Tuesday, January 24, 2012
First Baseball Practice!
I'll try to stay on just one topic, but I know how that turns out most of the time. I think the title says it all: today was my first ever baseball practice in college. Yes, I know, it's quite exciting. Though it was only 2 hours, and was mostly just to get us organized, it was still good to have it out of the way. It was almost exciting, though. I forgot my shoes on my way to the field house. That involved a rather panicked run back to my dorm, but it ended up being just fine. After that exciting start, everything settled down and baseball proceeded as usual. Anyways, very excited for the season to start!
Friday, January 20, 2012
Healthy Thursday Student
So I got sick less on Tuesday. There is some 24-hour bug going around my dorm and I managed to catch it. I really don't want to go into details, but it was really bad. Also, never look up symptoms on Google unless you want to be scared for your life. I thought I had cholera for about an hour, though that could be because I read the Ghost Map last year (fantastic book, but a little gross at times). Anyways, I was out and about like a normal human being today after sheltering myself for all of Tuesday and as much of yesterday as I could. But now it is (well, 3 AM means that technically it was) Thursday, and all is better.
In a way it was the best time to get sick: though I had physics homework, calculus homework, and a 2-page paper due yesterday, this could have been much worse. It might have been during midterm season, which starts up next week. And baseball starts up on Monday. This was the last week where I could afford to be sick. And I took full advantage of it!
But the thing that I'm really worried about is the effect that this illness had on my sleep schedule. I was unable to sleep more than a few minutes Tuesday night because of constant trips to and from the bathroom. Then I slept for as much as possible Tuesday and Wednesday. So while I might be very well rested, my cycles have almost certainly been shifted. Today was a little bit tough, actually, but I'm looking forward to my 3 hour sleep coming up.
I still find the best thing about polyphasic sleep is that I go to sleep after everybody else, eliminating distractions and leading to a very productive Simon. Then I wake up before everybody else, eliminating distractions and leading to a very productive Simon. I am no longer stressed about long homework assignments. Even when I was sick I was never hit with the panic of it's-due-tomorrow-oh-no!-itis. I am able to free up pretty much the entirety of my day to whatever I feel like doing, whether it be getting a head start on homework, socializing, or just vegetating. Of course there are tradeoffs to each option, and I have to find time to nap every day (which is hard when socializing seems like a better idea) but I think it's paying off. We'll see if I can properly readjust after this stomach bug.
Also, for those of you who don't know, it's getting cold in Chicago.
In a way it was the best time to get sick: though I had physics homework, calculus homework, and a 2-page paper due yesterday, this could have been much worse. It might have been during midterm season, which starts up next week. And baseball starts up on Monday. This was the last week where I could afford to be sick. And I took full advantage of it!
But the thing that I'm really worried about is the effect that this illness had on my sleep schedule. I was unable to sleep more than a few minutes Tuesday night because of constant trips to and from the bathroom. Then I slept for as much as possible Tuesday and Wednesday. So while I might be very well rested, my cycles have almost certainly been shifted. Today was a little bit tough, actually, but I'm looking forward to my 3 hour sleep coming up.
I still find the best thing about polyphasic sleep is that I go to sleep after everybody else, eliminating distractions and leading to a very productive Simon. Then I wake up before everybody else, eliminating distractions and leading to a very productive Simon. I am no longer stressed about long homework assignments. Even when I was sick I was never hit with the panic of it's-due-tomorrow-oh-no!-itis. I am able to free up pretty much the entirety of my day to whatever I feel like doing, whether it be getting a head start on homework, socializing, or just vegetating. Of course there are tradeoffs to each option, and I have to find time to nap every day (which is hard when socializing seems like a better idea) but I think it's paying off. We'll see if I can properly readjust after this stomach bug.
Also, for those of you who don't know, it's getting cold in Chicago.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Dat Donut
The Three Day Weekend
So it doesn't happen very often, but we got a three day weekend because of Martin Luther King, Jr. day. Actually, it happens once per year. But having the three day weekend feels like it only happens once in a lifetime. Still, it has been an interesting past few days.
