maboroshi

Good morning, everybody.

Dream #1

I was in some place that looked like a living room. But there were a lot of people there. The living room was lit with natural light, which came in through a big window off to my left. I sat along a wall with a lot of other people. In front of the window may have been some boxes or cases, like guitar cases.

A tall, white man with shoulder-length, brown hair walked up to one of the guitar cases and picked it up. (Or he may have brought a guitar case to the window and sat it down.) It looked like the man was struggling a bit with the guitar and case. So I got up to help the man.

I found that I was really of no help at all. I tried to grab one end of the case and just dropped it. The case was really heavy! Somehow the man managed to arrange the case or pick it up or something.

I knew the guitar was the man's guitar. I knew the man was in a band, so that he was out playing this guitar all the time. I asked the man, "No offense, don't take this the wrong way. But -- how can you play a guitar like that for a whole show?" By this time the man had the guitar out and was tuning it. I continued, "I can barely lift the thing. How can you carry it for a whole show?"

The man may have made some comment to me about how I shouldn't be so lazy, and how it wasn't so hard to carry the guitar.

I got a closer look at the guitar. It was made up of a lot of gagues and meters, like for some kind of electrical reading apparatus. The strings and tuning knobs themselves looked more like high-tech machine parts than guitar parts.

The man had started playing something. An old woman came up to me, as if to dance with me to the music. The old woman was just a bit shorter than I, with a big, round hairstyle of dyed-bright-red hair. She was slightly tan, with slightly wrinkled skin. She wore black sunglasses and some kind of white, soft, leather jacket.

I spun the old woman around a few times. But I started to wonder if everybody around me would think I was in love with this old woman, since I was dancing with her.

I sat in the room, in the dark. A light shone on the wall across from me. It was like a round spotlight. It shone on two or three spots of a map. The spots may have moved around. The map showed countries, possibly like in Europe. The colors of the countries were probably pink, purple, and orange.

I was standing up again, in the daylight again, and possibly dancing with another person, possibly my brother or sister.

Dream #2

I was in a place like a zoo or some kind of national park. It was daytime. The light was slightly pale, the sky may have been partly cloudy, and the air cool and a little breezy. I had just walked away from some group of people, possibly my family, or maybe a group of friends. I think I went away from them so I could go get my shoes.

I was walking on a wide, stone-tile path. There were big groups of people all over the place. Off to my left was an asphalt path that went back through a moderately wooded area, up a small hill, possibly to some mansion at the top of the hill. I kept going forward.

I walked past long stretches of benches that ran along the curves of the wide stone-tile path. There were crowds of people standing and lounging around, and crowds of people sitting on the benches.

Toward the end of one of the stretches of benches I saw an old friend from high school, Michelle, who I hadn't thought about in years. She looked a lot different. She had short hair, buzzed all around the sides, with just a flip of dyed-blue hair for a kind of bangs-effect. She wore a blue hoodie and blue jeans. She may have been sitting with a girl, who may have been her girlfriend.

I was happy to see Michelle again, and I called to her. I may actually have thought she was one of my cousins. I had to keep on going -- I had to find my shoes -- but I yelled out to Michelle, as I passed her, that I'd stop to talk to her when I got back.

This path had apparently run along the edge of a cliff or steep slope, which was off to my right. The path went down a gentle slope just past where I saw Michelle. I must have gotten down to the bottom of the slope.

In my mind's eye I saw my shoes: they were old, worn out, brown leather shoes, almost like something in a Van Gogh painting.

I don't know if I ever found my shoes. But I was now running back up the hill. I had to get back to the people I left, so we could leave the "zoo" for the day. And I had to get back to them on time. But before I went back to the people I'd left, I wanted to see if I could talk to my friend/cousin one last time.

But as I was running, I got jammed up. It was like some person in the park was trying to be a jerk and had gotten in my way. Somehow I'd gotten tangled up with this person, who I couldn't see -- I think they were behind me. I kept struggling and struggling until I was free. I then kicked the person.

When I turned around to the person -- I'd expected to see some tall, white guy who was being a jerk -- I saw a kind of short, really fat, black woman in a police officer's uniform. The woman started yelling at me, "You think it's cool to hit a police officer? You're gonna pay for that!"

I was trying to figure out what I needed to do to make up to the police officer. But she now started giving me a kind of mild lecture on how there was no running in the zoo, how it was too dangerous. She may have said, "Especially when you're not wearing shoes."

I suddenly realized I knew this woman. She "had been" a "ranger" at one of the New York City Parks I'd worked at in the past. (IWL she had been a different kind of worker than a ranger.) She was now a bit taller than me, in much better shape, with a bit lighter skin-tone, and wearing a ranger's uniform.

