mmm...brains

so, usually I've been posting in the early morning, right?
Weeeeell, today is different. Today I woke with a caffeine/sugar/benadryl hangover.
Ew.This weekend was awesome, and I'll type about it when I feel less like a zombie.

coffee and philosophy

I had a dream...

A dream in which everything was realistic, unlike my normal dreams. It was realistic to the point of confusion; it took me a few minutes to figure out what reality was when I woke up. 

It reminded me of the story of the man and the butterfly.

Carrots, eggs, and a cup of coffee...

I'm not usually big on chain letters, but I recently received this one, and being the...well, I don't want to give it away...

A lovely metaphor. I'll give you the moral at the end (in case you don't pick up on it):

blissful beauty

If you read yesterday's post, you saw that I am not feeling 100%.
Stupid virus.

I've figured this virus out. When I tell you how to fight it, you're going to roll your eyes.
Well, the secret is...

Sleep.


 Have I rocked your world?
I haven't? That's what your mom told you, too?
...yeah, well, experience is an interesting teacher; moms are better. (I heard it from my mom, first, too.)

The way this virus reacts to sleep is dramatic. I'm not talking about just a good night's rest.
This is some sort of "nap bug". If I am feeling really crummy, but I let myself conk out for a few minutes *cough*hours*cough*, I feel amazingly better.

I didn't get much rest Friday night. My heart rate went up for three hours, and I was dehydrated. It makes enough sense for me to get sick from that.

On top of that, I'm a night person. I have the hardest time going to sleep at a good hour.
For the past three weeks or so, every weekday, I've been getting up at 6:30. I thought it would help adjust my sleep schedule.


I. Am. Not. A. Morning. Person.

So why put myself through torture? One simple, lovely answer: COFFEE. Cappuccino, to be exact.
That is so worth zombie-behavior in the morning.

I'm sure, reader, that you now have plenty of questions.
1) Where does the coffee come from? 2)Why 6:30? 3)Why do you keep blogging my assumed questions? 4)Are you a mind reader? 


As for number one: well, reader, the coffee comes from a coffee plant. The plant is located somewhere warm and exotic. Somewhere I would love to be right now. The tree/bush/plant is harvested... here, look at this diagram:

...oh, you mean the finished product? 


It's magic. Poof, there it is, at 6:30 every morning. Coffee elves.
Really.
Descendants of the shoe cobbler elves. See?

Actually, no.

To answer question 2:
See, I have a wonderful mom and dad. Mom has work in the morning, and Dad gets up and makes her a cappuccino. If I am up, I get a cappuccino too.
Dad's pretty possessive of his espresso machine, so, you know, if I over-sleep, then I can have plain old coffee, which is okay, but not at that same goodness level.

(cappuccino > coffee. See, I can use math in everyday life! lightbulb moment!)

It's pretty much a win-win. My parents get me out of bed at a good hour so I can be functioning by say, 8 or so, and I get bribed with yummyness.
I'm such a sucker for caffeine.

Questions 3 and 4?

I KNOW what's on your minds, I have my ways, ok?

Have I answered your queries? If I haven't, ask away! I LOVE answering questions, I really do. I have a formspring (you know, that site where you ask bizarre questions anonymously to avoid embarrassment? If that sounds fun to you, click here)
...or you can comment. Comments are lovely, lovely things. Comments get you kudos, and kudos from me are worth a lot, ok? ok.

Where was I? Oh yes.
I've been getting up at that before-the-crack-of-dawn-time.
Today, I slept in.

Technically, I still got up at 6:30 for my coffee shot, but THEN, I went back to sleep. (if drinking coffee and going back to sleep sounds odd to you, remember that you aren't sick and tired like me. Normally, that is odd behavior.)

I'm not making sleeping in a habit, but oh man, it was so blissful. I felt amazing waking up when the sun was streaming in through my windows. I felt rested and truly alive, not zombie-alive.


I LOVE SLEEP.


If only I can remember that at night when I don't want to sleep.

The only downside to my extra sleep today was that I had less time to get ready for Physics class.

But that is ok. I was in a wonderful mood as I walked in class a few minutes late.
My teacher is a chill dude, and really nice.
Physics is actually a great course to take. I can feel my brain growing while I sit in lecture. True story.

