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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 on 09/04/2007. E-mail me!



Discussion Thread: 123 comments

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.

Chestnuts roasted by Ben @ 09/04/2007 10:13 AM

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.

Chestnuts roasted by DHolly91 @ 09/04/2007 10:18 AM

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 !!

Chestnuts roasted by Andrew @ 09/04/2007 10:25 AM

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

Chestnuts roasted by Vanbilderass @ 09/04/2007 10:26 AM

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.

Chestnuts roasted by fistpittingnork @ 09/04/2007 10:46 AM

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.

Chestnuts roasted by Jedoc @ 09/04/2007 10:50 AM

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

Chestnuts roasted by Andrew @ 09/04/2007 10:53 AM

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?

Chestnuts roasted by DHolly91 @ 09/04/2007 11:10 AM

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

Chestnuts roasted by pickleloaf @ 09/04/2007 11:12 AM

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?

Chestnuts roasted by bad karma @ 09/04/2007 11:17 AM

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…..

Chestnuts roasted by Toxikfoxx @ 09/04/2007 11:23 AM

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.

Chestnuts roasted by fistpittingnork @ 09/04/2007 11:38 AM

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.

Chestnuts roasted by Andrew @ 09/04/2007 11:40 AM

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

Chestnuts roasted by Andrew @ 09/04/2007 11:42 AM

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.

Chestnuts roasted by kyjlm @ 09/04/2007 11:48 AM

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.

Chestnuts roasted by Frostor @ 09/04/2007 11:55 AM

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

Chestnuts roasted by mrbong @ 09/04/2007 12:08 PM

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.

Chestnuts roasted by JLAJRC @ 09/04/2007 12:11 PM

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..

Chestnuts roasted by Andrew @ 09/04/2007 12:17 PM

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.

Chestnuts roasted by Jedoc @ 09/04/2007 12:32 PM

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

Chestnuts roasted by Andrew @ 09/04/2007 12:41 PM

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.

Chestnuts roasted by Cotter @ 09/04/2007 12:45 PM

Oops, 7 times not 7 hours.

Chestnuts roasted by Cotter @ 09/04/2007 12:46 PM

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…

Chestnuts roasted by Melissa Y @ 09/04/2007 12:53 PM

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

Chestnuts roasted by DHolly91 @ 09/04/2007 12:57 PM

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