Apropos of Nothing *4*

Mad Grad Student · 2005-03-05 23:48:29

Just so all of you know, if you don't replace a cable modem every two years or so expect it to suddenly break with no notice at the most inopportune time. Moreover, my modem problems have kept me pretty much completely out of the loop internet-wise for about two weeks, so I'm a little annoyed right now. The funny thing is, you would expect a little bit of warning first, something like slowed downloads, grainy video quality, or some harbinger of impending hardware doom, but it's like the thing just suddenly kicked off for no apparent reason. Right while I was downloading a SeaLaunch webcast, too! Yar.

Earlier today the Regional Science Bowl competition was held for Maricopa County. Here are a few notes worth mentioning from the front academic lines:
-This year NCHS (us) had three teams competing, instead of two. However, since two ended up facing off against each other, this didn't turn out two well.
-We doubled female participation since 2004 (from one to two).
-Drinking four grape/black cherry sodas will make you very hyper. In a few hours you will be very tired. It's not fun, I tried it.
-30 is in fact part of the arithmetic sequence 2, 6, 10, ...
-If a team member offers to give you an electric shock, you should probably politely decline. It hurts. This applies to any team, actually.
-Echinoderms r0x0rz.
-For that matter, so do the Men in Black.

As you might infer, our theme this year was once again Men in Black. I'm still kicking myself over all of the subtleties of the competition. If just one thing had gone differently, maybe we could have made it past the quarterfinals, etc. I suppose that (going to the quarterfinals) in of itself is somewhat of an accomplishment, but still. It'd take me a while to explain the other notes, but then again this is the apropos. If any of you want me to elaborate I'll jump right in.

Good grief I need to get some sleep.

dicktice · 2005-03-06 15:37:01

Good grief, that world you inhabit (at what: 20?) is so far from my world (at 70+) that you might just as well be "on Mars," already!

Palomar · 2005-03-06 17:47:25

Yeah, dreams are weird like that, there's some sort of hypnotic effect that makes you want to suspend disbelief at whatever's happening in them, no matter how outlandish. I had a completely unrealistic dream last night, one that was like the plot of a really bad Hong Kong martial arts flick (ninjas-versus-undead battle royale, rated R for ridiculous violence) and yet somehow this did not trigger the I-am-dreaming realization that I often get in dreams. There's some sort of strong suppression of reality going on in the brain somewhere. Either that or I accidentally got Cobra's dream or something.

*Hi Trebuchet:

With most dreams I seem to somehow subconsciously sense they aren't real. But a few seem like The Reality, like the one I just posted about; you wake up and are genuinely surprised that suddenly you're in a different reality and that other wasn't real. It's disorienting. If somehow I'd have gotten pulled into that world in the flesh, and permanently, I doubt I'd have remembered *this* life.

I am curious where the heck such weird dream subject matter came from, though. I've heard the theory that dreams involve the days event's somehow, but I don't remember any ninjas or undead hordes or enormous kung-fu battles happening yesterday, and those aren't the kinds of things you'd forget. Bad martial arts or horror movies aren't even something I like or watch, so...
I'm holding with the theory that a good number of your dreams are wholly random beyond any ability to rationalize. It's the only explanation that makes sense. :laugh:

Yes, I'd agree. One of the weirder dreams is dreaming you've woken up, turned off the alarm clock and are stepping out into another part of the house to get on with your day...then there's a brief "blank" period, then the alarm DOES go off and now you really are awake. That is beyond weird.

Has anyone else here ever dreamed that you woke up and were going through the motions of getting on with your day, only to wake up and realize it was just a dream?

As an aside: One of the nicest dreams I ever had (years ago) was of William Shatner kissing me.

--Cindy

P.S.: Has anyone here ever had a mythic dream? By that I mean you had a seems-real dream involving a being from mythology who interacted with you?

