Saturday, October 29, 2011

Alien Invasion

MORNING OF OCTOBER 29, 2011

I was eating lunch inside some small restaurant one afternoon with friends, Eric being the only one I can specifically recall. At one point a middle-aged man burst into the restaurant demanding we come outside and look. He seemed all in a panic.

In the parking lot, we looked up to see a UFO hovering in the sky. It was very clearly a spacecraft of some kind, and was near enough to the ground to appear quite large. We could hear the loud hum of its engines, and feel the ground vibrating around us.

At one point the image of the UFO began to sort of skip in and out, like bad reception on an old analog TV set. Then, suddenly, it winked out of view entirely, and all was silent again. It was a very eerie feeling. We all felt kind of scared.

I believe some more things happened in the dream, though my last clear memory is that my friends and I were looking up into the night sky later that evening, while still discussing the UFO. Suddenly, the skies lit up with laser beams blasting down the ground. The were all in the distance, so we weren't in any danger ourselves at the moment. But we could see huge explosions on the horizon where the beams were hitting. We knew the aliens were attacking earth now. It was fairly terrifying.

Friday, October 28, 2011

Really Big Leaves

MORNING OF OCTOBER 28, 2011

Apparently my parents were packing to move from their house, although this house looked more like my grandmother's house. I was there helping them pack. The family dog, Einstein, was also there, though he passed away earlier this year in real life. He was running around sniffing things, and he eventually kept drawing our attention to something he smelled near one of the walls of the house. It turns out, there was a hidden crawlspace there were my parents had stored a lot of their old belongings. They had forgotten all about this space, but were exasperated with Einstein located it, because it meant even more things for them to pack for their move.

At some point I went outside and was walking in the yard. There was a tree with huge leaves--they looked like maple leaves, but they were huge. Each leaf was probably a good solid foot in circumference. The tree had normal-sized leaves interspersed with the large ones. I noticed that some of the big leaves even had darker spots in their color that were perfect silhouettes of the small leaves, as though the small leaves had shaded the sun from that place. Like removing a long-hanging pictured from a wall.

I went to find a camera to take a picture of the big leaves, but by the time I got around to trying, they were all brown and crisp, and most had fallen to the ground.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Imogen and Goldfrapp

MORNING OF OCTOBER 26, 2011

Supposedly I filmed a local TV show in which Imogen Heap was the main guest. After the show, she invited my friend Eric and I to have lunch with her and we agreed. There was a little bit of time to kill before we'd be meeting for lunch, so Eric and I went to our respective homes to freshen up a bit.

While back at my apartment, I, for some reason, changed into a gaudy Hawaiian shirt with a Mickey Mouse pattern on it.

Then I arrived at Chick-fil-A, which is where Imogen had requested we all eat lunch! Eric wasn't there yet, so Imogen and I went ahead and ate and talked while we waited on him. She told me she liked the Mickey Mouse shirt, though the went on to inform me, in a rather grave manner, that I should normally never wear Hawaiian shirts (and in real life, I always heed this advice).

Eric was indeed very, very late. Eventually Imogen and I ran out of things to talk about and it started to feel awkward.

Then I have a memory of filming the same show from earlier in the dream, only now Alison Goldfrapp was the guest (must have been the night for female British musical artist cameos). During the interview, Goldfrapp announced it was time to release the birds.

The next thing I remember, a huge mass of birds was released from the studio into the sky outside. I stepped out into a little vestibule to discover that many of the birds and become stuck there and were in a panic. I opened all the doors and windows (apparently this was a vestibule with a lot of doors and windows) and tired to shoo them all out.

Once all the birds were free, I noticed the room I'd been in was actually someone's office. It was obvious from the decor that it was a police officer's office. I hoped I wasn't' in legal trouble for entering the office without permission or for the damage all the birds had done.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Hotel Chipmunk

MORNING OF OCTOBER 25, 2011

I know my dreams are always weird, but the NyQuil I was taking for my cold at this time made them seem even more confusing and strange.

