Threecat's Dreamtime

5:55 AM: Close to lucidity a few times (in high school again, both with people my own age and people who are not). Finally, I am driving with my wife. Not sure how, but enough weird stuff occurs that I nose pinch. I am nose pinching, and about to say that it is not a dream, when I realize I can actually breathe. I look at my wife and say, "I can breathe!" She smiles and is RCing as well. I am still not sure. Jokingly, I say, "I am going to do one more RC." I then open the car door as we are speeding along. "If this is a dream, I can jump out and be OK." She doesn't say anything. I look at my hands. They are a little off, but otherwise normal. I look away and look back several times. Finally, I only have two fingers, and one of them is twisted up like an ugly tree root.

"I've only got two fingers!" I say to my wife in a "this is ridiculous" tone of voice. "This is a dream." I then jump out of the car. I glide to a stop, as though the car was never moving at all. My wife gets out of the car too. We are in a wooded area, and there is a dirt cliff high above us. My wife easily flies up to this spot. I decide to follow, but can't fly after her. I begin practicing what I had told myself in WL: I'm flying, I think, I'm flying! It doesn't work, though, so I jump and start climbing up the dirt cliff. My wife extends her hand down to me to help me up. I wake up and then DEILD.

I roll left (not normal) and fall through space. I am in darkness for a bit, but then "open my dream eyes." I am falling through some cavernous area, with Egyptian iconography. I see a sign that looks like an advertisement for the Discovery channel. I finally land in what I think was a ruin of sorts.

I sense the gravity is low here. I moon jump through the house. Fun! I notice the house becoming more "house-like" and less ruin-like. In the bathroom, I look around the shower curtain to see who is there. Nobody. I look away and look back, expecting a beautiful woman to be there. Surprise! No, she is not there. I try this a couple of times, to no effect. I then see some shadows in the soap dish. The shadows begin to form into little silhouettes of goblins. I begin interacting with them, and begin to pretend to be mean. They respond by swinging little weapons around (I remember one swinging a tiny flail). I remember to give them positive energy. They really seem to hate it, as they begin screaming. I tickle them and they start dying. I wake up.

MILD for a few minutes then return to sleep. I am driving along a mountain path and listening to a rock song. I think to myself how this singer has a melodious voice, when I suddenly wonder if this is real or not. I nose pinch but find it difficult to breathe. I stop the car by putting my feet down and lifting the main wheel up. I then look out over a cliff at the town below. I think of how I would love to jump from here, if I could just be sure I was dreaming. I sense for my WL body.Hey, there it is! but unfortunately I wake up.

6:30 AM: SinisterDezz has a question about LDing. He posts in the forum, and uses a box of black tiles with his question written on it as an accompanying picture. The forum warns him that this picture is creepy, and not to post it, but he does anyway. NyxCC answers his question. Dreamer shows up as well, but can't remember much else.

In this same dream sequence, there is a machine that can cause a person to both LD and AP. I reason in the dream that the machine really does not need to send a soul anywhere to WILD (odd meta moment). During the AP, the soul bounces around in a triangular part of the machine (I drew a cryptic picture in my DJ, posting it would really not help much). Seth Rogan also shows up in this dream as the Green Hornet (a movie I have never seen). I wake up, feeling close to an LD. I MILD and then return to sleep.

I am in bed. I pretty blonde girl is asking me all sorts of questions about how she looks. As she asks these questions, she is showing more and more skin--pulling up her shirt, putting a foot on the bed so I can see her legs, and finally spreading her legs above me. I suddenly begin to wonder if this is a dream. I close my eyes and nose pinch. Hmm. I lie here breathing, and thinking of goals. Ah yes, wanted to play with kitten T. Now I am in darkness., even after opening my eyes. I sweep the "hair" out of my eyes and the scenery returns. The blonde girl is gone now, and I head downstairs.

I find kitten by the sliding glass doors, watching outside. I scoop her up and try phasing through the wall. I am going through easily but kitten is getting stuck. I duck down, see the opening in the wall, and tunnel out.

Outside, I want kitten to fly so I throw her into the air. She definitely falls on the pavement, and pretty hard (her legs splay out from the impact). I have a twinge of discomfort, as I would not want to hurt my real life cat this way, but reason that this is just a dream, and throw her into the air again. Same result, except this time, after standing up, she turns into a tiny black beetle and flies away. I decide to do some flying myself. I try a couple of times (no success) and wake up.

Feel WILD set in, roll off of the mat. Am falling/flying for some time, but keeping my mind blank as I do. I am soaring around a house (my mom's house?), and the characters from the Simpsons live inside. I try to enter via a window, but accidentally break a window with my head. Scene instantly becomes hyper-realistic (not cartoon-like anymore) and the characters vanish. I have the feeling that, like a big oaf, I ruined this part of the dream. I walk inside the house.

Inside, I try practicing my dream control via perspective by crushing my bedroom door frame top to bottom. Nothing happens. I attempt a few more times, but still am unsuccessful. I leave the house and wander about. Yep, it's out in the country, just like waking life. I think how I will write down in my dream journal that this was a very long, very stable, very boring LD. Not much going on, and no DCs around. I decide to relax and see what "dream memories" come up (such as why I might be here, etc.). I wake up. Do some MILD and back to sleep.

Walking with my sister-in-law to a school for young kids. I am examining a wall mural the kids have done. I realize that it has something to do with Theravada Buddhism. I suddenly think, "The girls go to a Buddhist school?" I nose pinchand can breathe. My sister-in-law confirms my suspicions and says that the curriculum here is inspired by Theravada Buddhism; the kids are taught to be mindful of their one precious human life. Excited, I decide to see what the inside of the school looks like. I find a door and open it. Behind it is another door. This is funny to me, and undeterred, I open this door as well.

Inside, people are eating food and talking. I see a coworker eating. I look around, trying to decide who to talk to. There is a large man, with no shirt and a hairy chest, sitting in a sauna-like area and talking on a phone. This guy seems fairly impressive, so I decide to talk to him. He sees me waiting, then puts his phone away and greets me. I say I have a question about dreams, from a Theravadan perspective. He nods, then seems to consider my statement carefully. He then says,

"Well, suppose you have a tikkoku. That's kind of like a cocaku. You see?"

