Mysteriously Stagnant...

It appears my after-hour conversations have ceased to entertain my recorder. Although an unfortunate circumstance this is, there is light at the end of the tunnel...

Surreality is right this way... follow the light...!!!

The Wait

I don't understand...

After listening to hours of me snoring, tossing, turning, and rustling my blankets, I have failed to capture the very essence of this entire blog on my new recorder...

I think my sleep-talking disorder is "recorder-shy." The fact that I'm consciously trying to capture my somniloquy and setting up this recorder every night before snoozing, I think, is preventing this natural process to occur. I also don't think it helps that I purposely turn and face the recorder in hopes to verbalize louder and clearer into the mic, which can be uncomfortable. I've also tested out both the long-recording option as well as the automatic voice recording (AVR) mode and neither have succeeded in picking up any useful sounds.
To top it off, my method of exhausting myself into sleep-talking mode has back-fired and I've upped my cups of coffee from 0 to 2 during the workday. I never used to drink coffee!!! (Although, my smiling-rate and hyperness has increased exponentially...)

I did notice one thing that is worth noting...

.........................I chuckle in my sleep.......................

It's brief and sounds something like, "heh heh." Although it doesn't happen every night, it's happened a few nights so far and it's clearly not a sigh or cough. Last night, my short-lived chortle was somewhat smug. Like I was a power-hungry, obnoxious, self-centered responding to a commoner, who mustered up enough courage to ask for a second bowl of gruel.

Does this count as sleep-talking???????

hm...

I'll keep trying my methods and hope to have some fun recordings to share with you soon. In the meantime, I'm completely open to suggestions you have or any logs of your sleep-talking escapades!

The Recorder

In my absence, I've been searching the depths of the world-wide-web for the key to start the engine on my sleep experiment. After hours of intense research, funky customer service with buy.com, stupid paypal issues, and non-existent package updates from USPS, it's finally here!

I'd like to introduce....

The RCA VR5220 Digital Voice Recorder

This TINY digi-recorder can store up to 200 hours of recording time with 3 selectable recording settings (LP, SP & HQ) all on a 512MB internal flash memory. With it's automatic, voice-activated record option, I can cut out all the dead silence from my slumber and record only the sounds and voices that this wondrous gadget picks up. The built in speaker/microphone on top picks up sounds clearly and plays back recordings audibly. It's very compact and easy to use thus far (I haven't test-uploaded anything yet so not sure how the downloading process works) and lays well on the side of my pillow!

FYI - Batteries not included... unless buy.com gypped me on that, too.

For those of you who are familiar with the different brands of digital recorders out there, you may be wondering why I chose RCA over Olympus, Sony or Panasonic. The assist came from a customer review on Bestbuy.com.

Sshevie from Hudson MI says,

"I run a paranormal travel business and i was looking for a easy to use good quality recorder for my clients to use on a ghost hunt. With these recorders my customers get the recordings they do while ghost hunting as soon as the hunt is done just download the recording and burn to a CD they take it home and search for EVP on their own time and the recordings are super clear."

Chills ran down my spine after reading that and soon after, excitement. This recorder MUST be flippin' awesome. Got it for $30 on buy.com with free, upgraded shipping (only because of some issues I had with the order...and a few complaints...)

I've tested out the AVR mode on high-sensitivity and it's pretty cool. It picks up my heavy sighs/snores/rustling of my blankets and then stops recording when it's quiet again. But no sleep-talking! (...and no ghosts)

......................so................................

For the purpose of this experiment, I will be participating in an "insane" work-out program that will exhaust my body (and hopefully tone the jelly) into sleep-talking mode.

Sweet dreams till then!

The Dream Generator

Can't sleep?

So, what do you do? You can read, play games, web-surf, watch a boring TV program, count sheep, or just stare at your ceiling until either sleep or madness consumes you.

Me? I turn to the Dream Generator. This method, which I have successfully been using for years, requires a great deal of patience but once you let your mind drift, so will you to sleepsville.

