Last night, or rather, this morning, I had a very strange dream.
The dream started as a strange...Godzilla-like Japanese movie in which there were these two monsters, one of which was a big reptile and the other was more like a giant moth (but I swear, it was NOT Godzilla OR Mothra - I know what they look like), and they were battling in a large city. I didn't interact with anyone, so I'm not sure if I was actually "there" for this part of the dream or if I was (as I am in quite a few of my dreams) in the role of the camera.
Then, as I was watching, the lizard thing tore it's claws into the moth's body and ripped it open. But instead of bug guts, something that looked like... stuffing...came pouring out. I turned away from the huge tide of polyfil stuffing and dove through a door, kicking it shut behind me. I was obviously now physically IN the dream, whereas before I'm fairly sure I was just a camera.
Inside this room, there was a young, beautiful asian girl. If I had to guess, I'd say she was Japanese, but I really am not a good judge of race. Her hair was long and raven black, flowing, and she was wearing some sort of white, lacy dress. Her legs and arms were bare, and so were her feet. I can still see her fairly clearly in my mind's eye.
She was sitting, curled up on the floor, and looked up at me. I felt my heart start pounding and I backed up against the door - her eyes were solid, obsidian black. Shiny, no pupils or whites visible at all - just black. And then she started to change.
At first, I thought she was shape-shifting into a snake. Her neck became long and weavy, and her arms and legs started lengthening as well, as her body thinned out - but she didn't change more than that. She was a living human-vine-creature, white alabaster skin reflecting the light of the room - the only black was her eyes and her hair. She weaved her head on an impossibly long neck toward me and hissed, opening her mouth and revealing a mouthful of twisted teeth like the Weeping Angels'.
I was frightened now - can you blame me? That was freaking disturbing. I grabbed the doorknob behind me and the door opened backwards, letting me out. I slammed it behind me but I could hear an eerie voice singing (I think it was vine-woman), "Now you've done it... here he comes!"
I started running, and as I have done in dreams for most of my life, I drop-shifted to wolf and kept running. I suddenly became aware of being followed, however, and I kept catching glances of a reddish feline shape never very far from me - and it seemed to be getting bigger.
The rest of the dream is kind of a blur. I remember rapidly shapeshifting from wolf to hawk to owl to fish back to wolf again, trying to lose my persuer, but he kept coming. I was vaguely aware that he was calling himself "Loki," though I doubt it was actually a Norse god chasing me through the area around where I used to live in Houston. But eventually I was exhausted and I turned to face him. It was at this moment that I woke up and became aware of one very, very important thing.
I had to go to the bathroom.
I should've guessed, honestly. Even if I go right before bed, I always wake up in six hours needing to go again, and if I IGNORE it and go back to sleep? I have a nightmare. I rarely have nightmares at ALL otherwise - in fact, every time I have, it's turned out to be a warning of something rather than just a random nightmare. Except when I decide to opt for sleep over getting up an hour or two earlier than I have to (because generally once I'm up, I'm up, no matter how long I've slept). Then, it's just my body trying to shock me awake so I'll go to the bathroom already.
All I can say is... seriously, brain? You can't come up with a less disturbing way of saying, "Hey! It' time to get up!"
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Friday, October 21, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
Answering Howl
I decided to make another post to answer a friend's questions. These questions came from Midnite (midnitewolf139) on LiveJournal. :D
What branch of anthropology are you drawn to?
I expected to be drawn to Physical Anthropology, due to my love of working with bones and other physical remains. I was right in this respect, but I hadn't expected how wonderful I would find Cultural Anthropology, either. So while the branch I am most drawn to is Physical Anthropology (and in some ways Archaeology), I find that I've so far enjoyed every branch of the science that I've been exposed to and studied.
What specifically was it that made you decide to pursue anthropology as a major?
