Keep Hoping Machine Running (
thefourthvine) wrote2005-11-03 07:56 am
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Slashy Nominations 131: Combine Your Hearts in One
This was going to be a set of stories about the undead, because of Halloween. (Yes, it was started before Halloween. I'm the Pokey Little Poster!) And then it was going to be a vid recs set, because, well, vids. But somehow I got completely sidetracked into crossovers, and I'm not the least bit sorry. I don't think you'll regret it, either (especially when I tell you that there were no zombies in the undead set), because who doesn't love a good crossover? And these are great crossovers.
But, hey. Does anyone know what kind of crossover the first story is? I've been calling it a fusionesque, because it brings elements (but not characters) of one universe into another, but I'd love a proper, dignified term. And obviously nothing I come up with is going to qualify for words like those.
And as long as I'm asking questions - Best Beloved is getting an iPod for an act of devotion above and beyond the call of any marital contract, so obviously it needs to be a good iPod. An exceptional one, even. Those of you who have them - do you like yours? Hate it? What would you buy if you were getting one today? (A video iPod is definitely not what we want here.) Are there accessories I should get, too? Give me advice, people, please. And, if you're feeling especially loving, links. Links would be very nice.
Best FF That Once Again Proves That, in Defiance of All Reason and Logic and Sanity, Snakes Are Sexy. Daemonology, by
trinityofone. Stargate: Atlantis x His Dark Materials, John Sheppard/Rodney McKay. So I guess the first question here is, have you read Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy? And if not, why not? These are brilliant books, people, and they include one of the best concepts introduced in any book anywhere ever: daemons. If you don't know what those are,
trinityofone has provided a handy guide that will tell you everything you need to know to read this story. Which you should obviously do at once. But after that, well, know that I will weep tragic Victorian-heroine tears if you don't try at least the first book of HDM, The Golden Compass. (And let me just say that daemons are not the only marvelous concept incorporated into this book's universe.) Okay. I'm getting off-track even for me, so enough with the mixed pimping and back to the story. Except - there's not a lot I can say without spoiling this. These are precisely the characters we know and love from SGA; the HDM add-in may even have made them slightly more themselves. And, hey, there's sex, and it is amazingly appropriate, and also weirdly sexy, considering that it mostly involves a lot of mouse-touching. Hmmm. I think I'm doing a terrible job of conveying just how good this story is, and just how much love I have for it, and just exactly how cool the mouse-touching is. (Although I imagine I have now done an excellent job of persuading you that I am sick.) Just read it, okay?
Best FF with More Cops Than the LA Freeways on Three-Day Weekends. Five Homicides Never Investigated, by Samantha, aka
inlovewithnight. Homicide: Life on the Street x Angel x Battlestar Galactica x Firefly x Horatio Hornblower x Stargate: Atlantis, gen. I warn you, I'm not familiar with all of these fandoms - I mean, I can just about spell Firefly and Battlestar Galactica, and that's it - but I still totally get, and love, the point of this story. See, we know who the good guys are, and why what they're doing is right and good and necessary (unless it is totally not, like for example marrying Rowena instead of Rebecca), but - well, in their local universes, the cops usually don't. So, yeah, we all understand why the Mayor on BtVS had to die, but to people who weren't there, it must've looked remarkably like a graduating class going insane, rioting, killing the Mayor (and their own principal), and torching the school. Which is unusual even in California. (Well, in the suburbs, anyway.) I'm usually happy to suspend my disbelief about these things; after all, the alternative would've been for Buffy to turn into a courtroom procedural in its fourth season. (Maybe with Spike as the slouchy, smiling, weirdly scary prosecutor who does all the cross-examining - team him up with Lindsey McDonald for an extra-scary Joss-cross DA team! - and Ethan Rayne as an extremely worrying judge.) But one of the reasons I love FF is that I can find stories that give some much-needed attention to real-world outcomes without having a full season of episodes with titles like "The Process Server Always Rings Twice."
