We have to re-read Chaucer. I read recently that one of his characters in The Canterbury Tales (The Wife of Bath?) referred to "first sleep" and "second sleep" and that could be a useful thought to pursue. I finished my bedtime blog about 10 last night and did not fall asleep instantly as I usually do because I had to sign off in my head. But as usual, if I go to sleep too early I wake too early. So I was awake at 3:30 and still am - at 5:25. Wide awake. I don't argue with that. This is useful time, a secret weapon, if you will, to get a head start on coping with the daily onslaught. Not that I don't get sleepy-tired. I am fortunate enough to call (some of) my time my own, so naps are not forbidden. They are also necessary and delicious. And Chaucer makes it all reasonable. My father was a doctor and he used to tell patients who claimed they didn't sleep a wink all night, that they did, that they got more sleep than they thought they did. The current thinking is that you have to get 8 hours of sleep a night. Nonsense. That's an idea probably originating with the Industrial Revolution for people who had to go out to work every day. If you can't sleep, they say, you should get up and do something until you can. My father said you should stay there. At least you're getting bed-rest and dozing is better than nothing. Yes, it is. And if I lie there until my eyes click open and won't stay shut, then I sit up - not get up - and write. I tell my journal that I'm awake (very comforting to tell someone); I make lists; I fiddle with Little Mac ( my name for MacBook Air); and now - I write blogs. Hello Blog.

You can't say I'm not trying. I'm in bed and almost wiped out but I have to write a blog. It's worse than brushing your teeth isn't it? I mean it's so inexorable. Not as noisy as a dog but just as daily. I suppose some of the daily annoyances could come up for inspection but one doesn't want to be a pedant. Oh, go ahead. I jumped on someone yesterday for saying fort-ay, instead of fort, when he was saying some skill was not his forte. That's a tough one, I mean one I'm not going to win. Even John Gielgud said for-tay - for posterity; I had it on a recording he made of The Importance of Being Earnest. Does anyone else have pet peeves? Like the difference between may and might or career and careen. I suppose because I'm a writer and therefore some sort of editor and because for years after I graduated I marked English essays for extra money, that I'm a stickler for correct language and accurate expression. My little inner monitor never stops mentally correcting what I see, read, hear and yes, think. I keep trying to polish my own thinking, as well as others'. Of course, I have learned the hard way that it's DEATH to correct anyone else. It's worse than telling them they have bad breath. Just turn your head the other way. Good night.