I’m trying hard not to do anything rash, but I’m experiencing unexpectedly severe burnout at work. I thought a few days off after Independence Day would hold me over until this fall when I was planning to take some time for travel, but I was mistaken.

Hopefully I can arrange some time off soon and can endure through the next week or two, but it’s been an increasing struggle to stay at all motivated this summer.

I got to see my friend Buffi tonight! She called me up this morning and said she was going to be in town with The Polyphonic Spree and was going to get me in to see the show.

Despite it having been a very full day of shopping and dealing with people, Amy proved to be the Best Girlfriend EVAR by going along, even though that’s pretty far from the kind of music she likes. It was also pretty far from my usual stuff, though technically symphonic rock is in the progressive genre, this sounded a little more like a concert of closers for some extremely happy broadway shows. Still, I think it’s been something like 12 years since I last actually saw Buffi in person, so it was wonderful to have the chance. She was very good with the crowd who kept coming up to express their appreciation to 1/24th of the band (no kidding).

My only disappointment was that they didn’t play the tune they played on Scrubs, which is the only one I knew.

But the 9:30 Club has Boddington’s! Who knew they would pick up such civilization when Ireland’s Four Courts has dropped it?

I am pretty sure I’ve never experienced drinking a soft drink with part of my tongue numb before. It’s an odd sensation.

ZOMG. I can’t fraking believe that there will be no new Battlestar Galactica until 2008. I mean, sure, wait until November or something, but January or later? Is there some sort of nasty contract dispute?

Urrrrrgh.

Coworker: “What’s that?”
Me: “A heater. It gets cold in here.”
Coworker: “You’re crazy–it’s not cold in here!”
Me: “…because I have a heater on.”

My dad is totally a backseat driver, er, ASK-21 glider pilot.

I’ve finally gotten around to uploading some photos from my trip to Chicago last June.

And here is a select list–for those who can’t get Apple’s “Photo RSS” to work–of Dominica photos.

If you’re anxious every time you go some place because they usually do something really painful most of the time, is it a “phobia” or just “rational expectations”?

Yeah, I went to the dentist’s today. I think my mouth will be replacing the Franklin Mint as the primary repository of porcelain.

Here are some prettier things. Click on the above photo to go to a Flickr photoset full of them. (OK, there’s also a frog and a reprise of the bear scat. That was one big bear!)

I haven’t been posting much, I know. But I’m in one of those periods where little has really inspired me enough to write everybody in the whole world to tell them about it. I’m a firm believer in “write when you have something to say, not just to hear the sound of your own keyboard clacking.”

I’ve been busy with work, gone out on a couple of dates, gone hiking, and I went to Sonoma, CA for the Online Community Summit and saw my friend Robert in San Francisco that weekend. I might have some nice photos if I can ever get a selection down and get them on Flickr or some such (I’ve pretty much given up on Apple’s solution, until I hear that they’ve decided to have normal RSS feeds the rest of the world can consume).

Oh, I got a shiny new 24″ iMac Core 2 Duo, from which this is written. Maybe I’ve been just gazing at it much as the caveman gazed at the obelisk in 2001, and that’s why I haven’t posted. I’m sure I’ll be grabbing a jawbone and hitting somebody with it any day now.

Squeak continues to be fine. Still no idea what was wrong.