Monday, November 10, 2008

Nocturnality à la Holly

I'll make do by catching the sunrise--
you lay sleeping--I was escorting it to you.
-Bella Akhmadulina


Or, what to do when everyone but you is asleep.

Because night-owlishness is basically my unofficial major, I thought I would share some of my favorite ways to pass the uncommon hours.

  • go to the nearest playground and swing until you've almost-but-not-quite given yourself a stomachache
  • play dress-up and assemble a really awesome outfit for the morrow
  • blog
  • burn a mix CD of excellent and sing-a-longable tracks, relocate a laptop or CD player to the bathroom, and enjoy a long shower to your new soundtrack
  • quiet-dance wildly around your house/apartment/dorm in a weird costume (or no costume at all) - iPod optional
  • read an book's worth of pages - but instead of going straight through one whole book, read chapter one from one book, chapter two from the next, and so on
  • write a letter
  • decorate upcoming pages in your journal
  • wrap yourself up in Christmas lights and settle yourself in front of your RSS reader
  • play Guitar Hero with the sound off
  • take advantage of the empty streets and go for a bike ride/longboarding
  • if you have a bathroom scale, drink lots of tea and watch your weight go up and down over the course of the night
  • memorize a poem or Shakespearean monologue, and resolve to find an excuse to launch into it sometime during the next day

12 comments:

  1. *copies list into a word document for future reference*

    I especially like the dress up, the book's worth of pages, and the Shakespeare monologue.

    Don't the Christmas lights get rather hot after a while?

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  2. oh cuileann, your list makes me smile! you see, i'm a night owl too. but unlike you, i'm still bitter about it. this list inspires me to embrace my night- owlishness. um, except that i have to wake up early to work so that might not work out after all.

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  3. I really thing I need to wrap myself up in Christmas lights sometime. Just for fun. But probably not in my underwear with a fork sticking through my bun.

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  4. You are amazing. No question about it.

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  5. That. Is. Awesome.

    Alas, I am a boring person and have only ever taken advantage of those glorious hours to do #3. Perhaps I shall add the rest to my List Of Things To Do Before I Die.

    Christmas lights--sounds prickly.

    *likes #1 and #13 particularly*

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  6. just discovered your blog through chuck and liking it quite a bit. i am a secret fashion photo addict and lover of lists myself.

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  7. I love these ideas, thank you. :)

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  8. Spider - They do, yes. I think that's why I was in my underwear last time.

    Odessa - Society can be rather inconsiderate of night owls. It is a shame to have one's style cramped by classes or work early in the morning. I hope you still get to embrace your nocturnal tendencies some, though. :)

    Q - Hey, good memory. Heh heh.

    Alyosha - Hot, yes; prickly, not so much.

    Tobey - Thank you! It's nice to see you over here and commenting. :)

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  9. I am a fellow insomniac (posting a poem, indeed, today on that, before I found your posting here).

    You are far more creative in using your dark hours. I love your list, Cuileann.

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  10. Your list was cool. I love the swing one.... the last one made me laugh hardest though.. haaaa :)

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  11. No oops I meant the 2nd last one! About drinking lots of tea and watching ur weight go up and down..

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