First off, we got our first significant snowfall of the year! It wasn't too much, but it's still on the ground so it does the job. This led to a few interesting developments. The first was Sno-BQ. Snell and Hitchcock houses have a tradition of a barbecue on the first significant snow of the year, which happened to be on Thursday. I might have taken it a little too seriously, but I figured I should go in appropriate barbecue clothing. And what do you wear to a barbecue? Shorts, Hawaiian shirt, flip flops, baseball cap, and sunglasses. Right? Well, it was about 25 degrees out and pretty windy. It got a little chilly there at the end, but overall wasn't too bad. I just hung out near the fire and stayed warm like that. I apologize for the picture quality, but with the lighting that's probably the best we could pull off. Yup, that's how I roll.
Also, the NFL playoffs are pretty ridiculous right now. Mostly blowouts, but some are really interesting games. Tebow over the Steelers last week was pretty impressive. But Alex Smith and the 49ers taking on the Saints like that was absolutely incredible. The last 5 minutes of that game involved almost continuous shouting and screaming in the rec room.
But more important than all of that is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday. There is a generational gap now: we weren't born in the 60's or 70's. My generation can't appreciate all that he did. It is something that we will never fully understand, but we can continue to honor him. And I hope people don't forget that while, yes, this does mean a day off of school, it also means something much than just a day to sleep in.
Also, the NFL playoffs are pretty ridiculous right now. Mostly blowouts, but some are really interesting games. Tebow over the Steelers last week was pretty impressive. But Alex Smith and the 49ers taking on the Saints like that was absolutely incredible. The last 5 minutes of that game involved almost continuous shouting and screaming in the rec room.
But more important than all of that is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday. There is a generational gap now: we weren't born in the 60's or 70's. My generation can't appreciate all that he did. It is something that we will never fully understand, but we can continue to honor him. And I hope people don't forget that while, yes, this does mean a day off of school, it also means something much than just a day to sleep in.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
My Other Blog
Yes, I keep two blogs. One of them is a joint blog with my friend Cole Perkinson back in Portland. Cole and I live very close to each other and have spent a lot of time hanging out. He is probably the source of my passion for board games, my tennis buddy, and the one who introduced me to B movies (most notably Mystery Science Theater).
He and I have another passion: food. More specifically, we like to play with our food. We don't make shapes, we don't cook elaborate meals, but we do make gross things. Our game is simple: if you like food A, and you like food B, you should like food A+B. We got serious about proving this false, and started a blog:
ifyoulikea.wordpress.com
Yes, I promote shamelessly. But you can deal with it. In fact, I think you'll like the blog. It's a great game to play, and you'll find it's often difficult to come up with something you actively dislike. People in the dining halls here have complained about how disgusting warm ice cream is. Really? Get over it. It still tastes like ice cream. I have had foods your feeble little mind couldn't comprehend. Well, you could. In fact, many of you have probably thought about mixing them, but didn't have the nards to do so. Well, we're here to provide you with a pair.
Enjoy!
He and I have another passion: food. More specifically, we like to play with our food. We don't make shapes, we don't cook elaborate meals, but we do make gross things. Our game is simple: if you like food A, and you like food B, you should like food A+B. We got serious about proving this false, and started a blog:
ifyoulikea.wordpress.com
Yes, I promote shamelessly. But you can deal with it. In fact, I think you'll like the blog. It's a great game to play, and you'll find it's often difficult to come up with something you actively dislike. People in the dining halls here have complained about how disgusting warm ice cream is. Really? Get over it. It still tastes like ice cream. I have had foods your feeble little mind couldn't comprehend. Well, you could. In fact, many of you have probably thought about mixing them, but didn't have the nards to do so. Well, we're here to provide you with a pair.
Enjoy!
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
The Productive Student
This won't be a very long entry, but I feel like I have to write it out. Knowing me, 10000 words will follow...
