This is a sad story.
Not really. But it is a stupid one.
The stupid part being me. As usual. I have a tendency to stuff things up.
After I wrote my blog post on Tuesday about how much I was looking forward to Australia Day and the great plan I had for it, I was sitting in my room thinking about Australia, and listening to Australian songs and felt a little lonely. So I texted my friend (who I MUST think of a name for) and she invited me over to her flat.
Well.
That turned into 4 vodka cruisers and half a bottle of vodka each, a blackout by yours truly, random Australian flag tattoos all over me, a bird feather in my bathroom, showering fully clothed, vomiting, sleeping on the floor and somehow making it into my bed, my friend undressing me and me subsequently spending the entire next day going from the couch to vomiting in the toilet.
I have never, but never, been so hungover in my life. I drank water. I threw up. I took Panadol. I threw up (just FYI, that does not taste good). I had plain spaghetti. I threw up. I had cola (see how desperate I was to get something in my stomach? I don't even like soft drink of any kind and I recently gave it up completely). I threw up. I drank more water. I threw up.
I had a throbbing headache. I felt so sick, no matter what I did.
And my dear friend? Well she managed to suffer almost not at all compared to me.
Just the thought of vodka makes me feel ill.
But I did feel a bit better by the end of the day and made it down to the foreshore to watch the fireworks and have dinner. Didn't make my dumplings but had a hot chicken, potato salad, pavlova, mars bar slice and chips. Plus the careful sipping of orange juice and some peppermint tea. Yes I drank peppermint tea on the foreshore. I did feel old, but god it tasted good.
Anyway, feeling much better today thank god. I just took my bike I got for Christmas out its long overdue first ride. I was a little shaky at first but in the end... it was just like riding a bike!
Cheers
Ashleigh
Showing posts with label drinking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label drinking. Show all posts
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Q&A About Me
Hi guys
So I thought today I would give you a bit more of an insight into 'Who is Ashleigh?'. That way, when I'm a famous CEO and general all-round awesome person, you will win those trivia games. Kind of a reward for reading me now, while I still have my biggest successes ahead of me. Ok here goes:
1. What is your best friends name? - True Blue Kangaroo. She's been my best friend ever since we were 12 and at school together. I love her to pieces.
2. What color underwear/boxers wearing now? Black bonds
3. What are you listening to right now? OMG Almighty Mix - Usher. I didn't even know I had this song, and my iTunes is on shuffle right now. I wouldn't have even realised if it weren't for this question.
4. Whats your favorite number? Ooh tough one. My least favourite number would have to be 7. I do feel better about even numbers as opposed to odd but a favourite? Can't say I have one. I do like 6, its admirable that it manages to be next to 7 and still be ok.
5. What was the last thing you ate? The filling from my chicken and spinach lasagne from last night - I added chilli! Yum!
6. If you were a crayon what color would you be? Hot Pink. Preferably with glitter
7. How is the weather right now? Well, its nighttime. So dark? But warm :)
8. Who was the last person you talked 2 on the phone? Smiling Tiger. I edited her resume for her this evening, but I was running massively late.
9. The first thing you notice about the opposite sex? Whether they have a 'quality'. Some guys have it, some don't. I'm sorry I can't define it better, but I don't know exactly what it is. It's just a quality.
10. Do you have a significant other? I do. The boyfriend has been around for nearly 2 and half years. He gets up before me in the mornings and gets me coffee and massages my feet at night so he's pretty much perfect. Pity he works away (12 days on, 6 days off)so I don't get to see him as much as I want. But he always calls when he says he will. I don't think I can ask for more than that :)
11. Favorite TV show? Without a doubt, Friends. I cannot live without that show.
12. Siblings? 1 sister, she is 4 years younger than me. Much more social and popular, but shes shorter than me - no mean feat since I only top 5 foot 4 (163cm) on a good day.
