Wednesday, November 30, 2011

1:30 am

Here are some of the songs, in alphabetical order, that played on repeat in my head last night (some, because I'm pretty sure I've forgotten a couple):

1.Green Island Serenade by Vienna Teng
2.Not Over You by Gavin DeGraw
3.Oh My Stars by Andrew Belle
4.Pumped Up Kicks by Foster the People
5.Rolling in the Deep by Adele
6.We Ever Pray for Thee by Mormon Tabernacle Choir

Hooray!  I kept looking for the off-switch for the music player in my head but I could. not. find it.  It was nice to eventually have #1 in my head because that's actually part of my "Quiet" playlist that I play when I can't sleep.  Not that it helped.  #6 was there only briefly, after I desperately tried to find a nice quiet Conference hymn to relax me and send me to sleep. Didn't work. #5 got in my head because my sister, ignorant of my tragic insomnia, turned on music to do her hair by, and that was the first song, and it was loud.

I was in bed with my lights out by 10:30, and the closest I ever got to sleep was probably within half an hour, when my "Quiet" playlist was playing and I was concentrating on breathing, then on reciting Articles of Faith/counting sheep/counting potatoes/counting bananas/picturing the Creation in a detached way that let my mind wander (clearly). But I was still awake when the Christmas lights turned off at midnight.  I was still awake an hour and a half later, when I decided to turn on my light and my computer and engage my mind in something besides annoying songs on repeat and imagining scenarios for the next day.  I was still awake an hour later when I turned on my light again and opened my scriptures and stared at the page.  But then I must've eventually fallen asleep because I think my alarm at 5:10 actually woke me up, providing me a lovely 2 hours' slumber.

Not sure if I was asleep when my sister turned on her music, but sobbing and raging at her apparently didn't wear me out enough to fall back asleep (I accused her of not waking up for scriptures like a NORMAL person, because everyone knows it's more natural to awaken early and read scriptures than it is to lie in bed until you have to get ready for school), and around that time it started getting light anyway, so I gave this whole sleep thing up as a bad job and constructed my night-time playlist.

So today will be interesting.

"Transcontinental, 1:30 am"

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

don't give up on this yet

I've been getting complaints lately that I don't post to my blog often enough.  People don't really care about my booklist if that's all they're getting.  Well, this month I planned to remedy that; I thought maybe I'd resurrect my "If I were that kind of grateful" November segment, but then I was in a bad mood and forgot to be grateful for anything the first week of November.  Or most of the month.  So that went out the window.

A week or so ago I started an open letter to about half the guys in my acquaintance letting them know I'd accept a date from them even if I'm not interested, but it's not like most (or any) of them read the blog, and if they do I don't think my letter would necessarily have spurred them to action. So I let that fall by the wayside too. No one wants to hear me pontificate on how dating should be, and specifically, how dating me should be.

And the only other thing that's been on my mind lately is some reminiscences of my hospital experiences.  I tell people I don't really remember it, and that's true.  But sometimes little things will remind me; like we heard about deep-vein thrombosis on the radio in the car sometime and I remembered the little foot-squeezers they had me wear after my surgeries to prevent the clots from happening.  And also they made me promise to take my blood thinners.  Often when I see a can of Sprite I'll remember how that would be all I consumed during most of my hospital stays (except for the one time they let me eat breakfast and there was a belgian waffle with strawberries and bacon and my surgeon came and talked politics with my mom and as soon as he left I threw everything up).  And there was that one time a nurse gave me a unicorn because they asked me if I wanted anything and I asked for a baby unicorn, if they could manage it. (They did their best.)  I was able to tell my sister that she would have time to make patients happy as a nurse.

If I think about it, I pretty much do remember most everything. So when I say "Oh, I don't really remember it" I guess I'm lying.  But that's still what I'm going to say when asked.

So, you see, there hasn't been a whole lot for me to post about.

Also I should be better about putting pictures on my posts so people read them, but I don't.  Maybe that can be a goal for next year.  If I end up having things to post about then.

"Transcontinental, 1:30 am"

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

I can trace all my books [October 2011]


Hello!  Interesting month, kinda.  One of these books I accidentally read twice in one day.  One of these books isn't even officially published yet.  And none of these books are the book I waited all month to read, but I promised myself not to complain about that any more.

At this rate, I'm going to be hard-pressed to stay under 200 books, so I'm not going to artificially impose that limit.  If it happens (and believe me, I can imagine a future where I don't read 18 books in a month) that'll be great, but in the meantime all I hope for is a nice round number.

October
155. Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt
156. I'll Be There by Holly Goldberg Sloan
157. The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens
158. What Your Doctor Can't Tell You by Kevin B. Jones
159. Across the Great Barrier by Patricia C. Wrede
160. Peter Nimble and his Fantastic Eyes by Jonathan Auxier
161. The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt
162. City of Orphans by Avi
163.Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan
164. A Plague Year by Edward Bloor
165. Adventure at Simba Hill by Susan Runholt
166.Troublemaker by Andrew Clements
167. Elantris by Brandon Sanderson
168. Seeking Persephone by Sarah M. Eden
169. The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson
170. As I Wake by Elizabeth Scott
171. Changes by Mercedes Lackey
172. Snuff by Terry Pratchett
173. 13 Gifts by Wendy Mass

floral