I got a new laptop this week. (This one… with many upgrades. 2.5ghz dual-core processor; 320gb 7200rpm hard drive; 4gb RAM; 512gb GeForce vid card; bluray drive; 16:9 ultra-glossy 1080p screen.) Well, it arrived this week… I ordered it last week, alongside a very hefty panic attack. I am so nervous about big decisions, especially when it comes to spending hefty amounts of money.

It arrived yesterday and I have been tinkering with it. It’s running Vista at the moment, though when the time comes I’ll get a free upgrade to Windows 7. It also has a very different screen than my previous two laptops: they were 14 inch standard screens, this one is a 16 inch ultra-wide screen with high-def resolution. It is a major change, and the main reason I was so anxious. Because of these two major differences, unlike my other new computers I have not started with loading over all of my previous “stuff” and settings exactly as-is. I have so many customized settings in my XP computers it’s a little crazy. Oh, and it’s a different brand than my previous two laptops, so the keyboard is all different. It has a numberpad on the side, too. Compared to my old computers this is just so utterly different… so I tinker.

One thing is for certain: it is a gorgeous, gorgeous laptop – both in looks and in specs. A few of the little things are making me giddy. The screen is glossy, which I know will be a bit hellish in an office environment, but at home where I usually am it is lovely just lovely. The keyboard seems to be treating me well, my fingers are quickly finding their places, and having a full numberpad is such a luxury. This ultra-wide screen allows me to open a large web browser window, see my program icons on the left, and have my messenger open on the right… nothing crowded, everything visible. I really get giddy when I think about doing work in Photoshop with this much landscape. Doing anything on the 1024 res was extremely frustrating. It feels like I just got a huge desk delivered, so I can spread out all my stuff. Glorious, just glorious.

The res being what it is – 1920, in case you’re wondering – the thing that I was most worried about was being able to read text. It’s not aweful, but at the same time I could feel myself leaning towards the screen as I read blogs and forums. Not ideal. I cringe at the thought of changing the screen DPI or in any way messing with the overall layout… but I have discovered that there’s a nifty FireFox add-on that allows you to zoom in – not just increase the text size (which makes things squishy and ruins designs), but blows up the whole page bigger. I’m running at 120% and it seems perfect! This way all the rest of windows is small and unobtrusive, I have a ton of space, and yet everything I read or see in my browser is at a standard, easily readable size. I am freaking thrilled at this solution… I really thought I’d have to choose one or the other.

For all the frustrations that my work and clients can give me, it has allowed me this. I don’t make much, but enough that I can spoil myself with a beautiful new laptop every 4 years. LOL (Yes… I’m a web designer/programmer who survives on one new computer every 4 years. I take very good care of my computers. I have to.)

Oh yes, I think I’m in love.

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I once was an avid book reader. I spent my high school years buried in books – socially awkward, shy and bored in class, my books were my escape. I was the picture-perfect straight-A student, but I frequently got reprimanded for reading through lectures and discussions. Mostly Fantasy, but I would read almost anything.

I got so busy during college, and I developed some actual social skills. Mainly online, but still – given the choice I would rather spend my time interacting with people than lost in a book. I couldn’t seem to devote the time that my books required of me. Somewhere in between school, moving, getting married and becoming an adult I stopped reading altogether. I’ve been worried about this ever since. Did I just lose the desire, the interest? Did I lose some capability? Or was it just not who I was anymore?

While stuck in Washington, DC during my travels I spent a long time at the gift shop, hovering over the books, evaluating, and finally settled on one. I read most of it on the plane, and finished it the next night when I should have been sleeping. Then I bought another book, and read half of that on the return flight. Today I went to the book store and bought three more books from the series.

I can’t say that the series is the best I’ve ever read. It’s good, it’s satisfying. But there’s a lot more to it than that, I realized. I want to read. Suddenly I realized: here is the timesink I’ve been searching for… a way to hide away from the world and all its frustrations, to occupy and distract my mind while I sit around waiting. I read while my flight was delayed out on the tarmac; I should read while my life is delayed.

I think a big part of my aversion to reading these past few years is that I was so busy on the other things in my life… I didn’t want to miss out on things because of my books. And I would have. Reading to me is an addiction… once I start I tend not to stop. I ignore everything around me. I get very angry at interruptions, I forget to eat, and I don’t go to sleep until my eyesight gets too blurry. On one hand I have to try to curb that… but on the other, I’m not so sure I mind an obsession like that right now.