Starlight Shine Eternal

This is the first night I had a night swim. I don't know the reason, perhaps the deep sense of relaxation, but it struck me as such the perfect night. It was a night so perfect in mood and feel, a comfortable 79F, slight wind bringing stray scents of spring blooms and snatches of children cries of delight from some streets over, quarter moon glow, the leaves rustling. Yes, it is a night reminding me of the old days, staring at the ageless stars that heroes and villains from taleless aeons wondered upon, brightly lit stars, weightless in the celestial bowl, hinting at tales of mythology wondrous and yet elusive.

This is the season of the graduation party, (best enjoyed junior year, waiting to be next) hearing the well laid plans of those juggernauting into the dim unknown. It is the season of the forbidden gathering, sneaking a 12-pack some impossible way, finding a stretch of woods or a parking lot and having the best beer: The illegal, taboo, beer, the illicit forbidden fruit, never tastier, fresher, sharper than right now. Maybe you find yourself fireside, weaving incredible stories, narrations of bold conquest, or pondering the way life will unfold. Only the young can live as Vikings, Viking who are consigned to live a life that is History's glory days that Father Time tells repeatedly and with relish at the end of the bar. Now is the time, life is never better because the possibilities seem infinite, and the vastness of that possibility eliminates the perimeters that are the bounds of life.

Ah, yes, but back to the topic this week: Piracetam. Pracetam did not cause the headaches apparently it was the lack of coffee, as I have not had any more problems with it. I am noticing a deeper sense of relaxation and ability to concentrate daily. Very subtle, very tangible.

Sunday Morning Coming Down

Not much to say here today. Hot, hot, hot damn it's hot outside. 94F and I sunburned myself talking on the phone with my brother while in the pool. I took 2000 mg of the serum in Iced Tea. Not bad. I was casual with it today, not dosing myself until 10:00 am. Followed up with another 2000 mg shot at about 2:00 pm. Suffered another headache today. Fleetingly I thought that this my be the serum, because this is a side effect of the drug, but further thoughts made me realize that I don't go after cups of coffee when I use the serum, therefore I could very well be withdrawal from the caffeine. Here's the deal; I had the second dose after the first headache on the first day & I had the second dose before the headache on the second day. This seemingly make the time of the second dose independent of the headaches. On both days i didn't drink coffee until after the headache set in; 4:00 pm the first day, 3:00 pm the second day. In both cases the headache was relieved, therefore I think that it is more of a caffeine thing than a Piracetam issue. At noon I barbecued some chicken, and made foil packs of potatoes, onions, and peppers (green & cubanelle) to throw on the grill. Note here that the foil packs should get direct heat on the grill. Mine were indirect and didn't get the crispness I wanted. I was worthless after lunch. I had too much sun I think.

Listening to The Secret Agent Channel as I write this, and I kind o' dig it immensely.

Saturday Goes Down

Started the day with a 2000mg dose at 6:00 am and found that I didn't want any coffee. I went down for nap at 8:00 am. I guess I didn't get enough sleep the night before. Got up again at 9:00am and got ready to head out to the shops. Didn't get out the door until 11:00 am, took another 2000 mg dose and shopped. Came home, stowed the goods, and started working around the pool, blasting the tiles to clean them with a new power washer. Then I got in the pool and enjoyed a couple of ice colds. It was 4:00 pm before realized I hadn't eaten today, and that was only due to the nagging headache I was feeling come on. I made some coffee and held a sausage festival. I grilled 2 frankfurters, a bratwurst, and 6 red hot Italian sausages. It was the best sausage fest I ever attended.

After that I started to recuperate from the low blood sugar. I connected a 500 GB drive to an ancient computer and turned it into Network Attached Storage and an FTP server via the modern miracle of FreeNAS. There's tons of tutorials about it out there and it is really quite easy. I recommend that you try and hook up and old computer and yourself at the same time.

Also, the wife discovered the Piracetam, researched it and signed off on it, which is way cool given her RN background. Also, I told my brother, who didn't sign off on this experiment, not because of the material, but because of my lack of stringent scientific method. According to him, I don't have a control group, so my research has no validity. My methods have become unsound. I'm not really arguing this point, I just thought I was going to dabble a bit, not submit a paper to the American Journal of Psychiatry. Oh well, damn my aberrant behavior! I argue the the vast majority of the populace not ingesting Piracetam is my control group.

So to spite the naysayers, I Will continue to call what I am doing an experiment in psychonautic frontiers and I will also continue to call my garage "The Laboratory" and to take it yet one step further, the Piracetam will here forth be referred to as "the Serum".

