Mindblogging

Uncle says hello

Mark Turner — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 01:55:15 +0000

When I’m out walking the dog before sunrise my mind sometimes wanders and I fall into a bit of a meditative state. That was the case for me Wednesday as I steered the dog around the neighborhood. As we reached the “home stretch” and turned on to my street, something made me think about my maternal uncle Bub. He died nine years ago. His funeral was the only one for which I’ve ever served as pallbearer.

Images of his home popped into my head. I think I may have smelled it, too, or maybe even sensed my uncle’s presence in an even more direct way. I’m not completely sure what it was that got my notice: all I know is that the recognition was so certain that I said his name out loud, chuckling.

Later that afternoon, I read a Facebook update from his daughter, my cousin Connie. She about how she missed him and that that day was his birthday.

Until I read that I did not know my uncle’s birthday was Wednesday. I believe my uncle may have gotten my attention to pass on a little greeting on his birthday. He always had a mischevious bent!

Magic Mushrooms Can Bring About Lasting Personality Changes

Mark Turner — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 19:33:16 +0000

Interesting.

Taking magic mushrooms (psilocybin) can have a lasting change on the individual’s personality, making them more open about their feelings and the way they perceive things, researchers from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA, wrote in the Journal of Psychopharmacology. The authors explained that those who had mystic experiences while on psilocybin were more likely to subsequently exhibit certain personality changes, making them more forthcoming about their feelings, becoming more focused on being creative, curious, and appreciative about artistic things.

via Magic Mushrooms Can Bring About Lasting Personality Changes.

Is this my star-shaped UFO?

Mark Turner — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 02:43:18 +0000

Tonight I was discussing my 2006 UFO sighting with some friends. The discussion prompted me to do a Google Image Search on star-shaped UFO and found this very interesting video of a UFO sighting in Mexico:

After seeing this Mexico craft, I knew it was exactly what I saw in 2006. It’s the same kind of sighting as well: a daytime sighting and a dark craft against the sky. If it is the same type of craft I saw, its shape explains why I originally thought it changed shape as it moved away. From below, this craft would indeed appear to be a star-shaped craft, with no visual clues that it wasn’t flat like an airplane. Only when it moved away would it become apparent that it was actually a pointed sphere. I think that validates my observational skills a bit.

So, what was it? I still don’t know. It was odd and I have no explanation. I do feel better knowing I’m not the only one who saw it, though.

Dream adventures

Mark Turner — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 01:35:06 +0000

Well, last night didn’t offer the excitement that the night before did, fortunately for my family. Travis did get up twice but there didn’t seem to be any reason for it. He told us this morning that he didn’t remember getting up and didn’t remember having bad dreams last night. And I witnessed no doors opening by themselves, so that is a good thing. Travis did seem to miss not having Hallie in the house, though, as she was out on a sleepover last night. I can understand that.

What did happen was that Travis awoke at 2:30 AM and was shuttled back to his room by Kelly. I got up to go to the bathroom in the meantime. When I returned to bed I never completely settled in, keeping one ear out for the telltale footsteps indicating Travis was awake again. I flopped around bed for almost an hour, stuck in the unusual but enormously rich and productive state of mind-awake-body-asleep.

I eventually drifted off into an incredibly blissful state of mind, somewhere deep in my psyche. It was as if I had found a long-lost hiding place, or gleefully rediscovered a secret that no one else on Earth knew. Endorphins rushed through me as I did mental gymnastics in my sleep. Sensing I was dreaming, I soon became lucid and embarked on several satisfying (and some quite naughty) endeavors. I even tried my hand at projection, though again I appeared unsuccessful.

I thought I might be grumpy at the thought of having my sleep interrupted again. Instead I can tell you that this kind of sleep interruption is welcome any night!

Dream steps

Mark Turner — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 01:16:05 +0000

In a more positive development, one night last weekend I had a dream-filled night. One of the dreams featured a house with a large marble staircase. The stairs appeared unusually narrow, and in the dream I studied them for this reason.

Thursday night, I returned from a trip to Chicago right before a powerful thunderstorm let loose. It was actually one of the scariest landings I’d ever been in: the crosswind was so strong that the wings of the plane were not level until about 5-10 feet above ground. I had actually begun wondering if our landing would hurt when a voice inside of me said to trust things would work out. And they did.

As as made my way through the crowded Terminal 1 I reached the escalator down to the baggage claim. There was a line for the escalator, though, so instead I chose to go down the stairs. A smile crossed my face when I realized the steps I were walking down were the same ones I had seen in my dream. They were narrow, marble steps: ones I had been fortunate not to have seen for a few years! I might have looked a little goofy when I got the first floor but I didn’t care.

Any worry I had had of not making it to the ground evaporated pretty quickly when I realized I had down down those steps in my earlier dream. It’s funny how the mind works sometimes!

More ghostly goings-on

Mark Turner — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 01:06:19 +0000

After returning from Chicago all I wanted was a restful night of sleep. Unfortunately last night was not one of those. It seems our ghost “friend” is still hanging around and made himself known last night with a vengeance.

Things trended towards the unusual beginning with our return from a local neighborhood music event. We had crated our dog at 7:45 PM and returned for him at 9:30 PM. At that time our dog was quite agitated – far more than he normally would be for a night with no thunderstorms predicted (and none anywhere nearby). I chalked it up to him being a bit skittish and didn’t think much of it.

Then at 9:45 PM while I was reading to our son, Travis, I noticed the door to his room open about a foot. This is pretty common, though usually our dog is to blame. I happened to look next to the bed, though, and saw Rocket had been curled up next to us all along. Whatever made the door move, it wasn’t our dog!

I tucked our son into bed and joined Kelly in watching a little television. About 10:30 we both went to bed. As customary, I let Rocket outside one more time before bed, though this time upon returning he never really settled down. Instead, he held his head up off the floor and stared into the empty room across from us. There was a look of unease to him, enough that it actually made me check the weather forecast just to make sure that he wasn’t hearing thunder anywhere. Satisfied we would be without storms, I went to bed.

An hour later things really got strange. Travis came to our door complaining that he had a bad dream. I heaved myself out of bed and walked him back to his room. When I walked from our bedroom into the living room, I immediately felt the tell-tale tingling of a ghost. Still half-asleep myself, I walked Travis back to his bed, where he sleepily crawled back in on his own.

I returned to our room and went to the bathroom, pulling the bathroom door closed behind me so as not to disturb Kelly. When I emerged from the toilet room into the bathroom, I was amazed to see the bathroom door standing wide open – certainly not the way I left it! Kelly was in our bed, still asleep.

I lay awake for a few more minutes, staring into the room and thinking to myself that this wasn’t cool. After a while I drifted off into an restless sleep.

At 4:30 AM, Travis once again knocked on our door after a bad dream. This time Kelly went to his aid. As I lie in bed, I could still feel the same presence I had felt at 11:30, and it pissed me off.

It seems as if whatever or whomever came to visit in the fall is back again, and took the time last night to make his presence known. But what does he want? Could all of our talk about refinishing the attic room where a lot of activity has centered be the trigger for the latest events? Or what? Why would anyone want to haunt our attic, anyway?

I’ve decided that the novelty of it all has worn off. Travis is becoming more spooked about things and sometimes is reluctant to play upstairs by himself. All of us are having our sleep affected. This ghost has worn out whatever welcome he thought he had.

I’ve asked a few of my friends with more experience in this thing to become more involved. I need to find out what attracts this ghost and what will make him move on. Enough is enough.

Dog dinner telepathy?

Mark Turner — Wed, 26 May 2010 02:08:21 +0000

I had long ago gotten tired of tripping over our dog when it was time to feed him. So rather than have him harassing us, he now sits quietly next to his bowl while we fetch his food. Being a Labrador retriever he is prone to fits of exuberance, though usually he can sit still long enough to earn his food. Last night he was particularly good at waiting, and I felt he needed to know that.