In 1996 my husband and I camped overnight at a National Forest campground on former Mogollon Indian land. I was thinking about the Native Americans of the area during the day. A 3/4 full waning moon rose while we slept. At some point I "woke up," raised myself on my left elbow and looked toward the back, right-hand side of the tent (where the moonlight shone through). I saw the Hopi Spider Woman "suspended" in the upper right-hand corner, with the illumination of the moon behind her. She had the head of a woman (older, with hair pulled back) and the body of a spider (makes sense). I didn't feel repulsed or unnerved, and kept looking at her while she talked to me. It was peaceful and serene. She was not speaking English (logical) but I could "understand" what she was saying. Then it was over. I wish I could have remembered what she said to me. Never have had an occurrence like that before or since.

Mad Grad Student · 2005-03-06 18:39:23

Good grief, that world you inhabit (at what: 20?) is so far from my world (at 70+) that you might just as well be "on Mars," already!

You talkin' to me? I only ask because I'm really not sure. If so, my guess is that we probably live in the same world, just with profoundly different perspectives on it (I'm 16 actually). The good thing is that the real universe is shockingly better, more exciting, more incredible, and downright weirder than any fake universe that's been thought of so far. The real world a pretty cool place.

As for dreams, I've found that my strangest dreams tend to occur when I'm sleep-deprived and just before I'm woken up. I don't recall ever having a mythic dream, although my dreams do occasionally incorporate various characters from fiction/literature. Earlier today I finished reading Airframe, and a little while ago had a dream where I was the main character, Casey Singleton. That was an interesting dream. I've dreamed entire days before only to wake up and then have to do them myself, that's not too much fun.

For some reason when I dream I have absolutely no idea whatsoever that there is any reality outside of the dream. For the moment, the dream becomes the only real objective reality as far as I'm concerned, so it's kinda freaky when I wake up to a totally different world. Usually, though, as soon as I wake up I realize that, duh, this one is the real world and generally forget everything about what I dreamed within about 45 seconds. Isn't that funny, how any memories you gain from dreams just seem to evaporate once you wake up? Perhaps once your mind realizes that none of the dream actually happens it tries to dump the memories to make room for more important real ones.

Well, that's about all the time for idle speculation I have right now.

dicktice · 2005-03-06 20:18:08

I remember radio without loudspeakers, telephones without dials ("Number please?), cars without radios, airplanes that have to be hand-proppped, no girls without chaperons, mechanical calculators which can't do division, mental arithmetic, and no digital computers in sight. Science fiction hinted at your world, but ignored the fact that people don't change. Your world, of my future, is tough on the elders in a way we never predicted. The children are the parents of the mothers and fathers who grew up in my world with respect to computers, at this stage of development. Don't abuse your skills. Hacking may be fun, but when the stored program digital computer becomes aware, look out you future dads and moms. That's what I mean by different worlds.

Palomar · 2005-03-06 20:29:42

*Dicktice: If you don't mind my asking, what were you doing in the Summer of Love: 1967?

I was 2 years old; toddling around and getting into mischief no doubt.

You were ... a bit older. :;): I'll not presume you were at Haight-Ashbury.

Anyway, just curious, if you'd like to answer.

Mad Grad Student: Isn't that funny, how any memories you gain from dreams just seem to evaporate once you wake up? Perhaps once your mind realizes that none of the dream actually happens it tries to dump the memories to make room for more important real ones.

Yep, I think that's true. Although often I can remember dreams (even ho-hum ones) throughout the day.

--Cindy

dicktice · 2005-03-07 11:34:38

Cindy: I don't mind admitting that I was doing electronics engineering in Europe during the 60's, having escaped from the North American chaperoned society (sob) of the 50's ... and I've never looked back. By the way, if you can remember your dreams in some detail, more than a few minuts of waking up, you are not sleeping properly, since dreams are an expression of your mind's reorganizing itself after the preceeding period of wakefulness. (I thought that was understood by one and all, by now.) One 3mg Melatonin tablet taken with a glass of water, 30-minutes before bedtime, does the trick for me: No two dreams are alike, even if I turn over upon awaking early and hit the snooze alarm for one more hour's sleep. I've never felt better since I started taking melatonin, 5 years ago. In fact, my next birthday I'll subtract a year, and continue doing so each year thereafter, until people stop saying, "You don't look that old."

Palomar · 2005-03-09 10:33:55

Cindy: I don't mind admitting that I was doing electronics engineering in Europe during the 60's, having escaped from the North American chaperoned society (sob) of the 50's ...

*Thanks. Well, I'm not sure what you mean by "chaperoned society of the '50s." ?

On a different note: Our trees are budding/blooming (lots of fruit trees around here), shrubbery are blooming, and myriads of little white butterflies are fluttering around. They and their cousins, the tiny yellow butterflies, are prettiest IMO; they look like flimsy bits of fabric fluttering about. Haven't seen the yellow butterflies yet.

On a different note: December 1968, Collinsport, Maine: Joe is in bad shape. He has barely recuperated from Angelique vampirizing him and now his cousin -- Chris -- has come back to town after Tom (his brother) died. Tom was a vampire who got staked, was reanimated and later died in the morning sunlight. Anyway, Chris is a werewolf. He attacked Joe one evening, and now Joe has seen Chris' hideous transformation. Joe's mind was strained after Angelique's attacks, and now this. He tried kidnapping his little cousin Amy -- Chris' sister -- to protect her from finding out what Chris is. Amy got away and ran back to Collinwood. Joe followed. He began giggling hysterically until Julia slapped him across the face to snap him out of it. Poor Joe, stumbling out of Collinwood in a daze...he'll end up at Wyndcliff.

(Joe and Maggie were engaged to be married...it'll never be).

--Cindy

Trebuchet · 2005-03-09 13:09:35

By the way, if you can remember your dreams in some detail, more than a few minuts of waking up, you are not sleeping properly, since dreams are an expression of your mind's reorganizing itself after the preceeding period of wakefulness. (I thought that was understood by one and all, by now.)

You either aren't sleeping right, or have a very, very good memory, or have trained yourself to immediately review your dreams in their entirety upon waking, when they're still fresh in your mind - in which case you won't forget the dreams, period.

If something happens which forces me to get up and move immediately for some reason, I don't remember my dreams, otherwise, I remember them as well as I remember my waking actions and for about as long. That's due to immediate review of the dreams in question. Last night's slate of dreams included a costume party, a quiz contest, driving around in my car and eating Kentucky Fried Chicken, and arguing with some guy about the load-distributing hitch on his car and whether it could handle a particular U-Haul trailer or not. As you can see, not very interesting compared to the ninja/undead grudge match from four days ago.

I am aware that the current explanation for dreams is that they involve the reorganization and assimilation of varius thoughts, experiences, and memories accumulated over the previous period of wakefulness. The reason that I said:

I'm holding with the theory that a good number of your dreams are wholly random beyond any ability to rationalize. It's the only explanation that makes sense.

is because I do keep track of what I'm dreaming of, and I also know what I was doing/thinking the previous day, and there is generally little or no correlation. Instead, the dreams tend to follow particular themes independent of what I'm doing in 'waking life', with dreams that can be identifiably tied to real world events or issues only occurring when I'm stressed out. I'm discounting dreams where I realized I fell asleep, of course, because you can control the dreams when you do that. :laugh:

As for why I do that, call me crazy if you want, but I figure I spend a good chunk of my life asleep, so I damn well want to remember what's happening during it.

Palomar · 2005-03-09 13:25:40

You either aren't sleeping right, or have a very, very good memory

*Yep...good memory.

I figure I spend a good chunk of my life asleep, so I damn well want to remember what's happening during it.

Hear, hear!

