preraphaelitepunk.com

There is nothing quite so annoying as insomnia. Well, I’m sure that there is — torture, starvation, really bad PMS* — but thankfully none of those are afflicting me at the moment. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that, of my current afflictions, waking up irrevocably at 4:30 A.M. is by far the most aggravating.

This time, however, there seems to be a reason, or several reasons all conspiring to jolt me awake when it’s still fully dark outside. Part of it is that I still haven’t seemed to acclimate after working the convention a couple of weeks ago; I’d had to report to work at 6:00 A.M., which meant getting up at approximately the same time I used to go to bed when I was in college, and the trauma apparently still hasn’t worn off. Part of it is also probably my current fixation on what time it is in Germany, which is a long story, or at least one in which I come off looking rather silly and childish, so it’s one that won’t be shared at this point in time. (They’re six hours ahead of the eastern U.S., in case you were wondering.)

There’s also the fact that I was completely floored the other day when The Isa linked to one of my Fauxstess cupcakes pics. Being of the shy and wimpy lurkers, I immediately scurried into hiding under my desk for several days, living on bread crusts and whatever moisture condensation I could collect. (Fortunately, it’s been rather humid recently, so there was plenty of condensation.) It’s always rather a shock to realize that, though you’ve been living your life in a self-contained bubble and merrily preoccupied with your own thoughts and obsessions, you are in fact visible to the outside world, and sometimes they actually notice you. o.O Very cool, but also kind of scary — vaguely reminiscent of the random girl on the airplane, years ago, who turned out to remember me from our joint middle/elementary school. (The last time she’d seen me, she’d been in fourth grade and I was in eighth, and we were both college-aged when the Plane Episode occurred.)

Still, cool and all. Just a little paranoid-making. I keep wondering how badly I’ve embarrassed myself in old, half-forgotten posts. . . .

The last reason for the insomnia is that, for the last several days, I’ve had “The Sporting Life” by the Decemberists stuck irrevocably in my head. There’s something very disconcerting about being jolted awake in the wee hours by a guy singing about how much he sucks at sports, and once that instrumental line is playing, there’s no chance at all of getting back to sleep. Stupid DJ homunculus in my head.

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*Oh, and not to get too graphic, but may I just say that this is yet another aspect of my life that was immensely improved by going vegan? I don’t know whether it’s the increased tofu intake, the freedom from scary hormone-injected meat and dairy, the fact that I generally eat a more diverse diet now, or what, but all has been quiet on that particular front, pretty much since I switched over.