You could always mine other coins, like litecoin. But you're right, with ASIC's right around the corner so the mining landscape will be changing.
IMO, gotta start somewhere. I originally took up mining just bitcoin. But once I managed to understand that configuring for other coins was easy. However, make sure you do MUCH research regarding backing up and keeping your wallet secure.
Oh and patience above all. With the card you are going to get, mining will NOT be fast.