Damn It!
July 12, 2008, Matthew Good 
It’s 3-something in the morning and I find myself once again unable to sleep, despite the fact that I have taken my usual medication and enough supplementary aides to drop a horse. Nothing scary, nothing ‘life threatening’, just enough to try and convince my body that it had better pack it in.
So far it’s not working.
It could have something to do with the fact that I’ve been dreaming of fajitas all day. Having woken up this morning in Toronto in the early afternoon and getting a tea, I got on the bus and immediately fell asleep. After arriving in Brantford I found myself in somewhat of a strange state and, for some unknown reason, completely forgot to eat – anything. Being that I’m on a new bus, there’s nothing left over from the tour, and therefore no food - or gum, or even sugar packets. I am therefore reduced to drinking some sort of stale herbal tea and smoking in an attempt to trick my body into thinking that fajitas are a figment of my imagination. The fact that I’ll be waking up tomorrow in the middle of nowhere isn’t helping matters either.
Christ what I wouldn’t do right now for a Waffle House.
True, they don’t have fajitas at Waffle House, but at this point steak and eggs would do just as nicely. In fact, cardboard painted to look like pizza might even be acceptable. Unfortunately, being that I’m in Brantford, and it’s 3:30 in the morning, that’s probably the best that I could do.
Anyway, I am off to count sheep, which won’t be a good thing because all that it will make me think about is lamb and mint jelly.
Damn it!
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This may very well be my favourite entry ever. I find the trials and tribulations of Matt’s ever day life to be fascinating.
I can never sleep. On a good night, I wake up ten times or more. I caved the other day and got a prescription for sleeping pills. It’s just far too loud downtown for me.
Counting sheep is fun.
I do it everyday at work.
But if one of my sheep go missing Matthew you’re the first one I will question.
… plus they look better with wool then not mint jelly :P
I’d stick with the idea of cardboard painted like pizza; sounds more appealing to me anyways.
* that would be “plus they look better with wool then mint jelly anyways”
I too have suffered from insomnia for a number of years. It’s been worse of late due to Grave’s Disease and it’s been a challenge to keep it under wraps. At least the creative thoughts fatigue induces can be entertaining!
Wow. I’m having a terrible night, can’t sleep either (although I refuse to take pharmaceuticals, former substance abuse problem). I have “She’s in it for the money” stuck in my head so I decided to see what you’ve posted lately. I don’t try to delude myself to believe we’re in the same mind space or anything along those lines (no crazy stalking here) but it is comforting to read that someone else out there, somewhere is having a restless night as well. Sleep well Matt.
me too, up since 2…i’ve been working on an algorithm to try and explain how the jays have pulled of a 4 game win streak…
mexi casa rosa: north on king george st ( an exit off the QEW) about 10 mins from paris and right in brantford.
I have the most difficulties with tackling sleep during the month of July every year. I took 1mg of Klonopin last night and that didn’t even knock me out like it usually does. I would say that the last 3 nights I probably slept only 5 or so hours. It’s off to work now for my 12 hour shifts this weekend. Come Monday, it will catch up on me and I willl welcome the much needed sleep.
Not sleeping sucks. I haven’t had one of those really good sleeps in years. Oddly enough since I stopped working overnight shift work. Seems I’m always tired & hungry too. Hope sleep finds you Matt.
wait no, mexi cali’s is that punk ass franchise across the street, you want:
WOODY’s: Mexi Casa Mama’s.
contrary to the name’s suggestion popular belief,apearantly,
overdoses mostly happend on same and even smaller dosage than usual.
the body just cant process it anymore.
i guess it depends on the reason that keeps you awake..
and yes its been said before..but..lots of lovin seems a much safer option..
7h.birds sinphony out my window.back to bed for me.
gooday ;)*
Ahhhh Paris in summertime, what could be better?
