Yes, the sleep deprivation experiments have been going very well. I’m finally to the hallucination stage. I slept almost nine hours last night in an attempt to “catch up” a bit, although I know that’s a worthless idea as well. Between work and school I have lost a lot of sleep. Getting up early to go to school or work has deprived me of a lot of valuable shut-eye, but worst of all, I hate the feeling of hearing the alarm and having to wake by force, not allowing myself to gradually come awake. I feel a little wobbly and sick, my eyes don’t focus and my balance is off. My stomach feels funny, but the idea of food makes me sicker. I rub my eyes, but they refuse to focus. My only refuge is the shower. Shower, shave. Is my blood really that red? I put in my contacts, which is nigh on the level of brain surgery at those ungodly hours of the morning. My brain feels like someone stuffed cotton candy in there. And all the while I’m trying to get my bearings, the clock is ticking, and departure time is creeping up quickly. I put a cup of day-old coffee into the microwave in the hopes that it doesn’t taste all that bad when it’s hot. Why don’t my socks match? Did this shirt always have this greasy spot on it? Back to the closet to find another shirt only to find that they are hanging in the laundry room. And the clock ticks. I’m still not a happy camper and now I have to find all my stuff: keys, wallet, cell phone, Itouch, books, papers, hat; and I half to make sure that there is nothing special I have to take for today. Sleepiness adles my brain. I grab my lunch off of the counter and put it with the rest of the things that are going today. I grab the coffee out of the microwave, and now I have a cup of day-old stale coffee that is now warm–no improvement. Where’s my stupid watch? Now, my pockets are full, I dump out the coffee (which is what I should have done in the first place), button a stray button, think about a light jacket today, but decline, gather up my things and head for the door. My head is already full of cotton candy, but now other things such as student advisement, a conference paper, classes, and meetings are all begging for time in the cerebral cortex. My ride arrives (I carpool), and I head out the door, giving thanks that I am not driving today.