MORNING OF OCTOBER 30, 2008
I was in a church service in a completely fictional location, with completely fictional people. Suddenly I noticed a snake crawl up onto the steps near the pulpit. It wasn't one of those wacky "snake handling" churches you hear of; I clearly knew the snake was not supposed to be there. However, it seemed no one else on the platform or in the congregation noticed it or payed any attention to it.
Somehow I decided it fell to me to go and stop the snake before it got anyway, and for some reason I wasn't even scared of it (beyond just a little adrenaline at the anticipation of picking it up before it could strike or crawl away). I just walked up to the steps and quickly grabbed the snake--a rattlesnake--into my hands. It quickly maneuvered it's head and bit into the side of my right hand. I could very realistically feel--can still feel--the pressure of it's jaws and it's teeth sinking into my flesh.
I shook my hand, trying to get the snake free, and finally succeeded in flinging it off, and it went crawling away. My parents were somewhere around and I went and asked them if I should go to the hospital (um...duh). But my mom suggested I just wash the wound out so it wouldn't get infected, and then wait and see if I felt sick before going to the hospital about it.
So I went and washed the wound thoroughly (it didn't even hurt much anymore). Then I remember I saw my friend Eric and we went outside. The next thing I know where were walking down a dirt road in the woods--it very much looked like a dirt road through the woods that existed in an undeveloped part of a neighborhood I lived in during my teen years. Occasionally I would remember that a snake had bitten me earlier, and think, "Well, I'm not sick or dead yet, so maybe I'm going to be OK."
Friday, October 31, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
The Joker's On Me
MORNING OF OCTOBER 27, 2008
First I remember I was hiking through a beautiful, lush countryside with a couple of friends (upon waking I can't recall clearly who they were). We were enjoying the hike, but were hungry, and had begun discussing what we'd like to eat when we were through. Someone said something about hot dogs, and though I fairly seldom eat them, that sounded really good at this particular time.
We came upon a large body of water, presumably a lake. There was a small wooden boat tied to the shore with a single oar lying in it. Now there was inexplicably only one friend with me and the two of us somehow knew we had to go across the water to get to where the food would be available on the other side.
Neither of us were very experienced boaters, so we were a bit awkward and nervous with the ordeal. But we finally managed to set sail in the rickety vessel, and our awkward paddling is the last thing I remember at this point.
My next clear memory (I don't know if it came later in this dream or was a separate feature) involves me being in a toy store. I found a fluffy, gray kitten playing on the floor at the base of one of the shelves. I began playing with the kitten, and, as it seems to go with small animals, it quickly won my heart.
Things changed with no notice whatsoever, and now the kitten was a little girl, only a toddler, who was following me around the store. It's as if I'd found her with no parents or guardians (similar to how I really had found the kitten all alone just before). I was now wandering through the toy store with her, trying to help her locate her family. She was very calm about the whole thing, and was really quite giddy and playful.
My search for her family led me through a door in the store which entered into a huge area that was basically a home repair store like a Home Depot or a Lowe's. I had left the girl behind in the toy store, but continued to search for her parents in the new store.
I noticed right away that it seemed to be vacant. I couldn't see or hear any customers, but the place definitely looked to be open for business. Then I heard some shuffling noises and I turned the corner down one aisle to see the Joker--the Heath Ledger Joker from The Dark Knight--pushing a shopping cart down one of the aisles.
His cart was partially filled with a variety of implements, none of which are clear to my memory. He was muttering to himself as he shuffled along. He saw me when I saw him, but did nothing to acknowledge it. I ducked back around the corner, beginning to feel a panic rising in me.
As quickly and quietly as possible I backtracked my way down the aisles, determined to get out of this store and back to the toy store before I had any other interaction with the Joker. Hopefully when I was back with a crowd of people we could call for help.
When I rounded a corner coming on to another aisle, the Joker was waiting, just standing there facing me, his hands casually behind his back and his shopping cart a few feet behind him. He began to speak, but I woke up.