The woman started talking to me about what had been going on in the parks since I had left. I thought this woman was taking up all the time I'd wanted to spend talking to my cousin/friend. I thought she could even make me too late to re-join my group and go home. But I thought I should sit here and listen to her anyway. I was still trying to make up for having, technically, assaulted her.

The woman's main focus was some woman who had gotten kicked out of the Parks Service. The kicked-out woman had done some apparently scandalous things. But they didn't sound very scandalous: mostly just spending too much time talking to park-goers and not enough time doing her actual job.

As my old co-worker spoke, it became night. My old co-worker became a kind of tall, overweight man wearing glasses. The man was black, with a light skin-tone and freckles. We stood in the blue night, at the edge of an asphalt path, near a stand of some tall pine trees.

The man kept telling the story of the kicked-out woman. Apparently on the day the woman had been confronted, she'd been having a really bad day. She'd actually gotten violent with some people. But now that she'd been confronted, she'd gotten even more violent.

The man backed himself deep into the stand of trees, almost to the edge of some cliff or steep slope. I had to walk into the trees to see the man, who stood under a clear sky hung with a huge, clear, white moon.

The man began acting out all the violent motions the woman had made when she had been confronted. The man was tossing his limbs all over the place and shouting. He looked crazy. I was a little afraid, as if I thought the man would attack me.

Good morning, everybody.

Dream #1

I was sleeping on the floor of some room. A phone's ring up. I had one blanket below me and one blanket above me. I picked up the phone, my head still under the blankets.

A man's voice, happy, raspy, and a little squeaky, asked, "Is your boss around?"

I told the man my boss was in the next room. I felt like I knew who the guy calling was, but I couln't quite place him. So I didn't want to just hand over the phone.

The man said, "Well, tell your boss that I've been thinking about what he said, and I'm gonna take him up on that K.I.S.S. offer after all. It sounds like a really good deal."

I knew that the offer was some kind of monthly subway pass offer. It was like part of a package of benefits that people would receive for work. You could get a special deal on your monthly subway pass price.

I didn't know exactly what my boss had to do with that, but I decided to get out of bed and tell him that the guy wanted it.

I walked into what looked like a very large living room that had an interior much like that of a double-wide trailer. The carpet was yellowy beige, and the walls looked like wood paneling in some places. My boss sat on the floor. Before him was a small table or desk with a computer on it. My boss may also have had some blankets wrapped around his lap.

I told my boss about the man. My boss didn't seem to have any idea what I was talking about. I had started to figure out who the man might be, possibly one of my co-workers from an office out of town. But it also seemed like it was some guy who had recently left the company.

I kept trying to tell my boss who I thought the guy was, but I couldn't say it correctly. My boss stood up and walked away, to a little eating area, which was apparently the "office cafeteria."

He sat down at a cheap table, among some other cheap tables set along the wall. Another co-worker, R, sat at another table, her back turned to us, eating some cereal or oatmeal.

I told my boss, "This guy might be related to that girl. You know, the girl who was an assistant here for a while?" I my mind's eye I saw a pretty, but slightly overweight, Latina girl.

R, eavesdropping, grunted at me, as if I were slacking off by thinking about this whole issue.

My boss told me, "Here. Go out and find that guy. Tell him I said okay. Then come back and tell me what he says."

So I left the building. I walked along a concrete path, around some small buildings, and possibly through moderate crowds of families. I ended up at gates to some kind of recreation area. I don't know whether I ended up finding the guy, but I turned around with some sensed of accomplishment. I also had either handed off or picked up a manila envelope with a lot of papers in it.

Walking back toward "the office," I realized I was walking through a zoo. I walked past one building which seemed to be round, with wooden slats for walls and a conical roof of wooden shinges. The building was to my left. To my right was some tall fence with green netting strung behind it to block the view.

A couple young families walked past me. Some moms and dads were pushing babies in strollers.

Then these kids came by, one a little after the other. A girl rode a bike. But the side of the bike had a strange particle board or cardboard cut-out on its side. The cut-out was made to look like some kind of animal, possibly a polar bear, riding a bike. After the girl, a boy came along on a skateboard. Again, a cut-out of a polar bear was set up on the board to make it look like the polar bear was riding the skateboard. Both the girl and boy were little, and they fit behind the signs really well.

To avoid one of the kids I had had to walk off the concrete path, onto a stretch of soil for planting, and possibly behind a stationary cut-out, probably also of a polar bear.

I now walked with or thought about walking with a young child. The next building looked a little like an animal nursery or animal hospital, but it was actually a church. I may have justified a church that would allow zoo animals to the child.

