MORNING OF AUGUST 31, 2009
I was supposed to go out and eat with my parents and a family friend to celebrate my birthday (which actually happens in February). I met my parents at their house and were were going to leave from there.
For some reason I was wearing a watch that I used to wear several years ago--I haven't worn or even seen this particular watch in a long time. I looked at it in the dream and noticed that the glass that covered the face of the watch looked all warped and wrinkled. I wasn't sure how this could happen to the glass on a watch just because it hadn't been worn in ages. I wondered if maybe it was one of those little protective plastic films they place on top of glass and other easily scratched items when they're new, but it didn't seem to be that.
I became curious and began to check out several other old watches that I haven't worn in a long time (neither of the couple of watches that I usually rotate between in modern times were among them). Each one seemed to have some kind of distortion of the glass on the face.
Then my parents and I drove to the restaurant for dinner. It was a Wendy's! I don't do a whole lot of fast food anymore, and I can't remember the last time I was at a Wendy's, but here we were. Only this one looked like some hold-in-the-wall greasy spoon. And it was supposed to be my birthday dinner! Humph!
We had arrived early, and were waiting in the car in the parking lot for our family friend to arrive. I noticed a bank was nearby. This made me think about the fact that this month (or September, which is almost this month anyway) is my final car payment (that's a fact from real life). My papers say to contact the bank upon final payment, so I decided I could just walk over to this bank and handle the final payment right then and there.
The man I spoke to in the bank was the man who ran the comic store I used to go to back when I collected comics on a regular basis.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Taking Aim
MORNING OF AUGUST 30, 2009
Be forewarned. This dream has a bit of a bathroom topic. But it's so incredibly odd that I have to journal it anyway.
I was riding on a bus late at night with several other people. Apparently we were on some sort of lengthy journey. Richard and Jessica and Cailey were among the other passengers.
At one point the bust stopped at an old, run town truck stop. Richard said it was a bathroom break. At this point I realize I really needed to go myself, so I followed along the with others who had to. The restrooms in this facility were a series of stainless steel structures that looked sort of like glorified outhouses. There were also all kinds of posters covering each one that seemed to advertise carnival attractions and such.
I waited in line for my turn, and finally entered my stall. Suddenly all these animated signs and flashing lights began to go off around me! The signs were explaining that you could win prizes by hitting the target. Then, amidst the whirring of old machinery, random targets in various shapes (the traditional circular stripes, animals, etc.) began to rise and fall quickly in various locations within the stall. You were obviously supposed to...well, aim for them...in hopes of "winning" if you hit any/enough of them!
I played the game and woke up during the process...obviously having to go very badly.
I had another dream after going back to sleep in which I was staying with my parents in this very cool, but completely fictional, old house. It had sort of a 70's decor (including shag carpet and panel walls), and was rather large. I remember something about getting ready for bed and being at the computer typing something. I went downstairs at one point and resumed typing on a different computer.
Be forewarned. This dream has a bit of a bathroom topic. But it's so incredibly odd that I have to journal it anyway.
I was riding on a bus late at night with several other people. Apparently we were on some sort of lengthy journey. Richard and Jessica and Cailey were among the other passengers.
At one point the bust stopped at an old, run town truck stop. Richard said it was a bathroom break. At this point I realize I really needed to go myself, so I followed along the with others who had to. The restrooms in this facility were a series of stainless steel structures that looked sort of like glorified outhouses. There were also all kinds of posters covering each one that seemed to advertise carnival attractions and such.
I waited in line for my turn, and finally entered my stall. Suddenly all these animated signs and flashing lights began to go off around me! The signs were explaining that you could win prizes by hitting the target. Then, amidst the whirring of old machinery, random targets in various shapes (the traditional circular stripes, animals, etc.) began to rise and fall quickly in various locations within the stall. You were obviously supposed to...well, aim for them...in hopes of "winning" if you hit any/enough of them!
I played the game and woke up during the process...obviously having to go very badly.
I had another dream after going back to sleep in which I was staying with my parents in this very cool, but completely fictional, old house. It had sort of a 70's decor (including shag carpet and panel walls), and was rather large. I remember something about getting ready for bed and being at the computer typing something. I went downstairs at one point and resumed typing on a different computer.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
The Old Man and the Henson
MORNING OF AUGUST 29, 2009
I had met some kindly old man and we'd apparently become friendly acquaintances. He was apparently an optometrist by trade, because my first clear memory is being in his office as he was performing an eye exam on me. I remember talking about my contacts, etc.
After the exam, he took me into a room in the back that looked like a huge bookstore, or perhaps it was even more specifically a comic store. It vaguely resembled a place I went to in Nashville, TN a few years ago called "The Great Escape". The old man was showing me around the place, pointing out different art books and such.
It turns out he was a famous cartoonist back in his heyday, and he was trying to encourage me and give me advice with my own cartooning. He reminded me of Charles Schulz, but I don't know whether or not he was necessarily supposed to be Charles Schulz.
Finally, I was in a back room of the store talking to my parents. They were thumbing through boxes of old record albums. My mom pulled out a Muppets album that had Jim Henson and Kermit on the cover. Upon seeing it, my dad casually mentioned that Jim Henson was scheduled to do a signing at this store in a couple of days.
I freaked out! The fact that he's dead didn't occur to me, I just thought it was great that Jim Henson was actually coming to the store, and I couldn't wait to go. My dad laughed, finding it ridiculous and for some reason surprising that I was so excited about meeting Jim Henson.
I had met some kindly old man and we'd apparently become friendly acquaintances. He was apparently an optometrist by trade, because my first clear memory is being in his office as he was performing an eye exam on me. I remember talking about my contacts, etc.
