Wednesday night (12/26/07)
Gene P. and I were standing in the the middle of a city at night, surrounded by skyscrapers. We were looking up at the sky, marveling at a huge flying disc, covered with lights, which was hovering not far above the buildings. I said, "If I didn't know any better, I'd swear that was a space ship!" Both of us knew that it wasn't -- it was a communications satellite. Gene pointed to it and smiled and said, "There's 3 million people on that thing!"
*****
Gene is now the director of the Nashville branch of the foundation where I used to work. He was always nice to me.
I suppose that any hovering, flying disc carrying 3 million people could rightfully be called a space ship...
Friday, December 28, 2007
Everybody's Waiting
Tuesday night (Christmas)
I was in a convenience store, such as a 7-11, and my wife's sister, Liz, and her husband, Jim, were outside, waiting for me in the car. I was there to buy some stocking stuffers for their kids. It was time for me to pay, and when I opened my wallet, the $50 bill that had been in there was suddely gone. I panicked, and beseeched the people behind the counter and a bunch of folks in line to wait a minute while I looked for it. I could see my brother-in-law and sister-in-law through the window, and they seemed to be frowning and asking the same question as the people at the end of the line: "What's the hold-up?"
*****
My brother- and sister-in-law never expected me to buy any such thing for their kids, and treated me and my wife very nicely during this trip. Having said that, I had planned to pick up some little things, such as pens, to place in the kids' stockings, and never got around to it, so I suppose I was beating myself up about it in this dream.
I was in a convenience store, such as a 7-11, and my wife's sister, Liz, and her husband, Jim, were outside, waiting for me in the car. I was there to buy some stocking stuffers for their kids. It was time for me to pay, and when I opened my wallet, the $50 bill that had been in there was suddely gone. I panicked, and beseeched the people behind the counter and a bunch of folks in line to wait a minute while I looked for it. I could see my brother-in-law and sister-in-law through the window, and they seemed to be frowning and asking the same question as the people at the end of the line: "What's the hold-up?"
*****
My brother- and sister-in-law never expected me to buy any such thing for their kids, and treated me and my wife very nicely during this trip. Having said that, I had planned to pick up some little things, such as pens, to place in the kids' stockings, and never got around to it, so I suppose I was beating myself up about it in this dream.
Fish / The General
Sunday night (12/23/07)
Dream 1: Fish
Actress Meryl Streep was interested in learning about a certain type of fish, which were small as guppies. She stood very still, immersed in a pond, or lake, with only her head above the water, and her back faced the shore. The "camera" was facing her from the lake, focusing on her face. She was hoping that the fish in question would show up. Finally, one fish was curious enough to come in close, so Meryl slowly submerged her head, so she could have a look, eye to eye.
Dream 2: The General
I was kneeling next to my brother Drew, who was sitting in a chair at his desk. We were watching "The Charlie Rose Show" on TV. Rose was interviewing former General Norman Schwarzkoph, and they were taking phone calls on the air. After a few such calls, Rose picked up the phone, but this call wasn't broadcast. After a minute or so, he put the phone down, and said almost apologetically, "That was my nephew." He (the nephew) was a fan of the general, and was asking Rose to relay a question for him. When the taping of the show was over, we could see Schwarzkoph from the back. Rose said to him, "That was very good." N.S. said, "Not bad, eh?" A voice off-camera said, "Go on... talk to him." It was the nephew's mom, encouraging him to go up and meet his hero. He walked up timidly and said, "Mr. Schwarzkoph? Mr. Schwarzkoph?" The general turned around, got up and faced the boy. Schwarzkoph was wearing dark pants, a white button-down shirt, and a light blue tie. The boy said, "I'm Timmy." The general extended his hand and said, "I'm Norman Schwarzkoph, and I'm your good and holy friend."
*****
Andrew has always liked "The Charlie Rose Show." Jimmie, too, for that matter. Drew and I have this running gag, based on my observation that Rose still never seems to know how to sign off at the end of a program. He is amiable, all right, but he does tend to go on and on. Sometimes I'll call Drew's cell phone and imitate Rose, leaving the longest run-on sentence imaginable.
Dream 1: Fish
Actress Meryl Streep was interested in learning about a certain type of fish, which were small as guppies. She stood very still, immersed in a pond, or lake, with only her head above the water, and her back faced the shore. The "camera" was facing her from the lake, focusing on her face. She was hoping that the fish in question would show up. Finally, one fish was curious enough to come in close, so Meryl slowly submerged her head, so she could have a look, eye to eye.
