Jenn Dolari @dolari@driveinsaturday.org

So, what's going on with Jenn. Got a call from my Doctor about the results from the MRI. I don't have a bulged disc, I have THREE. I need to call a spine specialist for injections tomorrow, and we'll find out when that will be.

I've heard good things about the injections, and they should take care of most of the pain. But my doctor said between this and the misaligned vertebrae, I'm looking at surgery in my future. When? Not sure, it all depends on how well the injections work.

Why does this affect my projects? The comics and writing are all done at my computer. Sitting down, versus standing, causes minor pain in my neck. Lifting my arm (specifically my left arm) begin hurting, tingling and if I hold it up too long, pain all down my left arm, shoulder blade and neck.

So I can't work on stuff anymore than a few minutes at a time. Cold compresses help, but not the computing stuff. So all my writing and drawing projects are on hold. I find I can type more if I do it with my bluetooth keypad and drop my arms, but that's like 30 minutes of computing time versus 15.

For a year that was supposed to have me rebooting all my creative projects, as well as start a really lucrative project with a friend, I may need to stop and try again later. :/

Not to alarm anyone, but the future of many of my projects now depends on when I can get into a spinal specialist for pain management. We'll find out hopefully sooner than later.

If there ever was an argument why physical media should still be a thing: https://gizmodo.com/star-trek-prodigy-paramount-plus-where-to-watch-buy-1850577267

You know, Paramount+ may have cancelled and removed Star Trek: Prodigy, but did Nickelodeon? We'll at least have a chance to record the show off Nickelodeon, and they conceivably could pick it up themselves for a Season 3....

Both are owned by Paramount, though, so I wouldn't get your hopes up, but they are different entities INSIDE Paramount.

"It's called Mario Twins! They look the same! Good God. They look so gat-dang much like the same person, I would ask them 'You want ice cream?' Both of them say yes. How in the hell?!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIeOULX79VA

I've been able to type a bit more than usual today. I guess using the bluetooth keyboard works better with this pinched nerve than sitting at my keyboard. At least for as long as the battery lasts.

So, before I posted my Zelda rankings, I watched all the memories straight through in Tears of the Kingdom. It's why the new rankings lean on story so hard.

I've seen Spock die in Wrath of Khan so many times, it almost becomes comical. But I remember the first time I saw it I was devasted. There are certain media experiences I refuse to repeat, because I never ever want to be desensitized to them.

One is the ending to Babylon 5, Sleeping in Light. I've seen it EXACTLY twice. The first time was so devastatingly "sad in a good way," I didn't want to lose that. The only other time I saw it was when I was showing a friend the series, and we'd gone through it all over the course of a summer. And it was just as devastatingly sad in a good way. I've refused to watch it again, just to not get desensitized and always have the memory of how a piece of fiction touched me.

The story in Tears of the Kingdom hits very close to me for personal reasons. So I've already got a deep connection to the storyline. And the story we get in flashback is, again, so devastatingly "sad in a good way" that I will likely never watch the last cutscenes again (not counting a possible stream playthrough, where I will have a ton of tissues waiting next to me), just to keep that memory of emotion alive.

This version of Zelda? Through Breath of the Wild to Tears of the Kingdom? She's seen some shit.

#tearsofthekingdom

When I went to the doctor the Friday before last she had me rotate my neck all over the place and ask me what hurt and what didn't. It turns out, if I bend my head foreard and to the right the pinched nerve pain goes away. It's one of the major reasons she was sure this was a pinched nerve.

Today, I spent the whole day cooking my week's meals and baking bread, and I felt pretty okay. I realized the reason was, I was standing the whole time (which helps to begin with) and looking down at the food as I prepared and cooked it. And I was fine.

So it looks like if I keep actie and look down, things are actually mostly okay.

But if anyone wants to fold my laundry for me, I'd still super appreciate it.

You know what I've never seen? "Night of the Lepus." I should fix that.

This Week's Fancy Pants Meal:

I actually got all my meals AND a bread made today. Gonna pay for it tomorrow, I think, but, it got done.

# Spaghetti Peperoncino

Personal Trainer: Cooking
13.0 servings

1.3125 pounds spaghetti
12.0 cloves garlic
6.0 whole red chili peppers
salt
3.0 tbsps olive oil (for finishing)
3.0 tsp parsley
0.6666666666666666 cups olive oil

1 - First, peel the garlic.
2 - Use a wooden spoon to crush the garlic.
3 - Remove the seeds from the red chilies.
4 - Pour the olive oil into the frying pan.
5 - Add the crushed garlic, and place the pan over moderate heat, tilting it slightly.
6 - When the garlic starts to steam and small bubbles appear, reduce to low heat.
7 - Gently sauté the garlic until it turns a golden brown.
8 - Tear the red chilies into small pieces, add them to the frying pan, and turn off the heat.
9 - Stir in the finely chopped Italian parsley and take the frying pan off the stove.
10 - Fill the saucepan with plenty of water and bring it to a boil.
11 - Add salt to the water, adding just under two teaspoons of salt for every quart of water you're boiling.
12 - Add the dried spaghetti, leaning it against the sides of the pan. Reduce to moderate heat.
13 - Keep the water at a gentle simmer, stirring occasionally. Refer to the cooking time given on the packaging of the spaghetti.
14 - Transfer 3/4 cups of the pasta water listed to the small bowl.
15 - To see if the spaghetti is ready, cut a piece with your thumbnail. If it's a little firm in the center, it's ready.
16 - Turn off the heat and use the sieve to drain off the water from the spaghetti.
17 - Put the frying pan with the garlic and chili in it back on the stove.
18 - Add a third of the pasta water you saved to the frying pan and heat over moderate heat.
19 - Move the pan back and forth a little on the stove so the oil and water mix fully.
20 - Add the rest of the cooking water you saved, half at a time. Mix it in while moving the pan back and forth.
21 - Add the spaghetti to the drying pan and stir it in briskly with the other ingredients.
22 - Season by stirring in salt to taste and turn off the heat.
23 - Drizzle some of the extra-virgn olive oil over the spaghetti.

#thisweeksmeals #cooking

This Week's Bread: Yeah it's the struan bread again. It's cheap and simple and good.

#cooking #thisweeksmeals