I say I don't quite see. I then think that I will tell him he is dreaming. He tells me he is unable to lucid dream.

"Pinch your nose!" I say. He shoves his finger up his nose perversely, and then begins tugging at his nostril. He becomes smaller and more imp-like. My own nostrils start to feel affected, and I realize he is just my own mind being overactive. My body unaccountably becomes aroused, and seeing this, the DC lunges at my crotch. Sigh. I hug the DC and tell him it's OK. He calms down quite a bit. I blank my mind and he stops moving altogether. Can't remember how but I soon wake up. Lie still and DEILD into next dream.

Mario Bros. screen with Bowser, too. I know it is a dream, and begin my slow fall (something that happens often to me during WILD and DEILD). I hear water (currently in darkness) and begin imagining a beach (trying to create scenery). I also begin imagining the opening scenes of FFVIII, along with the theme song, Liberi Fatali:



Scenery generates into a desert canyon (pretty close, sand, right?) with shallow water flowing along the sad swiftly. I am carried along on into a gorge/cave. Above, I see a hole in the ceiling, and fly up to investigate. Halfway up, I realize I am effortlessly flying, and begin to fall; I climb up a bit, and then fly the rest of the way. The hole is too small to get out of, so I begin scooping the rock away with my hands. I hear an evil laugh above; outside, there is a stormy sky, with a gray dragon flying above me. I feel terrified--at the dragon, at the feeling that the dream wants me to fight the dragon, and that the floor of the cave is so far below me. I remind myself that this is just a dream but it is not helping much. However, I decide to fly up and face the dragon. I am trying to get out of the hole when I wake up, heart pounding and very relieved. MILD and then return to sleep.

I am at work. A coworker comes up to me and asks me if I got an email. I say I did not, and ask what it was about. He says something that I can't understand. I ask him to repeat, and while I understand more, I still can't quite catch his meaning. I say, "something else someone wants me to do, right?" concerning the email. He looks embarrassed. Turns out the email concerns him getting promoted. Whatever. I reenter my work area, and food is laid out for everyone. A coworker has already begun eating. This seems vaguely against the rules, and I am about to reprimand her when I realize I'm dreaming. Sweet! I pop a piece of fried tofu into my mouth. I also shout, testing out my dream voice. It re-echoes oddly in my head. I wake up.

I wake from NLD, very little recall. Scribble down what I can on my bigger notepad. Feel very tired, so get up and walk around a bit, expose myself to a little light. Return to bed, and with light on, MILD for several minutes. Then begin SSILD until asleep. I am teaching a class. A students asks me to help him solve a math problem. I have already realized that this is a dream, but I mistake it for a dreamlet, and so decide to follow the dream plot for now. I solve the math problem mentally, but the student is unconvinced. I work it out on the board an am correct. I then fade into wakefulness. I perform SSILD.

I am lucid, and some kid is showing off their dream control skills. Something to do with chopping things up with a hatchet? This dream is short, and I don't remember much of anything. After waking, perform MILD again, followed by SSILD.

I am sitting at the end of a lane outside of a park. I am sitting on my sleeping mat, and am sitting up. I think that it might be dangerous to sleep here, as a horse and buggy is approaching me. For some reason, I think I am pretending to be a ghost. I realize I am dreaming, and try out my new schema I've been incubating. There are numerous DCs walking about the park. "Computer!" I say. "Freeze simulation!" All of the DCs stop moving. Freakin' sweet. "Computer!" I say. "Lift!" I point at some old woman and try to lift her via telekinesis. Nothing happens. I try some more commands (can't remember now) and try to freeze the DCs again, but it does not work a second time. I get into some hugging match with a DC. D'oh!



I feel my body breathing and I wake up. SSILD.

I am standing in front of the microwave, microwaving a bowl of chickpeas. I know the chickpeas are done, but for some reason, the microwave door will not open, nor will it turn off. I push the cancel button, but nothing is happening. Finally, the door pops open violently, and actually shoves me back a bit with something like an electrical shock (I attribute this to overloaded microwaves in the dream). It occurs to me that appliances mess up in dreams and I RC. I can breathe. "Computer!" I say. "Produce cake!" Nothing happens, but I think that maybe the cake got put in the refrigerator. I walk out of the bedroom (which for some reason had the microwave in it?) and head to the kitchen. I realize I am quite short (about dwarf-sized) but I ignore this interesting phenomenon. I make it to the fridge and open it. It looks gross and empty, but I feel my body breathing and wake up. Try SSILD for a bit, then just meditate supine for a while. After a while I decide to get up.

I wake around 4:30 and induce. I am with my father on his porch. Suddenly, a Winnebago pulls up to the porch, and some guys get out and begin stripping his tomato plants of fruit. Then then get into the camper and drive off. I run out into the driveway to record a tag number. The tag has been removed, but their "camper tag," which is as large as a billboard, has the tag number (can't remember it now). I run back and tell my dad I have the number. I recite it once incorrectly, then correct myself. We get into his truck and give chase.

While driving, he is not paying attention. A woman's car, pulling a trailer behind her, is sitting in the road. My father smashes into her, knocking her little car out of the way. I think this is hilarious in the dream and laugh. My dad looks at me.

"Do you remember who I am?" he ask.

"Of course," I say. "You're my dad."

He nods, as though he is satisfied. "Son, you're dreaming this dream."

I turn around to look behind us at the wreckage, and realize that this is a very odd scenario to be in. I nose pinch. Can't breath entirely, but can breathe somewhat. Am worried about leaping from the vehicle if it really isn't a dream.Can't remember how I prove it to myself, but the next thing I know I am waving goodbye to my dad, telling him to be careful. I then leap from the vehicle. I try flying a bit, and can't, so I settle on climbing a tree near me. It is basically just a tall, bent over trunk, with no branches. I wrap my arms around it and lift myself into the air. It is hard work (harder than it should be!) but I am able to climb much better than in real life. I get a pretty good distance up befor dropping to the ground. The dream begins to fade, so I strip off my gloves (wtf) and begin rubbing my hands against the asphalt to stabilize. Oops, the dream is fading out anyway.

