On Sleep

Once was a time when I could miss sleep without dire consequences. I would wake up late one day and, because I wanted to reset my body clock, would stay up all night and all the next day, and then, sometimes, something would come up and I would go out that evening and end up not getting to bed until near dawn. For years, I ran on nothing but caffeine and manic energy.

( Marathon )

Post About Stuff.

For the first time in several days, clouds have formed here. I welcome their whiteness, breaking the relentless blue monotony of the sky. The heat, however, remains, and I remain in the shade as much as possible whenever I go outside. I have mentioned that, being severely nearsighted, I can take off my glasses and make the world look like an impressionist painting. Lately, I have been wearing my reading glasses instead, as they blur the world only slightly, and, through them, the bright bits of sunlight reflecting from the oak leaves are intensified. So, I sit in the shade and watch the clouds drifting behind the bejeweled oak trees, and listen to the sound of the neighbor's lawn sprinkler as the smell of jasmine drifts on the soft breeze.

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Today, I have in my thoughts a fragment of one of the dreams I so rarely remember after waking. This one was quite odd. It was about that chunk of time which was wrenched from my life when I came to this place. The time was represented by a melting ice sculpture of certain buildings in Pasadena. I looked at the ice, and knew that it was time, frozen yet vanishing, nevertheless. There was another part of the dream which involved me introducing Tony Curtis and his daughter at a banquet, or maybe a roast, but Jamie Leigh was invisible, and Tony vomited some sort of clear liquid in slow motion. I have no idea what the hell that was all about!

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It crossed my mind that I have seldom in my life been bored what I was alone. I have often had boring conversations, been to boring parties, listened to boring lectures, engaged in boring tasks, etc., but, when left to my own thoughts, I have seldom been at a loss for distraction. I think I will think about that for a while. It sounds fascinating.

But first, an evening walk.