Monday night
I was driving to an appointment and I was late. It had already been a hectic day; both my brother Andrew and I were having trouble with our automobiles, so we were sharing a rental car. I'd dropped him off wherever he needed to be, and now I was racing toward the home of a millionaire who had hired me to make a motivational speech to the Beef Council. I hadn't had time to prepare anything, so I was screwed.
I finally arrived at my destination, in a rather disheveled state. My host opened the door, and he didn't seem very happy. I said, "Do I have time to grab a shower?" He said, "No. They [the guests] are downstairs, waiting!" I said, "I'll be there in 10 minutes," and ran upstairs, thinking that maybe I could score a deodorant stick or something.
In the meantime, my mind raced. What would I say to these people? I thought I'd begin with, "How many of you folks coach high school football in your spare time? Let's see those hands. Now, what do you say to those kids the night before the big game? 'Let's have some pretzels?' No! They want meat! After that, maybe I could get away with asking everybody to talk about the best burger they ever had. Maybe I could escape with that.
Eventually I got to the third floor. I'd been to the house before, so I knew where the private bath was. As I got to the top of the landing, I was taken aback by a new sight; the owner's ditzy socialite wife had gotten somebody to paint a gaudy, flamboyant peacock on the bathroom door, in vibrant shades of blue and green. The feathers spread out for several feet of wall space in the hallway, on either side of the door.
*****
This dream is a strange mix of actions and conversations at work yesterday. Last night, when I was preparing to go home, I overheard my boss talking about her son's high school football game. She said it was sad that the parents knew more than the coach about how to use the clock and time outs in the last few minutes of a game. Also, I bought a bag of pretzels from a vending machine yesterday afternoon. I thought it was strange enough that those two references were incorporated in this dream, but when I mentioned it to one of our sales reps this morning, she said, "Oh, we were talking about the Beef Council yesterday. We're thinking about pitching something to them. You must have heard us over the wall of the cubicle." I had no idea.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Monday, October 29, 2007
The Late, Late Show
Sunday night
I was awake in the early hours of the morning, so I decided to check out what was on the tube. I switched on my portable black and white TV, and was pleased to see that I'd happened upon the beginning of a 1930s comedy that I'd never seen. The opening credits featured a montage of photographs of many actors from that era, including a young Lucille Ball. I was really getting into it until a large photo/slide stopped me in my tracks. It was made up to look like a vintage piece of sheet music, and featured a close-up photograph of a heavy man in a suit. Unfortunately, that man was Dan Akyroyd. I rolled my eyes and thought, "Crap. It's not a real 1930s movie -- it's a pastiche."
Despite my misgivings, I decided to continue watching, for a little while, anyway. The first scene opened in a well-stocked 1930s department store. In the background, a young girl (the daughter of someone who worked there, or maybe the owner) was sitting behind a glass counter, and could be heard amiably chatting away with one of the salespeople. The camera wasn't focused on them, however; instead, it slowly panned along the well-stocked shelves, lovingly fixing on the well-made clothes and knick knacks of that time, particularly the incredible, wonderful metal toys. I thought to myself, "Man, they did a fantastic job recreating this stuff. This set must have cost millions."
*****
I haven't owned, or watched a black and white TV set since I left my parents' house in the 1980s, so this dream was probably set about 20 years ago.
Lately, I've been thinking that it's almost time to watch "Miracle on 34th Street," (the 1947 original, of course) which, to my way of thinking, is a Thanksgiving movie, not a Christmas movie. At least, it starts out that way. M.O.34th features a wonderfully precocious girl, Susan Walker (played by Natalie Wood) who is the daughter of a woman who is a P.R. executive at a large Manhattan department store, which contains a heck of a toy department. I've paused my DVD on many occasions to drool over the gleaming vintage metal cars and trucks. They sure don't make 'em like they used to.
Dan Akyroyd was hilarious back in his SNL days, but I haven't been a huge fan of his movie work, at least since "Ghostbusters," which came out in 1984. I liked "Trading Places," though.
I was awake in the early hours of the morning, so I decided to check out what was on the tube. I switched on my portable black and white TV, and was pleased to see that I'd happened upon the beginning of a 1930s comedy that I'd never seen. The opening credits featured a montage of photographs of many actors from that era, including a young Lucille Ball. I was really getting into it until a large photo/slide stopped me in my tracks. It was made up to look like a vintage piece of sheet music, and featured a close-up photograph of a heavy man in a suit. Unfortunately, that man was Dan Akyroyd. I rolled my eyes and thought, "Crap. It's not a real 1930s movie -- it's a pastiche."
Despite my misgivings, I decided to continue watching, for a little while, anyway. The first scene opened in a well-stocked 1930s department store. In the background, a young girl (the daughter of someone who worked there, or maybe the owner) was sitting behind a glass counter, and could be heard amiably chatting away with one of the salespeople. The camera wasn't focused on them, however; instead, it slowly panned along the well-stocked shelves, lovingly fixing on the well-made clothes and knick knacks of that time, particularly the incredible, wonderful metal toys. I thought to myself, "Man, they did a fantastic job recreating this stuff. This set must have cost millions."
*****
I haven't owned, or watched a black and white TV set since I left my parents' house in the 1980s, so this dream was probably set about 20 years ago.
Lately, I've been thinking that it's almost time to watch "Miracle on 34th Street," (the 1947 original, of course) which, to my way of thinking, is a Thanksgiving movie, not a Christmas movie. At least, it starts out that way. M.O.34th features a wonderfully precocious girl, Susan Walker (played by Natalie Wood) who is the daughter of a woman who is a P.R. executive at a large Manhattan department store, which contains a heck of a toy department. I've paused my DVD on many occasions to drool over the gleaming vintage metal cars and trucks. They sure don't make 'em like they used to.
Dan Akyroyd was hilarious back in his SNL days, but I haven't been a huge fan of his movie work, at least since "Ghostbusters," which came out in 1984. I liked "Trading Places," though.
Science! / Cot / The Report Card Again
Saturday night
Dream 1: Science!
My childhood friend Denis Gemond had moved to Philadelphia, where he was working as a scientist. I went up there to visit him, and he showed me around the lab. It was a huge open space, filled with desks and scientific apparatuses, and I remember thinking that it would be easy to get lost in there.
Dream 2: Cot
I was back at the group house that I shared with a revolving cast of roommates on Hyson Lane in Falls Church, Virginia. Apparently I didn't have a bed in which to sleep; all I had was a ratty old cot, and no nice sheets to fix it up. On top of that, my roommates and I weren't getting along very well.
Dream 3: The Report Card Again
I'd gone back to college, and meant to make a fresh start and do really well this time. Unfortunately, I'd fallen back into my old bad habits, and skipped most of my history classes during the current semester, so I was expecting to get an Incomplete on my report card. I dreaded showing a bad report card to my dad, so I wondered what I could do to pass the final exam. I rummaged through my papers and found notes that I'd scribbled about the movie "Casablanca." Maybe they would help me salvage my grade.
*****
Dream 1: Science!
I've known Denis since we were about 3 years old, but have only seen him twice in the past six and a half years, mainly due to the fact that my wife and I moved from Virginia to Nashville six years ago. Denis isn't a scientist, but he did attend a private high school or college or something in Pennsylvania. I do know some scientists who toil among the beakers at Vanderbilt University.
By the way, if the followers of Cincinnatus were the Cincinnati, why is the plural of apparatus not apparati? Crazy language.
Dream 2: Cot
I did have an old cot at the townhouse on Hyson Lane, but didn't sleep on it very often. It was in the basement room, outside of my bedroom, which did, in fact, contain a bed.
Dream 3: The Report Card Again
I used to have the nightmare about the bad report card frequently in the 1980s and 1990s, but it stopped when I went back to American University and took a class on American History from the end of World War II through the Cold War. (I received one of two As in the class.) I thought that I'd killed that nightmare then, but this is the second time it's cropped up in the past two years. Maybe it's brought on by stress or uncertainty. I don't know. It's a drag.
Dream 1: Science!
My childhood friend Denis Gemond had moved to Philadelphia, where he was working as a scientist. I went up there to visit him, and he showed me around the lab. It was a huge open space, filled with desks and scientific apparatuses, and I remember thinking that it would be easy to get lost in there.
Dream 2: Cot
I was back at the group house that I shared with a revolving cast of roommates on Hyson Lane in Falls Church, Virginia. Apparently I didn't have a bed in which to sleep; all I had was a ratty old cot, and no nice sheets to fix it up. On top of that, my roommates and I weren't getting along very well.
Dream 3: The Report Card Again
I'd gone back to college, and meant to make a fresh start and do really well this time. Unfortunately, I'd fallen back into my old bad habits, and skipped most of my history classes during the current semester, so I was expecting to get an Incomplete on my report card. I dreaded showing a bad report card to my dad, so I wondered what I could do to pass the final exam. I rummaged through my papers and found notes that I'd scribbled about the movie "Casablanca." Maybe they would help me salvage my grade.
*****
Dream 1: Science!
I've known Denis since we were about 3 years old, but have only seen him twice in the past six and a half years, mainly due to the fact that my wife and I moved from Virginia to Nashville six years ago. Denis isn't a scientist, but he did attend a private high school or college or something in Pennsylvania. I do know some scientists who toil among the beakers at Vanderbilt University.