I "wake up," and am reading FryingMan's DJ. It is interactive, and the POV (1st, 2nd, 3rd) begins changing to indicate whether or not he was lucid. For some reason, this makes me think that perhaps I have not woken up at all, but am still dreaming. I nose pinch.Lucid. However, something catches my eyeand I lose lucidity before finallywaking up.

After a short WBTB with wife (it's about 7 when I get up), I induce and return to sleep. Long semi-lucid. A psychiatrist is talking to me about my dreams, and investigating my dream recall and lucidity. She slowly turns into a very cute psychiatrist wearing glasses. She is mostly naked, and is arching her back very provocatively. For some reason I don't jump on her, but the dream continues. Next thing I know, I am in a boat house and being assailed by faceless men with boners. Yep. I have a pole-axe type weapon, and am fending them off. However, during the dream I have the distinct impression that none of this is real at all. I jump around the building, avoiding the water in the center, and chopping people up as I go. Don't catch me, you dicks!

I manage to climb outside onto the roof of the boathouse. The roof is flimsy and made of plastic, and I feel that I might collapse it easily, or that it might topple over as I move towards the edge. I know if I can just jump into this water, I'll be OK. I leap in. The water feels amazingly real, and but it is totally dark beneath. I suddenly think, "It's a dream!" and open my WL eyes.I can see the room barely, and can also see my sleep mask, so am satisfied. I close my eyes and lie still. Eventually, my dream hands and arms settle back beside me, and another dream begins: some stage curtain draws back to reveal a cartoon singing chicken. The chicken is singing to itself. I watch, waiting for the dream to fully settle. Unfortunately, something distracts me and I wake up.

I am a small duck dressed in a trench coat and sunglasses. I am a bounty hunter, and am after some guys hanging out inside a night club. It is daytime outside My awareness is positioned outside of my body. I enter the club, and exit carrying some stuff I stole from them. I then get into the car I own in WL, where my awareness now enters my body. I am trying to back up, when one of the thugs moves his car to box me in. I turn the wheel hard, ride up and over the car beside me (not possible at all in WL) and in the process, tear the head off of a thug who was trying to climb in through the back window.

I become lucid, as this is ridiculous and could never happen in real life. I continue driving my car down the street. I am now driving down some hallways (almost like I am in the back of a kitchen or something) and I realize the car is gone. I think to myself, Oh, I'm running now but then have a flash of insight--I'm not doing anything--I'm lying in bed. I also realize I have no body and really haven't had one for quite some time. Furthermore, as I am dreaming, there is really no reason to get a body anyway.

At this point, I decide to test my bodiless-ness and pass through a set of push doors. I bang my forehead against the door, and then just raise my hand and open it! I remember my discussion with dutchraptor and Sensei about pain in dreams, and realize that--as usual--I do not feel any pain from knocking myself in a dream.

I reach an open area, where I am looking down at a helipad. The helipad is about forty or fifty feet below me, and there are numerous helicopters on the ground, propellers spinning. I think that I might jump down into one of the propellors, but then change my mind, as I really have no wish to test being chopped up (dang it!). Instead, I decide to use this high point as a jump off for flying. I leap into the air, but just fall (very swiftly) to the ground. I hit the ground and then fall down on my butt.

I now stand up, look around, and just lift into the air. I fly higher and higher, really not even trying now to do anything, and travel perhaps several hundred feet into the air (that's advanced, right!? ). I then look around, and my body begins to fall. I am momentarily scared, but then remember that I'm not really doing anything, nothing is happening, and there is nothing at all to worry about. I relax, and just hang in mid-air. I then accelerate upwards again. As I am thinking these things, I realize my body is moving of its own accord, flying this way and that. I think this is kind of neat and just observe my body flying. I then relax again, and I this must trigger something with my WL body because I wake up.

On a side note, this dream has caused me to think more about meditation in dream, and has prompted me to concentrate more on my daily practice of sitting, as well as begin to integrate sitting more into my dream practice.

Not sure what my deal is lately! Recall has been low, and dream awareness has been low as well. Woke up around 5:00 AM, didn't remember any dreams. Also couldn't find my sleep mask. Walked all over the house, looking in the office, living room, and even kitchen and dining room. Wtf. I test my state, as I am really hoping I'm dreaming. Nope, just me and no sleep mask. I go back to bed, perform MILD (using seven affirmations instead of my normal 21), wrap a shirt around my head, and fall asleep.

I am in a living room with my grandfather and uncle. A baby is here, and the baby is insulting my grandfather. He keeps laughing (not at all in character for him). The baby then apologizes. Something suddenly seems off to me.

"That's weird that the baby apologized," I say to my grandfather and uncle. They just stare at me.

"Isn't that weird?" I ask. Can't remember what happened after that, but almost certain I state tested.

I am in my mother's house with my sister and one of her friends from childhood. We are all kids again. For some reason, I think that I am dreaming. Instead of nose pinching, like I normally do, I decide to phase my hand through the wall as a test. It fails (the wall remains solid) but my hand becomes transparent. I now decide to nose pinch. I can breathe, but think that maybe there is a second nose, or a part of my nose that hasn't been pinched yet. I double pinch my nose with my other hand. I'm dreaming!

I go up to my sister's friend and invite her to go flying. She agrees (I think) and we set off. I try to phase through the glass door but can't. I just open it and head out onto the back patio. I try to fly but cannot. I decide to walk up into the sky, using invisible stairs. I am heading up, step by step, when I suddenly fall back to the ground. I continue to try to fly (even reverting to swimming motions) but keep failing (in part because I am afraid I will fall into the pool). The dream finally (mercifully) ends.

