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November 22, 2005
Blog Stew: Insomnia Version
I've had odd sleeping patterns for most of my life. I'm generally a night owl -- I don't get sleepy until well after midnight, usually until 1:30 or 2:00 am or beyond. This body clock also impacts me in the morning; without some outside impetus (an early meeting or flight I have to make, or someone sleeping next to me who actually wakes up when the alarm goes off instead of managing to hit snooze a dozen times or even turn off the alarm without ever becoming conscious, like I do), I'll often straggle into the office between 9:30 and 10:00 am, and even then my brain won't really get going until like 11.
Some nights I just don't sleep at all -- falling asleep never happens, so I just give up around 5:00 or 5:30 and get up to go to work early or something. Other days, I all of a sudden am tired early, and will sleep from say, whenever I get home until 2 am, at which point I'll wake up wide-awake and ready for the day. These odd sleep patterns of mine have driven Ex and others I've dated crazy, but what're you gonna do? Sleeping pills work temporarily, but as soon as I stop taking 'em, I go right back to the old patterns.
Take now, for instance. Monday, I had some stuff done during the day, and got home around 5:15 or 5:30. I meant to make dinner, to log back on to my work e-mail and catch up since I missed the afternoon. But as soon as I got home, I couldn't keep my eyes open; I fell asleep around 6. Then I got a phone call from a friend around 10:20 or so, which woke me up... and I haven't been sleepy since then. It's about 3 right now, and I doubt I'll fall back asleep before it's time to get up for work. But... my system's loss is your gain -- because here's the insomnia version of blog stew.
1. Kara Beth Borden wasn't kidnapped. After her home-schooled boyfriend killed her parents, home-schooled 14 year old Kara Beth Borden naturally... went with him as he ran from the law, apparently intending to marry him. Guess those kidnapping charges'll have to be dropped, huh? The murders seem to have sprung from Borden's parents --extremely religious folk who were home-schooling her because they were concerned with the influences she would be exposed to in public school, being unhappy with her dating her 18 year old boyfriend.
Not for nothing, and not blaming the victims here... but I can't say that I think things like this are totally unexpected - there's kind of bound to be tensions and consequences when the devout piously try to play ostrich, sticking their heads in the sand and trying to force fit their children into some unnaturally limited lifestyle. These parents' denial of reality ended up forcing Kara Beth to look for an outlet, some way to be a normal teen living a normal life (along with the exploration that comes with it). Not that every case is going to end in a double murder, but there's bound to be rebellion and unhappiness when you home school some kid because you don't want them exposed to big bad reality. Sadly, the rebellion is likely to be worse than if the kid had been in a normal situation.
2. Just Desserts. As an animal lover, I love this story. An Ohio woman convicted of leaving dozens of kittens in two parks has been ordered by a judge to herself spend a night alone outdoors so that she can experience what if feels like to be abandoned, albeit only for about a dozen hours.... I love it. Absolutely love it. The only shame of it is that they gave the woman water or a means of emergency communication; she should have had to deal with the night just like the kittens she abandoned. I have very little tolerance for those who commit cruelty to animals.
3. November 22. 42 years ago today, John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Thanks to a unique experience I had a decade ago, working for the US government on the Assassination Records Review Board, I have what I guess you might say is a perspective that only a few people have on the assassination. I wrote about the assassination and my experiences two years ago today; if you're interested in reading it, here's that post.
4 Songs I'm listening to right now include:
** "Juicebox" - The Strokes: Am I the only one who hears Geddy Lee in the bassline?
** "Kevin Is Gay" - Giant Drag: A great use of discordance in the melody.
** "Gold Digger" - Kanye West featuring Jamie Foxx: Not only does Kanye construct a song really well, but Jamie Foxx's background Ray Charles-esque sample/backgroundvocal is one of the single most "get in your head" hooks of the year, or of the decade. And any song that features the lines "she went to the doctor'n got lipo with your money," "when she leave your ass, she gon' leave with half," and a shouted "WE WANT PRE-NUP" is automatically a great song.
** "All Along The Watchtower" -- Jimi Hendrix: The band played this at Terra Blues the other night to close their set, and extended it into about a ten minute jam. I was in heaven. When I got home I downloaded Jimi's version... and as I've been listening to it, it's struck me that I'd forgotten how incredible he was. I'm not usually one to be listening to classic rock (I find that clinging to the music of one's youth -- or in some cases, someone else's youth -- is kind of sad... as a nostalgia turn every now and then it's fun, but making it the centerpiece of your collection seems just sad; yes, some things are timeless, but too many of the classic rockers are there because "today's music just ain't the same, man," which has always struck me as something Dana Carvey's old "Grumpy Old Man" character from Saturday Night Live would have done... "In my day, we played our kind of music, and that's the way it was and we LIKED it!!!!"). But all that said, geez... Hendrix's "Watchtower" is incredible.
Might as well try to get 90 minutes of sleep before it's time to get up for work. Insomnia sucks. Good night, kids.
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Comments
"All Along The Watchtower" was actually written by Dylan, and I just am sooooooooo tired of hearing it, I have to turn it off nowadays.
Bush will soon have to change the regime he changed to, their justifing the rebel resistance.
Posted by: Cuzin Jose at November 22, 2005 07:29 AM
Yes, I know it was a Dylan original. I just am digging on Jimi's version right now.
Posted by: Curmudgeon at November 22, 2005 07:34 AM
Give me a break, Mudge. Plenty of school shootings and other atrocities have been entirely non-religious, too, so quit it with this one. Rail against Pat Robertson all you want, and, in total agreement 99.9% of the time, I'll follow you over a cliff. But stretch things like the Kara Beth Borden story, and you lose credibility.
Posted by: Brent at November 22, 2005 09:22 AM
I own insomnia. And every time you mention it, I expect royalties.
Posted by: the beav at November 22, 2005 10:36 AM
I don't think you're "blaming the victims" at all. Speaking out against homeschooling has become quite unpopular these days. I think there can be merit in homeschooling but I think most homseschool folks do it to keep their kids insulated (and for religious reasons).
While these people certainly didn't deserve to die for their decision, I think you're right in saying that rebellion should have been expected. If she'd been in a public or private school, she might have had friends or teachers or someone who would have seen something coming. Other people participating in your child's education (academic and social) is a blessing, not a curse.
Posted by: eden at November 22, 2005 11:37 AM
Beav - we may have to fight it out for the patent rights on insomnia... I've been the poster child for it since about 1986.
What do you say - pistols at dawn? Sumo wrestling? Drinking contest?
Posted by: Curmudgeon at November 22, 2005 03:07 PM
I say a combination of a drinking contest and sumo wrestling. You could videotape the whole thing.
Posted by: Cuzin Jose at November 22, 2005 05:08 PM
You may be interested to know -- if you don't, already -- that the History Channel is running a new show on the Kennedy assassination this evening. The trailers claim the show presents new forensic evidence proving the single shooter theory.
Posted by: brent at November 26, 2005 10:03 AM
Hmm, 1986... I was... wondering where my Flintstones vitamins were. You win!
Posted by: the beav at November 26, 2005 05:30 PM
...looks like that History Channel show was a repeat from a couple years ago...Peter Jennings, who has since passed, narrated. I imagine you viewed its original airing.
Posted by: brent at November 27, 2005 12:55 PM
Nice, Beav. I didn't realize you were taking Flintstones vitamins at 21. ;-)
Posted by: Curmudgeon at November 27, 2005 10:56 PM
