(image from NASA)

I can look at the above cloud animation all day… clouds are clouds right? Well, these ones are special… they are the clouds found on Mars!

Why is this so fascinating to me?

Most likely, within my lifetime, I will never get the opportunity to visit another planet or moon… if I am wealthy enough in the future, I can spend a few days in space but exploring alien worlds is probably going to be left to my descendants to experience. This animated picture, no matter how brief or grainy, is as close I will get to looking up in the sky on another planet. In the few frames of this animation, I see hope, success, wonderment and many other adjective, including expletives, that describe my deep desire to really explore this world I was lucky enough to be born on. It’s also a very tragic reminder of the limitations placed upon me from birth, that of my own mortality which I realize logically I can do nothing about but emotionally bothers me to no end. They say all living life on this planet has an urge for self-preservation built into it… I think I was born with an extra helping of this ingredient when I was created by my parents.

The reality of Aging

I am quickly approaching my 32nd birthday and from talking to others who are older then me, I have come to the realization of the cruel joke played on us by Mother Nature, the process of aging itself. I am starting to think those with Alzheimer’s are lucky, you see, they are aging and not in the best of shape but don’t realize this. It’s like going 100 miles an hour straight into a brick wall but instead of looking at the wall coming straight at you, you are facing the other direction.

Why is the process of aging a cruel joke?

Right now, I am in my early 30’s but mentally, I feel no different then when I was a teenager, I still have the same feelings, urges and essentially the same body. Double my age to 60 and guess what, I will still have the mind of a teenager but the body of an old fart… double that again, now 120 years old… still with the mind of a teenager but most likely the day after a party and the body that is simply unrecognizable. What I am saying is that physically we age rather quickly but mentally, well, not so much. Do I look forward to looking at myself in the mirror on my 100th birthday? As I continue to take great care of myself, most likely yes but I will also have a feeling of great loss of the body I have now is gone, never to return. Aging is a one way road that is part of the deal when you become mortal.

The Bottom Line

Anybody who says they love the process of aging is suffering from a mental disorder.

Buzvia: Mars Exploration Rover Mission

I figured it was only a matter of time before some people in the old establishment feared for their own livelihood and reputation when something new comes along that provides a better experience then what they are able to provide.

The experience with WoodMarvels.com

When I first launched woodmarvels,com, I had a number of haters, wood crafters hated the site because we provided blueprints and 3D animation for at an 80% discount to their “old” mail order businesses. Gone where the days of overpriced blueprints that took a week to receive in the mail. I saw messages saying “computer created blueprints are a dime a dozen”, “a real wood crafter doesn’t use computers”, “how can you build something without measurements!” and so on. What can I conclude? The haters out there seeing their livelihood which failed to evolve with the times facing obliteration, they are too lazy to learn how to create things in a computer which is far more efficient method (including environmentally friendly) but too entrenched in old methods of doing things. Other people support the site, it provides to them exactly what they need and want.

Experience with the International Association for the Study of Dreams

Here is an association that, to me, should be very welcoming of different and novel new ways of doing things… boy was I wrong! I posted a message on their forum that was full of anonymous posters helping others to interpret their dream that dreamclue.com is now available to them. The response? They deleted my post without even an explanation, not once but twice! I did the same on wikipedia with the same result. I can only conclude that dreamclue.com is their worst nightmare which they wished never saw the light of day! I had sent an e-mail to Dr. Van de Castle asking him to check dreamclue.com out to get his feedback and the response I got wasn’t what I was expecting.

“Dear Jon… In general, I’m not supportive of any approach to dreams in which a dictionary approach is made, and I don’t feel that represents a dynamic approach. To me, dynamic means an approach in which the dreamer’s individual and unique personality features are carefully examined in a way that the multilevel strands of meaning are carefully interwoven . ARBITRARILY TELLING anyone what their dream means is considered an unethical procedure, as you will note if you examine the ethical statement of our organization. The International Association for the Study of Dreams [ www.IASDreams.org ] ONLY the dreamer is entitled to say what their dream means . I am sending a copy of this response to our chair person in charge of ethics, so that she will be aware of your new venture, Sincerely, Robert Van de Castle , PH.D”

I thanked him for his time in my reply but to me there are a few points that he has failed to realize about dreamclue.com:

1. we are only providing ideas as to what a symbol means, it’s always up to the end user to decipher what the dream means to them, the first block of text on our home page clearly states this. Not only that, the journal available to members provides a field for just such a thing!
2. their own forum is full of strangers actually TELLING other strangers exactly what their dream means WITHOUT the systematic approach he preaches, yet their postings are not deleted like mine was.
3. there are “professional dream interpreters” out there charging 20 to 200 dollars AN HOUR to provide dream interpretations, selling tapes and books that cost a kings random. How the hell is this considered ethical when there is now a FREE, dynamic alternative with dreamclue.com?
4. we provide a feedback mechanism for others to post what a dream symbol meant to them, the term “arbitrary” is a term I consider an insult given the foundation that dreamclue.com is built upon.

