Technically, my laptop is an Apple. But Apples just turn brown and then fall apart. My current PowerBook G4 will soon turn into a MacBook Aluminum (Late 2008). That’s not a literal statement, of course. But with the Macintosh operating system’s built-in “Migration Assistant” and the fact that the software on my PBG4 is current, the transformation should appear pretty convincing.

I haven’t actually received the new MacBook just yet, but I’ve tracked the shipment and it is due here today. I’m pretty freakin’ excited. This is how Christmas morning felt when I was a child! I should calm down, though. There is, after all, a Failure-Out-of-Box possibility. An informal, small sample Macintouch Survey which included 260 MacBook users’ reports, showed an 11.1% initial failure rating (failures covering a wide range of issues). As this is a third generation MacBook, using pre-established concepts in a predominantly new design (they took what they learned from the first couple and started over with those lessons in mind) with pretty darned nice parts…. Well, it could go either way. I have never bought the first of any model of computer and though this could be argued as a third generation machine, it could just as easily be labeled an original design.

I’ve been plugging away on my increasingly slow-by-comparisoin laptop because I am not a graphics-based power user. My work consists of some processor-based number crunching with a little GUI design on top. Still, I’ve seen the speed of those Intel computers and wanted to hop on that zippy bandwagon for a while now. I very nearly purchased one of the black MacBooks as I could have gotten it at quite a bargain. But I stuck to my aesthetic guns on the basis that I wanted a small metal laptop. That’s why I got this 12″ PowerBook G4 in the first place!

When the MacBook Air was first announced, I practically leapt into my own computer’s display trying to grab for it: terribly thin, ridiculously light, and with the 13 inch form factor that replaces the 12 inch (for widescreen display purposes). Alas, it was too slow, too crippled, and too expensive for me to justify it to myself. If that MacBook Air had been released for $1200, or if it had contained more power, I might have been typing out my blogs on Air by now.

Instead, I waited. I had patience and confidence in my own excellent taste in design. I felt certain that my sensibilities would not go unrewarded! And sure enough, in October of 2008, Apple released the MacBook (13-inch, Aluminum, Late 2008) and confirmed my suspicions that I’m always right. (Except for spelling the word ‘suspicion’ — I always have to look that up for some reason!) The specs were right, the pricing was right, and it looks quite pretty. I would wait no longer. O, how I would battle for days to reach… actually, I just requested a company discount and payment plan. It’s good to work somewhere you honestly enjoy the perquisites you’re given. As I await my new computer, I give you a geek-friendly, kinda-layperson-friendly comparison chart:

It was a rough day. I’m now about half of the way through my project of writing a Christmas blog every day and I’ve had some fun doing it. I think it’s even brightened up my disposition at work and in other aspects of my life.

I don’t have a lot of time to spare on an average day, and it usually takes me a couple of hours to write up these little essays, edit them, edit them again, and then sometimes I think about what I’ve written overnight and edit them another time before I post them. Sometimes, I feel good enough about my writing that I just post it as soon as I’m done typing. I have to admit that I’m pretty sleepy these days. But I’m generally in good spirits and I think that writing about aspects of the holiday that I enjoy has made a big difference in my mood.

But Wednesday wasn’t fun. I woke up with a slight headache, probably from dehydration. It was gray and murky out there when I walked my dog. There was no snow and I couldn’t see any Christmas decorations through the murk. Not that I had been expecting snow, I’m just always hopeful about it. I went to work and discovered that I’d left my lunch and my wallet at home. I scrounged up something to eat and tucked into the gift popcorn that a vendor had sent to us. There was some foolishness, some arguing, and various things going wrong — a typical day at the office. The end of the day came with a shouting match about what sort of Christmas party we were going to have. I thought, “Really?” I drove home through unreasonably slow traffic, tired and hungry. As I pulled into my parking lot, I thought about skipping the blog this time.

Then I took my dog for a walk and at night I could see the decorations. Greens and reds and lit up trees winked at me through my neighbors’ blinds. I even saw one apartment decorated with some six sided stars and blue and white lights which made me wonder if I could hear The Hanukkah Song in the distance. I thought about how I had started this journal in an attempt to regain that holiday spirit. I thought about how some holiday music can pick me up. So I went home and I checked the iTunes music store and found two new free holiday songs.

I liked Jaci Velasquez’s “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear”, wasn’t so sure about Carter’s Chord’s countrified “O Come O Come Emmanuel”. That latter song hasn’t ever been one of my favorites to begin with and then I discovered that there’s a soft-core pornography franchise where all the titles contain Emmanuelle. That kinda messes me up. As long as we’re talking about Christmas songs, I really like The Weepies’ “All That I Want” from the album, A Winter’s Night. You might recognize it from that JCPenney commercial that’s come out in the last month. Anyway, the music made me smile.

I reflected how I’ve been contacted by a few people now about how they like these little web logs I’ve written. I love the feedback, by the way. I looked up information on the internet about how to care for a short, live Christmas tree. I felt better.

Becca wanted me to go out to K2 and dance and I can’t say I was the most motivated ever, but I like hanging with Becca so I went. When I got there, I had some fun dances with Johanna, Jes, Susan, and Soo. Allen played “Swingin’ Them Jingle Bells” and it was a blast (I forgot how fast it is)! I ate a tiny slice of sweet potato pie. I just generally got my Xmas on. I don’t know if anybody there could tell, but that’s okay.

The vast difference between my day and my evening just showed me how easily we can all get overwhelmed by the junky things in our normal lives. By having set aside the goal for myself to really grab that Christmas spirit, I was able to motivate myself just that little bit more to pick my own spirits up. If this had been a crummy day in May, I might have just stayed home and given up on the whole stupid twenty-four hours. Instead, I worked to get that spirit back. So, thank you, Christmas.

To recap: at the end of the day (I wrote this one late at night on Wednesday), I was doing pretty well. I took a lousy work day, added some Christmas, sprinkled on some friends, and heated it all up with some dancing to end up with a tasty treat of a day. It wasn’t easy, but it was worth it.