Tater Fight / Body Surfing / Conga!

Monday night (12/31/07)

Dream 1: Tater Fight

My wife made dinner for us and brought it into the family room at my parents' house. (We were the only ones there.) As she handed me my plate, she said, "I hope you like [sour] cream," meaning that she'd used it to make the mashed potatoes. (She knew full well that I didn't like it.) I got frowny, and got up from my chair, and turned my back toward her, as I began stacking boxes of CDs that I'd made on the floor. She said, "What, you're going to ignore me now?" I said, "Well, it's just that you know that I don't like sour cream, and you put it in there deliberately... and then you topped it with [stinky] cheese!" (Horror of horrors.) I was being a jerk.

Dream 2: Body Surfing

I was having dinner with my family, presumably at 3374, and told them that I wanted to move away. Andrew said, "Move away?! Why would you want to do that?" I said, "I want to be closer to the beach." The next thing I knew, Jimmie and I were in a seaside resort town, walking on sidewalks covered with white sand. We were making our way toward the beach, and I was also scoping out places where I might live. We walked next to a small group of wooden houses on our left, which faced an intersection that we were about to cross. I said, "This would be nice, except that it's on a busy street." Eventually we got to the ocean, and we walked out into the water, along with many other tourists that were already there. The tide was strangely low at that point, and we ventured out quite a ways before the water even got up to our knees. I noticed some large, beautiful red rocks that had had been worn smooth and low over thousands of years in the surf. Finally, Jimmie saw what we were looking for; a huge wave was building in the distance, and was coming our way. He said, "This is it!" We turned our backs to it, and pointed ourselves toward shore. We timed it just right, and as the wave got to us, we dove out front and rode it all the way in.

Dream 3: Conga!

I was in a variety show that was being staged by my employer, apparently at my old elementary school in Arlington. I was standing on stage at the far left as my division did it's thing. I wasn't really sure what I was supposed to be doing, but I was loose, dancing along with the music, and enjoying myself. A large black woman was to my right. After awhile, it was time for another member of our team to take the spotlight, and everyone else cleared the stage. She was also black, but tall and thin, and wore a head scarf, similar to Erykah Badu. (It could have been her, for all I know.) Anyway, there was a rectangular area that was cordoned off in the middle of the audience, and I assumed that that's where the soundboard was. In fact, that area did not contain sound equipment; it contained a bunch of instruments. The large woman walked over there and found some bongos, and started playing an intoxicating rhythm. The woman on the stage began singing, and we were all knocked out. She was unbelievably funky -- the whole place was grooving, and she sounded like a pro. She walked down into the audience as she continued to sing (thanks to her cordless mic) and the crowd spontaneously formed a conga line behind her. I raced up to join them, and noticed that I was about the sixth person in line. Unfortunately, the previous five were all guys, and I wasn't too keen about grabbing onto some dude's swaying hips. I turned around and called out, "We need some more women in here!" Soon, my coworker Pat H. joined in, and I followed after her. The line got larger and larger, and soon the singer led us outside, in the dark, and we kicked and swayed for blocks, and then miles. Eventually, we got up near People's Drug Store. We were coming up the small side street to the right of the row of shops, which face Lee Highway, when several of us saw our boss, Jennie S. Someone called out, "Do you want to join us?" She said, "NO," and that pretty much took the wind out of our sails. The line broke up, and folks began to wander back down the street. I decided that I'd walk into People's, as long as I was there, but suddenly I realized that someone was holding onto my left arm. It was a young woman with glasses, wearing a black coat and skirt, and a white blouse. She had been behind me in the conga line, and now she refused to let go. I wasn't really interested in her, and tried to be polite about it, but she didn't catch my drift, or didn't want to. I said, "Uh, I'm gonna' go into this store." She said, "Good. I'll go, too!" She held onto my arm even tighter. I sorta dragged her with me into the drug store, only to find that the front of the shop was completely dark. It was lit in the back, but closed for renovations. "Great," I thought. It was bad enough that the store was closed, but I had another problem. I was aroused, and the last thing I wanted was for this chick to find out about it. It was not easy to try to shift things around down there with her hanging on me. After all, she didn't get me in that condition -- it was the music.

*****

Dream 1: Tater Fight

My culinary tastes have broadened a great deal since I've been married, but I do keep a famous running list of the ingredients that I do not like, which include sour cream and smelly cheeses. Every now and then, cooks who are "in the know" try to slip said ingredients past the goalie. When my sister-in-law Liz was here over Thanksgiving, she and my wife made mashed potatoes with sour cream, and didn't tell me about it until I'd had some already. Of course, they asked me first, "Did you like it?" Very clever. Back at Lizzie's place, over Xmas, she handed me some cookie bars. I asked her what was in them, and she told me every ingredient... except the part about the cheese. Sneaky.

Dream 2: Body Surfing

I do miss the ocean; I haven't seen it in years. My dad taught me to body surf when I was very young. He's blind as a bat, so he used to stand in the water wearing a brownish checked bathing suit and big Buddy Holly glasses. Once a wave knocked his glasses off, and he was helpless. Another wave came along, and put them right back in his hand. He claims that that is one of many miracles he's experienced in his lifetime. Who knows? Maybe he's onto something there.

Dream 3: Conga!

Pat H. and Jennie S. are real coworkers; the rest of the people in this dream are fictitious. The show took place in the Jamestown Elementary Multi-Purpose Room, the sight of many variety shows and piano performances of my youth. My most painful variety show memory is not one which involved a performance of mine -- rather, it was the sight of Dominic Puglisi pounding a snare drum to a recording of "The Little Drummer Boy." God, I thought it would never end.