By the way, if the followers of Cincinnatus were the Cincinnati, why is the plural of apparatus not apparati? Crazy language.
Dream 2: Cot
I did have an old cot at the townhouse on Hyson Lane, but didn't sleep on it very often. It was in the basement room, outside of my bedroom, which did, in fact, contain a bed.
Dream 3: The Report Card Again
I used to have the nightmare about the bad report card frequently in the 1980s and 1990s, but it stopped when I went back to American University and took a class on American History from the end of World War II through the Cold War. (I received one of two As in the class.) I thought that I'd killed that nightmare then, but this is the second time it's cropped up in the past two years. Maybe it's brought on by stress or uncertainty. I don't know. It's a drag.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Visitor / California
Thursday night
Dream 1: Visitor
A tall, thin black man in a long black coat was standing with his friends on a high hill in a large public park. He was in a clearing, surrounded by forest. I was in the same park, walking uphill in his direction, when I saw him point at a large black bird that was circling just above the trees that were about 100 yards behind me. He called out, "An eagle!" One of his friends said, "It's a vulture!" The bird in question flew past me and landed much closer to all of us, in a tree to my left. He had black wings, a large black eye, and a huge, beautiful blue beak. I turned to the man in the long coat and called out, "It's a a toucan. It's not a [North] American bird -- it must have been someone's pet that escaped." He nodded, pleased that he saw it, and that I knew what it was.
Dream 2: California
My old friend, Brent L., called me on the phone. He'd been after me for days because he knew that I had a very large map of California, and he wanted information about school districts there. While Brent waited, I got the map and unfolded it. It was so large, it covered my kitchen table.
*****
Dream 1: Visitor
A tall, thin black man in a long black coat was standing with his friends on a high hill in a large public park. He was in a clearing, surrounded by forest. I was in the same park, walking uphill in his direction, when I saw him point at a large black bird that was circling just above the trees that were about 100 yards behind me. He called out, "An eagle!" One of his friends said, "It's a vulture!" The bird in question flew past me and landed much closer to all of us, in a tree to my left. He had black wings, a large black eye, and a huge, beautiful blue beak. I turned to the man in the long coat and called out, "It's a a toucan. It's not a [North] American bird -- it must have been someone's pet that escaped." He nodded, pleased that he saw it, and that I knew what it was.
Dream 2: California
My old friend, Brent L., called me on the phone. He'd been after me for days because he knew that I had a very large map of California, and he wanted information about school districts there. While Brent waited, I got the map and unfolded it. It was so large, it covered my kitchen table.
*****
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Cover Art / Decisions
Wednesday night
My employer sent me over to the office of a company that published a large, glossy magazine; something that would interest the trend setters and fashion-obsessed. I was wearing my yellow/gold jacket from L.L. Bean, so this must have happened in the fall. While waiting for my appointment, I noticed a strange pair of glasses on a table. (Imagine thick black retro horn-rims encased in / attached to clear plastic safety goggles.) I thought, "I've gotta try these." I put on the funky glasses and whirled around to look for a reflective surface -- either a mirror or a window. As I turned, the magazine's photographer saw me, and took my picture. Later, she decided that she really liked the image -- I was somewhat blurred, due to being captured in motion, but was staring at the camera -- and picked me as that issue's cover subject. When the issue came out, I got a copy and brought it home. I placed it in the middle of some of my wife's magazines on the coffee table, so I could surprise her and enjoy her reaction.
Dream 2: Decisions
My wife and I owned a red brick home in Arlington, Virginia, in a fairly new development. We were one of two families who shared a semi-circular driveway that led out onto Williamsburg Boulevard. We felt very fortunate to live in such a nice area, approximately three blocks from my parent's old house, and not far from where my brothers and I went to elementary school. Even though there were only two houses on our "street," Rudy Giuliani campaigned there one day, pulling up in our driveway in a large black limo.
As we settled into our home, my wife and I decided that we might want to adopt two children, and that meant that we had some tough decisions to make. We loved our house, and it would be great for the kids to go to my former school, which is top-notch, but it might not be safe for them to play so close to the boulevard, which can be a pretty busy street sometimes.
*****
Dream 1: Cover Art
I've been meaning to take that L.L. Bean jacket out of the closet and repair the pocket. I was running around the house in big hurry last year, caught the pocket on something, and practically tore it off.
I saw somebody on TV wearing protective goggles the other day, but can't remember the context.
I'm sure that I've absorbed many comedy routines making fun of trend setters and "the latest styles," reaching back to "Hard Day's Night," episodes of "I Love Lucy," and beyond. Come to think of it, James Stewart dismissed the entire fashion industry in one of my favorite films, "Rear Window."
Dream 2: Decisions
I wish I lived in a brick home in Arlington. The housing development mentioned in my dream does not exist. Yet.
My employer sent me over to the office of a company that published a large, glossy magazine; something that would interest the trend setters and fashion-obsessed. I was wearing my yellow/gold jacket from L.L. Bean, so this must have happened in the fall. While waiting for my appointment, I noticed a strange pair of glasses on a table. (Imagine thick black retro horn-rims encased in / attached to clear plastic safety goggles.) I thought, "I've gotta try these." I put on the funky glasses and whirled around to look for a reflective surface -- either a mirror or a window. As I turned, the magazine's photographer saw me, and took my picture. Later, she decided that she really liked the image -- I was somewhat blurred, due to being captured in motion, but was staring at the camera -- and picked me as that issue's cover subject. When the issue came out, I got a copy and brought it home. I placed it in the middle of some of my wife's magazines on the coffee table, so I could surprise her and enjoy her reaction.
Dream 2: Decisions
My wife and I owned a red brick home in Arlington, Virginia, in a fairly new development. We were one of two families who shared a semi-circular driveway that led out onto Williamsburg Boulevard. We felt very fortunate to live in such a nice area, approximately three blocks from my parent's old house, and not far from where my brothers and I went to elementary school. Even though there were only two houses on our "street," Rudy Giuliani campaigned there one day, pulling up in our driveway in a large black limo.
As we settled into our home, my wife and I decided that we might want to adopt two children, and that meant that we had some tough decisions to make. We loved our house, and it would be great for the kids to go to my former school, which is top-notch, but it might not be safe for them to play so close to the boulevard, which can be a pretty busy street sometimes.
*****
Dream 1: Cover Art
I've been meaning to take that L.L. Bean jacket out of the closet and repair the pocket. I was running around the house in big hurry last year, caught the pocket on something, and practically tore it off.
I saw somebody on TV wearing protective goggles the other day, but can't remember the context.
I'm sure that I've absorbed many comedy routines making fun of trend setters and "the latest styles," reaching back to "Hard Day's Night," episodes of "I Love Lucy," and beyond. Come to think of it, James Stewart dismissed the entire fashion industry in one of my favorite films, "Rear Window."
Dream 2: Decisions
I wish I lived in a brick home in Arlington. The housing development mentioned in my dream does not exist. Yet.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
To Boldly Go
Monday night
I was flying on a specially charted jet which was carrying the cast of "Star Trek." The in-flight films were all Star Trek-related, including old TV episodes, movies, etc. I happened to be sitting next to Jennifer Aniston.
At one point we were watching an episode of the Star Trek cartoon series (from 1973) which featured some alien dude wearing what looked like white face makeup. He sorta freaked Jennifer out, so I comforted her, and we bonded.
When the flight landed, I asked Jen if she'd like to come over to my parents' house, and she said she would. It turned out that she used to date my brother Jimmie. Jimmie rented a boat for the occasion, and the three of us took it out for the day on the Atlantic Ocean, which happened to be on 34th Street, next to Mom and Dad's place. Jen looked at me and said, "You're not going to tell anyone I was here, right?" I said that I wouldn't, and we all went swimming.
*****
Last night we watched one of the funniest Star Trek episodes, "I, Mudd," from 1967. We have the first two seasons of the series on DVD.
My brother Jimmie never really dated Jennifer Aniston. At least, he's never mentioned it.
I was flying on a specially charted jet which was carrying the cast of "Star Trek." The in-flight films were all Star Trek-related, including old TV episodes, movies, etc. I happened to be sitting next to Jennifer Aniston.
At one point we were watching an episode of the Star Trek cartoon series (from 1973) which featured some alien dude wearing what looked like white face makeup. He sorta freaked Jennifer out, so I comforted her, and we bonded.
When the flight landed, I asked Jen if she'd like to come over to my parents' house, and she said she would. It turned out that she used to date my brother Jimmie. Jimmie rented a boat for the occasion, and the three of us took it out for the day on the Atlantic Ocean, which happened to be on 34th Street, next to Mom and Dad's place. Jen looked at me and said, "You're not going to tell anyone I was here, right?" I said that I wouldn't, and we all went swimming.
*****
Last night we watched one of the funniest Star Trek episodes, "I, Mudd," from 1967. We have the first two seasons of the series on DVD.
My brother Jimmie never really dated Jennifer Aniston. At least, he's never mentioned it.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Rehearsal
Sunday night
The band Van Halen was standing on a soundstage before a giant movie screen. They were preparing for a new TV show that would highlight their wacky videos -- some old, some new. The director frequently peered through the camera and then looked up and motioned for the newest member of the group, Wolfgang, to move farther and farther back into the shadows; that way, the audience might not notice that Michael Anthony had been replaced by some teenager with dark hair that covered his face.
