exdreamer's Dream Journal

Wikifragment

Just a fragment from during the night.

I was editing Wikipedia... that's it.

Basecamp / The Big Stick

One dream, two distinct scenes. I remembered nothing until I saw a Coca-Cola advert on TV a few hours after getting up and since it featured in the dream, I was able to remember what I think is all of it, or nearly all of it.

PART 1 - Basecamp

I awoke in a pitch black tent. People were entering the tent stealthy. I sensed danger. There were three of them. All of a sudden one of them was coming at me. I pulled a pistol, not sure where from, and shot him point blank in the head as he came up on me.

With one down I saw that the other two were going for two men sleeping in the tent. I shot both the attackers without hesitation. Startled, the two sleeping men were now awake and scrambling around in the dark.

On the floor there were two more pistols. I handed one to each of them. We proceeded to leave the tent, them following behind me. It seemed I was in some kind of military camp. There were tents all around and a perimeter fence.

We moved to the back of the tent so as to be along the perimeter. The ground was raised and the fence was pretty tall. The raised ground provided good cover as we silently moved around the perimeter towards the exit/entrance.

On the other side of the fence there were soldiers of some kind marching. We tried to remain hidden as we moved. Upon reaching the entrance we waited for the soldiers to enter. It seemed clear. I lead the other two men out...

We must have been caught, because the next thing I knew I was back in the camp. It was light. I was talking to the guy in charge. I recognised him as an ally of some kind. He asked me what had happened to the camp. I didn't trust him, sensing he and his men had betrayed us -- whoever "us" was.

He said I should eat and drink something. He brought me to a large white tent. Inside there were lots of people, but they weren't soldiers, the were civilians. There were tables of food in the tent, and the sides were lined with free-standing shelving units also full of food.

I looked for something to drink. All I could see were some cans of coke. I walked over to them. There were six in total. Two regular, two diet, one coke zero, and one cherry coke.

It was this that I initially recalled when watching the coke advert on TV.

I picked the cherry coke. I remember thinking that I don't really like Coca-Cola and would much rather have a Dr. Pepper or Pepsi.

Next I looked for something to eat. There were shelves full of small glass pots, like you'd find sandwich spreads in. I wanted a sandwich but couldn't see any on the tables and shelves. I saw a woman eating one and asked where she got it. She pointed to a seemingly empty shelving unit in the corner.

I looked and saw that there were only four sandwiches left. Damn. They were all either turkey or chicken, I couldn't tell. I don't eat chicken that I haven't cooked myself so I didnt want to take one. I was starving though, so I picked one up.

I get sick easily if my food isn't so-so. The scene then changed, or at least that's all I remember until...

PART 2 - The Big Stick

I had sold a big stick on Ebay. It was about 20ft long, 2" wide, and a 1/4" thick. It was plastic and quite flexible. For some reason I had to hand deliver the item to the buyer. Not only that but I had to carry it through a nearby town centre.

I was walking through the town centre holding the stick thing vertically. I had to pass through a small shopping centre. It was easy enough because the ceilings are so high. However, I then had to pass through a videogame shop to exit.

In reality no such shop exists. I don't know why I couldn't go through the normal exit.

The shop was very cramped. There were kids everywhere. I had to carry the stick thing horizontally. I kept knocking things over and bumping in to things. The stick broke! Damn. I decided to go home.

Back at home I emailed to buyer telling them I had broken it. They said it didn't matter and they could repair it. I got the sense now that it was some kind of video storage medium that worked like an old fashioned film reel, but was obviously a stick...

Weird, but that's dreams I guess.

One dream recalled made up of two distinct scenes last night.

PART 1 - Dog Murder

My family and I were moving in to a new house. The house was my deceased grandmother's. There was already another family living there, and we were going to all be living in the same house for some reason.

The other family were a couple. They had a pet dog. It was massive and extrememly viscious. It's teeth were gigangic, and it was constantly looking angry, foaming at the mouth, and growling.

