I'm not good at drawing, singing, or dancing, but I do have one talent: sleeping. No matter what situation I'm in, I can make myself fall asleep very easily. I don't need it to be dark or quiet, and I don't even need to be tired. I could have gotten 10 hours of sleep the night before, but if I feel like taking a nap at 11 a.m. while sitting on a park bench as a marching band walks by, I can do it.
Artists, singers, and dancers can show off their skills in places like museums, karaoke bars, and FOX competitions involving celebrities trying to tango; just as they have these forums for exhibiting their talents, I too have mine: 10-hour car trips to Massachusetts. Me, Mom, Dad, Kelly, Kate, and Michael all make this trip together every Christmas, and I don't know what I would do if I couldn't sleep throught it.
We are leaving for this year's trip tomorrow morning. As usual, I will bring somewhere along the lines of five magazines, three books, a laptop, four DVDs, and an iPod; also as usual, I will barely read six pages of US Weekly before my eyelids grow heavy and I fall into a deep slumber that is only reserved for interstate highways. I will wake up somewhere around Connecticut to pee at the rest stop we pee at every year (this rest stop, by the way, is what I base my entire impression of the state of Connecticut on, because the only thing I have ever done in that state is pee there), and then I will get back into the car and sleep some more. Eventually, I will arrive at my destination feeling like maybe an hour has passed.
My ability to sleep will not win me a Nobel Prize or gain me fame and acclaim, but it will save me from Christmas carols on the radio, Kate vs. Michael fights in the backseat, and the sounds of my parents making driving "suggestions" to one another as the hours go by and the non-sleepers get more and more impatient with one another. That is enough for me.