First I remember I was hiking through a beautiful, lush countryside with a couple of friends (upon waking I can't recall clearly who they were). We were enjoying the hike, but were hungry, and had begun discussing what we'd like to eat when we were through. Someone said something about hot dogs, and though I fairly seldom eat them, that sounded really good at this particular time.
We came upon a large body of water, presumably a lake. There was a small wooden boat tied to the shore with a single oar lying in it. Now there was inexplicably only one friend with me and the two of us somehow knew we had to go across the water to get to where the food would be available on the other side.
Neither of us were very experienced boaters, so we were a bit awkward and nervous with the ordeal. But we finally managed to set sail in the rickety vessel, and our awkward paddling is the last thing I remember at this point.
My next clear memory (I don't know if it came later in this dream or was a separate feature) involves me being in a toy store. I found a fluffy, gray kitten playing on the floor at the base of one of the shelves. I began playing with the kitten, and, as it seems to go with small animals, it quickly won my heart.
Things changed with no notice whatsoever, and now the kitten was a little girl, only a toddler, who was following me around the store. It's as if I'd found her with no parents or guardians (similar to how I really had found the kitten all alone just before). I was now wandering through the toy store with her, trying to help her locate her family. She was very calm about the whole thing, and was really quite giddy and playful.
My search for her family led me through a door in the store which entered into a huge area that was basically a home repair store like a Home Depot or a Lowe's. I had left the girl behind in the toy store, but continued to search for her parents in the new store.
I noticed right away that it seemed to be vacant. I couldn't see or hear any customers, but the place definitely looked to be open for business. Then I heard some shuffling noises and I turned the corner down one aisle to see the Joker--the Heath Ledger Joker from The Dark Knight--pushing a shopping cart down one of the aisles.
His cart was partially filled with a variety of implements, none of which are clear to my memory. He was muttering to himself as he shuffled along. He saw me when I saw him, but did nothing to acknowledge it. I ducked back around the corner, beginning to feel a panic rising in me.
As quickly and quietly as possible I backtracked my way down the aisles, determined to get out of this store and back to the toy store before I had any other interaction with the Joker. Hopefully when I was back with a crowd of people we could call for help.
When I rounded a corner coming on to another aisle, the Joker was waiting, just standing there facing me, his hands casually behind his back and his shopping cart a few feet behind him. He began to speak, but I woke up.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Largely Inspired By Peanuts
MORNING OF OCTOBER 26, 2008
Last night in real life I attended the Halloween party of the movie group some friends and I are members of. In my dream, most of the group were together again, still in costumes, only instead of the party we were at some sort of movie festival.
As were were preparing to enter one of the venues to see a movie, I saw a T-shirt stand and stopped to look them over. Some of the designs were very straightforward, bearing the logo of whatever festival this was. Others were really weird and unusual designs. One of the designs incorporated the Peanuts characters, and I, naturally, was drawn to it.
As I was looking at this, the dream sort of changed to where I was looking at the comics section in a newspaper. While I can no longer remember the specifics in the waking world, I was actually reading and comprehending several of the strips in the dream (real strips, in the order they appear in the local paper...Beetle Bailey, Blondie etc.) My parents were in the same room, occasionally speaking to me as I tried to read.
Then I noticed a flyer insert in the paper. It was printed on red paper, and when I examined it I realized it was a portion of a novel as supposedly written by Snoopy. Anyone who's familiar at all with Peanuts will know Snoopy regularly tried to be a writer, usually beginning with the line, "It was a dark and stormy night...", and never getting much further. Well, the thing I was reading was supposed to show what would have happened if he'd ever finished a story. Reading it is the last thing I remember.
Last night in real life I attended the Halloween party of the movie group some friends and I are members of. In my dream, most of the group were together again, still in costumes, only instead of the party we were at some sort of movie festival.
As were were preparing to enter one of the venues to see a movie, I saw a T-shirt stand and stopped to look them over. Some of the designs were very straightforward, bearing the logo of whatever festival this was. Others were really weird and unusual designs. One of the designs incorporated the Peanuts characters, and I, naturally, was drawn to it.
