insomnia

Try rampant alcoholism.

That's my solution.

I'm always up this late. I go to bed at like 4 a.m. or later. To get myself back on schedule I usually stay up a full day, so by 11pm I can crash dead asleep in my bed. Why am I like this? My philosophy is...

If I fall asleep I'm done for...

drinking is never good for sleep, unless you mean the unconscious kind.

try calme forte, a great sleep aid and all natural in that saligeresque homepathic way. also, exercise never hurt.

plainchant always did it for me in college. kitaro, too. great for napping.

My main problem isn't so much staying up to the wee hours of the morn, but feeling dead tired so I go to bed, and then lay there for a few hours trying to sleep. I got fed up with it, so now I use that time for writing since that's when my creative brain is going the most. It's worked out so far. I even wrote a sonnet sequence on insomnia that's somewhere around here.
P.S. Valerian root didn't do shit for me.

Go running for a half hour and drink a glass of wine or beer before you go to bed.

andy

Hahaha, that's what my roommates and I would do for headaches last year. No joke.

melatonin works well.

Speaking of insomnia, do not see the movie Insomnia. Seriously, it sucks. Memento is like a 4098712903847123947123896812395172351987893718965712395712895712845728967712956128971957198517289713472357103497891798572876128957138957
million time better.

lol good un len

ok then. thanks for that precise set of figures.

Watch the original version of Insomina. Yes, that's right, like most Hollywood films these days, it's either an adaption of an existing novel, or a remake/adapation of a foreign film

The original version had Stellan Skarsgard (a god among actors) playing the role given to Al Pacino in the remake, and unlike most Hollywood films, the main character doesn't even TRY to be likeable.

Remember the dead dog in the alleyway? In the original version, he found the dog ALIVE.

Oh yeah, and he fingers a 16 year old schoolgirl too.

Not a nice guy.

The ending kicks ass too. Much more satisfying for me than the Hollywood one.

The way the killer gets his just deserts had me laughing out loud.

My girlfriend thought the movie was 'bad' because she couldn't empathise with the main character. Actually, I've heard that argument against James Bond books too...

that was my parents' exact argument against american beauty.

Interesting.

Do -you- ever have trouble with a movie if you can't relate to the 'good guy'?

no. my favorite characters in anything tend overwhelmingly to be villains, or at least conflicted, villainous types.

Same, or at the very least 'flawed' character. How can you sympathise with Generic Good Guy?

My favourite movie for that is The Tailor of Panama (book, too) - because both the 'bad guy' and the 'good guy' are flawed, weak people with deep-seated issues Oh, and the 'bad guy' wins. Gotta love that...

Another example is that my favourite character from the (movie) of Lord of the Rings was Boromir - I could empathise with him because of all the shit he had to go through. Sean Bean did an excellent job. He turned a flat, 2d character from a story into a lively, believable character you could feel sorry for, empathise with, etc...

well, as far as LOTR goes, legolas is my little hunka burnin elf lovin. lol.

but yeah, i started gravitating toward villainous types very early on.

my favorite character on sesame street was oscar the grouch.

my favorite character on mr. rogers' neighborhood was lady elaine fairchild.

my favorite thing ever when i was thirteen was the phantom of the opera, because of the character of the phantom.

then i got into nine inch nails. and marilyn manson. and american beauty. and tyler durden.

i've never been able to stomach saccharine sweetness. evil's so much more interesting. "i'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints..."

Yeah, yeah. You and every other girl on the planet. Not that I'm complaining.

In fact, I'm thinking of writing an 'open letter to Orlando Bloom' thanking him, on behalf of every affeminate long-haired guy who used to have trouble getting laid *L*

i think you should do it. the long haired effeminate type isn't usually my type, but man....

Mmm. I've heard that before, too.

I got my current gf courtesy of Lord of the Rings, Peter Jackson and Orlando Bloom. *L*

hey, take it where you can get it.

i hope your relationship has developed beyond such shallowness, however.

Yeah, it kinda has, but I get suspicious. Every time we meet, she wants my hair out.

But then, she's also started asking that I -don't- shave for several days beforehand wherever possible, so I guess she is a -bit- over the cleanshaven elf look, kinda. Now she's being superficial in a whole new way

Actually, jokes aside, yeah, we are beyond that. I'm actually growing quite attached to her.

maybe now she wants you to play aragorn.

well, good to know you're getting "attached".

thank you for being able to spell "attached."

Erm... why?

most people can't, and i am the spelling nazi.

Does the fact that I spell from a british/australian dictionary erk you, then?

no. as long as it's considered correct somewhere besides a trailer park, it's fine with me.

Good.

So after 16 posts that have nothing to do with insomnia...

Back to topic.

insomnia

Never had it. When I want to go to sleep, I go to sleep. I'm opposite of you guys. I can't stay up late. I get tired and then fall asleep. Even if it's standing, sitting, leaning on something, whatever. It kinda sucks.

well, that's prob. healthier than us. people are supposed to have a natural tendency to fall asleep, after all...

It's healthy - yes.

But it sucks because I have so much to do, and I can't get it all done because I fall asleep. I am still pretty young, that could also be a reason why I fall asleep fast.

go to the homeopathic section of you rbetter grocery or druggist, ask to speak to a goth-clas sales clerk, explain your sleep problem, and let the clerk guide you down the path into the arms of morpheus. be prepared to spend at least $10 for some tiny pills. should work.

I often tried boring myself to sleep when I had trouble crashing... didn't often work, but I still keep a collection of the five most boring movies of all time floating around on divx...

what would those movies be?

I'm with Rents. I always get so tired, then try to go to sleep and I end up laying there not able to sleep for who knows how long. I think my record is about 7 hours... I finally got fed up with and if I don't fall asleep within 30 minutes, I just get back up and try to go to sleep later..

They include 'Whatever it takes', the really really bad teen flick and '2001 - A Space Odyssey'.

Yes, I know it's a classic, it is brilliant, I agree... but if you've ever needed to fall asleep, 2001 is the answer. It's mesmerising, but often not in a good way late at night...

Oh yeah, and Minority Report. *yawns*

Spielberg's attempt at philosophy.

wish it was that simple for me.

i'm such a pessimistic control freak that i can't sleep until i see that the sun has actually risen again.

It's 7:48am here and I'm still awake.

its 5:48 pm over here!

Well a friend came over and we were up all night. He's left, and I opted to post here rather than collapse in an exhausted heap.

if i can't sleep i go out back and chop wood. that way i get much needed exercise, create fuel for the winter and keep my neighbors up. why should they sleep if i can't.