Dream 2: The General
I was kneeling next to my brother Drew, who was sitting in a chair at his desk. We were watching "The Charlie Rose Show" on TV. Rose was interviewing former General Norman Schwarzkoph, and they were taking phone calls on the air. After a few such calls, Rose picked up the phone, but this call wasn't broadcast. After a minute or so, he put the phone down, and said almost apologetically, "That was my nephew." He (the nephew) was a fan of the general, and was asking Rose to relay a question for him. When the taping of the show was over, we could see Schwarzkoph from the back. Rose said to him, "That was very good." N.S. said, "Not bad, eh?" A voice off-camera said, "Go on... talk to him." It was the nephew's mom, encouraging him to go up and meet his hero. He walked up timidly and said, "Mr. Schwarzkoph? Mr. Schwarzkoph?" The general turned around, got up and faced the boy. Schwarzkoph was wearing dark pants, a white button-down shirt, and a light blue tie. The boy said, "I'm Timmy." The general extended his hand and said, "I'm Norman Schwarzkoph, and I'm your good and holy friend."
*****
Andrew has always liked "The Charlie Rose Show." Jimmie, too, for that matter. Drew and I have this running gag, based on my observation that Rose still never seems to know how to sign off at the end of a program. He is amiable, all right, but he does tend to go on and on. Sometimes I'll call Drew's cell phone and imitate Rose, leaving the longest run-on sentence imaginable.
Heron / Fire
Saturday night (12/22/07)
Dream 1: Heron
Duncan S. and I were in our early 20s, and we were renting rooms in the home of my ex-boss, Rod S, and his wife. Their own kids had already moved out of their house at that point, but Rod and his wife still lived there. The place was undergoing an extensive renovation, giving it more of a "modern" look. The upper floor of the house had new drywall, and I noticed that one wall had a door cut into it at a pretty strange angle. The finishing touch would be the installation of a large white sculpture of a great blue heron, resplendent in flight with neck folded in the customary "S" shape, which would sit boldly at the apex of the new roof.
Dream 2: Fire
A young punk, maybe 18 to 20 years old, decided that he'd like to burn a car in a parking lot, just for kicks, so he did. Soon, a crowd gathered; they had followed the billowing smoke and the flames, and all of the onlookers and curiosity-seekers were standing around, waiting for the authorities. One of the members of the crowd surveyed the scene, and he was mightily pissed off. It was Bruce Springsteen, and this was happening in his neighborhood. The "camera" focused on his face, which was very stern and serious, as the flames and smoke danced behind his head. They seemed an apt metaphor for his rising anger. Eventually, the fire department arrived and put the fire out, and the police carted the offender off to jail. A few days later, Springsteen had a hunch about what would happen next. He strolled back to the parking lot (wearing his jeans, boots and a T-shirt) and waited. Sure enough, after a little while, the pyro kid showed up. He had been released temporarily, and returned to the scene of the crime to see what he had wrought. Bruce approached him, as if he wanted to strike up a conversation. The kid turned to look at him, whereupon Springsteen head-butted him in the face, and knocked him to the ground. The kid was still lying there, with blood coming out of his nose, when Bruce stood over him, looking down. He said, "What kind of sentence did they give you?" The kid said what it was, and Springsteen frowned. He said, "That's excessive... it's outside of the Federal guidelines. I want you to know that I'll do everything I can to get you lighter sentence." The young man looked up and said, "You can do that?" Bruce said, "Well, I work nights."
At the end of the dream, Bruce was kicking a soccer ball around with me and our pal, E Street Band guitarist Steve Van Zandt. Somebody kicked it too hard, and it went over a fence into the neighbor's yard. Bruce looked at me and said, "You're up." I was always the go-fer, and I didn't like it. As I opened the picket gate to the neighbor lady's garden, I sang a Steely Dan song to myself: "I don't want to do your dirty work, oh yeah / I don't want to do your dirty work no more."
*****
Dream 1: Heron
Duncan and I worked together at Adcom Art Supplies in the late 1980s and early '90s. We shared a townhouse in Falls Church for several years with a revolving cast of characters. Rod was my previous boss in TN. Fortunately I didn't actually see him in this dream. If I never see him again, that's fine with me. I last laid eyes on him in April 2005. I haven't seen Duncan since I attended his wedding in Connecticut, at least 10 years ago. Jimmie and I took a trip up there to attend their nuptuals, and at one point we rounded a corner at night and nearly hit a deer or two. Memories of that incident, and of the wonderful fall colors and 18th & 19th century architecture are all vivid in my mind to this day.