After the exam, he took me into a room in the back that looked like a huge bookstore, or perhaps it was even more specifically a comic store. It vaguely resembled a place I went to in Nashville, TN a few years ago called "The Great Escape". The old man was showing me around the place, pointing out different art books and such.
It turns out he was a famous cartoonist back in his heyday, and he was trying to encourage me and give me advice with my own cartooning. He reminded me of Charles Schulz, but I don't know whether or not he was necessarily supposed to be Charles Schulz.
Finally, I was in a back room of the store talking to my parents. They were thumbing through boxes of old record albums. My mom pulled out a Muppets album that had Jim Henson and Kermit on the cover. Upon seeing it, my dad casually mentioned that Jim Henson was scheduled to do a signing at this store in a couple of days.
I freaked out! The fact that he's dead didn't occur to me, I just thought it was great that Jim Henson was actually coming to the store, and I couldn't wait to go. My dad laughed, finding it ridiculous and for some reason surprising that I was so excited about meeting Jim Henson.
The Poorly Timed Storm
MORNING OF AUGUST 28, 2009
I was having this dream on a Friday morning. In the dream it was late Friday afternoon/early evening. Almost time to end my shift at work. However, a bad storm was coming. The rain hadn't yet begun, but the sky was incredibly dark and the wind was very violent. It was obvious that we were in for some severe weather.
Two coworkers and I were standing near the front entrance watching things develop. I was asking--half jokingly, half seriously--why the storm had to wait until it was finally time for me to go home to show up? Why couldn't it have come earlier in the day or later in the evening? Why did it have to trap me at work for longer?
Then I woke up. It's probably telling about my level of job satisfaction that my first emotion upon waking was not relief that there really was no tornado weather, but disappointment that it wasn't actually time to clock out and I still had the whole shift ahead of me.
I was having this dream on a Friday morning. In the dream it was late Friday afternoon/early evening. Almost time to end my shift at work. However, a bad storm was coming. The rain hadn't yet begun, but the sky was incredibly dark and the wind was very violent. It was obvious that we were in for some severe weather.
Two coworkers and I were standing near the front entrance watching things develop. I was asking--half jokingly, half seriously--why the storm had to wait until it was finally time for me to go home to show up? Why couldn't it have come earlier in the day or later in the evening? Why did it have to trap me at work for longer?
Then I woke up. It's probably telling about my level of job satisfaction that my first emotion upon waking was not relief that there really was no tornado weather, but disappointment that it wasn't actually time to clock out and I still had the whole shift ahead of me.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
A Dirty Hostage Situation
MORNING OF AUGUST 26, 2009
I was watching an episode of the Discovery Channel show, Dirty Jobs. Host Mike Rowe was in some secretive-looking, windowless facility with apparently only one man operating it. It soon became apparent that this man was holding Mike hostage in this place, though it all continued to play out like a regular episode. I couldn't figure out if it was real or scripted.
Most of the jobs that Mike had to perform in the strange facility were really more just tedious than dirty. He still cracked wise and joked all throughout, even though the other guy was obviously a little bit loopy and dangerous.
And that's about it.
I was watching an episode of the Discovery Channel show, Dirty Jobs. Host Mike Rowe was in some secretive-looking, windowless facility with apparently only one man operating it. It soon became apparent that this man was holding Mike hostage in this place, though it all continued to play out like a regular episode. I couldn't figure out if it was real or scripted.
Most of the jobs that Mike had to perform in the strange facility were really more just tedious than dirty. He still cracked wise and joked all throughout, even though the other guy was obviously a little bit loopy and dangerous.
And that's about it.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Black Rabbit
MORNING OF AUGUST 25, 2009
I was with a friend (I can't remember which one) and we were walking around someone's yard in the early evening. The property looked somewhat like my grandmother's house. A dark little blur of an animal darted past us, going around the side of the house.
I went to get a better look and found, huddled under a bush, a fairly large black rabbit. It was behaving as though it were tame, so I began to pet it and found it behaved more or less like a friendly cat. It rubbed against me affectionately, clearly enjoying the attention.
When I walked back to the front of the house to rejoin my friend, the rabbit followed closely and I tried to show it to them. This is pretty much the last thing I remember.
I was with a friend (I can't remember which one) and we were walking around someone's yard in the early evening. The property looked somewhat like my grandmother's house. A dark little blur of an animal darted past us, going around the side of the house.
I went to get a better look and found, huddled under a bush, a fairly large black rabbit. It was behaving as though it were tame, so I began to pet it and found it behaved more or less like a friendly cat. It rubbed against me affectionately, clearly enjoying the attention.
When I walked back to the front of the house to rejoin my friend, the rabbit followed closely and I tried to show it to them. This is pretty much the last thing I remember.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
The Comic Store, the Motorbike and the Disney Mall
MORNING OF AUGUST 23, 2009
I was with Richard in a comic book store. True to real life, he was giving me a hard time about the fact that I no longer collect monthly comics (haven't in ages now). I vaguely remember the one employee at this comic store was particularly rude (imagine that). There was one area with a lot of fine art prints from various cartoonists. Many of these caught my eye, though they were, I thought, quite overpriced.
There was a rack of clothes and Richard looked at a pair of jogging shorts. He told me he could wear these when he went to the hospital. I asked him why he had to go to the hospital, and he explained that it wasn't for himself, but to visit someone he knew. Apparently some girl he worked with (an entirely fictional character) was having a sex change, and he was going to stay by her side as she recovered.