*****
The band Van Halen was standing on a soundstage before a giant movie screen. They were preparing for a new TV show that would highlight their wacky videos -- some old, some new. The director frequently peered through the camera and then looked up and motioned for the newest member of the group, Wolfgang, to move farther and farther back into the shadows; that way, the audience might not notice that Michael Anthony had been replaced by some teenager with dark hair that covered his face.
*****
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Serenade
Saturday night
Paul Simon was standing in the top of a tree, holding an acoustic guitar. He was about to debut a new song that he'd written for a young girl, who was maybe 17. She sat, wide-eyed, on one of the lower branches, somewhat embarrassed by the whole thing.
I wanted to get a good look at the goings-on, so I climbed the tree myself. The lowest branches were above my head, so I had to put both arms around the trunk and angle my feet against it as I shimmied skyward.
*****
Last night my wife and I went to see The Nashville Symphony play a concert of music by Beethoven and Tchaikovsky at the new Schermerhorn Center downtown. The building and the grounds were quite impressive, and both of us admired the trees planted around the perimeter, although we didn't know what they were. Their lowest branches were above my head.
Paul Simon was standing in the top of a tree, holding an acoustic guitar. He was about to debut a new song that he'd written for a young girl, who was maybe 17. She sat, wide-eyed, on one of the lower branches, somewhat embarrassed by the whole thing.
I wanted to get a good look at the goings-on, so I climbed the tree myself. The lowest branches were above my head, so I had to put both arms around the trunk and angle my feet against it as I shimmied skyward.
*****
Last night my wife and I went to see The Nashville Symphony play a concert of music by Beethoven and Tchaikovsky at the new Schermerhorn Center downtown. The building and the grounds were quite impressive, and both of us admired the trees planted around the perimeter, although we didn't know what they were. Their lowest branches were above my head.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Disruption / On the Run / Explosion
Friday night
Dream 1: Disruption
My wife and I were sitting in a state-of-the-art movie theater; we had seats toward the front left of the audience. The theater had a large rectangular central screen, and smaller square screens to the left and right, just below the level of the main screen. These square screens were inside protective clear plastic boxes, and were used mainly to show commercials before the lights went down.
I soon found that these smaller screens could do more than show simple flat images. A commercial came on to advertise a bra, and the first thing we saw was a picture of a woman's exposed breasts. Suddenly that picture became 3-dimensional, and the breasts (and body) grew outward, toward the audience, until there was an illusion that the box contained a nicely-developed torso. Not being mature enough to leave this situation alone, I decided to play the fool. I got up from my seat, opened the box, stood in front of it, raised my hands, and appeared (from the perspective of the rest of the audience) to be fondling the breasts in the picture.
This performance did not sit well with theater security, which promptly sent two employees running in my direction; I sat back down. One of the guards was carrying a dossier with my name on it. (Apparently I'd been caught performing similar stunts before.) He began to interrogate me and said, "Are you [CPC]?" I said that I was. He said, "Did you work at a T-shirt company with Stuart R.?" I was surprised that he had that much detail about me and my work history. I said, "Yeah, ...but that was a long time ago."
Dream 2
Some bad dudes were after my brother Jimmie, and they were monitoring his communications. I found him at his hotel, and told him that he had to get out of there right away. We packed up his stuff, and headed out on the highway. Unfortunately for us, the bad guys had anticipated our moves, and had posted small movie cameras on some highway signs so they could monitor our chosen exit(s).
Dream 3
I was walking in a long hallway toward the back of my old elementary school (Jamestown), when I noticed some brown smoke seeping out from under a doorway to my right. I called out, "Is everyone all right in there?" A voice answered, "It's O.K., it's just a [small] fire in the chemistry lab." I figured that they had it under control, so I walked on down the hall. Suddenly, a loud explosion was heard from the same room; it made a very strange sound due to the acoustics of the hallway.
This time I didn't wait to call out; I ran the opposite way, toward the door which faced the back baseball diamond; I was going to get help. As soon as I got outside, I noticed a policeman off to my right. He was standing next to his patrol car, talking with someone. I said, "Are you here because of the fire?!" He shook his head nonchalantly, and resumed what he'd been doing.
******
Dream 1: Disruption
The funniest thing about this dream is that my wife remained at my right side throughout the entire ordeal. I told her about this dream this morning, and she confirmed that she would have been out of there immediately. She said, "You would have been on your own!"
Stuart is a friend that I've known since high school. We never worked together, at a T-shirt shop, or anywhere else.
I never did anything too crazy in a movie theater, although I do remember acting mischievously sometimes at the State Theater in Falls Church when I was a kid. I liked to sit in the balcony during weekend matinees. Every so often I'd throw popcorn down on the patrons below, always making sure to look like a choirboy before they turned to see from whence it came.
Dream 2: On the Run
This dream was influenced by the new George Clooney movie ("Michael Clayton") that we saw at our local theater last night. Surveillance factored into the plot.
Dream 3: Explosion
This dream was also influenced by a movie that I saw recently: Al Pacino's "Dog Day Afternoon," from 1975. Pacino played Sonny, an inept bank robber, who, realizing that he'd shown up after most of the cash in the vault has been trucked away for deposit earlier in the day, decided to steal a bunch of traveler's checks. He burned the check register in a trash can, but the brown smoke from the fire escaped from the vent in the bank's wall, and aroused the suspicion of a man from the insurance company across the street. He came to the door and said, "Is everything all right?"
There were no chemistry labs or science classes in my elementary school, but we had them in junior high.
Dream 1: Disruption
My wife and I were sitting in a state-of-the-art movie theater; we had seats toward the front left of the audience. The theater had a large rectangular central screen, and smaller square screens to the left and right, just below the level of the main screen. These square screens were inside protective clear plastic boxes, and were used mainly to show commercials before the lights went down.
I soon found that these smaller screens could do more than show simple flat images. A commercial came on to advertise a bra, and the first thing we saw was a picture of a woman's exposed breasts. Suddenly that picture became 3-dimensional, and the breasts (and body) grew outward, toward the audience, until there was an illusion that the box contained a nicely-developed torso. Not being mature enough to leave this situation alone, I decided to play the fool. I got up from my seat, opened the box, stood in front of it, raised my hands, and appeared (from the perspective of the rest of the audience) to be fondling the breasts in the picture.
This performance did not sit well with theater security, which promptly sent two employees running in my direction; I sat back down. One of the guards was carrying a dossier with my name on it. (Apparently I'd been caught performing similar stunts before.) He began to interrogate me and said, "Are you [CPC]?" I said that I was. He said, "Did you work at a T-shirt company with Stuart R.?" I was surprised that he had that much detail about me and my work history. I said, "Yeah, ...but that was a long time ago."
Dream 2
Some bad dudes were after my brother Jimmie, and they were monitoring his communications. I found him at his hotel, and told him that he had to get out of there right away. We packed up his stuff, and headed out on the highway. Unfortunately for us, the bad guys had anticipated our moves, and had posted small movie cameras on some highway signs so they could monitor our chosen exit(s).
Dream 3
I was walking in a long hallway toward the back of my old elementary school (Jamestown), when I noticed some brown smoke seeping out from under a doorway to my right. I called out, "Is everyone all right in there?" A voice answered, "It's O.K., it's just a [small] fire in the chemistry lab." I figured that they had it under control, so I walked on down the hall. Suddenly, a loud explosion was heard from the same room; it made a very strange sound due to the acoustics of the hallway.
This time I didn't wait to call out; I ran the opposite way, toward the door which faced the back baseball diamond; I was going to get help. As soon as I got outside, I noticed a policeman off to my right. He was standing next to his patrol car, talking with someone. I said, "Are you here because of the fire?!" He shook his head nonchalantly, and resumed what he'd been doing.
******
Dream 1: Disruption
The funniest thing about this dream is that my wife remained at my right side throughout the entire ordeal. I told her about this dream this morning, and she confirmed that she would have been out of there immediately. She said, "You would have been on your own!"
Stuart is a friend that I've known since high school. We never worked together, at a T-shirt shop, or anywhere else.
I never did anything too crazy in a movie theater, although I do remember acting mischievously sometimes at the State Theater in Falls Church when I was a kid. I liked to sit in the balcony during weekend matinees. Every so often I'd throw popcorn down on the patrons below, always making sure to look like a choirboy before they turned to see from whence it came.
Dream 2: On the Run
This dream was influenced by the new George Clooney movie ("Michael Clayton") that we saw at our local theater last night. Surveillance factored into the plot.
Dream 3: Explosion
This dream was also influenced by a movie that I saw recently: Al Pacino's "Dog Day Afternoon," from 1975. Pacino played Sonny, an inept bank robber, who, realizing that he'd shown up after most of the cash in the vault has been trucked away for deposit earlier in the day, decided to steal a bunch of traveler's checks. He burned the check register in a trash can, but the brown smoke from the fire escaped from the vent in the bank's wall, and aroused the suspicion of a man from the insurance company across the street. He came to the door and said, "Is everything all right?"
There were no chemistry labs or science classes in my elementary school, but we had them in junior high.