Big Black Tub

The Piracetam arrived yesterday in a big black tub, like all the Creatine weight lifting recovery drinks I've seen at the GNC's I've sporadically have entered through out my lifetime. So without hesitation, I fired it up, 2000mg in a Crystal Light media straight to the brain. I have to say that most of the effects I felt were the apprehension of taking Piracetam for the first time. I was anxious, it was 5:00 pm and I didn't know what to expect. At first, there were no effects. By 7:00pm, I was in a good state of well being and felt a general sense of good adjustment. By 8:00 pm, I actually felt pretty witty and I think that this was the peak. I was in bed at 11:00 pm, but felt a little more up than usual, a little excited for what ever reason.

So there you go, nothing earth shaking about this so far, an I've had a similar effect on my state of well being by mega-dosing vitamins while starving for vegetables on board my old submarine.

I fired up 2000 mg first thing this morning, backed with 2 mega-vitamins and packed another 2000mg for lunch. I will continue at a later point, with a detailed report of my day. I will try to note any incredibly insightful witticisms, real or imagined for your reading pleasure.

~~~LATER~~~

So the gold rush is over for today. All in all it was a fun experience. I found that I didn't want as much coffee as I normally do. It seemed as if my mind was more alert, and I didn't need the coffee. Also, it seemed as if obscure words and phrases I would have to take time to dig up from my memory were right there for me, on time, when I needed them and fit in the context perfectly. I noted that I suffer form a diminished sense of smell and discovered that this is anosmia. This condition is probably related to my submarine days, sinusitus, and other olfactory degrading activities. I took the second dose at noon and the peak for me seemed to come on at 2:30 pm and crescendo at 3:45 pm. I had several a-ha insights into the plasma chamber I work on, that required no effort and side stepping hours of trouble shooting. I mean that happens quite regularly for me, but today the results came without effort. So far the first 24 hours of psychonautic experimentation is rewarding and I am encouraged to proceed forward.

The State of The Ion Farmer

For the past year and a half I have been involved with a New Product Introduction that actually transitioned well compared to it's starting point. This was at the expense of as semblance of a personal life, yet amazingly, I was able to close on a house last year and not lose my mind. I lacked the ability to travel within my circle of friends, treated them poorly due to my lack of time. I was on the order of 80 hour weeks not most of the year, with any downtime being used to recuperate. To my friends that read this, I would like to take this opportunity to apologize for being sucked into my job and becoming numb. I am aware of this now and am actively seeking to make amends.

I currently find myself on the back end of that now, looking at an industry lull that has a bleak horizon line. I was told that my position with he company is relatively safe because of my seniority. Maybe it's self-preservation or paranoia, but that makes me nervous. It's probably the old submarine days lurking in my subconsciousness that makes me know that when someone says there's nothing to worry about, you should keep you eyes open. For now I will operate with the Submariner's Creedo: "Be Bitter. Admit Nothing. Blame Everyone."

As you can tell not only by this hot streak of 2 posts in 1 week, but by the contents within, I am reflective, introspective. I lost a close friend personally and to my family last April. "Safari" Charlie Cavendish was the king of the Rivers of West Virginia. I lament his passing daily, and as was his way, am left puzzled by it. He was found in his bed and the age of 36. If you truly knew Charlie, you knew that he was too weird to live, and to beautiful to hold captive. His heart was wild and just being in his presence for a while was purely spiritual. An like so many things spiritual, these concepts cannot be understood in a brief time.

Charles Curtis Cavendish
April 12, 2008

Charlie truly felt the weight of this world, a world that can not come to terms with pure individual freedom. Charlie found his passions in nature and in the act of translating that joy, and making the secrets of nature's joy known to the uninitiated. The syllabus was a series of practical demonstrations that if you don't come to understand individual freedom and act in accordance with it, you cannot understand nature and act in accordance with that, and ultimately you cannot understand life as a natural event as a whole and act in accordance with it. I miss him terribly.

Psychonaut

I always identified with the whole idea of the psychonaut. Perhaps it's the unrewarding position I find myself in my work life, or maybe the isolation I feel being so far away from my family and friends, but I need to explore. I always have the need to adventure, and that need has been woefully neglected, and for no good reason. So, I want to let the adventure begin.

My plan has a three pronged attack.

Number One: Piracetam. This smart drug entered my radar via a new acquaintance I've met. Basically, it is not a scheduled drug in the US, and has had many clinical neurological improvements noted in studies. According to EROWID the effects seem subtle, yet intriguing. Best part? Oh yeah, Amazon.com deals it. More to follow on this I am sure. This alone should provide a psychonautic log that should be an interesting read.

Number Two: Abuse the MBTA. I should be riding the hell out of this and exploring the urban landscape. No where is off limits. I'm going to vastly expand my knowledge of the area.

Number Three: Make this adventure a photo documentary.

Hopefully this will give me the fuel to keep this blog rolling and of course I will be using The Handbook of All Things Adventure. The only problem is when you're in a tight spot when you are young, you can fast talk your way with pure ignorance of the law, but the older you get, the more it looks shady. But then freedom has always come with a price.

Let's see how this works out. . .