I haven't been very lucid in my lucids lately. I think part of this has to do with returning to work--I'm often wrapped up in material thoughts as opposed to dream thoughts. Looking forward to finding that happy medium: the one where I'm not thinking about work at all, and thinking entirely about dreaming!

That being said "gentle MILD," as I have been calling it, seems to be doing alright as an induction method. I wonder though if it is also partially responsible for my drop in dream awareness?

4:35 AM: I am on a vacation with my wife at Google. We are on the highway driving, and being passed by little Google pod cars--sort of like roundish hover craft-like vehicles. My wife says they are probably just "spy cars." I think they look cool though. We are then standing in a train station, watching the Google monorail pull up. When the monorail arrives, I see that it is a U-Haul monorail (US moving company) and people can put all of their luggage in the nose of the train.

Then we are on the train, looking for a seat. We pass some odd-looking kids while moving through the carriages, and I decide to nose pinch. Either stuffy nose, or just not aware, because I fail the RC, but something still seems off to me. I inspect my hands, but they look fine. My wife begins to tease me.

"Are you dreaming?" she asks, laughing.

"Sweetheart, please stop that," I say, "Something is really not right here!"

I finally decide I must be awake and proceed non-lucidly (!)

We are now in Google village, shopping (sort of a Disney-like atmosphere, for those who have been). I am shoplifting small items, and slipping them into my pockets. In one of the shops, I hear my wife talking to a woman. She is discussing selling or trading something. I realize she is talking about selling her wedding band, and that some agreement has been made. The woman leaves to get her items, and I approach my wife.

I ask her what she is trading her wedding ring for, and she shows me some glass beads. This frustrates me, as the beads are worthless. I try to reason with my wife, and explain how expensive and important her wedding band is, and add that the beads are worth nothing at all. She seems to be considering.

Meanwhile, the woman comes back with her stuff. I explain to her that we may not honor the bargain. She replies that the agreement has already been made. I reiterate not to get her hopes up, as my wife will probably rescind the offer. I ask her what the beads are made of. She shrugs, feigning unimportance, and says, "I think glass." I appeal to my wife wordlessly, giving her a "see there?" gesture. My wife then reaffirms her decision to trade the ring!

I suddenly have a false memory of my wife selling her engagement ring as well, some time in the past. I tell her--almost crying, almost screaming--how money doesn't matter, and that I can't bear to see her do this. I ask why she is giving away the rings that symbolize our marriage in exchange for trash? I am conscious now of making a scene. She begins crying silently and motionlessly, and tells me if giving the rings away will "benefit other beings," then she will do it. Her tears are like diluted red water. I think this is odd but am too distraught to really think about it.

I now turn to speak to the couple--the woman and her husband--but they have gone. They have used the opportunity to abscond with my wife's rings. I run out of the store after them, and scan the village. There are people about, but the couple is gone.

"You pieces of SHIT!" I scream, but then duck back into the store as I don't want to be kicked out of the park.

Dream ends a little bit after, bits of images coming out of hypnopompic.

If you made it this far, let me know what you think

Woke up around 6:00 from an earlier dream cycle, DJed a bit, and then worked on MILD for several minutes. Here was the result:

I am at a dreaming convention or conference. I am walking around, maybe ordering food or looking for the restroom. I pass a man who seems a bit shady and scary. I am walking away so as not to cause a conflict when I decide to confront him, because this is just a dream. It now fully strikes me that I am dreaming. I nose pinch. I walk back to look for the DC, but cannot find him. Oh well.

The dream was long, so some material was lost. I decided to scope out the restroom; inside, under the stalls, I see dirty work boots. I turn around and look for the women's restroom. I can't find it. I laugh at my dream's attempt to thwart me.

Outside, I am walking across a plaza when I see a friend of mine from WL. She is quite pretty in this dream, and I decide to walk with her. I put my arm around her shoulder, and then when she does not reciprocate, I put her arm around my waist. She seems quite happy to be walking with me. I stroke her hair a bit, but firmly decide this will not be a sex dream. We chat a bit (can't remember about what) and make our way back indoors.

We are now seated in an auditorium. I remember that I want to start interrogating the subconscious more. I decide to start with her.

"You do realize this is a dream, don't you?" I ask.

"Yes."

"So why exactly am I in your dream?" I then correct myself: "What I mean to say is, why are you in my dream?"

She begins to answer. I suddenly realize I wanted to do the task of the month? What were those tasks? She is talking but I don't hear her now. I begin trying to pluck out my eyeball. I focus on this very carefully, and try to phase my fingers through my face to get a better grip. I'm not having much luck, and I think to myself, I am not tearing my eye out of my face, even if I am dreaming. I decide to do the basic instead.

I turn to my friend and ask her to tell me a word in a different language.

She says some gibberish. "And what does that mean?" I ask.

She suddenly laughs. "Oh my god," she says. "I've got my words mixed up!" She then gets up and starts walking off, laughing. I look around for someone else to help.

I see a gangster-looking fellow sitting near me. I decide to ask him.

"River," he says.

"Ok," I say, a little peeved that this is an English word, "but what does it mean?" I ask.

"Vitherur," he says.

"Virrerrur?" I ask? I'm having trouble understanding his accent. He nods and says, "Vitherur."

"Vitherur," I say. He nods again. I consider asking him to reconstruct the order, but figure the information is the same: vitherur = river. I then decide I am going to fly. I have the slightest moment of hesitation, but then decide that no, even my abilities at flying are not stopping me from flying today. I easily lift into the air and begin soaring around the auditorium. The ceiling is high and so it is easy to get some good height inside the room. As I am soaring about, I think to myself that this is why I enjoy lucid dreaming. What better way to spend the morning? Triumphant orchestral music begins to play, and I fly around, turning over and over in the air. I see a young boy I know in WL flying as well, moving some electrical cables to prepare for the show. I fly past him, smiling.

