The Erratic Oneironaut - Issue #67
Newsletter of the Mortal Mist Community
Date June 16, 2011
Averted VisionOne of the great initial disappointments to fledgeling astronomers comes when they set up their 100mm telescope, get lined up on a tasty galaxy. . . and, if they are lucky, see a tiny little ball of misty fuzz. They may not even see that, depending on their eyes, the time they've been away from light, and local conditions. Where are the glorious views we see in the photographs?
Those who persevere begin to learn one of the quirks of the human eye; the most light-sensitive area is in the peripheral vision. If you want to see the fainter objects, you cannot look directly at them! Astronomers refer to this as using Averted Vision. This still won't bring you Hubble Telescope views of the heavens, but it will extend what can be seen dramatically. . . and what is available to be seen even with a tiny 4 inch scope, skill, patience and averted vision can keep you busy for several lifetimes.
Dream recall has been a challenge for me lately. It seems like the harder I try to dig out the recall, the quicker it evaporates! For me, waking up in the morning and NOT immediately trying to force dream recall has been producing better results than trying too hard. Attaining lucidity often exhibits the same sort of constraint, where trying too hard tends to be counter-productive. All the will and intent in the world may be applied for weeks on end, yet the night I decide to "take off and rest" will be the one when I find myself lucid.
Perhaps we oneironauts have something to gain by learning the art of using averted vision from our friends in astronomy.
SMF 2.0 is RELEASED!subtitle: Hell Freezes OverOur forum runs on SMF, an open source package that has been around a long time. Since our inception, we have been innovative in modifying and extending the capabilities of this system to suit the unique needs of our lucid dreaming community.
2.0 has been "coming" for a couple years now, and its release date has become somewhat of a running joke among the technical staff here. In spite of that uncertainty, we've been looking toward the eventual release of 2.0 and picking away slowly at reviewing the mods and add-ons, so we wouldn't be starting from scratch when (if) it was finally (ever) released.
Well lo and behold, 2.0 is out! The SMF 1 series is not being obsoleted or discontinued yet, but there are dramatic improvements and simplifications with 2.0. It is to our advantage to begin the transition.
If you are interested in helping with this, and particularly if you are familiar with PHP, MySQL, JavaScript and/or Java, please check out this thread:
http://mortalmist.com/forum/index.php?topic=4476.0
June Lucid ChallengesBasic - Your Basic Challenge for the month of June is to transform into your Mortal Mist username (if you can't turn into your username, then your goal will be to transform into a microscopic organism) or, alternatively, to complete one of your own goals.
Intermediate - Your Intermediate Challenge for the month of June is to make a giant sand castle and then explore it.
Advanced - Your Advanced Challenge for the month of June is to find or make a star chart mapping the night sky in your dreamscape.
June's Monthly Meeting Place - The Alcobaca Cathedral in Portugal
Making it to The Alcobaca Cathedral in Portugal while lucid and talking to another person there will earn a Gold Award. Making it to The Alcobaca Cathedral in Portugal while lucid but not talking to another person there will earn a Silver Award. Making it to The Alcobaca Cathedral in Portugal in a non-lucid dream will earn a bronze award.
In an attempt to make this more interesting, why don't we have the first person who makes it to the Alcobaca Cathedral in Portugal leave something there from their dream world, but not tell anyone what they left, but just indicate that they left something. Then the rest of us can try to find what they left when we arrive there. The first person who makes it there and leaves something from their dream world will earn a gold award, and anyone who can find or guess what they left while they are there will also earn a gold award.
From around the Mist:
Final ThoughtsIn closing today, I would like to issue a warm welcome to all those who have recently joined the ranks here. You are not just new members - you are new owners who have just found their seats with our Board Of Directors.
You will notice what may seem like an alarming lack of leadership here. We have no staff and no one owner or leader who determines what happens and when. So how, you might ask, do we get anything done?
The answer to that is up to you.
Happy lucids!
Until next time,
pj. . .
CARPE NOCTEM