Next we sat at a table in the comic store and ordered food. A waitress came out and served us, and the next thing I can remember we were already getting our checks. Richard couldn't find his wallet and realized he must have left it in his car, so he went out to look for it. The waitress saw him leaving the store and ran after him, angrily screaming! She thought he was trying to dine-and-dash!
Next I remember leaving the store and getting on a motorbike to ride home (I don't ride motorcycles/motorbikes in real life, so I have no idea what this was doing in the dream.) The weather was extremely overcast, and I was in a hurry to get home as quickly as possible, before the rain.
Apparently the comic store had been located at the intersection nearest to my apartment complex, because that's where I was. In the dream I knew of a shortcut that would get me home even more quickly than the main road, and I chose to take it to increase my chances of beating the rain. I quickly realized, however, that I had forgotten the way on the shortcut and I got lost. I remember what felt like several minutes of riding the bike around trails in the woods, trying to find my way back to the main road.
I finally did make it back to the main road, but somehow ended up going to a mall instead of going home. The inside of the mall was basically an indoor Disney World. I met Richard, along with Jessica and Cailey. Conan O'Brien was taping a show in the main area of the Disney World Mall, and I stopped and watched a few minutes of it before walking on to check out other things.
At one point I saw a girl who was dressed like Jasmine from Aladdin and we made eye contact. Assuming she was one of the characters roaming the park, I snapped a picture of her as she walked by. Then I walked on a bit, and suddenly this box-shaped white robot, about waist high, rolled up to me and kept bumping into my legs and repeating some unintelligible phrase over and over. I assumed it was some obscure character from WALL-E that I simply didn't remember.
After a few moments of the leg-bumping and garbled mumbling by this robot, I began to feel unsettled--I couldn't get away from it! Then I noticed there was a baby sitting in a seat in top of the robot, and the unintelligible phrase was coming from the baby. Then an eastern Indian woman in traditional garb ran up and made the baby's robo-chair stop "attacking" me.
The lady explained to me, in broken English, that the robo-chair was a special stroller they had rented from the Disney park for the day. I looked beside the mother and saw "Jasmine" from earlier standing there. Then I realized it was the woman's daughter and not a girl playing Jasmine at Disney! This made me feel really embarrassed that I'd so freely taken the picture before.
After this I rejoined Richard and Jessica. We walked into a store that looked like just a regular store in a mall. There was a kitchen table displayed at the front of the store, draped in a fancy tablecloth. A loose thread from the cloth stuck to Jessica's clothes as she passed. I tried to let her know, but before I could she'd already gotten terribly tangled in it (to an impossible degree) and damaged the cloth in the process.
Finally, I remember looking back out the entrance of the store and saw a display of the Hill Valley clock tower from Back to the Future. There was a robotic Marty McFly hanging from the hands of the clock, yelling for help. In the dream I just naturally accepted this as a representation of the scene from the movie where Doc is hanging on the clock tower.
Suddenly the Marty McFly robot fell from the clock and broke apart as it hit the floor. Conan O'Brien, still taping for his show, ran forward and picked up some of the parts. He explained, "Well, first they closed Back to the Future: The Ride (referring to the real-life closing of the Universal Studios BTTF ride a couple of years ago), and now this breaks! I guess that's the end of the Back to the Future exhibit for good!" He was laughing and making jokes about it, but I felt sad.
I was with Richard in a comic book store. True to real life, he was giving me a hard time about the fact that I no longer collect monthly comics (haven't in ages now). I vaguely remember the one employee at this comic store was particularly rude (imagine that). There was one area with a lot of fine art prints from various cartoonists. Many of these caught my eye, though they were, I thought, quite overpriced.
There was a rack of clothes and Richard looked at a pair of jogging shorts. He told me he could wear these when he went to the hospital. I asked him why he had to go to the hospital, and he explained that it wasn't for himself, but to visit someone he knew. Apparently some girl he worked with (an entirely fictional character) was having a sex change, and he was going to stay by her side as she recovered.
Next we sat at a table in the comic store and ordered food. A waitress came out and served us, and the next thing I can remember we were already getting our checks. Richard couldn't find his wallet and realized he must have left it in his car, so he went out to look for it. The waitress saw him leaving the store and ran after him, angrily screaming! She thought he was trying to dine-and-dash!
Next I remember leaving the store and getting on a motorbike to ride home (I don't ride motorcycles/motorbikes in real life, so I have no idea what this was doing in the dream.) The weather was extremely overcast, and I was in a hurry to get home as quickly as possible, before the rain.
Apparently the comic store had been located at the intersection nearest to my apartment complex, because that's where I was. In the dream I knew of a shortcut that would get me home even more quickly than the main road, and I chose to take it to increase my chances of beating the rain. I quickly realized, however, that I had forgotten the way on the shortcut and I got lost. I remember what felt like several minutes of riding the bike around trails in the woods, trying to find my way back to the main road.
I finally did make it back to the main road, but somehow ended up going to a mall instead of going home. The inside of the mall was basically an indoor Disney World. I met Richard, along with Jessica and Cailey. Conan O'Brien was taping a show in the main area of the Disney World Mall, and I stopped and watched a few minutes of it before walking on to check out other things.
At one point I saw a girl who was dressed like Jasmine from Aladdin and we made eye contact. Assuming she was one of the characters roaming the park, I snapped a picture of her as she walked by. Then I walked on a bit, and suddenly this box-shaped white robot, about waist high, rolled up to me and kept bumping into my legs and repeating some unintelligible phrase over and over. I assumed it was some obscure character from WALL-E that I simply didn't remember.