As I was looking at this, the dream sort of changed to where I was looking at the comics section in a newspaper. While I can no longer remember the specifics in the waking world, I was actually reading and comprehending several of the strips in the dream (real strips, in the order they appear in the local paper...Beetle Bailey, Blondie etc.) My parents were in the same room, occasionally speaking to me as I tried to read.
Then I noticed a flyer insert in the paper. It was printed on red paper, and when I examined it I realized it was a portion of a novel as supposedly written by Snoopy. Anyone who's familiar at all with Peanuts will know Snoopy regularly tried to be a writer, usually beginning with the line, "It was a dark and stormy night...", and never getting much further. Well, the thing I was reading was supposed to show what would have happened if he'd ever finished a story. Reading it is the last thing I remember.
Kneeling Girl *PLUS* Feathered Rogers
MORNING OF OCTOBER 25, 2008
First I remember being in a friend or acquaintance's apartment, but it was an entirely fictional location. They were giving me a tour of the place, and we eventually came to their balcony patio. They opened the curtains and the sliding glass door to give me a view, and I was shocked that there was a girl already out there.
The girl, a fictional character, bore a vague resemblance to Bettie Page (but definitely wasn't supposed to be her) and was wearing only a dark blue bikini. She was kneeling silently on the balcony, staring pensively into the distance. She paid us no attention when we stepped out, and my host ignored her as well. I, on the other hand, couldn't take my eyes off her. But I didn't know how to handle the situation--it felt like I shouldn't be the only one to say something about it, so I tried me best to kind of ignore the situation like everyone else was doing.
Eventually we came back into the apartment and moved on, but the girl stayed on the balcony. I found myself sneaking a peek out the window periodically to see if she was still out there. She always remained in the same spot, in the same kneeling position. I was a bit perplexed.
SECOND DREAM:
I was in a mall, just walking around with seemingly no real purpose for being there. Suddenly I noticed a man wearing a jacket covered with yellow feathers. The yellow feathers looked exactly like those of Big Bird from Sesame Street. But apart from the feathery jacket, he was in normal attire. When the man came close enough, I realized it was Mister Rogers!
"Isn't he dead?" I kept asking myself. But it had to be him! I kept following close behind him wherever he walked. I noticed other passers by were also taking notice of the strange fellow in the feather-coat--some just because of the outfit, but others recognized him as I did.
He seemed to be in his own little world, completely unaware of any of us. He just meandered along silently. I never caught up to him or spoke to him, nor did I see him ever interact with anyone else.
First I remember being in a friend or acquaintance's apartment, but it was an entirely fictional location. They were giving me a tour of the place, and we eventually came to their balcony patio. They opened the curtains and the sliding glass door to give me a view, and I was shocked that there was a girl already out there.
The girl, a fictional character, bore a vague resemblance to Bettie Page (but definitely wasn't supposed to be her) and was wearing only a dark blue bikini. She was kneeling silently on the balcony, staring pensively into the distance. She paid us no attention when we stepped out, and my host ignored her as well. I, on the other hand, couldn't take my eyes off her. But I didn't know how to handle the situation--it felt like I shouldn't be the only one to say something about it, so I tried me best to kind of ignore the situation like everyone else was doing.
Eventually we came back into the apartment and moved on, but the girl stayed on the balcony. I found myself sneaking a peek out the window periodically to see if she was still out there. She always remained in the same spot, in the same kneeling position. I was a bit perplexed.
SECOND DREAM:
I was in a mall, just walking around with seemingly no real purpose for being there. Suddenly I noticed a man wearing a jacket covered with yellow feathers. The yellow feathers looked exactly like those of Big Bird from Sesame Street. But apart from the feathery jacket, he was in normal attire. When the man came close enough, I realized it was Mister Rogers!
"Isn't he dead?" I kept asking myself. But it had to be him! I kept following close behind him wherever he walked. I noticed other passers by were also taking notice of the strange fellow in the feather-coat--some just because of the outfit, but others recognized him as I did.