I now decide to land and go into the back room. On the way, I see some items stacked on a shelf--maybe plates or bottles--and I sweep them to floor because this is a dream and I can do that. I marvel at the realistic clattering sound they make as they scatter on the floor, and the tactile sensation I get on my hands. I decide to attempt Photoshop TotM. I will the room around me to become purple, but realize it already is purple. I then decide to change it to sepia, based on another member's dream journal (can't remember whose at the moment, sorry!). Nothing happens. I shrug, and decide I may need a schema to assist me (such as a laptop). I head back out. As I am leaving, my flip-flop comes off (?) and I am about to turn around and get it when I remember I'm dreaming and say fuck it, and walk out with only one shoe on.

The auditorium has turned into a dimly lit hallway. Ceiling fans circulate at high speed. I try to fly but just fall to the ground. I don't mind much. I begin walking down the hallway. The light slowly fades though until it is almost completely dark. I hear a sound now--growling and teeth--and some animal attacks me in the darkness. I begin petting him vigorously, telling him he's a good boy (dog activated in my mind quickest). It begins to pant and then it licks me. I am still roughing him up happily when I realize I'm squeezing my pillow. I wake up to write this all down. Hit the MILD again but can't get back to sleep.

Last night felt distinctly lucid twice only to lose the dream upon reentry.

In the first, I am in a bedroom, and having a discussion on lucid dreaming (while lucid).In hypnopomia, I even review the dream so as not to lose it (if I had had my shit together, I would have simply awoken and recorded the dream). Once fully awake, the dream memory vaporizes in front of me, more or less.

Probably one of the first two dreams of the night, which historically are not great moments for dream recall for me. However, I think I have been lazy with recall per se, as I have been experiencing lots of day residue and "garbage" dreams that I have neglected to record in any great detail. Maybe this is the impetus I need to get back into recording my dreams in detail.

Second dream: I am lucid and attempting to complete the tasks of the month, but don't remember scenery or whether or not I succeed at any of the tasks, or indeed even remember them correctly. Gab has developed software to assist dreamers while they are still dreaming, and to publish their attempts at the TotM. She publishes mine (in a tiny newspaper), describing my attempt.

The dream drifts into asemi-lucid where I am running a foot race through an apartment complex (maybe my old digs) with a WL friend. He is extremely fast, and while I am able to manipulate the dream to make myself faster than I normally am, he is still beating me. We are running at night alongside a chainlink fence, and there are several hairpin turns in the grass. I epicly jump over the fence and into some undergrowth, but am still daunted by how fast my opponent is. I attribute this in dream to his long legs.

Finally, I am able to use some of my minions (apparently I had minions) to help me cheat. One of them grabs my WL friend through the fence while I am able to take off and finish the race. However, my awareness stays with my friend and is in fact shifted into that of my minion. At the moment when I feel I must release him (as he's fighting me the whole time) another minion grabs him, my awareness shifts into that minion, and then I turn mine and his hands into stone (I am grabbing him by the wrists). During all of this I more or less feel that I am dreaming, but just don't "get" it.

I tried a different method of MILD than what I am used to, and think I will continue the experiment tonight. I will keep you all updated

I am in high school again, and am walking to my bus after school. Already lucid, but not very much -- don't remember how I got there! I am walking with a short, chubby black kid. I have just done something not very nice (don't remember what) and think I need to make it up to this DC. I give the kid a big hug.

"What are you doing?" he asks in disgust.

C/R my response. I think of how I might win this DC over. I reach into my pocket, hoping for some candy. I find instead a toy from childhood:



I give this to the DC and tell him it is a chocolate bar (?) DC takes a bite and complains that it is not a chocolate bar, and that it is indeed a plastic toy. I take the toy back and try to morph it into a chocolate bar. It's outward appearance changes somewhat, but not enough to be food.

The DC then asks, "Is this that kind of candy that once I chew it, it becomes candy in my mouth?"

"Yeah, sure," I say, still searching through my pockets.

He begins eating it again.

"Oh my god," he cries, "It's glorious! It's like I'm flying through space on an imperial starship!"

I look down and see a piece of the action figure/candy on the ground. Yep, I pick it up and eat it. It tastes sweet but nothing spectacular. Definitely not flying through space. I wake up.

Good morning, Dreamviews. Lots of dreams and fragments last night, but in particular:

2:33 AM: I am trying to win my ex-girlfriend back. I know she will be on a tour of this castle (she is thinking of buying it as a home) so I plan to be there as well and also take the tour. I am somehow under the impression that we planned to take this tour together, but when she shows up, she sees me and then looks away, as though she is pretending I am not there. She tells the guide she is here for her tour. I think about staying quiet and just leaving, but then decide to speak up. I tell the tour guide I would also like to take the tour. She seems uncomfortable now.

We head up through the castle, until we finally get to a section with a garden walkway and a well. At this point, my ex's mom puts her hands under my shirt and rests them on my torso. Her hands are cold and I squirm. She tells me it feels like I have been working out. I assure her I haven't been She then comments to my ex that "she might as well hold hands with the guy who is trying to win her back." We hold hands, but I am now conscious of her crying quietly. Very odd dream, Dreamviews! Any ideas?

9:52 AM: I am in my mom's dining room. My wife and one of her friends is here. A kid suddenly shows up. He looks a bit odd but I seemingly mistake him for a former coworker. We begin discussing a dream group. I tell him his brother has already signed up, and that he should as well. We talk a bit about lucid dreaming. He says "A girl I work with does that stuff."

"Have you talked to her about it? I ask.

"Nah, she is too thick," he replies.

I ask him what he means. He then replies in a bunch of mumbo-jumbo, and then salutes me. I find this exceedingly odd, but don't want to be impolite. I ask him how he is enjoying his job. He tells me he has only been there a few weeks.

"Aren't you still working for the zoo?" I ask.

He now looks oddly at me. "Who do you think I am?" All of a sudden, I notice he is not my friend and I nose pinch.I can breathe, but all of a sudden, I go deaf! I am now uncertain of my status--is this a dream? I look at my hand: it is wobbly and weird, but when I look again, it is stable and normal. I show my hand to my wife, as though to say, "Look! What do you see??" She ignores me and continues her conversation. I decide to settle this once and for all. I set off down the hallway to find some text. However, I do so discreetly, so in the case that I am not dreaming, I don't act like a nut in front of everyone. I accidentally bump my wife's shoulder as I pass her and I wake up.