The sleep schedule might have adjusted itself. Today I woke up on my own after about 3 hours instead of my alarmed 4 hour setting. My naps were significantly shorter than 20 minutes each. After my mid-afternoon nap went for only 7 minutes (between peeking at the clock, so closer to 5), but I was so awake and ready to go that I just got up. This is polyphasic sleep at its best: super productive, boosted energy, and, most importantly, more time to do other things. I knocked out all my hum and civ reading for the rest of week, and I might start on my calculus homework after I'm done with this entry. Everybody in my dorm is asleep right now. At home that seems normal to me: in high school I was consistently up later than everybody else by a rather significant margin. But here it's bizarre. The tea room (the name of the common room) is always occupied when I'm awake, except occasionally in the morning. But that was last quarter's data. This quarter it seems to be empty for quite a few of my waking hours.
So what am I doing with all this time? I went to a Chicago Bulls game, of course. The dorm got tickets for cheap, and so some friends and I decided to go. It was a good game until about halfway through the 4th quarter, when Chicago pulled ahead of the Pistons and ended up winning but a pretty significant margin. The most memorable moment for me happened during the entirety of the 2nd quarter. Two drunk girls showed up late and took the seats next to me.
These girls came to the game drunk and managed to fall down trying to get themselves to their seats. It would have been really funny if they hadn't been holding (more) beer. It was a little messy. Then one of them started dropping her camera. I say started because in the span of about 5 minutes she had dropped it twice under the seat of the man in front of us, causing a huge commotion to get it back. She kept offering me her beer because she couldn't remember that I was underage. Coupled with some rather awkward conversations about college life (they had just graduated) and how it is perfectly normal to get hammered on weeknights (sooooo many details) I had a very entertaining quarter. However, they didn't come back after the half. I have two theories: they were escorted off the premises or decided to go somewhere else to drink some more. Great times.
The sleep schedule might have adjusted itself. Today I woke up on my own after about 3 hours instead of my alarmed 4 hour setting. My naps were significantly shorter than 20 minutes each. After my mid-afternoon nap went for only 7 minutes (between peeking at the clock, so closer to 5), but I was so awake and ready to go that I just got up. This is polyphasic sleep at its best: super productive, boosted energy, and, most importantly, more time to do other things. I knocked out all my hum and civ reading for the rest of week, and I might start on my calculus homework after I'm done with this entry. Everybody in my dorm is asleep right now. At home that seems normal to me: in high school I was consistently up later than everybody else by a rather significant margin. But here it's bizarre. The tea room (the name of the common room) is always occupied when I'm awake, except occasionally in the morning. But that was last quarter's data. This quarter it seems to be empty for quite a few of my waking hours.
So what am I doing with all this time? I went to a Chicago Bulls game, of course. The dorm got tickets for cheap, and so some friends and I decided to go. It was a good game until about halfway through the 4th quarter, when Chicago pulled ahead of the Pistons and ended up winning but a pretty significant margin. The most memorable moment for me happened during the entirety of the 2nd quarter. Two drunk girls showed up late and took the seats next to me.
These girls came to the game drunk and managed to fall down trying to get themselves to their seats. It would have been really funny if they hadn't been holding (more) beer. It was a little messy. Then one of them started dropping her camera. I say started because in the span of about 5 minutes she had dropped it twice under the seat of the man in front of us, causing a huge commotion to get it back. She kept offering me her beer because she couldn't remember that I was underage. Coupled with some rather awkward conversations about college life (they had just graduated) and how it is perfectly normal to get hammered on weeknights (sooooo many details) I had a very entertaining quarter. However, they didn't come back after the half. I have two theories: they were escorted off the premises or decided to go somewhere else to drink some more. Great times.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
First Week Back
The most important thing that I've had to deal with this week involves sleep. I was sort of expecting this, but it's still pretty tough. Thinking is hard work. Going to class, taking notes, working out, homeworking, socializing, etc. It's tough. Getting the schedule down at home was pretty easy. I could do nothing if I wanted (though I tried to avoid that). Here I'm always doing something and my sleep schedule is taking a hit. I added an hour to my core nap and adjusted my naps to 30 minutes instead of 20. Even though I usually wake up before my nap alarm explodes, I need that extra time in my core. So my sleep time per day is still a respectable 5-5.5 hours, but not where I want to be. My goal is still 4 hours per day, and I'm sure I'll adjust. I'm not going to force anything right now, though: baseball starts up in 2 weeks and would only make me adjust again.
