double, double, toil and trouble

Gah. You'd think there was nothing worse than insomnia, in the sense of lying awake for hours trying to get to sleep in the first place, except that in fact it's possibly worse from the other end. This morning I woke up randomly at 3.45am with my feet in cramp (again!) and couldn't get back to sleep, which is a whole new order of horrible. I was at work by 6.30 and cleared out my entire inbox in a virtuous glow which lasted only until I realised that ceaseless, unremitting attention to it and the telephone from my first phone call at 7.30am onwards (and what's with that? 7.30am is my personal work-getting-done-uninterrupted time, bug off!) was only just sufficient to keep up with the new queries as they came in. Advice at this time of year is a full-time job, which is unfortunate, since I'm also running orientation and that's an 11-hour day in itself. I need to be two people, at least, possibly three, on the "Four six-foot Nubian guards with scimitars" principle. And a pit-bull. If I was three people and a pit-bull maybe someone would occasionally read and obey the notice on my door which says I'm NOT AVAILABLE!

I could be one person several times, or in two cities at once. I'm now going to babble enthusiastically about China Miéville's new novel, The City and the City, on the grounds that (a) it was bloody brilliant and completely did my head in, and (b) after all this admin I really need to demonstrate to myself that I still have something resembling an intellect. I'm also going to cut it, because the aspect I want to enthuse about will really spoil your enjoyment if you haven't read it. ( Proceed at your own peril. )

Of course, I've now spent half an hour lovingly constructing this post, and I really don't have the time, but I'd like to see it as an essentially political gesture of rebellion and self-definition, and stuff the bloody venue allocations. Being an administrator is an act of wilful perception. I should do something about that.