I've spent a better part of my alone time at home this week watching movies. First off, it's a great way to spend time 'doing nothing'. Second off, a lot of it Josh doesn't want to watch, so since he's not there, I can watch it without feeling like it would be time better spent with him. Lastly, there's been so many movies backlogged, that I had to get to it sometime!

Watched this week:

Something like 40 hours of olympic coverage. Actually, most of it was commercials. I forwarded thru 95% of it. It got like 100 gigs off the Tivo harddrive tho!

1. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Not too bad for a 'space out and watch fantasy' movie.
2. Battle Royale. Talk about wacky and fucked up! The Japanese seem to love this film. Something about growing up as a teenager in Japan...*shrug*.
3. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. This movie was better than the 4th film.
4. L.A. Confidential. Awesome. I love these kinds of movies.
5. The Pursuit of Happyness. An 'awww', feel-good movie.
6. Night at the Museum. I don't like Ben Stiller too awful much, but this was a cute adventure family movie.

Tonight's movie: The Da Vinci Code. Eh, I dunno about this one. We'll see if it's worth the 2+ hours.

Arriving tomorrow:
1. Friday Night Lights. If I like this movie, I'll start watching the series.
2. Six Degrees of Separation. I dunno about this one either. I like Will Smith, so we'll see.
3. Hairspray. I saw the original at a really fsked up 60s party in 1999, but I don't remember much of it...which I guess was the point :P. But this remake has an awesome cast, and I'm looking forward to watching it.

1. Do you ever get a 'break' from people (Say your S.O. goes on a personal vacation or something)? If you do, do you like the time alone? Why/why not?
Yup. Burning Man is usually my vacation from most of the people I know and hang out with. Meaning, they all go to Burning Man where most of them are out of touch with the outside world, and I get a week to do nothing at all, which I love. I like that once a year, but that's about it.

2. Do you think being alone is a bad thing? Why/why not?
Not at all. Everyone needs their 'alone time'. Weather it's just sitting at home doing your own thing for a week, going to a specific place, or just shutting the door to a room for 10 minutes. Everyone needs time to collect their thoughts and prepare for the next thing on the agenda of life.

3. Everyone gets lonely sometimes. How do you cope with being lonely? What do you do to make that feeling go away?
I usually really look forward to my week alone, but this time around, I'd rather have the company. I know, I know, I can never be pleased! But I've been filling the lonliness with work, watching lots of movies I hadn't taken the time to watch before, going on walks, and spending time pampering my kids. It hasn't been so bad. My body reacting badly to my meds did not help things, but the effects are going away, so I'm in a better headspace now, and have been enjoying my alone time the past day or two. And...Josh comes home in 2.5 days! Yaaaaaaaay!

1. Do you ever get a 'break' from people (Say your S.O. goes on a personal vacation or something)? If you do, do you like the time alone? Why/why not?

3. Everyone gets lonely sometimes. How do you cope with being lonely? What do you do to make that feeling go away?

Remember to post these in your blog and don't forget to post a comment letting us know where you posted them by posting a link here.

I feel a lot better today. Still some nervousness from the little bit last of Neurontin that's still in my body, but a few more days and I should be good to go. I also haven't had a debilitating headache at all today! First time in....*counts*..31 days. Hypertension going away, yay! I'm gonna give myself a few more days of wearing my glasses, but I'm muy glad most of the pain has gone away. I even slept well last night!

And only 3.5 days until Josh comes home! I dunno why, but I *really* miss him this time around. Usually I'm greatful for the week of living alone and the peace and quiet, but I almost welcome the noise and chaos right now. Oh noes, what happened to me? :P

I went and saw this specialist guy and without going into details that would gross everyone out, he wants to do a few tests, and then the treatment can begin if it needs to be treated.

I'm just glad I'm not feeling all completely psycho today. Yesterday was better, but today is better still. I watched a *lot* of TV yesterday. I watched and cleared out all of the olympic coverage I wanted to watch, watched a few other things, my news, and 'L.A. Confidential'. That movie was awesome. So, there's *lots* of empty harddrive space on the Tivo now. I also finished the 5th Harry Potter movie, and also watched 'Pursuit of Happyness'. The other night, M and I finished Battle Royal, which was kinda fucked up. Oh, and I also plowed thru 'Night at the Museum', which was entertaining. I have gone thru *all* of my Netflix movies finally! I should have 4 new movies to watch by the end of the week. I also have a few left on the Tivo to watch. Yay for getting stuff done!