After a few moments of the leg-bumping and garbled mumbling by this robot, I began to feel unsettled--I couldn't get away from it! Then I noticed there was a baby sitting in a seat in top of the robot, and the unintelligible phrase was coming from the baby. Then an eastern Indian woman in traditional garb ran up and made the baby's robo-chair stop "attacking" me.
The lady explained to me, in broken English, that the robo-chair was a special stroller they had rented from the Disney park for the day. I looked beside the mother and saw "Jasmine" from earlier standing there. Then I realized it was the woman's daughter and not a girl playing Jasmine at Disney! This made me feel really embarrassed that I'd so freely taken the picture before.
After this I rejoined Richard and Jessica. We walked into a store that looked like just a regular store in a mall. There was a kitchen table displayed at the front of the store, draped in a fancy tablecloth. A loose thread from the cloth stuck to Jessica's clothes as she passed. I tried to let her know, but before I could she'd already gotten terribly tangled in it (to an impossible degree) and damaged the cloth in the process.
Finally, I remember looking back out the entrance of the store and saw a display of the Hill Valley clock tower from Back to the Future. There was a robotic Marty McFly hanging from the hands of the clock, yelling for help. In the dream I just naturally accepted this as a representation of the scene from the movie where Doc is hanging on the clock tower.
Suddenly the Marty McFly robot fell from the clock and broke apart as it hit the floor. Conan O'Brien, still taping for his show, ran forward and picked up some of the parts. He explained, "Well, first they closed Back to the Future: The Ride (referring to the real-life closing of the Universal Studios BTTF ride a couple of years ago), and now this breaks! I guess that's the end of the Back to the Future exhibit for good!" He was laughing and making jokes about it, but I felt sad.
Monday, August 17, 2009
The Apparantly Coveted Boat
MORNING OF AUGUST 17, 2009
This is the second of two dreams remembered this morning. The first is posted previously...
(This dream has a boating theme. I pretty much never boat, and do very little in the water, period, so I'm not sure where it comes from, although I can tell from the end that there was definitely some inspiration from the Miyazaki animated film, Ponyo, which I saw this weekend.)
I was on the shore of a river late a night. A very few other people were around here and there. One particular motor boat kept passing near the shore. It was distinct even in the dark because there was a large, circular green light glowing brightly on the front part of it. That light shone just brightly enough to make out that the boat was mostly pink in color.
Somehow I ended up in the water in a motorless boat of my own. I was searching for the person(s) in that other boat, waiting patiently for them to pass near me. I soon found them temporarily docked near the shore. It turns out the persons on board was a middle aged couple. I approached and boarded their boat unbidden. I seemed to have an urgent purpose in mind, though I honestly have no memory or idea of what it was.
Naturally the couple were shocked at my sudden arrival, but, thinking on my feet, I told them not to worry--I was just here to get the loaf of bread I had left on the boat. Conveniently, there was a brand new loaf of bread on the floor behind the seat the woman was in. She calmed down and exclaimed, "Oh, I don't blame you for coming back for it. That brand is very expensive."
Then, somehow I just took control of their boat and stole it from them entirely. I remember steering up onto the sandy shore and then running into a house. I was now holding this pink boat with its green light in my hand--it was only a toy. I heard the couple entering the house, running after me. I threw the now-toy boat into a bedroom and then ran into the front to confront the people who wanted it back. That's about all I remember.
This is the second of two dreams remembered this morning. The first is posted previously...
(This dream has a boating theme. I pretty much never boat, and do very little in the water, period, so I'm not sure where it comes from, although I can tell from the end that there was definitely some inspiration from the Miyazaki animated film, Ponyo, which I saw this weekend.)
I was on the shore of a river late a night. A very few other people were around here and there. One particular motor boat kept passing near the shore. It was distinct even in the dark because there was a large, circular green light glowing brightly on the front part of it. That light shone just brightly enough to make out that the boat was mostly pink in color.
Somehow I ended up in the water in a motorless boat of my own. I was searching for the person(s) in that other boat, waiting patiently for them to pass near me. I soon found them temporarily docked near the shore. It turns out the persons on board was a middle aged couple. I approached and boarded their boat unbidden. I seemed to have an urgent purpose in mind, though I honestly have no memory or idea of what it was.
Naturally the couple were shocked at my sudden arrival, but, thinking on my feet, I told them not to worry--I was just here to get the loaf of bread I had left on the boat. Conveniently, there was a brand new loaf of bread on the floor behind the seat the woman was in. She calmed down and exclaimed, "Oh, I don't blame you for coming back for it. That brand is very expensive."
Then, somehow I just took control of their boat and stole it from them entirely. I remember steering up onto the sandy shore and then running into a house. I was now holding this pink boat with its green light in my hand--it was only a toy. I heard the couple entering the house, running after me. I threw the now-toy boat into a bedroom and then ran into the front to confront the people who wanted it back. That's about all I remember.
Scheduling the Mysterious Man
MORNING OF AUGUST 17, 2009
This is the first of two dreams from this night. The other is posted separately, just above this one....
I was at work and was supposed to schedule a shoot with some new personality in town who was putting on programs in schools for kids. Rather than set up an appointment by phone, I drove to the location to set things up in person.
I arrived at what looked like a small little store in the downtown area. Upon walking up to the entrance, I could see in the windows that the "store" actually contained one small classroom of children, with small groups of them sitting around a series of circular tables. A man of middle eastern descent was in the middle of the room, seated on a child-sized chair of his own, speaking to them.
There was a desk at the front entrance where you had to sign in. I spoke to the lady at the desk and told her I was there to schedule a shoot with whatever-the-speakers-name-was (the middle eastern guy). As I said his name, I saw him glance over in my direction even as he was still speaking to the kids.
