Dream Marathon

I am in some giant building with wood floors. There is a dog falling through trap doors in the floors. A girl is following him. Going through the last one would mean a fall to the street. However, inside that floor, just under the opening, there is a bad guy in there somehow. She shines a flashlight down to try to see what is going on. Some guy down on the street yells about the light shining down on him.


I am with two other guys- one is Gibbs, from NCIS. We are carrying big rock mural thing, trying to get it to the right spot before dawn. If sunlight shines on us while we are carrying it, we would turn to stone forever. We are going up cobblestone streets past walls covered with stone murals- it is very quaint and old-fashioned. The momen dawn is about to happen, Gibbs yells, "Drop!" We all fall to the ground, saving ourselves from turning into stone. As far as everyone going by on the street can tell though, they think we are a pile of stones. We have to wait til the next night to try and finish bringing the mural to our destination to save something.


I am at a store in a mall, when I notice a black thing on the floor with a blinking red light. Only one other guy has noticed it so far, and then me. I yell, "There's a bomb!" Everyone evacuates, and waits far out in the parking lot. There is a plastic tented around and over the parking lot to maintain the shrapnell. A teacher lady is explaining how she has tested gas fires to try and keep everyone safe. Lastly Monica Geller comes out of the store, the teacher tells her to get out here, and she just says, "No, I'm going back in for my colors." No one says anything, so I yell, "No! Run!" She turns and runs at a 45 degree angle from the door, just as the place explodes. We turn and hunch over, covering our necks. I feel tiny glass shards hitting me. Then, it is over, and people are leaving. I am talking to a friend from high school and some other Indian guy. We are sharing cds and music. The Indian boy saying something about having me do pictures for him.



I am on the computer at my childhood home, setting up a new computer for someone. I put in a program, and it warns me that some malware has turned itself on. Whoops. I'll have to figure out how to turn that off. I'm listening to Sweet Devotchka, and my dad is yelling up the stairs at me for listening to "Soviet" music.



My Dad is a real estate agent. We are out at some rural lakefront property he is trying to sell. He is throwing rocks down in the water to make the slope walkable and the beach stable, while talking on his cell phone to someone who might want to buy it.

Transportation, poverty, and travel - fragments from one night

I was with my husband at the gas station. He goes inside to buy the gas. I have to get something (can't remember what), but I can't get it at the gas station. I get on a bus looking for the nearest place I can get what I need, thinking I'll be back quick. The bus goes some roundabout way, and ends up at a mall. I look at the bus map, and learn it is the end of the line. I wonder whether I should get on the bus the other direction and get back to my husband or whether I should call him to come get me.

I was with some girlfriends at some guys apartment. We decide he's a schmuck, and get out of there pronto. As we are running away, we go over some frozen pond area. I thought it looked really cool and thought to myself, "I guess Kansas is all right." It led to a restaurant. We wonder if we should steal the food, since we have no money. That guy comes there.


I am in LA at a bus station. I am wondering where I should go. I have my bike. I decide I should fly home. WaLah, there's the airport! Some girl tells me I should ask for Hannah when I check in. I walk across the airport looking for the right airline. Then realize it was NW which was the first one. When I get there, I realize I've left my bike on the other side. I am running, hoping it didn't get stolen. I am lucky today. I bring it over to NW. Hannah has some magical ability to fold up my bike and not ring it in as a bike- so I won't get charged extra.


I am at home. My mom comes in, and tells us we have 15 minutes to get to the airport. We are so poor she has decided we are going to move in with my aunt and uncle in Kansas. We are mad she didn't give us any warning. I am trying to stuff things into a bag- throwing in craft books, jewelry findings, anything that might be worth a little bit of money. We take off.


I am in the black hills, overhearing some people talking about how much they like club med- they are filming a commercial or something. I am hiking on the sidewalk when a little boy falls down the hill a little bit. I give him a hand and pull him up. I see a house a mile or two away giving out tons of smoke. Some guy hiking near me says its possible that it isn't on fire, because it's all coming out of the chimney. If they are burning some specific type of local wood it would give off tons of smoke, which then falls down in the valley and enriches the soil.
We go on, and a lady pops out of a door of a house right up against the path. The guy talks to her- it's my mom?! "Where are you staying," he asks her. She points to a cheap motel. He's like "Oh." I'm thinking maybe she was in the club med commercial and that's why she's here. It's embarrasing not to be staying where the rich people are. I go down some steps on the edge of the hill to the main motel entrance. The owner is an old lady who gives me some things to cover the planters in the entryway for the winter.
My family leaves the motel to go to some buffet restaurant. We are trying to figure out what we can afford. I have to pay for myself. I have 6 dollars. My uncle has 10. My dad has to feed him, my mom, and my sister. We can get ham, a dinner roll, and corn for $5 each. I want a rootbeer too, but it costs a dollar and I won't have money for tax. There is a small deli/grocery in front of the buffet line. My mom opens a package of swiss cheese to see if it smells good. She doesn't think it's good enough, and gives it to the cheese man and tells him he should sell it.