He seemed to be in his own little world, completely unaware of any of us. He just meandered along silently. I never caught up to him or spoke to him, nor did I see him ever interact with anyone else.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Big Motel Musical *PLUS* Surly Kids Musical
MORNING OF OCTOBER 21, 2008
Several of my friends, including Eric, C., M., and possibly one other and I were staying at a motel. It was a rather old facility, but also quite large, standing several stories high. Our room (or rooms, if that was the case) were located on one of the top floors. One could step out of the room on the concrete, open-air walkways, lean over the rail, and look down amongst all the other levels. At the very bottom level, you could see the old swimming pool in the center.
At one point I remember sitting in the motel room by myself in the afternoon. I had the curtains drawn shut and was sitting in the chair at the little table by the window and air conditioner unit. I heard some of my friends talking outside and peeked through the curtains. They were talking about going somewhere, and I was debating whether or not I should go out there and try to join them.
Then I remember being in the parking lot, but not with my friends, so they must have gone without me. But that's when Michael Scott from The Office approached me. He was giddy with some sort of mischief, and wanted my help.
I reluctantly followed him into the motel room, where he explained to me through restrained laughter that he was supposed to have a date this evening, but he couldn't stand the girl, and he had just figured out a way to get out of it. He was going to call her and tell her he couldn't go on a date because he was at a concert and couldn't leave. He was going to play a CD loudly in the background while he talked, and my job was to make noise as though I was the crowd. This way, he apparently thought, his story would seem more convincing.
I really wanted no part of this stupidity, and yet when he placed the call I made a few half-hearted crowd sounds. He was having so much trouble not giggling at his "cleverness" as he canceled the date over the phone.
Then I remember being back with my real life friends again. We were walking through some public square, having a conversation. Suddenly, it's as if we inadvertently stumbled into some police sting operation. Several officers rushed out and told us to "Move, move, move!!!!" because things were about to go down. They were surrounding a parked car, and ushered us away from it.
We watched from our safe position as a man in jeans and a pink T-shirt exited a nearby building and approached the car. I assumed that must be the suspect in the sting, but then my memory of the dream changes again before anything happens.
My friends and I were walking around the city streets again, talking about the police sting as though it were the distant past. Someone said something that reminded me of a song from the Avenue Q musical, and I started singing it...and suddenly I was joined by random passers-by, until everyone the city block wide were happily singing the song. Just like some corny musical movie!
This, naturally, is when I woke up.
SECOND DREAM:
I was having to film an interview with a former football player for work (an entirely fictional situation). The interview was filmed at his home, and after the interview he told me he'd take me out to get some footage of "the stadium". It turns out there was an entire football stadium built on to his house. (I'm not a sports fan. For even this little bit of sports to make it into my dream makes no sense to me.)
I was anxious to be done and get home, but the guy told me to wait while he turned on all the stadium lights. Then my bosses were there, and they ended up in conversation with the guy, and I was left waiting, growing increasingly anxious.
I eventually began wandering through the house. Then the scene changed to where it was more like I was inside a public venue of some sort. I found a stairwell, the door to which had a sign that explained that practice for "the children's play" was being held upstairs. I went up the stairs.
There, as promised, was a room where several children were in practice for a musical play. I sat and observed them for a while as the adult director instructed them in their parts. I was surprised and even a little disturbed that many of the kids were rather surly and uncooperative...almost malicious.
Several of my friends, including Eric, C., M., and possibly one other and I were staying at a motel. It was a rather old facility, but also quite large, standing several stories high. Our room (or rooms, if that was the case) were located on one of the top floors. One could step out of the room on the concrete, open-air walkways, lean over the rail, and look down amongst all the other levels. At the very bottom level, you could see the old swimming pool in the center.
At one point I remember sitting in the motel room by myself in the afternoon. I had the curtains drawn shut and was sitting in the chair at the little table by the window and air conditioner unit. I heard some of my friends talking outside and peeked through the curtains. They were talking about going somewhere, and I was debating whether or not I should go out there and try to join them.
