Wednesday night: a rare 4-dream bonanza
Dream 1: On Location
David Letterman was taping an episode outdoors, at some sort of festival, near the sea, or perhaps, a lake. Suddenly, word got 'round that the actor Heath Ledger had died unexpectedly, so a nighttime tribute concert was hastily planned. The camera focused in on former "Today Show" host Jane Pauley and Dave, who were earnestly playing a duet on acoustic guitars. Pauley was seated closer to the camera, with Letterman beside her, to her left. He had a tear rolling down his cheek. Later, Dave was back to his old antics, dressing in strange costumes, and making up funny bits while talking with beach-goers and vendors. At one point he seemed to be dressed in a navy blazer, a white sailor's cap, and white bell-bottom trousers with a psychedelic print.
Dream 2: 2 Johnnys
A 1960s-era Johnny Carson was standing on a stage in a small theater in the round, surrounded by a studio audience. He said, "If you go to the Grand Ol' Opry, this is what you're gonna' get." At that moment, Johnny Cash made his way through the crowd to great applause, and joined Carson on stage. Cash was carrying an acoustic guitar, and the two Johnnys played a duet, with Carson backing Cash by standing and playing an electric piano.
Dream 3: Downturn
My wife and I were in dire financial straits, so we decided that she would temporarily move in with her sister's family (in order to save money), and I would move back into the townhouse I used to share on Hyson Lane in Falls Church, VA. When I got there, the place was a mess. Oh, it was probably the same as it always was; the change was that after being married for several years, I could now tell the difference between a clean house and a messy one. I had a lot of work to do. Dust was everywhere, particularly on the kitchen counters and in the bathtub in the basement, which looked as if it hadn't been used since I left. I had lots of cabinets to move back into the rooms that I had once occupied. After that, I'd have to roll up my sleeves and get busy transforming the place.
Dream 4: Poodle?
My wife and I were vacationing in France, and were renting an apartment during our stay there. We were out shopping in an open market area, but we had an agreement that we would try to stick to our budget, and not go overboard. Before long she spent $400 on something, and I wasn't too pleased about it, but I kept quiet. A while later, we came upon two guys standing in a booth. They were selling chocolate-colored poodles. They weren't toy poodles; they were mixed with something else, so that they had wiry fur, but they would grow to be larger, about the size of a lab, with a somewhat-square head. The mother of the puppies was there, and seemed to be a very friendly dog. One of the men said that the adult dog was owned by his brother-in-law. Again, I thought that the dogs were friendly, but I've never much liked poodles, and I wasn't in the market for a dog anyway. My wife had other ideas. Before I knew it, she'd picked up one of the puppies and fallen in love with it. She stood behind their stand, holding the dog, and asked me to sign the ledger, sealing the deal. I was hesitant to do so, due to my ambivalence about the whole thing, but especially since the guys had seen how attached she was to the dog already; they began jacking up the price, adding this and that to the bill. Finally, one of the guys said that the total would be $457. I thought that that was just too much money, so I refused to go along with it. I turned to my wife and said, "That's a lot of money for buying something on a whim. You'd better sign this (if you really want this dog)." She did, and she was so happy to have her new puppy. We began walking back to our apartment, and soon, somehow, the new dog transformed from a puppy to a 6-year old French boy with dark hair. The vendors weren't selling dogs at all; they were selling children. At first, I was really put out by this turn of events. I said to my wife, "You realize that you just completely changed our lives. We'll have to figure out schools and everything." But as we walked a little further, I thought to myself, "We have transformed our lives... for the better!" I imagined calling friends and family to tell them that we're coming home with our new son. As we got closer to our apartment, we realized that the vendors must live in the same neighborhood. The boy was good-natured; he put both arms out at his sides with palms up and said (in French-accented English) "I thought I was going to America, but we're going back toward our apartment." I made sure that he understood that we were going back to pack up our things, then we'd all travel home, together. I said, "You'll like America. It's so big!"
*****
Dream 1: On Location
Both Jane Pauley and David Letterman are natives of Indianapolis, Indiana, and I've seen her on his show on several occasions, though not recently. Unfortunately, Heath Ledger did die last week, although I have heard of no tribute concerts in his honor. I've never seen or heard about Letterman playing the guitar. His replacement on NBC, Conan O'Brien, plays guitar on the air frequently.
I recently bought a DVD of "Some Like it Hot," which starred Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis. I'd forgotten just how funny it is. At one point Tony Curtis disguises himself as a millionaire playboy in order to win Marilyn's affections. She meets him as he sits in a chair at the beach, wearing a sailor's cap, dark blazer and white slacks. That's the outfit that Letterman wore at the end of Dream 1, save for the psychedelic design added to the pants.
Dream 2: 2 Johnnys
I watched bits of a series on PBS last week called "Pioneers of Television." The episode about talk show hosts was pretty interesting, if overly reverential. It featured some interesting film of Carson in his early days on "The Tonight Show."
Dream 3: Downturn
This dream came out of an "animated discussion" between my wife and me last week. She had wanted me to do something about setting up a savings plan at my current job (something I hadn't gotten around to doing in the first 10 months there, for various reasons, mainly having to do with not liking the plan provided at work) and she let me know that my lack of consistency in carrying out the chores that I've agreed to do is not appreciated. (I've just set up a Roth IRA with monthly contribution and stepped up in the chores department.) Anyway, the concept of this dream is a funny one -- the idea that I used to live in a squalor of "invisible" dust curls, but now that I'm married and know the difference, I notice the dust everywhere. "...Was blind, but now I see..."
Dream 4: Poodle?
I guess I saved the deepest, and strangest dream for last. We grew up at the corner of 34th and Dinwiddie Streets, and my friend Denis lived a few houses down on 34th. His parents were French and Canadian, and they had a poodle. I'm not a poodle fan. I suppose it's not the dog's fault that people shave their coats into such hideous designs. But more than that, the dogs are just too nervous and high strung for my tastes. About a week ago we saw the film "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," which featured a man whose brain is perfectly fine, but he is trapped in an immobile body, save for one eyelid. I knew how he felt after being trapped in a theater enduring that depressing movie for two hours. Anyway, that story took place in France, and we saw a few flashbacks which showed some interaction between the main character and his kids. The boy in my dream may have been modeled after one of those children.
Dream 4:
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