Tonight, I think I will...do nothing! I'll do my chores, check in on Buster's cat, watch a movie, and go to bed. Speaking of watching Mushu, Buster gave me an Amazon gift card for watching teh kitteh! Awww...so nice! What shall I buy? Well, I was eyeing a couple of old old old Madonna albums I wanted....hehe.

Oh..and 3.5 days til Josh comes home! Did I mention that already? :)

I had to stop taking my Neurontin because it was making my body a ball of twisted, gnarly tension. The recovery has been slow, and I've been feeling a lot under the weather. I went and saw my GP and worked most of the day, then came home at 3 and chilled the rest of the afternoon. I just couldn't talk myself out of bed this morning. I slept til 9:30, and have been drinking tea, using Josh's majic buckwheat pillow, and watching olympics. I figured I should get on that since the Tivo was 3/4 full :P

I may try and venture out to Long's today, but I still have yet to talk myself into that. Today's been better than yesterday, and I'm sure tomorrow will be better still.

Last year, my internet friend (whois an artist) was drawing postcards and posting them on the Tubes, I liked a particular gazelle one, and so he sent it to me and I framed it and put it on the wall.

Today, after cleaning my house from head to toe because Buster let me borrow his vacuum because Domo3 needs some repairs, and having a massive allergy attack, I decided to let my brain down by playing Mass Effect. Brainless, but it takes my mind off things. I decided at 6p, I would pause the game and go check the mail. And there, in the stack of spam was a new gazelle postcard! It's strange, but I like strange. Strange things for the strange Missy. And receiving it lifted my spirits when they particularly needed to be lifted, so thank you very much!

Some of my problem has to do with my electrical (nervous) system still being overloaded. The other half...I dunno *what* the hell is going on, but I may have to go see a headshrinker if these panic (and also feels like allergy attacks) keep up. No muy bueno!

Also, a lot of people have left for Burning Man already, which means I've got my alone time. This sucks and is cool at the same time. It is cool because I like my peace and quiet and a whole week to myself to just *be by myself*. But it sucks because my stupid body is...well...being my stupid body.

Since I've been kinda feeling down lately, this was a really big ego boost!

Thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou p0ne!!

Now I gotta go get another pitcher frame :)

1. What are your favorite colors?
Blue and Purple.

2. What is your favorite kind of clothing to wear? Why? What's your least favorite?
PJs or boxers, jeans, and a t-shirt. I absoultly hate dressing up. It's uncomfortable!

3. Do you like to take showers or baths? Why/why not?
Both! It depends on what kind of mood I'm in.

Well, sleeping almost 30 out of the past 36 hours as helped. I no longer have a headache. I'm kinda groggy from the constant ambien, but that will wash out with water. I also called my acupuncturist and let him know what was up. "Damn, I've heard of overdoing it, but not like that". Ya well, no one ever said I was a text book case! Josh left for Burning Man around 10, and then I walked down to get coffee beans because I did not have any, got some herbal tea for this morning, talked to my mom, and made an appointment for 6p to have a mani/pedi done. I deserve it! And then I am not going to do anything the entire weekend except for make an appearance at M's BBQ on Sunday. A 4-day weekend should do me well. And I'm glad to be rid of that goddamned headache. 25 days was killing me.

I was under a lot of stress for the past month. Now that most of it is gone, my poor body is shredded. In the past week, I've been to the chiro twice, the acupuncturist twice, and had a massage...just to try and make the pain go away so I could try and avoid the ER. And, I failed.

I got mucho major acupuncture yesterday, then a deep-tissue massage. I went to bed at midnight, and woke up at 2 in horrible burning pain everywhere. At 4, after trying for 2 hours, I couldn't take the constant jitters, the burning pain, or my chest hurting, so Josh took me to the ER. Their diagnosis: hypertension and muscle stiffness. It was probly yesterday's major body manipulation that did it. They gave me some stuff to settle down the nerves and muscles. The rest, my body will have to fix on its own.

I just got home from the hospital 20 minutes ago, am eating some granola, and am gonna try my damnest to go to bed and sleep most of the day.

Stupid stress. Stupid body. Stupid me.

