Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Late night musings to entertain myself

It's 1:02 am. And I just realized that I selected the music of One AM Radio to accompany me while I write. So that's kind of ironic. Or something. Don't you often find that people use the word "ironic" in the wrong context. I think it happens a lot more than we realize. Irony is pretty popular. One AM Radio <---check them out. So, why am I up at 1:05 am? (Three minutes passed while I wrote that simple paragraph up there. That seems kind of pathetic, that I couldn't write more than what I did in three minutes.) But I'm up because I've had a cold for 10 days and although daytime Me feels pretty much back to 100%, nighttime Me can't seem to shake this stupid, tickling cough. Being horizontal in bed combined with trying really hard not to cough so I don't wake Chip (my bed companion) makes it pretty much guaranteed that I'll cough. Right before I drift off these weird, whimpering sounds slip out of my mouth and bring me back to full wake-i-tude and I must cough. So I'm sitting semi-upright stretched out on the couch under a pile of blankets hoping that tiredness will win the battle against the tickle in my throat eventually. I keep trying to think of what to write because I feel like writing but it's late and my brain feels sort of lethargic and not very funny or inquisitive or creative at the moment. It's 1:23 am now. Yeah, I know...what the hell am I doing with all this time? I've hardly written anything! I'm glad you asked. Because I've been wondering the same thing. But in a bigger way really, more than just the last 26 minutes. (yup, 3 more went by) I've had a difficult time transitioning from two part time jobs down to just one. Luckily the job at Walker's should start up again in early spring. But between now and then I have hopes and dreams of doing stuff. Accomplishing things. Making progress. But on what? Time is so precious, I don't want to waste it. And I feel like I'm not Carpe Diem-ing enough. Like there's more Diem to be Carped and I'm letting it pass me by for lack of some kind of adventure-seeking motivation. I think maybe November to April isn't really the best time for me to have not much to do in a "scheduled" sense. There's too much darkness. Too many layers on my body. Too many blankets to snuggle under. Too many tasty things to cook and bake. Too many books that need to be read. Too much new music to discover. That's a lot of weight to overcome. And I haven't even listed gravity, inertia or the cat sleeping on my lap yet! Now I'm listening to Anomie Belle - Bedtime Stories. Also kind of ironic or something.

I've been addicted to seeking out new music lately. We went to see a show in Portland, ME. I didn't expect too much from it really. The line-up was a somewhat obscure independent group called El Ten Eleven that I'd gotten into after watching the dorkumentary Helvetica. Some local-ish group opened for them. I'd never heard of them at all - Arms and Sleepers. Well, let me tell you, I haven't stopped thinking about how great the show was since Nov. 21st. And via weird, wonderful web hop-skips-jumps, I've found a world of music that's all novel and fitting my mood right now. Listening to music is probably one of my favorite things about having ears.

Hmmm... Top Ten Things I Love About Having Ears:

10. I've always tucked my hair behind them. It's very convenient.
9. Obviously the holding up the glasses thing, but perhaps my nose is more important for that.
8. I can hear cool outdoor sounds like wind and birds and neighbor's dogs barking...oh wait...that kind of sucks, that last one.
7. They are good for being whispered into when someone has sweet nothings to say. Although Id rather hear a sweet something. And if it's gonna be a sweet something, I'd rather just eat it.
6. My earlobes are kind of soft and sometimes I like to touch them. But I don't do it too often anymore because it's kind of weird to see me touching my earlobes in a self-soothing kind of way.
5. I'm starting to run out of things but I'm only halfway finished....
4. I can hear the cat purr. And meow- incessantly, plaintively - for food and attention. That's the best. (sarcasm)
3. I can hear all the great conversations I have with my friends. Hearing myself talk is the best!
2. Chip isn't very good at sign language, so hearing works a lot better for keeping our relationship coherent. I'm not very good at it either, but I'm better than Chip!
1. Listening to good, new, interesting, exciting, music. See, I told you it was one of my favorite things about ears.

It's 2:13 am. This was sort of weird. Wish me sleep.