The church was some kind of Christian denomination, like Lutheran or Methodist, I could see from gold lettering on the glass panes of the door. I may have thought it was unfaird that the only church the animals had was a Christian one. I may have wondered about Buddhism.

I then saw "the office" just past the church building and off to the left, up a small staircase. It looked just like a one-story, suburban house, except maybe with a little bit of a jungle feel.

Good morning, everybody.

Dream #1

I was in some underground area, like a hallway between subway platforms. The hallway ramped upward and around to the right. The hallway was apparently the entrance to some water park.

It was Memorial Day, which was the last day of the summer (???). I thought this would be a perfect day for going to the water park. A lot of kids would be back in school already (?), so the park would be empty.

I was now out in the water park. I was walking along a narrow, winding, concrete path between some small, rolling hills, which may have been dotted by small, tree-shaped juniper shrubs.

The light was dim. It was like early morning, as if the sun had just risen. I wasn't sure that the water park was even open yet. I thought I'd have to wait to get in.

This was a pain in the neck. Right now the place was completely empty, and I would be able to ride the rides all by myself. If I had to wait until the place opened, other people would have time to arrive. Then I'd have to wait in long lines and deal with annoying people.

At some point, though, I saw a group of schoolboys. They were all white, kind of skinny, and pale. They were joking and having fun. So I figured if these kids were here, they must have started letting the school groups in. So obviously the place was open and I was okay.

I found a water slide. It seemed to be running alright. It was a big water slide, and it was made to look like a natural river. The water was rushing really rapidly. I had a red inner tube with me. So I was about to jump in.

Somehow the scene changed slightly. A lawn-type area was somewhere before me. A mother giraffe and a baby giraffe ran through the field. It was kind of surreal to see them.

After they ran past, a woman called out that animals had escaped from the zoo. It was like the woman was chasing the giraffes, trying to catch them. But I couldn't see the woman.

I was now (without noticing the transition) out on a lawn that was shaded by tall pine trees, which were spaced pretty widely apart.

I could hear other people's voices crying out in panic. Apparently a lot of people were panicked. Some people were trying to catch all the escaped animals. Others were running in fear, before the animals got out into this area.

I could now sense that the tigers were headed in my direction. I saw them in the distance. There were a few of them, but they were just baby tigers, less than a year old, and maybe 130cm long.

I jumped up into the air and began floating backwards. I figured that if I could get myself floating high enough, the tigers wouldn't be able to catch me, and that they'd just have to run past.

But one baby tiger climbed up into one of the pine trees. It ran out onto a limb. I was pretty sure that it was going to try to jump down on me. I thought I'd have to evade it somehow with a quick, mid-flight reflex. But the baby tiger climbed back down the tree trunk instead.

I now kind of wondered why I had been so afraid of the tigers and why I didn't just fight them directly -- if I'd even needed to fight them at all.

I was now out in some area like a concrete plaza that seemed to be surrounded by a lot of dusty areas fenced off by wood-poled fences. In the center of the plaza was a small, brick structure. It was now bright, sunny and hot.

A few women, including one who looked like a ranger from a national park I'd worked at about 10 years ago, ran into the building. They gestured for me to follow them. So I did.

The building was apparently something like an animal hospital. There were windows on all the walls. There were some stainless steel tables everywhere. Everything felt kind of dusty and abandoned. There was something like a red-leather-upholstered bed or chair, like a dentist's chair, in the center of the room. It was like the operating table.

We had all come into this room to shelter ourselves from the escaped zoo animals. We were all bracing ourselves, because apparently they were all going to converge here and attack this building, as if, for some reason, they were all out against us.

We now saw through one open door to my left the mother and baby giraffe running back. One of the women went out. I followed her. The giraffes were running back to their area, which was one of the dusty areas around the building.

The woman opened the gate for the giraffes. The giraffes went back inside. As they did, the woman cooed some kind of nice words to the giraffes about how they must have missed their home.

(I may have had another dream, right after this, that involved lions chasing me. I feel like a lot of parts of that dream may have been similar to parts of this dream. But I can't remember the dream.)

Dream #2

I was in some place like a big hallway with doors on either side. The place had a feeling like a college and a hospital. But it also felt like some kind of conference was going on. The place was full of people.

A Korean man, maybe in his mid-20s, wearing glasses and a big, puffy, grey jacket, was walking up behind me. He kept doing this weird, annoying thing where he'd walk up from behind me, edge slightly front of me, then edge back quickly, then walk up as if he were going to pass me again, then edge back again.

Finally I just threw an elbow at the man and knocked him behind me. He didn't bother me any more after that.

