Erratic loquacity

So I woke up at 3:30am this morning- hungry and not able to sleep. I turned over about 37 times, cursed the cat whose bell was ringing, and thought about getting some food. Then it hit me...

If you don't voluntarily cause yourself to awaken, do you actually "wake" up, or have you been awakened? Is it truly possible to awake on your own, or does it cause a third party to "wake" you? How can I, in a semi-concious state of great rest, actually force myself to leave that state and return to a state of awareness of the world around me? If I actually can, why would I (the BIG question!)??

Unfortunately, my great philosophical ponderings of 3:45am 11/13/04 were quickly dismissed as bunk when I looked up "awake" in the dictionary. Regrettably (for my aspirations of breaking into the great dimension of sleep metaphysicality), it can be both transitive and intransitive.

Darn that Mr. Webster....

DcD

p.s. "Erratic loquacity" will be my series (undetermined in length) of random thoughts and senseless talk. The World Wide Web is much more open to my stupid rantings than is my wonderful, patient wife.