Best FF in Which a Fork Is Used As an Aphrodisiac. No, I'm Not Kidding. And No, It's Not Icky. What, Don't You Trust Me? Thrift, by Te, aka
thete1, and Pares, aka
kormantic. Buffy the Vampire Slayer x The Sentinel, Blair Sandburg/Faith Lehane. Um, yeah, you read that right. I don't usually enjoy crossover pairings that much, and we all know I get seriously bitey, if not downright rabid, when people trifle with my OTPs, but, well, this is an exception. Because Faith works with anyone. She's the super-sexy little black dress of fandom (and if this makes anyone think of pairing her with that other little black dress, John Sheppard - huh. You know, I was going to say don't, but...) and it turns out she looks excellent on Blair. Or all over him. Whatever. But in this story, my greatest joy actually comes from watching Blair Sandburg deal with the assorted oddities of Sunnydale - vampires, mechanical failure, sexy minors with mysterious fork abilities. I won't say he manages with panache, precisely, but when you consider everything that happens to him in this - well, let's just say that life with Jim Ellison is apparently excellent training for dealing with strange with a side order of dangerous. (At this point, Blair could probably write a whole self-help book called Listening to Adrenalin: When to Run, When to Fight, and When to Call for Backup.) And I'm sure Giles will have a fascinating chat with Blair. Once Faith's done with him, of course.
Best FF in Which It Really Is Vasculitis. Evil Vasculitis. Change Is the Only Constant, by Mara, aka
marag. House x DCU, gen. Well. Okay. Some crossovers just don't work. You can, like, find them on some crack-pairing list, and giggle about them, and maybe test your brain's flexibility by imagining them, but the fandoms just don't mesh. You know what I mean: Crossovers That Woman Was Not Meant to Read, Let Alone Write, God Help Her. I would have said that House x DCU is one of those, except that I totally do want you to read this, and furthmore I encourage all kinds of writing like this, because it so totally does work. (Which suggests that any crossover can work in the right hands. I have long suspected this, though no one should write Pride and Prejudice x Backstreet Boys just to prove it.) I'm not spoiling anything when I tell you that the central concept here is Tim Drake = Gregory House. And, wow. That's an equals sign that just has no business at all existing, right? But
marag does a fabulous job of showing how point A gets to point B, which is way the hell out of spandex, without breaking any characters. (As far as I know, I mean. I've read, like, four House stories and seen absolutely zip of the canon, so I'm making no promises there.) And, okay, I should probably mention that this story contains spoilers for Identity Crisis and WTF Games, or whatever the hell those canon clusterfucks were called, but the thing is - it resolves those arcs in a way we probably won't get to see in canon. Plus, this story has Cass, and she always elevates the level of discourse. So - grown-up, snarky Tim. Grown-up Cass. Batfamily guilt trips. Emotional resolution. This story has it all. And did I mention the whacked-out crossover aspect?
But, hey. Does anyone know what kind of crossover the first story is? I've been calling it a fusionesque, because it brings elements (but not characters) of one universe into another, but I'd love a proper, dignified term. And obviously nothing I come up with is going to qualify for words like those.
And as long as I'm asking questions - Best Beloved is getting an iPod for an act of devotion above and beyond the call of any marital contract, so obviously it needs to be a good iPod. An exceptional one, even. Those of you who have them - do you like yours? Hate it? What would you buy if you were getting one today? (A video iPod is definitely not what we want here.) Are there accessories I should get, too? Give me advice, people, please. And, if you're feeling especially loving, links. Links would be very nice.
