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09/04/2007: Right by Night.

There are times when I seriously just space out and think about how much more success I’d find in life if the accepted “active hours” were reversed and people slept by day amd worked by night.

It’s after 2 AM as I write this. I wouldn’t really call myself an insomniac, because I’d sleep all day tomorrow if I could. But I can’t, because that’s when everyone works. I’ve sent all the e-mails I needed to send and did all the little things I needed to do, but that won’t matter if I’m dead asleep at 10 AM and somebody wants to know why I italicized certain words and didn’t offer the same graces to others.

It occurs to me that I’ve been more or less tweaking my professional life for the past several years not so much to work less, but to allow for the maximum number of times that I can stay up all night and not need to be coherent the next day.

It’s pitch black right now, and there are only three audible noises: The keyboard, the hum of the fish tank filter, and an assload of crickets outside. At least, I’m pretty sure that they’re crickets. Do any other bugs sound like ambient sound effects from old Eurythmics songs? I’m pretty positive that only crickets do.

I know I’m not alone in this peculiar ideal; I just wonder why it is this way. And, if I got what I wanted, would I end up wanting to stay awake all day instead? Is this all just some alien form of anthropophobia? I can joke about hating sunlight and do an Oscar-worthy impression of eleven-year-old Kirsten Dunst’s vampire death scream, but maybe the sun ain’t the problem. Maybe you’re the problem. You, you awake people. Sleep while I move. Let’s switch off.

Posted by Matt. E-mail me!

Discussion Thread: 123 comments

I feel the same way, and when I was working first shift this summer I just forced my body to learn how to deal with as few hours of sleep as possible. I think it’s just that nighttime = Magic.

Ghosted by Zharicant @ 09/04/2007 2:51 AM EDT

I feel the same. I am far more creative, productive and alert at this time but I’ve had to adjust to a world that runs on the sun. Does anyone know of some good jobs for insomniacs? I’ve often wondered this.

Ghosted by Shawna @ 09/04/2007 2:52 AM EDT

I’m the same way and when I was younger I managed to base my work around it. I worked front desk at a rather fancy hotel on the graveyard shift. Easiest job ever.

Ghosted by Zoe @ 09/04/2007 2:56 AM EDT

I can’t sleep because I know I have to. So I have talked myself into believing that sleep is just a concept.

Ghosted by Bill @ 09/04/2007 2:59 AM EDT

sleep is for the weak.

speaking of which, I’m going to bed.

Ghosted by xero @ 09/04/2007 3:09 AM EDT

I have always preferred night and remember vividly sneaking out of bed to watch Johnny Carson and eat spaghetti with my uncle. I realize now he came home every night with a bad case of the munchies. Those were the good ol’ days.

Ghosted by iAMYou @ 09/04/2007 3:14 AM EDT

That picture is sweet. I almost bought a pygmy opossum today. It bit my girlfriend in the store though so we went with a ferret instead. Turns out we’re both allergic to it though, so now I’m pushing for the opossum again. Pretty awesome labor day, though, overall Dig the Halloween site changes, too.

Ghosted by Eddie Lightning Frog @ 09/04/2007 3:20 AM EDT

I am nocturnal as well, which is why i became a bartender, so i could operate during the hours when i am most awake and effective. I’ve been like this as long as i can remember too, don’t know why really. Whatever though, i love it.

Ghosted by Bastupid!!! @ 09/04/2007 3:29 AM EDT

i try to make my habits a matter life over (waking) matter. always alluding that the joys in waking are perceptively null. and id hate to scorn the rusty glow of the neighboring street lamp just before i went to bed. maybe i just need a good NIGHT’s sleep(?)

Ghosted by wwwdotcom @ 09/04/2007 3:32 AM EDT

Man, that just doesn’t work for me anymore. Especially since I started working overnight.
I think I’m slowly turning into a vampire.

Ghosted by M.F. @ 09/04/2007 3:33 AM EDT

I have the dream job for me. night shift on weekends. That’s when I’d be up normally anyway.

Ghosted by Jason @ 09/04/2007 3:53 AM EDT

same thing here. At night is when I’m most active and my mind runs faster, if fast is a term I can link with my mind.

For a long period I managed to work at night, start at around 8p.m. and stop at 2a.m. and it was glory. Shame some jobs don’t seem to be so willing to let you have the habits of your every-day vampire!

Ghosted by melonian @ 09/04/2007 4:20 AM EDT

Mmm… I love night time. All the best shows are on, you don’t have any responsibilities, and I secretly eat all the food I can find.