The dog had a tennis ball it liked to chase around the lounge. It would constantly come up to us demanding it be thrown. If we refused it became viscious and would look as though it was ready to attack, so we would throw the ball and play along, fearful that it would kill us.

I decided the dog had to die. It was evil and dangerous. My mum and I were walking it through some strange back allyways that twisted and turned. It was foggy. The dog came up to me with the same ball, expecting it to be thrown, but instead I took two paris of scissors out of my pockets and stabbed it through the back of the neck, killing it.

The couple who's dog it was were upset. I told them that they didn't have to be afraid of their evil dog any more, but they didn't care.

I don't have any particular fear of dogs in real life, although I am allergic so I don't like them. I find it interesting that I've had two dreams with dangerous dogs in them since I started my dream journal. Potential dream sign it seems.

PART 2 - Eye Tracking

I had a bloodshot eye. I discussed it with J and R, and they told me that bloodshot eyes occur because of tiny tracking devices that were embedded in people's eyes. The tracking devices were self-repairing and self-replicating, and bloodshot eyes were caused by them replicating themselves. If you looked really closely, they said, you would be able to see them in a mirror. I looked, and I did in fact see these strange looking metal devices in my eye.

J and R also told me that I could remove the tracking devices by rubbing on my eyeball with my finger and applying some pressure. They were apparently just clinging to the surface. I tried it and it worked. They said I'd have to remove them all though, or else they would just replicate themselves again.

I was talking to my mum. There was a man in a black suit with sunglasses on in the room with us. She told me that the eye tracking devices were implanted in fabric that our eyes were manufactured from. I visualised large rolls of green fabric with a machine placing this tiny machines in to it. She said I shouldn't remove them.

The man in the suit and shades spoke now. He told me that the government used these tracking devices to keep tabs on people. He also said that they were linked with the functionality of our eyes, and that removing them all would cause permanently blindness.

So, I had my first false awakening that I've ever remembered last night, but I didn't realise and was kicking myself afterwards.

I awoke -- or rather I got out of bed following a seemingly failed WBTB WILD attempt -- and went down stairs. I ate breakfast in the lounge with my family. I was annoyed with myself that I couldn't get comfortable when trying my WBTB. I sat watching TV, not doing much. I looked at the clock and saw it was 35 minutes past my usual waking time. Then I awoke for real.

I was having trouble trying to get comfortable when I returned to bed for the WBTB. It would seem I fell asleep without realising and just kind of kept going logically in my dream. I've never experienced a false awakening or anything similar before, at least not that I can remember. The time in the dream was 35 minutes later than when I would usually get up, which I should have caught since my WBTB time is obviously earlier than that. I really need to be more diligent in doing RCs whenever I wake up or leave my bed for any reason.

On a side note, I've had no recall over the previous two nights. I really must get back on track with it. I wonder if stress affects recall? Super stressed lately.

Colour Key: Non-Lucid, Lucid, Commentary/Notes

Another afternoon nap -- more like an early evening nap I suppose. I actually remembered a whole scene that occurred before this scene but as part of the same dream, just prior. I decided to write this scene first because I enjoyed it more, and by the time I'd done taking notes, I couldn't remember a single thing about the prior scene.

I was in a Japanese RPG. When I say "in", it was all third person just like it would be if it were an actual game rather than a dream. It was as though I was the character rather than just controlling the character too, despite the third person nature and obvious videogame-ness of everything to follow.

Everything looked like it was drawn, but the shading was very detailed, so it was nearly real looking. It's hard to describe, but imagine anime that was shaded so well it looked almost like a photograph, except you'd know it wasn't real because of the shape of the characters and their features, etc.

Anyway I was a blue haired guy and appeared to be quite young and short.

I was very similar to young Ryu from Breath of Fire 3, except without the goofy hair and not quite so squat. It didn't occur to me in the dream though.

Me and my party were standing around waiting for a boss to show up. I got the sense we had gone through a dungeon to reach where we were and naturally expected to fight a boss. I realised we were in my secondary school's main hall, standing next to the stage. There were very large red curtains on the stage, tied back. The floor was dusty and there were brown plastic chairs arranged in rows.

