Weird Time Mashup

This dream is a strange combination of two different periods in my life: high school and grad school.

I dreamed that I had gone back to my high school to attend some kind of alumni function. I went into the dormitory where I'd lived in high school only to find that it had been extensively renovated. This renovation involved restoring it to its original ornate decor (very different from real life, I assure you), and, as a special touch, the heavy, carved oak doors had been elaborately inscribed with the names of the original occupants.

I found my room, which was upstairs, second door from the stairs. The names on the door were lovely, but I didn't recognize them. They were something like A. D. Smith and Mabel Something.

I wandered around the dorm, at one point going into the basement looking for the "trash room." I found it, and realized that the basement had certainly not been renovated, and the trash room was overflowing with garbage.

Later, I attended a performance of some kind. Someone I knew from my grad school days (here's the mashup) was in this show, playing a piece on piano (as far as I know she doesn't play at all). In the dream, I knew this piece, having played it myself. I knew that it was very difficult, with an elaborate accompaniment pattern played in the middle register with the thumbs and forefingers, and the melody played with the right pinky finger. It required lots of delicate touch and jumping around on the keyboard, both of which require absolute control.

I was really impressed with her performance, and during the applause, I went backstage to congratulate her. I found her stretched out on the floor (apparently exhausted by the effort of performance). She was surrounded by family members, her two babies, and a couple of small dogs. As they all swirled around her, I knelt by her head to gush about her playing. I kissed her on the forehead and told her she'd done a wonderful job, and that I totally understood how hard it had been.

(Upon waking and considering the piano piece, I know that whatever she was playing wasn't what my dream self thought it was.)

colorful dresses and makeup mishaps

I had yet another dream where I was picking out clothes and trying to get ready. I was at my parents' house, and I was supposed to be participating somehow with my sister in the church service at my parents' church*. I guess I hadn't packed any appropriate clothing, because I was looking through the closet in my sister's old room. There was a huge selection of dresses, so huge that they were stored on one of those rotating racks like at a drycleaner's. I could tell that most of the clothes had been found at thrift stores. They were all really interesting, with a lot of prints and unusual color combinations. Some of them were overtly "ethnic" and others not, but they all managed to be unusual while still being very wearable and not too weird or cutesy. I was really impressed that she had amassed such a huge collection of interesting clothes, and ended up spending too much time browsing. I finally settled on a black dress** and realized I hadn't left much time for the rest of my preparations.

At that point I looked in the mirror and realized that I looked better than I would have thought given my lack of cosmetics, and also that I was a very young-looking Asian girl with bangs. Apparently my sister was also Asian, and she looked much older and more sophisticated. I worried that, especially if I didn't have time for much cosmetic work, people would think we were mother and daughter.

I guess I had time to start on the cosmetic work, because the last thing I remember was putting a mascara wand back into a bottle of makeup because I was in a hurry and being frustrated that I had probably messed up both products.

I think it's weird that I have these clothing/preparation dreams so often. I love the clothing parts and wish I could remember the details when I wake up; the preparation parts I could do without, though. I wish I could come up with an interpretation for them that doesn't point to unhealthy appearance anxiety.

*That reminds me that I periodically have dreams where I'm supposed to play the piano for their church (something that happened a lot growing up) but haven't prepared anything and am trying to figure out how to muddle through. These dreams feature a weird combination of performance anxiety and hubristic overconfidence that I'll just be able to improvise something baroque-y.
**Why did I choose something black, with all the beautiful colored and printed options?

Cats and Chickens

I dreamed that I was walking home from work/school, but not in this town, nor in any town I've lived in. I was walking through the neighborhood streets, looking at houses, when I noticed a sign on a street corner. It was like a "For Rent" sign, but it said "Piano for Sale" at the top in large, black letters. Underneath, however, was a long-ish paragraph of smaller writing. I stopped and read it, but all I can remember now is that the author(s) made a point of saying that they'd "been up for three days straight."

I was intrigued by the piano sale, but I continued on home because I knew that there were visitors waiting for me. A relative (in the dream, no one in real life) and her two small daughters were there: one girl about 6 or 7 and a toddler, about 2. I decided to take the girls on a walk and go back and see about this piano sale. For some reason we decided to take a chicken with us on the walk.

As we arrived at the piano sale house, we found three young, tall, thin guys lounging in the yard, as though resting after working hard. One was a tall black guy with dreadlocks and the other two were white. They nodded as we walked up to the door. An older, rounder, balding white man let us in. As we explained that we were interested in the piano, he showed it to us. It was an electronic, Clavinova-type piano and was, rather than the usual black, a wood-grained brown. I commented, "at least it's not black."

He asked us what we would be willing to pay, and at this point the six-year-old turned out to be a shrewd bargainer. She was signaling to me when to name prices and when to shut up. He mentioned $3000 and I regretfully responded that all I had to spend was $1200, when in fact me and the little girl both knew it was $1500.

During the negotiations, however, I became aware that the chicken had at some point turned into an extremely ill-tempered cat, which was trying to claw and bite everyone within reach. I was trying to hold this cat down by the scruff of its neck while continuing to bargain with the bald guy, but the cat was writhing and growling, clawing at my arms and hands. A few times it slipped from my grasp, but the tall, thin, young guy with dreadlocks would capture it each time and return it to me. It was very distracting, painful, and frustrating.