Last night, I had 11 hours of sleep. I got home from work, had some soup and toast and got into bed with a book to read. I fell asleep at 8:30 (without setting my alarm) yet miraculously awoke at 7:30 this morning.

I hope most fervently that I’m not getting sick. The only times that I can sleep this much or need this much sleep are when I’m getting sick or in the depths of a nasty-ass depressive episode. It’s not the latter, so it would seem to be the first. Perhaps that overabundance of sleep will have recharged my body and left me healthier and able to fend off whatever is trying to sicken me.

Ugh.

Anyway, I’ve been feeling a bit of pudding-brain lately and needing some sort of mental stimulation. The NYT crossword puzzle will only take a girl so far. Rock-climbing does involve a decent degree of mental stimulation in the form of problem-solving and strategizing, and I may very well have a new climbing buddy in the coming weeks (my friend messaged me through Facebook and asked how she could get started; we have plans to go this afternoon).

But I need more. I don’t have the money to go back to grad school, and I checked our local adult school offerings and there were some interesting (and affordable) courses like introductory Japanese, introductory guitar, photography, and a film discussion group - so I may try one of those (perhaps guitar since I have one now).

Another thing I’ve thought about is just getting some college textbooks and walking myself through a course (for fun, mind you) that way. Lifehacker just posted their list of the best places to save money on textbooks. Working in the publishing world, I’m aware of how the used textbook trade doesn’t do the book industry any favors, but having been a student who got away with paying very little for her textbooks (English major = NOVELS, working in a bookstore = discounts), I remember well the shock I felt when I actually had to buy something at the campus bookstore at full price. Say, an intro to psych textbook (which I still have today) that set me back $160. Which was and continues to be a sizeable amount of money to pay for a book you’ll use for only a few months, honestly.

Of course, this was 1997 and prices have increased greatly since then. And I know from my brothers’ experiences that the hard science topics like chemistry and the various maths and engineering can easily set you back $300+ per book.

It’s a bit of a no-win situation. The prices are high because the production costs and values are high and the bookstores mark them up to make a profit. Students don’t usually have assloads of money, so they’re looking to save money by buying the last edition or buying it used from last semester’s classes. But I’m beginning to pontificate.

The point is that it might be worth ordering some textbooks like an intro to Japanese or art history. That might keep my brain stimulated for a bit.

And now, time to get ready for work. Half-day = twice the work in half the time. But it’s a holiday, so I should not complain.

I’ve been going through my books and determining which ones could be donated to Goodwill. Earlier today, three boxes of books were thus removed from my life. I filled up another and have empty boxes ready for the next wheat/chaff separation.

It feels strangely good. First, because I’ve donated them and can pretend that they’ll go on to have fantastically great lives in someone else’s hands. Second, because that’s three fewer boxes I’ll have to worry about packing up and moving with me when I find a new place. Third, because I got rid of some old college books as well as books that were recommended to me by people whose opinions held a lot of sway in my world 12 years ago but who I later came to see as mere mortals after all.

Essentially, lots of those books were an emotional purge; looking at them took me back to a specific time in my life when I was still fairly young, impressionable and not comfortable enough in my own skin to say, “You know what? I don’t like David Foster Wallace at all!” for fear of the people I quasi-pedestalled* losing respect for me because our tastes differed. Those days of youth.

* (Horrible neologism - sorry - but it wasn’t idol worship; I just had them up higher than they deserved to be.)

Anyway, among the books donated today was a copy of A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again. I hesitated for a moment, thought about keeping it so I could give it another shot - perhaps I just wasn’t in the frame of mind to enjoy David Foster Wallace at that time?? I looked at the back cover… read the back cover copy and saw that smug-ass author shot… and tossed it right in the box. See? I can’t even bring myself to post that photo here. I just can’t.

It’s getting late-ish for a Sunday night. I had some semblance of a weekend - which was very nice in an odd way. Even though I was pretty unhappy for most of it, it was an unburdened unhappiness. Lots of tension headaches and neckache. Lots of random around-the-house stuff like dyeing faded curtains, making pancakes and poached eggs and bacon for breakfast, doing dishes by hand since the dishwasher is broken, helping my sister do her hair for a wedding, laundry, ironing and blow-drying a wet book to save it from mildew and worse-than-death, assorted cleaning, purging of the books, etc.

