side notes

Paradoxically Stimulated and Sedated [Trip Report]
L-Theanine
Date: April 21st, 2012

Dose:
T+0:00: 400 mg, oral, L-Theanine

Today I decided to give L-theanine a run after reading that it had some stress-relieving effects and reading about its pharmacology. It increases levels of GABA and dopamine and has some affinity as a NMDA receptor antagonist, meaning overall it's a sedative, stimulant, and dissociative. The bottle I bought had one 200 mg pill as the recommended daily dose, so I chose to double it for this test; the LD50 is said to be very high. As a final note, I'm feeling rather sick today so my resulting lethargy may have skewed the results slightly as far as how much energy the dose gave me goes.

I took the dose in the early afternoon and waited for it to set in, totally unaware of how long it was supposed to take or what the duration of the effects would be. Within half an hour I was feeling noticeably sedated, but not necessarily enough for me to say it definitely wasn't placebo. But by the hour mark I could feel a bit of a head fogginess that I recognize from other GABA drugs, and the music I was listening to had started sounding wider and deeper. Though this could have been from NMDA antagonism, I'm going to say it was likely at least mostly from the increase of dopamine. The mood it created was one of being paradoxically stimulated and sedated. Figuring that staying on the couch would be a waste of a dose, I decided to go for a walk in the nearby park forest.

Unexpectedly, once I actually got outside I had a good deal of energy. Or rather, my body was moving very swiftly and fluidly, despite feeling rather at peace. It was a great day outside and being in the sun and feeling the wind rush by me was very soothing. Once I reached a hill that I really like in the area I could tell that my senses were somewhat expanded. I felt like I had a wider panoramic view than normal, as if my vision had been flattened somewhat horizontally, but I believe that was only an illusion caused by the fact that I was taking in a very large quantity of visual data at once (like the opposite of tunnel vision). Among the forest wall I could easily spot several complex patterns of leaves and branches, and colors were fairly saturated in a way that was almost cartoony, but not quite. There was definitely a dopaminergic filter applied to the world, but given that I am very accustomed to this mental change and can pick up on it easily.

I ended up walking down a path in the forest and found myself feeling very connected to nature. I watched bugs fly around me and animals scamper through the trees as I just walked by. The feeling of mental calmness despite the stimulation made for a very synergistic mindset at this point. I read that L-theanine may have effects on increasing serotonin as well, though it's still disputed. I'd believe it after experiencing this, but it could have just been from the GABA increasing/NMDA antagonist effects as well. Eventually though, I started to feel a bit tired. This may be due to my sickness, like I said, but I also suspect that the dual nature of L-theanine might make the stimulation more susceptible to reduction from fatigue than the average stimulant. It wasn't really an exhaustion though, just that I had gotten my fill. I headed home and basically relaxed until the effect died out. I'm not totally sure when that was, I didn't much pay attention to it after that.

This was more impressive than I had hoped. It wasn't a very powerful effect, but it wasn't negligible either. I do think though, based on some reports I've read of people getting "drunk" from higher doses, that L-theanine's sedative effect will eventually overpower and probably blunt its mild stimulant psychedelia. This is one probably best used as a compliment to truly psychoactive doses of stronger drugs, as it seems like it could ease your mindset a bit if need be or maybe just smooth out an experience a bit, while still maintaining the same level of hallucinogenic effect. I'll certainly be keeping it on my shelf.

Black means non lucid
Red means dream characters talking
Green means notes

Notes: Stayed up late because of my cousin visiting. Did not get much sleep soo here it is.

Dream #1 Earn some fast cash.

Im in some building talking with a group of men in suits asking me to do a job for them.
I was wearing a suit as well. I think one of the guys looked like Robert Deniro, was telling me that i could earn some fast cash if i do this job. (forgot what the job was)

Dream #2 Wayne brady wants to interview me.

Im sitting down with some executives in some lounge and Wayne Brady says to me..
"You know, you will be great for the show." I mean you have so much charisma, just give it some thought ok?
I ponder the thought, and tell them i have better things to do. (possibly with dreams)

Dream #3 So many missed dream cues.

Im in my 2nd home watching Jenny Jones. (1st missed dream cue) Im now outside washing my hair??? (WTF 2nd missed dream cue) Im now at some park giving this 70 year old lady a foot massage. (WTF 3rd missed dream cue) Im now in my current home in the kitchen looking for something to eat, and past by some cookies that say.."Lucid dream cookies, the cookies of your dreams." (Seriously subconscious, 4th missed dream cue) And finally, im at some car show talking to Rosie perez about lucid dreams,
And she insists..that we are not dreaming the whole time im explaining to her about dreams! (Final missed dream cue)

Notes: Wow, i missed so many dream cues. I am very dissapointed with myself in this dream. Well my cousin leaves tommorow, so i have to be a good host. So hopefully i can rest early tonight!

I only remember the part of the dream were I knew where I was lucid (except for some t-shirt stuff I'm not writing down.)
I was walking down the stairs when I suddenly thought, Hey.. I fell asleep; I'm dreaming.
But man, this lucid was of really poor quality. I could not look any more the 2 meters in front of me, and it felt like someone was trying to push a lit over my eyes the whole the time. And at the same time, I was at the brink of waking up.
The best moments was when I ran of the porch of my house. I screamed, because it was much higher than in real life. I was heading for the parked cars, but luckily avoided them. That was a real thrill
Then I ran off into the night (because it was really dark outside and I had nothing to do) and before I knew it I had flapped my black feathered wings open and was heading full speed for the heaven. Ah, it was wonderful. I did a salto (spin in the air) and just played around. I spotted my friend L. on the ground and landed next to her. She ought to show me something, and I tried it.
I suddenly felt like I had bad time and took of again. As I was getting higher and higher, I suddenly crashed into an invisible barrier. Thinking I could make it trough, 'cause it was just a dream, I did. On the other side I was back in low-quality mode, in a room with no doors, no paintings, no people. Nothing. The walls were a light lemon color, and the floor were white.
More I can't recall to scribble down, so I'll just post a little picture. I like pictures.

Note to self: In daylight my wings are white, yet they are black at night ^^

A similar music track played during the training part of this dream:


I'm some sort of private investigator, and I'm searching for evidence with 2 coworkers in an apartment.
I quickly realize that I don't seem to have any gloves on me and ask one of my friends to give me some.
After putting on the gloves I go to the kitchen and start opening all the cabinets.
I wonder what I'm looking for...