I don't recall any details about the other members of my party other than there was a girl, a big guy, and someone else.

From off left of the "camera" view the boss finally appeared. Flying down towards my party out of the air. He was tall and thin. He had a metal mask covering his face. One side of the mask was white, the other was black. He wore a red suit with gold trim and his pants were tucked in to his socks, which were white. His hair was blonde and very long and flowing.

The perspective changed -- the battle was starting! I noticed now that everything had changed from the near real look of earlier to a three tone shaded anime style. However everything looked gorgeous. It's hard to describe, but everything was so crisp that despite the loss of detail in the shading it looked a lot better.

Not only had the scene detail changed, but so had I. I was now older.

I looked almost identical to Ryu from Breath of Fire 4. It didn't occur to me in the dream though.

I got the sense that my companions were also older, but still couldn't recall any details about them.

There was a menu on screen, just like a Japanese RPG. The perspective had switched to be behind my party. The battle system was the same as Final Fantasy XIII. I was distracted by the fact that everything had changed, and was marvelling a bit at it.

I started to select skills from the menu and realised I had a new skill called "Long Swing" or "Long Reach", I'm a bit confused which or if it was changing between both. Anyway, I remembered that I couldn't learn the skill before because I was too short.

Damn! I had taken too long not paying attention to the battle and my party was losing HP fast. I remember thinking something along the lines of that's what you get when you get distracted in RPGs that aren't turn based. Then I woke.[/QUOTE]

Colour Key: Non-Lucid, Lucid, Commentary/Notes

Dream 1 - Screw you Santa

I woke up in bed, except everything in my room was laid out differently. I turned over in bed and felt the back of my head. There was coal coming out of it. I had a lump of coal in my hand that had somehow come out of the back of my head. I recall it being extremely detailed, and I studied it for several seconds. Feeling sleepy I placed the coal on the table, turned back over and went to sleep.

I think my dream went on to be myself fighting Adamantoises in Final Fantasy XIII, but it's just a flash and I can't recall more than that.

Dream 2 - The Stargate Killer

I was a sheriff in a small American town. I was walking though a forest with some deputies. There had been a murder.

There was a file sent to us by the killer with all the victims listed in the order he/she intended to kill them. Their faces were all blacked out and the only thing showing was the top of their heads. Their hair had been edited in the photos to look white.

I was able to work out that some of the victims in the file were Stargate characters -- so assumed they all were. The next closest in line that I could identify was the character Jack O'Neill. I wasn't sure if it was the character at first or the actor, Richard Dean Anderson.

Turns out it was the character because I was talking to him, trying to convince him he needed protection from the killer. He didn't see how he was in any danger, so told me to get lost.

Colour Key: Non-Lucid, Lucid, Commentary/Notes

Dream 1 - Unreality Check

I only recall doing a nose pinch reality check to find that it worked and that it didn't prevent my breathing. Then I did a finger count reality check and had trouble counting all 10 fingers. I kept losing count and found that by the end of the second hand I was up to 6, but was sure I'd counted even more than 10 -- it was odd. I woke straight up and didn't realise I was dreaming and become lucid. I am unable to recall anything about the scene I was in, if there was even a scene at all.

This is how I do my reality checks when awake. I usually do a nose pinch followed by double checking with a finger count. It's bloody annoying that I seem to have done this in a dream and didn't become lucid. I do wonder if it woke me up though... hm...

Dream 2 - PART 1 - Implausibly Plausible Explanation

I was back at secondary school sitting a History GCSE exam. It was a two part exam, and I was sitting the first part. I was at a total loss trying to answer an essay question that I knew barely anything about. I hadn't done any revision or really paid any attention to anything over the course of the school year.

Much like my real life self back at school, except I wasn't able to wing it in the dream and do alright despite my lack of preparation.

Anyway, it was now some days later on a Friday morning. I had a History lesson that morning and the History second exam was coming up soon. I was determined to do a ton of revision and no balls up the rest of the exam.

