george clooney

I had one of those annoying late-for-work dreams last night. I had run a bunch of errands and badly miscalculated the time that would take (as usual in real and dream life). I was supposed to be going to work at 10 or 11 a.m., but still needed to take a shower. In the dream, I was living (temporarily?) in some group setting* with common bathrooms. There were about 4 shower stalls in the bathroom, and I had just peeked in and seen that they were all empty with no one in line for them. By the time I gathered up my stuff and got there to shower, though, they were all occupied and there was a line of about 6 people waiting, including a girl I had found annoying in high school.

That was the boring, unpleasant part of the dream. After that, I was at an airport with both indoor and outdoor waiting areas, and I was supposed to get on a flight to somewhere for some kind of work-related trip. There was a giant snowstorm/cold front over pretty much the whole northern hemisphere, and all flights were canceled until further notice**. I was waiting outside on a high concrete balcony with an assortment of past real-life acquaintances, random dream people, a Norwegian girl whose design blog I sometimes read, and George Clooney (?). We were all leaning against or sitting on the balcony railing, and talking about random things. Incidentally, I was dressed in a very ratty pajama ensemble, possibly having given up earlier on getting a shower.

It turned out that George Clooney was extremely personable and funny, capable of a wide-ranging conversation. He had the sort of dry, punny, double-meaning humor that I particularly enjoy, but at one point he got serious and launched into a rather long, Steinbeckian soliloquy on the salt-of-the-earth working man and the dangers and hardships he faced (I think he was referring specifically to truck drivers, in the context of the big winter storm).

George stayed there for quite a while just chewing the fat with us, and I kept thinking, "he's a great waiting companion, but doesn't he have bigger fish to fry?" At one point he abruptly buried his face in my stomach to warm up his nose, which I thought a bit odd (although I realized that it must be an effective strategy, and that he probably found lots of willing stomachs to warm his cold nose, being who he was).

At one point in the dream, toward the beginning of the George Clooney episode, I was very concerned because I had noticed that several of my teeth seemed loose***. I was very worried, and asking everyone if they knew anything about it and if I should be worried or if it was normal****. No one had anything too reassuring or useful to say about my problem (I think the girls were all too focused on our distinguished companion). Only George had something somewhat helpful to say, and he also reminded me that [in this alternate dream universe] people's teeth were generally spaced far apart (??).

Anyway, if you're ever stranded at an airport in an open-ended, weather-related travel complication, look for George Clooney. I highly recommend him as a temporary waiting companion.



*I'd really like to someday get to the bottom of this group trip/group living thing.
**A relatively rare intrusion of current events into my dream life.
***I've experienced this loose-teeth thing a lot in dreams before, although not for a while.
****What a charming thing to bring up with a very attractive celebrity: "Nice to meet you. I think my teeth are getting ready to fall out."

Camping Dreams

I was camping this weekend, and had extremely vivid dreams all Sunday night. Here are a few of the highlights:

• I somehow managed to break big chunks off my molars, possibly exposing the nerves. I spit a mouthful of chunks into my palm, and when I touched the broken spots in my mouth with my tongue, it had that iron-y taste and sent pain radiating through my bones.
• I noticed this while I was brushing my teeth, getting ready to leave. It seemed to be late at night, and I needed a ride home. My ex-boyfriend agreed to take me home, but then my sister rode with us and he was flirting with her.
• My aunt and Small Cousin (in the dream, about three years old, with a very round face) were walking at night in a warm city. My cousin sat down happily in a mud puddle and then insisted that she would not take a bath.
• In this city, we saw a Mexican wedding taking place. There was a live mariachi band, and people were dancing. Food was being cooked, and one of the women recognized my aunt and held up a piece of cake for her to take. Later, we made our way down there and she got her cake.
• As we were walking home, we passed some beautiful architectural elements, including an elaborately carved door. It was very windy, though, and I almost got blown away--a very similar sensation to this dream.
• People were coming to my aunt and uncle's house. At first, it had something to do with some sort of Easter egg hunt--we had hidden objects for them, apparently--but then it became that they were coming to fight us. There were only two of us, to defend two doors. A heavyset woman was the first person to come to my door. I gave her a speech about how I didn't want to fight her, and that she could just surrender and join us. She wanted to fight me, though, so I fought her. In the dream, I was plenty clumsy, but my blows somehow still struck home. I injured her--and felt terrible about it--and she joined us. I had to fight another couple of people later, although some who showed up were willing to surrender without a fight. Eventually, we either beat or converted everyone and celebrated in the empty house.
  

