curious timing for an appearance

I'm awake at 5:45 a.m. on a Sunday for no clear reason. I've been sleeping poorly lately. I blamed it on temporary work stress, then not eating well... and had a few disturbingly unrepeatable dreams that I blamed on alcohol and am definitely hoping do not persist. I'm normally such a fan of sleeping that this is baffling me.

I've also not been able to maintain blogging, if you notice the long lag between timestamps. Are these things at all related? Is my NYC lifestyle affecting me on a level I'm unaware of? Should I be concerned about my Id?

I've noted the pace of NYC before- here we're all working, working, going, scurrying, doing things. I have often classified myself as more of a think-er than a do-er, and sometimes appreciate that this town encourages me to do more. Here I feel it's less natural to step back and think, relax. Sometimes it does overwhelm me... but not entirely. My head is above water, but I do think I'm affected by the frenetic aspect of this town. We work. We drink. We wake up and think about work on our way there. We play hard on the weekends, always planning where we're going, what activity is next.

When people ask me how I like New York, I say I love it, for now. This Manhattan life feels to me like like an indefinite break from the real world, an extended childhood. It is unsustainable, though. You live in 200 square feet. You have no commitments outside yourself. You spend most of the money you work so hard for chasing the circus of pleasures that make up the city. You are often drunk. You meet many, many more people than you would elsewhere, but relationships are often fleeting and superficial.

Normally not one for big moves, I significantly changed the color of my hair yesterday. I'm not sure if this is portentous, or whether it's a fleeting itch that happens to coincide with a minor malaise. Guess we'll see.

sleeptalkin' man

This blog is hilarious and lovely, if you're not already familiar (and even if you are!).

http://sleeptalkinman.blogspot.com/

A lotta gems there.

....makes me wish my dreams weren't almost exclusively about unpleasant things such as falling or being chased. My classic recurring dream is about bouncing on a trampoline, and there is a point at which fun inevitably turns to dread when I realize I've begun bouncing way too high, and I'm going to plummet to my death. Which I almost do, before I wake up.

But seriously, enjoy the blog.

Happiness and Gender

Some Sunday paper food for thought-

The sexual revolution was supposed to liberate us all. But now women have so much going on, we aren't necessarily more happy though men report to be, note Maureen Dowd and Arianna Huffington.

Part and parcel of the deal for now, I guess. Focus on your happy.

running, and not away from wildlife

As I mentioned recently, I've taken on a second blog project. Ed Norton, David Blaine, some African community leaders and I (and a few others, including my lovely coworker friends) are raising money for the Maasai Wilderness.

Today we rolled out the overall marathon cause website; now we can really forge ahead.

Check out our blog: thousandmilers.blogspot.com. From there you can link to the cause and donate to sponsor Brian, our team's marathon runner, to help support the Maasai.

Until the marathon on November 3rd, I'll be juggling my life and mind's eye with that blog, which currently owns me. Bear with me, and definitely support the cause in the meantime.

I am cheating on you

I have roped myself into a new blog project.

http://thousandmilers.blogspot.com/

who doesn't love to do work for free?

It has absorbed a ton of my time in the past week or two, but is an awesome cause and it won't be this way forever. check it out, and keep coming back; we've got good stuff on the horizon.

Oh, and I am actually cheating on you with Ed Norton and some Africans, but more on that later.