Dream Fragments

This morning, I only remembered fragments of my dreams, not a full storyline.

I was in some small town, everyone dressing old fashioned, like the 1600s or something. Someone gave the news that the whole world had been taken over by some kind of mind control. This town was the last holdout, and didn't stand a chance, because it was the only one. I was trying to get away with some others on a small old fashioned ship. There was a town across the bay. I recognized buildings from Venice, Italy, but they called the town something else. All the spaces on the edge of town had been filled in with brick buildings, and there was no end to the development. Somehow this confirmed what I had been told. There was an island in the middle of the bay we were trying to get to.

I was building toy train tracks. It was somehow relevant to real life- a real train getting through or something. Someone else was trying to take them apart. It was imperative that I build a complete track.

I was with a friend in a train station, trying to get somewhere before specific time. We needed to get something that was in high demand, and would run out almost immediately. All the trains that get there in time are sold out. We decide to take one that gets there 9 minutes late. Another guy who just tried to get a ticket glares at us like we're cheating because we didn't give up on getting there.

Someone mentioned someone's gramma selling an old tablecloth at consignment store. I went to look at it; heard the other person saying something about weird names on it. I looked at the edges. It was octagonal, and on each side was an old fashioned girls name starting with E. Edith, Emily, Ethel, Edie... There were multiple sets of matching tablecloth, table runner, and placemats. There was a green one I was considering. I pulled out the table runner. It was really stiff, and the material was like waterproof. I was thinking that maybe it would be useful if I had a baby, but it's kind of weird for a table runner. Then I saw it had two layers, and the underside had plastic pockets for sorting photographs, and there were little paper notes in there from the previous owner, like save, store, sort, play with.

I was at someone's house. People from my childhood were there. Everyone went into the living room. A childhood friend was sitting in front of a birthday cake. We sing to her. She blows out the single candle. She is sick and grumpy and doesn't want to talk to anyone. I wonder how far away from where she blew they will give out the cake, whether people will eat germy cake.

Then the focus turns to another friend. Her parents have some sort of surprise location to bring us to. I notice an old friend has written notes in a notepad about her day tomorrow. Two events- church and one other event that she was going to skip, thus enabling her to come out tonight. The secret event was some place climbing up a steep ramp, holding onto a rope. We were taking turns doing this. About my third time going up, I realize it is a modeling photo shoot, and I've been wearing my winter jacket. My photo will never be chosen. Ask if I can take it off. It is my last chance. I try to climb up the rope looking sexy, but it is a weird angle, and I don't know how.

Bathrooms, Stick-shifts, and Milk

I was in a large department store, looking for the restroom. A sign pointed up, so I got on an escalator. As I was riding up the escalator, I noticed there were people on another escalator next to me. Their escalator ended, and mine kept going up. When I got off the escalator, I saw I had to go around and down to get to the restroom.

The people on the other escalator had beat me there. There was a long line inside the bathroom. When I finally got in front of the line, the girl behind me jumped in front of me. Then the end stall door opened, and she tried to push me in there. I got mad at her and yelled at her, because it was the stall noone wanted- a no-flusher. I went into another one instead.

There was this girl, who was new to the area, and we worked close to each other. I told her I could give her a ride, but the car had to be left at the house of the people I babysit for, because it was borrowed. I figured it should be no problem, because she only lived a couple blocks from there.

We went to work in the morning. When I finished up, I went to a family picnic. All of a sudden, I remembered I had to pick up this girl- I realized that carpooling wasn't such a great idea since we didn't finish work at the same time. I didn't even know what time she got done with work, and I was probably late.

I drove to the school she worked at. She was standing at a table outside, along with a lot of other people. I apologized, and asked how long ago she got done with work. She said, "Oh, only nine minutes ago, it's just fine." We went to the car. It was a red convertible with a stick shift. We realized neither of us could drive a stick shift. How would we get home?

