rshort1202

I’m at our apartment complex when I see three large, black dogs off leash outside one of the units. The layout here seems similar to our complex, but everything looks different. There are quite a few people in the unit (I think a door or window is open, enabling me to see inside at a glance) and someone is devoting some of their attention to playing fetch with the dogs. The dogs seem friendly from here and like they won’t really wander, but I don’t appreciate the disregard of the rules, especially because we live two buildings over and always have Stella on a leash. I’m by our unit now with Melissa and Stella. One of the dogs is over here, without an owner, but Stella is now being reactive to it. She actually climbs completely on top of the dog and begins humping it. I’m surprised that it, a larger male, doesn’t react.



I’m in some fairly crowded building. I’m behind what seems to be a merch counter when I notice two girls, one of which is wearing a Led Zeppelin shirt. A man by her asks her who wrote Stairway to Heaven. She replies with something wildly wrong. The other girl chuckled and says “no, Jimmy Page”. I’m now walking through the building (it seems similar to the GSR), aware that I’m wearing a Grateful Dead shirt. I pass a man who I think is also wearing one. I see him see my shirt and then he asks ‘what year?’ He seems excited and not patronizing. We were walking in opposite directions, but I turn to walk with him. I tell him it’s just generic and not a certain year but that I’ve probably heard any given year. I continue talking to him and he looks like he didn’t expect me to. I tell him that Dead and Co shoreline ‘17 was my first live Dead music experience. “Completely sober - a minority, I know,” I say. He says he’d eat anything given to him. I describe the joy at the opening notes of St. Stephen, even though I realize it was actually Playing in the Band. This moment recalls the profundity of it, which I think he is sharing in now.

I’m at a concert venue. It is full of people but I don’t think I currently hear any music. I seem to be off to the side of the stage in what feels like a dugout. The crowd starts a circle pit with the inner group moving in one direction and the outer group in the other. At this point, I know it’s a Grateful Dead concert, so this feels very out of place. I see the rest of the crowd sitting on the grass facing the stage and I end up over there. It’s a sea of faded tie dye and friendly faces. I end up next to a girl near my age with two others. We start talking and I mention that it’s my first show. She gleefully exclaims this to those around. In my mind, the year is 1981 and the show is more than halfway over (though it’s fully light out). Thinking of songs I’d like to hear, Morning Dew and Black Muddy River come to mind.
*A movie came on at Blind Dog last night and my guess was that it was filmed around ‘81 due to the hair and clothes styles.



I’m at an empty park with a large play structure. Mark approaches, so I say something like ‘You have something in, I take it.’ He says yes as I walk up to a section of the equipment to grab it for him (I don’t notice anywhere with books or even a shelf). Now we are in what looks like an almost empty living room. Zoe and Nicola are here, each at a computer. Mark is going to order some more; I pull up Amazon on a computer as he sits behind me. The first one comes out to more than $40, to which he gruffly says no. He seems a little less friendly than usual and is wearing darker clothes and a ballcap. I notice and get frustrated with how dim it is in here, so I go to open these blinds just like the ones in our apartment. I twist the rod and every blind looks like it’s starting to split.

I’m at work, though it also seems like I’m at home (the setting is definitely the conference room at work, but it feels like I was just home or the rest of the space is the house, Dad’s house more specifically). Sitting in front of the computer but behind a baker’s rack, as it’s still cluttered in here, I pull up a Grateful Dead concert clip on Youtube. It’s something like ‘longest/best Dark Star’, with a timestamp of 20 minutes and some odd seconds. The scene is dark but I can tell from how the band members look that it’s sometime in the 80s. I feel like it’s going to be good. Now, I am inside the scene, onstage with the band. Phil and then Jerry are in my line of sight to the left. I watch them play and watch Phil play a huge and heavy note with a grin. There is communication, verbal or otherwise, about how he plays the bass like a guitar. I’m also playing a bass or guitar, briefly cognizant of how it’s probably unnecessary. I look to Jerry to get his attention and mouth ‘dew’ when he looks, conveying my intent to segue into Morning Dew. He lights up slightly, so I think it’s well received. I get chills thinking about it.

I’m going through an In’N’Out drive through with Mom in the passenger’s seat and I think Makayla in the back. This one doesn’t look like any I’ve been to - it seems too small and dingy. The menu is also incredibly tiny and therefore hard to see, so it’s good that I know what we’ll want without having to look at it. I order Mom a #1 with a chocolate shake and myself a #4. *I’m still in the middle of ordering when I’m cut off and awakened by my alarm going off.




