Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Cut the Lines

The music spoke to me again
Spoke of sorrow and despair
The music spoke to me again
Said you watch out, said you beware
The stranger greeted me once more
Words of warning eyes of gold
Told me to watch my step in time
Told me to walk a finer line
Told me my ways were wrong again
Told me I needed to begin
Anew.

Cut the lines, leave the past
Don't regret the life you led
Cut the lines, forge anew
Make a new attempt he said
But I'm alone, I said to him
He looked at me, gleam in his eyes
You're not alone, you're not alone
I knew inside he could not lie
So start again, just start anew
There's so much here for you to do
Don't let your past control the now
Don't let old loves linger somehow
Time to move on, to start again
Time...to begin
Another day
Another page
Another start
Another phase
Another life
Another love
Another time
Time to move on

She wasn't right for you you know
I nodded in defeat
She wasn't her, the one you seek
I nodded in defeat
So find her now, begin again
She's out there waiting for a friend
And you're here mourning for the past
The future will be better...

Forget the past the time is now
To leave your mark
To seize the day
You're better than you think you are
You're stronger still than what they say
Show them the man you really are
Show them what you have become
They only hold back 'cause they don't know
The man you are, the time you've done

I realized then just who he was
As he disappeared from sight
I took his words into my heart
I knew that what he said was right
Just seize the day, begin anew
Cut the lines leave them behind
There's more for me if I'll just take
The future in my hands...
I understand.

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Chemistry Book

Chemistry book would you trade me places?
Just for a while, an hour or so?
I envy the way that she looks at you studies you
Takes you every place she wants to go.
For hours a day you're her only companion
For hours a day you're all that she sees
Noting each detail lovingly, caringly
Reading your pages oh I wish it were me.

Chemistry--What I want to have with her
Chemistry--This equation's all wrong
Chemistry--She's too good for you
Chemistry--Don't you stick around too long

Organic chemistry, my worst enemy
You and her and those cohesive bonds
I just wish she'd spend a little more time with me,
So much time with you--that's just plain wrong.

Chemistry--What I want to have with her
Chemistry--This equation's all wrong
Chemistry--She's too good for you
Chemistry--Don't you stick around too long

I've never been jealous of a textbook before
Ten pounds of paper--she's better than that.
Never had such ugly competition
Never seen a guy with a face so flat.

Chemistry--What I want to have with her
Chemistry--This equation's all wrong
Chemistry--She's too good for you
Chemistry--Don't you stick around too long



Special thanks to Christine Baker (soon to be Henrichsen) for the inspiration, and to Matt Brown and the rest of the Fellowship and company of 2001/2002 for their support. Apologies to Aaron (who would've thought...platonic relationships and all...)

Tired of Waiting

Waiting. I'm tired of waiting
It's trying my patience
While my sanity takes the back door
Working. I'm tired of working
Tired of watching
While others reap the reward

So give me something I've been working for
A chance, an opening, a foot in the door
Some success after all this time
A touch of luck, a bit of the divine

(Chorus:)
There's a hole in my heart
A dark spot on my soul
An emptiness in my arms
And I just don't know
If I can take being alone
Anymore

Another date last night, another failure
No sign of anything, let alone chemistry
'Nother nice girl, another tragedy
Bundled up in this farce reality

(Chorus)

Give me a lucky break...
A girl I can take...
Past the first same old date.

Think I've finally found one
Smart and beautiful
Seems to like me
Makes me feel comfortable
Been callin' all week
Just can't get a hold of her
Has plans every night
And it feels like the cold shoulder
I don't know what to do
What do I haf' to prove?

(Chorus--repeat first 4 lines/overlap vocals, strong ending with last 2 lines of chorus)

Sleep and BNL for those with problems sleeping

I've never been a huge BNL fan, but right now, for some strange reason, I have one of their songs circling round my brain. I went to their concert two years ago (a young woman invited me, and at that point I would have gone to a country concert, a rodeo, probably even a pop concert, as long as she asked me). Whatever else one may say about BNL, they put on a great show. But their song about sleep...I'm sick about thinking about sleep. Why? It's my job. Not sleeping (unfortunately), but watching people sleep. I'm also sick of people finding out what my job is and saying, "I need to talk to you about that" and then never talking to me about it. If you're one of those people, read the following and then come and talk with me.

1. Lose weight already. Americans are fat. Even skinny guys like me are succumbing to a sugar and bacon diet, and fat people tend to snore more and have worse sleep (it's called sleep apnea). Now if you're thin already, don't try to lose more weight. You'll end up looking like a friend of mine who's an inch taller and 50 pounds lighter than me (and I'm not technically overweight). Super-skinny's not healthy either (although this friend is in better shape than I am). There are other options to getting a good night's sleep if you have apnea, so talk to a doctor. If everyone were a healthy weight, I'd be out of a job.

2. Stop watching TV or doing stuff on the computer right before you get into bed. Bright lights and sleep don't go well together. I could get into a long lecture about how we've adapted to sleeping while it's dark and staying active while it's light, and how our bodies and minds react to darkness and light, but I'd have to use the 'e' word, and I'd rather not get too much hatemail just yet.

3. Keep regular hours. OK, so I'm a hypocrite...I work graveyard. Somebody's got to do it. 'Regular hours' doesn't mean 5 hours on the weekdays and 12 on weekends...and no, chances are you don't do best with just 5 hours sleep. (I had a mission comp who insisted he was the exception; that explains more than I have time to write here).

4. Reserve the bedroom for sleep and sleep only (as long as you're single). Whenever possible, don't sleep in places other than your bed.

5. Big surprise...alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine are bad news. Caffeine has a half-life of 8 hours--that means that 8 hours after that last Coke, half of the caffeine is still in your system, keeping you awake. 16 hours later, 25% of it's still there. Watch your sugar intake too.

6. If noise (like a snoring roommate) is keeping you awake, try earplugs or white noise ( a fan or anything that provides a consistent sound to drown out the snoring).

7. Sleeping pills can be addictive, and with use they rapidly become less effective. Follow the instructions on the bottle, and don't take them too often.

8. If you're still having problems, see a doctor. I had a mission companion (a different one than mentioned before) who would fall asleep during morning study and even during appointments. It drove him crazy. He tried everything. The mission president said "just try standing up." Great way to solve the problem...except it didn't work. In any case, the focus should be on prevention (getting enough quality sleep) and not cute ideas like 'standing up'. After the mission, he went to a doctor and finally found out what was happening. There is no complete cure for narcolepsy, no way to prevent it, but once he knew he had it, he could learn how to deal with it.
Diseases like this are fairly rare. More common is insomnia. The above ideas can help. Poor sleep can affect your physical health, your energy level, your intellect, your mood...see a doctor and get it fixed.

I should probably have some sort of legal disclaimer...I'm not a doctor...talk to your doctor before doing anything I've mentioned even though most of it is common sense...I can not be held liable for injury or death as a result of the above recommendations...

Welcome to Tim's blog

Here is my place to post essays, poems, pictures, and anything else I personally find of interest. It's also something for me to do during long graveyard shifts. I also contribute to a website at www.progpages.com (music reviews and a message board) and a blog at hanumangroup.