Baby Come Back / Tough Questions
Thursday night
Dream 1: Baby Come Back
I was walking around in a shop that sold musical instruments when I came upon a large electric organ in a wooden cabinet, and decided to try it out. A tall, thin Asian guy was standing to my left, and I asked him if he'd like to take a turn. He said, "Maybe, when the volume is lower." I flipped several different effects switches, and came upon a wah-wah sound; I proceeded to play the opening notes of the 1970s hit by Player, "Baby Come Back."
The next thing I knew, I was in a TV station, watching Player performing "Baby Come Back" before a studio audience. The band was supported by an orchestra and a coterie of celebrities who served as backup singers, including Pat Benatar, Johnathan Cain (of Journey) and Matt Lauer of the Today show.
I looked intently to determine if those opening wah-wah notes were played by a keyboard or a guitar, and was suprised to find that while the band featured a keyboard player, they also had two guys playing pedal steel guitars. The backup singers traded verses toward the end of the song, and Lauer tripped up on his lines, much to his embarrassment.
Dream 2: Tough Questions
Don Henley of the Eagles was being interviewed live in a recording studio to promote a forthcoming record. He stood in front of the band's equipment, holding a silver-colored flute. Henley thought that the interviewer was there to discuss the new record, but the reporter had other ideas. The first question focused on the band's finances, and caught Henley off-guard. Next, the reporter noticed the flute and asked, "What's the best flute for a musician to buy?" Henley stammered and there were long pauses. He had no idea -- it was just a prop.
*****
Dream 1: Baby Come Back
I've always liked that tune, even if it is a little cheesy. The opening notes are most likely played by a guitar with an effects pedal, but I'm pretty sure that the band didn't use pedal steel guitars.
Dream 2: Tough Questions
This dream pokes fun at Don Henley's pretentiousness, but I still like a lot of his music.
Dream 1: Baby Come Back
I was walking around in a shop that sold musical instruments when I came upon a large electric organ in a wooden cabinet, and decided to try it out. A tall, thin Asian guy was standing to my left, and I asked him if he'd like to take a turn. He said, "Maybe, when the volume is lower." I flipped several different effects switches, and came upon a wah-wah sound; I proceeded to play the opening notes of the 1970s hit by Player, "Baby Come Back."
The next thing I knew, I was in a TV station, watching Player performing "Baby Come Back" before a studio audience. The band was supported by an orchestra and a coterie of celebrities who served as backup singers, including Pat Benatar, Johnathan Cain (of Journey) and Matt Lauer of the Today show.
I looked intently to determine if those opening wah-wah notes were played by a keyboard or a guitar, and was suprised to find that while the band featured a keyboard player, they also had two guys playing pedal steel guitars. The backup singers traded verses toward the end of the song, and Lauer tripped up on his lines, much to his embarrassment.
Dream 2: Tough Questions
Don Henley of the Eagles was being interviewed live in a recording studio to promote a forthcoming record. He stood in front of the band's equipment, holding a silver-colored flute. Henley thought that the interviewer was there to discuss the new record, but the reporter had other ideas. The first question focused on the band's finances, and caught Henley off-guard. Next, the reporter noticed the flute and asked, "What's the best flute for a musician to buy?" Henley stammered and there were long pauses. He had no idea -- it was just a prop.
*****
Dream 1: Baby Come Back
I've always liked that tune, even if it is a little cheesy. The opening notes are most likely played by a guitar with an effects pedal, but I'm pretty sure that the band didn't use pedal steel guitars.
Dream 2: Tough Questions
This dream pokes fun at Don Henley's pretentiousness, but I still like a lot of his music.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Swingin' London / New HQ / Dining w/ His Honor
Wednesday night
Dream 1: Swingin' London
I was on a business trip in London, and was staying in an extended-stay hotel with several coworkers, including my old friend, Jenni H., and one of my old roommates, Frank A. It seemed as if we were all staying in a suite with a common room surrounded by private bedrooms.
At one point one of the coworkers, a young woman, was sitting in a bay window of the hotel; she was intimidated by her new surroundings. I tried to cheer her up, and get her pumped up about the possibilities; I was thrilled to be there. I said, "What would you like to see while you are here?" She didn't know. I said, "We can go anywhere you want -- even Windsor Castle. I want to see the British Museum most of all." She didn't seem too interested in any of it.
Dream 2: New HQ
I was a member of Tony Soprano's crew, and we were moving into a hideous new modern building, a gigantic square thing with a three or four floors, including a large central atrium which workers were busily painting a shocking electric blue. I saw Paulie Walnuts get off the elevator and he said, "Where do we go?" I showed him to the 3rd floor, where our offices were. As I entered my room, I took out a black marker and wrote a message on the erasable board next to my door: "Remember, we don't know these [other] people [in the building]. Don't trust anybody."
Dream 3:
Al Gore was sitting in a restaurant, entertaining friends with tales of his favorite places to eat in Nashville. He was wearing a Don Johnson-style white suit with a loud blue shirt.
*****
Guess I had the blues last night -- bright neon blues, that is.
Dream 1, Swingin' London:
Man, oh, man, I'm looking forward to visiting that British Museum someday, even if the trip will cost an arm and a leg. Jennie is an old friend, sister of Polly, who showed up in a dream on September 14. The three of us worked at Gino's fast food... 28 years ago! Jeez Louise. I think of my old roommate Frank every time Halloween rolls around. We had a big Halloween party one year, and when everyone else had put on their costumes, he came downstairs dressed normally, carrying a beer mug. I said, "What are you supposed to be?" He said, "I'm Frank... and stein."
Dream 2, New HQ
Tony Sirico, who plays Paulie Walnuts, also appeared in the beginning of "Goodfellas," and my warning not to trust anyone out of the family is reminiscent of that movie, too.
The building in question reminds me of several monstrosities that have cropped up in the Tyson's Corner area in the last 10 years.
Dream 3, Dining w/ His Honor
Al Gore was awarded a share of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize last Friday, October 12, and as soon as he returned to Nashville, on Saturday the 13th, he and his wife, Tipper, met up with some friends for dinner at the Park Cafe a few blocks from my house. I doubt he was wearing a Don Johnson suit, however; we probably would have heard about that.
Dream 1: Swingin' London
I was on a business trip in London, and was staying in an extended-stay hotel with several coworkers, including my old friend, Jenni H., and one of my old roommates, Frank A. It seemed as if we were all staying in a suite with a common room surrounded by private bedrooms.
At one point one of the coworkers, a young woman, was sitting in a bay window of the hotel; she was intimidated by her new surroundings. I tried to cheer her up, and get her pumped up about the possibilities; I was thrilled to be there. I said, "What would you like to see while you are here?" She didn't know. I said, "We can go anywhere you want -- even Windsor Castle. I want to see the British Museum most of all." She didn't seem too interested in any of it.
Dream 2: New HQ
I was a member of Tony Soprano's crew, and we were moving into a hideous new modern building, a gigantic square thing with a three or four floors, including a large central atrium which workers were busily painting a shocking electric blue. I saw Paulie Walnuts get off the elevator and he said, "Where do we go?" I showed him to the 3rd floor, where our offices were. As I entered my room, I took out a black marker and wrote a message on the erasable board next to my door: "Remember, we don't know these [other] people [in the building]. Don't trust anybody."
Dream 3:
Al Gore was sitting in a restaurant, entertaining friends with tales of his favorite places to eat in Nashville. He was wearing a Don Johnson-style white suit with a loud blue shirt.
*****
Guess I had the blues last night -- bright neon blues, that is.
Dream 1, Swingin' London:
Man, oh, man, I'm looking forward to visiting that British Museum someday, even if the trip will cost an arm and a leg. Jennie is an old friend, sister of Polly, who showed up in a dream on September 14. The three of us worked at Gino's fast food... 28 years ago! Jeez Louise. I think of my old roommate Frank every time Halloween rolls around. We had a big Halloween party one year, and when everyone else had put on their costumes, he came downstairs dressed normally, carrying a beer mug. I said, "What are you supposed to be?" He said, "I'm Frank... and stein."
Dream 2, New HQ
Tony Sirico, who plays Paulie Walnuts, also appeared in the beginning of "Goodfellas," and my warning not to trust anyone out of the family is reminiscent of that movie, too.
The building in question reminds me of several monstrosities that have cropped up in the Tyson's Corner area in the last 10 years.
Dream 3, Dining w/ His Honor
Al Gore was awarded a share of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize last Friday, October 12, and as soon as he returned to Nashville, on Saturday the 13th, he and his wife, Tipper, met up with some friends for dinner at the Park Cafe a few blocks from my house. I doubt he was wearing a Don Johnson suit, however; we probably would have heard about that.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
The Shining / Tussle
Monday night
Dream 1: The Shining
My brother Jimmie, Mom and I were in the kitchen of my folks' home, back on Dinwiddie Street in Arlington, along with some other guy who was demonstrating the correct way to shine shoes. He put some brown polish on a leather shoe, took out a brush and said, "You need to buff it very hard, like this." I made a wisecrack toward my brother that resulted in a bad pun, but can't remember the punchline. As we watched the shoeshine man I said, "See, Jimmie, if you did that, you'd be a ____." Eventually, I took a turn, as the rest watched.
