Saturday, 20 October 2001 | Alarm

Lack-of-sleep delirious energy is far superior to a nap hangover; somehow I let myself forget that fact yesterday evening when I crawled into bed at 8:30 and asked my alarm to wake me up an hour later. At 9:30 and again at every hour after that until 2:30, I told myself to get up and go to the party, or at least go take my contacts out and put on something more comfortable. At 2:30 I finally peeled my dry contacts from my eyes and washed my face and brushed my teeth and felt so much better until I realized I wasn't tired any more. For the next half hour or so, newly freed of guilt, I lay on my back and thought about the evening I didn't have until eventually I drifted off. Somehow I'm tired again today.

Tonight I'm going to something called The Barrister's Ball, an annual event at which everyone's required to dress as a cop, a robber, a pimp, a prostitute, or a Catholic school girl. Last year I went as a Catholic school girl; I'm still rifling through my closet to determine what I can become tonight. I don't feel much like any of those people at the moment.