Fragments

The weirdest part about last night's dreams was dreaming I had awakened and was writing them down in bed, only to have my alarm go off in the middle of it. I was still in bed, but sleeping rather than writing anything, and that was rather disorienting.

I'm pretty sure I dreamed all night, but all I can remember are vivid fragments, which even in the dream world I thought merited writing down. In the dream, I found a notebook by the side of my bed, in which I found a free page to start writing notes. The notes I ended up writing, though, were about an epically long voicemail message my mom had left about food. Then the notebook turned into the menu she was looking at, complete with glossy pictures. We were supposed to eat Thai food, but she had found another restaurant and was telling me about things like the "Germaphobe Plate with Eggs," which she thought "you and I would both like." Although my mom doesn't drink at all in real life, in the dream she also suggested some cocktails, one made with 120 proof vodka and something she pronounced as "shtoot." Stout, I wondered?

Before that, there had been:

• A store stocked with Halloween costumes, now 50-70% off. A mom was shopping with her two boys for next year's costumes, in adult sizes as the younger one could have grown several inches by next Halloween. Another family of three was dressed in matching costumes that covered them entirely and seemed to be made out of a light foam with gray decoration to simulate depth. At the time I didn't know if they were supposed to be skeletons or mummies or what; now I think they may have been tombstones!
• Some sort of celebration, in which a bunch of us were thanked with packages of snacks. I busted mine open, and thought they were absolutely delicious. I was oohing and aahing over them. They were sort of like Frosted Flakes, but thicker, and more like mini pastry flakes with powdered topping. Mine were golden with white topping, but other people had chocolate with powdered sugar, or even apple with cinnamon. I was so impressed!
• My ex and me in my apartment. Suddenly he started what I guess could be called a gas leak; a pipe in the floor by my door suddenly started spewing clear amber liquid, which I understood to be gasoline, all over the place. He said, "Is there a watch here? There must be a watch here somewhere!" He threw open the window, and there was a small digital watch face in the sill. He hit something and the spewing stopped. I cleaned up the mess with paper towels, and then started to sweep. It was difficult, because the wind was blowing in my apartment and autumn leaves were swirling everywhere and turned to dust when I touched them with the broom.
• My sister and me trying to go to church. The church building was empty, but as we wandered, we found a little chapel. It was filled with African Americans having Sabbath school, and they were clearly not happy to be interrupted, although they let us sit and join anyway, for the last few minutes.
• A movie theater with outlets in the seats. I plugged something in. Speakers? My cell phone?
• A huge tunnel where the snow passable to snowmobiles ended. There was an evening train at 9, but we had missed it.
• A dentist's appointment for me. As we were getting ready to leave (my mom was driving), I realized I hadn't brushed my teeth and that they were seriously scuzzy. I went into the bathroom (from my grandma's old apartment in Portland) and started brushing. I could see red stuff around my teeth; at first I thought it was blood, but then realized it was Swedish fish (which I'd been eating in real life last night). I figured I was in for some blood at the dentist's, though, since I'd forgotten to be flossing in advance of the appointment.
  

teeth

as i was brushing my teeth this morning, i remembered that i had a dream last night about my teeth crumbling out of my mouth. i don't remember the story line behind the dream, all i can remember is the horrible feeling of my teeth crumbling, bit by bit, and me spitting out large quantities of tooth-bits.

i know that losing teeth is a common theme in dreams so i did a little roaming around on the internet looking for meanings/interpretations. ultimately i was reminded of looking back at dreams by what emotions where present. i determined that the main emotion surrounding the crumbling of my teeth and continuously spitting them out was a feeling of failure.