I’m either at a Grateful Dead show or watching a video of one. I’m mainly, or only, seeing a fairly young (mid 1970s?) Jerry and Phil. At one point I am so close that I can see their teeth in great detail, Phil’s being thick and wide and Jerry’s being tall and skinny. They are each singing and playing with vigor. The song seems fairly long and jammed out. Now, I am seeing a setlist, I think online. It has track times, so I see that indeed some songs got pretty long - around 16 minutes. At least one title I didn’t recognize, which is very uncommon, if it ever happens, for me.
*Listening to Furthur last night, I was thinking about Phil’s singing.

I’m at what seems like a high school. There are a lot of others here, and we are all by smaller openings that kind of look like shop doors and have a common area that looks like a gym or foyer. There’s going to be a competition of painting snowboards? and showing them off. These ‘snowboards’ are blank wooden pieces that are taller and wider than actual snowboards. I’m painting mine with a stealie that takes up about a third of the space (towards the top) and is backed by what looks like the night sky blending into space. Looking around, I see at least two other stealies and think that the Grateful Dead must be trendy now. The group right next to me - they look like the trendy sort - are doing one: it is a close up on the lower portion of the stealie above some thick strips of Rasta color. I watch as they pour paint onto the board, it lingers and slowly starts to spread, and then of its own accord slides perfectly into the lines. The stealie itself is far too vivid to have been painted - it looks more airbrushed. I am at the first door on the left and was assuming I’d be going first, but it turns out that I’ll be going last. It seems like these presentations are taking forever. I think there’s something about Melissa coming over after this; I’m getting impatient because this seems to be going on into the night.




I’m at a picnic style table at the bottom of a slight but fairly long hill in what seems to be a pretty barren landscape. I’m with two others (Ryan and Mom?) and eating McDonald's. I’m eating hot dogs with onions or relish and say how I always get two of them because of the deal. I think I eat a few other things, feeling very full at this point. The last thing i eat is a piece of chocolate cake. There is a waiter that comes over a few times and a comment about him being gay as he approaches (I think he is wearing very short shorts). The others get up to leave, but I want to order dessert.

I am in a casino with Mom. We’re on what seems to be a longer and slightly raised section. There are slot machines interspersed up here, and I’m not entirely sure what’s on the lower section. Mom is gambling, and I’m walking back and forth for some reason. I notice that I’m wearing a tie dye Grateful Dead shirt. I walk past a couple and notice that they both have GD shirts or at least tie dye. The woman has lightly tie dyed and flowing pants. They both have brown hair and are probably in their late 40s. When I walk past them again, ‘Might as Well’ is playing and I am singing along to it. I look to see if they are also, and I don’t think they are. I also wonder casually they’ve seen my shirt. They seem to be looking at something off in the distance. I meet up with Mom now, and she’s holding a voucher. She’s telling me how she was up but then lost some money right at the end.

I am at what looks like work, out on the floor and at a table (that is not really there) by the registers. There are a few different cakes that Mom has made sitting out. I think she’s sitting here too. I’m trying the cakes, and they are really good. Walking around now, I see only Beth ringing and what looks like a forming line. When I go to help, I see that the ‘line’ of people are still looking around. There is something about the Grateful Dead’s ‘worst’ show that happened to be played in Mexico. I think I am currently listening to it. It is very short. I think there are only six songs in the first set and one short song before drums in the second. I think there is a song with Bob and some female pop singer that really just doesn’t sound like them. Kat is here, and I tell her it is pretty terrible. Then I realize she was at the show and I don’t want to sound mean; I say it’s still fine because it’s the GD, but it is bad for their standards.

I have gone into Discology. It is a completely different building; the walls seem dark in color and there are a few rows of low, black shelves. David starts talking to me about how he rearranged things? He also has a proposition for me or something like that. I start looking in a shelf and see four Doors records. They have the look of an older pressing that’s been around a while but taken care of. All are familiar expect one; this one is a copy of Strange Days with a completely different cover. I don’t think it says Strange Days anywhere, but somehow I know. It kind of has a lot of things going on, part of it being a car or two and a side profile of Ray. I think about getting it just to have this different edition. I also see some classical. There are a few with thick covers of a solid color [that are actually in the store, as of last time I was in]. I think he’s moved them to this more accessible spot, probably so they can be seen more. I find a multiple LP set of classical performed by a woman composer. It looks near mint, the cover and discs, and is labeled as $1-$2, so I keep it. I’m guessing the price is based on how many of the discs you take? I go to pay for it, but David looks like he’s getting ready to leave, so I’m just going to leave two dollar bills on the counter by his computer.



