip to Best Buy, where I picked up a copy of Pink Floyd's The Wall. (Talking about the movie, of course, as opposed to the album. Duh.) It looks to be a real load, complete with Roger Waters commentary, bundled documentaries (yes, that's plural), remastered 5.1 Dolby Digital (on my sound hardware, you'd never know the difference), extra scenes, and all that other good DVD-ish stuff.

I was just getting ready to give it a go, but I decided it would be best to do this first, lest anyone start suspecting that I've forgotten and/or ignored what day this is. That's right! It's the first of the month. And anyone who's been reading regularly since the beginning of Y2K will know what that means. ;)

New Year's resolutions made while on a natural, Matrix-inspired New Year's morning high. Now that I have once again been gorging on that masterpiece of a movie in recent times, let's see how we're doing on all the stuff I invented for myself to do so many months ago.

[Bitscape's hard drive locks up, as it has been doing every once in a while for the last few weeks, and he is forced to reboot. Ugggh.]

• This year, I shall find a real job. Actually, better make that this month. Or sooner.

  La dee da. Ding dong. Got a job that, despite some imperfections which I have elaborated about in a sufficiently ambiguous manner during a few past ramblings, is very cool. I'm happy to be working there. 100%

• This year, I shall buy a new desktop PC. The former being a prerequisite for this one.

  Yes, well... if you would have told me the month of June would come, with me still having made virtually no progress on this arena, I probably wouldn't have believed you. Yes, this one is going slower than expected, largely because I've just been focusing on other, more pressing matters. With my hard drive hiccuping like it just did a moment ago though, I am reminded that I should get on the ball with this. 2%

  (As a side note, today I caught myself for the first time committing a virtual adultery of sorts. On accident, without even consciously thinking about it, I found myself calling my work machine "Dagobah" (not in the presence of any other humans, mind you; thank goodness). When I realized what I was whispering, I silently kicked myself. Like someone who accidentally screams the name of a fondly remembered ex lover during the climax of orgasm. Doh!)

  Moving right along...

• This year, I shall find a girlfriend. Well, maybe. Or at least meet a few prospectives.

  Ok, here's a tricky one. Over the past few weeks, I have seriously been considering calling this one off entirely. The logic goes as follows: Typically, focusing on this subject seems to lead only into the land of frustration and angst. Given that I don't like being in the land of frustration and angst very much, might it not just be better to forget this one and enjoy the finer aspects of life? Perhaps. Or perhaps I just need to take a different approach. Well, I've decided I'm not giving it up completely, but I will not be a bit surprised if the end of the year comes, and still no progress has been made. Does that, by definition, cancel it as a New Years Resolution? Maybe so, but I'm leaving it on the list. 0%

• This year, I shall find more avenues other than the Internet to channel my self expression.

  Ah haha hahahahahah. Hahahahahahah. Yeah right. That would mean taking the red pill, wouldn't it? Maybe I should just take the blue pill, and consign myself to an eternity chatting in irc, posting on slashdot, and of course, redesigning web pages. ;) Yeah. 21%

• This year, I shall obtain lodging of my own. The biggest one by far, but a worthy goal. This place is great, but I need to strike out on my own, make a life, gain independence. Ya know?

  Mmmm, yes. A worthy goal. I did surf around and do a little looking at what's available and for what cost. I have yet to take any action in meatspace, however. 2%

• Be true, honest to myself. I know this one sounds kind of vague and clichéd. Let me see if I can better define what I mean. Oh heck, this might take a few paragraphs, so I'll get back to it momentarily.

  Hmmm... Given my vaguely articulated logic with regard to a certain... ahem... boycott recently, one might even be able to make the argument that I've been slipping here. Of course, only I can truly make that determination. Or can I? Yeah, we've been through this quagmire before. Here's my guess: 70%

There now, that wasn't so painful now, was it? (Except for that annoying reboot.) Now, a little DVD viewing is in order. :)