With the open air cafe on evey corner ( people drinking in their front yard)
The wonderful transit system ( pickup trucks as far as the eye can see )
The smell of romance in the air ( freshly cut hay combined with a 40* humidex )
Street vendors with all fresh produce ( homegrown weed right off the farm )
The many gift and souvenier shops ( a dollar store with something for eveyone )
Yes Matt you are a lucky man !! For a real treat I would suggest that you stay in Paris until July 19th so you can take part in the spectacular monster truck madness !!
Good luck tonight Matt I hope the weather forcast is wrong ( it wouldn’t be the first time ) At least with this show they have a seperate area for alcohol, so you’ll know where to find the idiots
Thanks for the laugh at the start of my day!
I’ve too have found myself WIDE AWAKE many a nights and it’s a frustrating thing: “I may fall asleep in the next 10 mintues so don’t get up; I could lay awake here for hours so get up and do something!”
You should pick up writing as a hobby….:-) [hoping that I've at the very least made you smile]
Have a Super Duper Day!
Being in Brantford sometimes has that effect on people. I hope you brought your own supply of water. I’ll be watching tonight from the crowd in Paris!
If your looking for something to satisfy your hunger, I reccommend an Admiral Burger. Just ask anyone downtown and they’ll point you in the right direction.
Who’s friggin’ job is it to go grocery shopping?
Come on Matt you don’t have ridiculous food or prop demands while your on tour?
Someone give the guy a pack of gum already!
I go to school in Brantford, so I definitely understand the boredom that ensues there.
At least I only have a year left.
Besides that, this was a rather cute entry.
Ohh dear. I can never sleep, either. I’m pretty much the lightest sleeper I know, any sound at all will wake me and I find it difficult to fall asleep in the first place. I hope tonight you have better luck, and that today you find yourself something to satisfy your food cravings. :)
mmmm Fajitas! Hit up Lone Star Cafe on the way back…best fajitas ever! Tortilas made in house in front of your eyes…simply magical!
Oh and their chips and salsa kicks ass
http://www.lonestartexasgrill.com/
I await the MG and Crew Review. Cheers!
mmm steak and eggs… great. now I’m hungry.
Im so excited! Sorry you couldn’t sleep and be careful of Admirals Burgers if you go… hoping the rain stays away ! Im stuck at work and work for a company that shall remain nameless that launched a much hyped phone yesterday and Im not allowed to sell it-what a long few days its been! Count down to show time is on!
Awful House! Hahaha. I can’t believe you’d actually crave something from there. We were at a race at Barber just outside of Birmingham. The only place close to our motel was a dirty little Waffle House. Nasty. We ate there 3 times and it’s now burned into my brain.
Have you ever tried white noise to help you sleep? I keep a fan going in the bedroom all the time. In hotel rooms I crank up the a/c fan… works for me.
No 7-11, Mac’s Milk or the likes of in Brantford? Surely to god they have cardboard (tasting anyway) food there?? Just take some Pepcid first….
When you go to sleep, true, your metabolism slows down, but your system still needs something to do. So when your stomach is empty for a length of time, your system starts to burn your stored fat. In order to do this, it needs to produce more adrenaline.
Adrenaline and sleep are not the best of friends…
I’m not saying this is your answer, but you might wanna try to have some sort of good carbohydrate (potatoes, yams, brown rice pasta, oatmeal, etc.) about an hour or so before you hit the hay. Make it a small portion, about the size of your fist.
Also, make sure of the caffeine content in the tea that you drink. I firggin LOVE strong coffee, but if I have any after noon, it will keep me up later that night.
Hope this helps.
I’ve had it really bad the past few days… I just woke up in a friends house in Calgary.. I play a show tonight and I have only slept about four or five hours.. Really tired, but you live with it I guess… I have these new sleeping pills a doctor prescribed for me and I’m going to start taking em’ when I arrive home.. We’ll see if that helps at all, gunna try to get on a routine. Seems hopeless so far though. God, I love insomnia. It’s interesting to hear about how many people struggle with this problem though.. Nice to know I’m not the only one…
-jayb
[quote comment="58135"]me too, up since 2…i’ve been working on an algorithm to try and explain how the jays have pulled of a 4 game win streak…[/quote]
I too have been pondering this great question. My theories all involve the use of voodoo or some sort of gypsy curse being put on the other teams. Maybe Doc Halladay is actually a witch doctor.
