I have wasted some time in the past,
But I'm past wasting time.

My cousin's home sick. A common cold, I think.

I know this because we were going to go bowling yesterday, but apparently we weren't. Fortunately I called home and found out before I'd taken the detour it takes to get to the bowling alley, after multiple messages and emails without response.

But I'm kinda pissed off, David. So much so that I feel like telling the world about this. I imagine myself actually taking the blue subway line as planned, not reaching out about a potential bite before this particular event, and then just waiting there in growing aggravation and/or worry, calling again and again without response, before eventually giving up and heading home, oblivious as to the reason you weren't there.

Not that it's usually easy to reach you, but at least this time:
you could have left a message.

It's painful.

I think I had the same thing a few years ago. Bursitis, I thought it was.

I'm not sure what it was this time around, but whatever it was it wouldn't let me sleep at night. Could be it was the result of all too hard a bunk bed on the cruise to Turku, could be it was the very basic (also not soft) beds at the Chesscom Guesthouse earlier, but it could also be I've just somehow moved my hips in unnatural ways while I've walked, or put pressure on them the wrong way whilst lifting weights, or possibly just slept wrong.

I usually sleep on my side, my right side, but the past couple of weeks there have been nights where I haven't been able to sleep at all. Lying on my sides didn't work, lying on my stomach definitely didn't work (I realized after posting that this particular way of phrasing this might give the impression I'm fat - I'm not - it's just uncomfortable), but at the worst times just lying on my back didn't seem to work either. It felt like my leg wasn't attached to the rest of my body, like it was stretched out, like - I imagine - on the torture racks you see in old torture chambers.

I tried adding pillows, a sheepskin patch, and eventually a softer mattress, and taking arnica (wolf's bane, great for bruises), and essential oils, and finally it seems to be alright again. I can't move my leg carelessly or I'll get a jolt of pain, but I can sleep! And walk. And I can sit around doing nothing - which oddly enough was always the one position where the hip felt OK.

Do wonder what it is though, and what sparks it, and how to best prevent it from ever coming back - because it really ain't pleasant. For now I'm stretching, and sleeping on my back a bit more than I used to.

Somehow that just doesn't feel like a sleeping position. I'm not sure I ever slept on my back before these two weeks, but when you're just tired enough any position works okay.

So, don't be a hipstir now. Here's hoping the new week's left me all cured! Oh and my cold: it's pretty much gone. Hopefully the final traces fade away through the night too, and the new week starts alright/new.

I had a really strange dream today (a few days ago at the time of posting).

I stood on a balcony - one of those that runs along the side of a building, around the corner even - accompanied by a large amount of other people. There were people of all ages, men and women and children, and some of them were jumping beside the fence, trying to see over the edge of it.

The concrete floor swayed a bit, and I was wondering how long it would hold. There was a gap between the fence and the floor as well, and I worried that some might slip through this gap. The people looked to me for guidance, but I wasn't sure what to give them.

The building stood over a hill running parallel to our balcony, slanting down, and it was as if the ground made way for sand, and a desert dystopia further away. I'm not sure what was over the edge of the hill above us, but it may have been mountains. Jagged peaks and valleys.

Though it looked like a regular apartment building, and we were all dressed casually as well, it seemed more like a stronghold the way it was placed, and just recently we had stormed the building to take control.

I'm not sure how many of us died, but I'm sure there were many, and yet we all wanted to leave the place now. We were hanging around until I said otherwise, and I didn't know what to say.

I found a small puppy almost hanging over the edge between the fence and floor, towards the end of the balcony, and I drew it back in to keep it from falling out, flipping it over in the process, and suddenly it was a slice of grilled mackerel.

It was dead.

The mackerel broke into pieces as I flipped it, and a larger dog - or maybe it was a kid - eyed me suspiciously as I did this. He was hanging close to the edge too.

I decided it was time to leave, and so I stood up and spoke to the people. I don't remember what I said, but I remember it was an inspiring speech, that I felt bad about the dead mackerel, and that this is when I woke up.

Just another one of those dreams...

Here's the story of a hitwoman who grows a conscience and decides to take care of the kid to a father she killed, but accidentally kills a key person in a rival gang while trying to sort things out to get the kid free, starting a clan war between her and their family - her family members unaware.

No, it's not a comedy. It turns out she's in pretty much the same situation as the kid, and their journey - and bonding experience, is an emotional rollercoaster that leads up to one pretty intense firefight before it's all over.

The introductory sequence (in the same style as the cover image above) had me thinking it'd be a Blaxploitation movie more like Coffy, but that was just that. The intro. The rest of the movie's straight up modern-day drama, all without those classy Blaxploitation zooms or soundtrack jazz (good soundtrack though), with some impressive action sequences, solid actors, but an unfortunately downplayed ending where the villains (there's no black or white though) are not all they're cracked up to be after all.

It's a solid movie a la Taken or similar, with a grittier hood-like vibe, but unfortunately it doesn't manage to rise above the mold, much due to the ending. But it leaves you satisfied. Mary's a bad-ass girl, and this was a bad-ass movie. Props Taraji P. Henson and Jahi Di'Allo Winston on lead roles done well, and it's good to see Danny Glover isn't too old to land one either. Also never wrong with a little Neal McDonough. Good watch.

 rated 3/5: not bad

Two American college students on a walking tour of Britain are attacked by a werewolf that none of the locals will admit exists.

And this was.. a comedy? I'm not sure I agree there, but prop-wise it was on a whole other level. Especially for a thirty year old movie. Until the very final scene with the werewolf running amok in the city it was impressively authentic, working with angles and techniques to create an atmosphere that really enhances the plot, even when both the set and the characters are highly limited. It feels like a cult classic on so many levels.

Fun, sad... I'm not sure what to take it as, but it was good. Solid everything, very atmospheric, with actors with personalities and weather to match the mood. Do miss the days when people weren't scared of the rain too.

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle