Some people would call me a grump in the morning. I do not consider myself a grump. I would just rather have some quietude without interruption in the morning. Also, I prefer to deal with very immediate and solvable tasks in the morning, rather than, say, tasks that involve brainstorming and negotiation. Those are better for the afternoon, in my opinion, when my own brain is a bit zapped and I could use the combined powers of others brains.
Right now I'm reading The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. So far it's quite a crafty book considering the level at which its written. I can see how it reached an audience beyond YA aficionados.
Today there's all this buzz about the high resolution images sent back from the probe near Pluto. I don't really give a rat's ass about it. As far as I know space programs often struggle for funding. I'd rather more funding go to SETI because I think it would be more productive for human kind.
I never followed up with my Ramazan Log. I did a day of fasting during which I only drank water. It was very manageable, and it felt healthy-ish. In the afternoon I even went for a run, and it wasn't a problem at all. I have found, however, that I have been unable to complete the Ramazan fasts for more than one day. The task of persevering for an entire month is wholly impressive.
I am so excited to leave Turkey. Last night I dreamt about going to Arby's. Unfortunately because of the faults of my dream I never actually got to eat an Arby's sandwich. I got caught up in a drive-through.
I have been reading lots of information about Thailand, and I have been studying basic language information including a few phrases. I hope it helps. It has been difficult to find much information about my particular city. It is small--200,000 people. It's not a hopping tourist destination, which is a major reason why we'd like to go there.
Ironically, Jena and I like Cappadocia because it is a tourist destination. We don't feel like complete outsiders when we visit. We can also have a beer in a cafe or restaurant. I hope we don't have the perpetual outsider feeling in Chiang Rai, the way we do in Kayseri. I think the natural surroundings in Chiang Rai will help with that. I don't feel like an outsider when I'm in nature in Turkey. I mainly feel like it when I'm in Kayseri's concrete jungle where the way of life is so drastically different from my own.
I had another thought, but I can't remember it now.
That's what it was.
I have done some bizarre dreaming in Turkey. I remember counting three incidences, but at the moment I can only remember the details of two. These are times when I have slept with one eye open. As far as I know, it only happens when there is plenty of daylight in the room. I briefly feel myself waking up, and I can see the wall, the ceiling, and the dresser in my room through my open eye. However, I am physically unable to open my eye that is still shut. I dream that I use my face muscles and even my hands to pry open my closed eye. Opening it is impossible; my face is paralyzed. During the most recent incident, over the weekend, I dreamt that Jena was having a conversation with a guest in the living room as well.
Both times that this phenomenon has occurred, I have eventually woken up to confirm that the view from my open eye was an accurate view of the room. Additionally, immediately upon waking, I have moved my face and touched my face with my hands.
It is difficult to find very much information about dreaming with one eye open on the internet. Mostly there are safety warnings against sleeping with your eyes open because your eyes need to rejuvenate during sleep. Some people call the dreaming with one eye open a form of lucid dreaming. For me, however, I have not had the distinct epiphany that I am dreaming.
I read that birds and dolphins are able to sleep with one eye open. For birds, this allows them to partially rest their brain and one eye during long migratory flights. Presumably dolphins are able to keep an eye out for predators while resting.
I'm not sure why I do it. It doesn't seem to help me at all and puts me into a bit of a panic both in the dream and when I awake from it.