Best FF That Once Again Proves That, in Defiance of All Reason and Logic and Sanity, Snakes Are Sexy. Daemonology, by
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Best FF with More Cops Than the LA Freeways on Three-Day Weekends. Five Homicides Never Investigated, by Samantha, aka
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Best FF in Which a Fork Is Used As an Aphrodisiac. No, I'm Not Kidding. And No, It's Not Icky. What, Don't You Trust Me? Thrift, by Te, aka
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Best FF in Which It Really Is Vasculitis. Evil Vasculitis. Change Is the Only Constant, by Mara, aka
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Also, now I need to go and re-read Galaxy of the Living Dead. Zombies! Yay!
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the freaky graduate-student-people I hide out in here with were looking at me
They were probably thinking, "I should've gone into whatever she's doing her dissertation on. She's having fun with hers and I'm stuck here writing thirty-word sentences about organ secretions."
So, see - laughter is good! It fills other people with insane amounts of envy. Um. Plus I understand it, you know, is aerobic and good for you and so on.
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Cold Ones (http://ciceqi.slashcity.com/VSColdOnes.htm), by
...In case, you know, you decided to do some undead recs next Halloween, or anything.
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I don't even know what Vagrant Story is. But it's a rec. It'd probably save a lot of time and whining about how I don't need a new fandom if I just succumbed right now, wouldn't it?
*succumbs*
...In case, you know, you decided to do some undead recs next Halloween, or anything.
What I say is, why restrict the fun to just one day a year? Is there really a bad time for the undead?
(And, hey, minor coincidence - one of your stories was in that set. Although it's actually good I didn't rec it on Halloween, as the link would've died the next day and stayed dead for two months. I, um, had forgotten about that aspect of things.)
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I love my big iPOD. Yeah, its a tad on the heavy side but really, its not unwieldy or clumsy, plus, it's real perty. Lots of accessories for both, too. Cool cases and for the Nano, armband-type holders and neat lanyards. Good buying!
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And I suspect that we too will eventually be a two-iPod family. I never wanted one or thought I would use one, but once I realized I could buy speakers for it, replace all my components, and never have to burn CDs again, I developed a major interest. (Plus, you can get socks for your iPod. SOCKS!)
iPod lust. Yikes.
iPod Advice
You say you don't want the video iPod, but they're the only ones with the large hard drives, so I can't tell you what other one to get. I personally like having at least 50% of my music collection travel with me at all times as I have whims that need to be met right there and then. Just today I was bemoaning the fact that I did not have the Flaming Lips cover of Helpless with me.
Accessories I can't live without:
1. Tape deck adaptor for car. (Good sound quality and works well.) My brother got the adaptor that you tune into an unused radio station, but the issue is that it's hard for him to find an unused frequency around here with all the little college and high school stations clogging the airwaves.)
2. Firewire cable/power adaptor (though I think it's all USB now.) This came with mine, but I think it's sold separately now. I use it when I'm away from my computer for more than a day and I need to recharge.
Re: iPod Advice
And thanks especially for the tape adaptor advice. Since the biggest use of the iPod will be on Best Beloved's commute from hell, obviously the car was a central issue. And we live in Southern CA, so the airwaves are fairly saturated, which made me dubious about the FM adaptor even before everyone noted the problems with it, but I hadn't even noticed that there was a tape alternative. Yay!
(20 GB is only half of your music collection? Wow.)
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Plus, all that portable storage; I'd never have to sort through nine million memory sticks again.
*wants*
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Yes, exactly! That's what finally sold me. I never converted my vinyl collection to CD, so I don't have all that many CDs. But I loaded them all into iTunes (about 8 Gig--lots of space left over on my 20 Gig iPod!) and then downloaded them to the iPod, so now I have pretty much all my CDs in mp3 format. It's nice to be able to easily burn CD mixes when I really want to using the iTunes library feature. I have friends who've got a *shitload* of music, and they just buy a separate huge hard drive (i.e. 100Gig) and keep their music there (and update their iPods with new/different songs when necessary). Although I haven't done it yet, there are smaller & cheaper speakers you can buy to hook up to the iPod so that you can easily port music to different rooms of the house. It's cool, too, because with mp3 enabled speakers, when people come over, they can just plug in *their* iPods/laptops into the speakers and play their own mixes if they want to. No more schlepping CD cases around!