The lady at the desk seemed confused that I was only trying to schedule an appointment and that I didn't want to actually film the man right now. She was adamant that I could not film anything, until she finally realized that I only wanted to schedule it for later. And then she seemed to think it was weird that I had driven out instead of just calling them (which it indeed was). At any rate, I got a really weird vibe from this place, not the least of all because the people running it seemed so wary of me.
I can't remember if I successfully made an appointment or not. Afterward, my mom called me while I was in the car and reminded me that I should stop and pick up some flowers for my grandmother while I was out. The upcoming weekend was supposed to be either Mother's Day or her birthday (and either of those events have already passed for the year in real life anyway).
It's weird that the layout of the town in the dream was entirely fictional, but I knew exactly where I was going on my way to the store that sold flowers. It's like I'd been there before. I remember driving very deliberately and pulling up there. It was in an old residential area. One of the old houses was the store in question. It had been slightly remodeled, so for a brief moment I thought I'd come to the wrong place, but I hadn't.
The flower/plant selection in the place was pitiful. Almost the only thing they had was little potted cacti. There were other random odds and ends in the store. On a magazine rack I saw some material about that man I'd been trying to schedule a meeting with before. It seems like a few more things happened, but from here on out it's more or less a blur.
This is the first of two dreams from this night. The other is posted separately, just above this one....
I was at work and was supposed to schedule a shoot with some new personality in town who was putting on programs in schools for kids. Rather than set up an appointment by phone, I drove to the location to set things up in person.
I arrived at what looked like a small little store in the downtown area. Upon walking up to the entrance, I could see in the windows that the "store" actually contained one small classroom of children, with small groups of them sitting around a series of circular tables. A man of middle eastern descent was in the middle of the room, seated on a child-sized chair of his own, speaking to them.
There was a desk at the front entrance where you had to sign in. I spoke to the lady at the desk and told her I was there to schedule a shoot with whatever-the-speakers-name-was (the middle eastern guy). As I said his name, I saw him glance over in my direction even as he was still speaking to the kids.
The lady at the desk seemed confused that I was only trying to schedule an appointment and that I didn't want to actually film the man right now. She was adamant that I could not film anything, until she finally realized that I only wanted to schedule it for later. And then she seemed to think it was weird that I had driven out instead of just calling them (which it indeed was). At any rate, I got a really weird vibe from this place, not the least of all because the people running it seemed so wary of me.
I can't remember if I successfully made an appointment or not. Afterward, my mom called me while I was in the car and reminded me that I should stop and pick up some flowers for my grandmother while I was out. The upcoming weekend was supposed to be either Mother's Day or her birthday (and either of those events have already passed for the year in real life anyway).
It's weird that the layout of the town in the dream was entirely fictional, but I knew exactly where I was going on my way to the store that sold flowers. It's like I'd been there before. I remember driving very deliberately and pulling up there. It was in an old residential area. One of the old houses was the store in question. It had been slightly remodeled, so for a brief moment I thought I'd come to the wrong place, but I hadn't.
The flower/plant selection in the place was pitiful. Almost the only thing they had was little potted cacti. There were other random odds and ends in the store. On a magazine rack I saw some material about that man I'd been trying to schedule a meeting with before. It seems like a few more things happened, but from here on out it's more or less a blur.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Movies and Space Travel
MORNING OF AUGUST 15, 2009
Several of my friends and I (I specifically remember Eric and Richard being there) were preparing to watch a movie, but we were setting up our own little "theater" in some kind of storefront (it looked like perhaps a comic book store). We had my TV and surround sound set up at the front of the store, and I recall trying to arrange chairs and to generally decorate the place in a cool, theater-y motif.
It was almost time for the movie to start and we were in a rush because other people were showing up to watch the movie here, expecting it to start at a certain time. We did start the movie on time, but we weren't quite through preparing the place, so we kept working.
I remember one wall of the store was decorated with "Peanuts" stuff, and another with "Disney" memorabilia, etc. Eric and I at one point were standing in the back of the store discussing the layout and we decided things were finally done. By now we'd missed the first several minutes of the movie, and we didn't really want to join it in progress because we'd never seen it.
The two of us decided to leave the store and we'd watch the movie on our own time later on. We walked down to another "store" and went inside. This place had an interior that looked like the insides of one of the old Apollo spacecraft.
Once Eric and I were inside the spacecraft store, the reality of the dream became that we actually were orbiting in space. There was a huge control panel in the center of the room which we were using to communicate with earth, and it suddenly lost power and stopped working.
We began to panic when we lost communication, but then we remembered our cell phones. We could contact earth with our cell phones! We quickly learned, however, that we were out of range and had no signal. My last memory is just trying to figure out how in the world we were going to get out of this one...
Several of my friends and I (I specifically remember Eric and Richard being there) were preparing to watch a movie, but we were setting up our own little "theater" in some kind of storefront (it looked like perhaps a comic book store). We had my TV and surround sound set up at the front of the store, and I recall trying to arrange chairs and to generally decorate the place in a cool, theater-y motif.
It was almost time for the movie to start and we were in a rush because other people were showing up to watch the movie here, expecting it to start at a certain time. We did start the movie on time, but we weren't quite through preparing the place, so we kept working.
I remember one wall of the store was decorated with "Peanuts" stuff, and another with "Disney" memorabilia, etc. Eric and I at one point were standing in the back of the store discussing the layout and we decided things were finally done. By now we'd missed the first several minutes of the movie, and we didn't really want to join it in progress because we'd never seen it.
