IT'S!

...not exactly Monty Python's Flying Circus, but close enough.
I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to write about, and I wouldn't blame you if you choose to stop reading right now. I'll start with my surroundings I suppose. At the mo I'm sitting outside of Mt. Hood Moka, one of the few places in my home town of Sandy, Oregon from which internet access is, well, accessible. To my left a line of cars is rolling perpetually on and on up Proctor (or is it Pioneer?) Boulevard toward the mountain. The famous Joe's Donut Shop sits nestled across the street between a row of hedges and a very tall and bushy tree, Meinig Park lurking just behind said confectionery shop. The sun is high in the sky, it's a lovely day, my two best friends are sitting with me at round table with their own laptops making a sort of triangle around the umbrella stand, and because this is a journal and not a tour guide, I shall now write about something else.
How about I just talk about summer in general? My summer so far (and that's only including the last four weeks actually) has been insanely eventful. My best friend's boyfriend came up from LA to visit us in the great state of green Oregon and for that whole week we (me, about four other friends, and friend's BF) were constantly driving to places, hiking the many trails through the wilderness, camping in the open air at Mirror Lake, walking around town, marveling at the new library, drinking tea with Brits, ogling at waterfalls, touring the WAAAM museum of aircrafts and vintage cars in Hood River, saying "and there's another view of Mt. Hood" whenever the trees would part to allow viewing of said mountain, watching a free performance Hamlet in the park (preformed by the lovely Portland Players), and many other wild occasions that I can't even remember.
Even after sir John-Justice (the boyfriend in question) departed back to the great-but-not-as-great-or-green-as-Oregon state of California, much more has happened and will as yet come to pass. Another best friend's birthday (Hannah or as you may know her dreamweaver808), the painting party that there ensued accompanied by hours of 'Gallifrey', adventuring back into the fantastical Oneonta Gorge, hours of classic Doctor Who (discovering this time around that Turlough is quite ridiculous), hiking along the Salmon River trail and watching various friends forge said river (heh heh), learning archery at another best friends house (yes there are many) and discovering that I am in fact a natural pro (four bulls-eye's in two rounds of shooting? yeah. truth not vanity... okay well maybe a little vanity, but that's not the point!), finding some lovely people to lease my horse to for the next year (and they belong to the same 4-H club I belonged to! Huzzah!), eating tiny wild Oregon strawberries, dying my hair red, giving oneself and one's friends henna tattoos, and etc etc etc...
And as for the future? This Wednesday my dad, little sister and I are sailing to Astoria via the Columbia River (although, if you're sailing, that's pretty much the only way you can get there. heh), on the 10th of August my friends and I are going to see a Franz Ferdinand concert in Portland, and sometime later in August I'm driving back to North Dakota (bleh) with a couple friends to then show them the sights (not that there are many. Oh, beautiful Oregon, I shall never underestimate you again!!!) So, yup, that's my summer. As for art, well, it happens spontaneously so I shall not endeavor to give any updates just yet.
Anything exciting happening in your summer? Or winter if you live in the southern hemisphere. Burrr! A cloud just covered the sun, so I'm going to wrap this random little entry up. Adios till next time!

~Laptop Screen Replacement Tutorial~

A couple months ago my laptop screen started to flicker, eventually completely blacking out. Turns out it was just something in the screen itself that had burnt out, but nothing at all wrong with the actually computer. I took it to Best Buy hoping they could help me with it. Of course that was a mistake as they tried convincing me that to buy a new screen would cost more than a bran new computer. Lies. Just saying. Never settle for a simple answer, people! you're getting ripped off! So then I went searching online for deals on computer screens. I found one at http://www.laptopscreen.com/ for a good price (I think it was around $140 which, yeah, is still expensive but way less than a new computer would have cost me). There's a section on their main page that says "Search by screen number" which I recommend doing as trying to find it any other way may land you with the wrong one. So, on the back of your old screen (once you have actually disassembled and disconnected it) you will see an 8-digit number (for example, mine was M156NWR1)

That is the number you will look for. Any other screen will not be compatible with your computer!
Okay, now for the actual installation bit.
~First off you want to get your old screen out. Remove all screws and screw covers (round rubber things) from the plastic front cover around your screen. Make sure you put them in a safe place!!! I put mine in a little plastic bag

When this is done the plastic front should snap off relatively easily. Just be very careful with the bits covering the hinges. It can be tricky to get them off but if you use a butter knife or some such tool you can carefully lift them off from the side.

With the inside now exposed you will see 2 panels holding your screen into place. You will need to remove the screws on these panels as well. Stow them with the other screws or in another container to avoid confusion.
When the screen is free you will need to disconnect 2 wires. One is found on the back of the screen and another on the lower right hand corner of the exposed computer.

Wire on back of screen

Wire on bottom right hand corner

Now it should be completely free from the body of the computer. Please be responsible and dispose of the old screen by taking it to a recycling center!!! These screens contain mercury which is very, VERY harmful to people and the environment and should be properly dispensed of. And no that doesn't mean sending it to a landfill! Okay, enough on that rant.

To install the new screen, basically you just have to reverse the steps for dissembling the old one. All the same i will give you a step-by-step.


~Connect the wires. Make sure they are turned the right way when plugging then in. Small metal bits fitting into the right places and all that. If you've ever put a puzzle together then you're good. Not too difficult. Also make sure they are pushed in ALL the way otherwise, upon turning it on later and discovering that you're only getting a white foggy glow, you'll have to go through the whole disassembling process again to do so. Don't make my mistakes!

~ Once the wires are all plugged in, connect the screen to the two metal panels with the small screws. They (the screws) should be magnetic, so, if you're very careful, you can hold each one with the screwdriver before replacing them instead of fumbling with them and loosing one. Again, don't make my mistakes!

~ The last step is the easiest (but again be careful with the hinge covers). Snap on the front plastic cover and replace the screws.

Because the adhesive on the backs of the screw covers may have worn off, I'd suggest using rubber cement. Easy to apply and equally as easy to simple rub off of any unintended areas once dry. Magical stuff, rubber cement.

Huzzah! You've done it! Replacing your very own laptop screen: check. So easy, even Donna Noble could have done it. Enjoy your lovely new installment in your favorite old laptop♥

Thoughts on this? Please let me know if this helped at all!