I went downstairs to the kitchen and my mum was there. We spoke about how I had just been off school all week and had to go back -- what a drag. I asked why I had been off from school for 4 days of the week since it seemed odd. She said that the Monday had been a bank holiday. I asked about the rest of the week and she told me that I had just stayed off for a little holiday and that the school had still been open.

Suddenly I realised I'd missed a Maths exam and an English exam during the week. Shit! My mind flashed to scenes of friends at school wondering where I had been. Then I paused for thought and realised I'd already been through school years ago. Why was I still there? My mind seemed to explain this by somehow convincing me that I had just gone back there voluntarily, as had several other people. I was relieved that missing these exams didn't matter because I'd already done them years ago and decided to quit going back to school voluntarily.

Curse my dreaming mind for creating an implausible plausible explanation. I wonder if my mind questioned that looking for dream signs (of which I identify anything relating to secondary school as) and my mind managed to explain it away? Anyway, another lucid opportunity lost.

The scene changed at this point in to something totally different, but it was still part of a single dream period...

Dream 2 - PART 2 - Bark at the Moon

I was living in a village with my family (mum, dad, and elder brother.) Somehow it was revealed that myself and my brother, G, were adopted. We were still biological siblings and had been adopted at the same time when I was a baby and he was a young kid.

In reality my brother is 10 years older than me. In the dream I got the sense he was more like 3 or 4 years older.

We also discovered that we had another biological brother called Jason. He had just moved to the village with his adoptive family.

It was all over the news and in the papers about how my grandfather (mother's father) had been running some kind of dodgy adoption racket before. There was this woman who my grandfather was in cahoots with being interviewed about it and she explained that just before the whole thing went tits up my grandfather still had 4 children, all siblings, in his care. They were each a set of twins, one older set and one younger. One of each of the sets of twins were given to different families and the remaining two, myself and my brother, were given to my parents.

There was also another story getting a lot of attention. A local legend about "The Wolf Mama". The Wolf Mama was said to be a half-woman half-wolf creature that bore 4 human children. She was described as having the body of a wolf with the torso of a human woman (like a centaur, but a wolf.) Her head was also that of a wolf. Her torso was split open from top to bottom, gaping wide open. Protruding from inside of her were 4 straight "horns". Two went through each of her nipples, pointing upwards, and the other two protruded from the sides of her abdominal area pointing downwards. Horrific, but also a legend... a creature of myth... right?

I went to see Jason. He wasn't interested in talking. I found him in a field putting up a fence. I stayed to help him, trying to get him to talk about it. He said he had a younger brother and sister and was happy with the family he had -- he didn't want his life to change.

It grew dark. The mud was thick on the ground. The moon began to shine... a full moon. Jason turned and stared at the moon. Suddenly he bolted off. I turned to see him running up a small hill. He stopped. I chased after him, and when I caught up I saw him staring up at the moon intently. I looked up and in the moon I could make out the image of The Wolf Mama! I was shocked. Turning to Jason I sensed he was about to transform -- probably in to a werewolf!!!

THEN I WAS WOKEN UP BY SOMEONE KNOCKING ON THE DOOR!

I was pretty pissed off. My heart was racing and felt like it was going to rip through my chest. Why oh why did I have to get woken just at the big reveal! Now I have unanswered questions like why wasn't the moon affecting me? What would Jason have transformed in to? Where is the 4th brother? Gah![/QUOTE]

Colour Key: Non-Lucid, Lucid, Commentary/Notes

Dream 1 - Forest Fragment

I just had a flash of a memory when I woke in the night. I was too tired to force myself to remember and dozed off.

I was in a forest. I think it was dark.

Dream 2 - Ducking Nonsense

I was back at school and felt that I was also school age, around 14. There was some weird kindof charity promotional thing going on in association with the BBC. My school picked me to represent it, which I was pissed off about.

Heh. My school was a bit like this in reality. Pushing people in to doing things which also pissed me off and made me rebel (or at least try to.)

I had to show up somewhere and sing a verse of a song. However, I decided that because the BBC is a bias state run media company, I wasn't going to take part. There was some other kid from somewhere else who thought the same and egged me on. I was determined to wreck it.