13. Height? LOL I just answered that! 5 foot 4, or 163 cm
14. Hair color? Brown. I've been most colours, but I am a fan of being au naturale. I keep thinking maybe I'll go blonde soon though.
15. Eye Color? Blue. I love my eyes :)
16. Do you wear contacts? No, I wear glasses for long distance though. People often ask me why I don't get contacts but since I am not allowed to look at anything too closely with my glasses on, contacts aren't an option because I would be reading things all the time with them in.
17. Favorite Holiday? Bali is amazing. Just lying by a pool, drinking cocktails, relaxing and basically living like a king is awesome. But I have Europe next year so maybe Bali will be edged out. I'm thinking it will be.
18. Month? August. My birthday!
19. Have you ever cried for no reason? Plenty of times. Usually once a month. Also if I'm really tired. One time, the boyfriend told me he loved me and I cried.
20. What was the last movie you watched? Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - AWESOME
21. Favorite Day of the Year? Australia Day - drinking, socialising, fireworks, wearing hideous patriotic clothes = best day ever!
22. Are you too shy to ask someone out? Yeah. But I would let them know I was interested :)
23. Can you do a headstand (not using the wall)? No. I'm too scared
24. Hugs or Kisses? Kisses every time
25. Chocolate or Vanilla? Vanilla
26. Do you want your friends to respond to this? I don't think my friends read this. So whatever
27. Who is most likely to respond? No idea
28. Who is least likely to respond? No idea
29. What books are you reading? Anything and everything. I love reading and will devour anything I can get my hands on
30. Piercings? My ears and my belly button. Got my belly button done when I was 14 - if I had my time again, I don't think I would get it done.
31. Favorite movies? Anything chick flick
32. Favorite football Team? West Coast Eagles!!
33. what were u doing before this? Drinking - we are celebrating the end of exams
34. Butter, Plain or Salted popcorn? Salted - I am a salt fan
37. Dogs or cats? Cats. I cannot stand dogs
38. Favorite flower? Lilies. Such a pretty, unassuming flower. But I don't really go in for flowers much. I like to get them, but the type doesn't bother me too much
39. Been caught doing something you weren't supposed to do? Plenty of times :)
40. Do you have a best friend of the opposite sex? I thought I did, but due to recent events, I guess not
41. Have you ever loved someone? Two people - my ex who I was with for 2 1/2 years and the boyfriend
42. Who would you like to see right now? My cousin, Macy - she lives overseas and I adore her
44. Have you ever fired a gun? Yes, on a friends farm. I was awful at it
45. Do you like to travel by plane? Love it - no stress, just sitting in a chair reading, watching movies, listening to music, having food brought to me - what's not to love?
46. Right-handed or Left-handed? Righty Tighty
47. How many pillows do you sleep with? Four or five when I'm alone. When the boyfriends home, I'm only allocated two :(
48. Are you missing someone? My lobster (aka the boyfriend)
49. Do you have a Tattoo? No, and I don't think I will ever get one
50. Anybody on Blogger that you'd go on a date with? Maybe..... Lachlan. He seems very interesting and I think we would get on well ;)
So there I am. Hope I'm not too awful :)
So I thought today I would give you a bit more of an insight into 'Who is Ashleigh?'. That way, when I'm a famous CEO and general all-round awesome person, you will win those trivia games. Kind of a reward for reading me now, while I still have my biggest successes ahead of me. Ok here goes:
1. What is your best friends name? - True Blue Kangaroo. She's been my best friend ever since we were 12 and at school together. I love her to pieces.
2. What color underwear/boxers wearing now? Black bonds
3. What are you listening to right now? OMG Almighty Mix - Usher. I didn't even know I had this song, and my iTunes is on shuffle right now. I wouldn't have even realised if it weren't for this question.
4. Whats your favorite number? Ooh tough one. My least favourite number would have to be 7. I do feel better about even numbers as opposed to odd but a favourite? Can't say I have one. I do like 6, its admirable that it manages to be next to 7 and still be ok.
