Spaced...

Last night I was so tired I was hallucinating. Who needs acid when you can starve yourself of sleep? Someone once told me that you die faster from lack of sleep than either thirst or starvation and I didn't believe them but I did decide that seeing things was a sign I'd gone too far. It wasn't like I saw goblins or unicorns, just people who weren't really there, but still...

I arrived yesterday in Seattle on a business trip so jetlag played its part, but I added to my own troubles by skipping a night's sleep on Saturday. I wasn't out, or on anything, I just didn't go to bed. Sometimes I do this. It's not exactly a choice. I have nightmares that are terrifying and, after a few nights in a row, I avoid my bed for as long as I can. (Until I start hallucinating.)

Seattle is a trip, it really is, whichever way you look at it. The most surprising thing I've found here is that the major landmark is smaller than I thought it would be. This is at odds with what I expect from landmarks. In my experience, they are always much bigger than you can ever imagine. You always think you're much closer to them than you are because of their sheer bloody size. The number of times I've unwisely tried to walk to places like the Eiffel Tower and the Empire State Building because I look at them and think 'a few blocks' and it's actually fifty. So when I saw the Space Needle from my hotel last night, I didn't get too excited.

You know that old saying about buildings not being small, but being far away? Well when we went exploring to find breakfast this morning, and walked towards the Space Needle, I realised it wasn't far away; it was small. And there's nothing on it except the viewing deck at the top, where there's bar and restaurant and signs to show you what you can see from the windows. The Needle was built for some expo, as a concept building to represent the the way the world might be in the future. Which is kind of screwy, if you think about it, because why would anyone build a huge structure like that to put a few rooms at the top? Not exactly an efficient use of land or resources.

I've warmed to Seattle. I think it's the kind of place I could spend a lot of time. I've visited Chicago, and New York, and I liked them too but I couldn't go back. There's history there I think would come back to haunt me.

Tonight Jason wants to eat at the top of the Space Needle. I'm trying to think of ways to get out of it. I just don't like heights. Heights, and dreams, I'd rather avoid them. I'm spending the rest of the afternoon pinching myself, and thinking up an excuse about tonight. My arms are a mess from all the pinching, my head from the dreams.