How it works:

Once you're comfortable and ready for bed, close your eyes and let your mind wander. I like to ask myself questions like "What if I won the lottery?" or "What would I do if I had super powers?" These types of questions give my imagination a starting point. Then, I think about what I would do and all the possibilities until eventually, my "unconscious" steps in and I stop thinking and start dreaming.

Sometimes, if I'm or about something, these negative thoughts creep into my "Dream Generator" process and prevent me from falling asleep. I bust out the big guns when this happens. A compilation of classical/instrumental music strategically placed on my IPOD awaits to boost my imagination some more. Generally, the melodies are from movies or shows (mainly Korean dramas cause they're so heart-wrenching, yet sweet) that had some emotional affect on me. Sounds from the TV work, as well. Once I can get my mind off the trials and tribulations of my Persona, I can start to relax and, soon enough, fall asleep.

The only problem with the Dream Generator is assessing the validity of your dreams the next day. Did I dream of those things because I was thinking about them or are they important themes that my unconscious is trying to tell me about myself? (One of those questions I'll ask myself on the train ride to work the next morning if the dream had an impact on me.)


I DREAMS THAT MAKE ME THINK THE NEXT DAY.

Anywho, hope to have more sleep logs for you, soon.

The Man Behind It All

Dreams; everyone has them. Whether it be dreams of flying, falling, chasing or being chased, we generally have dreams with universal symbols that can be interpreted using some aspect of Carl Jung's philosophy of the "unconscious." Carl Jung believed that our psyche was divided into two categories - the conscious and the unconscious. Without going into excruciating details, the genius psychiatrist suggests dreams and their unique symbols are ways in which your unconscious side communicate with your Persona, aka the person you see in the mirror every morning. Once you make a connection between your conscious and unconscious through dream analysis and greater understanding of your psyche, this collaboration of awesomeness becomes the "Self" or, the completion of the human psyche. Neeto.

After a series of weird dreams involving a tiger chasing me as a pig (??) and eating lobster buffet, I began recording my dreams on a notepad. Pig and Lobster are very lucky omens according to dream interpretations. Not long after, a series of strange events happened that correlated with my dreams. I received an award at work for outstanding performance in the 2nd Quarter and a friend found my lost sweater that I'd lost months ago (these being the big "WTF" events... )

Interpretations provided by jellybean.com/dream-dictionary (my favorite go-to dream dictionary!)


Lobster: Dreams about eating or cooking a lobster are very positive omens, signifying repayment of a forgotten loan or finding something you thought was lost.

Pig: To dream of being a pig is an extremely lucky omen meaning long life and vitality. (As my Korean mother would say, "GO BUY A LOTTO TICKET!!")

Coincidence? Or... perhaps I'm steps closer to completing my human psyche? I wonder if after acquiring SELF, you also obtain premonition...?

Ok, steering back on topic...

DREAMS! Jung has provided a way for me to try and understand this bizarre occurance.

But what about ... sleep-talking??

Sleep-talking, a type of parasomnia, occurs generally by itself and can be entertaining, annoying, or a little scary (says my sister). From my experience, I find that sleep-talking occurs more frequently when my body is exhausted or more tired than usual. I remember my dreams, for the most part, but can never recollect anything I've spoken aloud while sleeping. Why is that?

According to Dr. Louise Chang on WebMD.com , "You might think that sleep talking occurs during dreaming. But scientists still are not sure if such chatter is linked to nighttime reveries. The talking can occur in any stage of sleep."

I love mysteries...

My goal... is to somehow find a connection between the unconscious, the persona, dreams, and sleep-talking.

So now, we finally reach the main topic of this entire blog... SLEEP TALKING in my world. I'll update new sleep-talking logs that my sister has recorded and emailed to me between the dead hours of 1-3am (she's a night owl...perfect for logging sleep-talking!) along with logs from friends and acquaintances, who share the same sleeping disorder.

Hope to entertain, amuse, and achieve a better understanding of how dreams represent and reflect the "SELF."