I used to pull this move in college when I'd sleep in so late on Sunday morning (or afternoon) that I had no hope of a decent night's rest before Monday's classes. Instead of shooting for a few hours, sleeping through my alarm, and repeating the cycle, I would just stay awake until Monday night. It usually worked out well. I'd watch a few movies, get a bunch of work done, show up wide awake and full of caffeine for my morning classes, and crash early in the evening, reverting to a reasonable sleep schedule for the rest of the week. It was my sleep reset button, and I'm using it again right now.

I find this method most handy in situations where I'm trying to keep my own hours and I'm not accountable to anyone else: weekends, vacations, extended guitar woodshedding. I try to wake up at 6am every day, but I always end up staying up late. If I sleep in, it just gets worse over the following days. It's as if I keep falling down and trying to stand up again, when I really just need to do a somersault. Pull one all-nighter and I'm back on my feet.

I'm in the middle of learning exactly 100 7th chords right now. The Jimmy Bruno DVD I watched yesterday exposed me to a new system of looking at chords. I'll write about it, but not now.

Two-Day Summary

  • legato practice: 3- and 4-note combos with 3 fingers, slow and in time
  • improved the interval trainer
  • SRV: "I'm Cryin'" solo
  • learn a ton of chords
  • gotta do sight reading and ear training