1. What are your favorite colors?

3. Do you like to take showers or baths? Why/why not?

Remember to post these in your blog and don't forget to post a comment letting us know where you posted them by posting a link here

Thanks Kellye! :)

Yes, that's really me in a dress...don't tell anyone :P

Pictures I took of InSoc's "Vector" are here, (or click on the pitcher below)!

I had a fairly decent weekend, but I spent most of it in residual pain. At least it wasn't major pain! I went and saw my acupuncturist Friday afternoon, and he took away most of the pain. After two chiro appointments and an acupuncture session, he basically said that I had screwed myself up so badly from all the stress that I should come back this week for another appointment *and* a massage. w00h00 a free massage! So, I'm doing that Wednesday.

I was supposed to go to the city Friday night, but bailed out and listened to my body that it needed sleep. I went to bed about 10:30p and woke up about 7:30a when I was woken up by a noise, then tossed and turned for another 3 hours. I think I got a total of 10 or 11 hours of sleep. I felt better, but still had some residual pain. Saturday, we went to Lois for breakfast, and then Josh and I made a big Costco/BevMo/Safeway shopping trip. Somehow, we made it alive, and I got everything put away in an hour. Yay me! After that, Josh and I spent the evening together, and it was good :)

Yesterday, I got up and fed Squeeek, made my coffee, and read my RSS feeds. I brushed Jag, my stray, for a little bit, then had a short conversation with Peet's dad about them moving, and then Josh woke up. We hung out for a bit, then he went off to do Burning Man prep work. Because I'm a good girlfriend, I offered to do Josh's 50 (okay, 5, but it sure seemed like 50!) loads of laundry, so that's what I did with my afternoon in-between listening to bad 80s music and watching Olympic coverage. About 3:30p or 4, my upstairs neighbor started making a lot of noise in his kitchen, right above my head. At 4pm, there was no way I could complain, even if he would answer the door, so I tried to ignore it. By 8p, it was so constant and hadn't stopped at all, that I had a pretty bad headache from trying to ignore it. I went upstairs, knocked on the door, and a friend of his answered. I profusely apologized for bothering them, and that it was before quiet hours, but they had been at it for at least 3 hours and that they were shaking my ceiling and I had a headache as a result. The friend was really nice, and they were relatively quiet the rest of the night. I felt bad for complaining, but *damn*, it was loud. Like *really* loud. It sounded like he was either packing up the kitchen or putting every dish away. Who knows. I just know it was *loud* and *constant*. After that, knowing I was pretty sure that I didn't have a right to complain too loudly because it was only 8p, I looked up the Oakland/Alameda county community noise codes. Quiet hours are from 10p-7a, pretty much like I had imagined (I thought it was 9a, but I'm up at 7a anyway, so whatever). But now I have documentation of it in case I ever need it. I chilled out, Josh came home and we hung out and watched Olympics for a bit, and then I went to bed at 10:30p.

I think because I had a low-grade migraine all week, I'm a little more sensitive to noise than usual. This isn't anyone's fault, just par for the course. It sux tho. Sensitivity, go away! :P

Poor Squeeek is in somewhat sorry shape after his encounter with Peet the other day. He was okay when I let him in Thursday night. Then that soreness set in. You know, like when you work out really hard, you're kinda sore the next day, and then the day after that you can hardly move? Just like that. Friday, I touched him on one of his ribs, and he bitched, so I think he's got a couple of slightly bruised ribs. He was bouncing between the buildings pretty hard, towards the end there. Saturday, he still ate, took baths, and used the box, but slept pretty much the entire rest of the time. Yesterday was the same. Unfortunately, I can't give him any pain relievers, so his little body is going to have to fix itself. Fortunately, animals heal fairly quickly. I think with enough sleep and pampering, he'll be fine towards the end of the week. Poor guy. He looks kinda misreable and really tired. But hey, it's his own damn fault! And he's totally staying in for awhile.

Tonight is Movie Night with M, tomorrow I'm spending the evening with Josh, Wednesday I'm hanging out with another friend, and Thursday, I'm going to help a little with the BM prep. And then I'm not doing anything for a week :P. I have a specialist appointment next Wednesday, but that's the only thing officially on my calendar.