A young man came by and told us he could drive it for us. I was skeptical, but it seemed like our only option. We stopped at a gas station to get some stuff. That guy decided to take a little joy ride while we were there. Luckily he picked us up again. We drove to the house I babysit at to bring them their car. We could see a big rainstorm moving in, so instead of going home, we went inside to visit for a while. While there, I remembered that it was raining, and we didn't put the top up on the convertible. Oops. That guy kept trying to make a pass at me, and it was really annoying, so I was glad to go home.

Later that evening, the dad of the house I babysit at stopped by. He was holding a box of groceries, and asked my husband a question about milk. My husband asked whether they get skim milk or whole milk, and proceeded to tell them that if they get whole milk, they can get a real deal on it at the liquor store. The guy was like "Oh, great." Then he proceeded to take our milk out of the fridge and he poured about half of it into his box of groceries, and then left.

That's Criminal!

I went with my mom to the art store, and in the front of the room, they were having a class teaching kids how to make Indian food. We got samples of two different items, and they were really delicious.

For some reason, I got sent to deliver the food somewhere, and when I came out of the building I delivered to, there was a little girl and boy standing outside of the house next door. I went over by them, because I wanted to make sure they were safe, and their mom came out of the house. She was really beautiful. I couldn't tell if she was asian or hispanic. She said she was hispanic though, and she was making sure her husband wasn't in the house before she brought the kids in.

We went in her house, and I was sitting on the chair with her little boy, and we were chatting. I guess I fell asleep, and when I woke up, her husband was there, and they were arguing. Then he started pushing her towards the corner, and I thought he might kill her.

I noticed there was a big gun on an ottoman close to me. I very quietly reached for it, trying not to be noticed. I thought, "If I shoot him in the leg, he'll have a hard time hurting her." I shot it, but didn't have that good of aim, so it got him in the gut.

I ran with the little boy, and we hid behind the island in the kitchen, so that he couldn't hurt the child. I think I fell asleep again, and when I woke up, the cops were there, and they told me that the husband died from the gunshot wound.

The Crocodile

I was at the grocery store with my mom, my sister, and my cousin. We were checking out when I remembered I needed to get a razors for my shaver. My cousin and I went to go find them, and there was a whole aisle of shaving supplies, which we were surprised to see had been separated by brand names. I couldn't find the one I was looking for, and my cousin pointed out one she liked, but there were 5 basic razors in it, and it cost $40. Then I saw where mine should be, but it wasn't there, so I just chose another one for about $8. Of coursed my mom had finished checking out by that time, but as I was checking out she came over and had some kind of discount cards she tried to apply to my purchase.

Then we all got in the car, and my mom was driving us down a beautiful road along a lake. Then we were riding horses on the edge of the lake (in the water). I looked back at them, and saw something green poking up out of the water. I yelled, "watch out!", but it swam right past them. It was indeed a crocodile, and it took a bite at my horse's leg, and pulled him down. We got out of there and into some cabin, where we were going to have to stay for a while, because it was raining.

I was on a bed, and there were a couple people in the room. There was a bucket of little bugs/maggots, with little food pellets. Somehow I got the idea that they turned their children into bugs so that they wouldn't have to deal with them, so I picked out the bugs that were slightly bigger and different than the rest of them. Lo and behold, they turned into two boys I used to nanny for. The parents were really mad at me, but I was determined to get them dressed and bring them out somewhere fun. When we got back, the parents wanted to turn them into bugs again, but I wouldn't let them. I threatened that I would call social services on them.

Then, my crocodile appeared again, from under the bed. I stood on the bed, and had some kind of paddle I was hitting it on the nose with, and it would go under the bed. Every once in a while, I would accidently hit one of my dogs, then try to coax them out, because I didn't want them to get eaten from being under the bed with the crocodile. When I had both the dogs out, and the crocodile was under the bed, I called for help. I told them that I had two pit bulls with me, and there was a crocodile under the bed. They told me to put the dogs in the car until it was all over with.

From Art Show Stardom to War Refugee

Somehow, I got chosen last minute to do a gallery show along with a real life artist friend of mine, Hadley. First, the gallery owner, we'll call her Sally, was playing the piano, and Hadley and I were to sing along. I didn't manage to, due to a phlegmy throat, and had to explain that I had some sugar earlier that made me phlegmy. Then Sally briefly goes through my portfolio of artworks with me to discuss which ones won't go up. I choose a few pieces that aren't as good, and there are a dozen left, which sounds good to both of us.

