my favorite things to fall asleep to and wake up too

fall asleep:
- a carefully selected This American Life episode
- the sun on my face (there is actually a line in the novel Beloved about how the greatest privilage and best feeling in the world is to fall asleep with the sun on your face)
- reading
- my ceiling fan still chopping air on a hot night
- just turning to the wall my bed is up against and having it feel like I am turning into sleep
- stretching in bed while listening to records
-the dark outline of el Cordobes , the most handsome bullfighter in all of Spain whose picture is right above my bed, and the zodiac scarf that i tacked up to the roof
- fading away from music, the slow and natural diminishing my effort to listen
- one happy thought, something that i hope can make for a good dream


waking up:
-slowly moving sun
-the fifth round of my alarm, after i turn it off and decide that waking up might be mandatory
-having to pee a little bit (then going to the bathroom, and running back to bed just to lie down)
-the crackling sound that a record makes when the needle reaches the middle and your turn table has been running all night for you
-some of my favorite letters that were sent to me that are posted next to my bed
-a missed call from a friend
-a smile, right now its just my own so don't get any ideas