Got knocked off my stringent sleep schedule

Sleep is supremely importantly to me, and having a consistent sleep schedule is paramount to my proper functioning. I go to bed and wake up at the same time every single day - no snoozing even on weekends, a habit that helps me fall asleep quickly and wake up really refreshed.

When social situations interrupt that flow, it takes quite a few days to get back into on track. Gone are the college days (man I miss those) where I can pull all-nighters with impunity. This past Friday I went to see the latest Mission Impossible film with some friends, and by doing so I completely missed my regular sleep window (11:30pm to 7:30am). I didn’t return home until well pass midnight, and wasn’t eyes shut until 2am. 

Sidebar: Mission Impossible: Fallout is a fantastic movie. Felt its length at times but the action is expectedly spectacular and the slow human bits decently executed. Tom Cruise is an action movie legend, as great as ever at age 56. Just look at this showreel of the crazy stunts he had to do for Fallout. The man truly is the Jackie Chan of American cinema. 

Anyways, by virtue go going to sleep late on Friday (or rather, early Saturday), I naturally woke up much later on Saturday morning. This created a negative cascading effect on my sleeping schedule that as of today I’m still trying to recover from. Last night I attempted to sleep at usual hour but it proved difficult and I dawdled in bed for a long time before success at rest. 

Having to wake at the usual 7:30am for work today meant I am of course tired and not at 100 percent. I resorted to buying a cup of coffee as soon as I got to work instead of waiting after breakfast as I usually do. Whatever voodoo recuperative energy I had back in college, if someone could bottle that into an ingestible vial I'd pay excellent money for it.  

Until that happens, perhaps the solution is to suck it up, take the hit, and wake up at usual time no matter when I went to bed the night before. That way I won't still be affected a few days later. 

Take me to church. 

Tom Cruise is still learning

I was watching one of my weekly Korean variety shows, and none other than Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, and Simon Peck showed up this week as guests. It seems nothing is more effective to promote a Hollywood film in Korea than special guesting on one of their popular television programs. Ryan Reynolds did it for Deadpool 2 to perfection, so I guess the Mission Impossible PR team thought it would be great to have Tom Cruise and company pop in on Running Man. 

Can’t speak for how it was received in Korea (probably well), but as an American viewer who speaks Korean, it’s always a bit weird when foreign stars and personalities show up on Korean shows. The language barrier between the hosts and guests almost always produce a few cringe-inducing moments for me. Because I can remember the awkward moments I had last year traveling to Korea and conversing with the local population in my then not so decent Korean.  

Before commencing with games the Running Man host conducted a brief interview, in which it was revealed that Tom Cruise spent a year and a half learning how to fully fly a helicopter for the new movie. Obviously he did all his own stunts as well. 

Cruise, in his mid 50s, with all the money and fame in the world, still found it prudent to dedicate tremendous amounts of hours to acquire a new craft. He could’ve easily pawn helicopter flying off to the stunt team but his dedication and passion wouldn’t allow it, and that I admire highly. I believe the challenge of life, aside from being gainfully employed to sustain ourselves and our family, is to be constantly learning new things. Tom Cruise gets that. 

I’m currently learning Korean - only reason I’m watching Korean television - and once I’m satisfied with my proficiency level (one is never truly "done" or finished with learning a language) I shall move on to attain another skill. A movement I hope to sustain, like Tom Cruise, well into my 50s and beyond.  

You know the Chinese always make good stuff.