I am somewhere inside where there are a lot of people milling around. The vibe seems pretty happy. I see some members of the Grateful Dead among the crowd. One is Jerry (his appearance is like that from the late 70s), what I go up to and say ‘how about a Dark Star to open the second set?’ He seems to think it’s a good idea. I then let Bobby? know. I think Donna is here as well. It doesn’t really seem like I’m in the band, but it does seem like I have some influence. Later, the band comes on and Jerry starts a Dark Star but it is soon overridden by one or more others in the band. I’m a little disappointed.

I am at a Dead and Company show with Dad and one other guy, probably a family friend. The venue is on a grassy and sandy slope down to the ocean. Down towards the bottom of the slope, I can see the off-white top of the tent (kind of like Shoreline) in which they’re playing. Most of it is hidden by the incline. At times, I can see the band, but it is intermittent for whatever reason. There are also waves breaking that make their way up the slope and I think into the tent. I end up briefly talking with someone I know, before making my way down the slope. The band has started, and I dance as I walk. I think a few people look at me, but they are smiling. I’m by the tent now, and it looks more like a small seaside bar or café. You can walk right into it. Some people are doing just that, but they’re getting kicked out, as they are too close to the band or too much of a nuisance. The atmosphere other than that is very laid back. The band, in a single small room, laughs and chats while tuning up between songs. I think the drum kit is in a room separate but still connected to the other. Bill Kreutzmann is here, but he is just hanging out while another, older man plays the drums. It seems to me that Bill is unable to play tonight for whatever reason. I start talking with this other drummer, but it ends up being me talking to Bill, with him either on the drums or right by them. For a moment, I’m self conscious of taking up time if they’re playing music, but they’re taking a while between songs anyway. I ask Bill, prefacing the question with me knowing that it sounds like a typical fan thing to stay, how he would feel about playing Liberty. I am self conscious of my voice as I am speaking. He looks as if he’s really thinking about it. I mention how it would be fitting since it’s so close to the 4th of July. I also wonder if they’d play it mid-set or for the encore. Bill says he’s not sure, because he never really got the pace of the song and his playing was never really coherent on it. I think of versions I’ve heard and guess I could see it. He tells me that’s why they started playing [something with a longer name] in ‘94 and ‘95. This song is, I think, similar to Liberty in tempo and lyrical theme. I nod, thinking of my notes of shows, not sure I’ve ever actually heard it. I think he sees the uncertainty in my nod and briefly wonder if he’s thinking that I’m not that versed in the music, but I know I’ve listened to a fair amount of their shows in that era. (Whatever the name of the song was, it’s not an actual song they’ve done).

Makayla is sitting in some open type area that seems like a pier. It is a bench type seat that seems to be right above some shallow water. The water extends a ways under the covering. It is fairly dim. By her is a large case of beer that has different slots for the different types. I think it has cans and bottles. She is opening a stout bottle and pouring it into a glass. I try it and tell her it is too cold and needs to be warmer. Surprisingly, she agrees with this. I want to have my own, so I open and pour a bottle, but it is the wrong color - a hazy orangey yellow. I see that this is some IPA with a blue label with a fish on it. It is good though, and I am still going to finish it. Later? I am looking for Makayla. I walk down to a row of houses from which I can see the ocean right behind. I am going to go between two houses, but see that it is still pretty much their yard and that there are some people out. I end up seeing Makayla through the screen window of a brown RV that is also close to the ocean. I look up to the window above me and talk to her a bit.



Melissa has on a floral dress and apparently nothing on under it. She has crawled onto me with a certain degree of fervor and is riding me ‘in reverse’. It’s a very nice moment. The Grateful Dead is on in the background; they’re playing an early (1974) They Love Each Other. After a few lines, he stops singing while the music continues, as if he has forgotten lyrics. I think I was the one singing and couldn’t remember any further?

I am in a room that has a pool or multiple pools. One of them is pretty crowded. I am now sitting in it though, with Veronica (from high school). She’s wearing a Grateful Dead tie dye and is sitting a little too close to me. She is also turned towards me and is not so subtly coming onto me. I’m not very comfortable with it.