Plus, all that portable storage; I'd never have to sort through nine million memory sticks again.
That's the really nifty thing! When I go out on client calls, I sometimes use the iPod as a portable portfolio (instead of schlepping my iBook around or carrying a paper portfolio). Customers dig it!
I think that if I were on the road more, I'd really want an iPod, since I could carry all my music with me on road trips. I'm shopping for a new car at the moment (major ick) and most of the models I've been looking at have stereo support for mp3 players, which is a definite plus.
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Which does not explain why the story ate my brain until I wrote it :) I'm very glad I'm not the only one who thinks it worked!
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Which does not explain why the story ate my brain until I wrote it
I think that's explained by the quality of the story; you knew it would be wrong to keep something that good all to yourself. See, it was your conscience that made you write it.
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They'd make an amazing SGA team. And by "amazing," I mean "very hard on the villages they visit, but the villagers never seem to mind."
And they'd get into tons of trouble and danger, but they'd be incredibly lucky and surprisingly resilient.
And Elizabeth would lose her last nerve trying to deal with them.
Yeah, I could so go for that.
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I also have the iTrip accessory, which means I can aim Percy at an FM radio and have the radio play the music out loud. Good for car trips (don't have the car accessory since I don't have a car) and working in the kitchen and the inevitable "You gotta hear this song" moments with friends.
Suggested accessories: depending on how it will be used, some sort of protective cover is a grand idea. Percival hangs out in my Daybag of Doom all the time, so he wears an iSkin (it's sort of a rubber condom). His is purple and glows blue in the dark -- very metrosexual is my Percival. You can get leather covers and fancier stuff, but some sort of protection against dropping and scratching is wise.
... and on to the recs: Daemonology was fantastic even though I don't know a daemon from a domain name. (Actually, I can probably identify the former as "not the latter", but...) I know I missed some of the subtlety, but the rest was really quite good.
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There don't seem to be a lot of covers and such for the new video iPods yet, so I got iPod socks; that will work until we figure out if Ivan (they, um, asked if we wanted to engrave anything on it, and it was free, so he has a name already) needs a travel case or just a skin or what.
Daemonology was fantastic even though I don't know a daemon from a domain name.
Yup, it so totally is. And wow. If you have any interest in YA or fantasy books, you should totally read His Dark Materials. It's amazing. The author has never written anything nearly as good as the series, and it's just - there's also an aleithometer, this weird truth-telling device, which is an artifact that needs to appear in all kinds of fandoms. It has a phenomenal world (series of, really), and I love the second book even more than the first (that's where Will comes in and where Lyra, the main character of the first book, grows up enough for me to really like her). And this a terrible reccish thing, because I'm afraid of spoiling the books. I just - really love them. Yes.
*pimps enticingly*
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There's no "s" on the end of Homicide: Life on the Street. Also, when you're talking about a person, it's principal (because he's your PAL, see? *koff*).
Now I must go read the stories.
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*off to fix*
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Second: iPods! Probably I will be repeating what a lot of other people have said, but let me just throw in a vote for maximum storage capacity over minimum physical size. I have both a 20G iPod that I got two years ago and that is therefore obsolete, and a fairly new Mini that I got for free thanks to the wonder that is Student Union. *g* I filled up the 20G, approx. 5,000-song 'Pod remarkably fast; the Mini, which like the Nano, holds 1,000 songs, is waaaaay too small on its own. Pretty, has better battery life than my old clunker, but definitely, definitely get as many gigs as you can.