"Hey, what are we looking for again?"
"Are you serious?"
"Uuh... yeah..."
"*sigh* we're looking for a quantum accelerated pipe."

... wait what?

"Like, for smoking?"
"For smoking weed, yes."

A quantum accelerated... wtf?
I keep searching and end up finding the most glorious of smoking devices I have ever seen.
It seems to be made out of some sort of glass and it glows in all kinds of colors, depending on how you angle it against the light.
But then finally it dawns on me... a quantum accelerated pipe... yeah... right...

I rub my hands and further investigate the pipe.
I am sad to find out that it isn't loaded. I would have loved to smoke some weed.

I remember that Yuya told me that I should break out of the dream plot when I become lucid.
Oh! And she wanted to teach me about time dilation!
I become very excited and quickly teleport myself to Teraluna.

I end up in a flower garden. Yuya is attending to some flowers right in front of me.

"Yuya Yuya Yuya"
"Hi?"
"Hi! Time dilation and stuff!"

She grins.

"Calm down! You're going to wake up."

Right...
After attempting to get myself into a calmer state I take a look at my surroundings.
The flower garden is beautiful. All of the flowers are very colorful and they smell great.
I touch and smell some of them until I decide that the dream is perfectly stable.

"So... the thing you call time dilation."
"Yes!"
"Well, for starters it isn't really time dilation."
"I guess. I couldn't think of a better word to describe it."
"Right. So, there's quite a few ways to approach this."
"I'm pretty sure I know which way works best for you, but first of all we need to work on something else."
"Oh?"
"Well, it's sort of directly related."
"Sure, what is it?"
"Your awareness in dreams."
"I've noticed that you sometimes are extremely aware when you're here, but only for short periods of time."
"You experience awareness in short bursts rather than continuously"

I quickly realize that she's spot on about that.

"Yeah, now that you mention it, it's pretty bad."
"Good, so first of all I am going to show you a technique to hold a certain level of awareness."
"Great!"

She drops the flowers.

"Let's go for a walk!"

We walk through the flower garden and talk some more about time dilation.

"Alright, stop!"
"Hm?"
"I want you to tell me the color of each flower on the plant we just passed, without looking."
"Err, sure? Let's see... it was green, yellow, blue, yellow..."
"No, you're cheating."
"I am?"
"You're using your sense of global awareness to tell what color they are without looking, what I need you to do is to remember what color they are."
"What? All of them?"
"Yes! I want you to remember every single detail of what you experience."
"Let's keep walking and pay attention."

This is going to be hard... like, really hard.
Is it even possible to do this?

"Sure it is, especially since you're dreaming. Remember when I told you the difference between focusing on something in waking life and in dreams?"
"Oh yeah, that's right."

I focus really hard on everything I see, even the smallest of details, and try to take mental note of them.
We walk past a similar plant, with approximately 50 flowers on it.

"From top to bottom, go!"

I try to remember and surprisingly, accessing my memories feels natural and easy.

"Red, red, yellow, blue, yellow... err, ultraviolet?, red, blue, blue..."

I keep going through about 20 of them until Yuya stops me.

"Hey hey, awareness!"
"What? Was I wrong?"
"No, but you're neglecting your awareness. Have you noted the details of the things we just passed?"
"Oh... oops. Wow, this is hard."
"Haha, see, just memorizing and remembering is easy."
"What I want to teach you is to remain aware of your surroundings, even if you are focusing on something else."
"If you can do that you should be able to continuously remain aware much more easily."

This makes so much sense!
Yuya is so amazing, why haven't I asked her about this before?

We keep doing this. I memorize all the flowers including other details and try to recite them from memory without loosing awareness of the new surroundings I encounter through walking.
It's really hard at first, but then it becomes surprisingly easy.
I feel like a genius, having such amazing memory all of a sudden.

Since I focus so hard on my vision, it becomes more and more intense.
I can see beyond the color spectrum visible to the human eye.
Ultraviolet and infrared, I can see them so clearly.
They aren't red or violet at all, they are entirely different colors.
The now 5 base colors start merging together to form new ones.
Everything is so beautiful.

It is so hard not to get distracted by this beauty. I have to remain aware of everything.
But it works! I can quite literally feel my awareness leveling out and remaining strong as I go along.

Yuya keeps asking me more and more difficult questions.

"How did this plant smell like?"

I can no longer answer these question with words, so I project my memories towards her, showing that I remember clearly.
We go on like this for some more minutes.
I feel like I have just achieved something major.
I have never ever experienced such an amount of focus.

We finally reach the end of the flower garden.

"And stop!"
"Okay?"
"Yep, time to relax, you cannot possibly keep this up much longer."
"Oh, I can't? It started to feel natural some moments ago."
"Still, if you keep that level of focus up for too long your brain will just spontaneously break out of it."
"You'll either loose all your awareness or even wake up."
"So it would be a bad idea to try and do this all the time?"
"Yes. You can do it for a limited period of time, for example during a battle where you need the extra focus."
"What I'm teaching you is to remain at a constant level of awareness."
"The important part here is that it is constant, not that it is on a level where you have surreal perception and memory."
"The goal is to never let it drift below a certain threshold, this way dream stability should remain high."

I understand her so well, her explanations are perfect.

"It's just more efficient for you to learn it this way."
"Not everyone is capable of achieving such a level of focus."
"It's something you often find in dreamers that are experienced with dream battles."

Dream battling has so many uses, how amazing.

"So dream stability is directly related to your level of awareness?"
"Well, yes, sort of. It's complicated."
"It always is."
"Actually, it is really simple... like most things."
"Yeah right."
"It's the painfully simple things the human mind cannot comprehend."
"After all your mind is trained to understand the complexity of the waking world, not the simplicity of the dream world."

Wow. That is deep.
I have never thought of it this way.
Yuya never ceases to amaze me.
She just drops these mind blowing ideas on me, as if they were the most obvious things in existence.

"Should I try to do this awareness technique in waking life?"
"No. At least not right now. You said you have constant headaches."
"Yeah, probably a bad idea."

She smiles and gives me a big hug.

"We'll continue this next time."
"Wake up and write this down so you don't forget it."
"I will! Until next time!"