You poor fellow you must be desperate if you’re willing to subject yourself to the Waffle House. Maybe things are different in Canada, but where I live the only people filling the seats of a Waffle House are the destitute.
you make me laugh, your so goddamn sarcastic about shit ( cardboard painted like pizza bit) I know what the insomnia can be like, I hate when im wide awake and my husband is peacefully asleep, it makes me want to choke off his air supply =) I also love when I build a tolerance to medications thus having to take more so they work enough to knock me on my ass. Here is hoping you finally get to have your fajita, have an awesome day!!!
funny. it was mexican buffet night at the hotel i’m staying at here. the food was pretty good. however, for some strange reason I woke up in the middle of the night around 3:30AM. :p
hope you get your fajita! that picture looks very appetizing!
Honduran night tonight!
I can’t say I relate today.
I woke up this morning at a resort in St. Croix. My wife and I had a nice breakfast, then some ocean kayaking and snorkeling. The only negative here is that I have confirmed that sunburns are proof that God hates white people. Okay, maybe just the Irish and English people, but he hates us enough for everyone. I don’t know how Columbus’ crew survived down here before the advent of SPF 50. When I invent SPF 5,000,000 I will save the world, though.
If it makes you feel any better, I haven’t found a good fajita on this island yet either. The roti is unbelievable, though and rum is cheaper than water.
Every time I hear the word “fajita” I think of that episode of Family Guy where Peter can’t pronounce it right.
Damn. Now I want one.
The best fajitas are the ones you make yourself :)
I haven’t had Waffle House in years =/
[quote comment="58150"]Have you ever tried white noise to help you sleep? I keep a fan going in the bedroom all the time. In hotel rooms I crank up the a/c fan… works for me.[/quote]
We have 4 white noise makers in a home of 4 and absolutely rely on the soothing sounds of “nothingness” to lull us into sleep and block the silence of my pindrop dead surburbia neighbourhood. Actually, I was tempted to bring to you our spare when you were in Barrie but I thought it would be too qwirky [nevermind the awkwardness of having to hold it while I rocked out to an awesome show before having only the hope of meeting you ~ which I did THANK YOU!] Oh well, Shoppers does sell them for about $20-$30 and the maker is Conair.
Off to the Wonderful City of Toronto this afternoon ~ I Love Toronto!
Could be that your body has just gotten used to the sleeping pills. Stop staring at your laptop screen. The brightness of it doesn’t help. Apparently if you do something boring long enough, it’ll make you fall asleep. I’ve never really found that to help though..
Good luck on your search for food.
My middle of the night haven’t eaten anything craving yesterday was spaghetti. Must make some tonight.
I’ve come up with a pretty decent fajita recipe - it’s my son’s favorite meal (although he’s now perfected my recipe and made it his own).
When you have access to a kitchen, check it out (scroll down a few to get there). While you’re at it, there’s also a good post submitted by a friend on foods that aid in sleeping.
http://yummyfoodstuff.blogspot.com/
…Grilled Lamb Kofta wrapped up in a warm Pita
with a Side of Tzatziki…Hummus…and Baba Ganouj
and an Order of Tabbouleh or Fattoush…
what the Hell….make it a whole Meze
and don’t forget the Baklava Cigars
and the Bottle of Ouzo…
to wash Everything down…
Hey….if you’re gonna dream….dream BIG…
…and You can bet on a good Sleep afterwards… :)
ok BB, thanks for adding to my “must eat” list for the day. Good one.
[quote comment="58141"]Ahhhh Paris in summertime, what could be better?
