bug prevents upload of pic

bug prevents upload of pic

I just tried to change my pic here as I got tired of the spinning globe. :) I tried to give it a new one (and deleted the old one) and it failed. In checking the pick, I saw that it was small enough, but it was bigger than 50x50. A quick resize fixed that (it's 50x49), but it still fails to upload. I tried putting the old one back, and that fails too. The messages in all cases are about the same, differing only in the /usr/tmp filename:

* The selected file /usr/tmp/tmp_tit88t could not be uploaded, because the destination files/pictures/picture-27.gif is not properly configured.
* Failed to upload the picture image; the pictures directory doesn't exist or is not writable.

I'd guess the 2nd one is the real reason, due to the problems from recently. Help? :)

Thanks!
Kevin