DUH!!!

It's a good dinner. So good, my taste buds are down on their knees kissing my hands to express their gratitude. It's been a fun day. The kids enjoy the day trip - the driver, not so much. But he's more than happy to see his kids' content and tired faces at the end of the day. Cool night, satisfied stomach, mission accomplished, should be a good drive home.

After a brief chat, the kids have already dropped into a serene silence within 5 minutes. After a day of enduring the kids' excited screams around the pool, their unending complains during the climbs and walks at the temple under the hot tropical sun, the cool silence in the car is much welcomed.

After a short 10 minutes on the receiving end of the sleepy brainwaves transmitted from my wife and two kids, my mind is starting to give in to the hypnotizing effect amid the silence. My head is beginning to remind me of its presence with its increasing weight. My eyes have to keep winking on a more regular basis to charge up my defense and divert the alluring brainwaves.

Since I can't throw the three wave emitting sources out of the car, I try to break the monotonous buzz of the engine a little bit by varying the speed of the car. I rev it up a little bit above the speed limit of 110km/h and then let it drop back a little bit. I lift my feet up slightly from the pedal a little bit, and then press it down a little bit. Up ... then down ... up ... then down. I have never realized that such a driving style would have an effect of a cradle being rocked inside the car. The kids are starting to snore! Up ... down ... up ... down ... up ... down ... down ... down ... down ...

DUH!!!

Okay, under this circumstance, a rocking cradle should be the last thing on my mind.

Music. Kenny G - "Songbirds", "Silhouette" - that should keep my mind entertained. Hopefully it'll be entertained enough to distract it from the sexy temptress from the Land of Slumber. The smooth rhythm, the soothing saxophone, the relaxing mood, they are creating a soft cushion of air around me. Soft as cotton, like the cotton of my pillows, lying comfortably on my bed. Ahh ... my sweet and loving bed. How loving … how nice ...

DUH!!!

Damn. Wrong choice.

Let's see. Yanni is good. "Marching Season" - ahh … nothing like the inspiring, heartbeat driving music to chase away the Goddess of Drowsiness. Fast tempo. Good. Attacking piano. Good. Thumping drums. Good. My spirit is up. My eyes are wide open. That's better. Let's keep up the spirit.

Once is inspirational. Twice is uplifting. Thrice is good. Four times mixes ordinary into good. Five times blends in the monotony. Six times make it sound like … like Kenny G. Seven-times brought out the, the, errr ... the pillow?

DUH!!!

Heck! Seems like music is not going to work either. I have to keep the mind working. Give it some strenuous tasks.

It's a rainy day - hmmm …not catchy enough. Cats and dogs have been dropping like the sky has open the gate of the ponds? The silence of the night was blown away by rain? The rain has announced its arrival in the style of an atomic bomb being dropped?

Time has been short due to work these past few days for me to find some good first lines of a few post-in-progress. A good first line will usually broach a lead for my muse to chase. But without a certain depth of thoughts on the subject, the task is doubly hard. Under the inappropriate mood, the muses are never interested in leaving their stable. Right now, all that's on my mind are "drowsiness", "sleepiness", "pillows", "bed", etc. Hmmm …

Duh!!! Duh!!! Duh!!!

At last, after some hard battles fought and won by the bravery of my mind, and a brief stop along the highway to answer a call from Mother Nature, we are finally home sweet home. There's no better way to make sleep more enjoyable than a night of driving with the mind tired from battling the devil called sleep. Now, the devil will transform itself into an angel leading me to my much desired land of dream on my comfortable bed. But I doubt I'll have any dream tonight.


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