Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good” was stuck in my head this morning:
It’s a new dawn It’s a new day… And I’m feeling good
Over the past few days, I have had a really bad migraine. The pain and nausea on Monday were enough to keep me home from work. I was feeling some better yesterday morning, so I went back to work, but mainly it was because I had some work I needed to do and a meeting in the afternoon.
Today, I’m again feeling better, but I still have a bit of a headache. Today is another busy day. I have a dental cleaning appointment this morning and two meetings this afternoon. Yesterday was a busy day, and it looks like today will be too.
I’m not up to writing much today. I’m not even sure I’m up to going to work today. I slept later than usual this morning waking up with a headache and a bit nauseated. If I start feeling better after I’ve had breakfast, I’ll go to work, otherwise, I’ll go back to bed.
For the past several mornings, Isabella has not been what woke me up. It has still been a bit after 4 am, but she was not the cause. She was, however, the reason I got out of bed. Once she realizes that I’m awake, she is relentless. No, what’s been waking me up have been dreams. I rarely remember my dreams. In the 17,052 nights of my life, I probably have woke from
dreams that I remembered less than two (or three at the most) dozen times. It’s very rare for me. It’s especially rare for this particular type of dream.
So for me to wake from dreams four mornings in a row is a new experience. The thing about these dreams has been that they weren’t normal dreams, not even nightmares, these were all highly erotic dreams. Each one has been distinctly different. I’m not complaining. It’s been a nice way to wake up. Though, I don’t think it’s been the dreams that woke me up, per se, but instead it’s been the morning wood. I don’t know how other guys my age or older are, but waking with an erection is no longer an every morning occurrence like it was ten years ago.
Anyway, like most dreams, the details have sadly become fuzzy. However, I have vague remembrances on the details of these dreams. I might have been able to remember them a bit more clearly if I’d been allowed to take care of my sunrise salute, but Isabella is far too impatient. She wants me to feed her as soon as I wake up. It’s difficult to take care of such hard situations when a cat keeps meowing and getting in the way.
Who knows how long these dreams will last, but I’ll enjoy them while I can.
If I didn’t have to be at work today, I’d be back in bed. I went to bed last night with an intense migraine, and I woke up with a migraine, though thankfully not as severe as the one I had when I went to bed. I stayed up a little later than usual last night. I’m usually in bed by 10 pm every night.
Last night though, I’d stayed up to see Victor/Victoria (1982) on TCM. It’s a film I haven’t seen in a long time, and I’ve always been a fan of Julie Andrews. If you’ve never seen it, the musical comedy is about a female singer down on her luck who dresses as a man who dresses as a woman to perform in Paris nightclubs in the 1930s. It’s an interesting movie because of its positive portrayal of gay men. It’s a film worth watching.
After watching the movie, it took a little while to get settled and go to sleep. I wish I’d been able to sleep a little longer this morning, but whenever I wake up with a headache, it’s hard to fall back to sleep. So as I write this, I still have a migraine. I took my medicine, so hopefully I’ll feel better before I head into work. Sometimes, a nice hot shower helps.
It’s been a while since I’ve taken a vacation. I’ve had a few days off work here and there, but I haven’t taken enough time to go anywhere. Partly, this is because work has been incredibly busy, and partly, it’s because it’s so expensive to travel right now. I think we all need a vacation from our everyday worries and responsibilities. Maybe something will give, and I can actually get away for a bit or at least take some time for myself.
I usually work from home on Fridays, but I chose to work from home on Thursday this week. I’m glad I did since I went home from work early on Wednesday because of a migraine and still had a migraine yesterday, just not as bad as it was on Wednesday. Working from home at least lets me be more comfortable. I can also be more productive because no one is interrupting me. Yesterday, I spent nearly the whole my entire eight hour workday answering emails. Every time I thought I was caught up, someone else emailed. Needless to say, I was busy yesterday, but I was also very productive.
The reason I switched my work from home day this week is because of a virtual meeting I have this afternoon. Yes, usually one of the advantages of virtual meetings is the ability to be remote, but I have found that my internet connection at home isn’t always the best for virtual meetings. While this wouldn’t be a issue for most of my virtual meetings, this is a meeting with a speaker from a prestigious institution about coming to my museum, and I don’t want to risk there being any issues. Normally, I would not schedule a meeting for a Friday, but my schedule is more flexible than the people I’ll be talking to today, so I make myself available when they are available.
