Saturday, October 29, 2005

God, I seriously need to sleep but I'm not remotely sleepy. I'm sitting in the middle of an atmosphere of contained dynamism waiting to have its constraints removed.

I just wish George wouldn't send stupid text messages to my phone. Even if I could, I wouldn't take out a $6,000 loan to buy a car. A far more cost effective solution is only a mouseclick away - eBay.

One of the kids is trying to beat his own sleeplessness record. He wants to go 64 hours without sleep and I'm not happy about it. Primarily, it's physically very dangerous - he could hurt himself doing that. Secondarily, one of the rationalizations he's put forth for why this feat should be achievable is "mind over body". Willpower in other words.

He seems to have forgotten that the mind doesn't exist independently of the body - damage one and you damage the other. (Don't argue the finer points of this statement, you will more than likely lose.)

On the other hand, who am I to stand in his way if that's what he wants to do? It just bugs me more than a little bit that I can't be there in case my fears are realised.

I quite often have 30 hour days. I get going on the internet and Windows Media Player and I just don't stop until I can't see the screen properly any more. But 64 hours is seriously pushing the bounds of neurochemical imbalance. What if, after 58 hours without sleep, he walks out in front of a car?

Oh well. I've made my opinion known, it's now up to his friends and family to take care of him if he's determined to go ahead with this attempt.

Not for me though. It's 3am and I'm going to bed.

Niters all.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yeah...(beside's making sure the bogey-man doesn't get them or small delusional kids waiting up for the non-existent jolly fat-man to blow chunks down the chimney) I have never understood why kids (in general) choose not to sleep.

I had that conversation a few weeks ago about teens and sleeping. Pfft - personally, I think the older a person gets - the more sleep their body needs.

*smile*

If children want to bang their heads against the walls to get rid of their excess/pent up energy - parents might as well let them.

G'night...

ChatRat said...

This one is 17. I seem to remember needing about 19 hours of sleep a day when I was that age.

(To make up for the weekends when I'd be lucky to get 2 hours from Friday to Sunday.)

Anonymous said...

Yeah...I had thought he was 15 or 16 yrs. old.

Shoot - I don't remember how much sleep I needed back then. I'd sneak in sleep during study-hall, lunch period, and theology class. Some of the friggin' nuns would write me up for doing so - especially if I was hiding out in the library.

Pfft...

Anonymous said...

I remember my teen years but I don't remember being the way my teens are! (Sleep habits being minor on the list!) Maybe I should send 'em to you Rat! lol!

ChatRat said...

God, what if I lost one?