Morning. Whether I want to be or not.
PROMPT: Night or Morning
Reply
Category Archives: sleep
PROMPT: This Evening
What are you doing this evening?
Who can know such things? I’m not a fortuneteller. But as I just came off a travel cycle, a betting person would put his money on something sleep related.
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
BOOK: “The Mind Electric” by Pria Anand
The Mind Electric: A Neurologist on the Strangeness and Wonder of Our Brains by Pria AnandMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publisher Site — Simon & Schuster
There are A LOT of pop neuroscience books out there that reflect upon what we know about the brain from what goes wrong with it. I thought I was done reading such books because, while the first few are fascinating, they tend to retell the same stories.
That said, I’m glad I read this one, and what made it worth reading was that the science was explored in a very personal way, and I don’t just mean that the author recited her own personal experiences or those of her patients (though she does both,) but rather that the whole book is imbued with her worldview. She relates maladies of the mind to works of literature, of Greek and Hindu mythology, and to other aspects of culture in a relatable manner.
Another factor that sets this book apart is that its author shows a passion for language. In that sense, it reminded me of the works of Oliver Sacks (who she references a number of times,) rather than your average — articulate but linguistically conservative — neuroscientist.
I’d recommend this book for any readers interested in neuroscience, particularly anyone looking for a book that sets itself apart from the crowd. (I don’t recall it even mentioning Phineas Gage, which I thought was a requirement of all such books.)
View all my reviews
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
PROMPT: Bed
When I can’t read two sentences without drifting off, I sleep. When the sun comes up, I awaken.
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
PROMPT: Unwind
Reading is best for me. It’s low energy and as long as I don’t do it on the phone I’m not subjected to the blue light that they use in phone screens (specifically to keep one from unwinding.) Reading eases me to sleep, especially if I don’t pick writing that’s too stimulating.
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
“Time to Rise” by Robert Louis Stevenson [w/ Audio]
A birdie with a yellow bill
Hopped upon the window sill,
Cocked his shining eye and said:
"Ain't you 'shamed, you sleepy-head?"
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
“Rain on Lotus” by Yang Wanli [w/ Audio]
Asleep on a leaf beneath lotus blooms,
Their fragrance floats across the misty lake.
Sudden rain - taps upon the canopy;
Its sound snaps me from sleep to wide awake!
The lotus is beaded with rain droplets --
Like pearls, drops roll together and apart;
The clear blobs coalesce like mercury,
Dripping to the river... back to their start.
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
Gorilla [Lyric Poem]
They say gorillas are diurnal --
Of this there is a truthy kernel.
They're active daily between naps...
Unless their naps all overlaps.
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
“A Slumber did my Spirit Seal” by William Wordsworth [w/ Audio]
A slumber did my spirit seal;
I had no human fears:
She seemed a thing that could not feel
The touch of earthly years.
No motion has she now, no force;
She neither hears nor sees;
Rolled round in earth's diurnal course,
With rocks, and stones, and trees.
Share on Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.
PROMPT: Bedtime
Whenever I want. Now that I’m all grow’d up.
But I do tend toward the lark end of the lark – owl continuum.
Tiger Riding for Beginners 