5. What was the last thing you ate? The filling from my chicken and spinach lasagne from last night - I added chilli! Yum!
6. If you were a crayon what color would you be? Hot Pink. Preferably with glitter
7. How is the weather right now? Well, its nighttime. So dark? But warm :)
8. Who was the last person you talked 2 on the phone? Smiling Tiger. I edited her resume for her this evening, but I was running massively late.
9. The first thing you notice about the opposite sex? Whether they have a 'quality'. Some guys have it, some don't. I'm sorry I can't define it better, but I don't know exactly what it is. It's just a quality.
10. Do you have a significant other? I do. The boyfriend has been around for nearly 2 and half years. He gets up before me in the mornings and gets me coffee and massages my feet at night so he's pretty much perfect. Pity he works away (12 days on, 6 days off)so I don't get to see him as much as I want. But he always calls when he says he will. I don't think I can ask for more than that :)
11. Favorite TV show? Without a doubt, Friends. I cannot live without that show.
12. Siblings? 1 sister, she is 4 years younger than me. Much more social and popular, but shes shorter than me - no mean feat since I only top 5 foot 4 (163cm) on a good day.
13. Height? LOL I just answered that! 5 foot 4, or 163 cm
14. Hair color? Brown. I've been most colours, but I am a fan of being au naturale. I keep thinking maybe I'll go blonde soon though.
15. Eye Color? Blue. I love my eyes :)
16. Do you wear contacts? No, I wear glasses for long distance though. People often ask me why I don't get contacts but since I am not allowed to look at anything too closely with my glasses on, contacts aren't an option because I would be reading things all the time with them in.
17. Favorite Holiday? Bali is amazing. Just lying by a pool, drinking cocktails, relaxing and basically living like a king is awesome. But I have Europe next year so maybe Bali will be edged out. I'm thinking it will be.
18. Month? August. My birthday!
19. Have you ever cried for no reason? Plenty of times. Usually once a month. Also if I'm really tired. One time, the boyfriend told me he loved me and I cried.
20. What was the last movie you watched? Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - AWESOME
21. Favorite Day of the Year? Australia Day - drinking, socialising, fireworks, wearing hideous patriotic clothes = best day ever!
22. Are you too shy to ask someone out? Yeah. But I would let them know I was interested :)
23. Can you do a headstand (not using the wall)? No. I'm too scared
24. Hugs or Kisses? Kisses every time
25. Chocolate or Vanilla? Vanilla
26. Do you want your friends to respond to this? I don't think my friends read this. So whatever
27. Who is most likely to respond? No idea
28. Who is least likely to respond? No idea
29. What books are you reading? Anything and everything. I love reading and will devour anything I can get my hands on
30. Piercings? My ears and my belly button. Got my belly button done when I was 14 - if I had my time again, I don't think I would get it done.
31. Favorite movies? Anything chick flick
32. Favorite football Team? West Coast Eagles!!
33. what were u doing before this? Drinking - we are celebrating the end of exams
34. Butter, Plain or Salted popcorn? Salted - I am a salt fan
37. Dogs or cats? Cats. I cannot stand dogs
38. Favorite flower? Lilies. Such a pretty, unassuming flower. But I don't really go in for flowers much. I like to get them, but the type doesn't bother me too much
39. Been caught doing something you weren't supposed to do? Plenty of times :)
40. Do you have a best friend of the opposite sex? I thought I did, but due to recent events, I guess not
41. Have you ever loved someone? Two people - my ex who I was with for 2 1/2 years and the boyfriend
42. Who would you like to see right now? My cousin, Macy - she lives overseas and I adore her
43. Are you still friends with people from kindergarten? | No, we all fell out when I went to boarding school |
45. Do you like to travel by plane? Love it - no stress, just sitting in a chair reading, watching movies, listening to music, having food brought to me - what's not to love?