Last night's slate of dreams included a costume party, a quiz contest, driving around in my car and eating Kentucky Fried Chicken, and arguing with some guy about the load-distributing hitch on his car and whether it could handle a particular U-Haul trailer or not. As you can see, not very interesting compared to the ninja/undead grudge match from four days ago.

Lol...I always enjoy those busy/no-seeming-relation "scattered" sorts of dreams, though. Wake up wondering what -- if anything -- was the "common thread" binding the sequences together.

Did you taste the KFC as you were eating it? Taste and smell are supposedly very rare in dreams. Can only recall a few times myself, and I dream almost every night.

-*-

I have my office window open. Birdsong, very gentle breeze wafting in. It's Spring here, and I'm glad for it.

--Cindy

Cobra Commander · 2005-03-09 13:29:03

The other night I dreamt I was on trial, something trumped up no doubt. Bill was my lawyer. :laugh: We kept arguing about the defense.

The ninjas I called for never showed up, must have been busy elsewhere.

Edited By Cobra Commander on 1110396983

Palomar · 2005-03-09 13:49:41

The other night I dreamt I was on trial, something trumped up no doubt. Bill was my lawyer. :laugh: We kept arguing about the defense.
The ninjas I called for never showed up, must have been busy elsewhere.

*Dreaming about fellow New Marsians, huh?

I remember one dream about a person here (whom I've never met). Seems he was suddenly a little boy again and I was supposed to take care of him (babysit) for a while. When I was told it was so-and-so (will remain anonymous to prevent possible embarrassment), I was especially stunned: Impossible, because he's older than me. And of course how could an adult become a little child again?

The dream ended on that note. How well I remember being a babysitter...but they were all pretty good kids.

--Cindy

Cobra Commander · 2005-03-09 14:02:24

*Dreaming about fellow New Marsians, huh?

I spend more time here than sleeping, so I guess it makes sense.

Several years ago a woman I worked with got mad at me for something "I" supposedly said in her dream. :laugh:

Silly humans.

Did you taste the KFC as you were eating it? Taste and smell are supposedly very rare in dreams. Can only recall a few times myself, and I dream almost every night.

The few times I can remember ever smelling anything in a dream it hasn't been pleasant. Most notably is the "burning corpse" stink, which I know is accurate due to an incident involving a dead cow while working a farm about... I guess 15 years ago. <puking emoticon>

Damn, now I feel tired and old. Not hungry anymore though.

Palomar · 2005-03-09 14:10:55

*Dreaming about fellow New Marsians, huh?
I spend more time here than sleeping, so I guess it makes sense.
Several years ago a woman I worked with got mad at me for something "I" supposedly said in her dream. :laugh:
Silly humans.

*Well hopefully she didn't hold her "grudge" for long. Maybe she figured she subconsciously "realized" something you really wanted to -- or might like to -- say in real life but couldn't bring yourself to saying it, so she dreamed it. :-\ (But still...yeah, I know...)

The few times I can remember ever smelling anything in a dream it hasn't been pleasant. Most notably is the "burning corpse" stink, which I know is accurate due to an incident involving a dead cow while working a farm about... I guess 15 years ago. <puking emoticon>

That's awful.

Damn, now I feel tired and old.

You're -not- old! Good grief.

--Cindy

Cobra Commander · 2005-03-09 14:23:02

You're -not- old! Good grief.

I guess it's just that I realized that the time that has passed since that summer is roughly equal to the time I'd been alive when it occured.
???

Trebuchet · 2005-03-09 16:44:38

Did you taste the KFC as you were eating it? Taste and smell are supposedly very rare in dreams. Can only recall a few times myself, and I dream almost every night.

I remember the taste of the coke I was drinking, and I certainly smelled the chicken, so both senses were definitely going. I think that all your senses in dreams are usually 'on', and you simply don't remember smell or taste unless something memorably good or bad smelling/tasting occurs in the dream, just like you actually dream several times *every* night, but most people are unaware of them.

