Well then. I suppose I should listen to my other half more, huh? I've been trying, believe it or not, but it's not been easy for me.

Researchers found that gratitude predicted better self-reported sleep quality, as well as duration of sleep, and less 'sleep latency' (the amount of time it takes to fall asleep after the lights have gone out) and daytime dysfunction. The relationship between gratitude and each of these variables was mediated by the thoughts people had before falling asleep: more positive before-sleep thoughts and less negative ones. All of these results were found to be unrelated to personality traits, including neuroticism, (which one might expect to affect sleep quality and ability to fall asleep). - Elizabeth Scott, MS

Source

Well, thanks to Caliban1227's almost encyclopedic knowledge of comic book styles (though I still agree, the comic book font looks like an IKEA sale sign...go figure), I was able to google 'Wonder Woman flying elephant' and be rewarded with an answer.

See, Zeus has put Achilles in charge of Paradise Island, and now there's a mysterious rash of pregnancies on the island. No one can figure out where the babies are coming from (my guess is the secret ingredient is peen, but hey, what do I know, I don't read comic books anymore). Apparently the ultra cool flying elephant is Achilles' pet/chariot all wrapped up into one.

On the upside, everyone knows how to get rid of Achilles! Me, I'd kick him in the heel REALLY hard and then keep the semi-bi-carmel elephant for a pet. He looks cute and cuddly.

That's just me, though.

Oh screw, that. Hey, greymalkin, where are you when I need you?

Are you there, caliban1227? It's me, Jim.

I want to know what in the holy name of hell THIS is:

I have to give it an over all 'go see', if you can get tickets!

The aerial acrobatics are worth the price of admission, and on a similar note:

1) I got stumped with a myth. Srsly. How often does THAT happen? As in didn't even recognize the names.
2) They have trivia. Which I did well at.
3) They have acrobatic bodies in skin tight clothing. This is also good.
4) The Attis, Syrinx, and Inanna segments were really well done, and I enjoyed them thoroughly.
5) Got to briefly speak to the directors (really, they're charming folks! And the female half was Brigit @ Sickle circa 1999....small friggin' world).
6) Got to fanboy @ the performer of Erishgikal.

That said, I can't leave well enough alone, and enjoy doing things like reworking plays in my head. And in this case, I would have altered it in the following manner:

1) The 'insane, tuneless piper' in the Wotan bit
2) Reordered the segments: Attis, Syrinx, Telepinu, Wotan, Coatlicue, Inanna.

The answer was: Yes, I DID have H1N1. I should also be well past the point of being able to infect anyone else, though it's possible that was NOT true last Saturday. My last fever was Saturday night.

So. Other than feeling like a cosmic truck's run my ass over, I'm on the mend.

I must say...my encounter with an epic disease was less than overwhelming.

The Pilgrim overtook a strange traveler on the way to the great city. "Wither do you go, O Death?" asked the man in dread. "I go to slay a thousand." On his flight from the blighted city, the man overtook the same traveler, and chided him, "You said you went to slay a thousand, but I found ten thousand dead there!" "True, astute Pilgrim," said Death, "I slew a thousand with plague, and nine thousand died of fright."

I do not know if I have a full blown active infection right now. Should know by Thursday.

If I've seen you in the past 7 days or so, there's a possibility that you've been exposed.

I'm terribly apologetic, but I go to college, and there are plenty of sick people there :P

It's also possible that the crud I had 3-4 weeks ago was the swine flu, and that this is just the regular flu taking advantage of my weakened immune system. :P

That's what's being served up for brunch on Beacon Hill today.

I just made my husband nearly orgasmic. I offered to knit him a squid hat.

::shakes head::

Back at work after being sick for several days. I've definitely overdone it. And this client's constant pacing and talking to himself is driving me insane. Also, I am not a baby sitter.

Oh god. I just crawled out to go to work, after getting up and then going back to bed. I feel like I've been run over by a steamshovel, then scooped up and put into a cement mixer.

This is what I get for being social all weekend. *ded of teh krud*.

The Niffler is a British beast. They are fluffy, black, and long snouted.

They have a predilection for anything glittery and shiny, which makes them wonderful for locating anything metallic or shimmery, but they might bite if a person is wearing any jewellery, so BE CAREFUL.

Nifflers are often kept by goblins to burrow deep into the earth for treasure.

