Oh I'm a smart one

So I just locked myself out of my house :-) I went out back to look at the shrub I planted last weekend, and when I tried to get back into the house, the backdoor was locked all of a sudden, when obviously it had to be UNlocked for me to get out of the house. Who knows. So I had to go next door and borrow the neighbor's phone. She was this old lady - not very nice, and her house was messy. Anyway, my mom rescued me. 

F. im watching TV and I can't think right now, maybe ill write more later

Sleep Paralysis

Do you ever have a bad dream and you realize you're asleep so you try to wake yourself up from inside your dream? It's kinda hard to do. Anyway, I was napping the other day and consciously, I was awake- I knew I was in a dream, but I couldn't make myself move. I also couldn't breathe until I finally managed to make my body move. 

This happens to me like 1-3 times every month or two months (more so if I just go right back to sleep after one of these episodes because it usually just happens again unless I physically make myself sit up.) It's really scary because I can't breathe and I just have to focus all my mental effort on making my body move. Often, I mentally make my body thrash back and forth, until my brain actually lets my body move.

I looked this up on the internet. It's an actual condition found under the names "Old Hag Syndrome" and Sleep Paralysis. During normal sleep the brain paralyzes your body so you can't get up and act out your dreams (which I think is way cool). Wikipedia says that during sleep paralysis, If the person wakes up suddenly [from a dream], the brain may still think that it is dreaming, and sustains the paralysis.  Wikipedia put it into better words than I could.

Wikipedia and WedMD also say this is a symptoms that narcoleptics get. I'm pretty sure I'm not narcoleptic though :-)

I've actually seen this happening to my mom when she's taking a nap - I can see that she's struggling to breathe, and eventually she'll wake herself up. It's happened to my brother before too, and to Robert. Wikipedia says its normal for this to happen a couple times in one's life. I think it happens to me so often because I take naps almost every day - which can make this happen more often than normal.

Anyway, I'd be interested to know whether this happens to anyone else!

Here's another one, Zinnia, Acacia Tree, Hyacinth Bean Vine

Here are some pictures of plants i've started from seed this Spring.

Zinnia - Green Envy

Here is what it is supposed to look like when it's mature ---->

Week "one"

week 3

Week 4: 

 Week 6?

At this point, the zinnia sits outside 24/7. It hasn't been truly hot here in Austin yet, but this week it is supposed to get up in the 90's, so we'll see if I need to move it into shade. I have been spraying with weak miracle gro

Most recent picture (6/24/08)

I had to stake them to thin bamboo because they were falling over. It's been hot here so far, (8-9 + days of 95-100+ temps with little rain) but these rarely need any water! These are definitely on the list for next year

more to come...

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Purple Hyacinth Bean Vine - Dolichos lablab luna rubi  

Week "one"

This one got decapitated in an unfortunate gardening accident. I have another one growing though that was of the same age. It looks basically like this still for week 3, but the first true leaves are a little bigger

more to come...

Week 4:

Week 6?

It's starting to grow its first tendril? I think that's what you call it. It seems to be growing more slowly than the package let on, but it might not be getting enough sun. Slowly but surely, right?

 

I've stopped counting the weeks.

Sweet Acacia - Acacia farnesiana

Week "one" - there are 2-3 saplings in each container. Sorry this picture isnt closer up. I took the seeds from a lone Acacia tree I found on the UT Austin campus, over by ENS and Woolrich - a very cool tree.

Week 4: Those two leaf sets on top are new this week. Last week, there was only one leaf set

I don't even know what week this next one is. It's probably 2 months old or so. I actually had to give it a bigger pot because it was becoming root-bound! The stem is looking a little bark-y so I guess that's a good sign

Most recent picture:

more to come...