Summer Insomnia

This is what I love and hate about summer: the fact that if you don't have to be anywhere by 9 am, you will probably be sleeping until noon. And then, because you didn't wake up until noon, you can't go to bed until 2am (at the earliest). But because you're not used to real sleep schedules and not climbing into bed every night completely exhausted, you can't sleep until you've laid in bed for an hour (at least).

And thus begins the cycle of Summer Insomnia. Beautiful, really, in its simplicity. Yet tenacious and vicious in the way it screws with you.

Like just now! I was laying in bed (1:45 am) about to begin the dozing process, when I suddenly realized that I didn't have anyone to take care of Leo while I'm gone this weekend. And then it ocurred to me that I don't really have any friends or neighbors that I know too well here.

So I'm laying in bed, wide awake, racking my brain for people that could take care of Leo or the possibility of designing some kind of automatic feeding contraption or just filling his dish to the top and hoping that he doesn't eat himself to death. As soon as I think of a friend who could possibly take care of him, I rush onto Facebook to message her. And then, of course, it's Facebook, so you're obligated to stay there piddling around for at least another 20 minutes, which I did. And then I realized I was hungry, so I got a 2 am snack.

So here I am now, blogging (because I don't anticipate sleep for another hour or so) and eating cold leftover macaroni and cheese off a napkin with my fingers. And I'm hearing these strange beeping noises, like bad sci-fi sound effects or the noise that the electronic Simon game makes when you press the colored lights.

I used to get these bad bouts of "Facebook Envy", especially my freshman year, when I would see other people who were tagged in over 1000 pictures or who had some obscene amount of friends. But now, I realize (and use as a method for reinforcing my self-worth) the fact that most of their pictures are them standing around posing for the camera. That's not a good time! That's not adventure! That's them going to a party and taking pictures of themselves 90% of the time.

And I hate this new trend of everyone gathering around the camera immediately after the picture is taken. And then doing the whole damn thing over again if someone's eyes are closed, or they aren't in profile enough to make them look 20 pounds lighter.

My family is slowly evolving into the kind that only keeps condiments in the refrigerator. When I went to get my 2 am snack, I reached for a bag of veggies that definitely needed some kind of dip. And we had no dip! What good, worththeirsalt American family doesn't have a bottle of Ranch dressing in their refrigerator? And I know I'm complaining about the lack of condiment in the refrigerator right now, but that is beside the point! Ranch dressing should be moved above the food pyramid. It should just hover there, like a diety of food-dom.

Or there should actually be a picture of Ranch dressing being poured over the food pyramid whenever one is drawn. That's the way it oughta' be.

In conclusion, a quick book review:

Middlesex: Glorious read, well-written, well-planned, beautiful and kind of freaky all at once.

The Historian: Barmy, cobblers, poxy, and any other British slang that encompasses the general idea of BAD! This is going to be one of those books that I rant about how terrible it is until the end of time. And on my gravestone they will write "She really hated that book."

Lincoln at Gettysburg: I'm not sure I took from the book what the author would probably want me to, but I did get something (which is saying something for a history book). I'm still digesting it, let us say. It's a decent read in the sense that it covers just about every detail that had any bearing on Lincoln's delivery and planning of the Gettysburg Address. It's a slow (ish) read in the sense that there seems to be a lot of "historical fodder" mixed in with the good bits.

This is also the "incoming freshmen, orientation" book that Cornell requires its freshmen to read and use as discussion material during their first week on campus. That's the primary (read: only) reason I read it.