In a word, convenience. In all honesty, a means to an end. See, I want to be a Paleontologist. But that field of study isn't something you can focus on until PHD level, meaning I needed my AA, my BA, and my MA in some related field that would translate well into Paleontology when I was up to the level where I could go into it. There are three sciences that easily do that - Zoology, Biology, and Anthropology. Of these three, Santa Ana College only offered specialization in Bio and Anthro. Bio is fascinating, but when you get into any system lower than ecosystem (IE, cellular level, etc), I find it incredibly confusing. It took me two tries to pass beginning Biology with a C. I chose Anthropology also because I thought that perhaps learning more about human evolution and history would help me appreciate the human side of my dual nature - and it did!
What is one thing in your studies in anthropology that you never knew before hand, but caught you off guard?
The belief had been, among Anthropologists and scientists in general, that what separated humans from "lower" species came down to 3 things: Language, Metaphorical Thinking, and Tool Use. We were, they claimed, the only creature in the planet's history to possess those three things.
But, see, as we've studied the other creatures with which we share the planet, we've discovered that no - we are NOT as alone in those things as we believed. The first shocker was Jane Goodall proving that Chimpanzees use tools - simple tools, yes, but the concept of using two rocks as a hammer and anvil to break open nuts is something that scientists didn't believe they had the capability to figure out. Much less the other tools they have been witnessed using.
And language! Language doesn't have to be spoken, you know - do we say that people who use sign language are lower animals because they're gesturing to explain things? No! So why should animals that use gestures and body language (far more subtle than anything humans use, in most cases - animals can speak with the way their fur is laying, the tilt of an ear, or the tiniest swish of a tail that means nothing to us) be considered NOT to have language?
It's recently been proven that dogs, when left amongst themselves, bark for one reason - a certain type of warning. It's one bark, and it's the same bark that wolves use for the same warning. But dogs that are around humans have many, MANY different barks to communicate everything from hunger to intruders, to danger of other kinds. So barking as they do is a language dogs have developed for communication with HUMANS. They started barking to talk to US. That shows problem-solving abilities as well that no one had associated with canines previously.
And beyond that, we now have seen all kinds of animals using tools, communicating in ways that can be thought of as language, and demonstrating metaphorical understanding to a point (dogs understand where people point - most animals can't understand a gesture like that, and dolphins can associate flat 2D pictures with real objects - another thing people thought animals couldn't do, etc). So where is the line drawn between "higher" and "lower" animals now? Turns out there's no black and white line.
I suppose what caught me the most off guard was the fact that this has only been discovered so very RECENTLY, and I had just understood it and taken it for granted most of my life.
Last but not least--where/how do you think therianthropy fits into your studies of anthropology?
It fit in very well in both my cultural anthropology class, in which I was able to even write a paper about it for my participant observation paper - well, technically, I wrote about furries, but I had to bring up therianthropy to explain how I came to be aware of the subculture. I also was able to bring it up a lot in our religion class. The teachers have been fascinated and receptive, and in most cases just asked me for more information. :) I think it's kind of awesome. :D
What branch of anthropology are you drawn to?
I expected to be drawn to Physical Anthropology, due to my love of working with bones and other physical remains. I was right in this respect, but I hadn't expected how wonderful I would find Cultural Anthropology, either. So while the branch I am most drawn to is Physical Anthropology (and in some ways Archaeology), I find that I've so far enjoyed every branch of the science that I've been exposed to and studied.
What specifically was it that made you decide to pursue anthropology as a major?
In a word, convenience. In all honesty, a means to an end. See, I want to be a Paleontologist. But that field of study isn't something you can focus on until PHD level, meaning I needed my AA, my BA, and my MA in some related field that would translate well into Paleontology when I was up to the level where I could go into it. There are three sciences that easily do that - Zoology, Biology, and Anthropology. Of these three, Santa Ana College only offered specialization in Bio and Anthro. Bio is fascinating, but when you get into any system lower than ecosystem (IE, cellular level, etc), I find it incredibly confusing. It took me two tries to pass beginning Biology with a C. I chose Anthropology also because I thought that perhaps learning more about human evolution and history would help me appreciate the human side of my dual nature - and it did!
