Quote of the Week

"Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere."- Albert Einstein

Thursday, August 23, 2018

#ThingsOnMyMind: Sleeptime Rock & Roll

I am what is called a lucid dreamer.  I'm able to recall most of my dreams from the night before- and even control what happens in them while dreaming.  I'm also usually aware of the environment around me while asleep.

Last night was no exception.

I move a fair bit in my sleep.  I don't toss and turn and flair about- unlike one of my nieces, who has given her husband a few headbutts while asleep.  I tend to roll in place more or less- from my left side to my back, to my right side, to my chest, then back to my left side.  I do this so I don't stiffen up too much while sleeping since I'm aging, and my joints, etc aren't quite what they used to be.

My funny little pumpkin called a brain decided to ponder on this last night.  I probably could've flipped the mental channel to a nice dream about what sort of action sequence to have while a particular song played, but I decided to see where this introspective path went.

Please allow me to say that I also like conducting the occasional experiment on myself in order to learn more about what sort of person I am, and why I do the things I do.

My brain realized that I had awoken to shuffle back onto the spot on the bed where I'd started my sleep.  Knowing that I rolled in my sleep, it started asking questions that I honestly found interesting:

1.  At what intervals do I roll onto the next portion of my body in the sequence?
2.  How long does it take to complete one full "roll"?
3.  How far do I roll during my sleep?
4.  How long does it take me to roll that distance?
5.  At what speed do I roll?

At this point, the lucid part of me stepped in and asked my sleeping scientific brain in a jar how we could find the answers to such questions.

And an experiment was devised.

Lay a stripped blanket on the floor for me to sleep on.  The stripes would act as a "ruler" that could be used to measure the distance of my rolling and give us the figures necessary to calculate the speeds, etc.  A video camera would be situated with a time stamp function to be used to visually record the rolling so that we can then do the measuring and calculating.

Once that was completed, my inquisitive squash called a brained asked, "Does weather influence the rolling?"

My response was to tell it to shut up since it was time to dream of what "Cujo" would've been like if a chihuahua had been used instead of a Saint Bernard.

Yes, that's how my brain works when I sleep...