Wake up... Have I ever tried waking up from a dream that wasn't a nightmare?
Heck, even a nightmare I haven't tried to wake up from in forever.
I close my eyes and command myself to wake up with my inner voice.
I feel a tingling sensation all over my body.

I open my eyes.
A quick nose plug RC confirms that I am awake and I start taking notes, excited to have taken my first step towards properly long dreams.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about how activating or deactivating various receptors in the brain brings us closer to the dream state, and what that implies for using hallucinogens in respect to various dream phenomena like signs and guides, understanding the way dreams work on a more basic level, and beliefs like shared dreaming. To study this relationship and see if I can come to any conclusions, I've decided to use side note DJ entries to track any experiences I have which enter the hallucinogenic realm, no matter how small.

Exploring Nature, and the Dream-like Qualities of THC [Trip Report]
Cannabis
Date: April 19th, 2012

Dose:
T+0:00: 1/2 bowl, smoked, Cannabis
T~1:30: 1/2 joint, smoked, Cannabis

After getting a few errands done for the day, K and I decided to go walking through a forest and smoke some weed since we hadn't done so in a long time. I went to pick him up and we smoked a small bowl before leaving his apartment, and then I drove us back to my house. I was already really high and could tell that the weed was pretty strong! My tolerance is not insanely high at this time either, but K's is and he was pretty stoned as well. We waited at my house for about half an hour and watched TV, then went walking around the park near here.

We picked a small opening in the side of the forest next to a big clearing and smoked the first half of the joint there. It's a pretty nice spot, but we decided to go somewhere more secluded and deeper into the forest for the other half. On the walk to the next area I was starting to become fairly stimulated but also dissociated, and I was beginning to ramble about whatever was on my mind, though I can't remember what those things were now. We stopped half way down a dense path and finished the joint, and then we kept following it as far as it went. My thoughts were starting to feel very associative and I went on a long rant about the difference in perception and stereotypes of the old and modern drug cultures.

When I finally ran out of thoughts I noticed that colors were becoming highly saturated. Everywhere I looked I was noticing patterns of leaves and things among the plant life, and my mind was connecting incorrect meaning to various shapes. For example, many trees suddenly looked like they were gigantic flames, and others that had long, slender leaves with pronged tips suddenly looked to me as if they were covered in snowflakes. What's interesting to me is that now, after my long break and my other drug experiences, I can come back to these weed experiences that normally die down a bit once tolerance sets in and look at them through enlightened eyes. This euphoric energy, analytical nature, color saturation, and psychedelic image association... it's all very reminiscent of my experiences with dopaminergic psychedelics. Is this the potential of THC's cannabinoid receptor-induced phenethylamine release? It certainly has the same feel as a phenethylamine psychedelic. In this case, the psychedelic effects would be coming mostly from the D2 receptor, which causes effects similar to NMDA receptor antagonists, among other things. This mechanism is the same that causes OBEs and is likely very important in dreams, and I wonder if that's where the associative thinking comes from - the same way that dreams are built off of our internal schemata and expectations, only whereas with dreams we have only the blackness behind our eyes to work with, instead here my schemata are applied to reality and my mind attempts to make sense (dream sense, anyway) of my surroundings.

Anyway, we returned to the small forest opening by the clearing where we had smoked originally, only this time I noticed a path that lead out behind where we were originally sitting and was amazed at what I saw. There were three stone benches where we were, cut in sort of a way that looks like if you were to divide a circle up into four even sections and then remove one of them. Behind, and juts a bit to the right, of the now middle section, there was a path made in the ground that led down a tiny hill and into a densely covered forest area. However, in the center of this, where the path directly led, there was just a, not huge but not small, patch of grass with no trees, and so the area itself looked like it had a large opening where you could see the sky, surrounding by a ring of tree tops. The patch was also just a very slight hill, and surrounding it on the edges of the circle was a constant low level of water. All of this was a few feet below all of the ground around it, enough to where it'd be difficult to get back out of this ditch if that path weren't there. The very first thing I thought when I saw all of this was "Holy crap, we're at a boss area!" I turned to K and started explaining. The clearing was the world map we had passed through to reach this tiny opening in the forest, and this is where the final space before the cutscene was. K even pointed out that the three benches with the two spaces in between them made perfectly for a save point and an item shop. Then, following the path would take you down into the ditch, and then the path would be closed off by rocks caving it in, or the trees moving to block it, or whatever fits the plot. You'd then be stuck in this tiny arena to fight the boss in, and they'd be situated on the hill whereas the ring of water on the edge of the map would be where you'd find things like rings in a Sonic the Hedgehog game or pots in a Legend of Zelda game. The forest scenery was definitely fit enough to support this epic battle, as it all had a very intense feel to it, even compared to the rest of the forest we'd been in. After a while the illusion became too much, and we left because we were tripping out.

On the walk back I mostly noticed more associative imagery. The trip dwindled a bit after that, and I was merely extremely stoned for the rest of the day. I was also feeling a bit sick by the end of it (as I had been for the past few days as well), so I knocked out after dropping K off and coming back home. All I can really say about this experience is that it was a fun reminder of what a psychedelic state of mind is like. It's nice being able to observe these mental processes from an outsider's view this time, and to be able to compare it to phenomena in the dream state. I will certainly be remembering this one for future reference.

Yay ! Lucid!
I was running away from something, or for something, I don't remember which. I was in a parking lot I can not remember from real life, but suddenly I stopped and realized;
Hey. I thought it felt a bit like.. air. Why am I doing this? This is ..a. dream. I shouldn't have to run.
I got the satisfactory feeling of realizing this just like that, but started feeling my body in bed. I resisted, trying float back into the dream, and luckily managed.
I then set running after what had been chasing me, and I generally remember having fun before I lost my lucidity again. No big deal, I'll make it stay longer next time

Um okay, I'll just note here that I had been focusing on living in the present, and I had been drawing a lot, the day before. Drawing sometimes work a little bit like meditation. So I think that daily focus is key. Notice your surroundings.

"You can't live on a breath in the future, nor from the past. You have to breathe now." I just love that quote. A man on TV said it yesterday. (Yesterday was a really great day, and this is starting to look like a blog post. I better shut my trap. Have fun )

Black means non lucid
Orange means semi lucid
Blue means lucid
Red means dream characters talking
Purple means possible shared dream person
Green means notes

Got it? Great! Now, as always take a seat and enjoy!