My wife and I drove up to Virginia last week for the holidays, and we're still in VA now. The day that I had this dream, we got a close-up view of an immense great blue heron as it flew across I-95, maybe 10 feet above our car.
Dream 2: Fire
I like this version of Springsteen, practicing "tough love." You can almost hear him saying, "I'll beat the crap out of you if you screw up my neighborhood, but I'll fight to ensure that you get a fair shake in the courts." His response "Well, I work nights" meant that his "day Job," playing in a rock band, was actually a "night job," which meant that he could fight for truth, justice and the American way during the day time. This dream was no doubt influenced by interviews Bruce has given during the "Magic" tour, in which he has decried the current state of political affairs in the U.S., and how far we've fallen from our ideals.
The close-up of Springsteen with flames behind his head probably came from the image on the picture sleeve single of "I'm on Fire," from 1985. The head-butting incident came from the movie "The Commitments," which my wife and I had watched earlier in the week. The second drummer for band ("The Committments," not the E Streeters) was a violent sort of fellow who was in the habit of jumping into crowds and head-butting people. Top-notch film, that one.
Dream 1: Heron
Duncan S. and I were in our early 20s, and we were renting rooms in the home of my ex-boss, Rod S, and his wife. Their own kids had already moved out of their house at that point, but Rod and his wife still lived there. The place was undergoing an extensive renovation, giving it more of a "modern" look. The upper floor of the house had new drywall, and I noticed that one wall had a door cut into it at a pretty strange angle. The finishing touch would be the installation of a large white sculpture of a great blue heron, resplendent in flight with neck folded in the customary "S" shape, which would sit boldly at the apex of the new roof.
Dream 2: Fire
A young punk, maybe 18 to 20 years old, decided that he'd like to burn a car in a parking lot, just for kicks, so he did. Soon, a crowd gathered; they had followed the billowing smoke and the flames, and all of the onlookers and curiosity-seekers were standing around, waiting for the authorities. One of the members of the crowd surveyed the scene, and he was mightily pissed off. It was Bruce Springsteen, and this was happening in his neighborhood. The "camera" focused on his face, which was very stern and serious, as the flames and smoke danced behind his head. They seemed an apt metaphor for his rising anger. Eventually, the fire department arrived and put the fire out, and the police carted the offender off to jail. A few days later, Springsteen had a hunch about what would happen next. He strolled back to the parking lot (wearing his jeans, boots and a T-shirt) and waited. Sure enough, after a little while, the pyro kid showed up. He had been released temporarily, and returned to the scene of the crime to see what he had wrought. Bruce approached him, as if he wanted to strike up a conversation. The kid turned to look at him, whereupon Springsteen head-butted him in the face, and knocked him to the ground. The kid was still lying there, with blood coming out of his nose, when Bruce stood over him, looking down. He said, "What kind of sentence did they give you?" The kid said what it was, and Springsteen frowned. He said, "That's excessive... it's outside of the Federal guidelines. I want you to know that I'll do everything I can to get you lighter sentence." The young man looked up and said, "You can do that?" Bruce said, "Well, I work nights."
At the end of the dream, Bruce was kicking a soccer ball around with me and our pal, E Street Band guitarist Steve Van Zandt. Somebody kicked it too hard, and it went over a fence into the neighbor's yard. Bruce looked at me and said, "You're up." I was always the go-fer, and I didn't like it. As I opened the picket gate to the neighbor lady's garden, I sang a Steely Dan song to myself: "I don't want to do your dirty work, oh yeah / I don't want to do your dirty work no more."
*****
Dream 1: Heron
Duncan and I worked together at Adcom Art Supplies in the late 1980s and early '90s. We shared a townhouse in Falls Church for several years with a revolving cast of characters. Rod was my previous boss in TN. Fortunately I didn't actually see him in this dream. If I never see him again, that's fine with me. I last laid eyes on him in April 2005. I haven't seen Duncan since I attended his wedding in Connecticut, at least 10 years ago. Jimmie and I took a trip up there to attend their nuptuals, and at one point we rounded a corner at night and nearly hit a deer or two. Memories of that incident, and of the wonderful fall colors and 18th & 19th century architecture are all vivid in my mind to this day.
My wife and I drove up to Virginia last week for the holidays, and we're still in VA now. The day that I had this dream, we got a close-up view of an immense great blue heron as it flew across I-95, maybe 10 feet above our car.
Dream 2: Fire
I like this version of Springsteen, practicing "tough love." You can almost hear him saying, "I'll beat the crap out of you if you screw up my neighborhood, but I'll fight to ensure that you get a fair shake in the courts." His response "Well, I work nights" meant that his "day Job," playing in a rock band, was actually a "night job," which meant that he could fight for truth, justice and the American way during the day time. This dream was no doubt influenced by interviews Bruce has given during the "Magic" tour, in which he has decried the current state of political affairs in the U.S., and how far we've fallen from our ideals.
