(no subject)

I "accidentally" read this Free Republic post and its attendant comments, following a link from Daily Kos. It's... blog-bizarro world, really. Almost all of the comments seem just as dumb as the dumbest 50% of the dKos comments, while expressing the exact opposite viewpoint (in both cases, usually something to do with considering the opposite party to be akin to an organized crime syndicate), except with far more freeform grammar, spelling and punctuation. (Normally something I don't stoop to observe, but the difference is appreciable.) (And the relatively ugly page styling doesn't help much, either.)

And this is saying nothing about the article itself, which is about how the wicked and cowardly Democrats hope to steal the election through massive voter-registration efforts. Um... whuh... huh?

It really is an entirely different world, over there 'mongst the Reds.

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I am nervous about the debates. I posted this confident ruh-ruh thing last week, but have since learned that the conventional wisdom stacks things mightily in Bush's favor; he has, they say, won every debate he's participated in. Kerry himself has said this.

GWB oozes with camera-friendly charisma, and will have a lot of soothing words for Themerican People, and a lot of winking smirks for his opponent, who I understood was almost late for the debate because he kept having to return to his office to put on a different color tie, wink, smirk, say no more.

A big difference between this and his previous debates, though, is that forty-five percent of his audience is guaranteed to meet his mugging with vein-popping rage. I don't know how or if this will affect that precious middle ten percent, them who's in the purple states. I pray that they can see though the smirking. I can't say. Very nervous.

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Yes, I should be in bed now. Good night.

Day 1 results

FAILURE

Upon exposure to unpleasant noise, subject shut off computer speakers and crawled back into bed for three more hours of sleep. Subject also shut off cell phone alarm in the kitchen, and ignored the radio.

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Example of a good system that would work: a service that would call me on the phone every 5 minutes until I called back. The recorded voice would give me two small numbers, and have me type in their sum on my phone's keypad. Only this could make the call-barrage stop.

This is unfeasible, because this service doesn't exist. (Unless I can make it myself, somehow, have my own computer call me mercilessly. I dimly recall looking for some way to do this a long time ago, and coming up empty-handed.)

Perhaps putting an alarm clock into a locked container? Hmm...

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I seriously think I will have to turn to chemicals. What I really should do is go to sleep earlier, but the thing about me is that I don't actually sleep unless I am sleepy, and right now that doesn't start to happen until 2:30 am.

I wonder where one gets the melatonin supplements. Drugstore? I'll look.

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I am seriously upset about this. Every day I do this is a day wasted. This shit's gotta stop.

Got shower and coffee

So less cranky now.

I'm going to take both cnoocy and ruthling's advice, shifting my sleep and waking times simultaneously, and gradually. I guess trying to start off with a four-hour sleep day is actually kind of dumb. Will also attempt it naturally before starting any pill-popping regimen.

We'll see where I am in a week.

Thanks to all who have been responding to these posts... it does seem a little silly, but it's been a problem that's been bothering me for years, and only very lately have I chosen to lose patience with it, because I know it's fixable.

(no subject)

Anyone have an IBM 3490 tape reader lying around? It would be pressed into service for the furtherance of democracy.

So

What channel(s) do I want to watch the debates, and followup analyses, on? Assume I have access to WGBH and WENH.