So....it's 2:21 am. A freakish time to be awake. Everyone else is sleeping blissfully, snoring into the abyss of the night.
But not me.
I have a routine by now. It goes roughly as follows...
10pm-11pm: switch on the television to watch something that might help me fall asleep. Example: Frasier, as it's well written, but only gut-busting if you've been smoking pot.
11-12:30: Perhaps continue to indulge in the telly and/or play *Bejeweled* on my cell phone, until the battery is drained.
12:30: Decide to get up, stopping to rub my dog's belly (who is sleeping JUST FINE, by the way) and head to my office/studio.
12:45: Log onto Netflix (which must be - I SWEAR - one of the greatest intentions EVER) and find a film I can "Watch Now".
At this time, I am sleep deprived, a little cranky, very sore and slightly annoyed. Which is the precise reason at
12:52: I head to the kitchen, trying not to trip on the stairs - because they are tricky to maneuver if you have blanket wrapped around you. (Note to self: find my bathrobe that keeps me toasty in January).
12:53: Exhume a beer or other delicious treat from recesses of said kitchen.
12:55: Begin watching my film.
Sidebar: The first film I watched, in what I'm calling "The Insomnia Series" was CASHBACK - which had, in fact, a main character who was indeed an insomniac. He decides that since he can't sleep (after his girlfriend dumps him) that he'll get a night job. Which, I think is a terrible reason to get a job - but he benefits by learning that he can stop time. Not for himself, mind you, but for everyone around him. The entire experience of the movie is surreal. Because at first, you have no idea if he's just delusional in his deprived state - or if he can really accomplish what he's imagining. That semi-lucidity is quite common with sleep-deprivation. I won't tell you how it ends, but it really got me thinking. His time-stop time felt much like the time that I spend while the world around me is asleep.
2:00: End film. Reflect. Decide if I'm sleepy enough to try and have quality time with my pillow or if Benadryl is in order.
Confession time: I am having a hell of a time getting to sleep. I've had insomnia before - but it's always been that I could easily fall asleep, I just couldn't stay asleep. So, I'd get up and paint or some crap. Clean closets, read, hang out on the deck and watch the sun rise. You get the idea. Most of these things are quite easy to do when you live alone. Not so much when you share a domicile. You have to be *quiet* and *respectful* and crap.
3:00: Make a B-line for my pillow in hopes that I'll catch a window of slumber. Normally, it's about 4 hours or so - and then it's in-and-out of rest.
Oh! I watched another film tonight!!!
It's almost 3am, so I don't want to miss the window...so I may have to do my snippet review tomorrow of the film I just watched.
I'm like Colin Covert - only tired.
Speaking as someone else in the same boat, I vote for the Benadryl (actually, I've found the cheaper, generic stuff actually seems to work better). If you get one decent night of sleep, it seems to make the next night more likely... at least, that's MY theory!
Posted by: Diana | September 15, 2008 at 08:42 AM
A cup of kava tea helps with sleeplessness or stress.
Posted by: Karen | November 09, 2008 at 09:35 AM