Why Sleep?

                    There are a few things that most if not all humans need to live on to the next day. Two necessities that come to mind are sleeping and eating. I personally am a much bigger fan of sleep than I am food, but that's just me. When I think about sleep, I can't seem to wrap my mind around the idea that so much goes on, while we aren't even awake. Our bodies are steadily at work while we are sleeping. Hence why sleeping is very important. But, not just sleeping in itself. I say this because sleeping too much can be nearly as unhealthy as sleeping too little.
                     After a few years of just merely being interested in the concept of sleep it self, I've looked into how people fall asleep, the stages of sleep, what happens once we fall asleep, and also what causes us to wake up. All that among other thoughts like, why it's so difficult to go to sleep sometimes and why in other situations sleeping seems almost involuntary. It mostly has to do with what happens while your awake. Let me explain this a bit further.
                     Let's say you go to a concert to see your favorite band, then after wards you go to get some ice cream on the way home. Once you're around the corner from your house you hit a bunny, but you keep going. You finally get home to see that there was no blood on the car so it was like it never happened. You shrug before going to unlock the front door. You notice something is missing, your house keys. After recalling that you brother had changed the door knob cause the other was faulty you remember that you had left the new keys on the kitchen counter. You look into the window to see the keys on the counter mocking you. Then you reach for your phone to call your brother. Of course he doesn't answer. You try and call him again, your phone dies.

                       Rather unfortunate situation I know, but not to worry, your best friend drove past your house cause you left your new concert t-shirt in her bag and she lives close by. You sleep over her house till morning and you charge your phone there finally getting in contact with your brother in the morning. But when you wake up, you thank your best friend and you tell her over breakfast about the dream you had once you fell asleep at her house. 

                       "There was this huge crowd and everyone was excited and happy, we were on stage and our band was called the 'Raging Bunnies' weird name I know. Then at the end of the concert we gave everyone free ice cream and out of no where comes this gigantic bunny. It stomps through the ice cream dispensers and picks me up like King Kong did the blonde lady, or was she brunette? Any way the bunny picks me up and right before I think this is where my life ends, the bunny throws me into this floating cage, locks me in and jingles the keys in my face.... then I wake up."

                        If someone were to take a closer look into the situation, most likely that person would notice the correlation between what happened in real life, versus the dream the person had after the event. Obviously the person felt guilt after hitting the bunny and felt like karma had paid them a visit with the whole locked out situation. The setting of the dream may have merely been because those were the last book mark type events that took place right before the person went to sleep. 

                     

                       
                         Believe it or not, that's how most dreams work. Your brain takes the ideas and thoughts and memories that resonated with you most through out that day, and jumbles it all up into an endearing story line for you to drift through as you sleep. Understandably some people just see or remember static when they wake up, but usually there is something that happened in your sleep before that moment that may have just faded away.

                           There are various phases or stages of sleep. There's the message your mind sends to your body, that you do indeed require rest. You start to feel a bit heavier, you attention span shortens and you start decided whether you will submit to this feeling or fight against it. If you accept the drowsy feeling that is now overwhelming your body, stage two begins. You fall into a stable sleep and your body start to produce chemicals that will help you be able to stay that way for a bit. By stage three you body has fallen into a deep sleep which is only a fraction of the night. Hopefully, if you continue to go undisturbed, you are able to reach a state of REM sleep. The best sleep in my opinion. This for me, is when the fun begins. Your brain activity is high and intense, hence the dreaming that tends to happen.

                             Sleeping is such a cool concept to me, one of the main reasons being that we do indeed tend to dream. That in itself is amazing to me because some dreams are very telling. There is even a concept called lucid dreaming, where, usually with practice, you are able to control the elements of your dream. Where it's the color of the couch the whether or to prevent yourself from going over a cliff, lucid dreaming to me is by far the greatest thing since sliced bread.

                             As fun and exciting all this sounds, as I said before there is such a thing as sleeping too much. Sleeping to much or even just staying in bed to much, restricts your body from being able to access many parts of the brain that are usually only activated when you are in motion or partaking in certain activities. Which another reason why when people fall into comas or pass out, doctors get very concerned. As I mentioned a bit earlier a lot of what goes down when you're sleep, is because of what happened when you were up. What is important is a restful sleep, not particularly a long one.

                            But on the flip side, it isn't to healthy to go without sleep either. Sleep deprivation can cause some serious issues, that are sometimes irreversible. Which is also why sleep is important.

