Sunday, April 26, 2009

The Amazing Tree Balloon

MORNING OF APRIL 26, 2009

Dream Two of Two (the other is posted below this one).

Later I had some kind of dream that involved getting ready for a trip. I spent the night before the trip at my parents' house before this, and I remember I slept in a mosquito-net tent inside their guest bedroom! Then I couldn't find my camera when I finished packing in the morning and left without it.

I arrived at my destination to join a small group of other people. Some big, crazy-looking man who looked like a professional wrestler was going to be the leader of the group. He gave a rambling, over-excited speech to introduce himself to us, then jumped on a some weird kind of little ATV vehicle and just began traversing the property in a crazy and erratic manner. I was so disappointed that I didn't have my camera!

Finally, I remember somehow being back at my parent's house, only it was actually fictional property. I was in the backyard, and suddenly I saw a hot air balloon floating overhead--but it was made of a tree trunk and tree parts! It was so surreal! The trunk of the tree was hollowed out to hold people, and the branches (still with green leaves) were all arranged and formed into a large circular canopy over the trunk, mimicking a giant balloon shape. The open area in the middle of the configuration of branches was filled with colorful helium balloons! This was actually the coolest imagery I can remember from any of my dreams in some time.

Again, I wanted my camera. I ran into the house to get it, and as I came back out the tree-balloon was gently landing in the yard next door. I tried to take some pictures with the passengers' permission, but the device just didn't look as cool now that it was no longer flying through the air (but I snapped a few pictures as they released the balloons from the enclosure into the atmosphere at the end of the flight).

Band of Animals

MORNING OF APRIL 26, 2009

Dream One of Two (the other is posted above):

First I remember something about a comic book I was putting together. Instead of simply sitting and writing and drawing it in the mundane real-life way, I would simply see the ideas animated like a cartoon as I was thinking them.

The characters I was creating were all anthropomorphic animals--some, I think, were ones that are really in my queue of existing characters, and others were new to the dream. My most specific memory is coming up with the idea for a band that some of the animals played in. It was reminiscent of an all-girl (and all human) band that was a regular in the comics I used to do a few years ago...but this had girl and boy animals in it. I most clearly recall created a big bear dude with long hair who was the lead singer/guitarist, and watching him jam. He seemed like such a cool character, but then I woke up (and actually felt kinda inspired...)

Saturday, April 25, 2009

The Outlaw

MORNING OF APRIL 25, 2009

First I recall visiting a church. It was really huge, and I was walking around through the various corridors before the services began, basically just trying to find my way. I came into one circular room which basically served as a terminal of many elevators. I saw three pretty girls from a distance; each wearing gray dress with white stockings.

Though these girls were actually fictional, I recognized them in the dream to be distant relatives--sisters to each other, cousins to me-who I hadn't seen in a long time. And in my dream-knowledge one of the three girls had recently taken very ill and was bedridden. So when I saw the three of them walking around happily in the church halls, I nonchalantly thought to myself, "Oh, this is a scene from the past, before she got sick". And I hid around the corner until they got into an elevator and left, because I didn't want to disturb the past.

After then taking an elevator of my own, I finally located where the main sanctuary was. Services had already begun, and the place was packed out, so the ushers were keeping us late arrivals in a vestibule in the back, and were seating us a few at a time as they could locate open seats for us.

A kindly, older man ended up seating me in one of the balconies. The odd thing was, there were walls--plain, white plaster walls--entirely encasing the balcony, so you couldn't see the service, you could only hear it. I noticed that if I contorted myself into the right positio I could catch a very limited glimpse of the goings-on below through the opening that was the entrance to the balcony.

After a short time, the service abruptly stopped. We could hear the person leading the music tell the congregation that the pastor had asked him to stop everything for a moment while he took care of something. Everyone waited silently, wondering what was going on.

Suddenly I felt nervous. I left the balcony, trying to go back to the vestibule I'd entered from, but ended up in some strange hallway (it looked like a hallway from the Alabama Theater--an beautifully refurbished, turn-of-last-century theater in Birmingham). Suddenly, at the other end of the hall, appeared a big, burly man dressed like--and in all other manners appearing as--an outlaw gunslinger from the old west.

He approached me aggressively, introduced himself as the pastor, and began accusing me of practicing satanism, and bringing evil into the church! Though he was an intimidating figure, I felt more incredulous than scared at his accusations. There was some kind of altercation here that I can't really recall, but I think I somehow figured out--or at least suspected--that this wasn't really a pastor, but was the devil himself in the guise of this old west outlaw.

It's all a blur how I escaped the church and the gunslinger devil unscathed, but I did. I just remember suddenly arriving back at my "new house" that I had supposedly just bought and moved into. A lady who is one of my coworkers was there when I walked in, and she made her way to leave as soon as she saw I was there.

The said something like, "Well, now that you're all moved in, I'm leaving. I wont' be staying around to do the cooking and cleaning anymore!" I was just as perplexed in the dream as I would have been in real life, because I didn't know she'd every been doing chores to start with. I saw her out the door, feeling a little disappointed that I'd had a maid to keep up after me, and lost her just as quickly!

