Hey guys-

I don't use this much anymore, but I know you do . Therefore, I am putting this link up for all of you; I think it's accessible for everyone. It's a video of the UFS Commercial/skit from long ago, from the 2004 FISDU Barrio. I don't think anyone has it. Tony did the video reformatting for it and he saved a copy onto my computer, which I found just recently. *Enjoy*...

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=972706915&n=2

xoxo Jess

http://www.myspace.com/generouspalmstroke

I have diagnosed myself with Sleep Paralysis, a form of Narcolepsy.

(taken from Wikipedia)

Sleep paralysis is a condition characterized by paralysis of the body shortly after waking up (known as hypnopompic paralysis) or, less often, shortly before falling asleep (known as hypnagogic paralysis). Physiologically, it is closely related to the normal paralysis that occurs during REM sleep, also known as REM atonia.

Sleep paralysis occurs when the brain is awakened from an REM state into essentially a normal fully awake state, but the bodily paralysis is still occurring. This causes the person to be fully aware, but unable to move. In addition, this state is usually accompanied by certain specific kinds of hallucinations. This state usually lasts no more than two minutes before a person is able to either return to full REM sleep or to become fully awake, though the sense of how much time has gone by is often distorted during sleep paralysis. People who are fortunate enough to be facing a clock while having an episode may often be surprised to see how little time has gone by during an episode that seems to last a very long time.

More often than not, sleep paralysis is believed by the person affected by it to be no more than a dream. This is the reason why there are many dream recountings which describe the person being lying frozen and unable to move. The hallucinatory element to sleep paralysis makes it even more likely that someone will interpret the experience as simply a dream, as one might see completely fanciful objects in a room alongside the normal vision one can see.

Many report hallucinations during episodes of sleep paralysis. The features of these hallucinations generally vary by individual, but some are more common to the experience than others:

Most common

• Vividness
• Fear

Common

• Sensing a "presence" (often malevolent)
• Pressure/weight on body (especially the chest).
• A sensation of not being able to breathe
• Impending sense of doom/death

Fairly common

• Auditory hallucinations (often footsteps or indistinct voices, or pulsing noises). Auditory hallucinations which are described as noise instead of hallucinations of legible sounds, are often described to be similar to auditory hallucinations caused by nitrous oxide by persons who have experienced both.
• Visual hallucinations such as lights, people or shadows walking around the room

Less common

• Floating sensation (sometimes associated with out-of-body experiences)
• Seemingly seamless transition into full hallucinations or dreaming, also associated with out-of-body experiences
• Tactile hallucinations (such as a hand touching or grabbing)

Rare

• Falling sensation
• Vibration

There is also a Philippine version of it, called Bangungot (ever heard of it?)....:

Bangungot is sudden unexpected death of adolescents and adults during sleep. Bangungot is observed in all East Asian countries. The term originated from the Tagalog word meaning 'bad dream'. The explanation for this term is due to the fact that survivors of Bangungot often describe dreaming about falling into a bottomless pit. While experiencing this, the person is aware that he is dreaming but feels like there is something that hinders him to move and wake up. It's rare in the Western world, and appears to occur more commonly among young men in Southeast Asia.

Filipinos attribute bangungot to going to bed right after a very full meal. The medical researchers have their own crop of theories. The earliest investigations, based on autopsies of Filipino victims, suggested pancreatitis as the cause of death, with speculation that our high salt diet of bagoong and patis (...Buahahahahaha!!!!) In the 1980s, doctors at the University of the East proposed the victims had coongenital problems in their heart's anatomical structure. The deaths among Thai workers in Singapore led researchers to zero in once again on dietary factors, with suggestions that the problem was associated with nutritional deficiencies.

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I've had hallucinations of:

• Friends and relatives sitting by my bed and me asking them to shake me awake, but they won't
• Sleeping with someone in my bed that's holding my legs down and begging (for what seems like forever) for them to get off, and then they start crushing me
• A numb, vibrating feeling when falling asleep, only to jolt myself awake for hours
• A sense of being completely conscious and hearing conversations of other people who are in the room
• Not being able to breathe, and then gasping when I force myself tirelessly to wake up
• Having realistic dreams of explaining to my mom about this problem, and then jolting awake to find myself really in bed
• Having conversations and hearing friends move about the kitchen in crossings
• A weird headache after waking up

One time, I fell asleep on the couch at home around my sisters, and they were watching T.V. All of a sudden, I felt tingly and I knew I was asleep, but I could definitely hear their conversation. I tried to focus on the T.V. and my eyes all of a sudden became really wide and I couldn't breathe. Then, I forced myself to wake up, and when I did, I screamed, 'HOLY CRAP!!!" and they all looked at me.

I've had this all week. I'm so afraid to go to sleep now.....

*~*   20  *~*

Yes, it's still January 5th, but technically, I was already born in the Philippines by this time

We saw THIS in our kitchen sink this morning.

****......SHUUUUUUDDDDDERRRRRR.....*****

Euchh, blechh, yuchhh .... it's been giving me goosebumps ever since this morning. What a great wake-up call, trying to wash a spreader in the sink and then seeing this horrid, ugly, disgusting 30-legged beast bolt from under a plate and try to scramble out of the sink.... it's called a scutigera, and it preys on cockroaches (which........... i guess....................................is a good thing....). Thankfully, one egg is laid at a time, so there aren't a WHOLE lot of them. But I've read that they're superfast and can sense when you're about to kill it. Anyhow, after screaming, i called Shiel over, who was just as scared to lay eyes on it as i was, and i look over the sink to make sure it's still in there. Yep, it was working those legs up the sink, but the surface was too slippery. So we decided to drown it with HOT water; i stood behind the corner of the sink where it was so it couldn't see me coming, and flushed it out with a glass of hot water. it went down the drain, and after running more water, we turned on the garbage disposal.... die, beast!

I guess that's what we get for living in an old building in the middle of the city.

To all who read this,

Hi again!  I haven't updated in a while, I was busy (but of course). I know I promised pictures, but no camera available yet, maybe tomorrow.

I now have a My Space.

All the food in the pantry with MSG is now highlighted in yellow. It doesn't stop me from eating it.

How about that SEPTA strike? It wasn't long until they reached a decision, but I'm no complaining. I've had to walk about 12-13 city blocks to and from work, resulting in aching legs the next mornings, but i guess it's done the body good. I'm toned and in shape, and that's what matters! And although we have SEPTA back, I've decided that it's not that bad walking to work, and that I should do it occasionally. Cause yeah, SEPTA tokens are a bitch to buy.

We now have a blow-up mattress at our place! sleepovers!

I have found new hazards at our apartment. For instance, one day I was putting away dishes and pans, dishes being on the top cabinet, and pans underneath the sink. Upon doing so, I had left the top cabinet slightly open, stooped to put a pan away, and nearly split my head open on the door of the cabinet standing up. I was standing there thinking, "Am i bleeding, am i bleeding, i'm bleeding, right?" I swear i've formed another suture.

Favorite things in my room:

1. My gi-mungous drafting table
2. My comfy bed 
3. My $3 H&M olive skirt
4. My Bjork poster
5. My window
6. My gas mask (i love my gas mask....)

So one day, I'm at work, it's really busy in the store, and it's hectic and everything. Then, we all hear this sound, something like that of water coming out of the pipes and splashing onto the wood floor. Because it was just that. Dirty black water was spewing from one of the pipes on the ceiling and dripping all over the coffee section. Everyone stood up and went to the other end of the store, until we told them to leave, and we closed the doors. It didn't occur to us to do something about it, we were just like .......................... We turned the lights off, started moving furniture and merchandise away from the water (which smelled a little), and called the bosses. It turns out that the kitchens at the Inn at Penn had a little back up in their sinks for a while and were attempting to fix it. This thing was, the drain (which comes out of a pipe and into a large pan that is just over our ceiling) was blocked, so it started overflowing DRASTICALLY, and, after they had stopped the flow, black water was all over 3/4 of the floor. It was like a snow day for us, lol.... we all went to the back, tore off our uniforms, ate some parfaits and waited for the bosses to show up. We took pictures of the damage, and I had to bar the doors with furniture and apologize to customers. One of our bosses even took the situation light-heartedly, and joked around. He even took our pictures sitting around the damage, lol... Best part of the day? During the spewage, this one Penn guy comes up to the doors and sticks his head in. We tell him that we're closed, and he stands there for like 5 seconds, and then says, "...Why?".......................... We all stare at him. We stare at the huge black puddle on the floor. We stare at the dirty water gushing from the ceiling. We stare at him again. This guy was serious. And then he walks away. ....