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.