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.