Can't Sleep. Try My House.

I woke up with a headache this morning after spending the entire dang night at some friends'. (Amanda is out of town.) I was awoke by one friend after crashing at 3 ish in the morning, with a request: "Hey, sing "When Wilt Thou Save the People," A song I sang in Godspell a couple years back, which he was also in. In my groggy state I could barely make out what was being asked of me, but I was finally able to figure it out. First I was a little annoyed that he woke me up. Another friend of mine said behind him, "Kyle won't do it. He's too mature to do that. Let him sleep."

"What are doing? Having a contest to see if you could get me to sing it?"

"No." She laughed. "Go back to sleep." But, how the heck was I supposed to sleep now? I had to remember that stupid song.

After a few moments it finally came to me. It didn't come out of me sounding so great, but I got the basic tune right. My friend laughed.

When I realised that I wasn't going back to sleep and I really just wanted to go home and sleep in my own bed anyway and that the sun was up and my weirdo friends were still talking and hanging out with the same momentum they had been when I fell asleep, I had to get up and check out the situation. Sure enough it was 6:30ish and they were still on a roll. "They were all singing the song so I joined them and basked in the true oddity of watching the glow of morning on a Saturday, after having sang Kareoke and then playing Geusstures just hours earlier.

This experience is actually just a strange throughback to a time that doesn't seem that far away. College. This kind of thing was fairly normal back then. In fact, I'm reminded of a particularly interesting night of all night hanging at my college house.

The house I lived at during my junior and senior years at ACU was not quite a party house. We didn't have parties. That was a frat thing and we were theatre majors. We weren't the least bit interested in keg stands or make out parties or having DJs or anything like that. We drank imported and microbrewed beers and mixed cocktails and drank inexpensive (not cheap) wine. This was until everyone was happy enough not to care and then the Keystones and Natty Lights were broke out. At this point, my house could become a very fun place to be. My roomates and I lived in the default hang out house, a badge which I wore with honor and pride. I enjoyed having everyone over on weekends and knowing that my crashing pad was my own. Depending on your perspective, the house could be a very obnoxious place to be. Since my roomates and I liked having the "hang-out-house" we also took with it the inevidable inconveniences. Cleaning up in the morning, disposing of empty bottles and providing extra sleeping accomadations should a patron be unable to drive themselves home. This came with the territory. The most inconvenient of these inconveniences, however was if you had to wake up early on a Saturday morning.

One fine weekend, I decided that I was going to do something that I'd never done before. At least in college. I was going to wake up early even though I didn't have to. The reason I was going wake up was because our school was hosting a local Special Olympics event on campus and they had asked students to come volunteer. I was ready to accept the chanllenge and decided to make it an early(er) night in order to make the 8 am call.

My friends had other plans for me. I don't remember what had been going on that night. Usually it was a rehearsal or performance, but I don't think it was that, at this time. I believe it was a rare free night. Regardless, my house was once again full on this night and I knew that my loving wonderful friends would be in their rarest form, so I decided to hang out for a little bit and then sneak undetected to my bedroom to go to sleep. My early morning plans were unbekownst to them. So there I am, lying in bed. I'm probably not sleepy, but I'm determined to sleep. If you know me well enough, you know that this is a big deal for me. I could hear the others having fun and talking in the other room, and I've always been the kind of person that if I know someone else is up having fun, I can't sleep. Perhaps I listened to some music to help me relax and drown out the noise. I dare not tell them to be quiet because, as much as my friends love me they would do whatever necessary to not let me sleep if they knew I was trying to sleep. This was the kind of wonderful people whom I still consider some of my closest friends.

Just as I began to enter into a sort of half sleep I was woken by a strange noise that seemed very out of place at 12 or 1 in the morning. I realized that the vacuum cleaner was running. Not only was it running but it was running right outside my room. Not only was it right outside my room but it was being knocked against my door. Soon, my door, which did not have a lock on it, was being opened and the vacuum was entering. Soon the lights were being turned on. My friends, in their kindness, were vacuuming my floor for me. In my sleepy haze, I failed to see the thing they were doing as helpful and, as you would expect, asked what the hell they were doing and kicked them out, all to their protests that they only wanted to do a good deed. I used some choice words to let them know where they could put their good deed and shut the door and turned off the light.

But, the game had begun and my relentless friends had found their target. Only moments later they found another reason to come barging in and then another and another, but just couldn't understand why each entrance was met with a hostile eviction. Finally, I made a sneaky move of my own. My roomate's room was only next door, so when they weren't looking I slipped in and shut the door. There was a lock on his door, and I employed it. By now it was closer to 2:30 or 3 in the morning, but any sleep I was feeling had been taken care of by the earlier cat nap. It was no longer a fight to sleep, as that was not happening, but it was a battle of wills. Would I cave and go hang out with them, or would they give up and leave me alone?

Not able to open the door to my roomate's room without breaking it (which probably would have happend had my roomate not been one of them) they continued to bang on it and yell at me to get out. This was peppered with all kinds of requests and taunts meant to keep me from sleeping. Finally they went outside and tried to open the window and climb in. In my superior forethought I'd already locked the window. They eventually did stop for awhile. If I remember correctly, I was able to catch some Zs for awhile before the banging and yelling began again. This time I could tell they were wearing down. In an attempt to really throw them off I unlocked the window and climbed out. I got into the garage and into my car and, with doors locked, fell asleep in the back. As the sun was coming up I noticed the perpetrators standing over me looking into the car. I thought, "Great, they're never going to give up." But, to my surprise, they turned and didn't even make the attempt. They accepted defeat and returned into the house. Around 8 am, the time I was supposed to be at the Special Olympics, I went back into the house to see my last nights annoyances, crashed all around. I proceded to the kitchen where I quietly openned up the cabinets and carefully pulled out a pot and a pan. I walked to the middle of the living room, where all four night owls where fast asleep. Right there in the living room I did my best pot and pan rendition of "Rise and Shine! (And give God the Glory, Glory!)" After being reprimanded by a few hung over and angry friends of mine I walked into my room, shut the door and slept right through the Special Olympics.