Economic motives in maintaining the status quo

Now, I can’t blame them for hating what dreamclue.com represents, they make thousands of dollars a year selling “memberships” and have a vast store selling any and everything to do with dreams no matter how hookey they seem. Here, I am, a person providing a free alternative… I can’t blame them for deleting my posts within minutes of me posting on their site. I guess, if I was in their shoes, I would be shaking and hoping word didn’t get out too!

My challenge to dream interpreters the world over!

I challenge ANY “professional dream interpreter”, psychotherapist, metaphysician, psychologist, psychic, astrologist or otherwise to PROVE their books or sites helping others with their dream interpretations are any better then dreamclue.com. PROVE to me the superiority of your methods using the scientific method, otherwise, don’t even try to elevate yourselves above what dreamclue.com provides to its users.

The problem with the dream industry

Like the diet and health industries, the dream interpretation industry is ripe with gouging consumers in order to maintain the “professionalism” of this field. A field that is ripe with predators looking for a quick buck and creating dependent relationships that benefit only their pocket books. The dream industry should be open to new ideas and methods of doing things, not turning a blind-eye and discounting viable alternative out there. My goal is to provide tools that help people find out more about themselves, ultimately, to be self-reliant. This is exactly what this industry and many others I plan on conquering fear.

The Bottom Line

Waves are good… especially the ones you create yourself!

We are all a product of a dream, whether realized or otherwise, they are among the most powerful mechanisms in our lives that help guide us, give us new ideas and play around with alternative realities!

Why develop Dreamclue.com?

Well, I originally began on this project a little over a year ago now after realizing that there was a huge amount of knowledge we are all acquiring but forgetting nightly! I wanted to create a system that not only makes sense of our dreams but more importantly, allows us to record them for prosperity. Our dreams are also a visual medium, so the site had to be chalk full of imagery to help guide you through the exploration of the dreamworld. The results? Well, launching with over two thousand dream symbols written by yours truly and a quarter of the entries with photographs also taken by me, I have big expectations for this site!

How does Dreamclue.com work?

Dreams are our own business, so it has to be built anonymously, as such, like myfoodcount.com before it, the system has no clue who you are and it’s drop dead easy interface for adding and learning about the dreamworld only helps to make the exploration that much easier!

Other cool Dreamclue.com features

The site features both text and image based navigation, in addition to interesting statistics not only about your very own dreams but all the dreams on the site as well. You can also read other peoples dreams (they are rendered anonymous by our system) and even comment on any interpretation on the site!

What’s next?

A lot, will let all our visitors know when the time is right

The Bottom Line

Passion is a dangerous thing as it can only bread more passion!

Like many others, I get my daily news from online sources and I continue to be fascinated by how much rubbish and non-news gets on sites such as ABC News, CNN and other reputable sites.

ABC News: Marine Puppy-Throwing Video

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=4384322

Simple story, a marine throws a puppy off a cliff… I fail to see how this is news much less anything of any importance. Why? Well, it’s one puppy and one marine, nobody dies other then the puppy and in the grand scheme of things, who cares?

ABC News: Bombings in Afghanistan Kill 5

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=4382948

Two NATO soldiers and three civilians are killed when a suicide bomber decides to become a martyr for his perceived reicheous cause. Is this news? I consider it to absolutely be news, why? Well, this covers the bigger story of the Taliban resurgence in Afghanistan which, by all accounts, they are actually winning on. They where initially overthrown as a results of protecting Osama Bin-Laden, but instead of fixing the problems that allowed them to emerge in the first place, the United States decided to go on a while goose hunt.

It’s all about the comments

Now, which of the above two stories do you think got the most comments? The story about a dog being thrown to its death or five people dying… you guessed right, the dog story! So far, as of this writing, the puppy throwing video has gathered just shy of 1100 comments, the Afghan bombing, zilch, zero, nothing! What does this tell you? Well, there is more value in this society for a puppy then five human lives. No condolences for the soldiers who lost their lives in making our world better but wow… there is no lack of them for a puppy!

Patterns repeating themselves

Alright, this is but one case but I have seen it repeated over and over again where non-news gathers more “reaction” then actual news. Don’t believe me? Take Britney Spears, a has-been who is of no significance in the financial, geo-political or to my daily survival who gets more over-saturated coverage across all forms of media then the Sudanese Genocide that has been going on for years now. People are fascinated by celebrity which in the grand scheme of things means nothing yet couldn’t care less about the systematic wiping out of ethnic clans in Africa, Asia and South America.

What does this all mean?

Well, I see this as a sad reflection on society as a whole. Do you remember what happened to the Roman Empire? Well, the emperor started having problems so he began to make sacrifices of humans in various ways to keep the people appeased and forgetting their everyday problems. The Inca did the same thing in Mexico and countless civilizations before that proceeding their downfall. What I am saying is that forgetting about the value of human life is yet another brick in the road towards annihilation of our species. You see this with Global Warming (however it’s caused), people complain about asthma yet drive around in huge SUVs and smoke, people complain about the lack of affordable health care yet decide to live a life of excess (obesity)… the majority of the people out there just don’t care about other humans anymore then they care about themselves.

The Bottom Line

When people care more about nonsense then actual news, there is something wrong with our society.