The two of us decided to leave the store and we'd watch the movie on our own time later on. We walked down to another "store" and went inside. This place had an interior that looked like the insides of one of the old Apollo spacecraft.
Once Eric and I were inside the spacecraft store, the reality of the dream became that we actually were orbiting in space. There was a huge control panel in the center of the room which we were using to communicate with earth, and it suddenly lost power and stopped working.
We began to panic when we lost communication, but then we remembered our cell phones. We could contact earth with our cell phones! We quickly learned, however, that we were out of range and had no signal. My last memory is just trying to figure out how in the world we were going to get out of this one...
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Two Daria Shirts
MORNING OF AUGUST 12, 2009
Eric and I went out of town to some attend special entertainment-related event, more or less a Comic-Con type of thing (though I've never actually been to a Con). We were sitting in for one lecture about the (fictional) new season of Daria they were producing (that's a show I used to love back in the day).
They lady hosting the lecture asked a trivia question about the old show and Eric and I blurted out the answer simultaneously. We each got a Daria T-shirt as a reward, though I for some reason got two identical shirts instead of one. The shirts were black and featured all of the main cast drawn in "Chibi" style.
After this event we went to other parts of the "Con", though at this point our various misadventures are all a blur of vagueness to me. My next clear memory is at some point I noticed Eric was holding his Daria shirt from before and I realized I didn't have mine--I'd left them back in the original room of the lecture!
We went back to look for them, but the room was empty. No shirts left in my seat, and no representative to ask about it. I felt really disappointed that I'd actually won something kind of cool and immediately lost it, even if it was somewhat inconsequential in the long run.
My final memory is being back "home". Though one would assume we were staying in a hotel since we were out of town, the room I was in looked like the guest room I stay in when I visit my parents. I remember I felt like it had been a long day, and I really just wanted to take a shower.
Eric and I went out of town to some attend special entertainment-related event, more or less a Comic-Con type of thing (though I've never actually been to a Con). We were sitting in for one lecture about the (fictional) new season of Daria they were producing (that's a show I used to love back in the day).
They lady hosting the lecture asked a trivia question about the old show and Eric and I blurted out the answer simultaneously. We each got a Daria T-shirt as a reward, though I for some reason got two identical shirts instead of one. The shirts were black and featured all of the main cast drawn in "Chibi" style.
After this event we went to other parts of the "Con", though at this point our various misadventures are all a blur of vagueness to me. My next clear memory is at some point I noticed Eric was holding his Daria shirt from before and I realized I didn't have mine--I'd left them back in the original room of the lecture!
We went back to look for them, but the room was empty. No shirts left in my seat, and no representative to ask about it. I felt really disappointed that I'd actually won something kind of cool and immediately lost it, even if it was somewhat inconsequential in the long run.
My final memory is being back "home". Though one would assume we were staying in a hotel since we were out of town, the room I was in looked like the guest room I stay in when I visit my parents. I remember I felt like it had been a long day, and I really just wanted to take a shower.
Friday, August 7, 2009
A Grouch at the Dental Bank
MORNING OF AUGUST 7, 2009
I was trying to make an appointment with a dentist (inspired by the recent lost of a filling that was covering a tiny chip on the top of a tooth--it doesn't hurt at all, so I've been lax in making an appointment to have it fixed). The dentist's office I went to looked exactly like a bank and nothing like a my dentist's office (or any other, I'm sure).
While I was in line waiting to make an appointment with the "teller", I noticed one wall had a glass case with a series of random and interesting items on display. One of them was an original, official "Oscar the Grouch" puppet, posed complete with trash can. I reminded myself to get a good look at it and snap a picture on my way out.
After speaking with the "teller", I vaguely remember her taking me to the back to speak to a dentist or hygienist or something. True to the bank motif, everything in the back was just offices with desks and chairs. No actual dentist's stuff anywhere.
My next memory is leaving the building. I was walking down the street away from the "bank" (which, on the outside, was a surprisingly shoddy little structure--a total mismatch with the spacious, posh interior). I suddenly remembered the Oscar puppet inside. I'd forgotten to get a look/snap a picture.
I debated for a moment whether it was worth the trouble to go back and decided it was. My last memory is that a lot of people were standing all around the glass display case when I went back in. I was hesitating, not wanting to ask them to move for me to take a picture.
I was trying to make an appointment with a dentist (inspired by the recent lost of a filling that was covering a tiny chip on the top of a tooth--it doesn't hurt at all, so I've been lax in making an appointment to have it fixed). The dentist's office I went to looked exactly like a bank and nothing like a my dentist's office (or any other, I'm sure).
While I was in line waiting to make an appointment with the "teller", I noticed one wall had a glass case with a series of random and interesting items on display. One of them was an original, official "Oscar the Grouch" puppet, posed complete with trash can. I reminded myself to get a good look at it and snap a picture on my way out.
After speaking with the "teller", I vaguely remember her taking me to the back to speak to a dentist or hygienist or something. True to the bank motif, everything in the back was just offices with desks and chairs. No actual dentist's stuff anywhere.
My next memory is leaving the building. I was walking down the street away from the "bank" (which, on the outside, was a surprisingly shoddy little structure--a total mismatch with the spacious, posh interior). I suddenly remembered the Oscar puppet inside. I'd forgotten to get a look/snap a picture.
