New York City

MORNING OF JULY 16, 2009

I had a great (or at least great in the dream) idea for a children's book that I wanted to write and illustrate. It had something to do with a class of little kids taking a field trip to New York and one little girl got lost, having her own adventure.

I was really excited and inspired by this idea, and felt ready to actually pursue it. But then I realized that I'd gone and written a story that relied heavily on illustrations and took place in New York City. I can't draw buildings and cities and generally inorganic scenery to save my life. Not to mention I've not yet been to New York myself, so how could I write a convincing story--even for kids--about a girl having adventures there?! Disappointment set in.

The next I remember, I was actually in New York with Richard, Jessica and their daughter Cailey. For some reason we decided to split up for a little while, and I took Cailey with me. She was having a lot of fun seeing the sights, and at some point I bought her a DVD (some kind of cartoon, I think, but I can't remember what). She told me it was really "cool".

Eventually we come to a long line of people on a sidewalk outside a building. Richard was now with us again. As we all waited, a man in a trendy T-shirt, trendy jeans, and trendy glasses walked by and put away his cell phone long enough to announce that he was "The Head of Broadway" or some such. He then said that anyone who would like to appear as an extra or in bit parts in a Broadway show--tonight only--should come meet with him now.

Pretty much the whole crowd from the line followed him into an abandoned storefront. He sat in an old metal folding chair while the rest of us stood gathered near him. Before he could even finish asking for a first volunteer, Richard ran up with his hand raised saying, "Me! Me!" The man said, "Okay," and then asked who else.

I waited until he confrimed that there were minimal lines and no singing before I volunteered, because I wanted to do it, but not if I was expected to have real talent in the field. Once everyone who wanted to volunteer had taken their place, the man explained we'd be appearing in a new Broadway musical called "Beer!". I don't recall what he said the plot was. He also went on to tell us about the individual parts we'd be playing, but this is where my memory gets foggy.

Next, I recall Richard and I, along with many other of the volunteers, were riding along the city in a caravan of cars, not unlike a parade without any onlookers. We were in a convertible, and I just remember taking lots of pictures of the city as we drove by. We were going just fast enough that all of my pictures were either blurry and/or poorly framed, and it annoyed me. I only realized after waking up that, even though this was New York, there were no skyscrapers or especially tall buildings. It just looked like any old town.

There was another, I believe separate, dream that had to do with walking around in a mall. There was a toy store with really tall shelves and a few particularly cool toys. There was a bookstore where I saw a new Calvin & Hobbes book, featuring a new series of watercolor illustrations by Watterson. There was a store with CDs and T-shirts, and I remember browsing there. I have vague memories of other stores and places I visited in the mall, including the parking lot where Courtney and Brandon were. I finally ended up in a restaurant in the food court, but it looked like the inside of a stand-alone fast food place. It was very late at night, and it seemed they were closing down.