46. Right-handed or Left-handed? Righty Tighty
47. How many pillows do you sleep with? Four or five when I'm alone. When the boyfriends home, I'm only allocated two :(
48. Are you missing someone? My lobster (aka the boyfriend)
49. Do you have a Tattoo? No, and I don't think I will ever get one
50. Anybody on Blogger that you'd go on a date with? Maybe..... Lachlan. He seems very interesting and I think we would get on well ;)
So there I am. Hope I'm not too awful :)
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
A Whinging Culture
It is quite often said that Australia has a drinking culture. And thats true, we do. We drink all the time. We drink to celebrate, we drink to commiserate. Something happens - hey lets have a drink. Oh Oh the sun is rising - crack open a beer!
I have absolutely nothing against this drinking culture, given that I grew up with it, and my mother and father have been giving me sips of alcohol since I was about 4 and I'm pretty sure that wine was a base ingredient in all my food growing up. I even think they may have used that old trick when I was teething - you know stick the dummy in some bourbon and then the baby has no more pain. This is NOT recommended by doctors, dentists, or really any health care professional. It could explain some things.......
I don't really know the opinion of the rest of the world in regards to Australians - although I've been told we are fairly highly regarded. And our drinking culture is acknowledged. HOWEVER - does the rest of the world know that Australians whinge? We whinge like no tomorrow. If there was an Olympic sport of whinging, we would win gold, silver and bronze because the whole event would be filled with Australians.
I do not like our whinging culture. I believe it has stemmed from our insistence on being tied to the apron strings of Britain, England or the United Kingdom or whatever name it is I should call them. Lets become a republic already!!!!!
I mention this because I was reading the 'news' yesterday - yes always a dangerous thing when trying to keep anger levels low. The thing that struck me the most was not the news articles themselves, but the comments people made on them. This was online news for anyone stuck in a paper world and doesnt know how to get out. Turn on the computer. Things will happen on the screen. This is exactly like reading paper but about five gazillion trees are saved. Not quite sure how your reading this blog, unless I'm really famous, and you are one of those bosses who gets their assistant to print everything off for them to read. BTW - your assistant hates you. She (or he, but probably she - I'll do a blog post on gender next time) is probably young, technology savvy and resents you for not being able to get your head out of your own arse and catch up with the rest of the world. And you know what? One day you will be dead and she will still be ruling the world - even though you are misogynistic and rude and don't believe in her. Guess what? The world does not actually revolve around you. Get over yourself.
Anyway...
The whinginess of Australians. I mean come on. These people took time out of their day to comment on these news stories. The comments are not well written and I don't think these people actually understand what they are talking about. I detest people who have all these wonderful opinions and stick firmly and very vocally to them, but have absolutely no idea what they are talking about.
Case in point. The mining tax. Personally I was for it. Not going to go into that now. But I could also see negatives, and I think that the idea could work, but the technicalities probably needed to be ironed out. But the amount of people I met who just swallowed the anti-tax ads on the tv (which were funded and developed by the mining companies, I might add) ran into the hundreds. Hook, line and sinker. Please people, apply some critical thought here.
Also, I bet on the online forum things - nobody actually cares what is written. The reason that people comment is so they can get a response from other people and then that can degenerate into an online slanging match. Whoop de fricken doo. If you care that much about something, get out there and do something about it. Don't just comment on a news article then sit there smugly while hundreds of other people get upset. You have achieved nothing.
I love how I am whinging online about others whinging online. But then I'm Australian. Its my culture. Think I'll go have a drink.
Till next time
Ash
I have absolutely nothing against this drinking culture, given that I grew up with it, and my mother and father have been giving me sips of alcohol since I was about 4 and I'm pretty sure that wine was a base ingredient in all my food growing up. I even think they may have used that old trick when I was teething - you know stick the dummy in some bourbon and then the baby has no more pain. This is NOT recommended by doctors, dentists, or really any health care professional. It could explain some things.......