I was walking down 40th Street this morning on the way to BART when I happened along the car in the following picture:

It's 'The Car' (Vector, is it's real name)! Unless you're an Information Society fan and either at Burning Man (which it's on its way to, I'm sure) or at an InSoc. show (which, I saw it there too), how many times are you gonna see this thing sitting on the street? It was sitting in front of a transmission shop, so I bet it's getting work done on it before it goes for the long haul to BM. I took some pictures with my fone camera, and will post them later.

This is just a very cool thing for a music geek! It'd be like seeing Kitt or the A-team van on the street :P

Yay! It made my Monday morning :)

Why with a spoon? That's what I had in my hand when all of this happened:

Man alive, I wanted to beat that child. Yesterday, I was on the couch with a low-grade migraine when all of a sudden, I heard Peet (the dog next door) barking. And barking. And barking. It was about that time that both Peet's dad and myself went outside at the same time to see Squeeek in Peet's yard, right where he *wasn't* supposed to be. Peet went after Squeeek. Peet's dad goes after Peet. I'm screaming at Squeeek to get the hell out of there. Peet corners Squeeek with Dad at the rear. Squeeek somehow gets out of being cornered, runs up some stairs, and is cornered again, followed by Peet and Dad.. Dad restrains Peet, while Squeeek mades a *mad* dash for his life between their house and our building. He literally bounces between the walls a few times, and then somehow clears his head enough to squeeze his 15lb fat ass thru a hole in the fence no bigger than his head, and *bolts* for dear life up the street. I've never seen so much power and speed come out of that cat ever.

Stupid fucker. Squeeek gave Peet, his dad, myself *and* Josh a damn heart attack. He knew he wasn't supposed to be on the ground in their yard. He knew what happened to G. Hell, he taunts Peet on a regular basis now as a result!! But he just *had* to push the envelope, didn't he? After I saw him bolt up the street, I didn't see him for the rest of the night. My migrane meds had kicked in by then, and I had no choice but to be ubber sympathetic and chill to Peet and his dad. Apparently, Squeeek's defenses of claws, spray and poo worked, and it's one of the reasons he's still alive this morning. I guess Peet had to be taken to go get a bath because he was covered in ucky junk.

I tossed and turned until something pulled me out of bed at midnight, and there was Squeeek at the sliding glass door, wanting to come in. So, instead of beating him with a spoon (everyone knows this is an idle threat...I'd never beat an animal for any reason!), I hugged the air out of him a few times, gave him wet food, had myself a bowl of CoCoa Puffs, and went back to bed for 7.5 hours. But, that's it. Last night was the final straw. He's staying inside. I can't stand to loose another cat to the same dog. In a coincidence, it seems as if Peet and his family are moving to Chicago in a few weeks, so he won't be a threat anymore, but I'm so shaken that I'm not letting Squeeek out for a good while. A *good* while. I'm mad and relieved at the same time. He's not a kitten anymore. He's 11. And I just can't expect him to escape every time like that anymore.

So, that was my excitement for yesterday.

As far as the head thing goes, I've had some form of headache that just keeps getting worse for about 3 weeks now. This week, it has been really bad. I went to the chiro on Wednesday, and walked out with no headache (just a residual one). But then yesterday (not having very much experience with migraines), I had a vodka drink, and *bam*, the pain came right back. And I think that I was so stressed for so long, that my body was used to certain bones being out of place, and all that pain just made them fall back out of place. The body does that sometimes. Stupid body! So, I have another chiro apt this afternoon, and then a needle-guy appointment after that. And hopefully *that* should calm things down. I may need to go back to the needle guy again next week, but I finally got my tax check, and so I have a few extra bucks to spend at the moment. Albeit a total of $240 when everything is said and done, but it's the price I pay for being a stressed out Panda when things beyond my control happen. All of this extra stress and pain means my nerves are flaring up big-time again. Moderate levels of pain all around plus some. It sux. I think telling the needle guy about my nerve condition will help him to treat me better also. I'll probly be there awhile today :P. I'll learn some day, I swear!

It's been a productive morning so far. I got out of bed and took a shower, tortured Squeeek with some more love, drove to work, paid all of my bills for the month, read my news, did work stuff, and did this blog entry. Now it's time for more work.

Tonight, the Plasterkatz are playing at Ireland's 32 in the city, and I think I'm going with my friend Jaeson whois still here, and some other people. But, no drinking! Not even any Guinness! At an Irish bar! Wah! Salright, sobriety never killed anybody :)

I'm anticipating a good weekend.