killer cramps and other girly privileges

You can probably guess from the title that I'm suffering from cramps at the moment. They aren't very nice and I decided to put together a compilation of thoughtful and humorous items concerning the privileges that come along with being a gal. Please feel free to share your links, jokes or whatever.

• "Homage to My Hips" by Lucille Clifton - click on the link to hear Lucille read her poem
• "Pill That Eliminates the Period Gets Decidedly Mixed Reviews" from The New York Times
• "Period," a movie about the effects of hormonal birth control
• "Study Questions Exam to Detect Breast Cancer" from The New York Times
• Death by Chocolate II - one reviewer exclaimed that "this is the perfect PMS recipe!"

Some other ways to refer to the period:

• The famous, "Aunt Flo[w] is visiting" or "in town"
• "Are you seeing red?"
• "A little ketchup with my steak" - umm, when did people start referring to a vagina as a steak?
• "The beast"
• "Big Red"
• "The big red monster is in town" - is that meant to be a coded statement?...because it isn't leaving much to the imagination.
• "Bleeding Uterus Syndrome" or "B.U.S."
• "The bloody mess"
• "Calendar days"
• "Chocolate time" - love it! Although, everyday should have a chocolate time.
• "Communists have invaded the summer house"
• "Congratulations! It's an egg!"
• "Expelling my hysteria"
• "George Clooney is visiting" - I know many women like any excuse to think about George Clooney, but this just doesn't make sense.
• "Having mechanical difficulties"
• "I like my meat rare" - again with the meat!?
• "I'm not pregnant"
• "It's time for the BIG bag of M&Ms"
• "My uterus hurts" - simple, to the point.
• "Gettin' down with the O.B."
• "Red dot special"

Craving some hard facts?

• Wikipedia's page on menstruation
• Fast facts from NIH (National Institutes of Health)
• The fine details from How Stuff Works
• Birth Control Guide from the US FDA (Food and Drug Administration)
• Birth Control Forum where you can read and join discussions about birth control topics