The Ironic Reality of Coffee Consumption

I have not been posting lately because 1) I have been spending most of my creative energy gearing up for the next round of conferences/publications, 2) expending what limited intellectual power I have after a busy and productive spring semester, I am tired.

Now the funny thing is that when I am exhausted, I cannot drink coffee.

Hmm -- one may think, "Isn't coffee the ultimate stimulant? A cup to open the eyes and start the day?"

A reasonable assumption.

However, my body must not adhere to that logic because I need to be sufficiently well-rested to ingest the first cup of the day, as well as any subsequent helpings within the next 24 hours.

I am also a bit odd in that coffee helps me perk up in the morning and allows me to sleep peacefully at night (I am still debating which side is the veritable correlation in modulating energy levels, whether up or down, and the other, the placebo effect). That bizarre formula, again, only works with enough investment in deep, uninterrupted sleep.

My cats, who arrived in Hong Kong two weeks ago, are still adjusting to their new home environment, and are therefore not sleeping through whole nights -- which means I am not doing so either (I plan to sell recordings of their violent shrieks either when fighting each other or demonstrating their individual martial prowess to companies who put together soundtracks for amusement park haunted houses). Perhaps when they are sleeping at least 6 hours in a row, I can start drinking coffee...

On another note: "W.H." is my abbreviation for "wiser half" -- a.k.a MarshalN, my husband and partner in every aspect of life -- never mind that he prefers tea over coffee...