The close-up of Springsteen with flames behind his head probably came from the image on the picture sleeve single of "I'm on Fire," from 1985. The head-butting incident came from the movie "The Commitments," which my wife and I had watched earlier in the week. The second drummer for band ("The Committments," not the E Streeters) was a violent sort of fellow who was in the habit of jumping into crowds and head-butting people. Top-notch film, that one.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Spoken Word Piece
Tuesday night
I was in England, and was standing on a large, open lawn, watching an avant garde piece performed by boys and girls from an academy of elite students. They wore matching dark blue blazers, and were gathered together as if they were a choir. Their teacher, an older man with white hair, stood behind them; he was wearing a brown suit. As the performance began, various students called out words and phrases, seemingly in no apparent order. No one spoke over anyone else, and the play was not ad-libbed; it was scripted. Everyone knew their part in advance. And so it continued, for several minutes, with the teacher contributing at one point, and finally ending with someone on the front left letting out a scream. When the performance was over, all of us walked to the road which would take us back to the school, off to the right. I overheard someone saying that the teacher lived nearby. I caught up to the teacher and said, "I enjoyed the performance, but what did it mean?" He said, "What do you think it means?" I said, "Well, we're devolving, particularly in America. We were progressing toward enlightenment, but now we're headed in the other direction." He replied, "That's right."
*****
In my few trips to Europe I have gotten the feeling that they are light years ahead of the United States, which is stuck in the Dark Ages in many ways (still fighting over evolution, etc.). Sometimes I allow myself to hope that a President Obama might lift the veil and head us back in the direction of intelligence and progress. Yet, living in Tennessee, I have my doubts that America will elect a black man, particularly one with a "foreign-sounding" name. Yesterday an older coworker said to me, "This is gonna' sound bad, but I'm just not ready for a 'President Obama.' I said, "How is that any stranger than a 'President Eisenhower?'"
I was in England, and was standing on a large, open lawn, watching an avant garde piece performed by boys and girls from an academy of elite students. They wore matching dark blue blazers, and were gathered together as if they were a choir. Their teacher, an older man with white hair, stood behind them; he was wearing a brown suit. As the performance began, various students called out words and phrases, seemingly in no apparent order. No one spoke over anyone else, and the play was not ad-libbed; it was scripted. Everyone knew their part in advance. And so it continued, for several minutes, with the teacher contributing at one point, and finally ending with someone on the front left letting out a scream. When the performance was over, all of us walked to the road which would take us back to the school, off to the right. I overheard someone saying that the teacher lived nearby. I caught up to the teacher and said, "I enjoyed the performance, but what did it mean?" He said, "What do you think it means?" I said, "Well, we're devolving, particularly in America. We were progressing toward enlightenment, but now we're headed in the other direction." He replied, "That's right."
*****
In my few trips to Europe I have gotten the feeling that they are light years ahead of the United States, which is stuck in the Dark Ages in many ways (still fighting over evolution, etc.). Sometimes I allow myself to hope that a President Obama might lift the veil and head us back in the direction of intelligence and progress. Yet, living in Tennessee, I have my doubts that America will elect a black man, particularly one with a "foreign-sounding" name. Yesterday an older coworker said to me, "This is gonna' sound bad, but I'm just not ready for a 'President Obama.' I said, "How is that any stranger than a 'President Eisenhower?'"
Monday, December 17, 2007
The Sky is Falling
Sunday night
I walked into the "old basement" in my parents' house, and found my wife by my dad's work bench. I said that I'd just seen something strange out in front of the house: an acorn-sized thing fell from the sky, followed by a booming voice-over that said, "The Simpsons -- Mostly Progressive." As if that wasn't odd enough, the voice was not that of a Simpsons character. It was the voice of Strong Bad, from homestarrunner.com.
*****
As far as I'm concerned, a little bit of "The Simpsons" goes a long way. I don't really want to spend a lot of my time watching a dumb guy who drinks a lot of beer.
Somebody introduced me to the "homestar runner" cartoons on the Web about three or four years ago. I haven't looked it up in a while, but it's usually pretty amusing stuff, in a bizarre way.
I walked into the "old basement" in my parents' house, and found my wife by my dad's work bench. I said that I'd just seen something strange out in front of the house: an acorn-sized thing fell from the sky, followed by a booming voice-over that said, "The Simpsons -- Mostly Progressive." As if that wasn't odd enough, the voice was not that of a Simpsons character. It was the voice of Strong Bad, from homestarrunner.com.
