Also note that the situation doesn't seem like it can really be framed in terms of the usual: "an observer is investigating something which is distinct from her

Also note that the situation doesn't seem like it can really be framed in terms of the usual: "an observer is investigating something which is distinct from herself." In this situation there is not a hard distinction between what we are and what we are trying to describe. Consciousness appears (intuitively, on the surface) to be the thing which creates the possibility of describing consciousness. A description of consciousness must account for itself. A theory of consciousness must be written such that it writes itself.