Dream #1 Place your bets.

Im in some arena watching two Thai women kick box and spar with eachother. One has half her hair dyed red and has a mohawk, and the other has a couple of tattoos all around her body with her hair tied back in a ponytail. I placed my bet on the chic with her hair dyed red with mohawk, because she looks bad ass! Unfortuntely she loses the fight and i curse an scream and walk out the arena broke.

Dream #2 Felicia.

Im in a carnival with a lovely looking young lady. She looks mixed, or could possibly be native american or a latin woman. She has her arm wrapped around my arm, and her head rested on my shoulder. "You want to head home or you want to walk around for a bit"?
"Na its cool babe, i love spending time with you."
I smile its nighttime and you can hear all the game sounds and people interacting with one another. After some hours of spending time with one another, we finally head back to her place.
"You want to come in"?
Uh, sure long as its ok with you.
(She laughs)
"Of course I want you to come in silly"!
We enter her home. Its very nicely decorated, and smells like jasmine and vanilla. She turns her lights on. The home was medium big, and was decorated white with nice tiger print, and snow leopard rugs on the floor.

"Sit down and make yourself comfortably".
Mkay. I have a seat on the couch, and she walks over with two glasses of wine. She is wearing a very nicely fitted dress, it was dark purple colour to compliment her lovely pair of dark polished toes. she slipped off her heels and bending her knees on the couch facing towards me.
"So, tell me. Why have you waited this long to come and see me hm?"
Uh..to be honest, im always being pulled away, and can never seem to find a way to see you.
"There are ways, you know how to find me". If i did something to cause you to go away, then please tell me!
No no noo, its not you! Don't ever think that ok!? I love you Felicia, and will ALWAYS LOVE YOU!!!
(This causes her to tear up)
"I love you too Q"!
We hug and kiss, and i tell her i will see her again soon. (dream fades and i wake up)

WBTB-5:30 am -Did plenty of subconscious training and reality checks with my totem-5:50 am

Dream #3 Mirrors and my subconscious experiments

I wake up in my 2nd home from my bed. I head in the bathroom I look in the mirror and dive thru it. I end up somewhere in possibly Paris? I now walk around observing all of my projections. I find the most interesting subject. A french woman wearing navy blue shorts and is roller blading. She was average height and wore a white tank top and had sandy brown hair. She was listening to some music on her headphones, I stop her. "Excuse me, you mind if i have a little bit of your time?
"Sure whats up?"
We have a seat at a local cafe. I sit and talk with her about dreams and different projections here.
"I would love for you to come with me to my place of work, so we can conduct experiments together". do you think this is something you would be interested in?
"Um, sure i guess".
"Now i need you to be all the way in on this type of thing if your interested ok"?
"Ok".

(Dream switches here)

Im not real???

We end up at my basement where im taking out different files and records.
"What are those"?
"My dream records. They help me to keep track of where i been, or to let me know in advanced where i will be headed.
"Oh i see." Can you track down people with those records?
Depends on who im sharing the dream with.
"I see". So is it possible to share dreams with people you never met before?
"Yes it is".
"How long hve you been doing this"?
"For quite some time". In fact, your not real.
"Im not"? No, no no way...you are not REAL!!!
"Relax"! relax please ok?
(My memory gets a bit foggy here as i believe she stormed out of my 2nd home and i woke up)

Final dream the usage of totems.

Im in a school in a hallway waiting on a someone. This little girl who looked arab or indian.
She runs up to me and gives me a hug. She looked to be 7 or 8 and wore a pink short sleeve shirt, blue jeans, pink and white converse shoes, and she had two long black ponytails, and had a pink dora the explorer book bag.
"Im so glad that you came to see me"! Look what i got!
She shows me one of my hawk coin totems. Ah, i see you kept it.
"Mmhm". Come, i want to show you something!
We get to the back of the school yard on the playground. She sets her book bag down, and sits down cross legged on the grass. All of a sudden she starts glowing purple and she started floated in mid air and doin all kinds of flips and holding both her hands out shooting out purple and blue projectile beams at the ground. I sat there amazed nodding my head, holding my totem rubbing it stabilizing the dream more. She landed back on the ground and bowed her head to me and was smiling.
"Aww, Samina (I called her) that was really good im really proud of you!

"Thank you Dreamprofesser". You taught me those things and i kept practicing, until i became really good".
"Well you know what"?
"Hm"?
"I am goin to grade you a A+. I take out my dream records and begin grading her.
"Wow really?" Awesome!
Yea. Now remember Samina, i want you to keep doin those reality checks with your totem like i showed you ok?
"Ok Dreamprofesser".
She waves to me as she heads for a neon coloured car. I wave bye to her one final time, and i wakeup to record the dream.

Notes: I was very pleased with my results from this older dream. As i conducted experiments to become lucid, and find a dream character and check their status and ranking in my dream.
This dream, character Samina showed very great potential, I am hoping to train many more of my dream characters in the future.

Black means non lucid
Orange means semi lucid
Red means dream character talking
Green means notes

Notes: I would'nt say this is freaking strange but...

Dream #1 I want you now.

Im in a gas station about to buy me some chips, when i notice a woman who looks mixed with possible black and white or mixed with something else possibly. Anyway she looked about my age and she was near the pops (soda i call it pop) and was opening the freezer and looking at me blowing me kisses.
I thought it was funny the 1st few times she kept doin it, but then...well...it just got a little weird from here.

She then begin to take the pop, and pour it over her self and started crawling towards me on the floor. I just sat there looking at this deranged woman! Uh....what are you doin???
"I want you to make love to me".
(Gulp) Umm..listen lady..i gotta be hon..
"Enough talking an KISS ME'!!!
But i don't even know you, yet alone your NAME!
"Names are just letters, now KISS ME"!!!
I start backing away from her a little freaked out now.
Leave me ALONE!!!
I start running and run to a dark alley kneeling hiding behind a dumpster hoping she does not see me

"Peek a boo, i see you"! Muahahaha
Take me now, i want to tear off your clothes!
I DON'T KNOW YOU LADY!!!
I get up and run but trip and fall into this puddle of water.
"Yes, i want you NOW"!!!
She jumps on top of me and started kissing me all over my face like there was no tomorrow. Drained and out of energy, i give in to her lustful antics. And wake up.

Final Dream Recruitment.