I began to heavily praise him for his efforts and as I did, the idea popped into my head that his performance had earned him an extra doggie treat. Well the next thing I know, the dog is all over Kelly as she put clothes in the clothes dryer, which just happens to be directly below where we keep the dog treats! He was in the sitting position facing her, with his ears perked up, exactly like he does when he’s expecting a treat. It was enough to make Kelly burst out laughing but it left me scratching my head.

We regularly move clothes into and out of the dryer and usually the dog couldn’t care less. Why the sudden interest? Also, he had just been fed a full meal. While sometimes after he eats he wanders below the dinner table for small scraps, it was quite unusual for him to be begging for a treat right after being fed. I had never seen him beg like that except after he’s had a walk, when he expects he will be rewarded with a treat.

It made me go hmmmm. Was this another telepathic thought I occasionally broadcast, like the others I’ve documented here? Did the dog somehow pick this up? Or (even more amusing to ponder) did that thought originate with my conniving dog and somehow get picked up by me? Or is it mere coincidence?

I can’t say I always know what the dog is thinking: that would certainly be a useful skill! It wouldn’t surprise me if the human-pet bond is deeper and far more complex than we acknowledge.

Perhaps Rupert Sheldrake is on to something after all with his pet psi experiments.

Update: I’m pretty sure I blurted out my intention of giving my dog a treat while he was eating, so there’s no mystery here.

Dinner telepathy

Mark Turner — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 02:47:17 +0000

I was stuck in traffic during this afternoon’s commute, so I thought I’d give a call to Kelly and let her know I would be running late. As I dialed the phone I decided to try to visualize what we were having for dinner. At no point during our call did either one of us ever mention dinner.

Soon the taste of Mexican food filled my imagination. I could taste the beans and meat to the point that my mouth began to water.

When I arrived home, I was quite happy to see I was correct! Much to my delight, Kelly was busy making soft tacos.

I need to try more of these psychic games. I bet I’ll get better at them the more I do.

Ghostly happenings quiet

Mark Turner — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 16:46:34 +0000

We haven’t had much activity with our ghostly visitor lately and I’m wondering why. That strange feeling that sometimes occurs upstairs is no longer present. Nor has our IR detector signaled a presence in the attic. Aside from the faint whiff of men’s cologne I smelled two weeks ago while cooking dinner, I haven’t noticed any unusual happenings.

In hindsight, I wonder if the ghostly visits were related to the sudden passing of my close friend, Gerry. Gerry checked out of this life on March 1st when a truck plowed into his car. For weeks before that event and a few weeks after the ghost activity was most intense. Now it’s mostly gone.

Even so, there might be other factors. It’s now much lighter in the morning as spring is well underway. We went through a time change for Daylight Saving Time. Also, our week away for vacation in Sedona might have been enough to drive our invisible visitor away.

It’s a shame: my curiosity is still there but the mystery guest apparently isn’t. I hope I didn’t miss my chance to learn more.

Mindreading milk

Mark Turner — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 16:37:19 +0000

Looks like another case of mindreading took place at home yesterday, this time between me and my son, Travis. It was lunchtime and we were both in the kitchen. Travis was at the table with his back to me, playing with his Legos. I was puttering around the kitchen, lazily putting my lunch together.

As a switch from my usual drink, I poured myself a glass of milk. As I did, I thought about the milk in the coffee machine at my office. I get a latte from that machine each morning and I was thinking about a comment a coworker had once made to me that the milk in the machine was not skim milk, but 2% milk instead.

I turned around to pour the milk when Travis confidently announced “Daddy, that’s skim milk.”

Gulp!

I had not mentioned a word about milk; I had just grabbed it out of the fridge and started pouring. And I don’t even think Travis was watching me. Even if he was, though, he could not have possibly guessed that I was thinking about skim milk. We stopped mentioning skim milk years ago when the kids stopped drinking whole milk.

Just like the previous mindreading between Hallie and me, it seemed that Travis and I were both puttering around contentedly when he read my mind. I think that mood is important, perhaps because one lets one’s guard down. Or, it could be that both participants fall into sync when doing something they enjoy.

At any rate, I’m happy to see these curious events continue!