LP (that's the name of my lap top...jarrod has named his and mine was feeling left out) died the other day. based on opinions since, he succumbed to a virus. he's lucky he did not succumb to alli's fit of brutal and unrestrained rage towards things that are supposed to work and do not. solution: format windows, buy an external hard drive, start downloading. i was most upset to lose my music, however i did get it backed up and it seems to have survived the transfer to the new drive and happily living away from my unpredictable hard drive. i downloaded msn again and life has returned to normal.

my mom, on a slow but steady climb into the realms of technology, has opened up a new flickr.com account to display her wonderful photos. i love this one, simply because it is remarkably striking:

Only in Italy would you be able to get away with such fantastic walls...and flower pots. The one below is just a classic tourist shot. I wish they had also taken one of themselves leaning slightly over. i know, alli, like no one else has thought of that.

However, i still have this memory of being in Greece and wanting to take a photo of myself beside the guards doing the classic point with stupid grin on face, and i just couldn't do it in front of all the people watching. however, i wish, even years later, that i had taken that photo.

planning a small trip to windsor on feb. 11-12. my extended family does this huge fundraising pasta dinner thing and i have volunteered jarrod and i to help with the serving. i am trying to rent a car, however, being under twenty five without a valid insurance policy is proving more than difficult. actually, that will really throw a wrench in my plans if i cannot get that sorted out.