Sleep Deprivation and Public Displays of Affection

Something happens to me when I go west and cross over into the Mountain Time Zone. I think I don't need to sleep. Let me be more specific. There is no conscious thought involved. My body and brain shift into an overdrive mode fueled by caffeine and the company of friends that nearly refuses to let me abandon the fun. So I had three late nights in a row that I'm just beginning to feel recovered from. And I don't recover so quickly from sleep deprivation as I used to! It could be the aging process which occasionally rears its ugly head of late. I'm doing my best to remain in denial of aging by behaving in a more or less adolescent manner. This is a remarkably effective tool at times. I simply take an average between my appearance age and my behavior age and it consistantly comes in far below my calendar age. The magic of mathematics cannot be denied! Just as surprise public displays of affection cannot be ignored. Sunday evening I had the pleasure of sitting by a very attractive and very smart and funny man. We talked about writing and music and acting. He was engaging and sweet and funny and it seemed that over the course of a couple of hours that we were sitting closer to each other by the minute. Maybe not. I'm not doing the best job of sorting out the physical perceptions from the inner ones. But I do remember this next part very clearly. At 2 am we were all summarily kicked out of Paddy's and found ourselves out on the street. And to my surprise this very cute guy gave me a hug. Nice. It gets better. And he kissed me. Quite thoroughly and enthusiastically. I uttered a small prayer. Please, God, let me not be old enough to be his mother. This prayer was almost immediately answered. I did the math. I was rescued once more by the simultaneous logic and magic of the numbers. I was not nearly old enough to be his mother. So I asked him if he'd kiss me again. So he did. Again, quite thoroughly and enthusiastically. And except for the fact that I have a witness, I find myself wondering if it was a dream. Because I just woke up from a very similar one. And now I wonder if he'll read this and recognize himself. I hope so.