I’m kind of not feeling this project this year. It’s likely because we’ve been short-staffed at work for the better part of the last eight months, largely because a prior director had no business managing other people or their workflows, and I’m hella burned out so I don’t feel like writing yet more at the end of the day.
That may or may not change as I have two three-day weekends in a row, but I wonder what the point of all of this is as I get so few hits and almost comments. I’m thinking ProseBox should have been the place to do this.
In keeping with my current mood of “blah,” here is the thing I most disliked getting for Halloween when I was a kid: Pennies.
Like, what was a seven-year-old going to do with that in 1973? I wasn’t old enough to go somewhere on my bike and spend it, and the candy you could get for a penny or two back then was more tease than satisfaction, like one mini Tootsie Roll from a bunch that the guy at the mom-and-pop grocery store sold loose in an old baseball-card box because one of the bags in his candy shipment was open. I hope no one still gives out pennies. That’s just plain trolling little kids at this point.
Some of you have been rather prideful of late, going on about how the early bird catches the worm, morning is the most productive time of the day, rising with the dawn is the path to success, and so on. Some of you have been extra judgy about it, too, calling Night Owls “lazy” and “unambitious.”
Let me tell you something: Owls keep the world running, so you need to stop it with the stigma. When it’s 2:00 a.m. and you need an ambulance or emergency surgery, or your house is on fire, or you hear someone break in, it’s the Owls who will save you. It’s the Owls who watch your property while you sleep, take calls on 988 when you’re having a midnight crisis, capture the overnight news while you’re dreaming, and maintin national security by monitoring air, land, and sea while you’re slumbering blissfully unaware of the myriad ways your enemies pose a threat. Owls transport your mail and packages, drive your food across the country while it’s still fresh, and even take you and your loved ones from Point A to Point B in safety, though you call overnight flights “red-eyes” like that’s a bad thing. Owls maintain order, and without them you would be screwed.
Furthermore, Owls are hardwired. Over the years, research has shown that a tendency toward wakefulness at night is hereditary. One study found 351 genetic factors that influence whether a person prefers mornings or evenings. Another study suggests that Owls are more creative than Larks. Yet another study suggests that Owls have better cognitive function than Larks.
I believe all of it. My father did some of his best paintings at 1:00 a.m. and my mother, who had an I.Q. of 163, would not be able to sleep until 3:00 a.m. and would walk into walls when she got up for work during the week. I, myself, am an Owl, as verified by the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire. Given my druthers, I would go to sleep between 1:30 and 3:00 a.m. and get up between 8:30 and 10:00 a.m. I do my best work between 4:00 and 7:00 p.m. and have another burst of creativity around 11:00 p.m. And at the risk of sounding boastful, my I.Q. qualifies me for Mensa.
So kindly cease and desist with your slanderous characterizations of Owls. We are not defective, lazy, unambitious, unhealthy, or undisciplined. We are merely of the night, and you need us.
Sincerely,
Owls Everywhere
And now for today’s candy: Sixlets! Not quite M&Ms but not quite malted milk balls, Sixlets is a “chocolate-flavored candy.” They are very light and have a nice little crunch, but I remember them always tasting a little stale and reminiscent of mothballs. Still, they’re a classic, and I love the nostalgia they conjure of Halloweens gone by.
That’s really a metaphor for my writer’s block. Didn’t get much sleep last night. Sometimes it’s like that. This little skeleton was in someone’s front yard and I would have missed it if I hadn’t been looking down trying to close my phone after taking the picture in the previous entry. I appreciate the subtlety.
I caught a nice little possession flick tonight, The Last Rite. A jerky boyfriend, a shadowy figure in a hat, a few jump scares, some blood but no guts, and demonic conversation without profanity don’t sound like much on the surface, but the film had a gnawing tension. If you’re into very dark possession flicks like The Pope’s Exorcist, you might find it a little bland, but there’s levels to this stuff and I’d say it’s a good starter possession flick.
zenzalei 