                            

                              Have you ever noticed that when someone close to you get sleepy sometimes they tend to act a little different? May be they are just a bit more snappy than usual, or not as patent as they usually are. Sort of similar to when a person get hangry, a word that means, hungry and angry. Well, I believe that some people tend to get slangry as well. Sleepy and angry. If you notice someone you care for getting this way, it is usually because they are ignoring the signals shooting between their brain and their body that is messaging and alerting them that they should be sleeping soon. 

                             

                              There are some people who may actually want to get to sleep, but can't because they may be suffering from anxiety or a restless mind. Typically if someone is in this situation, it is not strange to see them try and gain some assistance if they are unable to fall asleep naturally on their own. 

By this, I mean sleeping pills, or sleeping medication. 

Some people even go for the booze to calm their nerves to help them sleep. Just like every other thing on the planet, there are dangers to using theses aids to help you fall asleep. 

Alcohol tends to effect the deepness of REM sleep, which as I said before, is the best part. You don't want to mess with REM sleep.

                             All this to say that there is a healthy balance between over sleeping and sleep deprivation. Sad to say, but I am guilty of it too, some people sleep to get away from the lives that they return to when they wake up. Doing this too often may cause concern for the loved ones around you. Over sleeping is a sign of depression, but generally, I just love to sleep. Dreaming, lucid dreaming is really fun. But as I mentioned before it's really best once you've been awake for some time. This is a balance each person has to configure for themselves. All to often people are found up in the early am for no particular reason, and others sleep till the late after noon. 

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                           In order to achieve the best sleep, try to wake up and lay down around the same time each night. In this way, your body will become accustomed to the rhythm you have created, ad you will be more likely to have a restful sleep and will be able to awake refreshed. Try to turn off all the things that cause your brain to be hyper, like screens and loud noises. Taking into mind some of these small changes will make a big difference in your sleeping pattern.                          

More info on Sleep Deprivation
More info on Sleep Depression

The Gamer's Mind

                    It has recently been made clear to me, that... I like to play video games. Honestly, I never thought to much about it. Playing video games is just something I tend to do, like breathing. I don't think twice about it. Which causes other's to think, perhaps this is something she likes to do? Yes. Indeed it is. I hadn't realized until recently, that, I actually really like to play video games, a lot. Here's what makes me say that.

                     About a week or so ago, someone asked me if I was into video games. Of course I said yes. My gears didn't start to turn until the person asked me "Which kind?" at that moment, it was almost as if I had become slightly confused. This was because I didn't think I understood the question. All I could think was... "What do you mean what kind? What genre? What style? What type? What system? What.... what?"

                      For a moment there it was almost as if I had lost myself in thought. I decided to return to the conversation. "What do you mean?" I asked. From that point on I ventured to explain that I was not a picky gamer. Often this person or that person would only like to play games on the computer, where that person or this person would only play games on a counsel. Let me further explain what that means.

                      About 15 years ago I used to only play video games that were on the computer, they came on discs that you could sometimes download the content of. Other discs required internet access. A bit after that, hand held games started to come out, so that player could enjoy the thrill of gaming where ever they are. Either way, I played them. Even now today there are games that are coming out, just for the computer, and some others that people are only able to play online. This is a link to the list of the top games of 2015 here. Granted most of these games are RPG or MMORPG. Short hand for Role Player Game or Massive Multiplayer Online Role Play Game. This basically means, that you are able to play through the story of the game, online with other players that are logged on. But wait, there's more.

                       The multiplayer feature is available for a lot of counsel games as well. I'll further explain that. A counsel would be considered a game playing system like Sony's Playstations or the Xbox's that come out every other year. On these counsels people are able to also download games and or play the games through discs. For many reason, a lot of people go so far as to choosing only to play on the computer or only to play counsel. I personally, do not mind. Typically I'm in it for the story line.

                        This being the case I am able to bounce between playing games on the computer or the counsel quite easily. One thing I am able not so willing to do, is bounce between Playstation and Xbox. I... just... wont. It's a thing with me. In fact, I don't know any gamer who does so willingly. Here's one of the main reasons.

