It has, really. I spent the weekend down in Santa Cruz with LWSRN, and we went to the board walk. I haven't been on a roller coaster for years and she made a bee line for the biggest one there. Now I haven't been on one in years, and the last time I was on one was nearly a disaster -- I'd been on medication that was making me dizzy, and my lunch nearly had an out of body experience.

When I was a kid, they terrified me. Screaming terrified. I wanted to go on the little kids' roller coasters, even years after I was tall enough for the big ones. My mother and stepfather teased and cajoled, not quite forcing me to go, but embarrassing the hell out of me. It was not a good experience.

As an adult I avoided them. Then one year in my mid 20's, I was at a computer convention, and they'd gotten us night passes to Disneyland. I really don't know what got into me. I know their coasters are mild, but I went and rode all of them. That's all I did. Then I went home and bragged to Chris, who was kind of peeved at not having been there when it happened.

I started hunting them out at amusement parks, because I knew I could ride them. But I was always somewhat stiff and rigid during the ride. So stiff I couldn't have screamed if I'd wanted. Okay, maybe I didn't really enjoy them, but I could ride them. Then, with the medication, I had to stop. It took the joy out of amusement parks. I haven't had to deal with meds like that for about three years now and have wondered if I'd get queasy-dizzy if I tried again. But I've been skydiving for a year and a half, and I just haven't had the time.

So there we were on this big old wooden roller coaster. LWSRN gripping the bar tight and me just casually leaning back. The sudden turns were a bit annoying, but it has nothing on falling out of a plane and swooping into a formation of skydivers, or on landing under a couple hundred square feet of nylon.

Since I wasn't panicked or even excited by the whole thing, I took the time to tease LWSRN through the ride. She had a death grip on the bar, and was screaming -- it didn't look completely like enjoyment, but when it was over, we did it again, and again.

Some of you've noticed that I'm not writing as often as I used to. There's a reason for it -- I've been fighting a bout of depression recently. It's something I've lived with my whole life and I've discovered that talking about it is just not the best thing. So I get quiet instead. Anyway, the nice doctors have me on happy drugs again, and I'm feeling more myself, and life's beginning to go on. Never be afraid to ask for help. Never be afraid to take it.

This weekend I'm off for Las Vegas. It's a family thing -- I'll tell you all about it when I get back