My last memories are of just being inside the big, empty house that I wasn't yet fully moved into. It felt odd. I was also thinking about some CD's that I had supposedly left in my parents' car or something.

Friday, April 24, 2009

MELON

MORNING OF APRIL 24, 2009

Richard and Jessica wanted to go camping and wanted me to go with them at last minute notice. I have nothing against camping per se, but but I didn't feel like going on this last minute trip. They were being annoyingly persistent.

All of this discussion was taking place on what looked like a campsite in a wooded area! Several other people were there and I think they were meant to be coworkers of Richard and Jessica's who were also going camping.

We were all seated around picnic tables, and Richard and Jessica announced we were having a drawing to see who would win a prize. Jessica held a deck of cards and everyone had to draw one. They cards all bore images relating to Star Wars. I don't remember what picture was on the first card I pulled, but Jessica made me put it back and draw another, and that one was a light saber.

It turns out the light saber cards were the winners. Everyone who had selected one of those won the prize, which was to attend the premier of the new Ghostbusters 3 movie (which, while rumored to have been green-lit, is a long, long way from actually premiering!)--right here in our area, no less, and with the full cast in attendance.

Richard told me the only way I could attend it was to go camping with them (I don't know what the logic behind that could have possibly been). As we talked, he was packing his stuff for the camping trip (while we were still out in the woods). He was lugging around a huge, heavy TV set. I asked if a small TV, or even a portable wouldn't be easier, and his reply was simply, "This one has a built-in DVR."

Then he told me he'd pay me if I'd join the crew of cameramen who were to film the Ghostbusters premiere, which he was apparently going to be in charge of. Whatever the pay was, it was some astronomical amount per hour--to film something I wanted to attend anyway--so I said yes.

Next it was the day of the premiere and we were preparing. I was helping Richard and some others set up a merchandise booth. It was full of merchandise relating to Mellow Mushroom, which is an excellent pizza chain in this region and a regular haunt of my pizza-obssessed self. There was an unbelievable array of Mellow Mushroom t-shirts, each with very different and wide-randing designs.

Eric showed up and asked me how much the shirts were. He figured that since we eat there so often, it only made sense we should finally have shirts about it. I told him we were just setting up and I didn't know the prices yet. Then Richard walked up and said, "Well, I'm getting this Mellow Mushroom hat!" He was holding a baseball cap that said "MELON" on the front--not Mellow, not Mushroom, but simply, MELON.

Then he decided that I needed the hat instead, because I "have a huge melon". It's true, very few hats do actually fit my head well. But I tried this one on and it fit very nicely, which is one of the last things I recall of any of this nonsense.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

The Tasty Remote

MORNING OF APRIL 22, 2009

This was actually from in-between snoozes on the alarm: I was in some kind of department store with a fictional girl of about my age. There were a small handful of other girls there that she knew, but I didn't recognize them.

The main girl handed us each a small remote control device. Then she directed the other girls in doing some kind of aerobic exercise while using the remote controls to fly little toy airplanes, or something to that effect (it's all a bit of a blur in the memory).

I was standing behind the main girl as she did this, and I was very hungry. I noticed my remote control seemed to be made or crackers or cookies or something of the like. So I began to slowly nibble it, trying to leave enough of it that I could still control the little RC plane. But I ended up eating the whole thing.

After the exercise, I asked the girl if I could have another remote control, because I'd eaten all of mine already. She said it was no problem, but before I remember receiving another, I remember suddenly sitting at desks in a classroom with her and the rest of the group.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Bold

MORNING OF APRIL 21, 2009

I only remember one thing from this dream. I saw a poorly animated movie on TV (or perhaps on DVD), called Bold. It was about a white dog with superpowers and there was a cat and a hamster (or some kind of rodent). I couldn't believe what a blatant and unapologetic rip-off of Bolt this was. The name--Bold--especially made me laugh quite a lot in the dream...and after waking.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Making An Ornament

MORNING OF APRIL 19, 2009

I remember being at the fictional apartment of a fictional girl. Several other people, both real friends and fictional persons, were there as well. We were all just hanging out, and I was talking to the girl at her kitchen table.

The girl was sad about something, and I was trying to talk her through it. As we talked, we were building this tiny wooden birdhouse-looking thing--a decorative ornament of some sort.

It was made out of very thin, cheap wood, and we were placing little green tree-shaped things on it, along with glitter and such crafty items. It looked very Christmassy, though it wasn't supposed to be Christmas in the dream.

One of the other friends came up to say something to me and after a moment I told him to check out the ornament we were making. When I turned to get it, I couldn't find it. I asked the girl where it was, and she said she'd thrown it away while I talked to this guy, because she didn't think she did a good job on it.

I wasn't terribly upset that she'd thrown it away, but felt sad that she'd felt the need to. The last thing I remember is retrieving it from the trashcan, but it was already pretty damaged. It had been a flimsy thing to start with.

