a sense of ease

I spent a couple of rough nights unable to sleep. Sometimes I fear that if I pass a certain time -- like past 3:30 am -- I will lose my chances of a full, uninterrupted sleep. Of course, I was preparing for a presentation which, to my surprise, flowed smoothly. It struck me because it was probably the calmest presentation I've had to date, that is, no stuttering or monotone voice and whatnot. Pretty miraculous.

Sure, I need to get the usual sleep rhythm in order, but suddenly I found myself rifling for James's "The Beast in the Jungle." Now, I've never even read a Henry James novel, but stranger things have been known to happen, I guess. It's amazing when out of nowhere one is inspired to just read in bed. Feels likes ages since i've done that, but there you go.

In other news, I was pleasantly surprised when I spoke to my cultural crit prof as though I were talking to a familiar friend. So for a brief moment the prof/student relationship collapsed -- I wanted to go on and open the conversation to my thinking and writing block, but something in held back. It was great just the way it was, so perhaps another time.