I was staying in a hotel with my parents. It was apparently a Sunday morning, and they were in church. I knew I was supposed to meet them in the hotel room and be ready to check out and leave as soon as they returned. A large portion of the dream consisted of me trying to make my way from my apartment to the hotel (why was I staying in a hotel with them if I was within driving distance from home, I'll never know). Every time I got to the hotel room I realized I'd forgotten to pack something. I'd have to go back, get the item, come back to the hotel, etc.

I vaguely recall what the hotel room looked like. It seemed fairly old and dilapidated. There was no wall separating it from the neighboring room; only a thin curtain. There was another family staying in that room, as was fairly easy to observe.

I in the hotel room packing some clothes into a suitcase when my mom returned. As she entered, she drew my attention to a network of wires and strings that criss-crossed each other along the ceiling. An improbably large chipmunk, more the size of a chinchilla, was scurrying to and fro on the wires. I got out my camera to try to take a picture of it as it paused, apparently chewing on some kind of nut. It was making unusual chirruping sounds. And then I noticed it started pooping, and the poop was falling down into my open suitcase!

I shooed it away.

There was some other dream in which I was watching what was supposed to be an old episode of the short-lived 90's cartoon based on the Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure movie. In the dream episode, Bill and Ted had been shrunken to a tiny size. They were chasing down mill worms as large as themselves, with the intent of eating them. Then I was with my cousin, and we were the ages we used to be when the real cartoon used to air. We were discussing the mill worm episode and how gross it was.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

An Unusual Disney Trip

MORNING OF OCTOBER 22, 2011

Another Disney World-based dream. Only this time, Disney World looked like a cheap "budget" version of the parks, almost more like a Six Flags or something.

My first memory is that one girl there--clearly based on a girl I've met in passing in real life, but don't really know--casually told me she was going to kill me at some point while we were there. She told me "It's part of the ride! It's better if you kill someone!", though she couldn't understand why I didn't agree with her enthusiasm fort the idea. I spent a lot of time trying to stay as far away as her as possible on every ride, so she wouldn't kill me. (Note: In real life there was a brief period of time when the real version of this girl made it annoyingly clearly she wanted to date me and I made it clear I didn't share the interest. I think this part of the dream was some psychological throwback to that even, even though it's been a couple of years.)

I vaguely recall riding some sort of old wooden roller coaster with Richard. After that, he and Cailey were going to one specific event, but there was a different attraction that I was in a hurry to get to while it was still open, so I went there. This attraction was something like a theater, where you watched something on a big screen in a type of auditorium.

When I got there the line was still fairly small. The attendants, all ladies, asked me if I was there by myself. I told them I was doing this particular attraction alone, and they acted like that was so sad. One of them, a middle-aged lady with glasses (who actually vaguely reminds of someone from my past, now that I think about it), said she'd find someone to sit with me for this feature. I told her she really didn't have too--but she was off. I think someone said she was going to find "Rapunzel", who would sit with me, but I don't--possibly unfortunately--remember exactly how this part panned out.

In my final memory of the dream, I was back with Richard and Jessica and Cailey in a room where it looked like a birthday party was being thrown for Cailey. Some of the characters were presenting her with a cake and such. I got really frustrated because every time I tried to take a picture, my camera wouldn't actually take it, no matter how hard or many times I pressed the button. Eventually I threw it down on the ground and woke up.

Motorcylces and Ice Cream

MORNING OF OCTOBER 20, 2011

In real life my dad occasionally rides a motorcycle, though it's really not that often. I haven't ridden on one with him since my early teens, yet that's what was happening in this dream. I had gone to visit my parents, and he and I were heading out for a bike ride. Because it was a dream, we were able to have casual conversation and actually hear each other over the motor of the bike as we rode.