I think I’d like to be a vampire for a day. Not like Nosferatu vampire, but like Once Bitten/My Best Friend is a Vampire vampire. Then I’d have an excuse to wear shades and walk the streets at midnight. I can only dream…

Ghosted by Cotter @ 09/04/2007 4:31 AM EDT

I see sleep more as time I could have spent doing something else. Large amounts of caffeine postpone the inevitable, but ultimately I can only do the four hours of sleep thing for four or five days. Then I’m worthless till I get an 8 hour stretch.

Went to sleep at 11pm, got up at 3:15am. I’m tired, but productive. Is it the weekend again yet?

Ghosted by Fungusmungus @ 09/04/2007 4:53 AM EDT

I also enjoy being up during the nighttime. I think it’s because I can do my own thing and I can do things that I usually get judged by if I do them during the daytime. Another reason maybe is when I don’t have a job and get up at like 4 in the afternoon I get off the hook for doing anything productive. I also feel alone and most of the time I enjoy that. And I agree the tv is better too especially if you have a DVR cause there are a couple daytime shows that I miss when I sleep in. God I love DVR’s.

Ghosted by Goob @ 09/04/2007 4:55 AM EDT

“Hello out there all you cave-dwellers. We’ve got the hi-fi high and the lights turned low so here we go.”
(A gold star sticker for whoever can name that reference).

I just can’t do it anymore. I can’t beat the night anymore. Mrs. Manimal has always been the night-owl though. Her natural default is set on nocturnal. Me? This is my time. My ideal day would be wake up at 5:30, do some work, take a nap from 3-4 and in bed by 12:00.

P.S. I could have swore I logged in before the site went all Halloweeny. I feel like I have missed out.

Ghosted by The Manimal @ 09/04/2007 6:07 AM EDT

You are in no way alone in your thinking.

Ghosted by Ragnarok @ 09/04/2007 7:12 AM EDT

You could always try farming alfalfa in New Mexico. See, if the air’s too dry, the hay just flakes apart and won’t form good bales. You end up dusting half your yield evenly across the farm instead of selling it. And the only time the air is damp enough is when the dew is falling…between about midnight and dawn.

So that’s what I’ve always blamed for my inability to stick to a regular sleep schedule. And probably my unwillingness to accept summertime. 2 AM in the desert in July is colder then some of these places get all year. Stepping outside in the middle of the night and finding it still hot makes me profoundly uncomfortable.

Anyway, screw the diurnal cycle. That stopped being useful once we hit the top of the food chain and invented the light bulb.

Ghosted by Jedoc @ 09/04/2007 7:28 AM EDT

I tried working at night and sleeping during the day but it sucked. I’d much rather sleep at night (at least part of it). I feel like I miss out on great things if I sleep the day away.

Ghosted by the sexy armpit @ 09/04/2007 7:48 AM EDT

if I had a sleep wish granted, I’d just want to be able to wake at the same time daily. These 3 day weekends are nice but this morning I’m beat.

Ghosted by kb @ 09/04/2007 8:00 AM EDT

How strange that I drag myself out of bed this morning at 7:20 instead of the usual 9:30 and am greeted by this post. I’m usually a night person as well, but even though I work from home I feel horrid that I don’t actually get up early. So I go to bed at midnight with good intentions of getting up at 7:30, but it never happens.

Ghosted by Jessica Marie @ 09/04/2007 8:08 AM EDT

Is this the first, yet very subtle, Halloween post of the season?

Ghosted by fistpittingnork @ 09/04/2007 8:31 AM EDT

The night-shift lifestyle was never for me. I absolutely love the little things of going to work in the morning. The early morning breakfast, listening to NPR on the way, getting home in the afternoon for a work-out and a nap.

Ghosted by Jeff Mack @ 09/04/2007 8:33 AM EDT

Wait, I totally missed out on the stickers blog, what the hell?

Excuse the ignorance, folks.

Well I’m excited because I picked up a “Halloween” (the movie) bleeding knife from Wal Mart for less than $5. If you guys haven’t seen these, I suggest you go now.

Ghosted by fistpittingnork @ 09/04/2007 8:51 AM EDT

i’m at work. i’m incredibly tired. i want to go home. – who else hates work? (everyone!!!)

Ghosted by Andrew @ 09/04/2007 9:21 AM EDT

Cicadas also make chirping noises. Those are the things that leave life-size copies of themselves (their old exoskeletons, really) on walls and stuff.

I was in bed by one last night, which was a huge improvement over 6:30 AM on the previous night.

