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    <td width="208%" align="center" height="105" valign="top"><p align="left"><u><strong>COLUMN</strong></u></p>
    <p align="center"><big><big><strong>Thus Spake Silestra</strong></big></big></p>
    <font FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="2"><p align="left"></font><strong>From My Journal
    &nbsp; - June 23rd, 1996</strong><font FACE="Times New Roman" size="3"></p>
    </font><p align="left">3:14am<br>
    The insomnia is at work again.&nbsp; I've taken sleeping pills the past two nights, I
    don't want to become reliant upon them.&nbsp; Last night I thoroughly cleaned the
    bathroom.&nbsp; Now I'm afraid I am becoming obsessive.&nbsp; The mirror has light streaks
    from this morning after I wiped it from brushing my teeth.&nbsp; Its driving me crazy.</p>
    <p align="left">I notice my neighbors are also up.&nbsp; He works late, some sort of
    security guard or something.&nbsp; They fight a lot.&nbsp; I don't know what she does.
    &nbsp; I wonder if they are married.&nbsp; I couldn't imagine being married.&nbsp; I'm
    rambling.&nbsp; Ramble on, sister.&nbsp; Ramblers, lets get rambling.</p>
    <p align="left">Ever notice how coffee tastes worse and worse after you drink several
    cups?&nbsp; Not that I'm drinking coffee.&nbsp; I must be craving caffeine, but I'm
    drinking my nighty-night herbal tea like a good girl.</p>
    <p align="left">I sometimes wonder if a person could die from sleep deprivation. &nbsp;
    Wouldn't a person eventually fall asleep no matter the conditions?&nbsp; I know I've
    fallen asleep in some bizarre circumstances: standing in the shower (okay, leaning), back
    rubs, in broad daylight, at a concert, and on stairs.&nbsp; But if a person couldn't fall
    asleep, would their heart stop from being too tired?&nbsp; Would they hallucinate? &nbsp;
    I wonder if it would be like a vision quest.&nbsp; I wonder if I am so sleep deprived I am
    hallucinating?&nbsp; It would be a cool experiment to do.&nbsp; I'm sure some college
    students somewhere are combining drugs and sleep deprivation.&nbsp; Weird stuff.&nbsp;
    3:30am.&nbsp; I've gotta be up in 3 hours.&nbsp; Kinda funny.&nbsp; Gotta be up -- I am
    up.&nbsp; </p>
    <p align="left">This world would be better if work conformed itself to the individual's
    schedule instead of vice versa.&nbsp; I'm going to wast 3 hours -- 3 unproductive hours
    while at work I'm going to be too tired to concentrate.&nbsp; Not my business -- if they
    prefer a tired inefficient me over an awake efficient me, so be it.&nbsp; 3:37am -- time
    to defrost the freezer, I think.</p>
    <p align="left"><font color="#800000"><small><strong>Silestra</strong> is a practicing
    witch and in her spare time is trying to raise a darling little girl.&nbsp; Writing helps
    tame the demons which plague her mind in the wee hours of the morning.&nbsp; She has
    always been attracted to the dark side of life, and has taken many expeditions into the
    deepest darkest parts of the human soul.&nbsp; She has stared into the abyss and has seen
    the monster that stares back.</small></font></p>
    <p align="left"><font color="#800000"><small>She describes herself primarily as a 'random
    net entity' escaping meatspace for cyberspace where all is possible and the imagination is
    the fuel for all action.&nbsp; </small></font></td>
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