Woke up this mornin'...

Last time Aja made an entry, she spoke of hamsters boxing in her uterus. I remember it now not only because I click that link daily and end up seeing the same thing over and over again, but also I feel her pain.

No, really. Right now, I think they're having some kind of major hamster boxing competition in there. The grape-crushers have gone home because the boxing hamsters are too scary. And soon the casualties will arrive. It may be a welcome respite if the fighting has stopped.

For those of you who have never experienced pre-menstrual cramping, I'd like you to take a moment and imagine a time when you had to pee so bad that you could feel your urethra almost buzzing with the need to let go. Combine that with some unpleasant lower-abdomen cramping after a meal that just didn't settle right but got partially digested anyway, and now maybe there's some gas. Multiply by at least two, and you've got menstrual cramping. Only here, there is no amount of peeing or anything else to facilitate uncramping. The pain just sits there, defiant. Arrogant sonuvabitch.

There is Advil. And water. And believe me, I'm consuming both at this early hour.

I must not have slept well. I was resting mostly on unsheathed mattress when I woke up, and I couldn't sleep past 7:30. I need new sheets. I was having a long and somewhat weird dream with many parts that some people might find boring, and to you, I suggest tuning out the next couple paragraphs.

First was a thing at work. I was given a task that required me to learn some new software and make a thing for my boss with it. It looked like some kind of flow chart. I returned to work on a weekend to work on it, but the lab was overrun by some elderly people who had rented the place out for some kind of exercise function. All the computers had been moved to the basement, and that's where everyone had gone. I got down there, and every computer was being used by lab patrons. I was very frustrated until this group of kids stopped playing a stupid game and gave me a computer. Except that computer didn't have the program I needed, so I just wrote an email to my boss saying I couldn't do it.

Next, I was in class on the first day. Kevin was teaching the class. It occurred to me that I should've told some of the lab patrons to move since I was the person working there and I had the position of power. Then a door opened in the back of the classroom and it was my boss. His office was in the classroom. He gestured to me, trying to get me to come in, but I gestured back that I was in class. I was kind of amused at the prospect of my boyfriend meeting my boss in this way. Kevin was walking around the room, lecturing about blah blah first day things, so I motioned to him that I was leaving for just a sec and darted over there. He was frustrated that I hadn't done the project already, but understood my predicament. I promised to do it at the next opportunity.

My next class was so small, there were only three students and a female teacher. I don't know what the class was about, but we were discussing the meaning of cardinal directions. The other two were perfect blue-eyed, blond-hair, Aryan kids, a boy and a girl, and clearly good friends. They had in-depth answers for everything. They were discussing the Southern Cross of the room and how it was evil. The teacher was saying approving things, but I think the dream moved on or I woke up before it was my turn to explain anything.

Also, for some reason, I woke up with the song "Pearly" by Radiohead stuck in my head.

I checked out a new magazine yesterday. I don't know why; it looked trashy as hell. I think it was the combination of several buzzwords that made me think it might not suck, but then I also thought it would be populated by the kinds of articles that appear in Rolling Stone after all the pictures of celebrities and long, unreadable interviews with them. If only I had realized this was the same rag Monty reviewed a few days ago, finding little positive to accentuate. I must concur. There was an article about 2004 Democratic candidate Howard Dean that I liked (and I think Monty skipped), but otherwise, it was pretty... well, it thought rather highly of itself without the content or photography to back it up. It was *trying,* see, but it failed, I think.

Also, I really do not care what Bret Easton Ellis has to say about anime, even if it is negative. I don't care for anime, sure, but uh. Ripping apart Miyazaki? I like Miyazaki. It's pretty and has a somewhat positive slant, which is something Mr. Ellis might not be capable of. I mean, if you're going to watch some crazy animated film, it might as well be one of his. And if you're going to read a book, it might as well NOT be one of Bret Easton Ellis'.

The previous paragraph featured me, talking out of my ass. I haven't read any Bret Easton Ellis, but based on the majority opinion, it doesn't sound like something I *want* to read. A few years ago, a friend tried to convince me to read Less Than Zero, but the used bookstore price was always too high for me. I read another of his recommendations, Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, instead, which was quite good. So maybe I'm wrong. As for Spirited Away, I haven't seen it yet, but I am pretty sure I will like it. And I did see Princess Mononoke a couple times, which is also cool and pretty. And with that, I end my ass-talking justification.

Oh! I just remembered that there was a commercial for a television airing of The Big Lebowski in my dream! It showed a scene that doesn't really exist! The Dude and Walter were involved in some kind of gang war on the streets of LA at dusk. It was this great, swooping crane shot with lots of perspective and high contrast light and shadows. The Dude was telling Walter how he's a pacifist and Walter was doing something cuhrazy with his gun. I think that's where the "Pearly" thing came from. Anyway, bonus BL scene in my dream. Yeah!