What is one thing in your studies in anthropology that you never knew before hand, but caught you off guard?
The belief had been, among Anthropologists and scientists in general, that what separated humans from "lower" species came down to 3 things: Language, Metaphorical Thinking, and Tool Use. We were, they claimed, the only creature in the planet's history to possess those three things.
But, see, as we've studied the other creatures with which we share the planet, we've discovered that no - we are NOT as alone in those things as we believed. The first shocker was Jane Goodall proving that Chimpanzees use tools - simple tools, yes, but the concept of using two rocks as a hammer and anvil to break open nuts is something that scientists didn't believe they had the capability to figure out. Much less the other tools they have been witnessed using.
And language! Language doesn't have to be spoken, you know - do we say that people who use sign language are lower animals because they're gesturing to explain things? No! So why should animals that use gestures and body language (far more subtle than anything humans use, in most cases - animals can speak with the way their fur is laying, the tilt of an ear, or the tiniest swish of a tail that means nothing to us) be considered NOT to have language?
It's recently been proven that dogs, when left amongst themselves, bark for one reason - a certain type of warning. It's one bark, and it's the same bark that wolves use for the same warning. But dogs that are around humans have many, MANY different barks to communicate everything from hunger to intruders, to danger of other kinds. So barking as they do is a language dogs have developed for communication with HUMANS. They started barking to talk to US. That shows problem-solving abilities as well that no one had associated with canines previously.
And beyond that, we now have seen all kinds of animals using tools, communicating in ways that can be thought of as language, and demonstrating metaphorical understanding to a point (dogs understand where people point - most animals can't understand a gesture like that, and dolphins can associate flat 2D pictures with real objects - another thing people thought animals couldn't do, etc). So where is the line drawn between "higher" and "lower" animals now? Turns out there's no black and white line.
I suppose what caught me the most off guard was the fact that this has only been discovered so very RECENTLY, and I had just understood it and taken it for granted most of my life.
Last but not least--where/how do you think therianthropy fits into your studies of anthropology?
It fit in very well in both my cultural anthropology class, in which I was able to even write a paper about it for my participant observation paper - well, technically, I wrote about furries, but I had to bring up therianthropy to explain how I came to be aware of the subculture. I also was able to bring it up a lot in our religion class. The teachers have been fascinated and receptive, and in most cases just asked me for more information. :) I think it's kind of awesome. :D
Sunday, October 16, 2011
This Blog Is Late!!
This blog isn't late because I didn't have anything to write... but rather because I had too MUCH to write. There's been a lot going on in my life in the last few weeks, and I'm just not quite ready to lay it all on the line yet. But it's foremost in my mind.. And I didn't want to wimp out and put up another Tooth & Arrows when everyone's waiting for TAE posts. (I can always babble about gaming. :P)
Instead, I'd like to do a bit of an open forum. If you have any questions for me, feel free to ask them in comments! I'll gladly answer whatever I can. This goes for all platforms across which this will be reposted (livejournal, blogger, facebook, etc.) as well, so even if this entry gets no non-spam comments (as is usual, lol) I'm sure that some of my followers will have questions.
So! I'm a (mostly) open book! Ask your questions, and I'll answer everything I can! (And I might save them for future Q&A blogs as well if the answer is too long for comments!)
Instead, I'd like to do a bit of an open forum. If you have any questions for me, feel free to ask them in comments! I'll gladly answer whatever I can. This goes for all platforms across which this will be reposted (livejournal, blogger, facebook, etc.) as well, so even if this entry gets no non-spam comments (as is usual, lol) I'm sure that some of my followers will have questions.
So! I'm a (mostly) open book! Ask your questions, and I'll answer everything I can! (And I might save them for future Q&A blogs as well if the answer is too long for comments!)
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