For someone who used to be out like a light by ten, I’ve had a heck of a time getting to sleep lately. Like, all of March. Melatonin? Tylenol P.M.? Warm milk? Big pharma?* Tell me your favorite potions and methods.
Meanwhile…
- The Katherine Paterson Prize for Young Adult and Children’s Writing is on at Hunger Mountain:
Bestselling author Holly Black will be the 2010 judge of the Katherine Paterson Prize for Young Adult and Children’s Writing at Hunger Mountain: the VCFA Journal of the Arts.
The Katherine Paterson prize was launched last year to honor writers of young adult and children’s literature. Writers may enter young adult and middle grade writing and writing for young children. Entries may be short stories or novel excerpts.
There is a $20 entry fee, and the postmark deadline is June 30, 2010. There is a $1000 prize for the winning entry, and three runners-up receive $100. The winner and the runners-up are all published on Hunger Mountain online.
Complete guidelines may be found here.
- The Morning News Tournament of Books has some fun with Nicholas Sparks. (There is also some good stuff about commercial vs. noncommercial fiction.)
- You know how I had that Facebook meltdown back during Advent? And you talked me into keeping my account? I did. But yesterday I finally got around to using lists to set it so that it’s basically only family that can interact with me there. I disabled my wall and most commenting, though everyone should still be able to see my posts. If you suddenly can’t interact with me there the way you used to, don’t feel bad. It’s not you, it’s me.
- I’ve had my MacBook a little over a year. It seems like I’m only getting about 2.5 hours out of my fully-charged battery these days. Or less. If you have a MacBook, please report on your battery life. Mine is the aluminum unibody, now sold as the 13″ MacBook Pro. Tell me what to do.
*I have none of these on hand, but My Three Sons seems to be doing the trick…
16 comments for this post
I have had trouble sleeping too…I blame Daylight Saving. Also, I have discovered that I adore Craig Ferguson, and he’s on LATE.
The FB compromise sounds like a good one.
xo,
suzi
Sara Reply:
March 24th, 2010 at 1:56 pm
@suzigurl aka suzi, Big crush on Craig! Hopefully I will not be up that late regularly…
I go through periods of insomnia, but sleeping well now. Don’t know why, except that my stress levels seem to be down. Good luck.
I have a Macbook Pro. Also had it about a year and my battery was doing the same thing, not holding it’s charge well. I hear the batteries last about 2 years, on average. I replaced my battery and have been soooo happy ever since. It’s been almost a year and its working great–still top notch. So maybe, you need a new battery. You can keep the old one for a backup. Also, check the contacts of your charger. I had to clean mine. (Long story – the baby’s fault).
Sara Reply:
March 24th, 2010 at 1:55 pm
@DeAnn Campbell, I do have AppleCare, so I should just go get it taken care of…
As for the battery, there have been several recalls on it. Try taking it to the Mac store and see what they say. I’ve had mine replaced after it literally exploded. Or was it imploded? Anyway, it was past the warranty at that point, but they still replaced it for free.
Sara Reply:
March 24th, 2010 at 1:55 pm
@Kathryn, Good to know!
I’ve had good luck with low-dose melatonin. Trader Joe’s has good peppermint-flavored chewable low-dose melatonin that has served me well. Apart from that it’s the usual stuff: good diet, exercise, and beware alcohol and caffeine. Well, that and remember that anything that’s good on television you can either record or watch some other time. And in the end nothing on television is worth missing sleep over.
Sara Reply:
March 24th, 2010 at 1:57 pm
@MDSF, I’m down to half-caf in the mornings and not that much. One glass of red wine after dinner for medicinal purposes. I exercise strenuously at least 4x a week, and don’t watch much TV. So, I don’t know. Just a lot on my mind, I think, and I can’t figure out how to shut it up!
I second the Mac store motion. Take that sucker in and let a genius help you. You can make an appt. on line so you don’t have to wait. Just don’t be late…you’ll have to wait a long time then. Mornings are the least busy, and the primest writing time. I think you have a year of free support for your computer (back it up, then have them check out the rest too)…and if you bought the Apple Care plan, it extends to three. Can you tell I’ve had similar issues?
And sleep? I actually recently tried something called Theanine Serene that really helps me relax before bed. And I give myself some serious wind-down time, including journaling if there are things my mind won’t shut up about, or that are making my heart ache.
Suerte!
Sara Reply:
March 24th, 2010 at 1:59 pm
@Amy, Mac store will be seeing me soon!
Thx for sleeping tips, too.
I have a MacBook with no battery problems, but I have been careful to never charge it unless it is completely run down. Charging it when it is only halfway discharged can lead to the battery developing a memory, so it only holds a charge to the halfway point. I let mine charge fully, then run it off the battery until it is completely discharged.
It also helps extend battery life if you turn off Bluetooth and Airport unless you need it. Those two really drain your battery fast.
Sara Reply:
March 24th, 2010 at 2:00 pm
@Jaleta Clegg, I’ve heard that about the battery, and that bugs me because I hate thinking about the battery with part of my mind while working, and also it runs hotter when on battery. Bah.
Jaleta Clegg Reply:
March 24th, 2010 at 3:06 pm
@Sara, The trick with turning things off really helps me. It runs longer and cooler plus I’m not distracted while I’m trying to write.
But yes, it is a pain. It beats only owning a desktop, though.
Laptop batteries degrade more rapidly over time if you keep the lappy plugged in while the battery is in it. This is because the heat your CPU generates is bad for them. The best way to make a new battery last as long as possible is to charge it fully and leave the laptop unplugged as much as possible. If you’re going to be sitting in one place for a long time, take the battery out while you have the laptop plugged into the wall. Just watch out because if you kick that cord you will not have backup power. Alternatively you can buy a new battery and baby it, and use your old one to keep in the computer while you’re plugged in.
Sara Reply:
March 29th, 2010 at 2:26 pm
@Eli Juicy Jones, Innnteresting – thank you. I am almost always plugged in, so this may be my problem…
I take a 1/2 of melatonin nightly and drift off peacefully. If you try it, don’t take too much or you can have very vivid dreams.