Lucas forgot to mention the most exciting part of our summer thus far: our day o' doctors appointments! Woohoo! Actually, for me it was more like my 3 days o' doctors appointments. I had a dentist appointment 2 weeks ago. Turns out at this dentist, if you are a new patient, they won't do a cleaning on your first visit. So, on my first visit I just had an exam and a painful procedure in which a pointy metal object was shoved into my gums so as to measure the depth. This was done in 3 places around each tooth--not fun. Anyway, at the end of the appointment I was informed I would be returning not just for a cleaning, but for several fillings (a surprise to no one...I have crappy teeth). In fact, it seems no matter what I do to take care of my teeth, it is never enough! I am an avid flosser, but apparently not aggressive enough with the floss. So, armed with a new flossing technique, I am now on a teeth protecting crusade. The dentist also recommended getting a real electric toothbrush instead of the Crest Spinpro I had been using. So, my ever growing birthday list now includes such mind-numbingly exciting items as...the Sonicare toothbrush and the Broomvac! I can hardly wait!

The fillings had to be done on different days because they were on different sides of my mouth. Apparently they don't like to numb your entire mouth at once, perhaps preventing excessive drooling as well as ridicule from your husband (who did have fun making me smile with only half my mouth working). The first day of dental fun lasted 3 hours and 15 minutes. This was followed by 1.5 more hours at the eye doctor. Including wait time, I was at the doctor for 4.5 hours on Tuesday. Apparently a glutton for punishment, I took an opening at the dentist the next day and went back for the filling on the other side. In all, my mouth has had enough. There will be massive efforts in teeth care around the Ward household. Lucas has been blessed with teeth of steel, however, and may or may not participate in my crusade.

That was long.

~Kelly

2 for Tuesdays deals at the Anaheim House of Blues rock! My sister and I paid only $15 each (including Ticketmaster's ridiculous charges) to see the Charlatans by doing the buy-one-get-one-free deal. I'm glad I waited until the last minute to buy tickets!

I think we have the concert-going experience down for the HOB in Anaheim now. Doors open at 7:30, so my sister and I met at 7:30, pick up tickets from will call, went to Naoplini and shared a panini, went to Sephora to browse makeup, went to the candy store and bought a cookie to split, and hung out until about 9:15. We finally headed in at that point, making it to the floor after the opening band was done and they were setting up for the Charlatans. We got right up front, right before the floor started to fill up.

The Charlatans were great. They look like they're in great shape, in a good mood, and they put on a full and diverse set. Considering that this was the next-to-the-last show of their American tour, it was great to see that they didn't look tired of playing. The whole band looked surprisingly happy, actually. Tim had his Disneyland pass sticker on and was looking healthier than I remember from the last time we saw the band, which I think was at some little off-Hollywood Blvd. place called Vinyl.

The show started with mild energy from the crowd, but the band's energy shone through, and as the show progressed, the audience and the band were feeding off each other, and everyone was really into it. They played songs from pretty much everything, old to new. I don't have their new album, Simpatico, yet, but was able to enjoy those songs. The rest was like a bunch of old memories flowing over me, remembering the other times I saw them perform live, and the way my sister and I had little inside jokes with singing the lyrics to some of the songs.

It got pretty hot in there. I think my favorite songs were Senses, North Country Boy, Weirdo, and One to Another, and Black and Blue.

We all had a good time, despite the growing "gym odor" and an obnoxious dude right up at the front. I'm glad I went, glad the crowd got into it, and had a fun time groovin' along.

We got the apartment. We move in tomorrow. I am both very excited and sort of scared. A new chapter begins....

Contra Anniversary Edition

Holy crap, it's a Flash version of Contra. The Konami Code doesn't work though, but there is a God Mode.

Google Browser Sync

This is exactly what I've been looking for. The extension will sync your browser settings, including bookmarks, across multiple computers. Now it won't take me forever to get Firefox on my laptop exactly the same as Firefox on my desktop. Now the only thing I'm wishing for is something like this that would synchronize your extensions on multiple computers so you didn't have to go around and find and install the ones you like and then wonder if you forgot anything.

This just showed up in my inbox:

hi brendoman, i know that u copied this picture
probley
from my space but here is the thing this is a picture
of my son when doing a google serach for emo hair well
there he is. Seb was sick for the past year and half
and has passed away april 30th, so i would really
apreciate if you would remove his picture it is
causeing
to much pain. and alot of the friends and kids are
haveing a hrad time dealing with this and so am i ,
espically when u do a google serach and there he
is.atthe time he thought it was funny but right now i
odn't think it is i think its just saf and emotional .
so hopefully
that u could remove this no matter what you think or
he thought of your hair he was still a great kid and
very much loved
so hopefully you will do this thank you in advance
and this is not no jokeing matter its the truth

chris

I'm going to let Gringo decide since it's regarding his post.

So today when I came home from work, I stopped at the store to buy some eggs, while I was there I bought a bag of corn chips and a jar of guacamole dip. When I got home, I put off dinner and decided to eat the chips and dip.

Not a good idea, I was filled with empty calories and no good food all day. This led to a headache, and an upset stomach. Also I didn't feel hungry, so when I determined I had to eat, it was difficult to enjoy it.

So don't do what I did, and eat right.