As for accessories: a clip-to-your-belt carrier case/protector (iSkins are the fancy ones) is the No. 1 most important thing. Some of the models come with them, but not all, so that'd be my primary recommendation. They make it easier to dance around like a loon, Ã la the commercials--and that, of course, is half the fun. ;-)
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I took the advice about storage capacity over smallness to heart, so thanks for that as well. I was inclined towards the Nano, but so many people advocating the bigger one made me think. I mean, if you're going to carry music with you, why not carry all your music?
And I grabbed a cover (socks, actually, since there aren't a lot of nifty cases just yet); I'm still trying to figure out how Best Beloved will carry it, which makes a difference as far as permanent case and clipper thing. (But not to fear; I'll get one. I'm apparently very susceptible to iPod accessories, and I sort of...um. Went overboard a little.)
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- I have a 20GB clickwheel iPod. I love it. However, in retrospect, instead of getting one with enough capacity to hold my entire collection, I would have gone for something smaller, cheaper, and lighter-weight, and picked and chosen which playlists I'd bother to load. Since I do that anyway.
- It's worthwhile getting the dock, because you can plug a pair of speakers into it and suddenly make your stereo obsolete.
- The Griffin iTrip? Not worth it. You have to find a good FM band without too much competing noise (which will of course vary from town to town, if you travel), and then, to get decent reception, you have to fiddle with the volume. "There's definitely a sweet spot," the instructions say. And the sweet spot will vary depending on whcih FM band you're using, and also seems to vary based on whether, oh, you're driving under power lines or near mountains or near water or ... in short, you'll be fiddling with it constantly until you either give up or wreck your car.
I hear Alpine has a car stereo with an iPod dock built in, but as I remember, the website didn't even list the price, which is probably a warning sign.
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Thank you for the iTrip advice or warning or whatever; I was considering one, but I went with the tape adaptor instead. I can't imagine something that finicky working in LA, where we sometimes have two radio stations coming in together because the FM band is so crowded. (Yay, flist! I'm seriously considering consulting with you guys before all major purchases because you were so helpful with this one.)
I also got the dock, because - ooo! Stereo! And the idea of a car radio with a dock built in is excellent, except a) the no price thing is, yeah, pretty much a giant "TFV: Don't Bother" sign and b) it'd just get stolen anyway.
That's it. I am baking you cupcakes!
You are everything splendid.
::adores you::
Re: That's it. I am baking you cupcakes!
How would I have found Daemonology if not for you?
Is it not wonderful? If you haven't read her before, let me just rec
Who else would rec a story I'd almost forgotten I'd even written?
*snickers* That would, yes, definitely be me. I've recommended stories so old that the authors have had to click through and read them to remember them. I'm...kind of proud of it, actually.
Cupcakes!
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I am both fascinated and appalled by your mind.
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Yeah, it's, you know, kind of weird in here.
*snickers*
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(And how excellent is it? It's SGA *and* Dark Materials, and I am full of joy and awe. Fusions squee!)
WRT iPods, you'll probably get this with the iPod, but if you want to listen to it while travelling you should make sure to have the remote control thing, which you can use to change the volume, flick back and forwards through songs, and pause the iPod without getting it out of your pocket/bag/whatever. It's like a kind of cord that you attach like headphones, and ... well, here's a link (http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/71507/wo/rn7TnzJTZJRv2gmbIdPdzk4Buoi/1.SLID?mco=49C8A68F&nplm=M9128G%2FA) because my descriptive skills aren't that good.
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And thanks for the remote advice; I got one. Best Beloved's iPod will be highly accessorized. (It's just - the accessories are so cool! And now I want an iPod, too. It's a disease, isn't it? Or some weird brain-control thing?)
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I think that Fraser would have a crow. (No, I don't know where the crow came from either.) And she would steal people's shiny objects and swoop on them, and Fraser would apologise profusely. And he would have many different stories about the crow in mythology, and he would tell them to people.
Remotes are awesome, and iPods are addictive! And the accessories! I just wish you could listen to the radio on them.
