*** SKIP TO THE ASTERISKS IF YOU DON'T CARE FOR COMPUTER STUFF ***

I don't know what it is that compels me to invest time and money into the infinite gulf that is computer upgrades, but whatever it is is more alluring than Homer's Sirens. And certainly computers are just as deadly...

What started as a humble $400 HP Pavilion (packaged with monitor, speakers, and other addendums) is now a(n) (almost) slick gaming rig, with a high-end graphics card, fast overclocked processor, and awesome case. Of the original machine, little remains: the CPU (Pentium Dual Core E2200 2.2GHz), a hard drive, a DVD burner, some stickers. Today the DVD drive quit (refuses to open, so I have an Ubuntu disk permanently stuck in my computer now) so I'm going to have to add it to my "to get" list, which I was conveniently going "to get" on the fourth. Also on my to get list is a Core 2 Duo E8500 3.16GHz, an 850 watt Corsair PSU, and a 640GB WD Caviar Green HDD.

Computer failures vex me. I've had no end of trouble with this build, and this recent ODD failure is just the latest in a series of problems. It doesn't help that I've rebuilt the damn thing half a dozen times, but I'd have thought I'd gotten it right by now. Regardless, the new power supply at least should help tremendously with stability, especially on overclocks, and having a CPU that's faster at stock speed than the current one OCd to within an inch of its life will be very nice. To make room for the new ODD in my budget I guess I'll cut the PSU back to a Corsair 750tx instead of the 850--I only have a single core graphics card, after all.

And I'm not even going to talk about the problems with Fallout 3.

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Anyway, I've been away from Deviantart for a while. My creativity is less than it used to be, though I still crank out an occasional story. My main complaint and reason for leaving DA, apart from life, is that art goes underappreciated, literature in particular. This is because the vast majority of users on DA are, quite frankly, idiots. Don't deny it. There are excellent artists on DA, lots of them, but if you use the "random deviant" feature you'll see what I mean rather quickly. Add in the inherent temporal investment required to read a piece of literature, even one of my amateurish lite offerings, compared to looking at a picture and the lack of interest in sci-fi as a genre by those few who do bother to browse DA's writing and you'll see why I get discouraged. Especially when someone who makes fucking Harry Potter slash fiction gets more pageviews than I do.

So with those considerations and my usual contempt for social networking sites, you'll see why I've been inactive and let my subscription end. I'm still on now and then, and occasionally I'll favorite a particularly enticing visual delicacy, but as a whole DA is just sort of a backup site for me when I'm bored.

But I'm not dead! I'll prove it! Here's a story for you, nominally Halo FF (just so I can post it on HBOFF.bungie.org) but mainly a psychological examination of someone driven insane by grief. It's another "life flashing before my eyes" piece, but don't let that discourage you. It may not be my best, but it's good.

Anyway, if you managed to read this far without getting bored and wandering off, I truly appreciate your appreciation of my meager offerings. I hope you don't mind a paucity of submissions, but I'm a firm believer in quality over quantity.

Thank'ee, g'night.