I am in a room teaching people about mirrors and other
dimensions. I tell them that you can navigate thru dreams much more sufficent when navigating thru mirrors. This white guy raises his hand, yes sir you have a question?
"Uh yes, how does one navigate thru another persons dream"?
Great question. Navigating thru another person's dream takes practice and mental preparation. I advise you all to write this down in your notes people.

We as the dreamers create what we see, and what we feel thru our conscious state. So by simply putting out what you want to attract, you draw it in your waking life and in turn build your subconscious to attract what you want in your dream state. Remember to train your subconscious people, now im goin to be selecting up to 3 people to help me to seach for a friend of mine. (My memory gets foggy here) And i wake up.


Notes: My recall was horrible here. I don't remember hardly anything too much. but my recall will start to increase more since i will start goin to sleep alot more earlier now.

The only common theme in these dreams was my best friend. Not complaining though, she lives several states away so it's always nice to hang out with her, even if she is just a dc Other than that, there's not a whole lot to say about these dreams.

Dream One: I'm in a blimp with my husband and son. The captain says we're making good time. My family decide to go up some stairs to a viewing platform and look out at the world below us. When we reach the top, there's some sort of turbulence. We start to go back down the stairs to our seat, but the whole thing is shaking and kicking, like it's being bumped or tossed about. We all drop to our knees on the stairs, but my little boy is three steps down from me because he was taking off quickly without holding my hand (as usual, he never sticks close by like he should, ha ha). The Blimp heaves forwards, and the steps are tilted back so the bottom of the stairs is higher than the top of the stairs. I'm so scared my little boy is going to fall off the steps and I won't be able to catch him. I wake myself up when I start to reach out for him and smack my hand on the wall, lol.

Dream Two (Fragment): I'm in the house I used to live in years ago. I feel like I'm a business owner of some sort. I've signed a contract with a man who is supposed to be building something for me, and the contracts says he can use one of my employees to help him and he temporarily becomes their boss. I don't specify what employe he can take though, and he takes my best friend A. I'm mad at first because she's my best employe and I need her organizational and office skills because I lack those skills myself and I trust her with my paper work. But He reminds me of the contract and I have no choice. Then Later I find her in her underwear in the garage. I'm flipping out, she looks upset. The guy had taken her to the garage, and told her to strip that he was going to have a Dr examine her before she could work for him because if she got hurt doing manual labor he could be sued. The guy then walked out and left here there. Thinking a dr would be in she had done as requested, but no one had shown up for hours, she was like an abandoned puppy. I was so mad, I started yelling at the man and telling him to take his stupid contract and shove it where the sun don't shine. He won't treat my best friend like that! I feel guilty for even making the contract in the first place, I didn't know this would happen, but I still feel like it's my fault.

Dream Three: I'm the owner of a grocery store. Or maybe I'm opening one? I'm renovating the building, and making it two floors instead of just one. I'm doing inventory when I feel like I should turn around. A blond guy with short hair is standing there. He smiles crookedly but good naturally at me. He seems familiar, so my dream self decides he's the guy who fixed my shower the other day and must be here to install the escalators. He goes along with what I tell him, and I keep thinking to myself, "Damn, he's so cute!" I'm really busy with my inventory though, so I take him to one of the escalators and tell him here it is, I will bring someone to help him out and answer any questions he has. I go a few aisles up, and i find my best friend A. This time she's in a wheel chair, but in the dream it seems normal? I tell her the guy has shown up, and that he's gorgeous! I ask her if she'll supervise him for me and answer any questions he has. She agrees to, and I feel a bit jealous. I wish we could both stand there and watch him work! lol I push her chair to the escalator, and the installation guy is on the floor drilling something into the floor. I can't help admiring his rear A takes a deep breath like she didn't expect him to be that cute (I tend to like guys with long dark hair, like Johnny Depp, lol. Blondes are rarely my thing... K being one of the very few exceptions, and now I guess this DC can add himself to my short list of hot blond DCs. A likes the cute, boyish men like Heath Ledger, Elijah Wood and Daniel Radcliff. Our tastes don't match well at all, ha ha) Anyways, she introduces herself, and he nods at her and looks up at me. I tell him I have to finish my inventory, and I'll be back to check on progress later. I go back to an aisle of canned goods, and do some boring inventory. After a little bit, I go back to check on them. A is on the floor now, the wheel chair is gone. She's looking so lady like and sophisticated despite sitting on the floor. As usual, I'm blown away by how she can look girly and flirty even in the most ungirly places, ha ha. She's tucking some hair behind her ear and talking and giggling as if she's really interested in what the escalator guy is doing and thinks he's so fun and entertaining. I think Damn, she's fast! I never had a chance, but in the dream I feel like she's more in the position of accepting hot guys attention than I am. Like she's single and I'm not I guess. The guy looks up and smiles at me, my heart practically melts. I catch myself and clear my throat like I have something important to say. All I end up saying though is, "I'm just making sure you guys are getting along ok and don't need anything." HG (lets just call him hot guy for the rest of this, lol) says everything is going wonderfully and he'll be done in no time, and thanks me for having one of my employees answer his questions. I smile, but before I can say anything A chimes in that she's having so much fun talking to him and then goes on to say something to both of us about how she'd like to hang out with him if she got off work early. Kind of a hint to me to let her go, and a hint to him that she's interested I guess. He shakes his head, looks at her softly and says, "That would be great, but I'm not really ready for another..." then as he says, "Relationship" he's turning his head towards me, and the looking me right in the eyes he says, "yet." I can feel my cheeks getting hot and I say, "Oh my cheese! I forgot!" and turn around and act like I had forgotten to do something important and I really had to do it right away. I can hear him asking quizzically "Oh my CHEESE?" and A goes into telling him the story of how we were up really late years and years ago chatting on AIM and stopped making any coherent sense in our conversation and someone said OMC instead of OMG, and then the other decided the C must stand for cheese, and thus our inside joke, "Oh My Cheese!" was born. I only hear half of this story though because I'm all fluttery and practically jumping down the aisle to get away from the situation. I don't handle flirting well, ha ha. I do some more inventory, then I hear a noise outside. So I get up and start to walk out the front door of the store. The parking lot is still just a big square of dirt, and there's an odd oak tree towering in the center of it like it belongs there. There's a white truck parked in the shade of the tree, and HG is bending over the bed of the truck grabbing some more tools. I can't help checking him out again. He straightens up, and turns around. He looks at me, and smiles, then drops whatever he had back into his truck and walks purposely my way. I'm standing in the door way, and he gets only a foot or so away, almost creepily close, but I'm not bothered because I'm so attracted to him and he still feels so familiar. I remember his right arm being up, either like he was propping himself on my doorway or like he had put it behind his head. He asks me if I'd like to go somewhere with him, but I get flustered again, and I tell him I'm sorry I've got work to do, and duck back inside. I can hear him sigh heavily like he's annoyed that I keep blowing him off. I find A, and ask her if she'll come with me for a minute, and she agrees because she says HG is getting some tools anyways. We end up at a gas station that around here we call "The Country Market" (but I think every small town in this area has a "Country Market" and none of them are actually affiliated with one another, lol) and then there's snow on the ground. Then this dude who looks like Ray Williams Johnson wants to race sleds. A and I get in a sled and pass him easily. He gets up and curses a bunch, then I wake up. Just a quick side note, the HG character has me pretty confused. I got the same "I need to turn around, there's something very important and familiar here" feeling I get when K comes into my dreams... but where as K's presence tends to make me feel like I'm tingling along the back of my neck and down my back, this HG only made me feel that tingly feeling around my mid back. I'm sure this sounds crazy, tingling? But every one in real life has a different tingle pattern, and normal DCs just don't for whatever reason. It's like they're empty of tingles, ha ha. I'm curious if this DC is of the same variety of K, or even if it could be K with a hair cut and I just only noticed the back tingling and not the neck tingling because I was flustered. I probably won't know unless I either see this DC again, or see K looking like normal in a dream again, lol.

