Friends are Electric

A discussion on development in Northern Ontario, strikes on a large number of items I feel strongly about.

With a lack of reading comes a lack of posts.  Keep trucking along.

Whenever I take a nap, the first hour upon waking up is always such a strange state of mind.  It is impossible to describe, but I imagine it is somewhat like what drugs feel like.   I lack a standard of comparison, consequently this experience is entirely unique.

This has always happened to me, for as long as I can remember.  The more tired I am prior to the nap the more vivid, strange and memorable the encounter is.   For instance, the first really fantastic experience happened after a 24 hour scavenger hunt.  I had been awake for something like 36 hours when I fell asleep.  I know not what my mind processed while asleep, but when I awoke I the feeling that I knew that I did not exist.  It just felt like this was the case.  It took about 45 minutes of interaction and contact after I awoke to convince me otherwise.  There was no reason why I would ever have this thought, and quite clearly, as Descartes said, cogito ergo sum.  But I would have none of that.

The second intensely vivid time happened after a particularly difficult trip between Ottawa and Waterloo.  Weather and reality were against me so the adventure ended up taking 30 hours.  I slept, but not well.  Upon arriving at my girlfriend’s place in Waterloo I passed out for a few hours.  I must have dreamed of engines because I woke up convinced that I was an internal combustion engine.  Again, entirely absurd, but quite interesting.

This brings me to an hour ago.  I do not know what I was this time, but I know that I still feel like I am it.   It renders you entirely incapable of function, even typing is intensely difficult.  It never happens with regular sleep.

Further Reading:

Hypnopompic

Hypnagogia

Now, not to make myself seem arrogant or anything, but the Internet is full of people who just do not get it.  Well, I finally found someone who really seems to.  So, instead of paraphrasing to an extreme limit, I’m going to direct you in the right direction.

If you would like a summary of exactly how Canadian democracy works, go here.

I’ve added a section for reviews of culturally important materials.  Of course, its empty right now.  When I have the time I will digitise some of my older works and post them here, when I lose this writers block I’ll actually get to writing new stuff.  Hopefully I’ll have the time and inspiration to do it tomorrow, but I’m going to be realistic and promise nothing, since that way I can’t lie.

Nothing else new, really.  Still snowing here, which is wonderous.  When I remember to charge my camera I’ll even share pictures.

Its been snowing here for the past few weeks.  I like snow.  I finished Bram Stoker’s Dracula earlier this week.  I thought it was surprisingly well written and have been suffering withdrawls since I finished it.  Probably will write a short review about it later.

I read this article a while ago, but forgot about it until only recently.  It was a good, albeit long, read.

So this thought came to me while I was outside.  Would a citizen of the Roman Empire, at the time of its decline, realise what was happening?  This has obvious implications to pesimistic views on current affairs, but that is not why I was thinking it.  I am curious as to whether or not a being within a larger organisation can get a real feeling as to the overall health of it without external indicators.

Everyone should play this game.  Everyone.  OpenTTD is an amazing game and a great way to waste a weekend, especially in multiplayer mode.

While I know the answer to this quesion now, since hindsite is 20/20, back in 1979 it was not known.  Here is the question.