Blogging in Uganda (Part 6): Ugandan Insomniac

For something that is supposed to come naturally, sometimes sleeping can be a difficult task. Imagine being wide awake at night while others purr and grunt in blissful oblivion. That can be frustrating, and only more so if you have a partner sleeping like a baby besides you. And snoring. Loudly. Most people might reach for the bottle of sleeping pills. For at least one person though, that frustration is being channeled into a blog. Lucky us.

From what I can tell, Ugandan Insomniac has not been lying awake at night for very long. She introduced herself in May of this year as a "30-something quack psychoanalyst (un)successfully pondering the complexities of herself, her people, her country and her world". Since then she has averaged about five posts a week.

Prolific? Perhaps not, but it is the quality that counts here. None of the posts are very long; each one is an anecdote laced with wit and cynicism, and just enough sarcasm to make it humorous. My favorite thus far has been the Dilemma of a Gorgeous 30-Something, in which she narrates her evening with a blind date, and his mother:

Fifth Hour: I gave Blindie a ride to his home in Mbuya and we sat out his terrace for what seemed like hours. He asked me if I was cold and put his arm around my shoulder to warm me. Then in the middle of an inane conversation about paper clips, he took my hand and kissed it and I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t be. And I puckered up for the Real Deal.

As if on cue, the lights in his living room went on, the curtains opened and a pokerfaced old woman shouted, “Blindie-ji, is that you? What took you so long to come home? Aap kyon aaye so late?”

“Mom …” Blindie said, “I’m okay. I’m here with a friend.”

Fuck.

Equally amusing is a recent introspection about her compulsion to find the perfect Indian man.

While some of the posts are a little Carrie Bradshaw-esque, reducing this blog to an imitation of a popular American TV show would not only be a misleading comparison, it would suggest that such writing cannot be done in homage to Candance Bushnell. That said, it is up to Ugandan Insomniac show us why the inevitable comparison is meaningless. Already there are signs that she has chosen an alternative route. Though the blog offers some opinions on beauty—the writer's thoughts on her own beauty to be specific—there is no lingering fascination with sex here, only a clear willingness to be frank on the subject when it comes up. And there is nothing overtly "feminine" about this blog either, certainly not in any mainstream sense. No candy pink colors or stiletto heels. But there is a woman who is, on some level, pissed off about something. Perhaps it is the clueless dates, or bad restaurants, or just the lack of sleep. In any case, she does well not to make her problems our own; merely our own amusement.

Overall, the mood is one of a dark comedy, featuring a protagonist who may be just a little too self-aware but lovable all the same. To this plot, the design is suited. The grey and brown text over a black background is a bold design choice, and well matched by the pair of eyes that stare out at you on every page (I am not sure whether she is daring the reader to judge her, or daring the reader to dare her to judge herself). I am not crazy about the purple links (hard to see) or the Snap Shot plugin (intrusive), but neither one is a deal-breaker.