Then I remember being in the parking lot, but not with my friends, so they must have gone without me. But that's when Michael Scott from The Office approached me. He was giddy with some sort of mischief, and wanted my help.
I reluctantly followed him into the motel room, where he explained to me through restrained laughter that he was supposed to have a date this evening, but he couldn't stand the girl, and he had just figured out a way to get out of it. He was going to call her and tell her he couldn't go on a date because he was at a concert and couldn't leave. He was going to play a CD loudly in the background while he talked, and my job was to make noise as though I was the crowd. This way, he apparently thought, his story would seem more convincing.
I really wanted no part of this stupidity, and yet when he placed the call I made a few half-hearted crowd sounds. He was having so much trouble not giggling at his "cleverness" as he canceled the date over the phone.
Then I remember being back with my real life friends again. We were walking through some public square, having a conversation. Suddenly, it's as if we inadvertently stumbled into some police sting operation. Several officers rushed out and told us to "Move, move, move!!!!" because things were about to go down. They were surrounding a parked car, and ushered us away from it.
We watched from our safe position as a man in jeans and a pink T-shirt exited a nearby building and approached the car. I assumed that must be the suspect in the sting, but then my memory of the dream changes again before anything happens.
My friends and I were walking around the city streets again, talking about the police sting as though it were the distant past. Someone said something that reminded me of a song from the Avenue Q musical, and I started singing it...and suddenly I was joined by random passers-by, until everyone the city block wide were happily singing the song. Just like some corny musical movie!
This, naturally, is when I woke up.
SECOND DREAM:
I was having to film an interview with a former football player for work (an entirely fictional situation). The interview was filmed at his home, and after the interview he told me he'd take me out to get some footage of "the stadium". It turns out there was an entire football stadium built on to his house. (I'm not a sports fan. For even this little bit of sports to make it into my dream makes no sense to me.)
I was anxious to be done and get home, but the guy told me to wait while he turned on all the stadium lights. Then my bosses were there, and they ended up in conversation with the guy, and I was left waiting, growing increasingly anxious.
I eventually began wandering through the house. Then the scene changed to where it was more like I was inside a public venue of some sort. I found a stairwell, the door to which had a sign that explained that practice for "the children's play" was being held upstairs. I went up the stairs.
There, as promised, was a room where several children were in practice for a musical play. I sat and observed them for a while as the adult director instructed them in their parts. I was surprised and even a little disturbed that many of the kids were rather surly and uncooperative...almost malicious.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
The Journey of Dichotomy
MORNING OF OCTOBER 19, 2008
These dreams were had during a camping trip with friends (as I'd intermittently wake up, freezing cold, and then drift back to sleep). Most all of the dreams I recall had something to do with the actual group I was camping with and I doing things together, and this held true for this, the final dream.
All five us us were out walking in the middle of a cold night, only we left the woods and ended up on a busy highway. There were supposed to be three lanes of traffic all going the same direction. However, the leftmost lane was going one way, the rightmost the other, and the middle lane is where we were walking (there were no other apparent pedestrians). I was aware of how dangerous a position we were in to keep walking here.
I think a car in the leftmost lane had broken down and there was a lot of congestion there. Even though we were actually walking this road in a perfectly natural fashion, I frequently could see a bird's eye view of the traffic.
At one point the road turned into what looked like a subway terminal. As we made our way up a small flight of stairs within the station, I observed a crowd of people descending a flight of stairs to the opposite side. One guy, seemingly drunk, suddenly ran up, shouting for everyone to "Watch me!", and he tried to jump down the stairs. Naturally this only led to him falling down said stairs, and knocking down a few of the people who had been on them at the time of his heroic jump. It looked pretty painful, but I don't think anyone was severely hurt.
Eventually my group made its way out of the subway terminal onto a large, grassy lawn. It was now early morning. There was a military boot camp of some sort to one side. As we passed it, C. observed that it was about time for them to be doing their daily training, and shortly thereafter we saw them doing just that.