Ghosted by Ben @ 09/04/2007 10:13 AM EDT

Andrew I totally feel your pain. As long as we’re getting into the Halloween spirit, did anyone see the remake over the weekend? If so comments? Is it worth seeing? Sorry if someone else already posted on this, my internet was down over the weekened and I am just now getting caught up.

Ghosted by DHolly91 @ 09/04/2007 10:18 AM EDT

DHolly- was totally going to take my girlfriend to see Halloween over the weekend, like always, plans fell through. – very soon though. i’m pretty stoked for it, i loved House of 1000 Corpses and Devils Rejects so i have faith that Rob Zombie will do a good job with this. sigh, i could be wrong though… guess i’ll have to wait and see it for myself !!

Ghosted by Andrew @ 09/04/2007 10:25 AM EDT

Job for an insomniac: work in cold storage. My buddy works moving Frozen fish around in a freezer/warehouse, 7 pm to 7 am, three 12 hour shifts a week, but your up on nocturnal hours so on your four days off all grocery shopping has to be done in 24 hour places. Like wal-mart… I hat eit but cheap dvd is cheap dvds

Ghosted by Vanbilderass @ 09/04/2007 10:26 AM EDT

Andrew, yes, I’m at work and totally hating that fact. I’m just shy of 3 hours since starting time and I already feel like I’ve been here all day and I want to go home. I didn’t even get a V8 this morning. Boooo on Tuesdays!

I’m in a well enough mood though, this is the time of year that everything awesome happens all back to back. The least obvious being the State Fair this month.

Ghosted by fistpittingnork @ 09/04/2007 10:46 AM EDT

fistpittingnork:

Crap, is that this month? Now I have to face the excruciating choice between dragging my citified friends to the State Fair for funnel cake and fairway games, or huddling by myself in a darkened apartment while Ben Folds sings “Your Redneck Past” on loop.

Ghosted by Jedoc @ 09/04/2007 10:50 AM EDT

anyone ever put nacho cheese on doritos before? if not, i suggest you try it.

Ghosted by Andrew @ 09/04/2007 10:53 AM EDT

Andrew, something else you may want to try is putting the free chili and cheese from 7-11 on a bag of the chili cheese fritos. It’s messy as all get out but pretty good. And why is it the week after a holiday weekend seems to go by so slow?

Ghosted by DHolly91 @ 09/04/2007 11:10 AM EDT

tree frogs make quite a bit of noise too… a lot of the outside summer noise comes from them as well

Ghosted by pickleloaf @ 09/04/2007 11:12 AM EDT

I’ve been completely unable to get a good night’s rest since last Thursday or Friday. I’m sure part of it can be attributed to the oncoming Fall season…my most favoritest season ever. Went to the store yesterday and saw all the Halloween candy starting to fill the aisles…ooo I can’t wait! That experience would’ve been cooler if I hadn’t already been to a toy store and seen the 2″ Halloween Smurf Figurines!!!

Anyway, I digress….my restless nights came to a head last night when I ended up staying up the entire night surfin the web and working on a few writing projects I’ve got going. Ahh…nothing like driving 30 miles to work with zero rest. Why do I do this to myself?

Ghosted by bad karma @ 09/04/2007 11:17 AM EDT

Generally my apartment is quiet. This year the obnoxiously loud crickets from the annoying planet have invaded my yard. I wonder if there’s some type of poisonous snake I can introduce to the eco-system to get rid of them.

Of course, at that point, I would need to unleash red-assed baboons to get rid of the snakes. Then I would have to start building the robots to eradicate the baboons…..

Ghosted by Toxikfoxx @ 09/04/2007 11:23 AM EDT

Jedoc starts on the 13th I believe. Ben Folds Five sounds nice and all, but c’mon.. funnel cakes, 10 oz $36 beers, huge crowds of already smelly people, families with gigantic strollers all trying to fight for roadway… aaah… I can’t wait. I’m excited about the Fespermann’s beef jerky stand. Sure, I can go buy it year round at the Beef Jerky Emporium, but it’s like egg nog is to Christmas for me. I could make it year round, and even buy it around Halloween, but I like to save it for that one special time of year.

You may or may not be interested in Old(e) Germany’s Oktobrefest in Choctaw going on this month, too. Not sure of the exact dates yet, but it’s a pretty good festival.