Pretty true to my views on the BBC in real life.

So, me and the other kid ducked it somehow. One of the other kids was a bit of a smug git and told me I was a bad person for ruining a charity thing. I told him that I did it out of principle. However he told me that I had apparently done some TV commercial in the US for some product sold by some company that was a known human rights abuser in some part of the world so that meant I was un-principled. Nice argument, but I replied that I also held the principle that if you're giving me money, I don't give a shit who you are or what you do.

I don't really think that!

Dream 3 - WTF Are you doing?

I was a footballer and I was stood in the dressing room with my team. The dressing room in the scene was the boys dressing room from my secondary school. Another player was trying to tell everyone that drinking a litre bottle of apple cordial (squash) and pouring a bag of crushed crisps down your pants will make you play better.

For those of you in the US, football = soccer in this instance. Oh, and crisps = chips.

I just remember thinking that it would just rot his teeth and make him look silly. Anyway I refused. The guy next to me said he'd drink the cordial for the sugar, but the crisps sounded weird. There were no other takers.

Anyway, the crazy footballer tells to the guy next to him to fetch the stuff. He downs the bottle in like 2 seconds and then tells the other guy to crush up the crisps really small. He then pours the crisps -- which appear to be an enormous packet -- down his pants. I realise he has these massive black clown-like baggy pants on.

I hate football so I don't know why I had this dream. Maybe it's because of the constant bombardment of World Cup nonsense on TV.[/QUOTE]

Colour Key: Non-Lucid, Lucid, Commentary/Notes

Ah. I love a good afternoon nap...

I saw Poirot as played by David Suchet. I realise it's third person and I'm actually him. The dream then became first person and I saw I was standing in a tea room / café of sorts.

The room was full of old women dressed as though it was the 1920s. I walked around the room, doing the same funny little walk he does in the TV series, to talk answer questions they had about a case I had just solved. I remember thinking the questions were really inane -- I just wanted to leave.

Finally as I started to leave I realised I was myself again and the old women had turned in to people I went to secondary school with. I had a large backpack that I placed on a nearby table. Inside there were stacks of video games. I started handing them out to people for free. I remember seeing some old friends, R, S, and G.

Anyway, I still had some stuff left when I decided I had better leave. I asked if anyone in the room wanted free stuff because I was going. L, a girl I used to have a massive crush on, caught my eye and came over. I gave her lots of stuff. I asked again and J, this really annoying git, was um-ing and ar-ing. I told him what he could get on Ebay for the stuff and he came over and took some. As I prepared to leave, I woke.

L appears a lot in my dreams that involve school in some fashion. Must remember her as a dream sign!

Colour Key: Non-Lucid, Lucid, Commentary/Notes

I didn't remember any dreams until this one just came back to me about an hour after getting up. Getting this little bit of a scene out of my memory was a bit like pulling teeth... ok, bad pun.

I was looking in a mirror, examining my teeth. On the right side of my lower mouth there was like a wide crack where most of my teeth were splitting open. I could see inside that there was an entire other gum and set of teeth. It was kind of like how Russian dolls fit within each other, but with gums and teeth...

It's a recurring dream I've had at least once before.

Colour Key: Non-Lucid, Lucid, Commentary/Notes

Dream 1 - Winter Wonderland

I was driving somewhere, but I wasn't sure where.

I can't drive in real life.

I was trying to find my way somewhere. I must have got there because I was trying to find my way back as well. I discussed it with my brother -- no longer driving now, in a room somewhere -- and we looked at a map. He was trying to tell me I needed to go one way, but I was certain he was wrong.

On the map there was a park or woodland. Suddenly the scene changes to me walking through the park. It was snowing an the ground was covered in snow. There were very tall trees everywhere. It was beautiful -- really a winter wonderland.

I knew I wanted to reach the other side of the park, so I just started walking in a straight line. Everywhere there were kids throwing snowballs. Sometimes they would throw them at me, but I just kept walking.

