I did it
I defected and went to WordPress.com. The interface is more professional-looking, more streamlined and less...less birthday cake at the top of the screen. It seems a lot easier to add links and pictures (I never really messed with that here and always wanted to have more visuals in my posts) and seems to track more data and make commenting and whatnot more interactive. So, I'm there, at http://beckstereckster.wordpress.com/ and I'm pretty sure that you don't have to be a member to write comments. I'll still be coming back here every now and again to check the Friends page (haven't found out yet how WordPress does that).