Something Weird Happened...Really Weird.

Sprite, Vinny and I, as well as our significant others spent some time at a stunning resort in the tropics. The pools were designed by Gaudi and even featured underground organically shaped water slides. We decided to take a day trip to a small quaint town, while our spouses stayed behind to enjoy the pool.

We got to a small white-washed restaurant that served chicken sandwiches. Vinny and Sprite decided that they were going to explore the local outdoor market and left while I waited for my order.  My order arrived and I looked at my sandwich on the plate. I was about to pick it up, when I noticed that something was moving between the lettuce leaves.  A green head poked out and a groggy black eye looked at me. I was looking at a small parrot, a beautiful orange-beaked conure. He was drowsy, his wings clipped so he could not fly away. "They serve parrots instead of chickens here?" I whispered. He nodded. " I will get you out, but you have to be really quiet." He understood and immediately crawled into a drawstring pouch that I was holding open for him under the table.

I had to find Vinny and Sprite. I walked out of the restaurant into the sunny street and started to run....

Then I woke up.

WTH???? This was as strange and disturbing as it gets. Fellow bloggers whom I have never met had shown up in one of my dreams! No offense to the bloggers who were involuntarily involved, but that dream crossed my twilight zone traumatized for life creepy threshold.

I am a science geek; I have to figure out why my brain does the things it does, especially when it does incomprehensible and disconcerting things.

Scientific theory:

Dreams are no more than our brains staying active while sleeping, usually digesting events and emotions of the day. If we happen to wake up during REM (dream stage), we "remember" the dream. Dreams during daytime naps, which is what I was doing, are particularly vivid, bizarre and frequently disturbing.

Precipitating events and numbered thoughts:

1. I got home. Tired. Made a healthy sandwich with greens, tomatoes and goat cheese on organic rye.
2. On my way home, I daydreamed about a desperately needed vacation, preferably in the tropics, sketching birds, taking photographs.
3. Read the news, came across a certain parrot species, which was going to be my first post and is still sitting in draft. Gotta finish that. I want a conure.
4. Different cultures eat strange things. Anthony Bourdain, Jane Goodall...
5. Quick alphabetical blog rounds. Read Sprite's and Vinny's posts, decided that I am too tired to leave any coherent comment.
6. Take Nana nap. [See Sprite: "Daytime nap"]

Interpretation:
This explains green parrot sandwich, as disconcerting as it may be.
The parrot communicating with me is "normal" in my dreams. I have been rescuing wildlife and animals ever since I was capable of picking them up. Dreaming that they would understand that the big scary ogre is there to help is wishful thinking.

Conclusion:
Strange dreams lead to interesting thoughts about social media.
To be continued...right after I take another napzzz...

If Supervillains Were Real...

I AM GALACTOR, DEVOURER OF GALAXIES. I WAS FORGED IN THE HIGH GRAVITY WORLD OF DARKSOR. I SURVIVED MY TRANSFORMATION AFTER I WAS RADIOACTIVATED. EXPERIMENTED ON. DROPPED ON MY HEAD. BORN THIS WAY. 

I AM PURE EVIL. I SHALL DEVOUR YOUR PUNY LITTLE GALAXY. PREPARE TO BE EATEN, PEOPLE OF EARTH. MUAHAHHHAAHHA...

Sir?

WHAT?!?

I have a telepathic transmission from your wife. She says that humans are not very nutritious and cetaceans contain too much fat. She also says that if you do not stop with this nonsense of "DEVOURING GALAXIES", she is leaving you and moving to a parallel universe. 

Cognitive Dissonance And Then I Lost The Plot

By Dan Golden

Confusion has set in. Belief systems are being tested. Paradigm shifts are in progress. The chronic pull of internet distraction (the new drug of complacency), has replaced the increasingly insubstantial television programs (the old drug of complacency).

Like a prospector at the height of the gold rush, too much time is spent sifting through the dirt searching for precious metals.  Too much time has been spent arguing, discussing and explaining the most basic principles of science to the ignorant; without action. Futility is the new exercise program.

Then came a storm, which took too many by surprise. "T'was foretold". There is nothing like being faced with the most elemental of forces to trigger primal responses. The strange exhilaration of experiencing a real threat that requires immediate action. Then comes the satisfaction of knowing that one is as prepared as one can be, and that there are alternatives. Alternatives that are not necessarily comfortable, efficient or convenient, but nonetheless available.

*Hugs can opener*

Some need a reminder of how precarious life is. Others express gratitude for what they realize they actually have. A few pretend it never happened.

The story writes itself. Much is irrelevant, but everything is subject to change.