Dream Four (Fragment): I'm on a wooden trailer being pulled by horses. It's a mobile stage though. A and I are sitting below the actual stage platform. A is holding a white and grey cat, maybe it's her cat mittens? There's a man in a magicians outfit, complete with cape. It's the most beautiful color black cloth I've ever seen. It's obviously black, but it shimmers in different colors like mother of pearl or opal... only it's cloth. The guy has long dark hair, and even a mustache. He's got a black dog with him. A is afraid his dog is going to attack her cat, but the man assures us his dog is well behaved. He climbs on the stage platform with his dog and starts to pull something out of his hat. I wake up.

Dream Five (Fragment): My husband and I are looking for some place. We're trying to remember the number to call for information on a cell phone. Like 411 or something, only my husband swears in the dream it's 919. I tell him we should just google it since our phones have internet and google is free.

Black means non lucid
Orange means semi lucid
Blue means lucid
Red means dream characters talking
Purple means possible shared dream person
Green means notes

Got it? Great! Now sit back and enjoy.

Dream #1 This little thing of ours.

Im in a room (possibly one of my dream homes i built) talking to Natalia about our status.
So we just gonna keep yelling at eachother for nothing?
"Nobody told you to do it, you did it YOURSELF"!
Forget it, just forget it. (obviously she is upset about what i do not know)
Where are we right now hm? HM?
"What are you talking about"?
I mean where do we stand? This little thing of ours?
"I am who you want me to be".
What i mean is how long we gonna keep doin this huh!? I mean its like we fight then we make up. What the fuck Natalia? I mean if something is bothering you just come right out and say it!
"KISS MY ASS"!
(She walks away from me) Alright fine, be that way then.

Dream #2 She got herself a shotgun.




Me and Natalia are driving down a highway in a marron coloured corvette. And that song shotgun is playing on the radio. She has a new shotgun she named it lola. She is dancing nodding her head to the music in her dark shades, and tapping the steering wheel.
"I love this song". Always puts me in the mood to go shoot some shit up!
Lmao. Whats with you and your love for guns Natalia hm? I always wondered that.
"What can i say? Some girls love sugar and spice and everything nice, uh uh, not this girl."
She likes a feel of the cold steel gripped between her palms, and the smell of gun powder always gets me wet".
I see. (my mind drifts a bit here) We pull up to a apartment complex.

So this is the place?
"Mmhm. You got your pistol"?
Yea. You got lola?
"Oh yea, lets go take em out".

The mansion.

Its evening time, and the location seems to be somewhere by Miami somewhere. We walk up to this big mansion, and walk to the side of the house. Ducked down low, we creep thru the back of this mansion. We go seperate ways, and peek thru windows. There are a few men in suits joking in the house about something. I tap on the glass 4 times and duck, then run around the side of this mansion. A guy runs out to check to see whats going on. I notice Natalia creeps up behind the man and cracks his neck. (My memory gets foggy here) and the dream fades.

Dream #3 trying to find Sinoblak again.

I did a wild at 5:30 am. Im now in my current home looking in the mirror. I reach in my pocket to grab my hawk coin totem. I rub it, I build my awareness with it. Where am i right now? What did i just do a hour ago? I was asleep a hour ago. I GOT TO FIND SINOBLAK!!!
I dive thru the mirror. I end up at some empty apartment. Was Sino here? I look around the apartment trying to find clues. I pick up books, and pieces of paper with notes written on them. I grow a bit impatient and set out to look for her. I exit the apartment, im not in America anymore, this place feels different yet somehow familar.

I walk slowly down this empty street late at night. I notice a stray german sherpard wandering the streets as well. I whistle to him he walks up to me. Hey there boy, can you help me find a friend? I go back to the aparatment to find a bunch of cars there blocking the entrance. There are men standing around talking about something. I am now spotted by two of the men. "Hey you"! What the hell do you think your doing here!

Not feeling like fighting or do i? hehehe The men run up to me, one the men swings at me i duck and jab at him in the face. Not wanting to use any special ability here, as i wanted to increase the intensity of the dream more. Another guy runs up to me and i counter his punches and crack his arm and headbutt him in the face. After they are laid out, I say now gotta finish finding Sinoblak. I walk thru doors opening doors searching for her. I look thru stores, food places, i go thru malls searching for her even calling for her.

Finally i fall backwards and have a false awakening.

Dream #4 Reading thru my files and records.

Im in my 2nd home in my living room on the couch looking thru my files and records searching for something.
(my doorbell rings) I go answer the door its a Asian dude asking me something about helping him find his sister cause she may be in danger. I tell him hang on give me a min.
I put my files up in my room and arm myself with a pistol and head out the door.

Dream #5 Not in my house.