So competition goers, I'm asking you guys: was I lucid? I wrote it down in my paper DJ as a lucid immediately upon waking, but I don't want to take advantage of the system! Let me know what you think!

Fragment 1 ,12:33 AM: Dreamer is teaching me how to WILD. A neat SL where I am "aware" that I am in a NLD. Driving in a car, with brightly-colored backgrounds to the environment. Dreamer's main advice seems to be relax and have fun. Dog bark and shout in WL from the street wake me up and out of this. Believe Xanous here as well, but not sure.

Fragments 2, 5:28 AM: Dreamer is teaching the whole DV community how to WBTB and incubate dreams. At some point I am nervous about my dream practice, but then decide that whatever I am doing is probably OK. More here but C/R.

Lucid, 8:45 AM: I am walking between classes back in high school. I am outside, and walking along a sidewalk outside. I glance at my wristwatch and realize it is 6:40 pm. I am confused, as I am not sure how it can be 6:40 at night while I am at school. I nose pinch and can breathe. I become lucid, but do not fully understand what is going on. I am under the impression that my WL body is asleep somewhere on campus (maybe I took a nap somewhere?) and that I will be late for class if I don't wake up. I try to wake up a few times (by "opening my eyes") and fail. I am surprised, b/c this has not failed me in the past.

Before I try to wake up, though, I decide to enjoy the dream a bit. I attempt to fly, and C/R whether or not I manage to do so. However, I do climb up a metal radio tower of sorts, and consciously make my body lighter in order to pull myself through the air and not damage the thing, fragile pieces of tower. In dream, I think I am adjusting gravity, lol. I try very hard to remember where I have fallen asleep, or what waking life looks like at the moment, but cannot.

FA: I "awake" from this dream into a world more populated with DCs, but same landscape. I am no longer a student at the school but am now a teacher (wtf?). I hear a PA announcement telling me to come to the dean's office. I follow, and am met by someone who demands to know where I have been. I explain that I fell asleep "up in some damned tower" and am told my picture needs to be taken. A ceremony is going on, and I am asked to partake in it. A special, heavy jacket is placed on my shoulders. However, the people involved soon find out I am not a Christian and take the jacket back! I don't care though and just wander off. Another announcement comes over the PA and says employees cannot leave until 4:30 pm.

Fragment 3: My stepfather taking family out to eat. My mom narrates this dream, explaining how he has exerted control over us using his wealth and influence (). He says something nasty to me, but I do not respond, as I am conscious of eating the roast beef dinner he has just paid for.

Fragment 4: A man is teaching children to LD. He explains that a good reality check for children to do is to stop breathing, and wait for a superhero to rescue them. He advises parents to keep a good watch on their child though, as sometimes a superhero will not arrive and the child may die. He demonstrates by saving a child who is currently not breathing (and obviously not being rescued via dream!).

Lucid
DV Member
FA

5:17 AM: I am making a t-shirt for my club. I want it to feature quotes from Metallica, and I feel our members will like this. I show some designs: it is a chessboard with the words RED and BLACK stenciled on first row of squares. Writing is in red and black, lol. I know I will have to pay for this, especially to use Metallica's words and music, as they are so serious about being reimbursed (Napster!). A club member discusses the pros and cons of the project. In particular, he discusses how many people we are trying to reach are not being so due to poor storytelling skills on Sensei's part. Sensei favors good vs. evil conflicts, with good always prevailing. My club member (a WL friend) gives an example here discussing the merits of a literary work, in particular, a work in which Tannhauser (in this work, evil) has his "flesh tanned" at a Christmas dinner (some kind of medieval punishment). He then becomes a good guy and wins "the curried Christmas turkey breast" in some sort of competition (a joust, maybe) and defeats someone evil in single combat (swords). The idea is that Sensei's rigid preference for good over evil is excluding people from the club. Due to Sensei's popularity, this literary work is not nearly as damning as the club member hoped it would be. It is also expressed to me that I should use different Metallica material as this is the last time I will be combining Metallica and club slogans, for some reason (I've chosen stuff from Kill Them All but now consider whether it would be better to use Garage Inc. or And Justice for All. Multiple WL friends appear in this dream.

7:11 AM: My father and I have a heart-to-heart (day residue). He is writing a blog about President George W. Bush leaving office; president is spelled "presdent"-- I sigh at my father's poor spelling! He calls my mother and begins talking on the phone. He is trying to explain about new cellphones, but uses a lot of technical jargon to sound smart. She says, "Speak English, man!" He then suggests taking a Vicodin to "calm herself." I shake my head. He sees this and asks what is wrong. I tell him he is being really rude. He hangs up on my mom; he does not think he has been rude. I put it to him this way: "If someone told you to take drugs every time you got annoyed, you'd be pissed." He still is not getting it. "Dad, I need to say this," I say, and make it clear I don't want to be interrupted. I then have a personal conversation with my dad that I would rather not relate on the Internet!

1st fragment: I am riding my bike at my workplace. My boss is discussing new for the fiscal year with a bunch of suits outside in our courtyard. I am riding around them on my bike, not a care in the world. I am surprised at how light I feel, and jump the front tire over concrete steps and bumps. I notice that I am not riding my wife's bike, and am surprised--the tires are different. I also realize I have no helmet on and decide to be extra careful while riding. I almost fall from the bike from riding down too steep an incline, but manage to catch myself very lightly. Again, I think this amazing, but don't make the connection

2nd fragment: I am with my wife. She is hiding folded up dollar bills (day residue) in the little door of the car gas tank, for if we ever need money for gas. I begin to tell my sister where the money is, then decide not to.

