Monday, May 17, 2010

Distractions



It seems like it happens all the time to me. I walk into my room with the determination to do homework.

Yes, I'll get this and this and this done.

So I sit at my desk and pull out various notebooks and books, click some pens, and wait.

No ideas? Okay, well I'll pull up the internet. My homepage is Facebook.

He did what? Wait, who's she dating? Oh then someone pops up on chat.

Well, they wanted to talk so I must now hold a conversation.. that lasts for fifteen minutes. Facebook is usually a 20 minute distraction

Crap, I was doing my homework. I need music to keep me occupied. iTunes! Yes.

I plug in my iPod and look through some playlists. I'm not finding anything really, so I look at the iTunes store. 10 minutes later, I close out.. spending $5 on some new songs.

I did it again! Shoot, I have to do my homework!

I put the pen to paper and write a few sentences of meaningless garble. I click the pen, again and again.

Wait! I was supposed to get an email from my professor.

I pull up Google Chrome and check my email, which leads me to checking my Gmail, which leads me to checking Twitter. I don't know why though.

Someone tweeted me! Well I must now reply. And add another tweet. 10 minutes on Twitter,

Well that was fun.. My cursor is over the 'x' when wait, is that Ray William Johnson's new video?

Youtube! I click on my subscriptions and see how far behind I am in my videos. I should probably catch up and get these off my queue.

Thirty minutes later, I'm done. It's been almost an hour since I originally started my homework.

Look at that, it's time for dinner. They're waiting for me.

Dinner usually lasts an hour and a half.

Almost three hours later, I sit down again to do my homework.

My phone buzzes. A text? Nope, a call from my mom.

Twenty minutes later, I finally get my homework started.

Oh I have an idea, I should blog about this.

Homework done? Nope.

I still wonder how I'm on the Dean's List...

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

At least 25% of adults suffer from insomnia, but over 18 million prescriptions are written every year for sleeping pills



Insomnia has kicked in for me. It's officially 12:30 and I'm still awake.
This is quite unfortunate.
I just get these nights where I can't even begin to fall asleep
There's just too much going on in this brain of mine to actually fall asleep.
So much stuff to do, so little time.. you know?
But then there are some nights where I just sleep like a baby.
What is up with that? I need consistency. I need a routine!

I've looked up some ways to help cure insomnia.
I have to see if they actually work. I'm hoping, because I really do enjoy sleep.
http://www.well.com/~mick/insomnia/ I think this is someone else's blog.
I find it weird to blog about someone else's blog. What if they're wrong? Then I'm passing false information around the inter-web. It's a conundrum. (I just like that word).

So, this mick character gives a lot of suggestions. Some I'm like, well yeah. Duh.
But really..
"To help you sleep after a high stress day, lie down with a hot water bottle on your stomach, close your eyes and breath deeply, so the bottle rises and falls. We carry a lot of tension there and the weighted heat releases it."
I'm not doing that. Nope. That's just weird.
Another says "Sex Alone or with Another Person." Uh.. what? Of course, the link wouldn't work so I couldn't read what that was all about. Sex makes you tired, yes. But I'm not going to go sleep with someone just because I can't.. well.. sleep.

I found a more legit article. It's written by Laurie Pawlik -Kienlen from suite101.com
I think one of my biggest issues is that I drink a lot of caffeine throughout the day.
That doesn't really affect me at the time, but obviously it does at night. I'm wired right now, and I have to get up at 8:00.. eesh.

Also, it could be due to the fact that I slept in this morning, since my class was delayed an hour and a half. That should make that much a difference, right?

I find it hard to believe that only 25% of adults have "insomnia." What I find funny is that over 18 million prescriptions are written a year for sleeping pills. That 25% are real pill poppers..

Sleep is important. I'm pretty sure without it, we'd die. I know I'd be extremely crabby. No one wants that. To spare those poor souls I have to see tomorrow, I must get some sleep since it is now 12:49 and it's getting later by the second.
Okay, yeah that was a bad joke. I know this.
Want to hear another one?

What do you get if you cross an insomniac, an agnostic, and a dyslexic?
Someone who stays up all night wondering if there really is a dog.

Yeah, it took me a minute too.





Thursday, May 6, 2010

Older people with a large circle of friends were 22 percent less likely to die during the study period than those with fewer friends




My topic of today is friendship, if you haven't guessed by the pictures above.

I guess I never realized how great of friends I actually have.
I mean, don't get me wrong, I love the close friends that I have, but I guess I
didn't realize how many I can count on.
And I have different categories.
A) The high school friends: they are the ones that I've known forever and probably will never forget in my lifetime. Seriously, these girls have been with me since kindergarten. They've known me the longest and knew what I was like growing up. But people change. I changed when I came to college. I grew into this person that I am today. I wasn't always like this. I was once a quiet, shy little girl that wouldn't speak her mind. Well that definitely went out the window.

B) My freshmen year friends: I met this group of girls my freshmen year of college. We all lived on the same floor and we just clicked. We had the same values and interests, and we all acted crazy. Now that I'm in my third year, we've stayed connected and they are some of the best friends that anyone could ask for. Some have come and gone, and that's unfortunate. But that's, I suppose. Like I said, people change. I don't know what I would do without this amazing group of friends that I have in my life right now. I always wonder what I would have turned out like if I had gone somewhere else, met a totally different group of people. Would I be different? Yeah, I believe so. They helped me change into a better, more mature person. I love them all so much and I hope they know that.

I'm sitting here, staring at a picture of my best friend from high school and her boyfriend. We used to be so close. I guess that's what happens when you go to different colleges. We drifted, but we still tried to make an effort. It makes me sad, but I haven't talked to her in about two months. We text sometimes, and email. But I actually haven't laid eyes on her since.. well since December. That was almost six months ago. That's just not right.

My roommate is a really good friend of mine. We hang out a lot. Recently she went overseas. I didn't know what I would do, since she was one of the people I liked to hang out with the most. But with her gone, I realized that I have so many other friends that I seemed to have neglected. Now, I have an opportunity to just be with them again and get to know them all over again. And I'm excited. For instance, I just spent an hour talking to a friend that I hadn't seen for almost two months. How sad is that?

Friendship is a two way street and anyone who tells you different is lying to you. It takes time and effort to build a friendship, but in the end it's worth it. You have a person you can trust with your secrets and to be there for you when you need it. Friendship is golden. I just wonder what I would do without these friends that I have.

So cherish the friends you have. Spend time with them. Don't let your relationship slip away. I know you're busy. We all are. But you still have to make time for them.

I found this interesting. What is the definition of friendship?