sleep

I find myself actually daydreaming about sleeping. Dreaming about sleeping when I am actually finally asleep. It's such a strange phenomenon, how dominant sleep - I should say the IDEA of sleep - has become in my brain.

I have never had a huge need for a lot of sleep. I used to think napping was a total waste of time - think of the things that could be accomplished with that time! Think of the projects! How could anyone possibly need more sleep than what they get at night?

Of course, it needs to also be stated that I have been and occassionally still am sometimes delusional. Being 'opposed to' naps does not mean that there have not been times in my life when I have been obviously sleep deprived, and SHOULD have done something different. My sophomore year of college I literally slept 4 hours a night. It was a heavy 'playing' year, and my friends were studying disciplines that were not as homework/study intensive as moi. Typical days were, roughly, up at 6 am to study, class from 8 until 12 or 1 pm, work until 6 pm, come home and make dinner and hang out until 11 pm, study until 2 am (long after everyone else had gone to bed), start the whole game over. Good plan, right? As long as I kept moving, it worked.

There were, however, two classes that caused narcolepsy to hit without fail. No matter what I tried. Astronomy - a 1.5 hour 2x a week lecture class of about 200 students, so not a HUGE deal - and a neuropsychology class - more problematic, since it was a class of 30 in more of a seminar format and my seat happened to be RIGHT at the front of the room. I tried bringing my lunch, pinching myself, drinking gallons of liquid before hand, all to no effect. Every class from 1:30 to 1:45 pm I'd zonk right out. Biggest irony: that was the only class at Berkeley for which I 'earned' an A+. Crazy. Just shows how little professors actually know.

The above picture is so misleading. From this image, you would THINK that little Mr. Handsome is a guy who enjoys, and is good at, sleeping. And I guess during the day this actually does hold true. He is a good little napper during the daylight hours, which is great because then Miss Katie gets some mom-time all to herself. Nighttime is a totally different story. Every three hours, with the accuracy of the atomic clock, the little man is up and ready for chomping. ARGH! I find myself more and more often trying to manipulate time during the day so that I can sneek a nap. And my narcolepsy is GONE! No more falling asleep at the drop of a hat. This might suggest that a couple of three hour blocks of sleep is more effective than one 4 hours stretch, but it just doesn't feel like it. Of course, I'm also not 20 anymore. :) My brain just seems to be harder to shut off than ever. And naturally the more I think how limited my window of opportunity is and how I REALLY need to fall asleep RIGHT NOW to maximize it, the harder it is for that to actually happen. HELP!

post script
I scored a nap this afternoon. I am a new person - or more closely back to my 'normal' self - whatever that means. And Rog rocks.