At one point we passed some beautiful countryside, and I even spotted an old cairn that I recognized from the book I'm currently reading (it wasn't strange to me to recognize a fictional landmark within the dream).
Dad said something about stopping to get ice cream or some kind of dessert. I said I didn't think I should, because I had already eaten a lot that day and I didn't want to overdo it or something. But then we stopped in my parents' garage--as though it were somewhere along our way rather than the destination we had originally left from--and my mom was standing there. She gave each of us some kind of chocolate coated ice cream on a stick, like a Eskimo Pie. She said they were fat free so we were allowed to have them.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

The Comedy Festival

MORNING OF OCTOBER 12, 2011

Some random old high school acquaintance that I don't really even know or talk to sent me an event invitation on Facebook. It was for some kind of all-day comedy festival they were having in Birmingham. Many famous and not-so-famous comedians and comedy troupes would be performing all day. I decided it sounded like it could be fun, so I thought I'd go check it out.

I have vague memories of watching comedians perform, mostly on outdoor stages at different venues. I can't recall specific performers or jokes. At one point, I went back home, only it looked like my grandmother's house and my mom was there. I ate some cold cereal and announced I was heading back to see more comedy at the festival (admission included a colorful wristband, so you could come and go at leisure).

Having returned to the festival, I was no seated in a theater of some sort, waiting for another act to take the stage.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Basketball Glory Days

MORNING OF OCTOBER 10, 2011

My dad didn't play basketball in high school or college, but in my dream he was reminiscing about his days as a star on his high school or college basketball team. He was with a friend who had supposedly been on the team with him, and they were reliving their glory days.

At one point the two of them were watching old video clips of one of their games. They apparently had nick-names for each other at the time, "T-Rex" and "Gator". As they watched the footage, they kept talking about "T-Rex vs. Gator!" The most surprising things about this video was to see my younger dad doing all kinds of fancy Michael Jordan-style moves on the basketball court. In the waking world this seems even more crazy.

There was another part of the old video, I guess shot during halftime, which showed a tub of water being placed under the basketball hoops. Then one of the players grabbed a scrawny nerdy guy from the crowd and slam-dunked him through the hoop down into the water. The nerd was in total shock, but when he realized he was unharmed he seemed ecstatic!

In another dream I was apparently in some kind of movie or play. It seemed to have a "Sherlock Holmes" sort of theme. I was supposed to be trying to solve a mystery, looking for clues and such. My mom was there, and at one point someone tossed her a piece of bread and she began eating it.

I immediately yelled, "Cut!" and informed the apparent director of this scene that my mom would never eat bread some stranger had touched with their hands and tossed at her, and there was no way I could stay in character having seen that happen!

In yet another dream I was watching TV. There was a special on the religious channel in which a televangelist was driving around in his car with "Weird Al" Yankovic in the passenger seat. The two were having a discussion on faith, but it was obvious that Weird Al didn't really want to be there. This was supposed to be a legitimate show, and not some kind of spoof.

I have one other vague image in my head in which I was loading corn on the cob (fully cooked) beside a fireplace hearth as though it were firewood.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

The Parchment Wiki and the Crazy Hobo Agent

MORNING OF OCTOBER 9, 2011

The first memories are vague. I was at someone's house at night, and a lot of people were there, so I guess there was some type of party or something. There was a long parchment where people were writing down little bits of facts and information about the Harry Potter books or movies. It was almost like people were editing a Wikipedia page, only it was a physical piece of parchment. I remember adding something to it as well.

Also while in this house, someone told me that there was a RiffTrax for Jurassic Park 2: The Lost World. For some reason I was especially excited to see the riff of this one, even though I haven't seen that movie since it was in theaters and remember little of it.

Finally, I remember my boss (my bosses are a married couple, this was the wife), telling me I needed to go pick up her dog from someone. I was to meet them in the parking lot of some store a couple of miles away from where I work, so I headed that way.

When I arrived at the mostly-empty parking lot, four people approached my car. Three were in their thirties to forties, two men and one woman, dressed like secret agents or Secret Service members or something. The fourth was a slightly older, bearded man, who looked almost hobo-ish, but was obviously part of their group.