FA: I feel I have woken from all of these dreams. My wife awakes, excited. "Did that really just happen!? Did I really dream that!?!?" she asks. "Tell me that was real!" She is crying happily as she gets her DJ out. I assume she has had some poignant experience and I say nothing, so that she will not be distracted and forget. She then gets up and uses the RR. I am worried she will forget her dream before writing it down; I don't want her to lose her dream and be sad.

(WBTB and WILD attempt--7:30ish)

8:29 AM: I am riding in the car with my mom on the interstate. I suddenly become cognizant that I am dreaming. I nose pinch to confirm. "Isn't it funny," I ask her, "that none of this is real?" I then nose pinch again (just to be sure--leaping from a speeding vehicle is almost never a good idea) and then open the door. The pavement and road shoulder are moving incredibly fast. I just step out, and the world slows down around me; I land safely on my feet. I manage to fly around a little bit! I get up in the air, and say "Look, I am higher! I'm higher!" Each time I say this I am lifted higher into the sky, or rather, the ground drops farther and farther away. It comes into my mind that I am tricking the dream (doh!) and the ground resumes its normal position. I am messing around with flying some more when I remember my 3-step task. I reach into my pocket and summon my cellphone; it is there. I open the lock screen and read some texts; some stuff from my dad, but all gibberish. I toss the phone away. I approach the wall of a building and phase my hand through; it passes through like a ghost, which has never happened before. I am already phasing my body through the wall, and the normal feeling of passing through jello or plasma or whatever returns

Inside is an odd shaped room--sort of bottle-necked with a square body and long-necked hallways. I can't remember exactly what occurred in this room, but I know I did not encounter any DCs or eat anything . . . lol. I see a mirror and wonder if phasing through a mirror is a task (old TotM, I believe--heard about it from podcasts). I phase through (a first for me, actually) but C/R what was on the other side. I suddenly realize I've been running about for a bit and have not seen any DCs--I forgot about my mom at this point. I leave this building and decide to summon a WL friend. "Jane (not her real name) be around this corner!" I say. I run around the brick side of the building, onto a cement patio with a picnic table. Sitting on the picnic table is my friend. She appears for a moment, and then changes into an old crush from high school. She looks really good and I almost lose it, lol. Her DC is stable, and looks exactly as she does in WL, except for dream glamour that always makes distracting DCs incredibly beautiful. We have a conversation.

"Hey (insert my WL name, lol,) it's really great to see you! you look good!" she says. She is wearing short shorts and her feet and legs are sandy, as though she's been walking at the beach. "You look good, too," I say, though I am cognizant that she is not real. She notices me oggling her and offers to have sex with me (which started out as one of my NL goals in several lucid dreams). I begin to comply, but then back away. I say, "I've been trying really hard not to get distracted during dreams, so I think I won't this time." She smiles and gives me a thumbs up. "Good job," she says, and then begins talking about her life and stuff. Admittedly I lose interest at this point and begin thinking about the tasks. I realize I should listen attentively (dream yoga and all) but then think, "I don't have time for this." I interrupt her: "What are some good lucid tasks for me to accomplish?" She sits for a moment and thinks. "How about flying?" she asks. I groan. "I'm terrible at flying." I look at her. "Do you know how?" She smiles and nods. "Show me, please!" I say. She holds out her hand and I take it and we walk out to an open area. I am very excited: I am finally going to get to advanced flying, and my crush from high school is going to teach me. Sweet! She looks up into the sky and then jumps. Nothing happens. She tries a couple more times and shrugs. I leave, annoyed, and decide to find someone who does know how to fly in this damn dream.

I run about the dream landscape, doing lots of high jumping (onto the backs of cars, up onto buildings and such). I find a hotel that seems to have people in it. I enter; it is packed with DCs. I look around at all of them: who would know how to fly? I ask one. She gives me a weird look and says she does not know how. I see a headless woman carrying a tray of something; surely a headless DC would know how to fly? I approach and ask, and she replies, "Um, I don't think I want to buy any," as though I am a salesperson. I ask a man and he looks disgustedly at me and says, "Oh, a dream question." I finally look around and shout, "Quiet!" Everyone stops talking and looks at me. There is still music and laughter coming from the ball room. "Tell them to be quiet in there too," I say (C/R if they shut up or not, lol). I say, "Who in here knows how to fly?" The DCs look around at each other. Finally a girl my age raises her hand and says, "I do." She asks me if this is the only way "Santa will bring me wings for Christmas" (A DV reference). She agrees to show me, and then proceeds to waste a lot of dream time screwing around, looking out of windows, rummaging through stuff. I keep asking her to hurry, because the dream will end soon, and she tells me to be patient or something. At some point, I begin to feel odd tactile sensations--someone brushing my hair, and tickling my body. I am not sure if these are random dream sensations or my wife trying to wake me up IRL. I move away from the area I am standing in and the sensations fade. I realize the dream will end soon and I quickly try to scan back through the events, in order to remember the dream better. As I am doing this I wake up. I think to DEILD, but then realize I will forget this dream (In all, this LD lasted about 45 minutes!)

3rd fragment: I am trying to open a car door. The handle snaps off in my hand. I flip it around and put it back on backwards; the handle works fine even though it isn't installed properly. I realize this is odd and wake up.

4th fragment: I have a somewhat lengthy dream, but am under the impression that I am merely deep in thought. In the dream, I am teaching a class on lucid dreaming. My students and I are back in the previous LD environment, with one of my WL friends leading the pack, lol, explaining what she wants to see in a dream. I look out of a window and tease them by saying, "I think I see a rat catcher!" We are walking through a beautiful wood-floor home, with many staircases and sunlit hallways. My high school crush passes again, and we meet eyes. She pats my stomach as she passes. I am suddenly aware that I am actually dreaming, and not merely deep in thought imagining myself to be dreaming, but I run out of REM time and wake up.

4 fragments: 2
3 dreams: 3
1 LD: 5

WBTB (sako!): 2
WILD (unsuccessful): 1

Basic
RC/stabilize: 1
Interact with dream character: 2
flying: 4
basic summoning: 4
Gain invulnerability: 4
Hand through object: 4
Use electronic device: 4

Advanced
Phase through object: 8

Three-step task
Summon phone, hand through object, walk through wall: 30

I am getting 73 total points. Let me know if this is not correct!