Dream 2: Tussle
Peter MacNicol (law partner John Cage on "Ally McBeal") was a crime boss, and I found out that he'd ordered a hit on me. I broke into his home to confront him (and kill him first) and surprised him in his room. We began to fight, rolling around and breaking stuff, each trying to gain the advantage. Whenever I came across a pointed object in the room, I grabbed it and stuffed it in my back pocket so he couldn't use it against me.
Finally, I grew tired and decided that although he was a conniving little shrimp, he wasn't that bad of a guy, and I didn't really want to dispatch him. I walked downstairs and came upon his wife, who was prepapring dinner. I said, "Here," and placed two knives and a pair of scissors on a tray before seeing myself out.
*****
Dream 1: The Shining
I probably had this dream because earlier in the evening I was scrubbing the bathtub pretty hard with a big brush. Unfortunately for my wife, I acted out the brush-buffing motion while sleeping, and stuck her in the back with my elbow, waking her up.
Wish I could remember that dumb joke.
Dream 2: Tussle
I can't remember ever intentionally killing someone in one of my dreams.
I've been in very few physical fights in my life; mostly they were wrestling matches with my twin brother Andrew, and even then, I never really wanted to hurt the guy. My dad did slap me on occasion.
I do recall the first time someone outside of my family ever hit me, however. I was about 13 or 14, and was helping someone who I thought was a friend with his early morning paper route. I can't remember what was said, but we disagreed about something, and before I knew it, he socked me in the stomach. I remember that I cried; not because it hurt, but because I simply couldn't believe that he'd do such a thing. Even then, I thought, "What a low-rent, assinine, Cro-Magnon thing to do."
I don't respect people who slap, or fight with their hands. The fistfight is the modus operandi of the individual who is too stupid, impatient or immature to express himself any other way.
Dream 1: The Shining
My brother Jimmie, Mom and I were in the kitchen of my folks' home, back on Dinwiddie Street in Arlington, along with some other guy who was demonstrating the correct way to shine shoes. He put some brown polish on a leather shoe, took out a brush and said, "You need to buff it very hard, like this." I made a wisecrack toward my brother that resulted in a bad pun, but can't remember the punchline. As we watched the shoeshine man I said, "See, Jimmie, if you did that, you'd be a ____." Eventually, I took a turn, as the rest watched.
Dream 2: Tussle
Peter MacNicol (law partner John Cage on "Ally McBeal") was a crime boss, and I found out that he'd ordered a hit on me. I broke into his home to confront him (and kill him first) and surprised him in his room. We began to fight, rolling around and breaking stuff, each trying to gain the advantage. Whenever I came across a pointed object in the room, I grabbed it and stuffed it in my back pocket so he couldn't use it against me.
Finally, I grew tired and decided that although he was a conniving little shrimp, he wasn't that bad of a guy, and I didn't really want to dispatch him. I walked downstairs and came upon his wife, who was prepapring dinner. I said, "Here," and placed two knives and a pair of scissors on a tray before seeing myself out.
*****
Dream 1: The Shining
I probably had this dream because earlier in the evening I was scrubbing the bathtub pretty hard with a big brush. Unfortunately for my wife, I acted out the brush-buffing motion while sleeping, and stuck her in the back with my elbow, waking her up.
Wish I could remember that dumb joke.
Dream 2: Tussle
I can't remember ever intentionally killing someone in one of my dreams.
I've been in very few physical fights in my life; mostly they were wrestling matches with my twin brother Andrew, and even then, I never really wanted to hurt the guy. My dad did slap me on occasion.
I do recall the first time someone outside of my family ever hit me, however. I was about 13 or 14, and was helping someone who I thought was a friend with his early morning paper route. I can't remember what was said, but we disagreed about something, and before I knew it, he socked me in the stomach. I remember that I cried; not because it hurt, but because I simply couldn't believe that he'd do such a thing. Even then, I thought, "What a low-rent, assinine, Cro-Magnon thing to do."
I don't respect people who slap, or fight with their hands. The fistfight is the modus operandi of the individual who is too stupid, impatient or immature to express himself any other way.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Garage Boy
Saturday night
I was a teenager again, working for a publisher, or some such company. Our office shared space with a mechanic's garage. In other words, both businesses took up one city block; the publisher facing one way, the garage in back, facing the other. My bosses felt that it was important to keep the mechanic happy (in order to get discounts on their vehicles) so they lent me out to the garage sometimes.
At one point there had been a fire in the garage, so I was enlisted to help sort out hundreds of rusty, dusty spare parts and tools. I grouped them by size and shape and laid them out on the concrete floor. Later that day I came back and saw that many of the items I'd sorted cleaned up pretty well, and were still usable.
The mechanic and I got to know each other pretty well, and he'd ask me questions about my car. He wanted to know what kind of oil I used, and what some of the mechanical settings were inside the vehicle. I was clueless. My answer to every question was, "I dunno, medium, I guess."
One day a large truck showed up to make a delivery and blocked the entrance to our building as well as the entrance to the garage (through a side alley). The driver left his keys, so my boss asked to take the truck around the corner and park it on the street. I drove around the block, found a parking space, and left the keys where I'd found them -- plainly visible in the lock of the driver's side door. I started to walk away when I thought, "That's no good," and went back to retrieve them. It was bad enough that the driver wouldn't know where his truck had gone; I didn't want to be responsible for it being stolen.
*****
We finished watching "Goodfellas" last night. In the early part of the movie, Henry Hill reminisces about being a teenager, and how it was so exciting when the wise guys asked him to park their Cadillacs. Maybe that's why I saw myself as the teenager who was re-parking the truck.
I was a teenager again, working for a publisher, or some such company. Our office shared space with a mechanic's garage. In other words, both businesses took up one city block; the publisher facing one way, the garage in back, facing the other. My bosses felt that it was important to keep the mechanic happy (in order to get discounts on their vehicles) so they lent me out to the garage sometimes.
At one point there had been a fire in the garage, so I was enlisted to help sort out hundreds of rusty, dusty spare parts and tools. I grouped them by size and shape and laid them out on the concrete floor. Later that day I came back and saw that many of the items I'd sorted cleaned up pretty well, and were still usable.
The mechanic and I got to know each other pretty well, and he'd ask me questions about my car. He wanted to know what kind of oil I used, and what some of the mechanical settings were inside the vehicle. I was clueless. My answer to every question was, "I dunno, medium, I guess."
One day a large truck showed up to make a delivery and blocked the entrance to our building as well as the entrance to the garage (through a side alley). The driver left his keys, so my boss asked to take the truck around the corner and park it on the street. I drove around the block, found a parking space, and left the keys where I'd found them -- plainly visible in the lock of the driver's side door. I started to walk away when I thought, "That's no good," and went back to retrieve them. It was bad enough that the driver wouldn't know where his truck had gone; I didn't want to be responsible for it being stolen.
*****
We finished watching "Goodfellas" last night. In the early part of the movie, Henry Hill reminisces about being a teenager, and how it was so exciting when the wise guys asked him to park their Cadillacs. Maybe that's why I saw myself as the teenager who was re-parking the truck.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
S.S.T.
Friday night
My brother Andrew and I were on a trip somewhere, and stopped at a small lodge or hotel for the night. The place didn't have many beds, and we soon found out that they were overbooked; another guest, unknown to us, ended up sharing the bed with us. (I was in the middle, Andrew was to my right, and the new person was on my left. We were all fully clothed.)
The stranger was a speech therapist. She fell asleep pretty quickly and began snoring, so I couldn't do anything but lie there, staring at the ceiling. Annoyed as I was, I remember thinking that a snoring speech therapist was a pretty funny concept.
*****
As I awoke from this dream, my wife was snoring. I'd been listening to her while I was dreaming.
This dream reminds me of situation comedies that I saw when I was a kid; for instance, when Lucy, Ricky, Fred and Ethel traveled to Bent Fork, Tennessee to visit "Cousin Ernie." I think the two couples ended up sharing a bed in that episode.
My brother Andrew and I were on a trip somewhere, and stopped at a small lodge or hotel for the night. The place didn't have many beds, and we soon found out that they were overbooked; another guest, unknown to us, ended up sharing the bed with us. (I was in the middle, Andrew was to my right, and the new person was on my left. We were all fully clothed.)
The stranger was a speech therapist. She fell asleep pretty quickly and began snoring, so I couldn't do anything but lie there, staring at the ceiling. Annoyed as I was, I remember thinking that a snoring speech therapist was a pretty funny concept.
*****
As I awoke from this dream, my wife was snoring. I'd been listening to her while I was dreaming.
This dream reminds me of situation comedies that I saw when I was a kid; for instance, when Lucy, Ricky, Fred and Ethel traveled to Bent Fork, Tennessee to visit "Cousin Ernie." I think the two couples ended up sharing a bed in that episode.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Put Down the Gun
Thursday night
I was sitting in a barber chair waiting to get a haircut, talking with my coworker Harriet, who was standing beside me. A mobster that I knew sat in the chair to my left, and I noticed that he had a gun. I said, "Hey, let me see that." I grabbed it from him, and struck a pose which I thought looked pretty cool. I held the gun fairly close to my face, but pointed at the ceiling. I thought it would make a good photo. I said, "Hey, get a picture of this." The gangster was having none of it, and motioned for me to give the gun back to him -- slowly. He was nervous because I wasn't familiar with firearms, and the thing was loaded. Photos were out of the question; he didn't want to draw attention to us, and didn't want any record that that was his gun.