                           As complicated and daunting this all may look, I personally grew up using the Playstation controller. Imagine growing up using your right hand for everything, then suddenly you are drafted into a world where you'd have to use your left hand for everything, or there would be death to pay. Sounds kind of sorrowful right? Well it is. It's basically like taking everything you know and throwing it out of the window, leaving you borderline paralyzed and confused. It's a horrible feeling really. But I digress. I happen to own a few gaming systems, but I mainly play on my counsel the Playstation 3 and my Nitendo Ds, a hand held gaming device.

                           Aside from being comfortable with the system you're using to play these games, most have a setting of difficulty that'll add challenge or make them easier to bare. This being the case, over the past few years, the lovely world of game play has grown ever so useful. Being it that you probably aren't the only one in the world play what ever game you choose to play, if the game is popular enough, there may be a game play of it on line or on you tube somewhere. 

                         

                          The point of game play is for gamers to help other gamers, learn how to get though the more so difficult parts of the game. There are even videos out there that display secrets hidden in the games or ways to unlock content through achievements. The two Youtube gamers I tend to follow are PewDiePie and Markiplier. I added the link to PewDiePie's website and Markiplier's youtube page to their names. These two, are amazing human beings. Not to be compared though, because even though they may seem similar, I admire the two of them for very different reasons.

                         

                         PewDiePie has saved my will to fight, countless times. But I started to watch him for the same reason I was watching Markiplier. They were entertaining. For that soul reason, had I watched Markiplier's entire walk through game play of Five Nights At Freddy's. Hours of my life that I will never ever get back, but I don't regret it. He was hilarious. Even so, here's the big difference between him and PewDiePie for me. I only watch Markiplier as it pertains to Five Nights at Freddy's, but I will never ever, ever try and ever beat that game. Ever. It's just too scary and nerve racking, but it was fun to watch. 

                          

                         Where on the other hand with PewDiePie, I can honestly say that I've beaten at least 2 or three games with the help of this fellow. When I got lost or confused, I'd search up PewDiePie and low and behold, he has already cleared the path for me to skip through. Without watching his tactic when beating some of the challenges through the game, I may have quit or given up. Don't get me wrong, I don't just copy cat. But, after I have died a glorious number of times, I look to see how he got through it, and I give it a shot. 

                            Games like, The Last of Us and Heavy Rain I just simply would not have had to will to beat if it weren't for PewDiePie. This is not just because he figure the difficult things out, but also because he was hilarious. He helped me laugh through the challenging times, which lifted my spirit to press on ward. Then, when I had finally beat the game, I felt like he had truly beat it with me. Gaming is great, its something you can choose to do alone or with friends, and often times, it leaves you with a mighty sense of accomplishment. Even when watching Markiplier, finishing the play list out with him till the end, still grants the opportunity to feel happy for him. Both of these guys, are very emotional fellows.

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                            So when you think to yourself "To play, or to game play?" It's the gamer's mind. What ever you're up to, go for it. Honestly you don't have to choose. Both can be very rewarding, especially if you make it to the end. Either way, the gamer's mind is the same. Have Fun**                       

He's Out of this World!

"David Bowie was an inspiration to me, even though was not alive at the peak of his fame. He taught me that even if I look a little different or act a little different, I can still succeed."

-Isla Marie

She wanted me to be sure to mention that she's 12. Yes 12 years old, born in 2003. As she mentioned, she wasn't even on this earth when David Bowie had reached his peak, even so she managed to be graced by him. Her perspective on life has been enlighten, thanks to David Bowie. Of course her and millions of other people have experience the awesomeness that is David Bowie. The most interesting part about it, is that those people may not have even had known the effect that he may have had on them.

A swell example of this scenario, would be myself. Ridding in the car with my father on the way home from running some errands, I hear on the radio about David's death. That moment I ask my father quite candidly "Who the heck is David Bowie?" my father wasn't all that amused by my reaction. He told me that David was famous in his time and that he wasn't surprised that I didn't know him. My father saying that, peeked my interest just a little. "Who was he? What did he do? Why are we announcing his death?" Heck I hope I'm famous enough some day for my death to be announced on the radio, but I digress. My dad told me that David was a famous singer and writer. In my mind, I figured the guy must have been pretty cool, and I let the thought pass.

                 It wasn't until I looked into this wonderful person a little further that I realized, that he had shook my whole world from the inside out. He did this in such a swift and moving way and I didn't even know it was David. Through his role as the Goblin King in the Labyrinth I could never see the world or my family the same again. That was my reaction to him as a child. I first saw the movie when I was in grade school. Most of the other kids in the class were either deeply enthused as I was, or they were horrifyingly scared for life. Either way, watching that movie is an enchanting experience. But that just so happen to be the way that Bowie got to me. 