I don't really know the opinion of the rest of the world in regards to Australians - although I've been told we are fairly highly regarded. And our drinking culture is acknowledged. HOWEVER - does the rest of the world know that Australians whinge? We whinge like no tomorrow. If there was an Olympic sport of whinging, we would win gold, silver and bronze because the whole event would be filled with Australians.
I do not like our whinging culture. I believe it has stemmed from our insistence on being tied to the apron strings of Britain, England or the United Kingdom or whatever name it is I should call them. Lets become a republic already!!!!!
I mention this because I was reading the 'news' yesterday - yes always a dangerous thing when trying to keep anger levels low. The thing that struck me the most was not the news articles themselves, but the comments people made on them. This was online news for anyone stuck in a paper world and doesnt know how to get out. Turn on the computer. Things will happen on the screen. This is exactly like reading paper but about five gazillion trees are saved. Not quite sure how your reading this blog, unless I'm really famous, and you are one of those bosses who gets their assistant to print everything off for them to read. BTW - your assistant hates you. She (or he, but probably she - I'll do a blog post on gender next time) is probably young, technology savvy and resents you for not being able to get your head out of your own arse and catch up with the rest of the world. And you know what? One day you will be dead and she will still be ruling the world - even though you are misogynistic and rude and don't believe in her. Guess what? The world does not actually revolve around you. Get over yourself.
Anyway...
The whinginess of Australians. I mean come on. These people took time out of their day to comment on these news stories. The comments are not well written and I don't think these people actually understand what they are talking about. I detest people who have all these wonderful opinions and stick firmly and very vocally to them, but have absolutely no idea what they are talking about.
Case in point. The mining tax. Personally I was for it. Not going to go into that now. But I could also see negatives, and I think that the idea could work, but the technicalities probably needed to be ironed out. But the amount of people I met who just swallowed the anti-tax ads on the tv (which were funded and developed by the mining companies, I might add) ran into the hundreds. Hook, line and sinker. Please people, apply some critical thought here.
Also, I bet on the online forum things - nobody actually cares what is written. The reason that people comment is so they can get a response from other people and then that can degenerate into an online slanging match. Whoop de fricken doo. If you care that much about something, get out there and do something about it. Don't just comment on a news article then sit there smugly while hundreds of other people get upset. You have achieved nothing.
I love how I am whinging online about others whinging online. But then I'm Australian. Its my culture. Think I'll go have a drink.
Till next time
Ash
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Education - making us smarter.... or is it?
Hi everyone
Shall I list my gripes for the week? Actually the last couple of days have just been peachy when it comes to making Ashleigh bitter at the world.
Firstly, as background information - I'm very tired. Yes I know that it is rare for me not to be tired, but it does impact on my life and my tether tends to get very short when I am more tired than usual. Although I will acknowledge that it is my fault, as I went out on Saturday night (cocktail party with the girls, then dancing the night away at a club - bliss), didn't get to sleep until 3.30am and then got up at 8.30, went out for breakfast with my mum (she is a firm believer that going out for breakfast in the city or Freo is the ultimate in city living and so we do it every time we catch up), then went to my grandparents (who just got back from Slovinia and Greece) and had to spend the entire day being chatty and smiley and generally acting like the prodigal granddaughter I am and of course, instead of going to bed early like a good girl and like I planned, as soon as an invite from Drunken Leopard came to play Wii in his flat, I went and ended up there till 12. But it wasn't an entirely fruitless day, as I did beat Horny Frog on Mario Kart on his favourite track (actually I came 1st) when I normally barely finish the race (I simply do not have video game skills - although I'm very enthusiastic). The victory was made so much sweeter by the fact Horny Frog was also very tired and therefore grumpy and subsequently sulked all evening :). Yes I'm still gloating 2 days later.