*****
This dream seems to mix several films that I've watched over the last week.
The movie "Rushmore" features a main character named Max who is kicked out of his beloved prep school, and then, for a time, goes to work in his dad's barber shop. Last night my wife and I watched the first half of "Goodfellas," stopping shortly after the scene in which Ray Liotta's character, Henry Hill, pistol-whipped a guy who was bothering Hill's girlfriend, Karen (Lorraine Bracco). Henry asked Karen to hide the blood-spattered gun. She said, "I know there are women, like my best friends, who would have gotten out of there the minute their boyfriend gave them a gun to hide, but I didn't. I got to admit the truth. It turned me on."
Then again, we were also in the mood for some classic James Bond this week, and it occurs to me that my pose with gun in hand closely resembles the DVD cover of "From Russia with Love." (We ended up watching "Goldfinger, but I must have taken that one out and looked at it.)
My dad has often told a story about when he was a young kid, growing up in South Carolina. He was playing cowboy, and came upon a loaded pistol that his father kept in a desk drawer. Dad says he found the gun, and began waving it around, saying, "Bang! Bang!" He pointed it at his grandmother (who was living with his family at that time) and pulled the trigger; it clicked. He pointed it at the floor and squeezed the trigger again. That time the gun went off, scaring everyone in the house to death. Dad pointed out the bullet hole in the floor during a trip to his mother's house some 45 years later. That cautionary tale was enough to make me swear off guns forever.
I shot skeet with a friend's rifle once, but I've never held a handgun, and have no intention of doing so.
I was sitting in a barber chair waiting to get a haircut, talking with my coworker Harriet, who was standing beside me. A mobster that I knew sat in the chair to my left, and I noticed that he had a gun. I said, "Hey, let me see that." I grabbed it from him, and struck a pose which I thought looked pretty cool. I held the gun fairly close to my face, but pointed at the ceiling. I thought it would make a good photo. I said, "Hey, get a picture of this." The gangster was having none of it, and motioned for me to give the gun back to him -- slowly. He was nervous because I wasn't familiar with firearms, and the thing was loaded. Photos were out of the question; he didn't want to draw attention to us, and didn't want any record that that was his gun.
*****
This dream seems to mix several films that I've watched over the last week.
The movie "Rushmore" features a main character named Max who is kicked out of his beloved prep school, and then, for a time, goes to work in his dad's barber shop. Last night my wife and I watched the first half of "Goodfellas," stopping shortly after the scene in which Ray Liotta's character, Henry Hill, pistol-whipped a guy who was bothering Hill's girlfriend, Karen (Lorraine Bracco). Henry asked Karen to hide the blood-spattered gun. She said, "I know there are women, like my best friends, who would have gotten out of there the minute their boyfriend gave them a gun to hide, but I didn't. I got to admit the truth. It turned me on."
Then again, we were also in the mood for some classic James Bond this week, and it occurs to me that my pose with gun in hand closely resembles the DVD cover of "From Russia with Love." (We ended up watching "Goldfinger, but I must have taken that one out and looked at it.)
My dad has often told a story about when he was a young kid, growing up in South Carolina. He was playing cowboy, and came upon a loaded pistol that his father kept in a desk drawer. Dad says he found the gun, and began waving it around, saying, "Bang! Bang!" He pointed it at his grandmother (who was living with his family at that time) and pulled the trigger; it clicked. He pointed it at the floor and squeezed the trigger again. That time the gun went off, scaring everyone in the house to death. Dad pointed out the bullet hole in the floor during a trip to his mother's house some 45 years later. That cautionary tale was enough to make me swear off guns forever.
I shot skeet with a friend's rifle once, but I've never held a handgun, and have no intention of doing so.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
First Date / Retaliation
Wednesday night
Dream 1: First Date
I had been out with one of the 20-somethings from work, and we went back to her apartment. We ended up lying on the floor, facing each other, and talking. That was pretty much it.
Dream 2: Retaliation
I was involved in a car accident that injured a young woman. I'm not sure if she was in my car, or a pedestrian. Next, the scene shifted to a college. A young man walked up to a young woman and asked her to acknowledge her identity: "Are you [Jane Smith]?" She smiled and said, "Yes," upon which he violently pushed her down a long stairway. She landed on her back, with her head bleeding badly. He practically walked over her as he left, paying no heed to her pleas for help.
The young man was the brother of the woman who was hurt in the car accident. The woman at the college was my sister.
*****
Dream 1: First Date
This morning my wife asked me if I had any dreams, so I told her about this one. I remember saying, "It was a pretty chaste affair," which was a pretty poor choice of words. I meant the word "affair" as in "event," not as in "releationship behind someone's back." I don't think she was buying it. She said, "That's disgusting!" I said, "There was no indication that I was married in the dream," to which she skeptically replied, "Uh huh." I said, "I can't help what I dream!"
That conversation reads more harshly than it really was. We're secure enough to talk about such things, both knowing that they won't really happen. I guess the mid-parallel-life crisis continues.
Come to think of it, the young woman in question looks a lot like Lisa Loeb, and since we were talking while prone, I was probably thinking about Loeb's album cover "Firecracker." Always liked that one.
Dream 2: Retaliation
The graphic violence and injury in this dream was pretty unusual. Fortunately, I don't usually dream of such things. Last night I caught a few minutes of one of the episodes of Ken Burns' new documentary on WWII (titled "The War") and watched as American pilots and crew members returned from bombing runs over Germany with awful injuries. That may have factored in there.
The characters in Dream 2 (aside from myself) don't exist. I have two brothers, but no sisters.
Dream 1: First Date
I had been out with one of the 20-somethings from work, and we went back to her apartment. We ended up lying on the floor, facing each other, and talking. That was pretty much it.
Dream 2: Retaliation
I was involved in a car accident that injured a young woman. I'm not sure if she was in my car, or a pedestrian. Next, the scene shifted to a college. A young man walked up to a young woman and asked her to acknowledge her identity: "Are you [Jane Smith]?" She smiled and said, "Yes," upon which he violently pushed her down a long stairway. She landed on her back, with her head bleeding badly. He practically walked over her as he left, paying no heed to her pleas for help.
The young man was the brother of the woman who was hurt in the car accident. The woman at the college was my sister.
*****
Dream 1: First Date
This morning my wife asked me if I had any dreams, so I told her about this one. I remember saying, "It was a pretty chaste affair," which was a pretty poor choice of words. I meant the word "affair" as in "event," not as in "releationship behind someone's back." I don't think she was buying it. She said, "That's disgusting!" I said, "There was no indication that I was married in the dream," to which she skeptically replied, "Uh huh." I said, "I can't help what I dream!"
That conversation reads more harshly than it really was. We're secure enough to talk about such things, both knowing that they won't really happen. I guess the mid-parallel-life crisis continues.
Come to think of it, the young woman in question looks a lot like Lisa Loeb, and since we were talking while prone, I was probably thinking about Loeb's album cover "Firecracker." Always liked that one.
Dream 2: Retaliation
The graphic violence and injury in this dream was pretty unusual. Fortunately, I don't usually dream of such things. Last night I caught a few minutes of one of the episodes of Ken Burns' new documentary on WWII (titled "The War") and watched as American pilots and crew members returned from bombing runs over Germany with awful injuries. That may have factored in there.
The characters in Dream 2 (aside from myself) don't exist. I have two brothers, but no sisters.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Shortcut
Monday night
Some of my cousins were at my dad's house, but I didn't have time to chat; I was on a mission. I'd come to Dad's place to borrow his sofa, throw it in the back of my car, and drive it somewhere. I did take a minute to greet my cousin Wingard. He towered over me, and looked thin and haggard; he was dressed all in dark clothing. I shook his hand and said, "Hey," and then kept on going about my business.
I'm not sure where I was going with the sofa, but I tried to take an "off-road" shortcut through an overgrown area between housing developments. It soon became apparent that I should get out of the car and walk over to the nearest street in order to find the safest way out of the mini-jungle I was in. I could see a street and some houses off in the distance, but wasn't sure of the terrain, and didn't know how to get back to the road. I wasn't worried, though, and soon became much more interested in my surroundings. I came across a pretty stream, and remembered how much I enjoyed going down to the creek when I was young. I found a partially-submerged board and thought to myself, "That looks like a snaky place." I was about to turn it over to see what I could find when all of a sudden a Jeep came crashing through the brush and drove straight through the creek. I thought to myself, "I wish he hadn't done that." The driver certainly spoiled the moment, as well as some of the surroundings. I watched a frightened freshwater eel emerge from under the board and swim away for dear life.
*****
This dream seems to be a comment on the fact that some of the wild places of my youth are gone, along with the the languid summers that I had to explore them.
This afternoon I was pondering this dream and I remembered one such magical place. When I was a kid, there was a large open field across Albemarle Street from the baseball diamond at my elementary school in Arlington. It was a wild thicket, filled with birds, berries and brambles, and the occasional rabbit. My friends and I spent many wonderful hours exploring there. Now it's all gone, plowed over years ago to make way for an expensive housing development.
