I'm happy to say that I am writing this morning with pleasant thoughts in mind. It's around 7:20 in the morning, and my attempt to sleep for a full night was a failure. I tried to stay awake till a reasonable time, but I must have not waited long enough and woke up somewhere around 4-5 hours later at 3 in the morning. I may have pushed it to 4, but I wouldn't really call that sleep. I've been sleeping about 6 or 7 hours a day, but generally not for more than those 4-5 hours. I think it will just take some exercise to push me into a more normal sleeping schedule. Oddly enough. I'm sleeping at around the same time as those super athletes and pastry chefs that have to wake up early in the morning to accomplish their routines.

Back to the pleasant thoughts in mind. It's Friday morning, and I'm looking foward to a few events this weekend. Normally, I wouldn't be so proud of something like that; especially since I'm starting to see some of my high school and college friends take on the weekend warrior mentality now that they are taking jobs as accountants and real estate agents. Anyways, I'm renewing my pool membership, and that actually sounds a little bit fun to me. I'd probably swim everyday if pool water wasn't so cold. I admit that jumping in is always the worst part. This more of an interesting decision, because yesterday my checking account read 3 dollars and 56 cents. That's $3.56. I actually had to transfer money from my savings account for food. For me that's a little desperate, but in some little way I'm proud of it. At least I know that things are taken care of, and that I can at least make it from paycheck to paycheck. I've been thinking about all the times older people have told me about their times as a student with little or no money to spare. I'm certainly not starving; I just had a big breakfast. But I think I am finally appreciating what it means to assume responsibility for these concerns as a whole. I remember thinking about what that would be like when I was child.

I've become distracted again. This weekend I plan to head over to Janne's place. I haven't seen her since before the New Years, and I feel bad for not visiting more often. It will be nice to get away from this apartment. Saturday I don't have much in mind, but it would be excellent if I could pin myself down and do some research for my Plato paper. And Sunday is the Super Bowl. I'd like to get out of this place since it's not the most ideal place to watch the game, but I don't want to leave James behind. Hopefully, he's up for going some place. Anyways that's the weekend, and if you want to know what I really think of it, here it is- there are a bunch of opportunities to drink beer, and that sounds just fine to me.
---

I'm bracketing off this portion of the entry, because I've been thinking about this over the last few days. In the December '07 edition of Time magazine there is an article about sensory disorders. In a segment of the article a researcher describes the most common sensory types founds amongst people. These aren't disorders, but she's found that most people fit into one of the behavior patterns.

Seekers- Enjoy extreme sports, touch others when talking, like being barefoot; hum, tap and make other idle noises.

Sensors- May startle easily; require quiet while working; notice minor changes in recipes; get motion sickness more than others.

Avoiders- Need time alone; have narrow food preferences; wear gloves for messy chores; steer clear of shopping malls.

Bystanders- Didn't notice clutter or ambient noise; may wear clothing askew; have bumps and bruises they don't recall getting.

After looking over the list a few times I've found that these aren't air tight. Just thinking about my brothers, I can see how they would cross a few of the categories. But I also think there is something to this; though it's possible I'm just putting too much into it. I see myself as a sensor. Clearly I get motion sickness more than others, I notice when the my burrito has a different kind of mexican rice, and really I can't work on a paper in a cafe, or when someone is snoring, or when there's punk music playing. I don't think I startle easily, but I'm not completely sure how to quantify that.

In someway I'd like to make an apology for sensors. Throughout my academic existence in the collegiate atmosphere, I've wondered what I'm good at. Fearfully, I've sometimes thought it was mimicry. I don't know if I actually have a creative bone in my body. That's why I was happy to hear Mr. Kelly talk about how no one is really creative, and that we all cop off other people before us, either conciously or unconciously. But it's possible that I'm exceptionally prone to adhering to other's ideas, and that I'm not worth much on my own. I guess if that's true, I've come to terms with it somewhat. I think the reason I pick up on other people's stuff, is that I can usually get a sense of people. Now I have to be careful when I say this, because I think it's a common thing for people to think they have a sense of people. That's probably why there are so many psychology majors. I think they want to get a handle of the way people act and react, and for the most part people are actually pretty good at this. This is why we expect people to see where we are coming from in certain situations, even if we may know very little about them. I just think they're more confident in their abilities than they really should be. To a great extent, and as much as people want to make it sound otherwise, people are still very much mysterious. And while we may have great faith in our ability to see into people, I think it's a mark of maturity to realize when that ability is in over its head.

If I had any talent that relates to the philosophic realm it would be that sort of sensing. Maybe that's why I'm more comfortable in (and gain more insight from) discussion rather than writing. And while I rely on it to make conversation go more smoothly, it's just a tool for the dialectic. Really you have to worry about any further use of it.

An hour later this post is going up, I'll think about these things and maybe write more later.