But now I was heading to a line for something. I saw that two Korean girls stood at the back of the line. They were really pretty. But I was afraid to walk past them. I knew they'd seen what I'd done to the guy. I thought they'd be ashamed of me for being mean to a Korean guy.

I think I walked past them, to get into the back of the line, which may now have been even longer. I walked past some thing like a tall whiteboard or length of paper or canvas stretched out on a wooden frame. I kind of had to squeeze through a small space between the canvas and the people in line.

(Side notes: I don't know why the people in my dream were Korean. I think it was because I was watching some Kim Bo Kyung videos on YouTube last night, right before I went to bed.

The annoying character of the guy kind of makes sense to me. Yesterday, I went to the Armory Show. On the walk down there, there was this girl who was following me and doing all kinds of annoying things.

I don't think she was trying to get my attention. I'm not even sure she was trying to be annoying. And she wasn't Korean. She was white. But her looks were kind of like the looks of the Korean guy in my dream.

At the show itself, there were a few groups of men and women who spoke Japanese with each other. They looked like artists, and I really wanted to talk with them. But I was way too shy. I get really shy in big crowds.

Also, the Armory Show got really crowded, which was slightly annoying. It wasn't terrible. I could deal with it. But it reminded me of the New York Anime Fest from last year, which was way overcrowded.

As I was walking back from the Armory Show, I wondered if there would be a time when the crowds at all these big events would be so overwhelming that I'd have to stop going. It made me a little upset that that was a possibility.)

Good morning, everybody.

An old, black woman was running something like a marathon. The woman was overweight. She wore a brightly colored (orange?) skirt and a red t-shirt. She was really having a tough time running the race, but she kept at it.

At the halfway point, everybody took a break. They sat down in a huge, crowded area of folding chairs. I saw a close-up, like video, of the woman as she stopped at the halfway point. I could tell she was exhausted. When she sat, I could see that she was afraid she wouldn't be able to get up.

The old woman was now back on the road, getting ready to run again. There were other people out on or near the road, but the woman seemed like the only one who was actually getting ready to run again. She looked afraid, like she didn't think she could make it.

I went up to the woman. I patted her left arm and told her that she could make it, that all she had to do was keep up her confidence. This seemed to cheer the woman up. I now started running.

At some point I and a few other racers were in a room like an indoor area at a zoo. We had to cross some zigzag maze-line made out of metal poles and wooden handrails. I jumped up in the air and flew over the maze-line, touching down to and bouncing back off of the handrails with my (right?) hand occasionally.

The end of the maze-line was the exit to the room. There was a lot of sunlight coming through the doorway. I saw it as if I were flying toward it from a stomach-down position only a few inches above the floor. The doorway wasn't too far from the start of the line. The line just worked itself through the back of the room and then back toward the front.

As I approached the exit, I kind of lost myself again and passively saw another man getting through the line by running through it. I then tried to imagine how the old woman would get through this line in her tired condition.

I now had a weird vision of some man standing in the air, up above the line. He was some kind of zookeeper. He had been taking care of some kind of animal, which may actually have been a little, blonde, white boy. But the boy was also some delicate kind of monkey-like animal.

The man had taken care of the little creature by giving him human books and games to stimulate his mind. But this zookeeper had had to leave the zoo. The next zookeeper just thought of these creatures as animals. So he gave the little creature only toy's you'd give to monkeys. The little creature lost interest in everything and soon died.

Dream #2

I was standing out in some area like a seal habitat at a zoo, with a big pool and a stage made to look like a rocky landscape. But this whole area was like a line for a water ride at some theme park.

I was video-taping everything, including the water hitting my feet, to prove somehow that this was actually a good water ride. In the distance, under an arch of fake rocks, I saw waves rise up and crash together.

I was then in a big room like a museum. An older man was giving a group of little kids some kind of tour. Apparently this was some kind of museum about old amusement park rides.

I wandered off by myself and found myself between two rows of mirrors. The mirrors all faced me. They had holographic images on them. I suddenly recognized them as images from the Disneyland haunted house ride. I waited for some face to pop up and surprise me in the hologram. But I also wondered why Disney had taken down the haunted house ride. That was a really fun ride.

Suddenly a face popped up on a mirror and said "boo!" I acted scared, and I did a fake scream, which sounded a lot more weak and frightened than I'd intended. I looked over and saw that I'd gotten the kids' attention.

I looked back at the mirrors. A lot of faces were now popping up. The designs on the mirrors were also a lot clearer. One image looked like river stones, except fleshy, like organs.

At some point a little girl from the group came over to make sure I wasn't really scared. I knelt or reclined and held the girl with my left arm. We watched the mirrors together.