                 To my surprise years later, he had pulled the same jive on me again. In 2015 the movie The Martian came out featuring the song Starman. Okay, I'm sorry, but I LOVE THAT SONG!! I know caps are cliche. I apologize if my excitement was unsettling, but that's my honest reaction to that song, Bowie's song. Here's my point. I hadn't a clue that song was done by David Bowie. I fell in love with that song almost instantly. It was insane, as if I was being drafted into another world. The same exact feeling I had when watching the Labyrinth. It some how seemed familiar to me. That's because it was. The art that David had created was imprinted into the culture that we have today. Both the song Starman and the movie the Labyrinth felt like home to me. Reason, being...I was introduced to David Bowie as a child and his impression has stayed on me and with me, even after all of these years. That, that's impressive.

"David Bowie has always been an incredible singer to me. He was sorta like an idol for me. He looked cool, he never really cared all that much about what others thought, and he made amazing music. He was awesome and his music and disposition on life influenced me. His music taught me beauty and gave me the ability to understand my own heart." 

- Seth Crow

People all over where remarkably influenced by the man who was not afraid to express who he was fully with out fear. That is a respectable trait that many people wish they could obtain. Through his expression in the arts David Bowie has opened the hearts and minds of others to do the same. He has left gigantic foot marks in the ground that no one else could ever fill in the way that he did. A man who's art is so powerful that his work will be admired for now and for many more years to come. He worked hard up until his very death, which was a surprise to everyone right after releasing his new album "Black Star"

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                     A life well lived if I do say so myself. Many accomplishments, many acknowledgements, many ground breaking movements. One life changing, soul rearranging fellow. David Bowie, a man I met as a child, but discovered as an adult. A man who is truly out of this world! Rest in peace David.

"How you turn my world, you precious thing."

-Labyrinth

Links for Photos

http://assets2.radiox.co.uk/2008/34/david-bowie-1219852230-article-0.jpg

https://diaryofadomesticgoddess.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/jareth.jpg

https://espngrantland.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/grant_columbia_labyrinth_64011.jpg?w=750

http://www.scenemissingmagazine.com/article/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/labyrinthbowie.jpg

http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lfuei5cWSs1qc7bo0o1_500.jpg

http://www.davidbowie.com/sites/g/files/g2000002506/f/styles/blog_detail_image/public/labyrinth_headshot_small.jpg?itok=t0ytQnSN

http://www.likesbooks.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/david-bowie-as-jareth-the-goblin-king-in-labyrinth1.jpg

https://bkhemphill.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/article_big_1304092050david_bowie_labyrinth_1986_07_g.jpg

What's in a Name?

                   Just to get all of the fancies out of the way... Hello! My name is Candice, but, the username I often use on social networks, is Iris. Hence the lovely picture display I placed up there just for you. Oddly enough, I happen to have a lot of online names. As the main base, I tend to use Midori4life. It's been years I've used the name Midori, to the point where some family members call me by that name. Midori means green in Japanese. Green just so happens to be my favorite color, and anyone who knows me knows that. This is because, well, I tend to wear green a lot. But to get back to the point of usernames and me having so many. Let me back track a little.
                    Typically when joining a site or a game, or some sort of group on the internet, the creators of the site give you the option to register, with a user name and a display name. The two names can be the same, they could be different. Typically, the username is something very exact to the person, so if someone else tries to set a username that is already in use, a error message would come up saying as much. "Sorry! This username is already taken!! Please choose another!". This being the case most people tend to come up with something so unique to them that they can use it over and over for multiple sites.
                    For example someones username may be queenstar82. That username will be used for the site to attach the activities of queenstar82 to queenstar82. Hope I haven't lost you yet, cause there is more. This is why most sites give the option of having a display name as well. Usually the display name is able to be changed where as the username is not. If a person wanted to change their username, often times, they'd have to create a new account to associate themselves with. Where as the display name, typically is able to be changed with the weather.
                   All this to say, that usually my username is Midori4life, but my display name is often Iris. Sometimes it varies, based on my mood. For the most part though, everyone online calls me Iris. Hence, as I mentioned before, the beautiful display I made and placed up there just for you!

