So it seems like I dreamed several things last night that I wanted to write about, but now -- as I'm finally getting around to it tonight -- I'm having trouble remembering most of them. Alas.

But I do remember dreaming about a commercial for a play tent/sleeping bag for little girls. Apparently it utilized some new 3D immersive hologram technology, such that girls inside the tent would actually see things as if they were swimming underwater. Since it was a licensed product based on the mer-sisters of a cartoon (I think another thing I wanted to write about was the cartoon itself, but I don't remember much about it), the visuals would also entail the little girls looking down at themselves and seeing themselves transformed: they would have the lower body of whichever of the sisters they chose. One was more along the lines of a traditional mermaid, though rather than having scales she had the smooth rear half of a dolphin; another had the tail and legs of a lobster; and the last had the lengthy body and numerous legs of a centipede. And I thought this thing was awesome and I wanted it. (more...)

Weird dream last night. I dreamed cops had come to the house to arrest me for cocaine possession and distribution, but were hesitant to break in because they thought I had hostages. In (dream) reality, a couple of friends had come to visit shortly before the police arrived and -- since they gathered that their presence was the only thing keeping the cops from bursting in on me, they were just hanging out playing video games for as long as I wanted them to stay. However, when the press began reporting that I had hostages, their parents freaked out and showed up in the driveway shouting desperate pleas for me to release their sons, so eventually I sent my guests out. (more...)

I had my first lucid dream! Well, depending upon your definition of the term. I've had those "dreams" where I start off really thinking about a scenario and then enter it, but I've generally been in control of everything and have never lost awareness of my outer surroundings -- so those experiences have been more akin to daydreaming or fantasizing than actual, unconscious dreaming. But this time! This time I started off unaware that I was dreaming, deduced that I was dreaming, and then attempted to do things that I couldn't do when waking. How cool is that?

Okay, details. I found myself in a comic shop, and suddenly it occurred to me that I didn't remember entering the store -- I didn't even know where it was. (How have I not noticed things like this in dreams before?!) So I went to the front of the store to look outside and saw a grimy side street that suggested to me that I was in New York City, though I was aware that I might have been in any urban environment. In any case, I certainly didn't remember coming to NYC (would I have been as suspicious had I seen an area of Laurel?), so I went to ask the clerk for directions. I specifically avoided mentioning NYC, so as not to seem crazy if I was not dreaming and was actually somewhere else.

I said, "I think I got a bit mixed up on my way here. Can you direct me to...?" I let that hang, assuming he'd mention an obvious landmark that would help me to determine my location.

"Sure!" he said. "Just go left out here, then walk left down 37th. Broadway's several blocks down, and then --"

"I'm good from there, thanks!" I chirped. "I thought I was much farther down from Times Square than that, but I guess I got turned around somewhere." The clerk smiled.

I walked back towards the back of the store, now almost certain that I was dreaming. But how to test it? I didn't want to do something that would make me seem insane -- or put me in danger, since that would probably wake me up if I was dreaming or kill me if I wasn't. I decided upon a simple test: I would pinch myself.

Pinch. No pain. Pinch harder. No pain! DREAM STATE CONFIRMED! (more...)

I had a pretty satisfying dream last night! I dreamed that I'd gone out to dinner with a bunch of people -- some of whom appeared to be former high school and college classmates; I have no idea where others came from (one looked a bit like an extra from some cop drama) -- and had a generally decent time hanging out with them. What made the dream feel especially great isn't that part of it, though, but rather how I felt about it after I woke up.

See, on the rare occasions that I actually spend time with people, any enjoyment I have during the experience is usually muted by the aftermath. Sure, it might be kinda fun while it lasts, but there's almost no prolonged benefit for me. It's not as if I'm building lasting friendships with these people; I always end up spending more money than I'd like to spend (I'd like to spend nothing); and I typically don't leave with anything tangible to show for the monetary and temporal loss (though if I remember, I'll try to squeeze in a photo or something -- at least then I have a keepsake of sorts). (more...)

I have kicked off 2010 with some fairly unusual dreams! Or perhaps it just seems that way because it's been a while since I actually remembered my dreams on a regular basis -- for all I know I have dreams like this every night. I've been able to remember my dreams for the past three or four nights, though, and they've been long and sprawling affairs that continued when I went back to sleep after waking up for whatever reason.

Last night's dream began with me attending a comedy show with a bunch of my chat/convention pals. The show was hosted by Adam Carolla -- which is weird in and of itself because I never think about this dude. What made it even weirder was that the show had frequent intermissions, during which segments of some detective show starring the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles played on the auditorium screen. The Turtles were trying to get to the mystery of some corporation that, among other questionable features, had a talking, wall-walking, man-eating komodo dragon as one of its executives. It ate one of the recent hires during one segment. (more...)