Next thing you know, the three of us are shopping at the mall together. The gallery owner lets us know we have to leave in about 15 minutes, so we can get ready for the show. Hadley starts running down the stairs, so we leave right away. When we get back to the gallery, I notice the only paintings on the wall are some encaustics, which are nailed to the walls. We are supposed to be getting ourselves ready, but Sally still has to hang the show.

I have to take a shower to get ready, so I pull my clothes out of my dresser and go look for a shower. First I see a showerhead in a back room, but it opens up into the gallery. There is a curtain there, which I pull across so that people wouldn't be able to see me as I shower. As I close it, I notice there are a couple men in the gallery- the opening must be starting already. Why are we so behind?

Then I notice that behind me the gallery turns into a house (which looks like it hasn't been updated since the 70's), and there is a bathroom with a real shower. Next to that there is another room with just a shower. I go in there, so that other people can still use the toilet. The entry to the shower was so tight, I could barely squeeze through. Then I noticed that it rolled open more if you pushed it right.

As I was showering, there were some models hanging out. I figured there must be a fashion show at the opening. The models tried to give me a little bottle of something to wash up with, but I recognized it as something bad for skin, (like a hair remover?), with a faint memory of some commercial it was in. Then Hadley was there, holding her violin, and I remembered that we were supposed to play some songs on the violin at the opening. I said, "Oh no! What songs are we playing? I forgot! Do you have the sheet music?" I figured I could learn them really quickly if she had the music. Hadley doesn't seem to notice my distress and says, "Well there's the Bach concerto, and that other song. You're supposed to know them."

I finish my shower real quick, and then there is a young man sitting in there on a stool. I don't know how long he's been there, and I figure why bother covering up, if he's already seen me. He tells me he has a note from my mom, saying that I should have sex with someone to get that "special glow" so that people will like me, and I'll have a better chance of becoming famous. She claims a statistic that people are liked 70% better if they have recently had sex. He's not trying to pressure me into sex, just matter-of-fact reports to me what is in the note. I have a sense that there is a man in my life, who isn't there as an option to have sex with. I reply something to this man, and he says, "Oh, you're from Indiana?" like he's from there too.

Suddenly, he and I are in a field, dressed in army clothes, surrounded by other couples also in army clothes, and spaced in a grid formation. There is some kind of exercise/drill about who has "the power" in the couple. Some men are holding down their women partners. I decide he doesn't have "the power" over me, and we got up and walked away. I noticed one woman holding her guy up by a noose, and thought, "Wow, she really has 'the power!'".

We are walking across a huge field to leave. I hear the scene being narrated, as if it were a movie. All of a sudden, some really old fashioned cars come driving towards us. We try to avoid them and start running. We don't want to be caught by whoever is in these cars. Then a barrage of military airplanes start coming down towards the field. With the wind of the airplanes, we are having a hard time making any progress running across the field, and the distance to the hedge at the edge of it seems to only get further.

Suddenly, we are in a building. It is shaking from the airplanes as well- you have to be careful when you move if you don't have anything to hold onto. I see some people get in an elevator- it drops down really fast, before the doors even close. There was one more stairway down before a door to the exit. We make it out there.

Next thing, I am sitting in the back of a pickup truck with several other people, and I am holding a baby. The young man is looking for me, calling me his wife. In my head, I wonder when that happened, and think well, if we're married, we must have had sex after all, and then, there is this baby. He is looking for a ride for us to get out of that war-occupied area. I tell him get in this truck, I have a seat for you, and it's hard for me to move because of the baby.

He gets in and sits next to me. The truck takes off right away. He decides he will be more comfortable sitting across from me, on the tailgate, which is down but has a backrest. Somewhere around this point, I realize he has become my real-life husband. My legs are straight out, resting on the tailgate. There are several loaves of bread in the middle. One falls through the gap between the truck and the tailgate. My husband and the man next to him decide they are hungry. We hit a bump, and my legs separate a little, allowing another loaf of bread to fall through. We all think, "Uh-oh, how long does this bread have to last us for food?" but nobody complains out loud about the dropped bread, because there is nothing to do about it anymore. My husband and the other man take out a loaf of french bread and begin to eat hunks of it.