i'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that this dream is a reflection of how much fear i have of failing/making a wrong decision/screwing things up in my job.

you know, just a guess.

don't kill the tiger

i was at some sort of a fair, accompanied by a large group of people from various corners of my life (work, friends, family, etc). we were walking through a an exhibit in a trailer where there were a ton of sheep giving birth all at the same time (i'm pretty sure this part of the dream was influenced by a conversation i had with ceri about a fair in mn).

as i was walking through the exhibit trailer, a saber-toothed tiger appeared out of nowhere and grabbed me by the arm and pulled me outside. it was biting down hard to where it was piercing my skin, but not hard enough to actually rip my arm off. as he was biting down, we were looking at each other straight in the eyes. a crowd gathered around me and a lady had a large knife and was ready to jump in to save me.

i pleaded with the crowd and the knife lady to keep back. i wanted to try to get away so that the tiger wouldn't have to be killed. i felt this weird connection with the tiger as we looked into each other's eyes. somehow i just knew that the tiger and i loved each other (almost like the tiger was my pet) and that he didn't want to hurt me, he was just doing what nature makes tigers do.

i was nervous, halfway wanting someone to save me but knowing that by saving me they would have to kill him. the tiger and i stood there for awhile, my arm in his teeth, looking at each other. finally he made a quick move and bit down harder which made the knife lady lunge into action and stab him in the neck, killing him.

and i sobbed and sobbed. it broke my heart that the tiger was dead.

it was a very emotional dream all around. it felt so real that i instinctively checked my arm for teeth marks when i woke up.

Back in Minneapolis

It was next Tuesday, at 7:30 a.m. I was back in my apartment in Minneapolis, once again afraid that I was going to be late for all the day's appointments and generally having feelings of anxiety (and terror). For some reason I wasn't going to ride my bike (maybe because it was cold?) and was trying to figure out both how to get a U-Pass and how to catch the bus to school. I went to my neighbor's for help with this (she was, impressively, up and about at 7:30 a.m.; I think the reason I was up may have been that I hadn't slept that night). I don't remember whether she helped me with the bus thing, but she did make me feel a little better.

When I got back to my apartment from hers, I was in the kitchen, where I had a GIGANTIC refrigerator (my mom suggested when I related this to her that it may have been symbolic of the state of Minnesota). Also, there was food everywhere, on cooling racks. In the dream, I "remembered" this having been left the last time I was in my apartment. I'm not sure where the strange round yellow pancakes (?) came from, but the cookies (also yellow and round) were from Jeni. They were coconut, sort of chewy, especially in the center, and not too sweet.

When I went into my bathroom, my sink was one of those fancy flat ones with straight edges. It was also composed of small slate tiles, which, even in my dream I realized, must be a nightmare to clean. It was pretty, though, with dark brown, gray, and terra cotta colors, plus the odd, inexplicable, dash of patinated-copper-green.

As I was standing there, I somehow broke my retainer (which I haven't worn for years) and dropped it down the drain. I was able to fish out the two wire pieces (ewwww), but there was something else in the drain. I thought it was part of my retainer, but it turned out to be just the pincer part of a rather rusted pair of pliers.

Then I woke up.

The vividnes of this dream--including full color, taste, and touch--got me thinking about my sense perception in dreams. I know I see, taste, touch, and smell in dreams (almost all of which are in full color, though I don't always taste or smell), but I'm not nearly as convinced that I hear in them. Conversations, for example, have a distinctly more telepathic flavor than an auditory one.

But what about the rest of you? Do you hear in your dreams?

Panera

At my parents' house over the holiday, I've been both averaging about 10 hours of sleep and sleeping on an air mattress that tends to chill me while I'm sleeping, the combination of which seems to be resulting in frequent dreams--and odd themes. Including the last one I posted, for example, I've had three separate dreams featuring garages. Teeth have also been reappearing; two nights ago I dreamed I was wearing flexible rubber retainers, and three nights ago I was late to a dentist appointment.

Last night I dreamed I was at my Panera. The layout was relatively recognizable; I parked in the same place and I knew where the outlets were (one learns these things when one's laptop battery lasts for just four minutes). Outside, there were a lot of kids with purple hair.

