1) Sigh.
2) Have been having trouble sleeping, I think. Day before yesterday I got to bed late after watching a cool but not very scary movie about vampires. Then, of course, I couldn't sleep. ("Ooh, I could write a much scarier vampire movie" is not a good meditation for drowsing off.) That meant yesterday I was in such a fog that I gave up and went home in the early afternoon (I should note that I did get a couple good hours out in the morning.), and I was unable to work or read all evening, and went to bed early. That meant that at about 3, and then 4, and then more permanently at 5 in the morning, I was wide awake and tossing in my bed. Now I am tired and worn out and off my sleep schedule.
3) Number 2 means, of course, that I needed a nap this morning instead of going straight off to school. I had to go put the cats on my head myself instead of them wanting to come nap with me. I tell you, it's a sad day when your own cats don't want to sleep on your head.
4) I can't tell if my room is making the sleeping worse. Can it be both stuffy and cold? Cause I was going back and forth by the minute last night, covers on and off. I don't know that the fan will help, but I might unearth it from the closet.
5) I saw the movie Goya's Ghosts over the weekend and loved it. Then I noticed in the reviews online that I was probably the only person who did like it. Either I have no taste or I just love Goya's etchings so much I would be happy with any movie based on them, whatever the quality. Maybe I'll do a later post about what I liked about it.
6) Still not done on Project freakin' 2. Where are the helpful elves who do your work when you sleep when you need them? Oh. Stupid sleeplessness --- it's messing everything up.
7) Good teaching is all about recovery, how fast you can adapt to whatever craziness explodes into your classroom and messes up all your plans (it's kinda like olympic ice skating in that way). I guess writing is all about recovery too --- let's see, how can I salvage today and get some more stuff revised? Maybe iced coffee and a cool(ish) coffee shop would help.
Ok then, time for still more caffeine! Wish me luck and don't let the cats eat the dissertation elves if they decide to come over.
6 comments:
Dude, Diphenhydramine (the stuff that's in Benadryl or Sominex). Buy it in the form of sleeping pills, and you can take just a half dose--one rather than two pills--if you want. The full dose will let me sleep 8.5-9 hours, no problem, and easily go back to sleep if I wake up; the half dose is usually fine if all I'm trying to do is quiet my brain and *get* to sleep.
It's not something to take nightly over the long haul, because it can be habit-forming, but for a few days or a week it's amazing. Oh, and if you get it in the form of the generic, store-brand "sleep aid," it's way cheap, too.
#4--Point the fan out the bedroom door...that way you increase airflow without making it way colder from air directly on you.
#7--Sometimes writing isn't about recovery but about waiting it out...At least that's what I'm telling myself right now while I wait out the funk that's keeping me from finishing these revisions...
Oooh -- other sleep aids. I tend toward the natural things myself. There's a wonderful Kava Kava tea called Stress Relief from Yogi Tea that is available widely that a friend of mine swears by, though it gives me rather odd dreams. There's also a sleep tea that totally knocks me out -- I think by Yogi Tea or Traditional Medicinals.
Dissertation elves do need to be coddled. Perhaps leave out cookies for them as we do to lure that big elf to leave us presents? Mmmm. Cookies.
Thanks peeps --- hmm, would the sleep aids be good if it's really a trouble of the room getting too hot? The problem is, I think, that it gets hot for a half hour or so and then a big cold breeze kicks up into the room for another half hour or so. Can't figure out what to do there.
Horace ---- I agree that waiting and rejuvinating are also good for the revising, but this fucking Project 2 I am so sick of! (plus I keep "rejuvinating" and "waiting it out" --- did I get anything done this weekend? No-oo-o!)
I set a deadline for myself of last Friday and if I don't get on it I will not be done this Friday. I have three paragraphs/areas/chunks to rewrite and then a bunch of little stuff to clean up. I need to power through it and just get it out of my life! I am so sick of you and your novel, Mr. Project 2 Author Sir, and I never want to have to read through it to find an elusive quote again!
I get this way about dissertation chapters too, and then really have a hard time when the chapter comes back with necessary revisions on it. Heh. Sorry to rant.
Instead of working this evening I have been trying to duplicate the "Amy Winehouse cat eye" look and taking pictures of myself in the bathroom mirror. I guess it beats getting a hobby.
Good luck getting back on your sleeping schedule - I've had trouble sleeping for years - I'm an Ambien fan, but it shouldn't be taken every night, so I'm taking Amitriptaline (sp?) every night and it works well.
I totally want pics of your Amy Winehouse cat eyes! (Just the eyes to protect your secret identity)...
Yeccch! The pics were horrible! I'm hoping that the camera lens really does pick up detail we don't notice with the naked eye, cause when I looked at the pics you could see all sorts of splotches and sun damage on my cheek that I didn't know was so bad!
I may have to work up my Photoshop-aribrushing skills before any such pictures have an audience.
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