Hi everyone, another Animation Newbie

I just wanted to introduce myself here. I have absolutely zero experience in art or animation, but I have a creative mind, and i'm always thinking of cartoon-like sequences in my head, scripts and all, so I thought it was time to start looking into how I could pull off some of my ideas and get them produced into real animation. Not being an artist, I will be relying more on my "content" than my artistic skills, and utilizing digitized images for my art content.
I have downloaded and i'm trying out 2 programs right now. The first, Mirage, which is difficult to learn, since I have no photoshop experience either, it's tricky right now. I am having more luck figuring out Flipbook, which is very easy to learn, but cannot do as much, it seems. I have made one animation so far, and I've been reading lots of threads on this forum for the past few days, to learn about the ideas and people in the forum, and what they are up to.
I know very little and any help would be appreciated. I'm inspired by the simplicity of cartoons like the Simpsons and South Park, and excited by the prospects of being able to create my own cartoons, even a little racier and radical. I grew up on Bugs Bunny, Warner Bros., Flintstones, Jetsons and everything else from the old days, but now i'm intrigued by how much can be done on the home computer. I'm not aspiring to make anything like the Animatrix but simple stuff would be fun to produce.
So far, my computer is a Pentium 4, running on 3 gightz, and I have lots of memory and space. I got a voice recorder, and i'm still on my trial versions of both Mirage and Flipbook. Working with Flipbook is also helping me to understand Mirage a little better. Is there anythign that Flipbook can do that Mirage cannot do? I'm thinking of using part of Flipbook, for some parts of my creations and Mirage for others. But i'm not sure if I need both pieces of software.
I'm wondering if I need the program Magpie and if so, which version is better for what I will be doing, standard or Pro?
I like the blend of pros and amateurs on these boards, and i've been having a good time reviewing many of ther animations, I'm looking forward to posting some here in the new future.
Has anyone bought Mirage's "Nomad", and does anyone know what the main differences are between the Nomad and a regular Tablet PC like Wecom's? I've read several complaints about Tablet pc's not being veyr good, so I was wondering what people thought about this one. I believe I read on their site that the Nomad comes with Mirage Installed, so it seems like it might be worth the extra money. Any thoughts, comments, or suggestions here?
Thanks,
Undergrounddog