Sleeping Outside the Box

I just got the news that two days ago, one of my ex-coworkers (at the company I work for now) was murdered: Seattle Times News Article

Melissa was fun and kind. She will be missed by many. I will always think of her when I see LOL cats.
This ones for you, Floxx:

This post has been moved to a new super secret web identity. Want to know where and who I am now? ask in the comments, I’ll get back to you.

Ok, I haven’t been officially on a polyphasic system for a while (although Ilya has definitely brought my sleep average down to a polyphasic level). Regardless, today marks day 1,000 of my sleep logging. View graphs here. At some point, I’m going to make a better graph that utilizes the data format of my sleep log. Although you can’t tell by the graph (where it appears I just note total sleep for the night), I record start and finish times for all sleep sessions for the 24 hour period of the day, so if I sleep in 4 different segments throughout the day, I have 4 logs for that day.

Appended 2008.07.24: Skye asked about the format of my logs so I took a screenshot of the first 30 entries. In later entries I started tracking what movies I watched in the awake time before the nap, whether I worked, played, etc…

The air is humid. I run and the wind screams passed my ears like a whistle full of steam. There is no direction but forward, like I’m shot from the belly of a plane, face-first and fearless. There is no turning back, no resistance to the inevitable. My legs begin to feel fluid, elastic. I fold into my torso, triggering the wheels in my kneecaps, elbows and wrists. Bending lower my kneewheels hit first, followed by my banded and wheeled hands. The elbows catch the ground simply as a navigational aid, bouncing on and off as needed. The ground flow is slightly uneven and the momentum of my fall leaves me with the need to continue rolling over onto my back. With a simple twist of my shoulders, I tilt and the sensors in my body armor eject wheels out from my shoulder blades, moving my kneewheels down to the heels and projecting a ferrofluid bearing helmet over my scalp. I always feel like closing my eyes for a second or two when I enter this position at such velocity. It’s a long time pleasure that I grant myself every chance I get. Just feeling the motion of the road under my body, I almost drift asleep. But the momentum continues. As the road approaches a right hand turn, I rotate and shoot my left hand out at the ground, gripping tight, pushing off, my legs go over head and for an instant I’m gliding with so much speed, upside down, watching the pedestrians in there civil suits, scornfully bemoaning my invasion in their walk space.
“Watch it there Insect!” One shouts.

After reading this Marginal Revolution post on the male and female privilege checklist, I noticed a few things the following lists were missing:

• Amptoons Male List
• Feminist Critics Female List
• Women in Higher Education Female List

First, let me say, I oppose assigning values to this items and comparing whether it’s better to be one sex over the other. Once someone tallied up and said “ok, the score leans to side X”, it’s going to start an endless battle of finding another thing that one sex has over the other. And really, what makes what list and what gets which value, is preposterously arbitrary.
Also, I consider myself a feminist. My additions are not intended to skew to one side or the other. Comment if you like with your additions. Mostly this is just a humorous but honest observation on some inequality in modern day USA culture and in nature. These lists do not include racial or sexual preference advantages.
I avoided mentioning things that are obviously benefits and hinderances at the same time (e.g. men are expected to be better drivers than women–this is sometimes to the benefit of the male and sometimes to the benefit of a female).

anyway, here are my additions:

Male:

• I can pee standing up, which allows me to pee just about anywhere without pulling my pants down (e.g. in a bottle on a road trip)
• I don’t have to deal with monthly bleeding
• If I rise high in my career, I can be comfortable that people will not think I got there through supplying sexual favors to my superiors
• I can run without worrying about long term damage to pectoral perkiness
• Video games are more likely to be tailored to my interests and playing style
• I can compete in sports without people questioning my sexual preference
• I can have a child without damaging my body in labor
• I don’t have to get routine pap-smears
• As I get older, my attractiveness increases (to a point) to younger members of the opposite sex.
• I am not pressured to feel guilty about what I eat (until I get old)
• In a crisis situation, someone from my gender is likely to be given (or to take) command

Female:

• Public restrooms for my gender are likely to be cleaner, some having couches and other luxuries
• If I am caring for a baby in public, my restroom is more likely to have a changing table
• I can receive student financial aid without having to ‘volunteer’ for Selective Services (the Draft)
• If I am moderately attractive, I can advance my career (or begin one) by emphasizing this quality
• When on a date or with a friend of the opposite sex, it is likely that I will not be expected to pay for anything–regardless of my income level
• I can display the uninhibited enthusiasm of a child without people questioning my intelligence or sexuality
• I am not expected to be athletic, lest my value as a member of my sex be questioned
• when sitting on any splayed-legged object (horse, bike, unicycle, etc…), I don’t have to worry about getting ‘racked’
• I am not expected to have to deal with spiders, snakes, worms or anything else that may be dangerous or gross (with the exception of snot, vomit, and poop in regard to my own children)
• Bars and clubs frequently have a weekly night where I get in free. If not, I can probably get someone from the opposite sex to pay for my entrance anyway (and likely some drinks as well).
• I can dance anywhere with a low probability that people will question my sexuality or sanity