through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered . . .

It's June 28! That means today is the anniversary of the assassination of Franz Ferdinand in 1914, which is one of the more bizarre coincidence-laden events of history. There are so many things that just happened to fall into place: the lead driver didn't get a message about the change of route; one of the group of would-be assassins, Gavrilo Princip, decided to go chill in a café after the initial failed attempt, and happened to go outside when the Archduke's car drove past the café hours later; Princip closed his eyes and fired twice, and those bullets hit Ferdinand and the Duchess, Sophie; and a thousand other things that have slipped my mind, and let's also not forget that the various eye witnesses' stories conflict and are from different people with their own agenda, so we'll never knew the exact facts of that day. But from what we do know, it's a miracle Ferdinand managed to get himself killed at all.

This, of course, is what finally set off the explosion in the Balkans - something would have happened sooner or later, Austria-Hungary was just itching for an excuse to go after Serbia because of some anti-Habsburg sentiment that had been coming from there (I think; it was some kind of unwanted propaganda, anyway). And Serbia had Russia's promise of protection, and dumbass Wilhelm II in Germany was all, "No, Austria-Hungary, it's cool, if you go after them I'll give you whatever help you want" and then the net of alliances and ententes choked everyone and HERE HAVE A WORLD WAR YOU GUYS.

Today is also the anniversary of the 1919 signing of the Treaty of Versailles, which was an excellent and well-balanced piece of diplomacy that forced Germany (yes, Germany) to take all the blame for starting the war and saddled it with reparation costs that would break its economy and make a nice opening for some political party calling themselves the Nazis to come to power. Guys, the Treaty of Versailles sucked so bad that the US refused to join the League of Nations to ratify it, and Ferdinand Foch (who was French, not German as his name might suggest) said, "This is not Peace. It is an Armistice for twenty years." He nailed it right down to the year: Hitler invaded Poland twenty years later in 1939.

This is a pretty simplified account, based mainly on my memories from a class on the World Wars I took a couple semesters ago (and the Wiki article on the Treaty, because I definitely did not remember the exact quote and who said it right off the top of my head). I felt I should talk about it a little, though, because it's all fascinating and because WWII gets all the glory these days and a lot of people don't know about the kind of colossal fuckery that went into creating WWI and then resolving it with a bunch of bullshit that ended up feeding into WWII. And we should remember that fuckery, because as a race human beings are not a whole lot smarter today and it would be good to remember so we don't start any more fuckery on this scale, because next time we do we're not gonna survive it.

Have a nice day! :D

Okay, so, just FYI for people: my modem has decided that it doesn't have to work, or my connection has, or something, and right now I'm leeching off a very unreliable network that is bizarrely strong at the moment, but that probably won't last. So, in the event that I'm not around, that would be why.

There is the possibility of getting a new modem, if I can find a ride to the center. Otherwise, there's a technician scheduled to come out on Wednesday. I guess I better clean my room. (Easier said than done.)

If this interferes with my getting hold of Doctor Who tomorrow, I will cry. Real tears.

The last time I had to have a technician come out, it turned out that my connection had somehow been severed. That was special.

This is the worst timing ever, you guys, I'm just starting on a month with not a whole lot going on; I've finished the Kubrick class and my next class starts in July. And I don't have a job. And I'm superbroke while I wait for some money I'm supposed to be getting on Monday. So. HRRRRRGH.

I do have about five million books I haven't read, though. So there is that.

ANYWAY. If I all but disappear for the next few days, that would be why.

Oh look, I went a week and a half without posting again. I don't have long, so this post will be short, but.

Upside of taking summer classes: I can make up for the credits the insomnia totally screwed me over on, seriously, half the reason I haven't posted is because I don't even wanna talk about it.

Downside of taking summer courses: I still have to walk the mile to campus, even when it is the first legitimately hot and gross day of the year. And this will continue for the rest of this month and part of June, and then begin anew toward the end of July and into August, AKA the hottest part of the year.

At least today the room I'm in has air conditioning, because it's full of movie-watching equipment. (Class subject? The films of Stanley Kubrick. Fuck yeah, you guys, I'm getting credit to watch movies and talk about them.)

So - last night the Ambien did not work so good. I think I was not tired enough for it to hook in properly - I was well-rested yesterday (and actually did a little RPing, omg, I've been too tired either physically, mentally, or both to do much of it, and I've missed it) and went to bed before I was feeling especially tired to make sure the Ambien had enough time to at least start exiting my system before I had to get up. So I wasn't ready to sleep and I think that fucked it up. I will be ready tonight, oh yes.

