The Book of Merle

6:00am: a real page un-turner
Some paperbacks have pages use a grade of paper or something that make it easy to put your finger on either the top edge or bottom edge of a page and turn to the next one. Some, like the one I'm currently reading, do not, and about a quarter of the time I get two pages or even have to struggle not to get more. Because thinking about it or struggling to turn the page causes a discontinuity in world immersion, all of the time prepare to get to the next page at a good paragraph break partway down the right hand page, even if I am not going there immediately. Thank goodness for page numbering!

Last night, though, I was trying to separate to get to the next page. It was clearly two pages since it felt too thick. After fighting it I double-checked the page numbers. Sure enough, it was just one page. Doh! That's a first for me.

In completely unrelated news I have now been unable to sleep for 48 hours. I do lie in bed with my eyes closed for the standard amount of time, which seems almost sufficient, but I haven't done over 30 since about '95 (my self-inflicted record was 60 as a teen, which was followed by a total collapse and 17 of deep sleep).

10:00pm: campaign-free zone
A 30 seat popular restaurant in NH has posted a sign on their window saying "no politicians, no exceptions". Apparently politicians have come in to order and walked around to tables irritating people as they ate, much like some brazen beggars do. In two cases the politician and their staff filled the entire restaurant. This kinda ticked off both the restaurant and the locals, so they put the sign up.

Bravo.