There were other people sparsely populating the huge lawn as we walked, each going about their own business. It was more or less like a park, except for being entirely devoid of trees, shrubbery, benches, or any sort of real scenery or landscaping. Suddenly we came upon two young, blonde girls, apparently twins of about 9 years of age. One was pulling the other in a red wagon. The wagon passenger was actually bound with ropes. If this distressed her, she conveyed no emotion to depict it (or to convey any feeling at all, for that matter).
The older sister just pulled the younger one around in that wagon, in a quiet and purposeful way, all up and down the lawn. It was actually a little disturbing. Then, the dream sort of changed to where it was a puppy instead of a little girl in the wagon. The other girl began to torment the puppy in some fashion, and several grown-ups in the park (including our group) went to scold her and put a stop to it.
One man had a pocket knife, and he used it to cut the ropes and free the puppy from the little girl. I felt relieved as it ran from her. The girl, however, was letting the man (and anyone nearby) know exactly how displeased she was with the situation.
Then it's like I was playing a video game on the Wii, and there were "Mii" characters of the two little girls in the wagon, and your goal was to send them around from place to place...highly odd.
NOTE: A friend later pointed out the symbolism of dichotomy that runs rampant throughout this dream...the traffic running in opposing directions on either side, the stairs going up and down in the subway terminal, the twin girls, one leading and tormenting the helpless other, etc. Interesting.
These dreams were had during a camping trip with friends (as I'd intermittently wake up, freezing cold, and then drift back to sleep). Most all of the dreams I recall had something to do with the actual group I was camping with and I doing things together, and this held true for this, the final dream.
All five us us were out walking in the middle of a cold night, only we left the woods and ended up on a busy highway. There were supposed to be three lanes of traffic all going the same direction. However, the leftmost lane was going one way, the rightmost the other, and the middle lane is where we were walking (there were no other apparent pedestrians). I was aware of how dangerous a position we were in to keep walking here.
I think a car in the leftmost lane had broken down and there was a lot of congestion there. Even though we were actually walking this road in a perfectly natural fashion, I frequently could see a bird's eye view of the traffic.
At one point the road turned into what looked like a subway terminal. As we made our way up a small flight of stairs within the station, I observed a crowd of people descending a flight of stairs to the opposite side. One guy, seemingly drunk, suddenly ran up, shouting for everyone to "Watch me!", and he tried to jump down the stairs. Naturally this only led to him falling down said stairs, and knocking down a few of the people who had been on them at the time of his heroic jump. It looked pretty painful, but I don't think anyone was severely hurt.
Eventually my group made its way out of the subway terminal onto a large, grassy lawn. It was now early morning. There was a military boot camp of some sort to one side. As we passed it, C. observed that it was about time for them to be doing their daily training, and shortly thereafter we saw them doing just that.
There were other people sparsely populating the huge lawn as we walked, each going about their own business. It was more or less like a park, except for being entirely devoid of trees, shrubbery, benches, or any sort of real scenery or landscaping. Suddenly we came upon two young, blonde girls, apparently twins of about 9 years of age. One was pulling the other in a red wagon. The wagon passenger was actually bound with ropes. If this distressed her, she conveyed no emotion to depict it (or to convey any feeling at all, for that matter).
The older sister just pulled the younger one around in that wagon, in a quiet and purposeful way, all up and down the lawn. It was actually a little disturbing. Then, the dream sort of changed to where it was a puppy instead of a little girl in the wagon. The other girl began to torment the puppy in some fashion, and several grown-ups in the park (including our group) went to scold her and put a stop to it.
One man had a pocket knife, and he used it to cut the ropes and free the puppy from the little girl. I felt relieved as it ran from her. The girl, however, was letting the man (and anyone nearby) know exactly how displeased she was with the situation.
Then it's like I was playing a video game on the Wii, and there were "Mii" characters of the two little girls in the wagon, and your goal was to send them around from place to place...highly odd.
NOTE: A friend later pointed out the symbolism of dichotomy that runs rampant throughout this dream...the traffic running in opposing directions on either side, the stairs going up and down in the subway terminal, the twin girls, one leading and tormenting the helpless other, etc. Interesting.
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