Sleep, Or A Lack Thereof

I am not the kind of person who sleeps a lot. I wish I were--whenever I give myself a day of luxury and do that, it's wonderful. I'm actually ready to greet the day the next morning. But as it happens, I'm a natural night owl and I do some of my best work in the wee hours.

I also have a weird priority list. A friend who needs to talk, homework to get done, walking the dog, reading...all those have been placed ahead of sleep before. Sometimes I institutionalize it: one of my resolutions is to go back to reading fifteen minutes every day. I'd done this every day since I was five (when I was shocked at how little my mom read and vowed never to be as busy), but first semester of college pushed even reading to the wayside. Break and the extra time it's brought has made me realize how much I miss it. So the reinstated rule is that I must read fifteen minutes every day. Doesn't matter how sleepy I am or how late I'm up. The fifteen minutes are not optional.

Anyways, my point being, sleep is not high on my priority list. I've tried everything to change this from finishing my homework early (there's just too much) to scheduling blocks of "sleep" on my calendar (I didn't follow them). This particular musing was sparked by a conglomerate of circumstances that have convinced me to walk the dog tomorrow, a daily tradition I had planned to skip so I could catch up on rest. (I decided rest would be good after sleeping in the car on the way to the beach, at the beach, and then on the way home.)

The sensible part of me knows I need sleep to be healthy and all that. The selfish part of me says "what the hell are you doing, waking up early, that is not remotely okay." And then I think of the dog's soulful eyes and my logic goes out the nearest window.

I don't believe I had much of a point to this--there's that sleep-deprivation thing again--other than to express a reality (I don't sleep) and attempt to explain it (my priorities are whacked). So there you have it. I, meanwhile, am going to get ready for bed.

Happy New Year!

I may enjoy writing, but I haven't written anything on this blog since the beginning of junior year. Not that long ago, but A LOT has happened in those 2.5 years. In summary:

• I was a speech captain, which involved a lot of editing speeches, watching speeches, judging speeches, running speech tournaments, and otherwise doing work 
• I started Public Forum debate, which conveniently was always at the same time as the aforementioned speech meetings 
• I made a particularly good friend (or a friend who would turn out to be particularly good, at least) 
• I took lots of hard classes, including the "GPA killer" known as AP English Language 
• AP English Language proved true to its reputation 
• I hated math 
• I went to a lot of doctors' appointments
• I went to a lot of debate tournaments
• I had surgery 
• I got grades best forgotten 
• I took the ACT, and AP exams, and SAT II's, and the SAT - they were surprisingly enjoyable 
• I went on a mission trip to Brazil 
• I had surgery again (this was supposed to be the last one) 
• I wrote over 100 pages' worth of college application essays. For my top school, they went through 75 complete revisions 
• I edited college application essays 
• More surgery 
• I became acquainted with the taste of coffee 
• I became reminded of my love for Shakespeare and discovered a passionate hatred for James Joyce 
• I discovered mistakes in college applications and contacted various admissions officers. Conclusion: they are human....I think :P 
• I got grades I am quite happy to discuss (so coffee = good grades?) 
• I submitted college application essays due at midnight at 11:59pm 
• I got a bid (invitation) to the Tournament of Champions in debate 
• I immediately proceeded to put my entire life on hold to do research to get the other necessary bid (I was researching on Christmas Eve. And Christmas. And New Year's Eve. And New Year's Day) 
• I did not get the other necessary bid. Lessons about perspective were subsequently learned. Life went on 
• I became highly pragmatic
• I had fun in AP English
• I chewed my nails and waited for college decisions 
• I got college decisions. I got into my top choice. Very nice at the time, but turns out that doesn't magically solve all your problems 
• I studied my rear end off for AP exams, along with the particularly good friend in question 
• In the middle of said studying, I became a legal adult
• I graduated high school 
• I flew to London and spent a month with my cousins - in short: awesome 
• Studying for AP exams proved successful 
• I started college 
• I saw the aforementioned friend off to school - she's in Hong Kong. I subsequently became very well-acquainted with methods of international communication and the benefits of having a friend whose daytime is your nighttime and who therefore is hopefully awake enough to make sure you don't fall asleep during an all-nighter 
• Lots of work was done, little sleep was gotten, lots of coffee was drunk 
• I voted in my first presidential election 
• I took my first college finals. Those were an experience 
• Surgery again 
• I got my first college grades. Opinions on those vary with my mood
• I celebrated Christmas and stayed up until midnight to ring in 2013, all the while enjoying Not Doing Work over break for the first year I can clearly remember. Ah, college...

And here I am now - seeing for how long I can keep up a blog :P