I'm sure it's always been this way. Someone was probably upset when my parents' neighborhood was built in the post-World War II era, and somebody probably protested when fields were divided in the 1920s to make way for my current Nashville neighborhood. But I regret the loss of the last cherished wild places in Arlington most of all, because that's where I grew up, in a simpler, more relaxed time.
Some of my cousins were at my dad's house, but I didn't have time to chat; I was on a mission. I'd come to Dad's place to borrow his sofa, throw it in the back of my car, and drive it somewhere. I did take a minute to greet my cousin Wingard. He towered over me, and looked thin and haggard; he was dressed all in dark clothing. I shook his hand and said, "Hey," and then kept on going about my business.
I'm not sure where I was going with the sofa, but I tried to take an "off-road" shortcut through an overgrown area between housing developments. It soon became apparent that I should get out of the car and walk over to the nearest street in order to find the safest way out of the mini-jungle I was in. I could see a street and some houses off in the distance, but wasn't sure of the terrain, and didn't know how to get back to the road. I wasn't worried, though, and soon became much more interested in my surroundings. I came across a pretty stream, and remembered how much I enjoyed going down to the creek when I was young. I found a partially-submerged board and thought to myself, "That looks like a snaky place." I was about to turn it over to see what I could find when all of a sudden a Jeep came crashing through the brush and drove straight through the creek. I thought to myself, "I wish he hadn't done that." The driver certainly spoiled the moment, as well as some of the surroundings. I watched a frightened freshwater eel emerge from under the board and swim away for dear life.
*****
This dream seems to be a comment on the fact that some of the wild places of my youth are gone, along with the the languid summers that I had to explore them.
This afternoon I was pondering this dream and I remembered one such magical place. When I was a kid, there was a large open field across Albemarle Street from the baseball diamond at my elementary school in Arlington. It was a wild thicket, filled with birds, berries and brambles, and the occasional rabbit. My friends and I spent many wonderful hours exploring there. Now it's all gone, plowed over years ago to make way for an expensive housing development.
I'm sure it's always been this way. Someone was probably upset when my parents' neighborhood was built in the post-World War II era, and somebody probably protested when fields were divided in the 1920s to make way for my current Nashville neighborhood. But I regret the loss of the last cherished wild places in Arlington most of all, because that's where I grew up, in a simpler, more relaxed time.
Friday, October 5, 2007
DVD / Having a Fit
Thursday night
Dream 1: DVD
Dick Van Dyke was working at the service desk of my office, and was surrounded by a huge amount of paperwork. He took it in his stride, and was able to joke about his circumstances. He said, "I think I'll be able to get through this stack in 15... MONTHS!" (I had expected him to say "...15 minutes.")
Dream 2: Having a Fit
My twin brother Andrew and some of our poker buddies, including Eddie M. and Eric M., were riding in my new Honda Fit. The car was pretty messy on the inside, filled with napkins, cups and other assorted trash. We pulled up to a gas station or a convenience store, and I decided to show the guys how efficiently the seats fold down in the back; I couldn't help extolling their ingenious design. I said, "See how easy this is? They fold down completely flat, so you could fit a desk or a bicycle in here!"
*****
Dream 1: DVD
Dick Van Dyke has always been a favorite comedian, and "The Dick Van Dyke Show" is among my top 5 TV shows of all time. (The others, as of this week, are "The Andy Griffith Show," "The Sopranos," "The Twilight Zone," and "Prime Suspect." Then again, that leaves out the original "Star Trek." Better make it my top 6.)
By the way, Van Dyke was white-haired and mustachioed in this dream, as he looked in his later series, "Diagnosis Murder," while playing Dr. Mark Sloan.
Dream 2: Having a Fit
We do have a new Honda Fit, and I love the thing. I have told anyone who will listen that I'm really knocked out by the ease of converting the upright back seats to a cargo area. In fact, I'm pretty sure I've used those very sentences from the dream, regarding the bicycle and the desk.
I'm getting the impression that other Honda Fit owners love their cars, too. I've noticed a strange phenomenon, that Fit owners automatically acknowledge each other when our cars pass, with a wave or a "thumbs up" sign. It's almost as if we're part of a club or something. My wife says that someone called into the "Car Talk" radio program, and mentioned that she's noticed this "friendly" trend, too. The Tappert Bros. said that they'd heard of a similar phenomenon when the VW Beetles came out in the U.S. Come to think of it, maybe they meant the new versions of the VW bugs. That would make sense. Can't you hear it now? "I love my new car! Don't you love yours? Isn't it all so wonderful?"
I'm bending over backward not to mess up the new car, and it's going pretty well so far. We've had it since late June, and so far I haven't eaten one bite of food or had one sip of a drink in it. (I do carry food in the car, I just don't consume it in the car.) We'll see if I can keep to those standards during the 10-hour drive back home at Christmastime.
Dream 1: DVD
Dick Van Dyke was working at the service desk of my office, and was surrounded by a huge amount of paperwork. He took it in his stride, and was able to joke about his circumstances. He said, "I think I'll be able to get through this stack in 15... MONTHS!" (I had expected him to say "...15 minutes.")
Dream 2: Having a Fit
My twin brother Andrew and some of our poker buddies, including Eddie M. and Eric M., were riding in my new Honda Fit. The car was pretty messy on the inside, filled with napkins, cups and other assorted trash. We pulled up to a gas station or a convenience store, and I decided to show the guys how efficiently the seats fold down in the back; I couldn't help extolling their ingenious design. I said, "See how easy this is? They fold down completely flat, so you could fit a desk or a bicycle in here!"
*****
Dream 1: DVD
Dick Van Dyke has always been a favorite comedian, and "The Dick Van Dyke Show" is among my top 5 TV shows of all time. (The others, as of this week, are "The Andy Griffith Show," "The Sopranos," "The Twilight Zone," and "Prime Suspect." Then again, that leaves out the original "Star Trek." Better make it my top 6.)
By the way, Van Dyke was white-haired and mustachioed in this dream, as he looked in his later series, "Diagnosis Murder," while playing Dr. Mark Sloan.
Dream 2: Having a Fit
We do have a new Honda Fit, and I love the thing. I have told anyone who will listen that I'm really knocked out by the ease of converting the upright back seats to a cargo area. In fact, I'm pretty sure I've used those very sentences from the dream, regarding the bicycle and the desk.
I'm getting the impression that other Honda Fit owners love their cars, too. I've noticed a strange phenomenon, that Fit owners automatically acknowledge each other when our cars pass, with a wave or a "thumbs up" sign. It's almost as if we're part of a club or something. My wife says that someone called into the "Car Talk" radio program, and mentioned that she's noticed this "friendly" trend, too. The Tappert Bros. said that they'd heard of a similar phenomenon when the VW Beetles came out in the U.S. Come to think of it, maybe they meant the new versions of the VW bugs. That would make sense. Can't you hear it now? "I love my new car! Don't you love yours? Isn't it all so wonderful?"
I'm bending over backward not to mess up the new car, and it's going pretty well so far. We've had it since late June, and so far I haven't eaten one bite of food or had one sip of a drink in it. (I do carry food in the car, I just don't consume it in the car.) We'll see if I can keep to those standards during the 10-hour drive back home at Christmastime.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Cut Short
Wednesday night
Chris Matthews and his trio were playing a set in a college auditorium, and I had a seat about halfway up in the audience, which was inclined away from the stage. It had already been a long night; the band was still cooking at 2:00 a.m., and were showing no signs of stopping. Suddenly Matthews' mike gave out in the middle of a song. The people in charge at the university had had enough and cut the power to the stage. Matthews said, "Huh. We had four songs left to play." He was still not ready to get off of the stage. He reached into a case that he had with him and brought out an L.P. record pressed on blue vinyl. He decided to spin it for the crowd on his portable record player. After that, he still wanted to keep the audience's attention. He said, "Hey -- have you seen the new Britney Spears movie?" He got ready to project it on the wall when I called out, "You'd better not show all of it, Chris!" (Apparently I was aware of some naughty scenes in the "film" that might upset the college.) Chris knew what I was getting at. He said, "Don't I know it! That's why I burned just a few [clean] scenes to this DVD!" He proceeded to project the DVD onto the wall, using some portable device. In order to broadcast onto an uncluttered surface, Matthews had gradually moved from stage right (at our left) to center stage. As he set up the equipment, I noticed that copies of several of my old family photos were taped to the wall, including baby pictures of my twin brother and myself.
Later that same day I strolled into a record store and noticed that the Osmonds had released a new album. I picked it up and looked at the front cover. It featured a large group shot of the family members. There seemed to be hundreds of them.
*****
Chris Matthews is the host of the political show "Hardball" on MSNBC. If he's a musician, I'm not aware of it, but it's easy to imagine that he'd be reluctant to give up any stage; he's a ham. I was probably thinking of him because he's featured in a small interview in the back of the latest Newsweek magazine.
Matthews sometimes takes the "Hardball" show on the road, to various colleges. I caught a few minutes of one such appearance with presidential candidate John McCain. He (McCain) turned me off. I wondered what I'd ever seen in the guy.
It's interesting to me that Matthews was projecting his film on the wall. Once, when I was a kid, my brother Jimmie checked a film out of the library of the Beatles playing their first American concert at the Washington Coliseum (in 1964). He projected it on the wall of my bedroom. I thought that was the coolest thing ever.