At least I hope that was it, because man, this is all I've got for now. Ann has reached the end of what she can do, and is working on getting me a referral to the outpatient psychiatric center at a nearby hospital, because there is clearly something the fuck wrong with me that is keeping the sleep cycle resets from taking root. I've got the okay to keep up with the Ambien, and she suggested every other day again to keep tolerance from setting in too deeply. I'm gonna start that a couple days from now, because I also have school stuff to worry about. I am so close to the end of the semester, I can't screw up now.

So, I'm on a waiting list at the hospital, which is going to be probably weeks' worth of waiting, though I might be able to cut it down some by making regular phone calls to remind them that I really really really want to do this and I'm not kidding around and I need that spot.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, I'm going back to the student health center to get some bloodwork done, just so they can rule out thyroid and anemia problems. I should have gotten it done before, but I was worried about the money - the health fee doesn't cover lab costs - but now I don't care. Have all my money! I just want to sleep normally again.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go work on a paper that needs to at least get started whether I'm up to writing it or not.

I have an important question!

I just cooked okra for the first time and have never had it before, so I have no reference point. My question is: is it supposed to be slimy? If not, what do I need to rectify next time I cook it? I like the taste well enough, but the slime is less fun.

Thanks for the comments, guys. ♥ Unfortunately, despite those and Benadryl (EXTRA Benadryl, even), I did not sleep. (There was a reason I switched from the Benadryl to what the NP at the student health center originally prescribed, tho. But I had to ditch that stuff because it was giving me weird tightness in my chest. Sigh.)

Am off to shower and head to the student heath center once more to beg for a scrip for something that will put me out of commission for a week. Will probably also want a note to get me out of trouble with professors for today, esp for the class in which I am meant to be giving a presentation that I ALREADY had to delay once because of this crap. I'm gonna call a cab and everything. I can't face the walk to campus today.

Omg, you guys, I slept last night! That makes two nights in a row for the first time all week! I feel like a human being again. Kind of a tired human being, but a human being nonetheless.

After I posted yesterday morning, the ants-under-the-skin started up again (it was especially bad during my class, I could barely sit still toward the end), but you know what? I think this time it was mostly psychological. After I talked to a nurse practitioner at the student health center and we worked out a plan to try and reset my sleep cycle (basically, I stick with the Motrin PM I bought a couple days ago, which was probably the only reason I did sleep the night before last, and if that doesn't work she prescribed something a little stronger to switch to), the ants started going away. The relief of having figured something out was immense. I still didn't feel too great, but I was a lot more relaxed for the rest of the day.

I have a follow-up appointment scheduled for next Friday, but I think I'm gonna be all right by then. The Motrin PM is helping, the ants are actually gone, and my stress level is much lower.

Thanks so much to everyone who offered comments and ideas and support. It all really helped. I think without it, I would have been wound up even tighter. You guys are so great.

Insomnia continues. I'd guess I've had about ten hours sleep in the last three days, and for well over twenty-four hours now I've felt - I don't know how to describe it. Like I drank too much coffee, or like I'm a few minutes away from throwing up. That shivery ants-under-your-skin feeling. It just won't go away and it's keeping me awake more than anything else. I thought initially that it was caused by the NyQuil I took a couple nights ago, but surely that's long since out of my system.

I'm kinda freaked out by it at this point, though. I've never before had insomnia this bad, so I haven't got any prior experience. Is this feeling normal? Is something wrong? It's keeping me awake more than anything else at this point, and I just don't know what to do. I'm going to hit the student health center on campus tomorrow to see if they can help me out with anything. I don't know how much longer I can even function if I don't get some real sleep soon.

In the meantime, though, reassurances from insomniacs on the flist that I'm not dying or something would be much appreciated. I'm gonna go back to bed, but I expect I'll be checking my e-mail again before long.

I just took my first look at my almost-thirteen stepsister's Facebook profile. Her Political Opinion is "john mccain shoulda won."

I'm just like, awwwwwww she thinks she's edgy!

I am going to ruffle her adorable head next time I see her and not tell her why. She's a smart kid, she'll grow out of it. (Hopefully at around the same time she grows out of Twilight.)

Today I had two classes, Medieval Popular Culture and Historical Construction of Sexuality.

Each of my professors took the opportunity to discuss Jesus's foreskin.

I don't even know, you guys.