The first part of this post was written over the last 3 days.

Running on about 28 hours of no sleep. Ugh. Plus, I’m dehydrated. Wish I didn’t have to get so sick to realize how dehydrated I am.

Sucks. Sucks. Sucks. And I still don’t want to drink water.

Worked my full-time job today. I rarely think about anything for sleep because I have REM sleep disorder, which can disrupt sleep once the REM sleep cycle starts. So, anything over 7 hours could end in a nightmare. I don’t remember the nightmares, but I hate waking up screaming. I never do that unless I take melatonin or something similar.

I’ve never tried Ambien and never will. I’d rather stay awake for a week. Don’t know why I would try Ambien, when a low dose of melatonin is too much. I don’t want 7 hours of disruptive sleep. At least I can get 6 hours on most nights.

Did I ever get sleep?

Last night (Friday night into Saturday), I slept until 10 AM, which only happens once a year. Can’t remember the time I fell asleep. But I probably got about 8 hours of actual sleep. So, I’m cured for now.

I think this started with forgetting one dose of medicine + driving in a hot car without air conditioner. Combining the two together made everything worse. I’ve driven without AC in much warmer weather, but I probably wasn’t dehydrated before.

I remember when people (including me) would scoff when celebrities went to the hospital for dehydration. Well, if I had gone to the ER or urgent care on Thursday or Friday morning, they would have kept me until I was back to my baseline. So, it can happen.

The strange thing about this dehydration episode is that drinking water made me feel worse, but Mountain Dew helped! I didn’t have anything else to try so I drank a lot of MD after I figured out, water made me feel worse.

My labs

My labs from last week came back…normal. Wow, I’m not really shocked because that supports a Parkinson’s diagnosis (versus it being a lack of vitamin D or vitamin B12, etc). I’m shocked that my vitamin D is okay. I started a vitamin D3 supplement, but I’ve only taken it about once a week for the past 5 weeks, so I doubt that it had much effect. If it did, that was easy.

(I forget to take supplements all the time. Also, to save money I never take them daily.)

So, it looks like I will probably get a dopamine agonists and maybe NOT an official Parkinson’s diagnosis, which is fine for me unless I lose my job (in this economy,. Could definitely happen) and want to start the SSDI process since autism and getting down to 98lbs due to a chronic illness wasn’t good enough for the good people of the US. (I love it here.)

This reminds me, I called to get information and the person at Social Security had the nerve to say that autism was a covered diagnosis. I wanted to strangle her, but finding her location, getting time off…seemed like too much effort, so instead I said, “well, I already know what will happen. I’m working right now, and I know you all won’t approve me.”

She doubled down!! She knows that I know at least a little of how they work so I didn’t understand the obvious dishonesty. Anyone with a “covered disability” can get SSI or SSDI? NOT TRUE. Why is she spreading that misinformation? She works there. Was she new or something? Is she required to say that? I doubt it. It’s not like Social Security is just holding tons of money and wanting to give it out. lol. If they had extra funds, it would go to the Defense Department, not to me. ha.

I don’t like the side effects from all the dopamine agonists but even my PCP said this is what he would prescribed and it fits my symptoms the best. I can see me wanting taking something different in a few years…if possible.

Another reading survey…

Which of the following types of reader best describes you?

I am a binge reader – I’ll go through phases of reading a lot, then phases of not reading at all.

Adding…I seem to go through 2 to 3 weeks about 4 times a year where reading is unappealing.

What motivates you to engage with book content on social media? (multiple choice)

• Learning about upcoming releases
• Discovering new books or authors

Which types of book content do you enjoy most on social media?

New release recommendations, Themed content/lists, Book reviews/ratings, In-depth text-based book reviews (only after reading the book. I don’t like knowing too much about a book before reading it.) Giveaways and promotions, Bookish hot takes (stopped watching most of these because they aren’t really hot takes)

In general, how do you want to feel when you interact with book content on social media?

Thought-provoked, knowledgeable, excited, motivated, inspired

What kind of content do you want more of from publishers, authors, or creators?

More long form book reviews videos or blogs without spoilers or spoilers at the very end making them easy to skip,

How important is it for a bookish creator to reflect your values in their social media presence?

somewhat opened

Which values are important to you when choosing bookish creators to follow?

Diverse perspectives, Honesty in reviews, Thought-provoking content, Authenticity / “realness”, Literary analysis, Support for underrepresented voices (e.g., LGBT+ representation, gender equity, POC authors/characters)

What I didn’t pick: Positivity (ugh! hell no), Transparency (e.g., paid promotions), Engagement with community, Creativity

What do you wish publishers or authors understood better about the online book community?

Not sure of everyone else but I would like little things about them like their astrology sign. When doing reviews or tracking books I sometimes go to the author website and I rarely see that, which doesn’t feel like that big of a deal. As far as understanding, I can’t think of anything because I don’t think authors owe us anything.

If you could describe your ideal bookish social feed in 3 words, what would they be?

real, informative, diverse interests

Music of July

• Marih Carey
• Taylor Swift
• Ellie Goulding
• Ariana Grande
• Miley Cyrus
• Lorde
• Hailee Steinfeld
• Chappell Roan
• Olivia Rodrigo
• P!nk