Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Sleep chanting and other nonsense

"Greeeeetings malefactors. I am here to destroy your ship." -Spencer quote of the month

As promised, I'm writing because finals are over and I've moved back home for the summer. Finals weren't too terrible. On Sunday night before exams, there was a three to four hour period of which I have no recollection.  I was in the middle of working on a paper Sunday afternoon when a crisis at work occurred. I lost a good three hours of paper-writing time dealing with that so it threw everything off.  I remember leaving the library at 2 a.m. when it closed, going back to my dorm and writing for about two hours in the living room and then finding myself sitting in my bed around 7 a.m.  I don't remember what happened in between, I'm not even sure how I got up to my room.  I could have roamed the streets, started a fire, picked a fight with the homeless man who sits on the ivy wall, anything.  Thankfully my subconscious has some sense and none of these happened. 

Which reminds me of  a story.  I was still living with Catherine this past year but she went to the UK for the spring semester so I got a random roommate for the rest of the time.  I was nervous about living with a stranger but she ended up being really cool.  Her name is Charisse and she was a freshman but we got on quite well.  Because we both had some unfortunate experiences with roommates in the past (hers more recently), we were straight with each other about how things were going to be. She's got a great sense of humor, always showing me a funny video on Youtube or telling a story about her crazy friends.  

Anyway, no matter how smooth things are, it is always awkward (in the beginning) living in such close quarters with someone you hardly know.  Since I have a history of occasionally saying really weird things while I sleep, I was really nervous that this habit would reappear and freak Charisse out.  After a year and a half, Catherine was used to the odd things that I sometimes spouted in the night, which included (I kid you not) a shouting match in mangled French and a recipe for soup.  

Well, I was able to keep this quirk under wraps for some time because I would usually go to bed before Charisse. As the semester wore on, however, she began to stay up later and later so eventually our bedtimes reversed.  One such night I was having this vivid dream about an older woman who I was convinced was my grandmother walking alongside a busy street.  Suddenly she darted out into traffic.  In a state of panic, I shouted "GRANDMA!" because I was too far away to pull her back.  I woke with a start, not sure if I had shouted that out loud or not.  I fell back asleep and forgot about it until the next afternoon.  Charisse and I were sitting at our desks when I suddenly remembered. I said "Charisse, I may or may not have screamed in my sleep last night because I was having this dream about a grandma and, well, I think I shouted out loud because I woke myself up." Charisse started laughing and said, "YEAH you did! I woke up when you shouted something like 'ANGHMA!'. I was really nervous for awhile."  Poor Charisse.  She probably though I was either possessed or shouting some weird tribal chant.

Luckily my sleep-chants have subsided for the time being. Although, it doesn't really matter since I'm home.  I'm going to miss living with Charisse though.  We had a good time.  And Catherine too, for that matter.  Catherine is moving off campus and Charisse is staying in our old room but I'm taking a single room for next year.  I have a burning desire to NOT live on the third floor again so I'm moving to another building to live on the first.  Plus I'll be writing my thesis so it is imperative that I limit my distractions.   

So if you weren't aware before, it is now quite obvious that I start these blog posts with no specific direction in mind. Sometimes it pays off but mostly it ends in lengthy drivel (see above).  And I usually write to further procrastinate on some pressing thing I need to take care of (such as unpacking my room so I can pack for another trip).
Mission Accomplished.

Good night, moon.
 

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