the mayhem
I don’t think there’s enough coffee in the world to meet my needs today. I don’t think an IV delivering the most caffeine-jacked version directly into my veins would help. That is what happens when you get less than an hour of sleep in a night. In truth, I’m not all that well acquainted with the Mistress of Sleep, as she and I have a somewhat antagonistic relationship on the best of nights. But I have an equally antagonistic relationship with my husband’s CPAP mask, which was the inital perpetrator of doom on restful sleep.
Look, I’m generally pretty laidback, but the damn thing has the ability to turn me homicidal in a hot minute. I didn’t have any sleep issues of my own until my husband started with his sleep apnea. Now I do. When his sleep issues started, before it was diagnosed, he got violent in his sleep. Kicking, hitting, digging the fucking hell out of my back. It got bad, so bad that I started sleeping on the couch, later a bed in my Lady Lair. It sucked, but he was still active duty at the time. The last thing we needed was for me to have visible injuries and someone to decide he was abusing me. Even after getting the machine, it took another almost three years for him to find the right mask and settle into it.
However, my lovely husband has a bad habit of dislodging the cannula from his nose, and it’s the noise of that pushes me to the edge. I don’t know why, but it does. It happens multiple times a night, every night. I seem to spend an inordinate amount of time reaching over to fit the damn thing back into place, time during which I’m raging. He’s lucky I love him.
Last night, however, was a shit show. The amount of under-my-breath cursing I did was astronomical. About every five minutes, he dislodged it. I know. I timed it. Every time I started to drift off, it started. For almost two hours, I laid there, alternately trying to sleep and wanting to murder him. Finally, at 0151, I couldn’t stand it anymore. I got up and gathered my things to go out to the couch, which is a recliner. As I’m getting my stuff, he whips off the mask. I questioned him as to why. Somehow, he’d sensed me getting up and assumed it was time for him to wake up. How me getting up woke him, I don’t understand, since I could set a grenade off near him, and he wouldn’t hear it. He sleeps like the dead, even having full conversations that are perfectly coherent, although he never remembers any of them. But whatever. My grumpy ass grumbled that I was going out to the couch because he was making me batshit bonkers. He brightly tells me that he loves me and to have a good time. Then he blew me a kiss, put his cannula back on, and rolled over, immediately falling asleep.
I say again… it’s a good thing I love him.
memeing
on the subway walls
1. Which words do you use too frequently?
Probably “like.” I blame it on being a 80s teenager and Valley Girl speak. Some things stuck. Others, like “gag me with a spoon,” thankfully did not!
2. Which words do you use not enough?
“No.” I suck at saying no, even when I know I should.
3. Which words have you recently learned?
Many… I’m learning Swedish. Lots of new words there. I’m also refreshing my Polish, but no new words there yet.
4. Which words do you love to hear?
“I love you” is pretty nice when it comes from the right people.
5. Which new slang terms do you especially like or dislike?
I have one, but it’s rather inappropriate, so I’ll just let that go. Other than that, I can’t really think of anything that really bothers me. Slang, like language, evolves. It also brings back slang of the past. Whether I use it or not, it’s just part of the language.
three things… Katharine Hepburn movies
I’ve loved Kate for most of my life. I love the woman she was, and the actress. These are three of my favorite movies. The images are linked to the IMDB page.
Release: 1957
Summary: Bunny Watson (Katharine Hepburn) is a library reference clerk stuck in a dead-end relationship with a boring television executive (Gig Young). Her life is thrown into turmoil when computer expert Richard Summers (Spencer Tracy) enters it. He has been assigned with automating her department, and she is fearful that Summers’ new computers will automate her out of a job. She despises him at first, but eventually each of the two start to fall for the other’s charms and strong personalities.
My notes: This is a movie that I watch every holiday season, as it takes place at Christmas. The banter between Hepburn and Tracy is witty and smart, and I love it!
Release: 1937
Summary: A boardinghouse for female theater actresses gets a new arrival in the form of Terry Randall (Katharine Hepburn), an upper-class woman pursuing her dreams against her wealthy father’s wishes. At first, her status makes her unpopular with the other boarders, particularly her roommate, Jean (Ginger Rogers). As Terry becomes better acquainted with the other girls and their shared ambitions, rivalry — both professional and romantic — explodes among them.
My notes: The story is so emotional and beautiful. And there are so many great actresses: Ginger Rogers, Lucille Ball, Eve Arden, Andrea Leeds.
Release: 1981
Summary: Cantankerous retiree Norman Thayer (Henry Fonda) and his conciliatory wife, Ethel (Katharine Hepburn), spend summers at their New England vacation home on the shores of idyllic Golden Pond. This year, their adult daughter, Chelsea (Jane Fonda), visits with her new fiancée and his teenage son, Billy (Doug McKeon) on their way to Europe. After leaving Billy behind to bond with Norman, Chelsea returns, attempting to repair the long-strained relationship with her aging father before it’s too late.
My notes: I’ve seen this movie so many times I’ve lost count! Norman and Ethel, remind me so much of my own grandparents. Their dynamic in the movie feels so nostalgic and comforting for me. Love, love, love!
currently
- reading:
- The Witch’s Heart by Genevieve Gornichec
- The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
- Storm Breaking by Mercedes Lackey
- Freaky Witches by Amanda M. Lee
- listening: Killer Psyche with Candace DeLong podcast
- writing: romantic suspense
- making: dog blanket
- loving: my kitschy new Halloweentown T-shirt
Desk Set is a great holiday movie! My favorites are The African Queen (it’s my second favorite of all time), Desk Set, and The Philadelphia Story. I’m Asian, so I think I’m not supposed to like Dragon Seed, but I do. :)
I love The African Queen, but it’s hard for me to watch now. It was my grandmother’s and it was always our thing to watch it together. I’ve only seen Dragon Seed a couple times. It is cringey for obvious reasons, but like you, I think it’s a decent movie!