I suspect today might be another busy day. I still have a lot of emails to answer, but they are emails I knew would not only take more time to answer, but they also required me to use some materials from my office computer to prepare my response.
Regardless of how busy my day may be, I’m glad it’s almost the weekend. I don’t have specific plans for this weekend, but at least I can relax. It’s also supposed to be a beautiful weekend with lots of sun and mild temperatures with low humidity.
Too bad Olympic athletes don’t still compete naked as they did in ancient times.
By the way, who will be watching the opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics tonight? I always find the opening ceremony to be interesting and fun to watch, so I plan to be watching. Paris also promises a unique opening ceremony because it will be taking place on the Seine and not in a stadium.
I’m not looking forward to this week. Work has been emailing me all weekend, and I have largely ignored it. This morning, I have to deal with it. The emails have been about something that I do not find to have so high of a priority that any of this couldn’t wait until today. It’s all for a committee I’m on, and some of the recent decisions made and how the committee chair has acted recently has me angry and apathetic.
Furthermore, on a grander scale, I’m sure you all know that Joe Biden dropped his reelection bid. I find this sad and worrisome news. Yes, Biden had a bad debate night, but I don’t agree with so many Democrats pulling their support from him and calling for him to drop out of the race just months away from the election. They should have either thrown their tantrums before we went through the primary season and allow people to actually choose a candidate, or they should have rallied behind him after the debate. I’m afraid it’s too late.
Biden has endorsed Harris who has shown a very different personality since she started her presidential election campaign in 2019. She did not and has not since then projected a likable personality. I hope she shows the warm personality that has occasionally come out and also the fight and fervor she showed as a Senator. She can certainly run rings around Trump not only in debates but also in the campaign process. I just hope she chooses a great vice presidential running mate.
The fact is, I’m feeling kind of hopeless at the moment. I’m aggravated at work, and I’m scared for my country’s future. The problem at work will soon be out of my hands, and while I’m sure I’ll still be angry, I can at least move on. As for the United States, I can only pray that we can preserve democracy. Whoever the Democratic nominee is, I will vote for them. At this point it’s all we can do.
I just hope the Democrats can put aside internal dispute and rally as one united front against whoever is Trump’s opponent. If Democrats get out and vote for the nominee, whoever it is, Trump does not stand a chance of winning. Trump is a candidate for a party that has become an increasingly desperate party hoping to hold onto power through unfair, undemocratic, and often illegal means. They are a minority party, but that’s true only if the Democrats unite and get out and vote!
Time will tell with all of this. I hope everyone has a great week!
I’m taking a vacation day, ostensibly to recover from my colonoscopy, but I’m feeling fine. I slept much of the day after I got home yesterday. If you’re wondering, the colonoscopy went great. Nothing was found, and I don’t have to have another one for ten years.
I do have a few things to do today besides taking it easy. I plan to do some laundry this morning, and go to the grocery store this afternoon. I also have an appointment at a local art gallery about possibly teaching a class for them. A little extra money never hurt anyone, and it’s a subject I look forward to teaching.
One last thing, since I haven’t posted an Isabella pic this week (and I think I forgot to last week), here you go:
I really don’t have anything to say today. The week is half over, and that also means the Republican National Convention is almost over. I have refused to watch any of the fascist rally, and I honestly have nothing to say about it today. Maybe later in the week, but I’m not in the mood nor do I have the energy to rant about Republicans today.
I didn’t have a great night of sleep Saturday night, so I seem to have made up for it last night. I fell asleep reading at 7 pm last night. I woke up around 8:30 pm and tried to stay awake until my usual 10 pm bedtime. I ended up being able to finish the book I was reading and went to sleep at 10:15 pm. I did not wake up until my 5:30 am alarm went off. I vaguely remember Isabella trying to wake me earlier, but she was obviously unsuccessful. She can usually tell when I really need my sleep, and while she’ll try to wake me, she doesn’t do it with the usual fervor and gives up easily.
Joe
The Closet Professor 