"And she said she spent her limited free time ironing undergarments, sewing fraying skirts and reinforcing loose jacket buttons."

I'm reading "Japan Is Startled by Prime Minister’s Grueling Sleep Schedule/Sanae Takaichi has said she gets just 'zero to three hours' of sleep a night, prompting a debate in the country over work-life balance" (NYT gift link).

The article begins: "Monday was Sea Day in Japan, a public holiday when many people escape the summer heat by swimming, surfing and lounging at the beach. But not Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi."

Work-life balance is important. Sleep is important. But here, I'm more interested in a Prime Minister talking about ironing undergarments and accomplishing tiny sewing repairs. What is this theater of humility? Also, that holiday: Sea Day. 

"The teams totaled 34 hits, and 14 pitchers combined to throw 444 pitches. It was the fourth game in major league history with at least 29 runs and 11 homers."

I'm reading "Brewers outlast A's 15-14 in 12 innings as teams combine for 11 homers and 34 hits in Las Vegas/Andrew Vaughn had four hits and four RBIs, including a two-run double that tied the score in the ninth inning, and the Milwaukee Brewers outlasted the Athletics 15-14 in 12 innings at Las Vegas Ballpark in a wild game that featured 11 homers" (WaPo).

No, I wasn't watching. That game started at my bedtime — 9 p.m.

I just noticed that there's a team now that's just named the Athletics — no city/state in the name. Just the mascot... and it's the most generic mascot. The Athletics. And they played in Las Vegas last night — "at the site of their Triple-A affiliate, the Las Vegas Aviators." They seem homeless. They're not in Oakland anymore, and their normal home these days is West Sacramento, but not enough of a home to become part of its name. Playing a few games in Las Vegas this week has something to do with Las Vegas being its future home. A new stadium will open in 2028.

But maybe you watched basketball last night. I'd rather watch a random baseball game than an important basketball game, but I did pause the movie I was watching and go downstairs to hear the National Anthem and catch a glimpse of Trump. The NYT says "Mr. Trump smiled and saluted in the face of deafening boos when he briefly appeared on the arena’s video board...." I went back to my movie — "A Complete Unknown," now, finally, on HBO — but I did look up the result this morning. I see Trump ruined everything:

Ooh, that Trump. The Knicks lost. Meanwhile, Bob Dylan won. That's what Joan Baez says to him at the end of the biopic: "You won." He's all "What did I win?" and then he rides off into the sunset on his motorcycle. 

"In the White House, there is a system for dealing with a president who rarely sleeps. The staff take it in shifts so they get a nap..."

"... even if he doesn’t. Donald Trump’s chief of staff Susie Wiles starts early and stays on until early to mid-evening. Then it’s over to her deputy Dan Scavino, a true Trump old-timer — they met when 16-year-old Scavino was selected to caddie for him — to do the graveyard shift.... [T]he shifts are about being around to help, aid and occasionally advise, rather than blocking. Still, journalists and lobbyists study Trump’s schedule for when best to try to get him alone. A former aide says the best times to call are first thing in the morning or late evening, but he’s such a night owl that some enterprising hacks have got through at 3am. In the morning, his team wakes and checks Truth Social for what Trump has posted — often a mix of AI memes, criticism of his enemies or his latest views on a war — and any likely fallout. His record is 160 posts in one night. Some come via his adviser Natalie Harp, nicknamed the 'Human Printer' for giving the president stacks of positive press cuttings, others from the man himself...."

Writes Katie Balls, in "Donald Trump at 80: is refusing to act his age his secret weapon?/The president is still known to work 12-hour days and post all night as he enters his ninth decade" (London Times).

I wondered if there are some kind of barracks or hotel-like areas in the White House. I think not. That means Susie and Dan are most likely curling up on a sofa in their office. How old is Susie Wiles? Isn't it dangerous to be this sleep deprived? But Trump sets the tone, and he seems to be all about conquering sleep, the thief of life.

Genuine Trump quote: "You know, I’m not a big sleeper. I like three hours, four hours. I toss, I turn, I beep-de-beep, I want to find out what’s going on."

"But there could be many downsides to interfering with an activity as essential and mysterious as sleep...."

"'Sleep has its own universe, and we should better use that moment for what it’s good for,' [one neuroscientist said]... Dreams are not some barren landscape waiting to be populated,... they follow their own rules and presumably serve their own inexplicable aims. 'We should care about them, promote them, and nurture them, rather than trying to replace them,' [he] said.... [Another dream researcher] discussed the dangers of trying to 'colonize' sleep with what she called 'wake-centric values.' In her own life, she might prefer to learn from sleep than learn during sleep."

From "It’s Possible to Learn in Our Sleep. Should We? New research suggests that people can communicate and even practice skills while dreaming" (The New Yorker).

Waking up at 3 a.m. — "the quiet interstice of night"....