Tomorrow sometimes scares me and I don't want it to come. If you find yourself facing a new day full of opportunities and happenings which you want to take no part in, try these ways I've found that help prolong the night and make tomorrow seem improbable.

• write
  If you're a perfectionist it can take up immeasurable moments of time. Poetry, prose, letters, whatever...just write until your hand is paralyzed.

• read
  It should take you about 4 hours to finish a decent-sized book. You could also opt for magazines, newspapers, and, of course, everything.

• listen to music
  My radio is oddly positioned in such a way that I can twist the tuner when there are no lights on. This only keeps me occupied for about 30 minutes, though. For a marathon musical diversion try a best of Andrew Lloyd Webber compilation or all of The Cure's albums.

• watch television
  The all-time champion in wasted hours, television keeps on truckin' all night long. It's better if you have cable or a satellite dish, but one can even survive on basic service if that's all he has (although there is that horrible moment when America the Beautiful plays, signaling the end of the broadcast day and you have to actually change channels).

• fantasize
  Talk to people in your head. It's not crazy...really. Imagine all sorts of situations that could never happen and play them out in your imagination. Be creative...

• think
  Just lay in bed and don't try to stop the thoughts that you try to silence all day long. This is about a 2-hour vigil for me.

• talk
  On the phone. To a family member. On the internet.

• browse the internet
  You won't even see the sun coming up...

• model
  Try on all the clothes in your closet and see how they look. This is actually productive because you will no doubt find a large amount of clothes which do not fit, thus freeing up much closet space when you stash them someplace else.

• clean
  Staying with the productive and time-consuming theme...but don't force this one on yourself. You have to be in a neat-freak mood. Time usage varies with how disorganized your dwelling is.

• get a hamster
  Of course, any nocturnal critter will do, but I'm partial to hamsters. The furry fellow will share the same hours as you, so you can take him out of his cage and allow him to roam the house and get some out-of-cage exercise. Keep his cage in your room, too--his noisy late-night frolicking will help you to avoid sleep.

• go outside
  This is my favorite. The night is beautiful. I'm sure it would be much more beautiful if I weren't surrounded by civilization on every side, but it's still lovely to go outside, sit, and stare at the sky. I find that around 4 a.m. everything gets a surreal quality and the sky morphs into something ethereal. Once it turned a reddish-purpleish hue and you could still see the moon illuminating the clouds close by...(I wish I could paint or draw).

I'm sure everyone has their own tactics that they use, but this is what works for me. I'm not promoting forced insomnia here, but sometimes I just don't want to go to sleep...I know there's others like me...