With the open air cafe on every corner ( people drinking in their front yard)
The wonderful transit system ( pickup trucks as far as the eye can see )
The smell of romance in the air ( freshly cut hay combined with a 40* humidex )
Street vendors with all fresh produce ( homegrown weed right off the farm )
The many gift and souvenir shops ( a dollar store with something for everyone )
Yes Matt you are a lucky man !! For a real treat I would suggest that you stay in Paris until July 19th so you can take part in the spectacular monster truck madness !![/quote]
Haha! Don’t have to be from Paris to appreciate that. :p
If you’re willing to make the trek back up Sarnia way and crossing the bridge, there’s an awesome little Mexican place in Port Huron that’s dead cheap. I’m talking combo plates bigger than your laptop that you probably won’t be able to finish for like $3.50 - after exchange! Granted, you’d be driving back to Paris in perfect musicial unison with everyone on the bus, but as rbj said, by the time you reach your desination, nobody will notice after the get a wiff of the romance and the fresh produce.
(Dammit! Now I want cheap Mexican food!)
I absolutely cannot be in bed any earlier than 3am. After three years of the night shift, it’s become impossible and when I actually succeed in in, It sends my mental clock into chaos. Even on weekends or days were I have to be up before 8am for doctor appointments or whatever, 3 is the magic hour.
I have a funny story about last night. I was looking on line to see what I could find in the line of Audi Books and found a bunch of self help/hypnosis stuff. I decided to conduct my own quasi experiment and downloaded a few. The first was a hypnosis exercise to induce deep sleep. The second was a hypnosis exercise to do with procrastination.
I’m not sure what time it was exactly when I went to bed but I was lying there listening to the sleep exercises being lulled into a fairly effective state of relaxation (despite my husband’s snoring) when I needed to pee so bad that I had to get up and go to the bathroom. (Probably more information than you all needed.)
The first lesson: use the bathroom before trying to hypnotize yourself into a deep sleep.
OK. I start the exercise from the beginning a second time. It worked like a charm and I fell into a great sleep. Unfortunately, there was that second hypnosis exercise on procrastination which I also downloaded. My MP3 player kept going and at 3:.30 I woke up to a voice saying “Now slowly start to wake up. You are waking up. You are awake.” F’n great!
The second lesson: If you are using a hypnosis exercise to fall asleep do not put anything else on your MP3 player.
I woke up around 6am craving General Tsao’s chicken and a HUGE plate of steamed rice and crab rangoon.
Laughs!
Have you considered taking melatonin? Provided you that you consult your pharmacist/physician to ensure that it will not interact with your current medications (it likely won’t as it is a naturally occurring hormone but as a former pharmacist I must say this prior to recommending anything…) it may prove to be a beneficial sleep aide for you. It is an over the counter medication and can be purchased at most pharmacies.
Waffle House…ahhhhhh…..
haha, you are fricken hilarious.
i am now staring at those fajitas and would kill for one. yummy!!!
You just had to post a picture of the best looking fajitas in the world and make all of us hungry and feel your pain, didn’t you.
Sometimes if I have trouble sleeping, I just read whatever book I’m in the middle of until my mind gets tired.
Bwahahaha! Look, I know it’s rude to laugh at anothers misery but the pizza-painted cardboard comment sealed the deal. I grow my own cilantro so all fajitas and such get a healthy dose. If I’d read this earlier I’d have recommended you fly to Mount Airy, North Carolina - they have the most amazing mexican restaurant. Seriously. I can tell you what it is near but not the name… the menu and sign said two different things. Meh. Oddly, it is Andy Griffith’s hometown, thankfully they don’t have Matlock themed menu items. I mean, if you’re awake anyway, go there for a fajita fix. (If I had the means I’d fly there at least once a month…)
How about a waffle fajita? Marinated steak and peppers wrapped in a fresh waffle…mmmm….waaaafle.
Haven’t read a entry on here in a while that made me laugh out loud - then I read this, this morning….freaking awesome! Thanks for making my day that much better :)
Fajita waffles or waffle fajitas - my day is better due to sunshine and sand… Matt’s craving is making me hungry tho!
“Don’t you mind the gap when you leave…”
Peace & love,
A.
Have you ever tried meditation? That always clears my head when my brain doesnt want to quit.
i live how it says you were in Brantford.. my home town .
p.s you were brilliant tonight!!!!!!!
Haven’t Slept in Years just popped into my head.
Sleeping soundly is an elusive luxury. I gave up years ago.