And to treat myself, I ordered a MOO stickerbook of some of my Flickr photos. I don’t think you ever get too old for stickers, really.

… to receive a text from the Obama campaign announcing Biden as his running mate.

Or to have that text message wake you. Sheesh.

Today after work, I went on a powerwalk of sorts with a friend from work. She’s tall, so her vigorous walk is practically a jog for me and we did a solid 45 minutes or so… and then decided we needed food in a bad way.

We went to a Cajun restaurant near the office and I learned that Thursday night is half-price martini night. Well, not being one to pass up a $5 martini bargain, and feeling the need to have a drink, and knowing that I had at least two hours until I needed to drive, I figured one wouldn’t hurt me. So I ordered the pear martini - Grey Goose pear, Midori and pineapple juice. I get that the sweetness can be deceiving, but this thing was strong. Even with a shrimp po’ boy sandwich and coleslaw and a glass of water in my tummy, I was having issues setting my water glass back on the ring of condensation on the table.

I’m concerned that I’ve become a ridiculous lightweight - or that it was laced with something else since I’m still sort of feeling it now (I don’t honestly think that’s the case, but wow do I feel weird).

The entire train ride home, I was sort of in a haze. That’s not normal. I drove home without incident (that was 2 hours after imbibing the SINGLE martini) but still feel a little out of it.

I’ve been sitting here for an hour trying to figure out how to install this fun Flickr widget and I can’t seem to make the words come together in my head so that I can successfully configure and install the mofo.

I’m not even tipsy, but something is wonky. Maybe I’m just overly tired and stressed? Maybe the fact that tomorrow is Friday is making me a bit giddy and punchdrunk?

The best thing to do right now is crawl into bed and enjoy some delicious sleep.

I haven’t had a headache this bad in over two years. I am calling it a night nice and early and hoping that the drugs kick in and let me get some sleep.

I intended to finish some work from home tonight, but that’s just not happening.

I intended to write something here that would be funny (or amusing at the very least) but that’s also not happening.

We had a department dinner at Cookshop and it was quite tasty and I’m quite stuffed and quite sleepy. I had a delicious cocktail - their Herbal Sour, which is made with Veloce herbal liqueur, rosemary, thyme (a fresh sprig or two as garnish, btw), fresh citrus and bitters. In the food arena: a lovely purslane salad with blueberries, hazelnuts and a champagne vinaigrette, then a NY strip steak with grilled peppers and chimichurri sauce, along with a carrot, radish and pistachio slaw. Dessert = grilled market peaches with saffron semolina cake, vanilla ice milk and ginger crumble. TASTY.

I hate to say it, but I think I’m even too tired and on the verge of food coma to read. It might be a movie night. I’m thinking classic - and I’m thinking noir. Perhaps Double Indemnity? Or Gilda?

Decisions, decisions. I might drop off to sleep before the end of the first scene, so it doesn’t matter all that much.

I love sleep.

Fleet Foxes will be playing in NYC at Webster Hall on October 5th. That show is already sold out. Here’s hoping they add another date in NYC or Philly around then.  The 5th was iffy anyway since it’s a friend’s birthday and I don’t know what will be going on.

But damn, would I love to see these kids live:

And the song”English House” in pure audio format:

Cleaning is boring me. But I have a few more hours to do this before I join my mother and brother for dinner - and then attend an evening of Chinese music and dance at the State Theatre in New Brunswick, NJ, performed by Divine Performing Arts.

I’m also thinking that on Thursday night (the only night I’ll have free this week) I might do some blog redesign - because CHANGE IS GOOD.

Tomorrow is Monday and I’m already tired thinking about what I’ve got to do this week. I’ve got a conference Monday through Wednesday, and business dinners Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday night is rock-climbing, and Friday after work I’m leaving for Philly to visit my friend Sara. This week I will truly be working for the weekend.

