I've grown tired of this sudden trend of getting hungry before bedtime. I just don't get it...I eat a solid helping for dinner, and it's not as though I conditioned my body to having something to eat before bed and then stopped doing that. So I don't get why my stomach wants me to eat something. I've resisted it the past couple of days, leaving me to wake up in the morning completely famished.

The problem with this is, my teeth hurt. Since the dentist put in the temporary crown, that tooth and the one directly below it are sore almost all the time. I think it's because the temporary is too big for the space and is tapping the bottom tooth constantly, irritating the nerve inside. But it's bugging the hell out of me, especially if I don't take Advil prior to eating. Even soft stuff is occasionally bothering it. Well, on Wednesday, I believe is the appointment, the dentist takes this thing out and puts in the permanent crown. I hope that the pain then goes away...usually I can ignore most pain in my mouth, given my history with dentists, but this I can't.

But now I'm either going to go eat something or go to bed. Wherever my legs take me, I guess, is where I'll go. In case I don't get to post tomorrow, Happy Easter to everyone out there who celebrates it.

I may not have always demonstrated excellent forward-thinking in the world of finance, but I've made phenomenal strides in the last year, no doubt.

Case in point, yesterday I signed up for uPromise. I don't know who here has heard of it, but it's basically a college-savings program that gives you pennies on the dollar for certain purchases to use in the future for a child's tuition (or your own even). Now, I'm not saying I'm having a kid tomorrow, but it's better to start earlier. My mom's been doing it for 2 years, and she has all of $50 saved up. So, it takes time. The nice thing too is that you don't have to specify the child to start earning. That is good, since I don't actually have a child right now. :)

My credit card debt is seemingly under control, and if I keep on the track I'm on, all three of my cards should be paid off in the beginning of 2007. Of course, with the wedding coming up, that could change, but Lord knows I'm avoiding charging that stuff as much as I can.

I just mailed in my last car payment yesterday, so that's a little extra money I can put toward other things. I'm just crossing my fingers that the car holds up for a few more years, so I don't have to buy one to replace it and put myself back in auto-loan world.

And, I've started actually using my head when it comes to points and rewards programs. Hopefully, I'll do enough traveling by next summer that our honeymoon plane tickets will be free or at least part of them will be, and our hotel will give us a few nights free too, based on my rewards and frequent flier miles. But we'll see...it all depends where we go too.

So, I'm happy about that situation, that's for sure. Of course, that's typically when the floor falls out beneath me.

"Les Miserables" was good. Good story, good performance, good seats and a generally good time. However, I'm not rushing back out to see musicals all that quickly. First of all, I don't think I like the "constant singing" musical, as Les Mis is. Three hours of singing got tedious...if I wanted to hear chanting, I'd go to church. Second, I don't know if it was the acting or the sound or because everything was being sung, but there were several dozen times when I had NO idea what they said. There were times when a majority of the people were laughing at something, and I was like, "what?" So I missed out on a lot of jokes because of that. Finally, although our seats were good, I was having a hard time figuring out exactly who was singing at times and that set me back a bit in terms of what was going on. But that's because many of the voices were similar, and this was only during the full entourage type scenes, where there was no spotlight involved.

Probably the next musical I go to will be one where the dialogue isn't all sung, and Gina knows to look for one like that.

All in all, it was impressive, and I'm still not anti-theatre...but we'll just have to pick and choose carefully, I guess.

Quite honestly, I'm really tired of broadcast news.

It baffles me that the top story right now is this whole Schiavo thing. Nevermind that the biggest high school shooting this side of Columbine just happened on Monday up in Minnesota. Remember how many days/weeks/months was devoted to Columbine?

Here, the same general story is 2-slot news to some idiots in Florida who can't get along about the future of a loved one and, for some stupid reason, believe the federal government should be involved in their petty in-law differences. Why should I care about who "wins"? What benefit is the country going to gain from solving this case at the highest levels? Why should any of us care, other than feeling bad for the poor, incapacitated woman? And you can feel bad for her whether she lives on or dies, because either way, it's a sad story.

Personally, I know that, once I'm married, Gina's in charge if I were to get into that situation, and I would hope and pray that my parents/family/friends stand by her decision(s). It's as simple as that. I can't sit here and say that I'd want to live on in a vegetative state or that I would want them to pull the plug or whatever, because really, it's hard to say. I would put my life in Gina's hands. So I guess that's why I don't understand why the Schiavo thing is any sort of news whatsoever. The husband was legally in charge, end of story. Otherwise, tough break.

You know, people pull the plug on incapacitated relatives all the time, and sometimes, not every living person agrees with the decision. Yet we don't have the nation wrapped up in it or the President getting involved.

Well, I'm supposed to go see "Les Miserables" tomorrow with Gina, her former roommate and her boyfriend. It'll be the first time for me ever going to a "professional" theatrical show (I avoid using the word "play" to offend anyone out there, since I know little about theatre) in a "real" theatre.

It's funny, because I think Gina is truly concerned about whether or not I'll have a good time...I've told her from Day One that I'm more than willing to check out a show, so long as the story is understandable and interesting. Not too different, really, from my movie strategy, truthfully.

It should be understood that, I'm dis-cultured in theatre not because I never liked it. Hell, my thought was, whatever. I figured someday I'd go to a show, but it wasn't a big draw. That's not because I didn't like it growing up, I just had no access to it, truthfully. It wasn't something that a working-class, barely-making-it family could really afford, ya know? Hell, I think the last time I went to a run-of-the-mill movie with my parents was at the Drive-In when I was really little, for Gremlins. Actually, no, I know I went to the drive-in with them for some movie at the exact time that "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" and "Batman" were out. But I forget what we saw...maybe it was "UHF," I'm not sure. I know it wasn't "Indiana..." though, because I actually read that book before seeing the movie, years later.

ANYWAY...my point is, I'm sure it will be cool and fun and everything. Will I spit out $75 a seat frequently for such a thing? Hell no. But on occasion, if the story's good, then it's worth it. Besides, after seeing "Chicago" the movie version, I still wish I would have acted on the desire to introduce myself to the stage with that musical when it was out. I actually considered it back then, but just never got around to it. Oh well...

Kim recently posted about Nine Inch Nails and how they've gotten soft over time. I agree with the fact that they have gotten softer (granted, though, they still kick much ass on several songs--the newest, yet-to-be-released album not included, for obvious reasons). That said, I think that's what I like most about them...they've "experimented" a bit with their sound.

For me, the music and "noise" and subtleties of the sound was the most enjoyable thing about NIN. Not everyone takes them for that, which is cool. I guess that's the coolest thing about music (the only art I really "relate" to"), is that you can enjoy it on many levels.

I really have enjoyed all their albums. Of course, some songs really suck, as with any artist. But most NIN stuff I like. Same thing with Stone Temple Pilots...you listen to "Core," and then anything else they've done, and you wonder where that hard-rock band went. It's still evident in some of the songs they've done, but they got really pondering and smooth, and have really refined their sound.

That's not to say that I don't enjoy the hard-ass stuff by either artist. But songs off NIN's last album (the double disc) or off any of STP's albums since "Purple," are awesome to me. Personally, I'd rather hear my favorite bands tinker and tweak and even, at times, try some "revolutionary" things as far as their sound goes. It's cool to me. Bands who never change, to me, lose interest.

But I digress...feel free to rant about your favorite bands and how they went in the crapper or commend them for being experimental. :)