As I was approaching the counter (which looked like a ticket window, with a Plexiglas barrier) to order, I got a call, from pollsters who had called me earlier in the dream. They were asking me about all sorts of Spanish names that I should have recognized but couldn't quite place. The woman at the counter tried to help me, but it wasn't working.

When another customer approached the counter, I moved away to give him room, and then got into line behind him after I finished my call, just as another woman was coming in. She pushed right up behind me, sort of squeezing me off to the side, although I kept my foot in line. When it was my turn, she drew up to the counter. "Excuse me," I said, also at the counter. "It's my turn." In real life, I generally let people cut in front of me, but in the dream I decided to stand by my rights. She was really angry--on the brink of tears. She said when I had greeted her and her friend outside the Panera weeks ago (I vaguely remembered this) that it had been a horrible, painful experience. I apologized and said I'd had no idea it had offended her so much--but that it was still my turn to order.

So I ordered, and headed for my favorite table, by the fireplace. A lot of the tables had been moved, though, and there was a raised seating area that's not there in real life. Up there, people were crowded around tables, rehearsing for a musical that appeared to be in Italian. The scene apparently took place in a cafe, with people singing out their lines from their own tables.

I went to set up my computer, but the power cord was a stretchy light blue filament, like dental tape. I was trying to figure out how to strip the ends to get to the wires so that I could attach it to my computer, and the outlet, when I woke up.

Skeletor

So I guess I'm a little obsessive about my cheeks. I've always been skinny, but until recently have had a relatively round, pudgy face. Three and a half years of grad school has made me a bit more gaunt, but it's been kind of nice to finally see a semblance of cheekbones.

Last night, though, I dreamed that although my cheeks had become really quite sunken, my face still looked kind of lumpy. I realized that it was because my cheeks were resting against three large teeth on either side of my bite, which meant that instead of gentle hollows under my cheekbones, I had these three vertical lines on each side. It wasn't a good look.

I think the solution is either better bathroom lighting or more truffles! Mmmmm, truffles...

two dreams in one night!

they say that you dream all night, but i'm the type of person that has a hard time remembering my dreams. so remembering two dreams from last night is an anomoly!

first of all, i dreamed about my teeth. (i got braces put on the week before starting my freshman year of high school (age 14). besides the fact that it looked like trainwreck in my mouth, orthodontic treatment was needed because my molars were grinding down in dangerous ways. the trainwreck was so bad though that for the last few years i had hid my teeth. when i laughed i would cover my mouth. when i smiled, it was never with teeth showing. i was really self-conscious about my trainwreck. braces made me happy and i liked them. after about two and a half years, the trainwreck had disappeared and so did the braces.) it's been about ten years since i had my braces removed. i faithfully wore my retainers every night for about seven years, but i've been really bad about it the last few years. i know my teeth have shifted some, but it's not terrible. and i still do try to wear the retainers once in a while. okay, now back to the dream, i literally woke up one morning and had half of a trainwreck in my mouth. my teeth were fine before bed, but something strange must have happened in my sleep. the first thing i did when i got out of bed was go the mirror. thank god, i did not find the trainwreck that i had dreamed about. i think i'm going to start wearing my retainers at night again.

in the second dream i was being seated on a large airplane. i was taking an international trip and coco was with me. it was so last minute that i had forgotten to bring a leash for her and for some reason they would not sell them where i was going. and to make matters worse i was seated by some teenage girls. one of which proclaimed she was allergic to dogs which thankfully meant i got to change seats. but the seat change didn't give me an aisle seat. but one of the two (only two?) flight attendants on this HUGE plane, loved coco and told me about a secret pet place on the upper level of the plane. it was like a mcdonald's playland for dogs. and it seemed that i had the only dog so it was all mine. the problem was that i didn't have a leash, and that was a requirement. so i was trying to figure out how to make a leash out of the carryon items that i had with me. but then i realized i didn't have her collar either, so i would have to make a collar too! and all of this was literally impossible to do.

it's no wonder i don't feel rested this morning. i was solving problems on a plane all night!