Then, last night I had the lovely Uni Games boys in the village and they were playing drinking games outside my flat. I swear if I have to hear one more rendition of the drinking song 'XXX is the captain of the ship, captain of the ship' or the highly intelligent 'tits out for the boys, tits out for the boys' chant, I will kill someone. So I have discovered that I have control issues and thus this situation made me very tense as I could not control any aspect of it. And the insomnia begins - even after they finished. Gripe number 1 complete.
Gripe number 2.
The TAFE education system in Western Australia is appalling - I believe. Yes I am a bit of a snob and do think that university degrees reign supreme over Tafe diplomas/certificates but I can see (as any normal person could) that they are very good for people who don't necessarily want to complete a degree or want to get into a trade etc. I have almost zero time for people who do not want to complete any further education and even less for those who voluntarily drop out in high school - and do nothing.
Anyway, I recently began a Tafe course to complement my degree (see I can see the point of tafe!) - a Certificate IV in Occupational Health and Safety. So I've been doing it externally, just one unit at a time, fitting it in around my degree. Today was one of those fitting it in times. I thought I would begin the second assignment (an essay/report type thing) by reading the sample assignment they had so thoughtfully provided. Well, I thought it was thoughtful until I read it carefully and it turned out they had just repeated the same 3 sentences 27 times!! I called up the lecturer and said that this assignment did not help me in any way at all and she told me that the words are just there to indicate that you have to put words under those headings, and in fact, the "sample assignment" isn't even the one that corresponds to my unit - its for a different unit. Now my big question is this - why even put it in there? The answer was that people don't realise you have to put words under the headings, and if the TAFE people only put 1 set of 3 sentences under a heading as opposed to 4 then people wouldn't realise that they had to put more than 3 sentences in.
So this is adult education (as I was so kindly informed - she also spoke to me like I was an idiot - which I REALLY do not appreciate), and you are expected to work things out for yourself. But not enough that you might figure out that you need to put words under your headings.
Is this 'adult education' really making us smarter? Or is it merely making us know more facts, but waste away our common sense by not letting us make decisions ourselves? Personally I have always been the kind of person who likes to work things out for themselves by using COMMON SENSE.
WHERE HAS THE COMMON SENSE GONE?!?!?!
Anyway there is my rant. Below are a couple of my favourite education quotes:
Shall I list my gripes for the week? Actually the last couple of days have just been peachy when it comes to making Ashleigh bitter at the world.
Firstly, as background information - I'm very tired. Yes I know that it is rare for me not to be tired, but it does impact on my life and my tether tends to get very short when I am more tired than usual. Although I will acknowledge that it is my fault, as I went out on Saturday night (cocktail party with the girls, then dancing the night away at a club - bliss), didn't get to sleep until 3.30am and then got up at 8.30, went out for breakfast with my mum (she is a firm believer that going out for breakfast in the city or Freo is the ultimate in city living and so we do it every time we catch up), then went to my grandparents (who just got back from Slovinia and Greece) and had to spend the entire day being chatty and smiley and generally acting like the prodigal granddaughter I am and of course, instead of going to bed early like a good girl and like I planned, as soon as an invite from Drunken Leopard came to play Wii in his flat, I went and ended up there till 12. But it wasn't an entirely fruitless day, as I did beat Horny Frog on Mario Kart on his favourite track (actually I came 1st) when I normally barely finish the race (I simply do not have video game skills - although I'm very enthusiastic). The victory was made so much sweeter by the fact Horny Frog was also very tired and therefore grumpy and subsequently sulked all evening :). Yes I'm still gloating 2 days later.
Then, last night I had the lovely Uni Games boys in the village and they were playing drinking games outside my flat. I swear if I have to hear one more rendition of the drinking song 'XXX is the captain of the ship, captain of the ship' or the highly intelligent 'tits out for the boys, tits out for the boys' chant, I will kill someone. So I have discovered that I have control issues and thus this situation made me very tense as I could not control any aspect of it. And the insomnia begins - even after they finished. Gripe number 1 complete.
Gripe number 2.