Andrew a co-worker and I just had a similar discussion on Friday regarding Doritos. We were talking about how it’s not fair that the only chips that really get cred for being dipping chips are original tortillas and original potato chips. Have you ever used a flavored potato or corn chip for dipping, or anything else for that matter? It’s quite fantastic! Like yesterday at a cook out, I enjoyed some ketchup flavored potato chips dipped in homemade salsa. I also make my frito chili pie with the chili cheese fritos instead of original. Oddly enough, I’ve never made nachos with nacho cheese doritos.

Ghosted by fistpittingnork @ 09/04/2007 11:38 AM EDT

going on tour off and on for a few years, junk food was a huge part of my diet. so, going into a 7/11 and dumping liquid cheese from a machine into my bag of doritos was not uncommon.. haha.

Ghosted by Andrew @ 09/04/2007 11:40 AM EDT

PS- never had frito pie. always wanted to try it though.. someday … someday.

Ghosted by Andrew @ 09/04/2007 11:42 AM EDT

I say up, i think for two reasons: one, i want to extend “my time” as much as I can (video games, surfing the internets, watching tv whatever), it’s my time, it’s an investment! LOL! secondly, because I’m scarred I’ll miss something.

Ghosted by kyjlm @ 09/04/2007 11:48 AM EDT

I’m the same way. Always have been. I love sleep, but I am also a night owl. The reason it’s this way is because the daylight hours used to be the only time anybody could see what the hell they were doing and work, of course. Like many seemingly nonsensical things, it’s the result of still following an outdated system.

Ghosted by Frostor @ 09/04/2007 11:55 AM EDT

yea i’m a lot more productive at nite too!

to me it’s kinda silly getting out during the daytime “rush hour” and seeing everyone crammed on the highway all trying to do the same thing at the same time. so much time wasted when many people could be doing their jobs at different times, but instead move at a snail’s pace in the blistering heat no less

sometimes life and society seem funny like that (to me at least), where the things we take most for granted really seem to make no common sense at all, but I think the majority want to go with the flow so bad that they don’t mind or don’t even seem to notice

Ghosted by mrbong @ 09/04/2007 12:08 PM EDT

I’m also a night-owl, although I spend it watching tv. My favorite late night show is “Red Eye” on Fox News.

The other day my mom made her cheesy chicken and stuffing with gravy. For some reason the next day I used the leftovers like a chunky dip and just scooped it out with tortilla chips. It was delicious and I dubbed it “Southern Nachoes”, even though I live in the midwest.

Ghosted by JLAJRC @ 09/04/2007 12:11 PM EDT

unfortunately, my girlfriend will be away this weekend as shes going to a wedding with her family so it looks like bachelor city for andrew for a couple days. sigh..

Ghosted by Andrew @ 09/04/2007 12:17 PM EDT

fistspittingnork: As a German Catholic, I’m pretty sure I’m contractually obligated to participate in any area Oktoberfest events. If I don’t, I’ll be abducted from my home by a crack team of stein-wielding nuns and forced to get drunk while listening to oompah bands and eating tons of sausage and kraut.

Andrew: You’ve never eaten Frito pie? That’s sick and wrong and possibly communist. It’s a pretty easy dish to cook yourself, if you’ve got a frying pan, a saucepan, and a working stove. If you like, I can post an awesome recipe that uses Guinness Extra Stout as a flavor enhancer. It’s perfect for when the weather starts to cool down.

Ghosted by Jedoc @ 09/04/2007 12:32 PM EDT

Jedoc- i’m not communist! hahaha… post the recipe if you’d like, i’d love to make it and try it out..

Ghosted by Andrew @ 09/04/2007 12:41 PM EDT

DHolly91,

Click link for review.

Ugh. Oh my fucking God. I didn’t get any sleep last night.

Well, actually I got about 7 hours. But I woke up about 7 hours so it just feels like I only got 1. I feel pretty horrible. Time to jug some joe.

Ghosted by Cotter @ 09/04/2007 12:45 PM EDT

Oops, 7 times not 7 hours.

Ghosted by Cotter @ 09/04/2007 12:46 PM EDT

I’ve always been a night person. I HATE getting up for work in the mornings and having to be someplace by a specific time. I get the most energy at night, I enjoy just sitting up in my dark room watching DVDs, etc. Its not the same in daylight…

Ghosted by Melissa Y @ 09/04/2007 12:53 PM EDT

Cotter thanks for the review info. I may try to check it out after I get outta work today.

And Jedoc, post that recipe if you would, sounds good to me! I haven’t had a homemade Frito pie in a long time

Ghosted by DHolly91 @ 09/04/2007 12:57 PM EDT

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