I’ve had a song in my cycling mix for about 7 weeks now and fell in love it when I suddenly figured out what the lyrics were saying last night around 4 am (in another insomniatic episode).

The song is called “24″ by a band called Jem. right click on this link, choose “save as” to your desktop and listen to it while reading these lyrics. It’s not really that uplifting but I really like it. It’s lyrically complex and done very well.

Been given 24 hours
To tie up loose ends
To make amends
His eyes said it all
I started to fall
And the silence deafened
Head spinning round
No time to sit down
Just wanted to
Run and run and run
Be careful they say
Don’t wish life away,
Now I’ve one day

And I can’t believe
How I’ve been wasting my time

In 24 hours they’ll be
Laying flowers
On my life, it’s over tonight
I’m not messing no I
Need your blessing
And your promise to live free
Please do it for me

Is there a heaven a hell
And will I come back
Who can tell
Now I can see
What matters to me
It’s as clear as crystal
The places I’ve been
The people I’ve seen
Plans that I made
Start to fade
The sun’s setting gold
Thought I would grow old,
It wasn’t to be

And I can’t believe
How I’ve been wasting my time

In 18 hours they’ll be
Laying flowers
On my life, it’s over tonight
I’m not messing no I
Need your blessing
And your promise to live free
Please do it for me

In 13 hours they’ll be
Laying flowers
On my life, it’s over tonight
I’m not messing no I
Need your blessing
And your promise to live free
Please do it for me

I’m not alone, I sense it, I sense it
All that I said, I meant it, I meant it

And I can’t believe
How much I’ve wasted my time

In just 8 hours they’ll be
Laying flowers
On my life, it’s over tonight
I’m not messing no I
Need your blessing
And your promise to live free
Please do it for me

In just 1 hour they’ll be
Laying flowers
On my life, it’s over tonight
I’m not messing no I
Need your blessing
And your promise to live free
Please do it for me

The sad thing is that love affair will soon be over. I tend to play the hell out of new songs, over and over until I can’t bear to hear it anymore…

Eight days ago, my doctor prescribed a brand new insomnia drug called Lunesta. Lunesta seemed like a dream to me. It had very few side effects (mostly dry mouth), showed little signs of tolerance build-up, almost no chance of physiological addiction and was the first drug ever produced that was safe to use indefinitely for the treatment of insomnia. And for the first five days, it was my miracle. I took the pill by9:30 and was out by 10 am. I was waking up at 9 am on the weekend and 6:13 am on the weekday with little drag. Then slowly, like all other medications, it quit working. Friday night saw me awake until 4:30 am (despite getting up at 5:13 am the previous day) and I woke up on Sunday morning at noon:45 while going to bed a 9 pm the following night. I did fall asleep on Sunday night (probably due to sheer exhaustion) but here I am again facing another sleepless night followed by a day with 7.5 hours worth of meetings scheduled which I cannot miss.

I’m in trouble folks. This crap is getting worse by the month and is consuming my life. Yes, I have tried all the medication ways and looking back, I might have just been better off without trying anything but I can’t go back now. I don’t even know if I can go back to see the doctor because it would just be to damn embarrassing. Something’s gotta give here.

I don’t know exactly why but I found an IM conversation I had with a coworker to be amusing:

[09:35] misspacie: i signed up for a hip hop dance class
[09:36] capnqwest: what exactly is hip hop dance?
[09:36] misspacie: you dance to the music of hip hop
[09:37] capnqwest: so it’s just dance then with some marketing mumbo jumbo right?
[09:38] capnqwest: if I dance to say “Copacabana”, does that make it a Copacabana dance or is it just dancing?
[09:39] misspacie: ugggh!!! Michael!!!
[09:39] capnqwest: Am I not correct here?
[09:39] capnqwest: Are there specifc moves associated only with Hip Hop that aren’t permitted while listening to other genres?
[09:40] misspacie: i think so but you’re bugging me
[09:40] capnqwest: I guess that’s what you’re taking the class for?
[09:40] capnqwest: I wonder if I can sign up for a Copacabana class
[09:40] misspacie: you can sign up for swing dancing
[09:40] capnqwest: maybe you’ll get a referral?
[09:40] misspacie: im taking it at the college
[09:40] capnqwest: ’cause Copa dancing is hot I hear
[09:41] capnqwest: chicks REALLY dig it
[09:42] capnqwest: but the last thing I need is something that makes me even more attractive to females
[09:44] misspacie: so that would be your first thing then?
[09:44] capnqwest: yes.

I should be working but I just love to push her buttons…

With only about 45 minutes to ride, I decided to do a quick 16 miles on Saturday before heading out to do my errands. Normally, 16 is nothing but it was unusually difficult today for no particular reason. I’d slept well, at a good breakfast and it wasn’t anywhere near 80 degrees but I just couldn’t push the pedals. I forced myself through the Carnation loop and was looking forward to seeing the house when I was nearly T-boned by a dozen riders doing 20+ on route 202. I thought to myself “Jesus people, look where you’re going” and continued on to the house. About 90 seconds later, I did an abrupt u-turn, said “screw it” and attempted to chase the group down. Around two miles into the chase (West up 202 towards Redmond) and with my heart around 192 beats per minute (I rode with my HRM) by body suddenly remembered how fun it was to suffer like that. 22 mph slowly became 26 mph and I was definitely gaining on the group. Of course the last 100 meters seemed like an eternity but I went full bore with the knowledge that once I caught the caboose’s wheel, I would rest for a few miles. Once I got on though, the pace of 22-24 actually seemed a bit slow to me. So about a minute later, I went down to 54 x 13, swung to the left and legged it up to the front of the group. On my way up, I liked what I saw and suddenly felt like I was in big trouble. Most of the group was comprised of the all female Subway racing team and about six other guys who were all riding incredibly sweet machines.

The leader gladly let me assume pacing duties and I was surprised with how quickly I had recovered from the chase and the position change (from last to first) but I had at least nine miles to Marymoor Park and this wasn’t going to be easy. I settled on 23 mph with RPMs in the 95-105 range (my computer does not record pedal revolutions) and put my mind in tempo mode. I could have just done a mile and drifted back but I hadn’t felt like this since February (on the trainer) and I wasn’t going to squander it. I heard a few calls “WOO” and “Mr. Machine” which only encouraged me to keep the pacing. Eventually though, my body was going to have enough and I knew that this was definitely a fluke especially given my fitness situation. I didn’t have a radio but in my head I was riding tempo to Nine Inch Nails’ “Bite the Hand that Feeds” which was just about perfect.

Even though I did slow to about 21 mph towards Marymoor, I actually finished and made sure I looked fresh when I said goodbye to my new friends. I hadn’t been showing off to anyone other than myself and I was definitely impressed. The long ride back down 202 to Fall City was a bit brutal though. I didn’t have an ounce of energy left in me. Not bad though for a 16 mile ride which turned into 43.

It was 9:12 pm when her Aunt Amy burst through the doors of the Evergreen Hospital Maternity Surgery ward with a smile on her face and two cameras that would give her grandparents Donna and Hugh the first glimpse.

8 pounds, 2.255 ounces. 21 inches long and a full head of hair.

So began the life of Katherine Brady Scott.