Though the niffler is gentle and affectionate, it can be destructive to belongings and should never be kept in a house. Or Headmaster's office. Ask Dolores Umbridge.

They live in lairs up to twenty feet below ground and produce six to eight young in a litter.

Researchers have published yet another study!

And in it, we're told these following items:

# Cites study that finds men view cars as extensions of themselves
# Professor: Men can compartmentalize thoughts, women assimilate many feelings
# Men tend to be more aggressive, says Einstein College of Medicine in New York City

Um. Yeah. Thanks.

Anyway. Had biology, chemistry, AND another stress test at the gym today.

Something had to give. It was the gym. I'm still going to exercise...but no more personal trainer. I feel sort of like a heel, but I over committed. AGAIN.

In other news, my husband has developed two girlfriends. O_o.

Oh yes, and a biology test AND a chemistry test on the same day makes the Captain anxious.

With instructor approval no less.

Gah. I've come to the sad conclusion that I can no longer skimp on sleep. The problem is, that means I have to cut out my social life. This is patently UNFAIR. The problem is, that the less sleep I get, the more pissy I am. The pissier I am, no one wants to be around me. The less people are around me the even MORE pissy I get, and need to be around people, but see the above statement.

I am so utterly daunted at the idea of even TRYING to go and see a midnight premier of Harry Potter. The idea of getting less than 5 hours of sleep actually fills me with a dread like panic, because I'm non functional with less than that, and I've been AVERAGING less than 4 since oh...a month before solstice.

See, I can't sleep here in the summer. The days are so long, my body refuses to shut off and let me sleep. Pair that with an insomniac husband whom I want to spend every possible moment with, and it means I'm not sleeping. Then add the stress of school...and you guessed it. I'm still not sleeping.

There has got to be SOME answer to all of this, and I'm sure it will come to me. Sometime after Samhain, when my sleep schedule goes back to 'normal' for the winter.

Sad captain is sad right now...and sleep deprived.

I hate getting older...because even as recently as 2005, I could go 3-4 days with 1-2 hours of sleep, but my body just said NEIN to that idea about 2006, and life has not been the same. Guh.

Hey, look, my own incoherent, sleep-dep inspired raving/rambling while I panic over not being able to go to the movies (which is a two edged thing for me anyway). See, I HATE crowds. I love premiers. I love Harry Potter. I hate high strung uberfans. I want to go to the movie with my hubby and friend(s). I also want to do well in class the next day, which will be a lab, and thus is VERY important because it's only a 6 week session instead of 12. AND I have to work Friday, AND I have 4+ hours on the bus getting to school, then to work, then home. So naps are really sort of out of the question. And I'm paranoid about not missing any school Getting good grades is paramount to my success in school...and it makes me feel like a 6 year old who has chicken pox on the day of their birthday.

I wanna have a little tantrum. And then a nap. And then some icecream, which won't make it any better, but will still be icecream.

Grrr.

Also, I left my phone at home today, and that has NOT made today any easier, I tell ya.

The captain's stress level just hit 11 back there somewhere, and is looking to see if he can eke out 12. :P

I found myself here at 6am, SCREAMING at my Chemistry homework. Not because I have trouble with Chemistry. I have trouble with inconsistant notation and significant figures. Yeah, I suck. I don't care. I finally got it puzzled out, but not because I really understood. I just kept plugging in logical looking numbers until the pip went green. Heh. Conditioning at its finest. I'll go see if there's a tutor available in the library on Monday.

I am now staring at the Biology homework...which is suffering from my professor's English skills or lack thereof. Don't get me wrong; she SPEAKS very good English (She's from Rhodes, grew up in various parts of Italy, has a delicious accent and a wicked sense of humor). Her written English skills, however, leave a lot to be desired. I think the bigger problem is that she wants to use all the bells and whistles available in Microsoft Word...and you know. Unless you're a copy editor, you should probably back away, and leave the fancy stuff alone.

Now I'm exhausted. Maybe I'll go take a nap while I wait to see if she meant for me to give a one word, yes/no answer to a question, or actually answer the question in the form of an essay, because it could be either, given the question was nested in a formatted list, but didn't make sense compared to all the other items in the list. Go figger.

Okay, so the tiller was a good idea. There is no WAY we would have been able to dig all of that up by hand. The problem was that the ground underneath was so full of construction debris it was impossible to dig up properly. So.

Plan B will go into effect.

I am, however, toasty, and sore as all hell.

And now I need to go do homework.