Also, I've noticed that it takes quite a bit of effort for me to take my nap. The decision is always between socializing and napping, and socializing seems so much more interesting. I always get them in, but I don't really look forward to them anymore and just kind of accept them as an inevitability. Schedules like this rely not just on the hours but on your mentality towards what you're doing. My mom tried very briefly to stay up with me, but ended up failing after only a few days. She didn't seem very tired, but couldn't accept that she needed so little sleep. I just had to look to first semester of senior year of high school (when I first got interested in alternate sleep patterns) when, according to my sleep journal, I averaged just over 3.5 hours of sleep per weeknight (and about 10 per weekend). I had some health complications after about 2 months of this, but until then it was a perfectly sustainable schedule. I actually think I could deal with even less sleep than 4, but I'm in an adjustment period right now so I'll play it safe.
Life here at UChicago has picked up exactly where it left off: physics homework every Wednesday, calculus homework on Mondays (instead of Fridays), civ reading Monday and Wednesday, and HUM reading Tuesdays and Thursdays. I'm going to try very hard to get on my ideal work schedule now that I've caught up with all my reading for next week. Last quarter I didn't hold up too well, but I hope to finish (or at least take out a significant chunk of) my homework on the day it is assigned. For reading this really isn't a problem. I can just crack out the book when everyone else has gone to sleep and read a couple hundred pages. Physics will be interesting because we usually only get the material covered the class before it's due, so we'll see how that works out. Calculus shouldn't be too bad. But the really difficult thing will be papers. I have my first paper due Friday, and I haven't started yet. I should probably be doing that instead of posting this, but it's been a while since I entered anything. Anyways, this homework strategy should work out pretty well and leave my weekends pretty free.
I waste a little too much of my free time. 'Waste' actually isn't the right word, but I can't think of another one. I've spent quite a bit of time working on my cubes. I'm starting to really like my Dayan Zhanchi and my color scheme. I still can't decide what to do about ZBLL. On one hand, it has been my goal since sophomore year of high school. On the other, that means I would have to memorize and recognize 501 distinct cases. That's a lot of work. I'll figure it out.
I've also been watching a lot of movies. Well, technically it's a TV show. Those of you familiar with Mystery Science Theater 3000 will know all about this technicality. When I've re-watched all the episodes I'll do a list of my favorite episodes. Puma Man already has the #1 spot in my heart. Last night I watched it with some people in the common room and it was very well received. We then tried to watch Hercules and the Captive Women, but the drunk people started coming back from their parties and made too much noise. Still, good times. Also, a picture from last night. How exactly is Hercules steering?
I've also gotten really into my jazz collection, despite its rather small size. I guess I've eliminated it down to things that I really like. My iTunes now has a "Jazz Favorites" and "Study Music" playlist, and they've worked out well so far. I've also found that when I'm programming I work better to music. On homework, though I'm more motivated, it's a little distracting, hence the study-style music in a playlist. Also, if people know how to install Python modules, please let me know. My system protests whenever I try to get one up and running.
Well, that's about it. I had Harold's Fried Chicken yesterday for the first time. It was AMAZING. Everyone told me it would be meh, so I didn't have very high expectations. But three of us split 21 wings and fries and it was delicious. People propped up the Thai food here but I didn't find it that incredible. Still good, but not great. Harold's was great. And it only cost us about $7 each.
