What does eight hours of sleep look like?

I came to a startling realization at around one am today: I'm not sure I remember what it's like to go to bed before 2.

Yeah, there are times when I'm feeling like shit that I just kind of collapse onto whatever is nearest to me and pass out until my alarm goes off the next day. But for the most part, even if I'm in bed before 2...I have my laptop open with about five tabs until closer to 2:30.

I realized this because, once again, my roommates left me alone. They went to bed and I was standing in the living room trying to find something to do. (Usually, when in this situation, stretching occurs. There's nothing quite like a complete body stretch at 1:30.)

So, I moved my stuff into my room. Completely determined to finish my movie and go to bed.

My movie finished ten minutes ago...and here I am.

I do my best thinking somewhere between 1 and 4. It's not a perfectly timed system, but engage my mind between these hours and I guarantee you end up with a good book idea before the end. I'm wondering if this isn't part of my aversion to going to bed early.

If I was asleep, I would probably be wasting my state of creative thought on dreams. (Not that dreams aren't fun...but you end up with ideas like prehistoric wasps stinging people and laying eggs in the stings so that larvae will eventually burst forth in an epic eruption of worms and pus to eat the person they had incubated in...because, of course, prehistoric wasps are carnivorous.)

That right there? A perfect example of why I should be awake right now instead of trying to fall asleep. God only knows what would happen if I went to bed right after watching Pay it Forward.

Anyway...I'm nearing 2 and can probably go to my physical bed now since it takes me at least 30 minutes to fall asleep (again, unless I'm exhausted).