Oh, Cobra, I'm sorry for distracting your ninjas, but there was the horde of undead to think about.

Palomar · 2005-03-10 06:11:00

*I'd better knock it off. I really need to snap out of this mood.

Deleted what I'd previously posted (a mini-rant against corporations). Not that I didn't mean it -- because I did -- but I've probably said enough in this regard already.

--Cindy

Cobra Commander · 2005-03-10 07:52:13

"Be gone spirit, I cast you out"

That's what I bellowed toward the nothing my cats were staring at in the corner last night. After a couple seconds they relaxed, having been tensely watching the nothing for over a minute.

This exorcism stuff is easy.

Then they just sat and watched "Star Wars" for awhile. ???

Palomar · 2005-03-10 08:18:25

"Be gone spirit, I cast you out"
That's what I bellowed toward the nothing my cats were staring at in the corner last night. After a couple seconds they relaxed, having been tensely watching the nothing for over a minute.
This exorcism stuff is easy.

:laugh:

Both cats staring at nothing, tensely. A friend of mine insists they're merely hallucinating. Teehee.

Then they just sat and watched "Star Wars" for awhile. ???

Saw an item about cats watching television last year. The animal behavioralists insist said cats aren't as intelligent nor quick as cats which don't pay attention to television screens. Can't remember the exact reasons for this assertion...except something about cats with low intelligence are needing to be entertained, whereas their brighter comrades create their own entertainment.

--Cindy

Cobra Commander · 2005-03-10 08:47:32

Saw an item about cats watching television last year. The animal behavioralists insist said cats aren't as intelligent nor quick as cats which don't pay attention to television screens.

Interesting. I suppose it could apply in this case, the smarter of the two definately pays less attention than the other one. Then again, they keep themselves plenty entertained on those rare occasions when I'm trying to sleep and Phobos is a friggin' genius by cat standards. :laugh: He turns water on, paws in frustration at doorknobs, hides munchies where the other cat never seems to look. He'd be a menace if he wasn't kinda lazy.

Palomar · 2005-03-10 09:02:44

*What kinds of cats are they? Just "mutts" or mostly tabby, Persian, Siamese? If you don't mind my asking. Just curious.

--Cindy

Cobra Commander · 2005-03-10 09:27:13

*What kinds of cats are they? Just "mutts" or mostly tabby, Persian, Siamese? If you don't mind my asking. Just curious.

They're quite "muttly", only the mother is identified, a tabby/Siamese mix. Their head shape looks strongly Siamese, both are lean with short hair. Phobos is fairly large and completely black. Fate is smaller, "tortoise" patterned fur, with a ringed raccoon-like tail. In the same litter there were several other variations so it seems the background was quite diverse.

Palomar · 2005-03-10 10:57:03

*The Michael Jackson trial has been interesting to follow. I've been checking the headlines frequently.

Yesterday it was reported his primary accuser was caught lying on the witness stand, and that boy's sister has also admitted falsely accusing their father of molestation.

Jackson has had two sudden hospitalizations; one recently for the flu and just today (alleged back troubles).

Hmmmmmm.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=s … kson]Judge issues warrant for Jackson's arrest

Wonder why Jackson's attorney didn't notify the judge before he entered the chambers.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2005-03-10 15:20:37

http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/dark_shadows_groovy]My new Yahoo! group

*Got to have fun and REALLY step outside of one's self sometimes, LOL. Must have a familiarity with the original "Dark Shadows" TV show. I hope to get lots of members; this could be a real hoot.

-*-

I still have my "Age of Voltaire" group of course. My 3rd-year anniversary for it will be in May. :up:

--Cindy

P.S.: Did have another devoted to Baroque music, but basically I was either doing all the posting or having a conversation with just one other individual there, who would post music samples. I turned that Yahoo! group over to him last year.

Mad Grad Student · 2005-03-12 00:44:30

Post 400!!!!

w00t!!!! :laugh:

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