Daffys V, originally uploaded by LapisBlue.

I seem to be getting worse at updating my journal rather than better, despite my best intentions. I blame television, and the fact that there’s too much good stuff on nowadays. Between 24, Lost, Jericho, Grease, American Idol, Ghost Whisperer, Heroes, etc., etc., ad infinium, I haven’t any time to write. And, also, I don’t have internet at home right now. The story behind that is long and goes thusly:

I mentioned previously that I purchased a new computer complete with the shiny new Windows Vista. Little did I know at the time that my internet (Charter High Speed) was not compatable with Vista. When I tried to download the self-installation disk I still had from before, it told me my system didn’t have Windows 98 or higher, and therefore could not be installed on my computer. Gah! I’ve e-mailed Charter a couple times, but have been getting the run around, basically; they’re aware of the problem and are working on it, blah, blah, blah. They don’t know when the updated Charter High Speed will be ready, and don’t know if they can give me a discount for the time I’m unable to use my internet at home because they aren’t sure if the problem is really them or not. Double gah.

Anyway, I’m trying not to think about it too much because it makes my blood pressure shoot up to an unhealthy level, so I’ll move along. This past Saturday my friend DeeDee came down from Oregon, so she, Suzie and I got together in SLO. She had her four-year-old foster son with her, who was adorable and very well behaved despite having the energy of a, well, a four-year-old! We had a terrific time eating Big Mutha Nachos at Mother’s Tavern, wandering around downtown SLO showing DeeDee all the new stuff that’s moved in recently (Urban Outfitters, Sephora, Banana Republic, and Abercrombie and Fitch, to name a few), strolling along the creek, eating frozen yogurt, sitting in the park by the Mission, and catching up on each other’s lives. It was a lovely, albeit too brief, visit.

I had my “crown prep” dental visit and temporary tooth put on last week. The procedure itself wasn’t that bad, but ever since my now-faux tooth (or rather the sad quivering nubbin of my former real tooth) has been hurting whenever I chew food on that side, even soft food like cottage cheese and oatmeal. It’s better today, but it still aches, some. I have my regular cleaning appointment tomorrow afternoon, and plan to share my pain with my hygenist to see if that’s normal or not. The permanent crown is scheduled to be applied March 1st - the day I fly out to Green Bay for this year’s WeetaCon - and the last thing I want to deal with on my vacation is a sore tooth!

Finally, as you can see by the photo at the top of the page, our little daffodils in the backyard have bloomed! Naturally I had to take a bunch of pictures (with my new camera, which I love to death, by the way) and then play with them in Photoshop, which I installed on my new computer rather than Paint Shop Pro. Not that I have anything against PSP, but I’ve always wanted to try PS. Expect more weird, creative, bizarre, manipulated photos soon.  

Cheers!