In Albuquerque, New Mexico Insomnia is a coffee bar at 4013 Silver Ave. It is a little hard to find if you've never been there before. The best way I've found to reach it is to travel west on Central and then take a left in front of The Pulse. This will take you onto a street that will gradually lead you into a left turn onto another street running parallel to Central, and this is Silver Ave. If you continue down Silver, the second building on your right will be Insomnia. Insomnia is locally owned and operated by Suzanne and Heath. The trademarked symbol of Insomnia is a crescent moon with an open eye resting on the tip of the moon. That is the sign you'll see above the front door
Insomnia is open from 9 PM to 3 AM every night of the week, except Monday. There is a cover charge to get in on Fri. and Sat. nights. The cover charge is usually $3.00 unless there is a band playing that night, in which case the charge can be up to $5.00. The nice thing about being charged cover is that you get a ticket good for one free drink at the bar. Most of the drinks are about $2.00 to $3.00, so it sort of balances out.
One of the nice things about Insomnia is the building design. When you walk through the front door you're in the main room, and the drink window (where you order and such) is in the back. There are usually three or four coffee tables in the main room, all decked out with games like Chinese Checkers, Risk, Chess, Sorry, Candy Land, and Clue. To the right of the main room is a smaller room where people go to think, write, or just talk in a quieter and calmer location. Next to the drink window on the right is a doorway that leads to a room half the size of the main room. At the back of this room is a stage that the bands use to play on, and where a local poetry reading is held on Wens. nights. To the left of the stage is a doorway that leads to the bathrooms, a backdoor out of Insomnia, and the entrance to the kitchen. To the right of the stage is another, smaller room, that is home to the original Frogger and Centipede Arcade Games] (I've lost more quarters to Frogge than I care to remember).
Insomnia is comfortably furnished in old, beat-up, plush couches and chairs. They are dangerously comfortable, (dangerous only because they are easy to fall asleep on, and if this happens Heath will take the liberty of gently waking you from you peaceful slumber by shouting through a megaphone next to your ear. There is also the danger of sinking in the upholstery and becoming lost in the nether regions of the couch or chair) and look like something you'd drag out of a high school drama furniture loft.
Insomnia also offers you an interesting cross-section of social groups and classes. Just about any stereotype of person you could think up eventually seems to walk, stumble, or be drug in through the doors at some point. There was once an ugly incident of someone running through the doors while aflame, but that's another story.
The usual cast of characters to expect at Insomnia are as follows - Angel, Athena, Balls, Bones, Casper, Charles, Dark Heart (not the villain from the Care Bears), Dee, Derrick (he'll be the one talking to people that aren't really there), Dice, Emma Rose, Erin, Foxy (when she's not in jail), Froggy, Ghost, Irish Mike, Legend, Liz, Mel, Opal Anne, Phoenix, Roman, Samantha, Sin, Sparky, Stephen, Sway, Tony Santiago, Trip, and Ug (short for Ugly). I'm really not sure as to how many of these people came to have their nicknames. In the case of Dark Heart he liked the name, and just started to demand the everyone at Insomnia call him by it, which is a little strange. As far as I know you have to earn your nickname, you can't just give yourself one. In the case of Sin, her nickname makes sense. Sin was originally spelled Cyn, which was short for her real name, Cynthia. Sin changed the spelling after she had The Seven Deadly Sins tattooed down her spine.
In the morning, when Insomnia closes (which is sort of ironic), everyone goes to a nearby park to play on the swings or in the sand box. People from Insomnia also tend to circulate between two others establishments known as The Blue Dragon and Astro-Zombies. If you are ever visiting Albuquerque, it is recommended to stop in at least one of these three places. You're guaranteed to meet some interesting people. Some are crazy and beautiful, and others make you want to walk across the street to avoid passing them (though this is usually to do with BO, and not intimidation). Insomnia does have good coffee, plus you can pick up some free condoms and a weekly copy of The Alibi at the door.
As of July 25, 2003 Insomnia shut its doors permanently. It is now called The Cafe Next Door and is owned by the Bookstore Next Door. It will be missed sorely by those of us who used to frequent it.