Tuesday 14 February 2006

Pic of the day: An understandable mistake if you've never heard of this condition before. Most girls with brothers probably know of it already. In western countries, I've seen the expression "morning bread" to describe the same, but I think that's an exaggeration.

New place, new body?

I have told you in the past about some strange anomalies regarding my health. When on the farm where I grew up, I enjoy oat-flakes porridge, a traditional meal there. But when I came back to the Chaos Node and decided to make it for myself, it not only tasted rather blah. It also sped up my digestion to such a degree that I gave up on making it for myself. Likewise, when visiting SuperWoman and her family, I could eat more raw vegetables (though not fruit) and drink more cola, about twice as much as at home. (Admittedly not gigantic quantities, but a very noticeable difference.) If I tried the same at home, once again my digestion was upset to such a degree that it interfered with my work, not to mention the sheer discomfort of it.

Well, it happens again. Not the vegetables thing, I'm afraid. But my body has changed after I moved to the Fortress of Solitude. This is a fairly short move (I even kept my old phone number, not to mention workplace) so it stands to reason that the changes are moderate too. But at least one of them kinda "stands out".

***

Not to be unnecessarily indecent here, but the men among you at least know how they have commonly woken up in the morning and found the male reproductive apparatus activated and seemingly ready for action, even when their dreams have been quite ordinary and sometimes without any clear memories of dreams at all. I think most women learn about this in some way too, though in days of yore this was supposedly a surprise for young brides. (Probably much more of a surprise if they asked their husband what he had been dreaming about and he said "Oh, I just dreamed I was back at work. Just an ordinary day.") Modern science has shown that this is not a result of the dream content but a side effect of the way REM sleep works. Even so, it gradually becomes less prominent over the years.

Well, that decline has suddenly been drastically reversed. Yes, morning after morning, and now week after week, I wake up with my reproductive system foolishly imagining that it still has anything to do. This was finally getting sporadic back in the Chaos Node, but here my body suddenly seems to imagine that it is twenty years younger.

There may actually be a natural explanation this time. I get sleepy earlier, often around midnight, and consequently sleep 7-8 hours instead of around 6 as I used to. REM sleep becomes more common and longer as the night drags on. Besides, REM sleep is the body's natural response to lots of new impressions, and having to completely alter my mental map of where all my things are certainly counts. If so, it shouldn't be too many weeks before I am back to normal for a very very single almost 50 year old.

***

My pulse is also lower than it has been the last months, but still not dangerously low. I suppose this too could come from sleeping as much as the human body was made for, for a change? If so, it is not going to last.

I also seem to be more hungry than before, even after two weeks. But this too could have natural explanations, such as the house being colder. It is an old and well known trick, when you host a dinner, to heat the room a few degrees extra so the guests eat less. Just don't overdo it so your guests grow hot and sweaty, it ruins the mood. Well, sweating is not the big problem for me here in my arctic Fortress of Solitude. I am sure I could wear the same shirt for a month. Perhaps I should try...