It doesn't hurt so much, but I expect you know that. The worst part for me was just lying down and waiting. It was hard to distract myself from the idea of a needle in my arm. I should have brought something to read, because without reading material, my brain does something like this:

"Okay, listen to the music. They're playing 'Yellow Submarine,' that's nice-- but there's a needle in my arm-- no, no. Okay relax... breathe... squeeze the ball... how about sex? Okay, I'm in a room with [name withheld] and he's kissing me and there's a needle in my arm. No, no. Okay. Um. Poetry. I bet when I get home there will be a notice from a big important lit mag that says, 'We're thrilled to be printing your poetry, because you're very talented and also there's a needle in your arm.' Aaugh! Must think about something else... anything else... Shit. I'm drawing a blank. Because there's a needle in my arm! Holy jesus a needle! In! My! Arm!"

It seemed to be taking forever-- and as it turned out, my blood was clotting quickly and I didn't end up donating the full amount. My body was like, "You're trying to take what?!? Well fuck you!" I love my body. I guess the nurse could have tapped a new vein, but I think she could tell I was just barely hanging on.

As soon as it was all over, that's when I started to tear up. I wanted my sister, my mommy, my best friend. I wanted a pat on the head and a cookie. I wanted people to say, "Oh, poor little Mo." In other words, I am a big baby. But hey, I did it. That's something to be proud of. I still have a hole in my arm and a bruise, but I am trying my level best not to think about it.

Of course, my mother freaked me out later. She's like, "You know, if your blood clots easily, you could get a blood clot in your heart and then you could die." Gee, thanks, Mom. So I called the Red Cross and they said that I should talk to my doctor about it, but it isn't unheard of to have this happen. After all, your blood is supposed to clot if there's a hole in your body. That's sort of the point.

So after that, I whined a lot. Probst (who I am not romantically involved with anymore, by the way) took the brunt of the whining. I demanded a caramel brownie and a movie. And juice. And popcorn. And a soda. "I'm not supposed to skip any meals," I said, as an excuse to have snacks. "And no exercise," I said, when he suggested walking two whole blocks. Don't you wish you could have been there?

Well, then we walked up the street to the movie theater and saw Lost and Delirious. It really isn't all that good. Piper Perabo's acting is sometimes over-the-top, the plot is formulaic, and there's barely even ten seconds of lesbian sex. What kind of lesbian sex movie is that?

However. Later on that night, when I was alone once more, I went to go see Hedwig and the Angry Inch. I loved this movie so much. I am way too cheap to see movies twice, but I intend to go back and see it again tomorrow. I wrote a review of it immediately after walking through the door, in case you care to read it. But to sum up: this movie is incredible. Go see it. Plus, I'm in love with Hedwig.

Today's excitement was cashing in my coins at the supermarket. I got $42. Woo!

I used the money to buy a watch. I actually just wanted to get my old watch fixed, but it was cost prohibitive, so I found one at Target that's very similar to it, for only $27. I've been missing my big clunky blue watch forever. I'm so glad I finally replaced it. I also used the money to get the band adjusted and buy toothpaste and a toothbrush, and lunch at Subway.

You're riveted, aren't you?

Oh, hey, more excitement. This is actually poetry news. I've just been asked to participate in another reading series. This time the reading is on August 15. So if you're going to be in the city and would like to pop by, that would be swell. I'll be reading with someone else-- a non-student, since they want to keep a mix going of students and non-students.

I got this news about fifteen seconds ago. So I haven't had a chance to panic about the fact that I haven't really written anything new and I have to come up with a 20 minute reading that won't bore the hell out of people who have already heard me read...

I'm feeling really cheerful right now. I love having a day off with absolutely no obligations, where I can run around and do whatever the hell I want at any given moment. I love checking things off my to do list. I love being alone. And this isn't the kind of hermit solitude that arose from my recent depression. This is pure joyful Mo time.

Also, as the notify list knows, there's been some interesting closure to the Matt situation. He still hasn't written me back, and I don't know if he will, but recent developments have given me a lot of peace of mind. Sorry for the public vagueness.

I really can't think of anything else to say right now. But you know, there's a new Sims, and a new movie review, and a new review on the book page, and here's a new entry. So I guess for now, that's enough.

"'I think your mom was giving your dad head,' Ash said loudly.

'God!' I replied. 'Does Mom have to do everything!?'"