i will, power penguin.

i have now seen the end of it, and thus closed a chapter of my life. for years that movie freaked me out, and aside from being satisfied by finally having seen it in its entirety, i'm also really glad that my having been scared by it was completely justified. even as an adult i can say it was a good horror movie.

as i said to my mum earlier, that's a far cry from how i felt when i saw fright night and was embarrassed that it had caused me years of nightmares. i was embarrassed, but to be fair i was only six years old at the time.

i whiled away the afternoon fiddling with the guitar and catching up on how i met your mother. i eventually painted over half of yesterday's effort, i'll wait and see where that takes me.

my mum and i were discussing sleeping issues, and i laughed when she said i could try to fix them when i'm on holiday by taking a pill each night. i don't need the pill at night, i need the pill at stupid-o'clock in the morning when i wake up right after i've just managed to get to sleep. i need to take sleeping tablets so that i can miss the morning after, and not the party :P

i went out for sushi, sat reading huck finn (not too hard to ignore the wrestling on the telly) and enjoying good miso soup and the usual high-quality sushi. after i got back a bug in my bonnet got me signing up for an online dating service. i can't say that i have much faith in meeting someone interesting online, but it can't hurt to try.

reflections on my upcoming birthday:
i can't fill so much of my brainspace with worrying about my health. i got the results from sunday's test and an advisory listing all the things i should and shouldn't do to curb my fainting. some of the recommendations are absurd, and i'm making a decision here and now to chill out and quell the constant concerns over protein, sugar and water consumption, sleep deprivation, lack of physical activity and whatever else pops into my head. like my slipped disc, and... oh, crap. is this ageing? or just bad luck?

in fact, i'm determined to make good of the suggestion i received at the end of the course: "slide". i'm going to slide.

i must admit that i'm a bit sad about some of the sacrifices i've made / am making. i had the same problem with my university years. at the time it's hard, and then afterwards it's all worth it. i was aware of that then, and i'm aware of it now, but being in the army has never really suited my personality. at least i love the work i'm doing, although it's difficult for me to get excited about it. i want to be excited.

things are looking good with the apartment my mother and i are buying, and i *really* want my own space. i can almost taste a sense of permanence. like nailing things into walls and buying furniture.