Attack of the Moody Zombies!

ALERT! ALERT! A disease has been spreading and it's causing the dead to walk! An increasing population of students are showing symptoms of blood-shot eyes, glassy stares, sluggish movements, and inability to understand basic human language! They seem to communicate strictly through grunts and groans, though on rare occasion I do believe they may mumble. Caution: Approaching these subjects may cause then to enter stances of intense moodiness - though it seems to be more of the passive-aggressive nature rather than the violent kind. What could this be? How can we fix this???

I'm sure sleep deprivation isn't a mystery to anyone, it's been plaguing the workforce and student body since ... well, since sleep. There's a common phrase I often hear, and it goes something like this: "Sleep is for the weak!" Well, you sure don't look very strong with those baggy eyes of yours, friend. I have a vague understanding of where this comes from, and it's mostly from the procrastinatey sorts of people - the ones who stay up late doing work (or rather, NOT doing work), or they're the ones who believe sleeping is a "waste of time" and think they would be able to be much more productive not sleeping.

Well, no matter what your opinion is on the matter, sleep is sleep. And sleep is important. My problem with this is, why don't people ever take naps? I know that some people do take naps, but the majority of the time I never hear about them. I'd always overhear someone saying they'd love to go to take a nap, but do they actually take a nap when they go home? In America, it's fairly common for students and workers to revolve around a 8-10 hour sleep cycle and power through the rest of the day, no naps included. However, in Eastern Cultures, napping in the middle of the day is a normal day-to-day thing. I remember when I lived in china, every school day we would have an afternoon break where we can eat lunch, go home, and take a nap. Afterwards, we'd return to school to finish our classes. Nap time wasn't just a kindergarten thing, it was an everyone thing - workers, students, old people, young people, everyone napped!

Napping is also fairly common in parts of Europe and South America. You know what a siesta is? It's a nap! A nap taken specifically taken during very hot hours of the day. I went to Italy one summer, and found that not only does everyone go home to nap, but they close their establishments during these hours too, unless they were commercial businesses or convenience/grocery stores. Many restaurants close between 1-3pm to rest and prepare for the dinner shift, as well as eat their own lunch and take a short siesta. It's actually very logical of them to close during this time because normally people don't eat in that time frame anyway, so it's more profitable for them to just close for a couple hours than to stay open and have staff meandering about doing nothing (go into a restaurant at 2pm on a weekday and see how many people are eating). 

With this napping culture so common in many countries of the world, why is it we don't nap here in the US? I dunno, something about capitalism maybe...ok, ok, let me elaborate. The work day here allows for more hours working and earning money. You don't get paid sleeping on the job - or outside of it. So naps are a no go. Since kindergartens and daycares are the only places where someone can nap outside of their home, it makes napping seem childish. "I'm not a kid anymore, I don't need to nap... I'm an adult, I should be able to drone away at the same thing for a third of the day."

Of course, the way around this is just "sleep more at night" so you don't need to nap. But, sometimes you just don't get a good night's rest, and a little snooze can actually be pretty beneficial. Whatever your opinion on napping and nap culture, just follow your basic needs. If you're thirsty, get a drink. If you're hungry, get some food. If you're tired...

Take a nap.

Crispy Air

Hoooo boy, it's cold. It feels like a proper winter up in the mountains! And the SNOW! It's amazing! I know Mr. Bomb has had his hand in this particularly cold winter, but I don't actually mind that much. I grew up hopping around the country, and each one seemed to experience Winter differently, as strange as that sounds. Up in Michigan, getting over a foot of snow was common, while New Jersey you'd be lucky to get more than a couple inches. Pennsylvania seems to be a comfortable middle ground in terms of snow amount, although global warming seems to be taking its toll, as snow is becoming less and less common each winter.

I think it's really sad the seasons are being skewed as they are, because that means winter is becoming shorter and is being pushed back more into the year, and all the good things about it get pushed back too - snowfall, snow days, snow...air? Yeah...the air is the best part. For some reason, the air in winter is really...crisp and clean. It's great to breathe. Unfortunately, a lot of people think cold air is dry and awful, but I like it!

As weird as it seems, the atmosphere after a fresh snow has its own smell. Just like how the air after a storm as its own smell, and how a hot summer day has its own smell. Well, I suppose in winter's case it would be a lack of smell, since everything gets covered in snow and there's nothing to create any scents - no grass, no dirt, no leaves, just air and snow.

There probably isn't any fancy health benefits or reward in giving the air a good sniff, but I think it's a good thing to do every once in a while. I think smell is probably one of the least utilized sense we humans use, as we tend to take things for granted in terms of what things smell...unless it's food. So, next time you go outside, or even if you're just sitting around, having nothing to do, inhale and take a DEEP breath, and smell your surroundings. Maybe find out which class smells better, I don't know! Take a whiff of the room you're sitting in now! Go, do it!