For those of you wondering, my new schedule is very similar to last quarter. With baseball it gets a little more exciting:
Also, I've noticed that it takes quite a bit of effort for me to take my nap. The decision is always between socializing and napping, and socializing seems so much more interesting. I always get them in, but I don't really look forward to them anymore and just kind of accept them as an inevitability. Schedules like this rely not just on the hours but on your mentality towards what you're doing. My mom tried very briefly to stay up with me, but ended up failing after only a few days. She didn't seem very tired, but couldn't accept that she needed so little sleep. I just had to look to first semester of senior year of high school (when I first got interested in alternate sleep patterns) when, according to my sleep journal, I averaged just over 3.5 hours of sleep per weeknight (and about 10 per weekend). I had some health complications after about 2 months of this, but until then it was a perfectly sustainable schedule. I actually think I could deal with even less sleep than 4, but I'm in an adjustment period right now so I'll play it safe.
Life here at UChicago has picked up exactly where it left off: physics homework every Wednesday, calculus homework on Mondays (instead of Fridays), civ reading Monday and Wednesday, and HUM reading Tuesdays and Thursdays. I'm going to try very hard to get on my ideal work schedule now that I've caught up with all my reading for next week. Last quarter I didn't hold up too well, but I hope to finish (or at least take out a significant chunk of) my homework on the day it is assigned. For reading this really isn't a problem. I can just crack out the book when everyone else has gone to sleep and read a couple hundred pages. Physics will be interesting because we usually only get the material covered the class before it's due, so we'll see how that works out. Calculus shouldn't be too bad. But the really difficult thing will be papers. I have my first paper due Friday, and I haven't started yet. I should probably be doing that instead of posting this, but it's been a while since I entered anything. Anyways, this homework strategy should work out pretty well and leave my weekends pretty free.
I waste a little too much of my free time. 'Waste' actually isn't the right word, but I can't think of another one. I've spent quite a bit of time working on my cubes. I'm starting to really like my Dayan Zhanchi and my color scheme. I still can't decide what to do about ZBLL. On one hand, it has been my goal since sophomore year of high school. On the other, that means I would have to memorize and recognize 501 distinct cases. That's a lot of work. I'll figure it out.
I've also been watching a lot of movies. Well, technically it's a TV show. Those of you familiar with Mystery Science Theater 3000 will know all about this technicality. When I've re-watched all the episodes I'll do a list of my favorite episodes. Puma Man already has the #1 spot in my heart. Last night I watched it with some people in the common room and it was very well received. We then tried to watch Hercules and the Captive Women, but the drunk people started coming back from their parties and made too much noise. Still, good times. Also, a picture from last night. How exactly is Hercules steering?
I've also gotten really into my jazz collection, despite its rather small size. I guess I've eliminated it down to things that I really like. My iTunes now has a "Jazz Favorites" and "Study Music" playlist, and they've worked out well so far. I've also found that when I'm programming I work better to music. On homework, though I'm more motivated, it's a little distracting, hence the study-style music in a playlist. Also, if people know how to install Python modules, please let me know. My system protests whenever I try to get one up and running.
Well, that's about it. I had Harold's Fried Chicken yesterday for the first time. It was AMAZING. Everyone told me it would be meh, so I didn't have very high expectations. But three of us split 21 wings and fries and it was delicious. People propped up the Thai food here but I didn't find it that incredible. Still good, but not great. Harold's was great. And it only cost us about $7 each.
For those of you wondering, my new schedule is very similar to last quarter. With baseball it gets a little more exciting:
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Happy New Year Student
The title makes sense. Deal with it.
I stopped keeping a daily journal of my sleep but instead just kind of went with the flow. Still, I have some things to report and a few things that can keep people going for the long haul on a sleep pattern like this.
Firstly, if you're anything like me, putting your core sleep early in the morning is a bad idea. It takes me a while to get fully functional, so I have resorted to taking my core sleep from 1-4 in the morning and then my 20 minute nap right before class. When I had my first nap only in the late afternoon, I found I was counting down the hours to my next sleep. With my first nap before classes start I not only add some flexibility as to when I can take it (baseball practice sometimes starts at 8 on Saturdays) but also allow myself a few hours to get properly awake. Some people like to wake up from their core nap later, but I just couldn't do it.
