Now, in the company of romance in its incipient stage, studying for Janet is definitely a lot more fun. She and Donald interrupt their reading occasionally to talk about material in the books, to mix drinks, to change albums. At this point, Janet says she doesn't know what affect the relationship will have on her grades, "although it has slowed me down a bit."

The wearying schedule she operates on, dinner at 7:00, book-cracking in Dunster Library at 9:00, "pretending" to study back in Donald's room from 1 until 5:30 every night and up for classes at 9:00 in the morning, makes "bit" sound like something of an understatement. Is this Harvard's answer to the bionic woman?

Lunar Madness

"Why do I like the night? I like the night because I can act the way I always act--which is a little bit crazy--and people accept it. Even preppies aren't put off, the way they would be at a lunch table. Yeah, even tight-ass people. At night, people are more laid back. So I feel there are actually people who belong to my race. During the day, I feel like I'm from another race."

So with this confidence to know that she can do anything she likes, Nancy does the things she likes most, like playing jazz piano interpersed with a little Bach and Brahms all night in the Winthrop Common Room, making mobiles, drawing cartoons, and editing film ("the thing I could do ad infinitum' which she once did for 50 consecutive hours.) Sometimes when she feels the need to socialize, she goes out into the courtyard to look for lit rooms, and knocks on doors there until wee hours of the morning. Occasionally, Nancy goes to bars, "but that," she sneers, "is kids' stuff."

Nancy suspects that the reason people become more tolerant at night is that the dark provides a sense of safety, allowing uptight people to "let go." People make themselves believe that they and others can't really see what they're doing, or hear what they're saying. Besides that, she theorizes, a lot of people under pressure are finally able to relax at night when their daytime responsibilities have been completed.

Even with its numerous advantages, Nancy concedes that the night is not for everyone. Like her roommate, for instance, whom she describes as "the 7 to 11 type." Nancy said her roommate thinks she is evil and morally corrupt on account of her irregular sleep patterns. Nancy fights back. "I keep people up, I think it's good for them," she said.

After a 22 hour day, Nancy said she is generally ready to begin unfolding the sheets for the slumber that she hopes will go 12 to 14 hours. She hates going to bed, but when her fatigue manages to get the best of her, she gives it her all, just as she obviously does with her daytimes.

"You know the 'Early to Bed, Early to Rise, Makes a Man Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise' rhyme?" she offers, rhetorically, and then snickers. "Well I'm not a man."

"The night is a minor masterpiece'" one senior woman said. "Oh, I admit the day is superior. But the night is mine. I think the day is more beautiful and more stimulating and a great masterpiece. But the night is waiting there for me to take, after the day has already been grabbed.