When I passed some kids, so they were behind me, I instinctivly protected the back of my head with my right hand and just kept walking. It was like I didn't want any distraction and wanted to maintain focus on getting there.

This dream occurred after a WILD attempt, and I'm thinking that my attempts at focusing on a goal and trying to ignore outside distractions may have influenced this part of the dream. Eh, who knows.

I saw some old people with some kids behind them. The kids were making snowballs and then they threw them at the old folk. However, they turned around with snowballs of their own and it turned in to a full on snowball fight -- young vs. old. I was still focused on my destination though. I walked right through the crossfire, placing a hand to each side of my head to shield it from the snowballs.

As I continued I noticed that there was less and less snow on the ground. It was like it had only been snowing at the end of the park where I had come from. At this end it was turning to ice and melting away.

There was a wooden building, like a giant log cabin with like log walls attached that made it look a bit like an old American fort. In the outside area surrounded by the walls there were parents sitting at tables drinking. Kids were running from them off in to the direction of the snow.

I sensed one last kid behind me with a snowball. I blocked his throw to the back of my head as I had done before and kept walking.

Running in the other direction, back to the parents, was a kid holding a dish out in front of him. In the dish he was carrying a snowball. It was like he was trying to be careful not to drop it, but also trying to get back to his parents before it melted. I assumed he wanted to show them.

I felt very determined in this dream not to be distracted. I was almost robotic in my actions.

Dream 2 - The Pointless Journey

I was in a foreign country, not sure where. It was hot, I got the sense it was in the middle east. I was in some kind of plaza and began walking towards an archway that lead to some steps, which I then descended.

I could hear a busy road not far away and knew it was my destination. I was at the end of a street which I knew I needed to walk down to be going in the right direction. As I began to walk down it I noticed everyone was staring at me and I felt very intimidated. I was clearly the only white person there.

The street was also some kind of market because I noticed racks of clothes and people setting up stalls. However the surroundings struck me more as though it was somewhere in the UK, unlike when the dream started where it felt distinctly middle eastern.

I reached the end of the street and realised there were 3 women that had followed me. They were all wearing brightly coloured head-scarves. One was orange, the other was purple, and the third one I can't recall. They had really pretty eyes. I had no idea why they followed me -- perhaps they were just curious because I was so out of place?

There was a fence that was actually just a sheet of thin wood. It had a hole in it, which I slipped through. It's a bit confusing, but I quickly found a street leading from the one I now found myself on to the busy road I was trying to reach. I felt safe.

However, I found myself now back in the plaza. This time my parents were with me. I wanted to take them to the busy road, so we went through the same arch and down the same steps as before.

Again we were at the market street. People were staring again. I realised they were all Muslims and I also realised that my mum was dressed very western -- far too exposed for their liking -- so I held on tightly to her arm as we walked in case anything happened and we had to run.

We reached the end of the street where the fence was. The same 3 women had followed us again. There was no time to find out what they wanted. We slipped through the fence and felt a little safer.

This time I couldn't find my way to the busy road. We walked down the street we found ourselves on. It was very run down. There were patches of over grown grass and boarded up windows. The busy road sounded like it ran parallel to the street we were on, but there was no way to cut through, no connecting streets, nothing.

We came to an apartment building that was really run down. It seemed like it would be deserted. I decided to try and find a way through by going inside.

Inside we came across some guys sitting on red sofas smoking weed. They were wearing leather jackets. The guy who seemed to be like the leader figure of the group had dark blonde spiked hair -- really greasy.

I wanted to go through the window on the right wall, thinking it would get us closer to our destination. The opening to the window was small and too high up to reach. There were cupboards next to it though and I asked the leather jacket guy to boost us up on to the cupboards.

He boosted up my dad then my mum and the cupboard started to come away from the wall. He was laughing, slavering a bit, and sometimes panting and howling. Next he boosted me up and toyed around with dropping me, laughing his head off and being generally weird and gross.

