Sailing the Noosphere

1. I forget under what circumstances it happens, but I do the nose pinch reality check and realize that I'm dreaming. I do the standard hand rub to stabilize, then see a window to the side of me. I have nothing better in mind, so I jump through it with ease and emerge on the other side into a winter scene. I start to fly and surge upwards through a cloud of snow. I realize that it's really rather cold, so I focus and summon a pair of gray wool pants. They appear in my hands with proper texture, and when I put them on they feel very soft and warm. I think about going into space, and as I look around I see a balloon ship. I fly over to it and fire up its engines, continuing to rise all the time. I try to change my clothes into a spacesuit, but I feel myself losing control...

I false awaken, and emerge into a scene where my mom and I are baking, with flour strewn everywhere. I ask nonchalantly if she was in the previous dream, and she responds that she's skilled enough to manage her own control. I talk excitedly about the concept of shared dreaming, admitting that it's probably "metaphysical bullshit."

2. I'm with some girl in a room that seems almost like a temple. Around a central altar, where we both are laying, are twelve pillars that correspond to the signs of the zodiac. She is initially very aggressive and defiant, but I calm her down and it seems like we go through a relationship in superfast motion with stages informed by zodiac signs.

3. I'm playing a game of hide and seek (using parkour to maneuver) on the Havana map of Call of Duty. My team has my brother and a couple of professional wrestlers, while my mom's team has her old friends. I eventually manage to track their last team member down and deliver the tag in a room from my own house.

1. I'm doing my grocery shopping and wander down the frozen food aisle. Suddenly, all of the TV screens in the isle start to synchronize and launch into a 15 minute presentation about a certain brand. I watch, dumbfounded, and I remember feeling rather convinced. At the end of the presentation, I start to move, but from the end of another aisle a stage flips out. It's filled with opera singers who proceed to launch into a Handel oratorio. To my surprise it's actually rather good, full of humor and some bawdy behavior (such as men kissing) that strikes me as inappropriate for the era. When the show is over the stage folds back into the aisle and I continue shopping. At the end of my purchases, I get confronted by several employees for tipping the produce scales and trying to cheat on the price.

2. I'm at an awesome kid-focused science museum with tons of demos. I recall fingerprint powder, wind tunnels, and infrared cameras. There's also a flight harness to simulate low gravity, and I put it on to fly effortlessly around the room. I'm a little big for the apparatus, though, and I'm constantly on the verge of crashing.

3. I'm competing in the Winter Olympics, where there's now an "extreme skiing" event. This is done as a co-ed event, starting with a beauty contest where the female half of the team shows off her assets. The other part of the event is a breakneck downhill race where the course goes through moguls (and wooden stairs). I finish in second, right behind my female partner, so we win the gold!

I am in the kitchen of my research station. V is there as well, and I finally break the awkward silence that has been plaguing us in real life. I forget the details of the conversation, but it seems to go badly, and she exits the scene without another word. I follow her out the door, which opens out into a snowy urban landscape. I catch a glimpse of her and shout something about reincarnation, and she runs away from me. I try to track her down, but to no avail. I realize that the only release from my troubles is parkour, and I start running headlong into a tall hotel that seems entirely made of glass.

1. I finally have returned from my research station, and I meet up with my old friend W at his house. He's suitably curious, asking all about my experiences, if I got lonely or bored and what I did for fun. I show him some of the things my parents brought me to make the time more enjoyable. This triggers a question of advice for his own presents, as his girlfriend's birthday is coming up. She's a nerdy actress, and he shows me two things he's considering.
One is a portable stage light that casts a brilliant circle on demand. The other is a bath towel with a built-in calculator (numbers go crazy, so another failed RC). I laugh at both and suggest the light as better. We continue to discuss girls until my mom interrupts us. We adopt a stony silence and sit awkwardly until W breaks it with a cheesy one-liner. I laugh so hysterically I fall out of the dream!

2. I make a trip to the Louvre in Paris with the students from my research station. I wander aimlessly along the corridors of art until I find a computer lab, in which everyone is hanging out. I feel mildly annoyed that we came all this way for everyone to ignore the art. In any case we all go outside, where Paris is covered in snow. This doesn't stop me from renting a bicycle and barreling down a sick hill with epic jumps. Eventually I wipe out in a crazy fashion, landing somewhat on my neck, even though the snow cushions my fall.

3. I'm on an Amazon river canoe trip with my advisor, and tensions are running high.