Me and this one black dude was talking about whos better on the court. Im playing him in basketball and just remember yelling out something like. "Yea thats what im talking about"! Not in my house! And i wake up.

Final dream Time is running out.

Running thru this house shooting at these men chasing me in suits. Im evading their bullets, and exit thru doors. I stare at my watch using my mental strength to slow down time. I dive thru this nearby mirror and up in a huge house. I hear a piano being played. I walk over to see this little girl playing this piano. She has very fair complexion, looks like she is 8 or 9 and has dark black hair and blue eyes. I ask her how did she learn to play piano.

"Oh my friend taught me".
Wow, she must be really good then. Listen can you help me find a friend? I show her a pic of Sinoblak?
"Mmm i think shes out right now but she should be back soon". Have a seat.
I sit on the couch listening to this child prodigy playing the piano. That music is so calm i say. I fall asleep.

False awakening.

Im in my bed and look around everything looks normal and feels normal but is it?
I reach underneath m,y pillow to grab my totem and start reality checking.
I knew it..SINO IM COMING!!! I dive thru the mirror and end up at some casino.
I look around trying to search for Sinoblak. I walk around glancing at poker tables, slot machines, all while rubbing my hawk coin totem. I see a woman waiting by a bar, she looks like Sinoblak. I see her brunette hair as she flicks it drinking her drink, she is wearing a bergund dress and looks very elegant this evening. I walk over to her, I hear music in the distance, NO, NO, NO!!!! Not my beethoven alarm! The dream fades and i wake up.

Notes: Im making real progress here. I can do a hell of a lot better then this though. I will find her! Im overall slightly dissapointed with myself, for my lack of focus in this dream. Clearly i have gotten thrown off quite a few times here. Well, tonight is another night so we see how it goes again.

Black means non lucid
Green means notes

Notes: Possibly saw sinoblak, but not sure if it was her.

Dream #1 Subconscious training

Im in my room wearing my white dress shirt with dark black pants, and my black loafers.
Im doing some subconscious training looking in the mirror rubbing my multiplying hawk coin totem.

Dream #2 Hallway full of mirrors.

Im walking down some hallway looking for someone. (possibly sinoblak) there are mirrors all on the walls, i hear my name being called in the distance. I look back to see a slim girl, very lean and a has a very excited look on her face. She looks just like sinoblak, Unfortunetely i don't recall much from here, and I wake up.

Final dream Reading sinoblaks dream entry.

Im in the den in my home, online on dreamviews reading a dream entry by sinoblak.

Notes: I remember seeing someone in the hallway who looks just like sinoblak, but im not sure if it was her. Well im defintely gonna be sleeping alot earlier now, because i been up late the past few nights and that is really messing up my sleep cycle and recall.
Hopefully i will get better results tonight.

So I woke up yesterday at about nine in the morning and I have been awake since. Despite my lack of sleep I'll be doing something and still have flashes of my nightmares. Earlier today I was typing away, working on a writing commission and I kept hearing the dry rustling, flesh on stone noise that I always hear when running down the halls in my nightmares. Thing is I was also home alone the whole day when this happened.

Not just audio hallucinations, but visual ones too. Shadows out of the corners of my eyes and catching a glimpse of a my face in a mirror. That catch about that is it looks like No Eyes' face instead of my for that split second. This is probably due to my lack of sleep and the high amount of stress right now in my life. Between my freelance writing and my portrait commissions I've been working my ass off looking for that fabled "real job" all my friends keep talking about.

Hopefully I will have more positive results to post when I am finally able to get to sleep. Getting to sleep though is the problem and once I am asleep I really don't get any rest. My buddy Todd told me to try sleeping pills again, but you can't even pay me to do that one. Last time I did that I still had the nightmares but couldn't wake myself up even once I had gained lucidity. At this rate I am hoping I just pass out and not dream of anything.

Black means non lucid
Orange means semi lucid
Blue means lucid
Red means dream character talking
Purple means possible shared dream person
Green means notes

Got it? Great! Now enjoy the dreams.

Dream #1 Feeding the birds.

Im sitting down on a park bench, with a brown paper bag in my hand full of breadcrumbs.. there is this little girl sitting next to me, dangling her little legs with a brown paper bag full of bread. She has milky white skin, chestnut brown hair, big brown eyes, and looked to be about 5 or 6. I forgot what she was wearing, but there are people jogging, and a woman walking a dog that looked a bit similar to sinoblak's dog. Hmm i glance at the dog but did'nt think much of it.
(What a missed dream cue)

I ask her if she wants to feed the pigeons

"Yes i would like that"! I give her the bag, she starts tossing out the breadcrumbs to the pigeons laughing.

Hahahaha, Wow they must be really hungry!

Hehehe, Yea. after we finish feeding the birds, she asks me

"Is it ok if i go play on the swingset for a while"?

Sure, i don't see why not.

"Yay"!

I grab her hand, and we walk to the swingset. I push her as she yells..

"Higher higher"!

Ok ok i will push a little higher. Sun is shining, and the air feels good. After about 5 minutes, i say...Ok i have to go little girl, did you want me to walk you home?

"Yes".

Where do you live? She points to a nearby home. We walk thru the grassy area, im holding her hand as she is skipping. We stop near a house. Is this where you live?

"Mmhm".

She nods and then gives me a hug. What was that for?

"Thank you for showing up".

Hmm..im puzzled. Oh no problem. You take care of yourself ok?

"Mmhm i will".

Wait, your shoelace is untied. Come here, let me teach you how to tie your shoes.
Im explaining to her and showing her how to tie her shoes. There you go, now you try.
She starts with one shoe, you did it! High 5 she slaps my palm and i pretend it hurted.
Ow..why you do it so hard hm? she laughs.

"Hahaha" your funny dreamprofessor.

Huh? How did she know my nickname? She starts walking up to her home. I wait in the entrance way as she waves.

"Bye".

I wave bye to her, and feel the dream closing in on me..then i wake up.

Notes: sinoblak had a similar experience IRL. She mentioned to me that she had this happened to her the day i had this dream. Hmm interesting. What is this connection between my dreams and her waking life? Is there perhaps, some sort of strong vibrational energy, or spiritual connection i have with sinoblak? Guess there is only one way to find out. I shall keep dreaming and see what happens!

Black means non lucid
Orange means sem lucid
Blue means lucid
Red means dream character talking
Green means notes

Got it? Great! Now, you all know what to do. Enjoy!!!