I am going to try to stay on Mr. Converse's good side and be on time in the future...

caffeine! yay yay yay!!!!!!

Oh yes! Daddy bought coffee beans for the cappuccino maker...

Oh but don't worry about me. I'm not falling off the bandwagon. Nope.

Like Mark Twain said [insert coffee for smoking]:

"Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I've done it thousands of times."

I'm good. Really.

Changing the subject.

I'm learning some new songs for the guitar. I'm stoked about that. Now if I could only get my voice to cooperate. Pesky cough.

Speaking of singing,
have you heard of  Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir? (click on his name to visit one of his youtube videos)
Well, my friend who shall remain nameless {just know that she's awesome} talked me into singing a part with her.
This is going to be fun. Look for my tiny picture in the upcoming video. *wink*

And now I will leave you with an anecdote that reflects my great-aunt's personality:

My great-aunt Louise was in the kitchen with my mom, my aunt, my great-uncle, and me. 

I had been serving cake and coffee.

 My mom called me "her little Martha" [referring to the woman in the Bible]. 

My great-aunt doesn't miss a thing. She said, "she is an awful lot like Martha Stewart, isn't she?" 

We just smiled. 

Ha-HA!! Take that, trimethylxanthine!!

I have cut back! Oh, have I ever.
The coffee consumption rate is dwindling.
Today was my first totally caffeine-free day. No tea, no cocoa, no coffee.
Whoop!
I've been edging back ssssllllllowwwly. Because, less than a month ago, I could have easily downed a pot of coffee (and I'm talking a twelve-cup machine here). But I cut back to just a cup a day, and then 1/2 a cup and now...a day of freedom!

Needless to say, I have caffeine issues (I've wondered, if it's needless to say, then why say it? Because I'm the mistress of the obvious, that's why)
I'd better not count my eggs before they hatch.
I have a definite thing for the drug. Something about holding and partaking of a warm cup of creamy hazelnut-flavored yumminess is wonderful.


Wanna know why coffee is so addicting? Where it came from? Wanna know the scientific mumbo-jumbo (other than my simple statement, "it makes me feel good")?? If so, click on the links to find out  How coffee works
or,
How caffeine works

shh! Headache in progress

I'm an addict. I thought it would never come to this; but I have to face up to it sometime. I need to tell myself that this Drug is not the answer. Caffeine does no good, and I know that the fix is always temporary...

Such signs and propoganda... tsk tsk

Ugh, I admit it. I have a dependency from which I need to untangle myself.
At first I thought I could give it up cold turkey. I soon found out that this is a painful process, and there are other people that I interact with daily that I must consider.
The withdrawal symptoms are drastic and turn me into a monster.

Everything about coffee draws me in. And it's so easy to obtain... There are different levels of potency, and I was going for the high-concentrate stuff. Enough is enough, I must give this up.

But NOT using the cold turkey method.

I have a dull headache. My brain feels like everything is foggy. I snap so much more easily.  I feel...pathetic.

My advice: don't play with such drugs. Peer pressure is not always a good thing, and caffeine is nothing to play with. Once you start, you're hooked...
See, it's a slow downward spiral. You start with a fluffy frappé or over-sweetened fru-fru drink that has a hint of the coffee flavor...next thing you know, you're drinking the stuff straight and strong. I should have known I was going too far when some of my fellow coffee drinking friends commented on the super-strength of the coffee we were drinking (as I was downing my drink like water and wondering if I should have made my coffee stronger...)

I'm in a complaining and moan-y mood. Time for a run--some good old-fashioned endorphins. Better for me than a cup of coffee...

Maybe.

Fabulous finds and Fortuitous fortune

One of the findings this week:

I have an addiction.

An addiction to caffeine.
Coffee is a wonderful thing.
In moderation.

So yes, maybe I was getting a little teensy-weensy bit used to coffee.

To put it bluntly, there was an intervention.

coffee catastrophe

This past Sunday something very strange happened.

It started with a

doughnut:

a cappuccino:

and some legos.

An epic battle was the result:

and of course, Darth Vader joined in too.

Moral of this story: don't leave doughnuts unattended.

Live long and prosper.

Wait, wrong space show...