Well I am well and truly over this horrible weather - the rain, clouds, grey sky. I’m also fighting a cold which means I’m stuck inside reading and watching movies. I just finished watching The Forbidden Kingdom with Jackie Chan and Jet Li. Meh… It seems every movie Jet Li says it will be his last yet he continues to go on.

My dreams have been extra vivid lately which is strange because I never usually remember them. In the dreams I remember, I’m always running away from something more powerful than I am - a vampire, a monster, or a serial killer. But I can never get away no matter how hard I run or how desperate my escape is. I’m sure there’s some Freudian meaning there, but I balance it nicely with other dreams where I am the superhero and save the day.

A number of years ago I bought a few packets of mugwort which is a plant said to induce lucid and vivid dreams. I placed it under my pillow every night and it had an incredible effect on my dreams. Someone else I know who used it as part of their thesis on dreaming felt little effects, so perhaps it was just a placebo. Either way I recommend trying it - you can buy it from Happy High Herbs.

A few years ago there was a lot of hype going around about nootropics, more commonly known as ’smart drugs’. One which received a lot of attention was Piracetam. After a lot of reading, I ordered two bottles off the internet as it was over the counter in America but had not been approved in Australia.

I have always had a problem with memory and to be honest, I remember very little about my entire life. Memories dissolve into a blurry haze after just a few years and I can barely distinguish my years at school. So I began taking Piracetam and after only a short while noticed some interesting effects. The memories I formed had a much greater salience as though they were important milestones in my life. Yet the events that occured during the time I was taking Piracetam were on the whole entirely mundane or unimportant. It is difficult to explain this, and I can only liken it to something sticking out in your mind.

An example of this was a gig I went to - Cocorosie which made a huge long-lasting impression on me. It was an awesome gig - don’t get me wrong (I saw them again a few month ago), but my memory of it is uncharacteristically cemented in my mind.

There were other interesting effects of taking Piracetam, the most extreme was superimposing myself into my cat’s mind as he walked past me and I saw the world in a fuzzy black and white - as though I was seeing the world through his eyes. This was only momentary and it was not startling, but it was enough to get me to stop taking anymore Piracetam.

It was an interesting time and I never really speak about it, so I guess now is as good an opportunity as ever. Just thought I would share this.