Things remembered during insomnia, 7 July 2011, 1:34 am

I cannot sleep, and my mind has been wandering to the strangest places. I figure I'll share these random thoughts with the internet.*

• Sometime around 5th or 6th grade I became good friends with a girl who moved away at the end of the school year. Just before she moved she told me that she really appreciated my friendship and that if, in the future, she ever had a daughter she would name her after me. Seeing as how many people my age are beginning to or already have children I wonder if she has had a daughter and, if so, did she name her after me? (Do people these days still name their daughters "Heather?")
  
• I once wrote a story (or maybe it was a play or a musical) based upon characters from Greco-Roman mythology with a twist: The background for the story wasn't ancient times, it was hip-hop culture! I recall it being fantastically hilarious... But I was 13 when I wrote it, so it was probably just hilariously awful. I hope that it is still tucked away in a dark corner of my former closet at my parents' house.
  
• Speaking of writing, around age 15 I wrote a weird piece on chairs. I remember detailing the mating habits of plastic lawn furniture. I need to find the notebook I wrote it in so that I can type it up here. It's worth sharing just for the fact that I recall it being ridiculous because of the serious tone I wrote it in.
  
• My first serious boyfriend was obsessed with one of his ex-girlfriends. Come to find out she wasn't ever his girlfriend; she was just some girl who he had never met in person and would just talk to on the internet. Even still, he would constantly talk of her, have dreams of her, and compare my reactions to what he thought her reactions would be in a similar situation. During all of this he built her up to be some kind of wonderful, yet tragically flawed, mythical creature (at least this is what she became in my head after hearing all of his stories). One of her virtues was being very good with words, written and spoken. Over the years I fell in love with this mythizied version of her. One day, while my boyfriend was out at class or work, I did an internet search for this girl. The only thing I could find about her was a college newspaper article in which her opinion on a certain subject was quoted. I cannot remember what she said or even what the article was about, but I do remember being very disappointed in her response-- she was no better with words than most people I knew! I had been lied to! I believe this was the moment I fell out of love with her.
  
• I used to have frequent reoccurring dreams involving a desolate landscape at night and a rotary light beacon in the distance (such as one from a lighthouse or airport control tower). I haven't had one of these dreams in several years, but the imagery stays with me. I feel I should do something with that imagery. I lament the fact that I have no musical talent because I feel this would be best expressed in a soundscape.
  
• I can't remember how to fall asleep.

*Actually, I'm typing them down so I can reference this entry in the future if I ever want to elaborate on one of these subjects.