The TAFE education system in Western Australia is appalling - I believe. Yes I am a bit of a snob and do think that university degrees reign supreme over Tafe diplomas/certificates but I can see (as any normal person could) that they are very good for people who don't necessarily want to complete a degree or want to get into a trade etc. I have almost zero time for people who do not want to complete any further education and even less for those who voluntarily drop out in high school - and do nothing.
Anyway, I recently began a Tafe course to complement my degree (see I can see the point of tafe!) - a Certificate IV in Occupational Health and Safety. So I've been doing it externally, just one unit at a time, fitting it in around my degree. Today was one of those fitting it in times. I thought I would begin the second assignment (an essay/report type thing) by reading the sample assignment they had so thoughtfully provided. Well, I thought it was thoughtful until I read it carefully and it turned out they had just repeated the same 3 sentences 27 times!! I called up the lecturer and said that this assignment did not help me in any way at all and she told me that the words are just there to indicate that you have to put words under those headings, and in fact, the "sample assignment" isn't even the one that corresponds to my unit - its for a different unit. Now my big question is this - why even put it in there? The answer was that people don't realise you have to put words under the headings, and if the TAFE people only put 1 set of 3 sentences under a heading as opposed to 4 then people wouldn't realise that they had to put more than 3 sentences in.
So this is adult education (as I was so kindly informed - she also spoke to me like I was an idiot - which I REALLY do not appreciate), and you are expected to work things out for yourself. But not enough that you might figure out that you need to put words under your headings.
Is this 'adult education' really making us smarter? Or is it merely making us know more facts, but waste away our common sense by not letting us make decisions ourselves? Personally I have always been the kind of person who likes to work things out for themselves by using COMMON SENSE.
WHERE HAS THE COMMON SENSE GONE?!?!?!
Anyway there is my rant. Below are a couple of my favourite education quotes:
"There is nothing sadder in life than the waste of human potential. The purpose of evolution is to raise us out of the mud, not have us grovelling in it" Diane Frolov & Andrew Schneider
"Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance" Will Durant
Until next time...
Ashleigh
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
The Perpetually Tired Student
Hi everyone,
So it has been an uneventful couple of days. I woke for my 9.30 lecture yesterday, promptly groaned, switched off my alarm and went back to sleep until 11.30. This is becoming a disturbingly common occurrence. I don't remember what I did on Monday night, but I'm sure it wasn't particularly exhausting.
Just as a side note - in Australia, lectures are NOT compulsory and I can listen/watch it online later, so its nothing detrimental to my education, just annoying and a bit more difficult to listen to later.
Normally the mere thought of a cup of coffee is enough to propel me out of bed, no matter what time it is. I think I know what the issue was though.
Have you ever heard of a sleep debt? Or sleep bank?
We covered this stuff a bit in psychology (no I don't know exactly why we were talking about sleep habits, I'm pretty sure its because its linked to mental health). Basically, theres some equation that for every hour of sleep you lose, you need 8 hours to gain it back. Or something along those lines. So when you build up a sleep debt, you can't just have a massive sleep in to pay it off - you need to do it in increments every night.
And when you consider the average uni student stays up late studying probably 1 or 2 nights a week, stays up late partying 1 or 2 (sometimes 3) nights and has to get up for classes/work/more studying at a 'reasonable' time, thats a lot of sleep debt! So when I went out on Friday night (in my defense, it was the Village Pirate Party and it was happening outside my window anyway) and had one of those fantastic nights where you end up awake until 4am, then finally sleep, then when you sober up in your sleep your body wakes you at some ridiculous hour (9.30am in my case) (the 'go-to-sleep-drunk-then-wake-up-when-you-get-sober theory' came from Flying Monkey - in my experience, its definitely true).
