As of 5:55 central daylight time, I am starting my fourth day in a row having had no sleep. Well, I guess I had a two-hour nap yesterday, but I don’t think it helped all that much. I’m not sure this qualifies me as a true insomniac, but it has to put me really close.
I occasionally wrestle with bouts of sleeplessness, but every now and then, I go for extended periods of time as a zombie. This, I can assure you, is not fun. I have tried to identify the cause, but usually can’t put my finger on it.
I think this time, though, I have the answer. I recently saw Jesus Camp.
4 days? The last time I did that I was writing an overdue graduate school essay. It was like concentrated drowning, every waking moment tied to the as yet unwritten text. I passed out afterwards.
We have a friend—OMM—who is avowedly a nonsleeper. If she must be somewhere in the morning (such as to an airplane flight, or to give a lecture), she will stay up the night before. She will sometimes string those nights together. However, often her sleeplessness is… um, supplemented.
Neither of those are the same as insomnia, I know. K’s been a bigger sufferer of it than I have. My really bad suggestions: 1) drinkmore herbal tea; 2) get a massage. The latter will at least make you relaxed while you stay up all night.
by greg—Oct 5, 06:23 AM
That will do it. We saw that the day after it opened a few weeks ago at the local Angelika, and I was literally frightened by what I had seen. To see that pastor from Colorado talk about how they control the elections was maddening. And to see how children were being exploited by their parents and politics made me feel sick to my stomach. Here’s hoping that you’ll be able to get back to sleep soon, that is once you can stop thinking about that damn movie. :)
by krister—Oct 5, 06:25 AM
On second thought, is Jesus Camp really that disturbing? I mean, it's got such a great poster:
by greg—Oct 5, 06:28 AM
Writing at the same time—welcome Krister.
by greg—Oct 5, 06:33 AM
Perhaps a massage is in order. Good call.
I mean, I also saw the US v. John Lennon, but I don’t think that’s what did it. On the bright side: I’ve now seen every page on the internet. Literally.
by Scott—Oct 5, 06:57 AM
D’oh. Somehow got the last name in there. Any way to make that go away?
by Scott—Oct 5, 06:58 AM
Wow, you really do need some sleep if you’re making those kind of slips, Mr. L.
I have insomnia pretty bad, but not near as bad as that. For the second day in a row HR makes me grateful for my relative brain health. You Hermits are a tortured lot, really.
On the other hand, your condition must have come in handy sometimes during law school.
by JH—Oct 5, 07:17 AM
i wonder what hermit camp would be like? BTW scott, i’m kind of a fan of transparency: my middle name is Paul.
by Bryan Tarpley—Oct 5, 07:23 AM
Your name has been spirited off a secret place, and now that it’s legal to
torture ittreat it severely, don’t expect it to come back in the same condition you last saw it. (FYI, you should be able to edit it yourself; look under the main “Content” tab for “Comments” or scroll to it in the pulldown menu…)Hermit camp would be fun. Probably not as fun as Jesus camp, though.
by greg—Oct 5, 07:46 AM
At hermit camp can we pray to a poster of Cher instead of a poster of George Bush?
And yes, Jesus Camp really is that disturbing. My parents were strict, but this movie makes them seem like hippies.
by Scott—Oct 5, 08:01 AM
You can plan the Thursday night activity, how about? If that includes praying around Cher, then pray around Cher is what we’ll do. We can then identify who are the ethical hermits and who are not.
by greg—Oct 5, 08:39 AM