I don't know what the real reason is, but for the last few weeks, or months, I guess, there just hasn't been any real interest in hitting a consistent sleep pattern. If I can find any excuse to stay up later, I'll do it.

Having always been a night owl, throughout high school (in the summers) and college, I frequently held jobs that had me up when the rest of the world was in slumber. Whether I was acting as a caretaker for developmentally disabled adults at age 17, or editing the college newspaper Web site at age 20, it wasn't too uncommon to be heading to work in the dark and coming home in the dark. In fact, the first column I ever wrote for the Daily Californian at Berkeley was about just that. Titled "Night Sights", the piece simply chronicled the walk home from work to the dorms. While looking back on it, the writing wasn't that great, it was a start.

Now with something resembling a normal work schedule where I get in the office around 8 and leave after 6, I can't exactly sleepwalk to work. But even if my alarm is set for 6-something the next morning, I'm not exactly pushing myself to be in bed at any kind of good time the night before. We've traditionally had midnight as the goal, but of late have extended it to 1, and recently 2 or 3 hasn't been that out of the ordinary, whether it's useless Web surfing, book-reading, Tivo consuming or anything else, it's just not becoming a priority.

For a day like today, where I got up earlier than usual due to an early start at work, the "grown-up" thing to do would have been to cut out the caffeine and work toward being rested, but we never got there. It seems to me that sleeping is simply a waste of time, where we could be more productive. If I could find a way to eliminate it altogether, I'd be the first test subject. We've got to find better things to do.

Listening to ''Walking In My Shoes (Random Carpet Mix)'', by Depeche Mode (Play Count: 7)

The world's most popular search engine may still claim they are focused on search, but that corporate mantra is getting more diluted by the day, as Google continues to launch new tertiary apps that vary widely from the company's core focus (or original focus, anyway). Every tech site worth their salt is abuzz with the news that Google is set to take on Microsoft Excel through the launch of Google spreadsheet.

And as with the vast majority of Google's non-search products, the database app is probably going to be called "Beta" for a significant time and is debuting light on features. As the Wall Street Journal writes, Google spreadsheet "is a simple, early version that lacks some sophisticated features such as the ability to create charts or drag and drop data." Oh. But why would I need those features anyway? How silly of me! At this point, I'm almost siding with the snide remark from Microsoft's General Manager in the same article who said, "There's nothing new here really," saying Google Spreadsheet is just one of many competitors to the software monolith's office suite.

Additional coverage: ZDNet, Micro Persuasion, GigaOM, Silicon Valley Sleuth, Searchblog

Listening to ''A New Sensorium (John Johnson Mix)'', by DJ Kimball Collins (Play Count: 6)

Last year, the A's didn't see much production out of their DH position, and in the offseason, a big acquisition was made to bring offense to the one position where you can completely stink at defense, and nobody cares. A very big acquisition that goes by the moniker, "The Big Hurt". Two months into the 2006 campaign, Frank Thomas ranks second on the team in home runs, with 13, is third in RBIs (30), and is second in walks (29). The ANtics looks in on his progress, in "A's Big Man On Campus".

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ANtics Archive: 2005/06 ANtics | PDF | Take The Poll

11 years after I was supposed to attend my senior prom (I didn't end up going), I finally made it tonight, although I have to add a slight caveat - it wasn't for my graduating class, and I got to go as a chaperone/adult and not as a happy-go-lucky 18 year old on my way out of high school and a step closer to the real world. Instead, my attendance was one of the many side-benefits of being married to a high school teacher. Last year, I had the privilege of attending Junior Prom on my birthday, and this year, a little over a year later, I got to take the same kids to their Senior Prom - held on a Hornblower boat for a San Francisco Bay tour.

Despite being older than these kids by more than a decade, and finding myself slip into the realm of being an old fogey, aghast at some outfits, some intimate dancing and not "getting" every rap tune, we still managed to have a pretty good time. The boat cruise went through some of the most breathtaking sights around the Bay - from Alcatraz to the Port of Oakland, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Bay Bridge and by downtown San Francisco. The boat itself featured full meals, desserts and drinks, and two separate dance floors - one with fast-paced, mainstream music, and another (much less popular) that was considerably more mellow.

Though we tried to be the stand-offish security types who look askance at odd behavior, we too got on the dance floor - trying to beat these teeny-boppers at their own game. Unfortunately, the musical preferences strayed closer to rap than the occasional techno anthem - though we were treated to a variety from Fat Boy Slim to Green Day. One of these days, I swear I'm going to volunteer as DJ and see if I can win some converts. But that's one of those unrealized dreams, probably.

So long as I stay young enough to avoid looking creepy, I won't mind doing this year after year. We should get out, and the price is right. Most of the kids are there to have a great time, and the less "square" the chaperones, the better off they'll be. At least now I have a positive prom story to go with my own Junior Prom travesty and skipped Senior Prom.

Listening to ''The American Way'', by The Crystal Method (Play Count: 8)