So I have accumulated this massive sleep debt - which was probably never 0 to begin with, as I've had some major assignment dramas last week (one horrible moment when I finally went to bed at 12.30 after doing an assignment, then waking up at 1am only to realise I had forgotten about another assignment due the next day and having to get out of bed to do it) and so unless I start getting some serious 9 hour nights in, I will probably be tired forevermore. And since, there is little chance of me getting those coveted 9 hour uninterrupted sleeps, I will be tired until my holidays. But then I have an internship so that'll put me back a bit. So yeah, we are looking at Christmas for me to feel properly rested again.
I think this is a fairly widely spread phenomenon around universities and maybe, just maybe, one day I will be able to go to my lecturer and say 'I'm really sorry Professor but my sleep debt is just HUGE, can I have one more day to do this assignment'. Of course, the response will probably be 'No Ashleigh, you shouldn't have gone to that party/club/potluck/drinking game last week. If you hadn't we wouldn't have this sleep debt problem'. Which is true. But I maintain that going to those parties/clubs/potlucks/drinking games is all part of being a student, and if I'm tired the next day, but I had an awesome night the night before - I reckon its worth it :)
Thanks guys
Ashleigh xo
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=fact-or-fiction-can-you-catch-up-on-sleep
So it has been an uneventful couple of days. I woke for my 9.30 lecture yesterday, promptly groaned, switched off my alarm and went back to sleep until 11.30. This is becoming a disturbingly common occurrence. I don't remember what I did on Monday night, but I'm sure it wasn't particularly exhausting.
Just as a side note - in Australia, lectures are NOT compulsory and I can listen/watch it online later, so its nothing detrimental to my education, just annoying and a bit more difficult to listen to later.
Normally the mere thought of a cup of coffee is enough to propel me out of bed, no matter what time it is. I think I know what the issue was though.
Have you ever heard of a sleep debt? Or sleep bank?
We covered this stuff a bit in psychology (no I don't know exactly why we were talking about sleep habits, I'm pretty sure its because its linked to mental health). Basically, theres some equation that for every hour of sleep you lose, you need 8 hours to gain it back. Or something along those lines. So when you build up a sleep debt, you can't just have a massive sleep in to pay it off - you need to do it in increments every night.
And when you consider the average uni student stays up late studying probably 1 or 2 nights a week, stays up late partying 1 or 2 (sometimes 3) nights and has to get up for classes/work/more studying at a 'reasonable' time, thats a lot of sleep debt! So when I went out on Friday night (in my defense, it was the Village Pirate Party and it was happening outside my window anyway) and had one of those fantastic nights where you end up awake until 4am, then finally sleep, then when you sober up in your sleep your body wakes you at some ridiculous hour (9.30am in my case) (the 'go-to-sleep-drunk-then-wake-up-when-you-get-sober theory' came from Flying Monkey - in my experience, its definitely true).
So I have accumulated this massive sleep debt - which was probably never 0 to begin with, as I've had some major assignment dramas last week (one horrible moment when I finally went to bed at 12.30 after doing an assignment, then waking up at 1am only to realise I had forgotten about another assignment due the next day and having to get out of bed to do it) and so unless I start getting some serious 9 hour nights in, I will probably be tired forevermore. And since, there is little chance of me getting those coveted 9 hour uninterrupted sleeps, I will be tired until my holidays. But then I have an internship so that'll put me back a bit. So yeah, we are looking at Christmas for me to feel properly rested again.
I think this is a fairly widely spread phenomenon around universities and maybe, just maybe, one day I will be able to go to my lecturer and say 'I'm really sorry Professor but my sleep debt is just HUGE, can I have one more day to do this assignment'. Of course, the response will probably be 'No Ashleigh, you shouldn't have gone to that party/club/potluck/drinking game last week. If you hadn't we wouldn't have this sleep debt problem'. Which is true. But I maintain that going to those parties/clubs/potlucks/drinking games is all part of being a student, and if I'm tired the next day, but I had an awesome night the night before - I reckon its worth it :)
Thanks guys
Ashleigh xo
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=fact-or-fiction-can-you-catch-up-on-sleep
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)