The three younger ones immediately got into my car, one in the passenger seat and the other two in the back. I was freaking out a little bit about this, but not as much as the bearded man! He kept yelling for them yo get back out there! He swore that he knew what we were up to! Through the open passenger-side window, he began grabbing at that guy, trying to pull him out.

Then the man produced a rifle or shotgun, ran to the front of the car and aimed it at us. I threw the car in reverse, backed up a ways, put it back and drive and slammed on the gas, running over the crazy man as I rammed into the wall behind him.

I guess we got out OK, because my next and last memory of the dream is re-telling this story to someone.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Recognizable Snoopy Art on a Tee

MORNING OF OCTOBER 6, 2011

In real life, as I was growing up, my grandparents kept a set of "Snoopy" tumbler/glasses which I usually drank from when visiting. (I still have one in my "Peanuts" collection today.) The art on the glasses features Snoopy and Woodstock garnishing giant hotdogs and hamburgers.

In my dream, my friend Eric was wearing a T-shirt featuring this exact same artwork. I couldn't believe such a thing existed, and asked him where he'd found it. He explained to me that some random old man, possibly a vagrant, had come up to him and given it to him.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Hungry In Japan

MORNING OF OCTOBER 5, 2011

For some reason I had gone to Japan by myself. I knew that Eric, and I think possibly some other friends, were supposed to be arriving on another flight later on. In the meantime, I explored the area where our hotel was, thinking particularly of where we might eat later. There was a Japanese version of a Pizza Hut right next door to us, though there were obviously many other restaurants in the surrounding area.

My next memory is being with a fairly large group of both friends and family. We were walking up and down the streets of Japan, trying to pick out a restaurant. Many of them looked tempting. We couldn't decide it we wanted to try a "safe" choice or one of the more exotic native options.

As we passed one restaurant, a couple of girls in traditional Kabuki garb were waving at me from behind a window to come inside. I waved back, but continued to follow my group down the street as they tried to decide.

Eventually we all decided to go back to the restaurant where the Kabuki-looking girls had tried to wave me in. It had only been a very few minutes, but now there was a closed sign on the door! The girls inside, now in the process of cleaning the place up, stopped and waved again anyway.

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Hungry Bear and the Hotel

MORNING OF OCTOBER 1, 2011

I was watching some sort of comedy segment on TV. One guy was outdoors, talking to another, and a lion sneaked up behind him, stood upright on its hind legs, and placed its front paws on the man's shoulders (the lion was CG, intended to look "real" but pretty cheaply done). The man just kept talking to his friend without realizing the lion was there. The other friend kept trying to warn him to no avail.

The lion opened its jaws as to bite the man, when suddenly an even bigger grizzly bear stepped up behind the lion and ate it. I mean swallowed it whole, head first. The man never knew what was going on behind him. I think this was supposed to be quite funny, but even in the dream the whole thing came off as just weird.

There was another dream in which I was visiting a big city somewhere with friends. I remember Eric, Richard and I were staying in a cheap hotel room with a couple of other people, possibly fictional.

I remember some bits of the dream took place in the hotel, and it was a very dingy appearance. Details from the dream are mostly unclear until near the end, I had gone out into the city to look for something and then I walked the few blocks back to the hotel. It was a gorgeous day and I vividly remember walking down the streets, though I couldn't tell you the specific sights I saw as I did.

Out hotel room was, I think, five stories up, and you had to walk up outdoor stairs to get there. At the base of the stairs I saw an old lady I recognized as being from our group. She had suitcases with her and told me the others were still in the room packing to go. She said they'd lost power several times in the room that morning and so-and-so (the name of the organizer of the trip, who I recognized in the dream but can't remember now), had said he'd never stay at this hotel again. I was glad, because it really was a pretty crappy hotel.

I returned to the room to join the others in packing, but this is about all I can remember.