Little Bo Peep Fell Fast Asleep
I have discovered that, amazingly, Blondie is a very valuable teaching tool. In addition to the lesson I gave yesterday, we had some members of the class share some valuable information with us. Anonymous told us about Clearwater's Scientology link. Meanwhile, Howard shared some Blondie/Mr. Dithers history with us. Thank you for sharing, Anonymous and Howard! Let's let the Bumsteads continue to educate us:
Dagwood says the reason counting sheep didn't help is: they would baaaaaah at him! This, of course, would be the layman's explanation of the inefficacy of counting sheep. And, sure, that explanation works fine for someone like Dagwood Bumstead. But, let's reach a little higher, shall we?
Behavior Research and Therapy published an article in 2002 wherein Oxford University researchers found that that counting sheep does not work because it is just too boring to keep the mind off problems and concerns. You can read the abstract of "The Management of Unwanted Pre-Sleep Thoughts in Insomnia: Distraction with Imagery Versus General Distraction" here. (Oh, here's another lesson for ya: The titles of scholarly research articles are boooooooooring. Editing these things is my day job -- trust me on this).
By the way, you can also find the e-mail of the study's lead author on that last link. In case you have any questions. For instance, "Dr. Allison Harvey, in your study, did you control for the fact that the sheep may 'baaaah' at an insomnia patient? I have evidence (insert Blondie strip image) showing that this is a problem in at least some people." Then, you can do your own research: finding out how long it takes a distinguished Oxford researcher to respond to a crazy crank using Dagwood Bumstead as evidence. Let us know the results.
Do you want the dumbed-down version of this report? CNN posted it here. Best part of the CNN article is the "Quickvote" poll that lists "have a stiff drink" and "make love" as ways to help you fall asleep. Aw, yeah! Counting sheep is boring enough, but when compared with a delicious adult beverage and a roll in the hay . . . ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. Hey, it works!
No one has studied whether reading a Family Circus anthology will put you to sleep or rasie the levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, to unsustainable levels. (If anyone e-mails Dr. Harvey, maybe you can suggest that as an avenue for future study).
Dagwood says the reason counting sheep didn't help is: they would baaaaaah at him! This, of course, would be the layman's explanation of the inefficacy of counting sheep. And, sure, that explanation works fine for someone like Dagwood Bumstead. But, let's reach a little higher, shall we?
Behavior Research and Therapy published an article in 2002 wherein Oxford University researchers found that that counting sheep does not work because it is just too boring to keep the mind off problems and concerns. You can read the abstract of "The Management of Unwanted Pre-Sleep Thoughts in Insomnia: Distraction with Imagery Versus General Distraction" here. (Oh, here's another lesson for ya: The titles of scholarly research articles are boooooooooring. Editing these things is my day job -- trust me on this).
By the way, you can also find the e-mail of the study's lead author on that last link. In case you have any questions. For instance, "Dr. Allison Harvey, in your study, did you control for the fact that the sheep may 'baaaah' at an insomnia patient? I have evidence (insert Blondie strip image) showing that this is a problem in at least some people." Then, you can do your own research: finding out how long it takes a distinguished Oxford researcher to respond to a crazy crank using Dagwood Bumstead as evidence. Let us know the results.
Do you want the dumbed-down version of this report? CNN posted it here. Best part of the CNN article is the "Quickvote" poll that lists "have a stiff drink" and "make love" as ways to help you fall asleep. Aw, yeah! Counting sheep is boring enough, but when compared with a delicious adult beverage and a roll in the hay . . . ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. Hey, it works!
No one has studied whether reading a Family Circus anthology will put you to sleep or rasie the levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, to unsustainable levels. (If anyone e-mails Dr. Harvey, maybe you can suggest that as an avenue for future study).
posted by big al at 8:10 PM
2 Comments:
Dag's probably tired from driving all the way from Clearwater, FL to their home (I always thought they lived in upstate NY). All nighter!
Do people seriously count sheep in an attempt to fall asleep? That's...odd. I've been told to clean as a cure for insomnia.
Post a Comment
<< Home