Ambien Walrus

Being exhausted does not make you want to be good at life.  So sometimes I take Ambien to turn off and go to sleep. If my mind races for more than 45 minutes at bedtime, I give up and give in to the meds. I usually fall asleep pretty quickly (or so I thought). When I first got the prescription, I began to think my apartment was haunted. There would be stuff in weird places, like the remote in the refrigerator or my peanut butter in the dryer (unopened, thankfully). Also, I would get emails that at first made me think my accounts had been hacked. "What the-who the hell cancelled my 3G account upon my request?!?). But when I thought really, really hard, I vaguely remembered doing these things. I decided that half a tablet was too much for me, and went down to a third (basically the equivalent of licking an ambien for most people). Now if I am doing something that is interesting enough to keep me awake after it kicks in, I have amazing ideas. I know they are amazing because I start texting them to everyone, and other people who take Ambien agree that they are earth shattering. Life altering, even. Example: A bar that is also a library and only plays History channel and has trivia every night. Maybe I'm a nerd, but I would go there all the time (even if I wasn't going to be the eventual owner). Sometimes you want to pretend you are social, and this is the perfect way to fake that while doing what you really want to be doing. "No, I didn't stay in and read a book Friday night! I went to a BAR! Who do you think I am, some kind of LOSER??". Hell, I don't know, maybe even put some pinterest up on a projector screen and people can vote on what to pin and turn it into a group drinking game. I'm not on Ambien right now so I'll have to contemplate that later. This entire post came up because one of my techs told me to google "ambien walrus". I'll save you a step:

http://ambien.blogspot.com/2010/12/ambien-walrus-collection.html

Enjoy.

Over 2 years ago?

It's hard to believe that is the last time I posted anything to this blog. I'm still striving to "be good at life". In the last two years I've finished a residency, changed jobs, ended a relationship that wasn't working out, and finally moved to the big city (downtown Knoxville counts, right?). I've traveled so much that it started stressing me out a little, so I'm settling down a bit and paying off all that fun. One thing I'm sure of is that being in debt definitely does not add to the quality of life. I've also started a yoga teacher training that takes up quite a bit of time, but I like the structure. I will always be a "school junkie" and still get excited to buy notebooks and supplies. I still use an academic planner, because I love that it starts in August (the first "adult" one I bought with a January start depressed me for some unknown reason and got tossed). Overall, things are pretty glorious. And I'm grateful to realize I'm grateful for it all, if that makes sense.

So what makes life good, and what makes you good at life? I'm having a pretty awesome time finding out. I think, for me, new experiences and variety are a big part of being happy (which is a requirement for a good life). I just finished reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. I really think that most people think that happiness is something that just happens. I know I did in the past, but in the last few years I've realized that it's something you have to work on. Yes, there are genetic predispositions, depression, etc. but I think identifying and being aware of what makes you tick (as well as what makes you explode) can really go a long way in your overall emotional wellbeing. The book is a pretty good read, and brings to your attention some things you probably normally overlook. For example, just keeping myself a little more physically comfortable at work can determine whether or not I want to run screaming from the hospital to the nearest bar after a 10 hour shift. So I bought a space heater, keep snickers handy, and I "always make water when I can" (a quote from the Duke of Wellington). Non-pharmacist may not relate to having to pee for 8 hours, but that happens. A lot. One of the resolutions in the book is to pursue a passion. I have a new passion every other day. Maybe every day, depending on the amount of time I've spent trolling the internet finding hobbies I don't have time to pursue because I spend so much time on the internet. But I have always thought that I'd like to write. So here it is. Let's see if it takes me 27 months to get to my next post. If not, I'm already a success.