While I was sleeping

I'm a sleep junkie...I think. Having never been a real junkie, I can't be certain, but it seems similar from my perspective. Technically, I suppose, I'm a sleep junkie who manages to kick the habit after being away from the stuff for an hour or so and who relapses once my head hits the pillow.

I'm not proud of my sleep habit. When I sleep too much, I regret it, but when I'm laying in bed I cannot get enough of drifting off to dream town. If it weren't for overwhelming guilt, I bet I could sleep for a whole week or at least two days. Sometimes, after taking a shower and starting to get ready for work, I realize I'm ahead of schedule by 10 or 15 minutes, so I get back in bed for a quick fix and take a nap. I'm not kidding. I wish I was.

Once I'm up for a while (that would be longer than a shower), I'm up. In fact, I'm rarely tired at night. I rely on the clock to tell me when to go to bed, because I know what's best for my alter-ego: junkie, sleepy Morning Kathleen. I go to bed at a reasonable hour every night (usually between 10 and 11pm) so that I can get enough of a sleep fix to overcome the sometimes overwhelming urge to stay in bed in the morning.

I thought you should know this about me.

So when my mom asked me if I saw the skit that Neil Diamond did on Jimmy Kimmel's show last week my reaction was two-fold: (1) No, I'm never up late enough to see that show! I would never make it to work on time! and (2) Ick, Neil Diamond, no way!

My mom was (and still is) a big-time Neil Diamond fan when I was growing up. Naturally, I rejected Neil Diamond, as most kids reject their parents' favorite musicians. I rejected him so much so that when Dartmouth sent me the names and addresses of my future roommates for freshman year, I wrote both Molly and Jenna letters that effectively said: hi, I'm Kathleen, your roommate for next year, I sincerely hope you don't like Neil Diamond. I know there are people who will disagree with me, and I've come to terms with the fact that Neil does have a few good songs, but have you ever heard his Christmas album?!?! (Yes, I know that doesn't make sense, but he does indeed have a Christmas album and it's awful!)

Anyway, I really disliked Neil Diamond. Until now. At least he has a good sense of humor:



As the man says, "there can be only one Neil Diamond, all others will be destroyed." So I guess I will go with my mom to see him in concert in July.