Early start
QOTD: "People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light within."
Crashed early early last night. Was sitting at my computer and decided I needed to lie down for a minute. I woke up twice while it was dark, but went back to sleep. Finally woke up when it was light out. It felt like three in the afternoon, but from the way the sky was lit, I figured it was before ten. My clock told me it was just after eight, and I got up because I couldn't come up with any better ideas. Tinkered online for a few minutes before going over to the Toyota place and getting my free oil change. Saw the salesman that sold me my car. Also saw him yesterday in the Wal-Mart parking lot, so that was interesting for him. The ride there and back was really pleasant. The temperature here is incredibly nice today and the air conditioning in my car was set exactly right. Reminded me of vacations my family would take in the summer. The air would always be a little colder than usual in the car because we got up very early and it helped keep my parents awake, I think. I'd always be most awake by about 9:30 and we'd be a little ways past Hattiesburg by then (maybe more, depending on my parents' ambition that year) on our way to Illinois to visit my grandparents. I felt alert and excited in a small way about going places that I either hadn't been before or rarely get to see. This morning felt like that and it was damned near perfection. It's been a while since I've felt like that and it's very comforting to know that it's still possible.
In contrast, I had a particularly striking dream last night. I was in my apartment and I detected someone outside my door. I looked through the closed blinds and saw someone crouched down outside the door trying to stuff some kind of envelope under the door. The person was a man in his early 30s, I estimate. He apparently lived in the same apartment complex as I, but on the first floor. The letter was some kind of gay hate letter and it was rather lengthy. He got the letter into my apartment, but then waited and monitored my apartment to see if anyone came to get it, since it made substaintial noise coming in. With the way my apartment is designed, this kind of thing is possible to monitor. I was positioned in an unmonitorable section of the apartment, however, so I monitored him instead. He finally went away, back down the stairs. I retrieved the letter and sat down on my couch and opened it. It was now bound in some kind of leather, and the pages were folded. There were a lot of pages. Fifty or so. They were all hand-written. The contents mentioned something about his brother, but that's all I remember. I hadn't gotten very far when there was a ferocious banging on the door. There was no way to approach the door without being detected, so I moved quickly. The man had returned. I think I addressed him in some way, but maybe not. He started attacking the door. I did my best to secure the door, but one of the panels in the door (which doesn't exist in this fashion in real life) busted out as his head rammed through it. This man was incensed and was homocidally maniacal. I grabbed a large section of broken board and attempted to slash the side of his neck while he was wedged in the door. His neck was either abnormally resilient to slashing attacks or my board was too dull. He made another violent strike and broke through the better part of the door and began to free himself. Recognizing the loss of this barricade, I ran toward the bedroom and for the phone. The man broke through the door and gave chase. I got to the phone without much time advantage and dialed 911. I got through immediately, but there was some issue with it being a Vonage line and my carrier not being properly identified and I was put on hold and the man attacked. I remember that my projections were not good and that my target goal was not to avoid injury but simply to survive long enough with the attacker for police to respond. Was a more violent dream than my standard fare. Not really what I would classify as a nightmare, though. I didn't feel unsettled upon waking.
Today I need to work on cleaning my apartment and doing my taxes. I've been working on defragging my hard drive and have made significant progress, though it's really just a spit in the bucket given how far out of hand it's gotten. Small moves.
Also, the Mars Reconaissance Orbiter has successfully entered Martian orbit, making it only the second craft to complete orbital insertion of Mars out of the four attempted by NASA.
Crashed early early last night. Was sitting at my computer and decided I needed to lie down for a minute. I woke up twice while it was dark, but went back to sleep. Finally woke up when it was light out. It felt like three in the afternoon, but from the way the sky was lit, I figured it was before ten. My clock told me it was just after eight, and I got up because I couldn't come up with any better ideas. Tinkered online for a few minutes before going over to the Toyota place and getting my free oil change. Saw the salesman that sold me my car. Also saw him yesterday in the Wal-Mart parking lot, so that was interesting for him. The ride there and back was really pleasant. The temperature here is incredibly nice today and the air conditioning in my car was set exactly right. Reminded me of vacations my family would take in the summer. The air would always be a little colder than usual in the car because we got up very early and it helped keep my parents awake, I think. I'd always be most awake by about 9:30 and we'd be a little ways past Hattiesburg by then (maybe more, depending on my parents' ambition that year) on our way to Illinois to visit my grandparents. I felt alert and excited in a small way about going places that I either hadn't been before or rarely get to see. This morning felt like that and it was damned near perfection. It's been a while since I've felt like that and it's very comforting to know that it's still possible.
In contrast, I had a particularly striking dream last night. I was in my apartment and I detected someone outside my door. I looked through the closed blinds and saw someone crouched down outside the door trying to stuff some kind of envelope under the door. The person was a man in his early 30s, I estimate. He apparently lived in the same apartment complex as I, but on the first floor. The letter was some kind of gay hate letter and it was rather lengthy. He got the letter into my apartment, but then waited and monitored my apartment to see if anyone came to get it, since it made substaintial noise coming in. With the way my apartment is designed, this kind of thing is possible to monitor. I was positioned in an unmonitorable section of the apartment, however, so I monitored him instead. He finally went away, back down the stairs. I retrieved the letter and sat down on my couch and opened it. It was now bound in some kind of leather, and the pages were folded. There were a lot of pages. Fifty or so. They were all hand-written. The contents mentioned something about his brother, but that's all I remember. I hadn't gotten very far when there was a ferocious banging on the door. There was no way to approach the door without being detected, so I moved quickly. The man had returned. I think I addressed him in some way, but maybe not. He started attacking the door. I did my best to secure the door, but one of the panels in the door (which doesn't exist in this fashion in real life) busted out as his head rammed through it. This man was incensed and was homocidally maniacal. I grabbed a large section of broken board and attempted to slash the side of his neck while he was wedged in the door. His neck was either abnormally resilient to slashing attacks or my board was too dull. He made another violent strike and broke through the better part of the door and began to free himself. Recognizing the loss of this barricade, I ran toward the bedroom and for the phone. The man broke through the door and gave chase. I got to the phone without much time advantage and dialed 911. I got through immediately, but there was some issue with it being a Vonage line and my carrier not being properly identified and I was put on hold and the man attacked. I remember that my projections were not good and that my target goal was not to avoid injury but simply to survive long enough with the attacker for police to respond. Was a more violent dream than my standard fare. Not really what I would classify as a nightmare, though. I didn't feel unsettled upon waking.
Today I need to work on cleaning my apartment and doing my taxes. I've been working on defragging my hard drive and have made significant progress, though it's really just a spit in the bucket given how far out of hand it's gotten. Small moves.
Also, the Mars Reconaissance Orbiter has successfully entered Martian orbit, making it only the second craft to complete orbital insertion of Mars out of the four attempted by NASA.