Rather than driving to Philly and dealing with weekend traffic, expensive gas and scarce parking, I’m taking BoltBus down, so I’ll have to report back on that experience. It’s $26 round trip from NYC to Philly, which is about $10 less than what it would cost me in gas, but I’m saving myself some stress - I hope. My friend at work has used BoltBus before and said she liked them better than Vamoose; she’s taken both to D.C. - but only Bolt goes to Philly. It’s also got free wi-fi, but I don’t have a laptop. Ah, well. I’ll have to deal with being disconnected for a brief while. Or, I can update via email from my cell phone. There is a way. It’s magical.

Anyway - that’s what I’ve got heading my way. I’ll definitely be bringing my camera since there’s a beautiful old cemetery (Laurel Hill Cemetery) I want to photograph, as well as the Arboretum at the Barnes Foundation, and just the city of Philadelphia itself.

There, now. Thinking about that is making me feel a little less stressed. I’ll practice with my scripts for the conference when I get home tonight. I want to keep part of this weekend to myself.

There are some good things I’ve read/watched lately that I keep meaning to write about. But I haven’t had that particular muse with me. Let me list them, at the very least:

Persepolis (movie)*

In the Woods (book)

American Nerd (book)

A History of Violence (movie)*

*Interestingly enough, both movies are based on graphic novels. Persepolis is animated, so it’s a more direct adaptation, but A History of Violence is also a graphic novel adaptation.

Tonight, I am annoyed at the prospect of having to start the search for a podiatrist come Monday. I’ve got some pain in my left foot and I think it might require surgery. That’s not going to stop me from trying to break out of my month-long exercise hiatus, though - tomorrow morning I’ll be playing a bastardized approximation of tennis. Then going swimming. It should all work out somehow - as long as I wear good comfy sneakers and socks.

Oh, to be young again. I say this with only a smattering of sarcasm. The first 4 months of being 30 haven’t been a health crisis, but I can’t eat anything and not have to pay for it anymore. I have to exercise - and exercise a LOT - to lose weight. I have to exercise a good solid amount to maintain the status quo. It’s annoying, but that’s just the way it is. So I hope I don’t have to get foot surgery (or that it’s minor and that I heal quickly); my only option without exercise would be to drink water and eat rice cakes. Not particularly inviting.

Dear Google Reader,

I apologize for your present state of overload… you’re burdened with several thousand posts, sitting there, unread and unloved. It’s not that I don’t want to spend time with you — I do! It’s just been really hard to find a chunk of uninterrupted quality time. You see, I’ve been working late a lot these last few weeks, and when I get home at 8 or 8:30, I just want to eat something and go to sleep. And sometimes it’s true - I do actually have a headache.

You may argue that despite all of this, I find time to go running. I wish that was more true than it is; as it stands, I’ve only had the energy to go running one night this week and that was Monday. I hoped to do it tonight, but I’m just pooped. Drained. Done.

There could be resentment. I could be angry at the fact that there’s so much you feel you need to show me and that I need to know, and that there’s no way I could EVER keep up with you. I can’t - you’re just too much for anyone (well, except Robert Scoble) to truly understand. It’s overwhelming.

I sit down at my computer to spend time with you and the guilt sets in… coupled with the fact that the pants I was so proud of being able to wear comfortably (only a month ago) are beginning to feel a bit tight. My new rock climbing buddy broke her ankle, so I haven’t been able to do that in almost a month.  It’s been very rough on me - the sense of routine and order and physical accomplishment that I’ve managed to develop over the last 10 months has sort of fallen out from underneath me all of a sudden. It’s difficult to justify spending an hour with you, Google Reader, and the delicious unread info in all the RSS feeds you have waiting for me nightly, especially when my ass is growing and my self esteem is shrinking.

I promise that once I get back into the swing of things, I will find time for you. It might be a weekend thing; it might be a few nights a week after I finish working out. It probably won’t be the way things once were; us sitting here, together, through the wee hours of the morning, sharing things we find interesting. But I think you’re strong enough to handle it - I’ll just have to find a way to accept that in my life.

With fondest regards and hopes for the future,

-eva