This week I give my lecture on sleep for the the 200 students in my PSYC 120 Introduction to Psychology class. I've taught this class for years and I'm still surprised at how the lecture on sleep is the most popular lecture I give judged by the sheer number of hands going up and questions I get from the students.
In light of this coming lecture my eye was caught by a post on the Daily Dish about the blog Sleep Talkin' Man. The blog is written by the wife of an man who, apparently, says the most interesting and hilarious things in his sleep. Adam's wife listens, records and then posts these utterances on the Sleep Talkin' Man blog. Beware, Adam has quite the dreamlife so the blog isn't for kids. As Adam's wife tells us:
Some of the content on this page is not suitable for young eyes. Parents, shield your children! The views expressed by Sleep Talkin' Man rarely reflect the attitudes/opinions of waking Adam. Especially the desire to exterminate all vegetarians. But he does hate lentils.Here are some of my favorite utterances from Sleep Talkin' Man:
"Oompa loompas don't sing in heaven. They tidy up the clouds."
"I'm here! I know, I brighten the room. Everything's better."
"My badger's gonna unleash hell on your a**. Badgertastic!"
"I want to be a cowboy. I don't want to be a panda."
"Monkey power! Straight from the jungle."
I've already used "Badgertastic!" a couple of times today.
Regarding an older posting of yours on fuzzy logic-- I suggest you take a look at Sebastian Brock's *The Luminous Eye* on the reasoning of the Syriac Fathers, particularly St. Ephrem the Syrian. I suspect you'll find it interesting. My sense is that the way these guys did theology was a lot like fuzzy logic. IGroot@aol.com
I am not surprised your sleep lecture is so popular. After the two books I've read that are devoted solely to sleep, it's just left me hungry for more. And that's not even getting into the dreaming aspect.
I have been doing a bit of Jungian dream analysis over the past couple of years. This is based on the idea that every element in your dream is a part of your own psyche. When I've read my dreams in that manner (with the help of someone else to shed a bit of light on what is obvious to them and shielded by my subconscious from me) it has been amazing and illuminating. I have a newfound respect for how far deep down I go, the wells of creativity. Awesomeness.
Like Sleep Talkin' Man, my new favourite blog :) So mild mannered during the day and such a bastard in the nocturnal hours :) Badgertastic indeed.
Richard,
"To sleep, perchance to dream . . . ." Before the Romantics and Freud, dreams were generally considered to be pathways to understanding the divine. Now they are considered a pathway to our true self. Sleep is the threshold to both world. Makes one wonder, doesn't it, about how really ironic we (post-)moderns are.
Blessings!
Oh man, how about this one: "You can't be a pirate if you haven't got a beard. I said so. MY boat, MY rules."