Secondly, sleeping with the lights on is a great way to prevent oversleeping. For the core sleep that isn't a problem: I'm very rested anyways. But from the naps it can be challenging, and that little extra motivation from the lights makes a big difference. Also, make sure you're downstairs when you wake up: I fell down the stairs at least twice during the zombie mode days.
Finally: be honest with yourself. If it just isn't working for you, stop. The world around us is monophasic. Being polyphasic can cause some issues, especially when scheduling parties and such. Missing a 20 minute nap for me is pretty tough and takes a cycle or two to fully recover. From what I've heard, sneaking in an extra 20 minute nap every once in a while is fine if you really need it. And you're still sleeping significantly less than the average adult.
We'll see how this schedule continues here in Chicago. Yes, I'm back. It was an exciting plane ride over: the Rose Bowl was on, and the people in front of me chose to pay the $6 to watch it. That meant I got to watch for free! Naturally, I'm an Oregon fan, so I was very pleased they won. Taking my nap in the plane was pretty tough, though. I'm too tall to fit comfortably in any seat and my neck is still a bit stiff, but I got it worked out.
I'm really looking forward to this quarter. Last quarter I was a little confused, and there was some leftover senioritis (probably because it was so late in showing up) but I made it through just fine. I'm going to be on top of things this quarter from the get-go. My reasons aren't entirely pure, though. There's a chance some old high school friends could be in Chicago during their spring break, which happens to line up with my finals week. I don't want to be cramming for anything this time and so I need to get things done sooner rather than later. I'm off to a good start in that regard: all my reading for the rest of this week is done!
That's about it for now. I'm still unsure of this sleep pattern. Sometimes it feels like too much sleep, and other times I'm clearly not getting enough. I'll figure it out eventually.
I stopped keeping a daily journal of my sleep but instead just kind of went with the flow. Still, I have some things to report and a few things that can keep people going for the long haul on a sleep pattern like this.
Firstly, if you're anything like me, putting your core sleep early in the morning is a bad idea. It takes me a while to get fully functional, so I have resorted to taking my core sleep from 1-4 in the morning and then my 20 minute nap right before class. When I had my first nap only in the late afternoon, I found I was counting down the hours to my next sleep. With my first nap before classes start I not only add some flexibility as to when I can take it (baseball practice sometimes starts at 8 on Saturdays) but also allow myself a few hours to get properly awake. Some people like to wake up from their core nap later, but I just couldn't do it.
Secondly, sleeping with the lights on is a great way to prevent oversleeping. For the core sleep that isn't a problem: I'm very rested anyways. But from the naps it can be challenging, and that little extra motivation from the lights makes a big difference. Also, make sure you're downstairs when you wake up: I fell down the stairs at least twice during the zombie mode days.
Finally: be honest with yourself. If it just isn't working for you, stop. The world around us is monophasic. Being polyphasic can cause some issues, especially when scheduling parties and such. Missing a 20 minute nap for me is pretty tough and takes a cycle or two to fully recover. From what I've heard, sneaking in an extra 20 minute nap every once in a while is fine if you really need it. And you're still sleeping significantly less than the average adult.
We'll see how this schedule continues here in Chicago. Yes, I'm back. It was an exciting plane ride over: the Rose Bowl was on, and the people in front of me chose to pay the $6 to watch it. That meant I got to watch for free! Naturally, I'm an Oregon fan, so I was very pleased they won. Taking my nap in the plane was pretty tough, though. I'm too tall to fit comfortably in any seat and my neck is still a bit stiff, but I got it worked out.
I'm really looking forward to this quarter. Last quarter I was a little confused, and there was some leftover senioritis (probably because it was so late in showing up) but I made it through just fine. I'm going to be on top of things this quarter from the get-go. My reasons aren't entirely pure, though. There's a chance some old high school friends could be in Chicago during their spring break, which happens to line up with my finals week. I don't want to be cramming for anything this time and so I need to get things done sooner rather than later. I'm off to a good start in that regard: all my reading for the rest of this week is done!
That's about it for now. I'm still unsure of this sleep pattern. Sometimes it feels like too much sleep, and other times I'm clearly not getting enough. I'll figure it out eventually.
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