Sad that so many of us share this problem.
I have a dream that someday I will have control of my life - that I won’t have to answer my cell phone, check my email, voice mail or fax machine. That I will just get up and do what I want. That the day will be mine.
Then perhaps I will sleep.
On a side note.
I was at a friends house yesterday using their bathroom. I was peeing with both lids up as I am considerate that way. The water pressure in their house is very high and I have always flushed prematurely. As I finished peeing and flushed the water came rushing into the bowl so quickly it actually splashed back out all over my legs. Laughing hysterically as I came out of the bathroom I said to Anita “what the fuck is with your toilet?” and I told her what happened. She immediately reached under the kitchen sink and pulled out a spray bottle and started spraying my legs. What the fuck is that? I asked…
Vinegar!
I immediately pictured the spray bottles in the courtyard of Matt’s condo left for all of those happy dog owners.
livewire….now why didn’t I think of that? Cilantro - of COURSE it would make fajitas yummier. I love cilantro and, now that you’ve mentioned it, it just seems like a natural addition. How could I have overlooked it?…you’re brilliant. Thanks.
Atleast you know what you want. It drives me crazy when I don’t know what I want but I know I want it bad. Saudade.
Aw, dude, you should have been with us at camping last night. I had the best fajita’s I’ve ever had… yyuuuuuuum. fried mushrooms, onions, orange and yellow pepers, fried chicken with Bulls eye’s hickory smoked bbq sauce.
oops, I guess I’m not helping.
Oh right, can’t forget the sour cream..
:()~
Fahita’s are good,
but nothing compares to a East Coast donair from K.O.D!…… mmmmm good!
[quote comment="58202"]Aw, dude, you should have been with us at camping last night. I had the best fajita’s I’ve ever had… yyuuuuuuum. fried mushrooms, onions, orange and yellow pepers, fried chicken with Bulls eye’s hickory smoked bbq sauce.
oops, I guess I’m not helping.
Oh right, can’t forget the sour cream..
:()~[/quote]
For crying out loud, you’re killing me T-Lee….That’s it, Im literally gonna run to the grocery store. And Bulls Eye, yum, Im gonna try it.
Shit, camping’s kicked it up a notch.
Whatever happened to sand covered burgers and burnt hot dogs?
Jenn, did I mention the veggies were fried in butter? yah huh.
Deb, there were burnt doggies; oh and no, camping still sucks ass I’m still doing campfire laundry right now.. yum.
Counting sheep does not work.. up at least 10-15 times throughout the night..
Sleeping pills do not work for me either.. you would think eventually my body would just give in to the exhaustion.. but nope.. it’s torture.
How can you be tired all the time, feel like you could sleep for years, lay down and be up in 20 minutes wondering the same things all over again?
Depending on medication for sleep in the long term is generally a very bad idea. Tolerance & addiction will set in eventually.
I really think exercise is key to getting great sleep. It fatigues the body while releasing chemicals which help significantly in relaxation. Just check insomnia rates between office workers and construction workers. Our modern sedentary lifestyle has much to do with all the common problems people face these days. Exercise is great for reducing anxiety and depression too!
[quote comment="58199"]livewire….now why didn’t I think of that? Cilantro - of COURSE it would make fajitas yummier.
I love cilantro and, now that you’ve mentioned it, it just seems like a natural addition. How could I have overlooked it?…you’re brilliant. Thanks.[/quote]
Sadly, cilantro is often overlooked (sigh)… between the two of us we’ll make sure it stays in circulation. I even take the seeds so I can plant them for the next year- which actually sums up the extent of my gardening!
brantford- that’s my small city. you shouldve stopped by our place and we wouldve made you waffles, or, anything really.
Angelboo, I think Matt needs to have a kid.
Man, the sleep factor is incredible when you have a kid… there is no sleep, but I tell ya, the second you get a chance to steel some, the deepness of sleep you go into is instantanious.
Cilantro rocks, now you tell me.. SHIT.
Hell, I live in Brantford and I would have gladly got up and cooked you some food!