I debated for a moment whether it was worth the trouble to go back and decided it was. My last memory is that a lot of people were standing all around the glass display case when I went back in. I was hesitating, not wanting to ask them to move for me to take a picture.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
The Tim Burton-y Play
MORNING OF AUGUST 5, 2009
I was going to attend some local production of a play, I think supposedly in the nearby city of Birmingham. For some reason an ex girlfriend was in the car with me (there was no specific emotion attached to this, negative or positive), and we were driving out of the neighborhood I lived in during my teenage years.
I had Regina Spektor's latest CD, Far, playing in the car (it's a CD that's been in regular rotation since it's release a few weeks ago). The songs in the dream were not real ones, except for I do recall hearing part of "Man of a Thousand Faces". My ex had not heard the CD and I was trying to play her the tracks I liked best.
We arrived at the venue for the play and we were a little bit late, as it had just started. I don't remember my ex being in the dream anymore at this point, but several of my friends and some of my family members were there. My dad was an usher, and he said it was good I could make it and took me to my seat, which was among other family members.
Also, it's worth noting, that Colin Powell (?!?!) was standing near the area where the ushers were! As random as this is, it was only a detail I noticed in passing.
The play in the dream was very much like a local production of "Sweeney Todd" some friends and I saw earlier this year. At one point I realized that Johnny Depp was actually playing the lead role in this play! And all at once it was no longer a typcial play, but we were all privy to a live prodcution of Tim Burton's latest movie (I don't know that it was supposed to be the actual Alice in Wonderland movie that's coming next year, but it was his "next movie" in the dream).
Then I remember leaving the play, or perhaps it was intermission or something. I spoke to my dad again. He felt obliged to tell me that Colin Powell had called me a nerd! (I'm laughing out loud as I recall this). I asked why, and he explained it was because I was wearing a Batman tie. I looked down and noticed for the first time that I was.
Then my dad and I discussed the production we'd just see so far, our likes and our dislikes. I told him a movie of it was coming out soon, and that I had the soundtrack, explaining that we'd listened to it in the car on the way here.
I was going to attend some local production of a play, I think supposedly in the nearby city of Birmingham. For some reason an ex girlfriend was in the car with me (there was no specific emotion attached to this, negative or positive), and we were driving out of the neighborhood I lived in during my teenage years.
I had Regina Spektor's latest CD, Far, playing in the car (it's a CD that's been in regular rotation since it's release a few weeks ago). The songs in the dream were not real ones, except for I do recall hearing part of "Man of a Thousand Faces". My ex had not heard the CD and I was trying to play her the tracks I liked best.
We arrived at the venue for the play and we were a little bit late, as it had just started. I don't remember my ex being in the dream anymore at this point, but several of my friends and some of my family members were there. My dad was an usher, and he said it was good I could make it and took me to my seat, which was among other family members.
Also, it's worth noting, that Colin Powell (?!?!) was standing near the area where the ushers were! As random as this is, it was only a detail I noticed in passing.
The play in the dream was very much like a local production of "Sweeney Todd" some friends and I saw earlier this year. At one point I realized that Johnny Depp was actually playing the lead role in this play! And all at once it was no longer a typcial play, but we were all privy to a live prodcution of Tim Burton's latest movie (I don't know that it was supposed to be the actual Alice in Wonderland movie that's coming next year, but it was his "next movie" in the dream).
Then I remember leaving the play, or perhaps it was intermission or something. I spoke to my dad again. He felt obliged to tell me that Colin Powell had called me a nerd! (I'm laughing out loud as I recall this). I asked why, and he explained it was because I was wearing a Batman tie. I looked down and noticed for the first time that I was.
Then my dad and I discussed the production we'd just see so far, our likes and our dislikes. I told him a movie of it was coming out soon, and that I had the soundtrack, explaining that we'd listened to it in the car on the way here.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Nuclear Cleansing
MORNING OF AUGUST 2, 2009
I was watching some movie in which world leaders decided it would be a good idea to intentionally nuke the entire earth. The idea was that humans could stay in high tech, previously secret underground bunkers for a short period of time, and when they came back out, the earth would be renewed and we could start over. Sort of a perverse "Noah's Ark" concept.
There were, of course, a handful of main characters that the movie was following. We saw them go, with many other people, into the underground bunkers. They watched on video screens as nukes took out all the major cities, etc.
It was around this time that I was suddenly among the people in the bunkers instead of just watching it like a movie. A disembodied female voice coming from a speaker system announced that the earth had now been successfully renewed and everyone could go above ground again.
The earth looked fantastic. The skies were lush blue with beautiful clouds,and all of nature was vibrant and scenic. I couldn't believe that everything could heal like this so quickly after a nuclear holocaust. I remember looking at a pair of Canadian geese by a lake and feeling glad that some animals had survived. I wondered if there might have even been separate bunkers the animals had been sent to (I hoped so). There was a large but humble complex built on this beautiful plain that the particular colony of people I was a part of were to live in together, so we entered it at this time.
Somewhere in all of this, the female voice had told us that many people had been sent automatically to re-emerge in the state they had always dreamed of living in. One of the main characters from earlier had been sent to Alaska, but his love interest was in the group I was in. Somehow I was watching his plight, as though part of this were still just a movie to me. He decided he'd trek the miles to find his love again. His Alaskan colony warned him it would be dangerous travel, as some of the areas he'd pass through would not have healed from the nuclear devastation yet. He said it would be worth it.
The rest of the dream I just sort of vaguely recall adjusting to life on the new earth. I felt sad and melancholy about the loss of everything old. I also wondered what would happen when people got sick, as we'd lost much of our medical technology (along with most other kinds of technology) and were starting over almost from square one. Then I wondered if the high tech bunkers we'd stayed in before might be used as places to access technology when needed.