*****
As far as I'm concerned, a little bit of "The Simpsons" goes a long way. I don't really want to spend a lot of my time watching a dumb guy who drinks a lot of beer.
Somebody introduced me to the "homestar runner" cartoons on the Web about three or four years ago. I haven't looked it up in a while, but it's usually pretty amusing stuff, in a bizarre way.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Enough Already / Ya Just Gotta Hear It
Friday night
Dream 1: Enough Already
My wife and I were staying at a hotel, along with my brother Andrew and his wife, Susan. We were in town for a family wedding. Drew has always been a kidder, and we used to "roughhouse" a bit, as my mom would say, but this time I just wanted to relax, and he simply would not leave me alone. We sat in chairs near the pool, and he was kicking me and pushing me, just fooling around. Finally, I'd had enough, and dove into the pool. Somehow, as I did so, Drew grabbed me by my feet, and held them. He wasn't trying to drown me or anything, just having a little more "fun."
Dream 2: Ya Just Gotta Hear It
I was talking with someone about Bruce Springsteen, and I was wearing a baseball jersey from the 1980-1981 world tour, featuring a drawing of the cover of "Born to Run." The person on the other end of the conversation was a fan, but mainly knew Springsteen's later work. I said, "If you like his stuff now, wait until you hear bootlegs of his 1978 tour. You won't believe it!"
*****
Dream 1: Enough Already
My wife and I recently watched "A Christmas Story," and I laughed whenever Ralphie and his brother Randy fought each other to leave a room or to get up the stairs. We did a lot of that in my house, but the problem is that my brother Andrew still thinks it's funny to kick me and block my path, and I'm over it at this point. I was visiting Andrew and Susan at their home in Richmond, VA about 10 years ago, and we took a tour of the Confederate White House. We held up the line because Andrew refused to walk up the stairs in front of me. Of course, I finally went up the stairs first, and he proceeded to kick me in the ass several times, only stopping when the guard gave him a stern warning. This was when he was a grown man, in his mid-30s, and he had not been drinking.
Dream 2: Ya Just Gotta Hear It
I like a lot of Springsteen's music, but there is something very special about his 1978 album, "Darkness on the Edge of Town," and the recordings of his accompanying tour. His shows at that time were particularly passionate, and Gordy, Ed and I bonded over our shared love of Springsteen's music from that period. We were teenagers when that record was released, and all these years later, it still moves us. Ya just gotta hear it.
Dream 1: Enough Already
My wife and I were staying at a hotel, along with my brother Andrew and his wife, Susan. We were in town for a family wedding. Drew has always been a kidder, and we used to "roughhouse" a bit, as my mom would say, but this time I just wanted to relax, and he simply would not leave me alone. We sat in chairs near the pool, and he was kicking me and pushing me, just fooling around. Finally, I'd had enough, and dove into the pool. Somehow, as I did so, Drew grabbed me by my feet, and held them. He wasn't trying to drown me or anything, just having a little more "fun."
Dream 2: Ya Just Gotta Hear It
I was talking with someone about Bruce Springsteen, and I was wearing a baseball jersey from the 1980-1981 world tour, featuring a drawing of the cover of "Born to Run." The person on the other end of the conversation was a fan, but mainly knew Springsteen's later work. I said, "If you like his stuff now, wait until you hear bootlegs of his 1978 tour. You won't believe it!"
*****
Dream 1: Enough Already
My wife and I recently watched "A Christmas Story," and I laughed whenever Ralphie and his brother Randy fought each other to leave a room or to get up the stairs. We did a lot of that in my house, but the problem is that my brother Andrew still thinks it's funny to kick me and block my path, and I'm over it at this point. I was visiting Andrew and Susan at their home in Richmond, VA about 10 years ago, and we took a tour of the Confederate White House. We held up the line because Andrew refused to walk up the stairs in front of me. Of course, I finally went up the stairs first, and he proceeded to kick me in the ass several times, only stopping when the guard gave him a stern warning. This was when he was a grown man, in his mid-30s, and he had not been drinking.
Dream 2: Ya Just Gotta Hear It
I like a lot of Springsteen's music, but there is something very special about his 1978 album, "Darkness on the Edge of Town," and the recordings of his accompanying tour. His shows at that time were particularly passionate, and Gordy, Ed and I bonded over our shared love of Springsteen's music from that period. We were teenagers when that record was released, and all these years later, it still moves us. Ya just gotta hear it.
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