                   Alright! Now on to the fun stuff. Not sure if you've realized this or not, but I am more than sure that many people sign up on line and register for sites, like more than one. Like I said a bit earlier, a lot of people tend to use the same one. As for me, all of my display names have stories and in a way mark as a certain part of me. The name Iris** didn't just fall out of the sky. Neither did Zao, Winter, or Midori. Those are the three I'll tell the story of sense they are so close.
                   If you have yet to notice, names are very very very important to me. I learn names of people and remember forever. If I get close to someone, or like some one, I rename them the moment it seems fit to me, and often times I'd tell that person right then and there "Hey, I like you, your special to me, I'm going to call you So in so, is that okay with you?" Usually, well typically the answer is yes. I've become sort of known for it, to the point where some folks ask to be nicknamed by me. It's a thing I do. But, I digress, back to my display names.
                 The name Midori, as I mentioned before is because of my favorite color being green, it doesn't really run much deeper than that. The name Zao I heard in theater class one day while working on a play. I got cast as that character. Soon after reading through a few of his lines, I fell in love with his personality. This was before I had a very large media presence. A few years down the line, one of my close friends used the name Hao for her display name, which of course sent my mind directly to the name Zao. I freaked out. I attacked her almost instantly to tell her the story, and right then I changed my display name from Midori to Zao.

                  A bit after that someone I had recently met, name was Forrest. I talked to Forrest often, so I changed my display name to Meadow. The thing is though, with that situation, the name did not spread like wild fire, where as the name Zao did. I used Zao everywhere for a bit of time. Here's why the display name Meadow is important. After some time, I decided that I didn't want to be Meadow anymore. You may be thinking to yourself, "Well why does it matter?" It matters! It does matter!! What's in a name? Everything. It's your identity. It is who you are. It is who you are referred to as. It is what people call you most. It is how people remember who you are. It is important. It matters.
                  Because I no longer wished to be referred to as Meadow, I wanted to change my display name. Not often before had I wanted to change my display name without already having a new name in mind. I went to a friend. I asked for help because the temporary display name I had been using until I came up with a more suitable one was Shy. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am not shy. In which case I had to come up with something more fitting, sooner than later.
                   With the help of a recently new friend, I came up with the name Iris** The story behind that is a very short one. I told my friend that I no longer wanted to use the Meadow, she told me the name Shy wasn't suitable. Soon after she told me that I some how reminded her of a flower, for some reason that was odd to me. I have no clue why, I can't explain that, but I took the compliment. She ventured on to ask me what my favorite flower was. I responded iris of course! I changed my display name at that very moment, and from then on, I have been referred to as Iris**
                    Since then I've added the name Winter to the front of it. But I don't really get called Winter, that was literally for the season. Come to think of it, I may be removing that part of the name soon. I really do like the name Iris, it has grown on me and the puns never get old, because the iris is apart of the eye as well. Because I am on social networks so often, I met people and they call me by what ever display name is shown. This being the case, on the internet, I am known as Iris**

                   I have a group chat on Skype and an app called Kik. On these two messaging apps I am known as Iris** They call me this, when they are excited to see me, when I seem sad, or worried, or upset. They use this name to get my attention, to thank me, to help me realize that because of me, they have circle of new friends that they probably otherwise never would have met. In these groups, I am the glue that brought these folks together and they go to these group chats to talk to other people who care about them.
                    In my group chat on Kik that I run, I change the theme every few weeks. In the chat we are always changing our display names and our profile pictures to fit the characters in the theme of the week. For example, the theme was "The Smurfs Village". I was Grouchy Smurf and before that, right around Christmas, the theme was "Whoville". I was Mr. Grinch, and one of my friends was Max the dog. The group only has about 15-17 members in it, from all over the place. Seeing what characters they decide to be, based on the theme is interesting because often the character that they choose reflect their own personality in some way. Right now the theme is "Cartoon Network" which allows the members of my group chat to be any character from that channel that they wish. There's a Bubbles from The Power Puff Girls, there's a Ed from the T.V. show Ed, Edd, and Eddy, there's a Dee Dee, from Dexter's Laboratory any many many more. I'd have to say one of my favorite references in the chat is my friend who decided to be Samurai Jack!

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                    What is there to a name? A lot. An entire being. Beings are important. You are important. What does your username or display name mean to you? What does your birth name mean to you? What would you name a pet if you were to get one soon? What's in a name? Everything.