Chris Matthews and his trio were playing a set in a college auditorium, and I had a seat about halfway up in the audience, which was inclined away from the stage. It had already been a long night; the band was still cooking at 2:00 a.m., and were showing no signs of stopping. Suddenly Matthews' mike gave out in the middle of a song. The people in charge at the university had had enough and cut the power to the stage. Matthews said, "Huh. We had four songs left to play." He was still not ready to get off of the stage. He reached into a case that he had with him and brought out an L.P. record pressed on blue vinyl. He decided to spin it for the crowd on his portable record player. After that, he still wanted to keep the audience's attention. He said, "Hey -- have you seen the new Britney Spears movie?" He got ready to project it on the wall when I called out, "You'd better not show all of it, Chris!" (Apparently I was aware of some naughty scenes in the "film" that might upset the college.) Chris knew what I was getting at. He said, "Don't I know it! That's why I burned just a few [clean] scenes to this DVD!" He proceeded to project the DVD onto the wall, using some portable device. In order to broadcast onto an uncluttered surface, Matthews had gradually moved from stage right (at our left) to center stage. As he set up the equipment, I noticed that copies of several of my old family photos were taped to the wall, including baby pictures of my twin brother and myself.
Later that same day I strolled into a record store and noticed that the Osmonds had released a new album. I picked it up and looked at the front cover. It featured a large group shot of the family members. There seemed to be hundreds of them.
*****
Chris Matthews is the host of the political show "Hardball" on MSNBC. If he's a musician, I'm not aware of it, but it's easy to imagine that he'd be reluctant to give up any stage; he's a ham. I was probably thinking of him because he's featured in a small interview in the back of the latest Newsweek magazine.
Matthews sometimes takes the "Hardball" show on the road, to various colleges. I caught a few minutes of one such appearance with presidential candidate John McCain. He (McCain) turned me off. I wondered what I'd ever seen in the guy.
It's interesting to me that Matthews was projecting his film on the wall. Once, when I was a kid, my brother Jimmie checked a film out of the library of the Beatles playing their first American concert at the Washington Coliseum (in 1964). He projected it on the wall of my bedroom. I thought that was the coolest thing ever.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Long Walk Home
Tuesday night
I was alone and restless in Arlington, and decided to walk down Lee Highway to my dad's apartment in D.C. I arrived at 3 a.m. My brother Jimmie was there; he was visiting. He and Dad were awake, which may have been my fault. Dad immediately walked over and opened the living room sofa bed for me. Or, he said, I could stay on the boat out back. I said, "No thanks. I'm going to walk back home [when the visit is over]."
*****
Last night my brothers and I got together on a conference call to talk about Dad's health and his financial situation.
Dad's apartment is in Arlington, not D.C., and he doesn't own a boat. He's pretty much confined to a wheelchair these days, so he wouldn't be able to walk over and pull open a sofa bed. I guess that's wishful thinking on my part.
My wife will be out of town this weekend, so I will be on my own for a few days.
By the way, "Long Walk Home" is an early favorite from the new Bruce Springsteen album, "Magic," released yesterday.
I was alone and restless in Arlington, and decided to walk down Lee Highway to my dad's apartment in D.C. I arrived at 3 a.m. My brother Jimmie was there; he was visiting. He and Dad were awake, which may have been my fault. Dad immediately walked over and opened the living room sofa bed for me. Or, he said, I could stay on the boat out back. I said, "No thanks. I'm going to walk back home [when the visit is over]."
*****
Last night my brothers and I got together on a conference call to talk about Dad's health and his financial situation.
Dad's apartment is in Arlington, not D.C., and he doesn't own a boat. He's pretty much confined to a wheelchair these days, so he wouldn't be able to walk over and pull open a sofa bed. I guess that's wishful thinking on my part.
My wife will be out of town this weekend, so I will be on my own for a few days.
By the way, "Long Walk Home" is an early favorite from the new Bruce Springsteen album, "Magic," released yesterday.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Fun with Shapes / Great New Job
Sunday night
Dream 1: Fun with Shapes
I was trying to fill out a voter registration form, but was chagrined to find no instructions or printing of any kind -- only boxes of various shapes and sizes.
Dream 2: Great New Job
I was working for a company that was going through some upheavals; the powers that be had called a meeting of all employees to unveil their new organizational chart. I sat in the balcony with some of my coworkers, waiting to hear the results. When the CEO got to my name (pointing to the lower left of the board) he announced that I would now be part of the cleaning crew. I stood up and yelled, "What?!" and was ready to run downstairs and challenge him, but was dissuaded by my fellow workers. They felt that I should be glad to have that position, given the circumstances.
Later, I was leading a team meeting of my own, as the new manager of a fast food restaurant. I said, "This will be great if we all pull together as a team!"
*****
Dream 1: Fun with Shapes
I am registered to vote, and recently took part in the mayoral election here. I asked several coworkers about it, but found that the great majority had not voted, and few seemed to care.
Sometimes I need to create special agreements in the course of my work, overwriting and changing forms which were created by my predecessor in Word. I'm fine with overwriting the words, of course, but the forms also include many boxes, which give me fits. Those boxes showed up in this dream.
Dream 2: Great New Job
I'm worried about my future (again).
There's a lot of turnover in this office, and the jobs here are very stressful and chaotic. There are problems in the industry as a whole, and some days I feel as though I'm standing on the deck of the Titanic. Time to update the resume.
*****
September Dream Roundup
The following people showed up in my dreams in September 2007.
Family and Friends:
My wife
Andrew C.
David C.
Eddie M.
Kels K.
Mark F.
Mom
Polly D.
Preston W.
Steve W.
Susan F.
Susan W.
Wingard C.
Coworkers and Acquaintances:
Ashley S.
Christy S.
Isaiah M.
Jennie S.
Kahata M.
Ken P.
Michelle L.
Suzanne B.
Celebrities:
Alison Krauss
The Beatles (One of their song titles showed up on the Elvis record in "Aunt Bee, Appraiser")
Cerphe Colwell
Elvis Presley (I was carrying one of his records in "Aunt Bee, Appraiser")
Francis Bavier (as "Aunt Bee")
Frank Sinatra (Steve W. sings his songs in "Just Joking")
Matt Damon (as Jason Bourne)
Matt Servitto (He's an actor from "The Sopranos," but plays a different character in "School?")
Peter Vaughan (British actor who plays a friend's grandpa in "The Grump")
Sheryl Crow (Andrew C. discusses magazine photos of her in "Admirer")
Ulysses S. Grant (I asked the director of my department about him in "Pop Quiz")
Dream 1: Fun with Shapes
I was trying to fill out a voter registration form, but was chagrined to find no instructions or printing of any kind -- only boxes of various shapes and sizes.
Dream 2: Great New Job
I was working for a company that was going through some upheavals; the powers that be had called a meeting of all employees to unveil their new organizational chart. I sat in the balcony with some of my coworkers, waiting to hear the results. When the CEO got to my name (pointing to the lower left of the board) he announced that I would now be part of the cleaning crew. I stood up and yelled, "What?!" and was ready to run downstairs and challenge him, but was dissuaded by my fellow workers. They felt that I should be glad to have that position, given the circumstances.
Later, I was leading a team meeting of my own, as the new manager of a fast food restaurant. I said, "This will be great if we all pull together as a team!"
*****
Dream 1: Fun with Shapes
I am registered to vote, and recently took part in the mayoral election here. I asked several coworkers about it, but found that the great majority had not voted, and few seemed to care.
Sometimes I need to create special agreements in the course of my work, overwriting and changing forms which were created by my predecessor in Word. I'm fine with overwriting the words, of course, but the forms also include many boxes, which give me fits. Those boxes showed up in this dream.
Dream 2: Great New Job
I'm worried about my future (again).
There's a lot of turnover in this office, and the jobs here are very stressful and chaotic. There are problems in the industry as a whole, and some days I feel as though I'm standing on the deck of the Titanic. Time to update the resume.
*****
September Dream Roundup
The following people showed up in my dreams in September 2007.
Family and Friends:
My wife
Andrew C.
David C.
Eddie M.
Kels K.
Mark F.
Mom
Polly D.
Preston W.
Steve W.
Susan F.
Susan W.
Wingard C.
Coworkers and Acquaintances:
Ashley S.
Christy S.
Isaiah M.
Jennie S.
Kahata M.
Ken P.
Michelle L.
Suzanne B.
Celebrities:
Alison Krauss
The Beatles (One of their song titles showed up on the Elvis record in "Aunt Bee, Appraiser")
Cerphe Colwell
Elvis Presley (I was carrying one of his records in "Aunt Bee, Appraiser")
Francis Bavier (as "Aunt Bee")
Frank Sinatra (Steve W. sings his songs in "Just Joking")
Matt Damon (as Jason Bourne)
Matt Servitto (He's an actor from "The Sopranos," but plays a different character in "School?")
Peter Vaughan (British actor who plays a friend's grandpa in "The Grump")
Sheryl Crow (Andrew C. discusses magazine photos of her in "Admirer")
Ulysses S. Grant (I asked the director of my department about him in "Pop Quiz")
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)