The Daily News
Insomnia.
1 It sure is funny how no matter how hard you try, you sometimes just can't control stuff. Like...well...oh...insomnia, for example.
2 When I returned from my spring hiatus in San Diego, I swore I'd stay several days ahead of the DN. I was going to conquer insomnia once and for all.
3 Ha.
4 You should never rest, I swear to you. If you do, it'll come back and haunt you. Remember how I was going to write the DN at all different hours? I had it together for around four days. And then...
5 Yesterday morning I found out that grades were due at 4 p.m. I thought they were going to be due at noon today, and had a GREAT jump on them. I was going to write the DN yesterday in the mid-morning and laugh at life once again. But grades were suddenly and unexpectedly due at 4 p.m. Someone made a last-minute switch. Here's what grades are to a teacher:
6 Normally they ARE due at noon on Wednesday. For some reason, they switched, and I found out yesterday morning from another teacher.
7 So bottom line: I lost 20 hours I thought I had and had to jam on this all day yesterday, which turned my head to mush.
8 I had every intention of hitting the gym after school yesterday but thought I should just get home swiftly and nap so that I didn't fall asleep on the freeway. It's bad enough I was writing things on envelopes on Saturday. Having my head turn into a bowling ball and fall off my shoulders wasn't a good prospect.
9 So I just finished the grades at exactly 3:59 and 21 seconds, and then jumped in the TOOOOOONDRA and headed home. I hit the couch at around 4:30 p.m. and snored deeply. Woke up long enough to catch a little Idol, then nodded off again, figuring I'd be awake at around 10 to do the DN.
10 Wrong.
11 I slept until midnight. I thought about just ordering some daisies and calling a priest because my head just didn't want to awaken. The daisies this season are really pretty healthy.
12 Well, once I got up, I did a little churchsteeple with my fingers and shook like the family dog, I found myself once again at the computer writing the DN late with the teevees blaring in the background and the dog nudging my wrist with her cold nose.
13 Someday I'm gonna miss all this.
14 So here it is, the middle of the night and I'm ready to go to the beach.
15 I figure I'll get to sleep around 4 and awaken at 5:30.
16 I actually thought it was funny that I systematically began changing my habits so that I could avoid insomnia, something that happens to me all the time. It clearly didn't work.
17 Once I awaken after a long nap, it's tough to get back to sleep.
18 I stay up 'and check e-mails, hit My Space, watch a little Craig Ferguson or Jimmy Kimmel, and then eventually read the Iliad or something. Nothing like Greek classics to get you to that special place.
19 So right now I'm staring at this picture in yesterday's Merc News. It's some mom holding her baby on the beach while her other kid dances in the sand at Santa Cruz. He's a little half-pint with a huge grin and a perfect bucket hat. The guy is in heaven.
20 Ah, the beach.
21 Maybe I could go there in my sleep.
22 It might put me to sleep. I have beach sounds somewhere on my clock radio, but I usually push the wrong button, and this obnoxious alarm goes off and every fire alarm in the neighborhood starts up, causing dogs to bark and neighbors to throw things like bricks and wives at my house.
23 I'll just try it without the sound effects.
24 So I'm going to try visualization.
25 I'm going to the beach. At least in my dreams.
26 It's a lot safer than driving.
27 It's a beautiful day.
28 Enjoy it.
29 I'm going to bed.
30 I can feel the sand on my feet and the sun on my face, hear the waves and the sweet gentle breezes moving through me.
31 Time to sleep. Time to get up.
32 Peace.
~H~
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