Sleeping last night wasn't too bad at all, in fact I think it hurts a lot less than when I got my 2nd earring holes pierced. I even slept on that left side a little bit, even if it was a bit gingerly. The belly ring doesn't hurt at all, although it makes me want to do a bit more Yoga and Pilates so I can get my abs firmer again so I can show it off, heh heh.

For some reason I didn't make the connection that I have a Saturday gig as well. I saw the April calendar and Friday is the 30th and we have a gig, but I didn't look much into May to see that we have one May 1st at Grand Lake. Looks like it's going to be another exhausting, sleepless weekend. Oh joy. And my waking hours will be filled with code dancing in my head I'm sure. I smile wistfully at the lazy days I used to have, curled up in a ball on the couch -- drawing, writing, creating digital paintings.... but I'm going through my workaholic phase right now, so everything balances itself out in the end.

Well I got it done :) I went to Body Piercing by Nicole and had my upper ear pierced. I was shocked -- it really didn't hurt at all! We marked where I wanted it done, and she told me to take a deep breath, and I did and that was it. The kinda squishy feeling/sound it made when it pierced the cartilage was yucky, but I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't hurt. Putting the ear jewelry in hurt a little bit, but it was over fast. I expected a smarting, swollen, red ear, but I got none of that at all -- in fact, within about 2 minutes, I couldn't feel anything at all...no pain, not uncomfortable, nothing! So that worked out great. While I was there and had the guts, I had my belly redone, since I hadn't had a ring in it for about 8 years, the hole had closed up. That was a tad uncomfortable, but no worse than someone giving you a hard pinch, really. And they both look great! I'm a little nervous when I have to sleep tonight, but I don't think it'll be too bad. It seems like people either feel a LOT of pain when they have it done, or no pain at all... I'm just glad I fit into the no pain category.

I just won an eBay bid for an adorable smiley face dangle navel jewelry -- it's quite cute, and was only $2.25. I can't change the one I have for about 3 months, so it'll have to just sit on my dresser smirking at me until around my birthday (August) when I go back in and have them change it out. Now I'm curious to see if people will comment on my ear at all ;-)

I've been coding day and night on several projects -- all are .NET applications, mostly C# with ASP.NET. They're all a ton of fun because I get to architect and design the entire application and solution, and am the only programmer on the project, but at times it can be incredibly overwhelming because I have nobody to rely on but myself to make deliverables. It's quite liberating though, being your own boss and setting your own schedules and timelines and delivering them on time. I do miss the nights when I could curl up and draw with my Wacom tablet though *pout*.

I see my article in PocketPC Magazine has hit newsstands now, so I'm pretty happy -- (page 34 if you happen by a Barnes & Noble or Borders bookstore) :D I wish I had time to work on my novel or at least more articles, but until my project load lightens up a bit it will have to be a back-burner kind of thing.

So far lately the only game I've been playing is MTG Online (Magic the Gathering). What a FUN game! This is my first foray into the collectible trading card arena and I've been having a blast. It's great for someone that's as busy as me because I can pop in, get a game started against another person immediately, have some fun for a few minutes, and then log off to go work on code again. I still wish some of the games listed below would finally get released.

We're playing Gray Snail Friday night, I'm looking forward to it. Tomorrow I think I'm going to go get the top of my left ear pierced. I'm a little nervous, but I think it'll look cool, especially when I wear my ponytails onstage like I do. I just hope it doesn't hurt like hell :P

I'm installing Magic: The Gathering Online on my laptop... yes I know it came out 10 years ago, but I finally decided to see what all the fuss is about. I've been a bored and fickle gamer lately, nothing's been able to hold my attention game-wise for long these days, I'm in game doldrums. I'll post later if I can figure out how to play. Looks kinda interesting in any case.

# Games I'm Waiting On: Doom 3
# Half-Life 2
# Everquest 2
# Dragon Empires
# The Sims 2

HURRY UP ALREADY!!

Woohoo, my article's out! http://www.pocketpcmag.com/Jul04/ If you enjoyed the article, please send me money, flowers, and a pink helicopter. Note to self: Insert PayPal Donation button here (hahaha). I've been busy this week, working on a portal project for a client in which I'm using DotNetNuke. I knocked DotNetNuke at first, but the more I look at it the more potential I think it really has. I'm going to give it a shot. My brain was trying to configure DotNetNuke in my sleep last night. Yes, I need a life.

Been playing FFXI Online some, and honestly I'm rather disappointed. I suppose because it's old technology and had to be tweaked to allow PS2 and PC players to coexist in the same world, but the UI stinks. The graphics are lackluster and unimpressive as well. That or maybe I'm just a spoiled rotten gamer. I drool over Age of Mythology (Titans expansion), Dungeon Siege (with LoA expansion), and NWN SoU/HoU expansions. Now those are pretty. Is it too much to ask to put a little more saturated color into a game I'll be staring at for four hours a night... *cough*... I mean two hours a night?