Happy & Healthy

Sleepless in the city

Another restless night in bed last night. Who is a worse father, Jeremy Bieber or Donald Trump? Bieber senior, the one who is so proud of this boy’s private parts that he posted a photo of the CN Tower in Toronto as a phallic symbol. Or Trump, the one who has repeatedly said that his daughter Ivanka is so hot that if they weren’t related he would have sex with her.

That’s what’s been keeping me up at night. Wait no, I’m saying it wrong, these aren’t the things keeping me up at night, but it’s the fact that I think about these things.

My name is Ilonka and I’m suffering from insomnia. Now I know everyone occasionally has restless nights, but I’m partaking in the Olympics for staying up all night. The first three years of my life I hardly slept (poor parents). The first night I finally slept in was the night my brother was born and then I woke up pissed off the following morning because they hadn’t woken me up for it. They promised me they would the next time it happened. Well, I’m still waiting. It’s something that’s been a constant ever since I was little. I even went to a sleeping clinic but after six months I decided to call that quits too.

Okay, so sleeping, it’s a problem. Or better put, the lack of it. I’ve got an entire army of devices and then I’m not talking about warm milk or eating a banana, I’ll leave that to the amateurs. The occasional sleeping pill is what my doctor signed for, but that’s something you don’t want to get too hooked to. So for everyone who has restless nights, I’ve come up with a way to pull yourself through the nights where nothing seems to work.

Today I’ve got part one: the new reading. And what I mean by this are podcasts. I discovered podcasts about two years ago, when I was following the incredibly suspenseful Seriel but kept falling asleep due to the readers voice; Sarah Koenig. At first it would annoy me because it meant I would have to re-listen to it, but that was until I realized: I slept! It’s as if your a little kid and your parents are reading you bedtime stories. So hereby, my favorites for you guys:

Serial

This is where it all started. It’s like a documentary in 12 episodes about the murder of Have Min Lee, who disappeared one day after school and her body was found a month later. Her ex boyfriend Adnan Syed get arrested and sentenced, but did he actually do it? Sarah discovers that there’s evidence that’s being withheld and decides to investigate it.

You Must Remember This

A series about the stories and secrets people have forgotten about old Hollywood, written and told by Karina Longworth. From Joan Crawford to Elizabeth Taylor and from Charlie Chaplin to Frank Sinatra, they all get covered. But the most exciting episode is the one about Charles Manson and his following. Although there is also one episode covering the murder of the pregnant Sharon Tate which might be a little to scary right before you go to bed.

The West Wing Weekly

The West Wing, a story about an American president and his staff, it was the first show I ever binge watched, old-fashioned with a DVD box and it’s still one of my favorite shows ever. In this podcast Joshua Malina (who played Will Bailey in WW and David Rosen in Scandal) discusses every episode that ever aired. Sometimes with special guests! Like Donna! Toby! It requires thorough knowledge of the show (good excuse to start binging) and a long breath: if you watch one episode a week it’ll be 2019 by the time you’re finished.

Who is even really going to want any sleep with these? Sleep is for losers!

Written by Ilonka Leenheer