My insomnia issue hasn't been helped over the last several years by the frequent Prednisone tapers I've had to take to treat Crohn's flares. Again, I try not to badmouth Prednisone too much because it's the only thing that's consistently helped me with my guts but every now and again even I get frustrated with its side effects. I've not had Prednisone in a couple of weeks now so it should be out of my system at present but I've taken so much of it over the years that I'm certain it's done irreversible damage to my already precarious ability to sleep.
I watched the season premiere of Dallas last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. I'd forgotten how much fun a soap opera can be and there's never been a finer one than Dallas. It was bittersweet watching Larry Hagman in one of his final performances as J.R. Ewing. It was a reminder how terrific he was in that role, and how much I've always enjoyed rooting for that conniving s.o.b. We've seen so many J.R.-like characters over the years, but rarely have any of the actors playing them been as willing as Hagman to appear to be having fun. J.R. isn't a guy who schemes all the time because he's greedy. He does it because it's his nature and he enjoys it. There's something Taoist about the guy, really.
I debated going to bed then, but then I decided to finally re-watch A.I. Artificial Intelligence. I've not seen it since it opened in theaters in 2001, and I've been meaning to revisit it for a while now. That wrapped up around 1:30 and I went to bed. There, I promptly tossed and turned for another hour or so before finally deciding to get back up. We've had another change in weather here; it's been warming up the last few days but also it's been raining and all that's played havoc with the barometric pressure...which, in turn, has made me physically miserable. I got out of bed and took a pain pill and a sleeping pill, hoping to get to sleep. Instead, I wound up writing a very lengthy review in my Letterboxd diary of A.I. I can't even say how coherent it is, but you're welcome to read it for yourself and tell me.
I'm finally starting to feel that drowsy, warm buzz from the pills so I'm gonna try again to get some sleep. I just looked around and all four cats are snoozing. More and more these days, I find myself envying them.
