The $650 Game:

I've burned through everything that needed doing -- I've rewatched all great anime that isn't currently airing -- played all the PS5 games on my bookshelf -- re-read all the books worth re-reading -- watched all the pro and college football available -- and still there was time left over to burn.  In times like these the best option is a MMORPG -- the greatest time sinks known to man.  And it just so happens that WoW was conducting a bargain sale, two expansions for the price of one, if you preorder the 2024 expansion 'The War Within' you get the current expansion, Dragonflight, for free.  So I jumped on that deal -- sorry FF XIV, maybe next time.

However, my 9-year old computer isn't actually capable of playing Dragonflight WoW, or FF XIV for that matter, so now that I'd bought the game I was also committed to buying a new computer so I could play the game.  Luckily there was a black friday sale for computers ongoing as well, so I got a nice machine for the low price of $595 (taxes included).  I'm not actually sure how nice a machine it is, since I bought it online and it won't arrive for 3-5 days.  But it's got to be better than the junk I've currently got.

Computers have more uses than gaming, and this resets the clock on all the aging components of a computer -- the motherboard, the hard disk drive, etc. -- which all fail eventually anyway, so it was a necessary expense.  But man, considering I pay $60 for every other game, World of Warcraft sure requires true dedication from their fans.

Since you can play WoW basically forever and never run out of things to do, maybe it really is worthwhile even at ten times the price of other games.

While I await my sparkling new machine, I squeezed out a bit more productivity -- editing 'beryl' from '100 Waifus' to 'moonstone,' because moonstone is a more well known and pretty gemstone than beryl.  Every word in this book should be perfect, because it aspires to be the new divine writ, so even this edit matters.

I also voted, even though not much is at stake this year.

I added Futari Ecchi back into my anime wishlist, now that DanMachi has received a sequel and a space opened up.

I added Haruka and Otomi from MIX into my beautiful anime girls hall of fame.  I love Adachi's art style, especially when it's appropriately supported with 2023 modern anime budgets.

I wish I could edit my top anime rankings, so that all the series airing right now weren't bunched up at the bottom, but I can't give an accurate appraisal to the new shows until I've seen everything they have to offer (and find out whether a sequel season is announced for them or not), so I'm stuck in a holding pattern.  Next year I'll finally have an accurate and fully actualized top 200 anime rankings, though, that will be an important milestone in world history -- not only will there actually be 200 great long anime available to watch, the order of what shows to prioritize watching will also be available for all, for those with less free time than me.  And because I simultaneously update my Apples to Apples rankings alongside my top rankings, if people only have time for short or medium length series they can check out those rankings and still get the right priority order.  There's a signpost available for all.

So WoW in five days, new No Game No Life to read in two weeks, actually accurate anime rankings in two months, and the Paris Olympics in half a year.  There's always something to look forward to.