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Also, I am the suckiest friend EVAR. But I'm glad you're still here. :-D
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And of course you should read those stories; they are the good crack, and cardboard boxes are allergic to that. Plus, they will help you stay sane.
(Have you read the His Dark Materials series?)
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Hee! Yes.
(Which suggests that any crossover can work in the right hands. I have long suspected this, though no one should write Pride and Prejudice x Backstreet Boys just to prove it.)
You know how that could work? If you had Pride and Prejudice as in the movie, and the Backstreet Boys decided they wanted to visit the set. A kind of P&P RPF/BSB crossover, as it were. Heh.
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NO NO NO TAKE IT BACK RIGHT NOW.
*hides in fear*
Some plot bunnies are not meant to be contemplated because then the world will end. I suspect that's one of them.
Although that could work. Would the set be, like, a portal to a fictional universe, or would they be interacting with the actors rather than the characters?
*realizes she is contemplating the uncontemplatable bunny*
NO! BACK, I SAY.
*makes sign of the cross*
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*hides with you*
Would the set be, like, a portal to a fictional universe, or would they be interacting with the actors rather than the characters?
See, I started with the latter, but then I was all, bring on the crack! Portals ahoy!
It would go like this: everyone would cut for lunch, and the BSBs would have already eaten while they were Herded Out Of The Way Of Filming by those minding them on the set. So they'd go into one of the rooms and, after messing around a bit, start acting out a scene, and then things would jolt and they'd stop and be all, what was that? And then Lydia would walk into the set (which is now an actual room) and be all, 'Who are you? Where did you come from? What are you wearing?' And then she'd realise, hey, they're actually quite hot. *flirts*
...*makes warding gestures against evil*
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(Maybe every fandom needs an HDM crossover!)
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OMG yes! Yes. I want to read this *so much* now.
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About the ipod thing:
Here is a good brief looks at the discontinued ipods (http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000337057889/), if you care.
I own a 20GB 4th generation monochrome ipod (U2 edition, meaning it's black with a red scroll wheel, which I think it prettier than the white with grey wheel). I [triple-mega-heart] my ipod. My only sadness is that I went for the 20GB instead of the 40GB. My music collection is hovering ~30GB right now, so... yes. It would have been nice, but I get in grooves where I listen to the same thing over and over for months on end, so it's ok. I like mine over the next generation of color ones, but that's mostly because the first computer I ever used was an old-school mac and the font on mine is the same as the one they used to use on those macs and it makes me happy.
I got the Monster iCarplay Wireless plus FM transmitter for my car because everyone I asked said that the other ones were crap and it also charges the ipod and runs the FM transmitter via a cigarette lighter, which is good for when I make the 8hour trip home. Tape adapters are easier to use, but I know not everyone has a tape deck these days and some people complain about the quiet background hiss that is always there.
If you have an apple store near you, I would definitely go check it out, because it helps to hold them, I think. Play with the interface a bit, see if it's something that makes sense to you. Plus, shiny toys! Always fun to play with! (http://www.monstercable.com/computer/productPageComputer.asp?pin=2660&LastPage=Apple%20Products) ()
On iPod-ing...
OMG. It is the best thing EVAR.
Seriously, I love it now that I have one. It is so much more convenient to have *all* my music in one simple device as opposed to scattered CDs all over the house. I can listen upstairs, downstairs, in the car, out in the yard, anything I want, anytime I want and its all on the iPod. So cool.
I also whole-heartedly concur with the comment by
The tape adapter has just been much more reliable for me. I live in the mountains, so the radio stations, they come and go. The tape deck, however, is always there for me. *g*
And I got my Maxwell tape adapter from the teensy electronics shelf in the local Rite Aid Pharmacy for about $14.99! Works great! Just got back from a 6 hour trip to North Carolina, used it the entire time.
Now that "Best Beloved" has one, you're gonna want one of your own, pretty much sure of that...*g*
Enjoy! I know I sure have!