ChrisRodkey.com

Snapping clear

Barnacle chills out on a pile of towels on my bed.

10:30 a.m.: Wal-Mart. Not much explanation needed. At this point I feel like I'm an actor in some grand movie. Perhaps at any moment I will be engaged in an extremely dramatic circumstance.

12:00 p.m.: I'm back home, helping Mom put away fresh groceries. I also help put the porch Christmas tree up on the upstairs porch, which was a difficult task.

3:00 p.m.: Unaware of what happened in the previous three hours. Time for a nap.

7:00 p.m.: Awake now, and wander downstairs in daze to watch some TV. Giving up on this, I go back upstairs.

10:00 p.m.: Time for more sleep, and time for bed, this time for good. See you tomorrow.

've been needing to alter my sleep schedule since about, oh, three years ago. I set about this monumental task today: stay awake for so long that I snap out of the rhythm. Easier said than done. An account of the experience follows:

6:15 a.m.: Mertz's alarm goes off. Usually I fall asleep around now while he's getting ready to go to work.

7:00 a.m.: I decide to stay up all day. Barnacle looks at my quizzically, as this is usually the point in the day where she curls up with me on the bed.

8:30 a.m.: Mom is awake and astounded and somewhat annoyed to see me floating around the house.

9:30 a.m.: Mom and I head into town to grocery shop and pick up other stuff. First stop is Yokes on the Northside.

9:45 a.m.: Dizzying stomach pains hit and the surrealness of the situation begins to truly hit. I wander about the supermarket in a daze, fascinated by the colors.