Dream #1 The meeting.

Im in some corporate building wearing my suit, sitting at a round table with a bunch of different mixtures of people wearing suits. There was Natalia sitting next to me nodding her head, listening to this Asian man who looks like he was the leader of the group. He is talking about something to do with stocks goin up or down or something like that. I tell him, "Excuse me sir, can i run to the rest room for a sec"? Sure, but uh hurry back ok? We need to discuss our arrangments. Oh ok it will only take a second.

Bathroom break.

Im doin my business at the urinal. After i finish i wash my hands and look in the mirror. Hmm...my hair seems to be looking a bit different, mmm..its probaly nothing i say.

Im back at the meeting, and take my seat next to Natalia. I reach in my pocket and pull out my hawk coin totem. Rubbing it listening to the man talk. (Natalia talking) Don't you know what today is??? Mmm...not really. Wait a sec...what is today!? (everybody is staring at me) How did i get here? (The asian guy starts talking) If you do not know what today is then why you show up, hm? Look, continue on without me i got to take care of something. Natalia, c'mon lets go.

Dream #2 What now?

Im now walking with Natalia down a crowded street. What mission did we do last? Well, we took care of the biggest threat so far. But we gotta search for that breifcase with the valuble information, that will lead us to who's creating these false documents of your records. I got to find Roselyn. Who? Roselyn. I had a talk with her in my last dream, and told her i'd offer her the job. How do you know she's the right candidate? Trust me, she's good at what she does.

Dream #3 The casino.

Im asleep on a bus now, And wake up to the sound of the bus driver saying. "Hey, c'mon off the bus this is the last stop. I get off the bus and walk into this casino. Slot machines are going off, and people are at poker tables, playing roulette, black jack you name it. I go on to one of the slot machines and start playing on it. Hmm it takes quarters, ok. I reach in my pocket and pull out my hawk coin and look for some more change, and put my totem back in my pocket. (A failed missed reality check) I decide to get up and leave since im out of change, Im not using my totem in that slot machine.

(Dream switches)

Dream #4 The woman on the bus.

Asleep on the bus again. I wake up, This time next to a hispanic woman. (Hispanic woman talking) Excuse me sir, but did you mind going with me somewhere? I want to introduce you to someone. Uh..ok sure. (God i can be so naive and too nice at times) We get off the bus, and we are now walking down this urban community. (Looks rough out here) We walk past this house, and its these thuggish looking guys shooting dice on the porch. I nod at one of the guys, a few nod back. We now get to this house, feels familiar this house. Have i been here before?(Hispanic woman talking) Well here we are. Roselyn you here? (a girls voice) Yea im in my room. (Hispanic woman talking) come on out here, i got someone i'd like you to meet. (My heart is beating fast where have i heard that name before??? (The young lady walks out) (Roselyn talking) ah, so your stalking me now huh? (Hispanic woman talking) Now now Roselyn be nice. I foget what else the woman says but me and Roselyn sit at a table. So, she's your mom. Mmhmm. Why are you here? is it about something because i have something to do. Did you and me meet before? I get the strangest feeling that we met before. Its a small world who knows. Look, forgive me if i seem too foward but. Do you ever have really vivid dreams, sometimes so vivid that, you can't tell if your awake or asleep? Oh yea. I get dreams like that all the time. Do you keep a totem? No whats that? (I explain to her the nature of a totem and what it represents)

(Dream switches)

Final dream: The briefcase.

Im in a car with a bunch of men in suits. We are loading up ammunition, and getting ready to exchange a briefcase. (Some guy who looks like robert downey jr. talking) Alright gentleman. Lets not make any mistakes here you got it? (We all nod our heads) We get out the car, and pull up to some warehouse to meet with some other guys to make an exchange for the briefcase. One guy is wearing a grey suit (looks possibly black or mixed) he walks up to us holding a briefcase. (Guy with briefcase talking) Alright at the same time, you open yours, then i open mine you got? (Im now holding a briefcase getting ready to make the exchange) Open yours first. (I open it) There was a note that said.. YOU LOSE!!! I toss the briefcase at him and grabbed the one he had. (Shots are now being fired) Im running now holding the briefcase, while shots are being fired in my direction. Im running down a back alley while two men are chasing me. i make a right turn and try to find a place to run in to and hide. I see a door, i say. "When i walk thru this door i will be at my current home". I open the door, and im at the basement of my home. I yell for Natalia to come out. She walks down the stairs. "Where in the world hell were you"? Don't yell at me! I had to take care of a few things, since i figured you were looking for that Roselyn girl. Well? Well what? Did you find her? No. But listen we got the briefcase now. Well, open it. (I open it) Looking thru files, and records. Wow, (i see peoples names, with numbers on it) Feeling the dream closing in on me, i get one last good look at the numbers and wake up.

Notes: Too many missed reality checks from this dream. I must've really been slacking bad that week. Oh well, i got lucid but...missed too many cues. One at the casino, the bus, and, of course, Roselyn. Sucks cause i really wanted to have a adventure with that dream character. Overall i really was pleased at myself to become lucid at the beginning of this dream, and toward the end of this dream. I had this dream after WBTB at, 5:30 and woke up at 8:15 I i did a mantra before bed about, wanting to become lucid in the dream. But needed to be specific about when i wanted to become lucid. This is why it is so important to train the subconscious mind thruout the day, and during WBTB. I find that if i don't do it, then i tend to go along with whatever is happening in my dreams.

April 16, 2012
---------------------
Meditated late @ 7pm - 8pm

Got in bed, wrote my affirmation, read it, and then read a bit of a book.
Before turning out my light, I re-read my affirmation.

Didn't wake up until around 5:30'ish. No recall at all. I had a dream I remembered in the night but failed to write it down or record it. And this week I must rise early - so - setting an alarm is not an option.

Perhaps this is why I prefer to meditate - it's reliable - it's consistent. LD has never been consistent for me. I realize I'm just starting and I did not and do not expect to be LD'ing already. Dream recall must be built. It's just that I can get a similar affect during meditation and it might be that if I stop trying to LD/dream recall, and simply focus on my meditations, I may have better luck. What's that saying, "A watched pot never boils"? Well, if I'm focusing so hard on recall, it may never boil. I'm not giving up yet - too early. I just got started. Just trying to adjust my mindset.