Monday, April 13, 2009

The Ghost Museum

MORNING OF APRIL 11, 2009

The night preceding this dream was the going away party for my friend C., held at my apartment. In my dream, everyone was still here, just hanging out and talking. M's boyfriend began to tell us about the "Ghost Museum" located in the nearby town of Gadsden.

Using the wonderful power of dreams, no sooner was I informed of it than I was actually there. I purchased my ticket for the Ghost Museum and entered what was basically a very long and narrow hallway. The only light in the darkened corridor was a bluish glow coming from the walls.

As I walked along the way, random, translucent ghost people floated across my path, passing through a wall on one side and quickly disappearing through the one opposite. I'm not certain if this was all supposed to be real, or to be some sort of attraction, like the Haunted Mansion at Disney World.

One of these ghosts was of a big, fat guy with a bald head and a long goatee to go along with his many tattoos. Instead of passing right through, he stopped and began hanging around me. I don't think he was trying to torment me in a ghostly, haunting way, but I found his personality of be grating, and he just wouldn't leave me alone.

Then I remember being back at the party and telling everyone that I didn't much care for the Ghost Museum.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Back to the...Past?

MORNING OF APRIL 5, 2009

B. and C. and I were in some kind of gift shop. There was a really nice, hardcover coffee table book all about the Beatles. It cost a little over $100. In the dream, I decided to purchase it. Now, the Beatles are great, but I'd never shell out that kind of money for a book about them, so I don't know what I was thinking!

There were also Beatles birthday cakes, and the three of us bought one of those to share, just because they looked good.

Then I remember being back at someone's fictional apartment. Suddenly, Doc from Back to the Future was there, and from this point on it was like being in a movie, and I was the part of Marty. We had to get me back to the past--to 1985. There was a train we had to catch to take us to the DeLorean, which was apparently parked some few miles west of our current location.

We could see the train already running down the tracks in the distance, and Doc and I began to run for it. Suddenly I remembered I'd left my Beatles book and my portion of the cake behind. I informed Doc of this realization, and he simply said, "Not important! You can get those things later!" I replied, "Yeah, over 20 years later!"

We finally caught up to the train and jumped into an open box car. Once we caught our breath, Doc looked at his compass and let out a little shriek. He said this train was heading east, and we needed to be going west! It was actually taking us further from the DeLorean, and our window of opportunity was running out!

I woke up.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Lethal LARPers

MORNING OF APRIL 3, 2009

This one's kind of dark...but too silly to be as dark as it could be.

I was riding in the backseat of the car with Richard, Jessica and Cailey. We were taking some trail through a dense forest. As we neared the end of the trail where the forest ended and the main road resumed, we saw a large group of people dressed in costumes (some medieval/fantasy and some with an ancient Greek/Roman flavor).

It turns out these people were Live Action Role Players, and they were in the middle of one of their battles. We tried to pass through them.

Now it changed to where, instead of Richard and his family, I was with Richard and three or four other male friends, all fictional characters. The LARPers began attacking us as we attempted to pass, but they were really attacking us, not just acting it out. Somehow Richard and I got through the gauntlet out to the main road and they quit attacking us, but the fictional character guys from our group couldn't pull through. And the LARPers, after several minutes of brutal beating, ultimately killed them.

After this I remember being in school. There was a lot of talk on campus about the brutal murders committed by the LARPers. The kids who'd done the murdering had not been arrested and were still attending school. They were mostly ostracized now (of course, as LARPers they might have been used to that), but some people defended them, saying they had only killed as part of battle.

It turns out the name of the LARP group was SALON (no idea why), and a lot of people were making fun of this.

Then later I remember being in a grocery store at night, and some of the LARPers were there, and I tried to avoid them. I left the store and returned to some kind of large house where I was spending the night with many other people. My room was upstairs right next to the room of the LARPers. I think some of them wanted to apologize to me, but I didn't want to talk to them.

I finally went up to the room I'd be sleeping in, and there was only a couch with a pull-out bed. Upon pulling the bed out I found there were no sheets on it at all, and no available pillows, etc. Someone told me that was becuase the LARPers had taken them away since I didn't talk to them and hear their apology.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Hopping Humbug

MORNING OF APRIL 1, 2009

Over the past couple of days I've been re-reading, for the first time since childhood, one of my favorite books from said childhood, The Phantom Tollbooth. I read in it just before bed this night.

I was dreaming that the Humbug character was out in a fairly desolate terrain, like a desert, or some rocky plain. He was jumping up and down on a large rock while announcing something. Suddenly, a loud siren went off and scared him, causing him to loose his footing as he jumped. It scared me, too (I was apparently part of the scene).

I woke up to find the severe weather siren was blaring at 1:30am, announcing a Severe Thunderstorm Warning (the only storm that ever came was of the regular variety). I wasn't able to go back to sleep for hours. And this is a pointless dream to even write about, I know...but I so enjoyed the imagery of the Humbug leaping up and down on that rock that I wanted to make record of it for my own sake at least. So there.