Red: DV members
Blue: Lucid

2:10 AM: Fragment. In an enchanted garden at night. All of the creatures here (mainly butterflies) are constructs, and are designed to "find out" thing about people (listening at the proper moment, or asking particular questions). This has something to do with sleep and dreaming but C/R (can't remember).

5:43 AM: (FA) I attempt WILD, which initiates missed FA. gab sees me trying to WILD and decides to help. She explains her method of WILDing: she visualizes Naruto in meditative posture (yeah right) before a big battle. She says the moment Naruto gets into meditative posture, he begins telling her he is ready to WILD. "I can see people fighting," he says. "The closest fight is the best one!" and "I'm ready right now," and "I'm still ready" and finally, if gab misses these cues, "I've woken up!" I marvel at how easy it is for gab to WILD!

The dream transitions to a false WBTB (lol) where I am ordering pizza with Sensei and a coworker. I have to walk down a long dirt road to get to my room, but am excited about having pizza. I explain to my coworker and Sensei that I will probably not have any soda because I need to return to bed for the competition. I also look at myself in the mirror at some point. Nothing weird; I just look tired. I contemplate taking Galantamine, then remember that it was hard to fall back asleep after a lucid dream. I reassure myself by remembering that we've just purchased some blackout curtains and I can sleep as late as I need to. I then take the Galantamine (?) but cannot remember a moment later if I took it or not. I ask my coworker if I took it. He says he thinks so. I tell him this is important, and is he sure? He assures me he is certain, and says, "You took something from that bottle." I am satisfied. I ask him if he wants one and he declines, saying he has heard it is ineffective. I assure him it has worked for me in the past, though he chalks this up to my "good recall." He admits his recall is very bad. I say mine has not been so great either lately.

(WBTB, WILD attempt 2)

7:24 AM: Meeting a Tibetan medicine student in a grocery store. We have an argument about how best to induce lucid dreams. He is trying to sell me some junk medicine. He then says that "half of the mind is dark" when travelling in different countries, which is why I am not remembering dreams. I tell him this is ridiculous and that the mind is never "dark." He becomes angry and says he cannot teach me anything. I try to calm him down. "Can't we have a discussion?" I ask. "Is homeopathy always right?"

"Yes," he says. He storms off. He then returns and says he is going to inform my "carlo" (no idea what that is) and my lama as to my rudeness. He also says he is going to find "all of the people that love me" and inform them too. I begin to get angry now to the point of violence. I implore him not to contact my friends and family, and get involved in my affairs. I also explain to him that our relationship is business, so do not make it personal. "Tell me you are understanding reality right now," I say.

A child I know wants to get past me to the drink cooler. I move out of the way. I am conscious now of making a scene, and decide to walk away. I head over to the freezer section, thinking I will preemptively call my lama and inform him of some lunatic who will be calling soon. I doubt he'll be mad at all. I meet a little old lady in the freezer section, and she asks for help finding the "orange juice with sugar." I begin digging through the freezer trying to find it. She tells me she completed "three years" of something "in three days." I politely ask how this is possible, because I feel she may have dementia. She explains how her personal business fell apart due to internal conflict. Dream (mercifully) ends.

8:58 AM: At a lake with a high school friend. He sees me and asks me to come over. I do. He then ignores me to talk to someone else (rather typical of him, I'm afraid). He sees an overweight girl walk past. Apparently she looks at him, because he says to the other guy, "Do you see this girl looking at me?" They then make fun of her. The other guy says, "Tell her to go inside, turn on the AC, and press the button that says 'food.'" They laugh then. I am disgusted, because they chose to make fun of her because maybe she found my friend attractive for a moment. I wonder why I am sitting her being ignored and then it hits me: Oh yes. This is a dream. I nose pinch to RC. I am about to set off to take care of my tasks, but I cannot pass up this opportunity.

I truly look at my friend for the first time, and his eyes bug out and seems a bit cartoony. I look away and he stabilizes into himself. He tells me we are going somewhere else now. While he is talking, I am listening, and start to lose lucidity. I mentally repeat, "This is a dream" to stabilize. Lucidity returns. I tell him I'm not going. He asks why not. I say, "Because you're supposed to be my friend, but being around you is neither friendly nor fun." I then walk away. He tries to follow me, but I start running (quite elated actually) and jump high over a 9ft fence or so and easily land on the other side. Escaped!

I then set to the tasks. I attempt the basic flying task. I leap into the air, high again, and yank branches down off of a pine tree. I swim my arms a bit, but don't see any real flying. For some reason, in dream, I become convinced that I have satisfied the basic flying task, but C/R when I wake up. Oh well.

I then attempt advanced flying. I peer up at the sky. It is very far away, blue, with white clouds. It seems impossible. I tell myself, "This is just your mind. You can fly right up into those clouds." I remember StephL saying that advanced flying seemed kind of scary, and I empathize with that thought. I jump into the air, staring straight up, and fall right back down. I try a couple more times. Nope. I decide to do the basic dream control task and set off.

I run down to my school building where I went to school as a child, and see a bolt in the wall (at this point I attempt advanced flying again, but still no success). I begin to shape the bolt with my hands, expanding it, and willing it to change into something else. It transforms into a combination lock. The lock looks more like a paperweight than a real lock, but it certainly is no longer a bolt. I am satisfied. I turn to find something else to mess around with and the dream ends.

So I tallied my points and it's actually 18.5:

2 NLD: 2
1 frag: 1/2
1 lucid: 5

RC/Stabilize: 1
Interact w/ DC: 2
Basic Object changing: 4

WBTB: 2
WILD: 1

If anyone has any advice on flying and advanced flying, I would love to learn. It's one of the things I want to do more than anything, and one of the things I have been least successful at in the past. Sometimes I am OK at basic flying, but most often it has been challenging. I am much more adept at manipulating the environment.