Anway, in retrospect, that young woman with the glasses wasn't so bad. Maybe we should have gone for a cuppa Joe (& a hot chocolate for me).

*****

December 2007 Dream Roundup

Family & Friends:

My wife
Andrew C.
Dominic E.
Ed B.
Jim E.
Jimmie C.
Liz E.
Stuart R.
Susan W.

Coworkers & Acquaintances:

Duncan S.
Gene P.
Habib
Jeff D.
Jennie S.
Pat H.
Pat S. (Her house was featured in "Heron")
Rod S. (")
Susan B. (Someone mentioned her in "Christmas Spirit")

Celebrities:

Andy Gibb
Barack Obama (I heard he'd passed away in "Hopes Crushed")
Barry Gibb
Bill Clinton (Seen in a photo in Andrew's book in "The Author")
Bowie Kuhn
Bruce Springsteen
Charlie Rose
Clarence Clemons (Seen in BTR cover image on a jersey in "Ya Just Gotta Hear It")
Erykah Badu
Hillary Clinton (Mentioned in "Hopes Crushed")
Joe DiMaggio
Meryl Streep
Norman Schwarzkoph
The Simpsons (They were mentioned in "The Sky is Falling")
Steely Dan (I sang their song "Dirty Work" in "Fire")
Steve Van Zandt
Strong Bad (His voice was heard in "The Sky is Falling")

*****

2007 Yearly (OK, Half Yearly) Dream Roundup

After putting this together, it offers a pretty good snapshot of who and what was running around in my head in the last six months of 2007: family, old friends, actors, musicians, presidents, and wanna-be-presidents. It occurs to me that if I have a look at this list three or four years from now, I won’t remember many of the coworkers that I’ve listed. I’m like that, though; coworkers don’t mean nearly as much to me as my family and core group of friends that I'll carry throughout my life.

Family & Friends:

My wife
My father-in-law
Andrew C. (brother)
Ann R.
Becky H. U.
Brent L.
Brud H.
Dad C.
David C. (cousin)
Dawn C. (sister-in-law)
Denis G.
Denise V.F.P.
Dominic E. (brother- & sister-in-law’s son)
Ed B.
Eddie M.
Eric M.
Gordon S.
Greg S.
Jeff V.
Jenni H.
Jim B.
Jim E. (brother-in-law)
Jimmie C. (brother)
Kels K.
Kevin W.
Kyle N.
Laura M.
Liz E. (sister-in-law)
MaMa (Dad’s mom, my grandmother)
Margaret S.
Mari-Jane W.
Mark F.
Maurice F.
Mindy S.
Mom C.
Polly D.
Preston W.
Ray B.
"Sis" (Dad's sister; my aunt)
Steve W.
Stuart R.
Susan F.
Susan W. (sister-in-law)
Wendy G.
Wingard C. (cousin)

Coworkers & Acquaintances:

Ashley S.
Christy S.
Connie P.
Darrell B.
Dasha T.
Duncan S.
Eden F.
Eric T.
Erik B.
Frank A.
Gene P.
Habib
Harriet T.
Isaiah M.
Jamie P.
Jeff D.
Jennie S.
Kahata M.
Ken P.
Max C.
Melissa F.
Melissa L.
Michelle L.
Pat H.
Pat S.
Rod S.
Sally C.
Shannon F.
Suzanne B.


Celebrities:

ABBA
Aida Torturro (as Janice Soprano)
Al Gore
Alex Van Halen
Alison Krauss
Andy Gibb
The Banana Splits
Barack Obama
Barry Gibb
The Beatles
Belinda Carlisle
Bill Clinton
Bob Dylan
Bowie Kuhn
Brian Wilson
Britney Spears
Bruce Springsteen
The Byrds
The Cars
Cerphe Colwell
Charlie Rose
Cher
Chris Matthews
Clarence Clemons
Conan O'Brien
Dan Akyroyd
Danny & the Juniors
David Lee Roth
DeForest Kelly
Dick Van Dyke
Don Henley
The Eagles
Eddie Van Halen
Ellen Degeneres
Elvis Costello
Elvis Presley
Erykah Badu
The Everly Brothers
Francis Bavier (as "Aunt Bee")
Frank Sinatra
George Lucas
George Takei
Gilbert Godfried
The Go-Go's
Hillary Clinton
Jackie Cooper
James Doohan
James Gandolfini (as Tony Soprano)
Jennifer Aniston
Jerry Seinfeld
Joe DiMaggio
John Cleese
John Lennon
John Seigenthaler
John Travolta
Jonathan Cain
Leonard Nimoy
Linda Hunt
Lucille Ball
Martha Stewart
Matt Damon (as Jason Bourne)
Matt Lauer
Matt Servitto
Meryl Streep
Mick Jagger
Mike Wallace
The Monkees
Mike Myers
Nichelle Nichols
Norman Schwarzkoph
The Osmonds
Pat Benatar
Paul McCartney
Paul Simon
Pete Townshend
Peter MacNicol
Peter Vaughan
Player (The band)
Prince
Roger Daltrey
Roy Orbison
Rudy Giuliani
Sally Field
Sheryl Crow
The Simpsons
Spike Lee
Steely Dan
Steve Van Zandt
Stevie Nicks
Strong Bad (cartoon character from homestarrunner.com)
Styx
Ted Kennedy
Theodore Roosevelt
Tim Daly (as J.T. Dolan)
Tom Snyder
Tony Sirico (as Paulie Walnuts)
Ulysses S. Grant
Walter Koenig
William Shatner
Wolfgang Van Halen

*******