I Haven't Been Sleeping Well...I Think It's the Sparks

I have been having a little trouble falling asleep as of late. I don't know why. Nothing has changed in my life. I still work my job. I still watch movies. I still have my hobbies. I still think my bed is really comfortable (it is after all a bed). What then could it be? Oh, it must be the Sparks.
Let me take you back to the not so distant past, a simpler time when I had roommates and friends. A time when these friends would ask, "Hey, you want to go get drunk?" And I'd say, "Yep," and we'd go to the neighborhood bar and drink Old Style or Pabst until we ran out of singles. Ah yes, those were some simple times.
One night, a night just like the one mentioned above, started a bit differently, however. My friend asked, "Hey, you want to have a Sparks party?" I responded with a curious tone, "I don't know what that is." He then explained, "Sparks is an alcoholic energy drink that supposedly tastes like smarties." I excitedly replied, "I like smarties." So the Sparks party was on. Three of us agreed to partake...and partake we did.
A few Sparks (and beers) later, our bodies didn't know whether to pass out or to run a marathon. Every time I closed my eyes to relax, the rapid, seemingly unnatural beating of my heart would keep me awake. So, we had no choice be to play video games until 4:30am. Even then, after I choose to hit the proverbial hay, I ended up staring at the ceiling until I could see the sun starting to color the sky. That night, I did not sleep well, but I think the Sparks party itself could still be considered a success. We did, after all, drink Sparks.
Now, flash forward to last night (a Thursday night). I live in an apartment that is basically in the parking lot of a church. I also happen to live in close proximity of the local nightlife. So, when the bars get crowded and parking becomes more difficult, it is only natural for the traffic to spill into the parking lot right outside my bedroom window. It happens every weekend. Last night, I was laying in bed, drifting in and out of sleep. I was in that sort of half dreaming and half awake mode (one of my favorites). I was laying there in the wonderful silence anticipating the next morning. Then, there were faint female voices. Laughing was the first thing I heard (could also be classified as cackling). Then I heard someone talking really loudly (borderline yelling, but not in an angry tone) followed by more outrageous laughter. It was then I knew they were coming into my parking lot for this behavior is typical of someone coming from the bars. The talking and laughter got louder until it sounded like it was right outside my window (which is a very accurate description because they actually were right outside my window). The talking/yelling/laughing/cackling continued as one of them (I think there were 4 in total) tried to wrangle them into the car. This was followed by the sound of someone dumping a bucket of water onto the sidewalk. I too, thought that was strange and wondered what they were doing. Surely they didn't actually have a bucket that they just dumped into the parking lot. An answer was quickly provided to me as I heard one of them say, "Oh my god. I totally just yakked everywhere." Everyone then laughed (including yours truly) outrageously hard and when they finally caught their breath, one of them said, "It was probably all that damn Sparks you drank." Then they drove away and I was left with two empty Sparks cans and a buckets worth of yak on my sidewalk. A charming way for Sparks to sneak back into my life and keep my heart racing.

Til next time.

States: 18
Countries: 5

P.S. Barbie turns 49 this weekend. I know this because today was "Wear Pink to Work Day." I was complimented on my subtle use of the color. Nobody has ever complimented me for my fashion sense before. Leave it to Barbie.