I had an old TV set and and old VCR in the room I was staying in at the compound. Some old Looney Tunes cartoons were on the TV, and I was trying to transfer them to video tape, because I wanted to make sure they were preserved, since most of the copies had likely been destroyed. The quality on both the TV and the recordings I was making was really horrible, though. I remember a commerical came on during the cartoons that featured Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy around a Christmas tree.
The last memory I have is that some other tribe of people suddenly showed up at our complex. I wondered how many other wandering tribes there were, and if we'd have room for all of them.
I was watching some movie in which world leaders decided it would be a good idea to intentionally nuke the entire earth. The idea was that humans could stay in high tech, previously secret underground bunkers for a short period of time, and when they came back out, the earth would be renewed and we could start over. Sort of a perverse "Noah's Ark" concept.
There were, of course, a handful of main characters that the movie was following. We saw them go, with many other people, into the underground bunkers. They watched on video screens as nukes took out all the major cities, etc.
It was around this time that I was suddenly among the people in the bunkers instead of just watching it like a movie. A disembodied female voice coming from a speaker system announced that the earth had now been successfully renewed and everyone could go above ground again.
The earth looked fantastic. The skies were lush blue with beautiful clouds,and all of nature was vibrant and scenic. I couldn't believe that everything could heal like this so quickly after a nuclear holocaust. I remember looking at a pair of Canadian geese by a lake and feeling glad that some animals had survived. I wondered if there might have even been separate bunkers the animals had been sent to (I hoped so). There was a large but humble complex built on this beautiful plain that the particular colony of people I was a part of were to live in together, so we entered it at this time.
Somewhere in all of this, the female voice had told us that many people had been sent automatically to re-emerge in the state they had always dreamed of living in. One of the main characters from earlier had been sent to Alaska, but his love interest was in the group I was in. Somehow I was watching his plight, as though part of this were still just a movie to me. He decided he'd trek the miles to find his love again. His Alaskan colony warned him it would be dangerous travel, as some of the areas he'd pass through would not have healed from the nuclear devastation yet. He said it would be worth it.
The rest of the dream I just sort of vaguely recall adjusting to life on the new earth. I felt sad and melancholy about the loss of everything old. I also wondered what would happen when people got sick, as we'd lost much of our medical technology (along with most other kinds of technology) and were starting over almost from square one. Then I wondered if the high tech bunkers we'd stayed in before might be used as places to access technology when needed.
I had an old TV set and and old VCR in the room I was staying in at the compound. Some old Looney Tunes cartoons were on the TV, and I was trying to transfer them to video tape, because I wanted to make sure they were preserved, since most of the copies had likely been destroyed. The quality on both the TV and the recordings I was making was really horrible, though. I remember a commerical came on during the cartoons that featured Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy around a Christmas tree.
The last memory I have is that some other tribe of people suddenly showed up at our complex. I wondered how many other wandering tribes there were, and if we'd have room for all of them.
A Beautiful Flight
MORNING OF AUGUST 1, 2009
I remember being in a car with a parents and one of our family friends. I had an old cassette Walkman with me, and was listening to some song I'd never heard before, but I really liked it. At one point I remember passing a scenic lake, and there were were traces of snow and melting ice all around it. I thought that was weird for summer.
They eventually dropped me off at my own car, and when I got in I realized I had no cassette player, so I couldn't continue to listen to that song I'd been enjoying, which was a minor annoyance.
I remember being at work later, and I was doodling things on a notepad. Then I was talking to my cousin Stephen about them. As I talked, we were now hiking through this very beautiful nature area which looked not unlike the lake I'd seen a little bit earlier.
I saw what I believed to be a hawk flying overhead. It began to swoop down lower, and I began to realize it was much larger than I had originally assumed. Indeed, what turned out to be a purple eagle about the size of a delivery truck soon landed gracefully at the edge of the lake nearby. I'm actually uncertain if it was purely a giant eagle, or if it might have been some sort of griffin or hippogriff type creature. Either way, I was in total awe of it.
I cautiously approached the beast, and it allowed me to crawl onto its back. Then it spread its wings and took to the air again. I can vividly feel the sensation of my hands sinking into its layers of soft feathers, holding tightly as we flew all around. It was an exhillerating experience--I wasn't even afraid of the height, as I would be in real life.
Sadly, I can't remember anything after this point.
I remember being in a car with a parents and one of our family friends. I had an old cassette Walkman with me, and was listening to some song I'd never heard before, but I really liked it. At one point I remember passing a scenic lake, and there were were traces of snow and melting ice all around it. I thought that was weird for summer.
They eventually dropped me off at my own car, and when I got in I realized I had no cassette player, so I couldn't continue to listen to that song I'd been enjoying, which was a minor annoyance.
I remember being at work later, and I was doodling things on a notepad. Then I was talking to my cousin Stephen about them. As I talked, we were now hiking through this very beautiful nature area which looked not unlike the lake I'd seen a little bit earlier.
I saw what I believed to be a hawk flying overhead. It began to swoop down lower, and I began to realize it was much larger than I had originally assumed. Indeed, what turned out to be a purple eagle about the size of a delivery truck soon landed gracefully at the edge of the lake nearby. I'm actually uncertain if it was purely a giant eagle, or if it might have been some sort of griffin or hippogriff type creature. Either way, I was in total awe of it.
I cautiously approached the beast, and it allowed me to crawl onto its back. Then it spread its wings and took to the air again. I can vividly feel the sensation of my hands sinking into its layers of soft feathers, holding tightly as we flew all around. It was an exhillerating experience--I wasn't even afraid of the height, as I would be in real life.
Sadly, I can't remember anything after this point.
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