Once we were up on the cupboards, I moved across towards the window and went to open it. It was locked. It was locked with something that was like a mini bicycle lock stylized like a dog collar. I asked the guy if he would open it and he said he would if I didn't mind getting my hand bitten off the second I tried to get out. I could hear a dog barking outside of the window. When I looked I saw it swinging around, down to the ground then up in the air as though it was tethered to the wall. It looked like the dogs from the first Resident Evil game.

The guy was laughing again. I asked how we were supposed to get across to the busy road. He said it was easy and we just had to go back and cut across.

Now we were back in the plaza again. This time there were lots of people around. We started walking and there was a really large group of women all wearing head-scarves. My mum started talking to one of them. She said she was on holiday with some friends. There were lots of kids running around too. I didn't want to hang around while my mum was talking. Then I woke.[/QUOTE]

Color Key: Non-Lucid, Lucid, Commentary/Notes
Dream Sign Key: Inner Awareness( i ), Action ( a ), Form ( f ), Context ( c )

I was in a desert with a dusty road stretching ahead of me ( c ). It lead to Damascus ( c ). It stretched on forever, or so it seemed. I was annoyed that it was so long. Then I remembered that the road to somewhere else was shorter so I decided to go there instead.

Maybe if I had taken that road I would've converted to Christianity? I'm glad I didn't.

The next thing I recall is still being in the desert but this time there was a TV chat show style studio just there in the middle of nowhere ( c ). I had a third person perspective this time and think I was being interviewed ( i,c ). Then I woke.

Colour Key: Non-Lucid, Lucid, Commentary/Notes
Dream Sign Key: Inner Awareness( i ), Action ( a ), Form ( f ), Context ( c )

So, I had a nap today with the intention of WILDing. It didn't work, but I did recall the dream I had.

There is a microwave in the lounge next to the TV ( c ). The light is switched off and it's really dark as though it's night. My mum was sitting on the arm of the 2 seater sofa and my dad was sat on the 3 seater sofa. I was sitting on the 2 seater sofa next to my mum.

My mum got up and walked to the microwave. She turned to me and said I should try a microwave jelly sandwich ( c ). I said it didn't sound like something I wanted to eat, but she insisted.

I understood jelly to mean jam in this instance. American culture seems to be seeping in to my dreams more of late. American jelly is British jam. British jelly is American jell-o / gelatin dessert.

Next thing I know I'm leaving the room. I'm right back there with no pants on, just a pair of black boxer shorts ( f ). I went to the microwave -- my mum had returned to the arm of the 2 seater sofa -- and there was a plate with a bagel that had been sliced and spread with jelly. It made more sense to me now because I had been expecting sliced bread, which would just go really floppy in the microwave ( i ).

Underneath the plate there was a yellow laminated card with cooking instructions for this jelly sandwich ( c ). My mum just told me to select the microwave's jelly sandwich setting as it would be faster than reading the instructions. The microwave had an overly complex menu system with a touch screen and drop down menus ( f ). There seemed to be hundred or even thousands of pre-programmed settings. Finally I found the jelly sandwich setting, placed it in, and set it ( f ).

I find it interesting how vivid the image of the menu system is in my mind. I remember quite clearly the design and layout. It also worked really well, which I thought electronics weren't supposed to in dreams.

My brother walked in sat on the other arm of the 2 seater sofa. I walked over to sit back down and wait and told him that he can't sit in my seat. He said he wasn't going to. He sees what I've got in the microwave and says that he thinks it will be horrible, but my mum says he's wrong.

I return to the microwave and get the jelly bagle out and eat it. I tell my brother that he's wrong and it's really nice.

I don't know what all the fuss was about in my dream over such a seemingly mundane piece of food.

Returning to the sofa, I curl up and feel cold because I have no pants on.

Next thing I know it's light in the room and my brother is gone ( f ). Finally, my dad speaks after sitting there for ages and says that he quite fancies some cake. I imagine some kind of current cake and then I wake.

Yet more mundane food? Odd. Maybe I was just hungry.

Colour Key: Non-Lucid, Lucid, Commentary/Notes
Dream Sign Key: Inner Awareness( i ), Action ( a ), Form ( f ), Context ( c )

Dream 1 - Make It Real

I had another dream about dreaming -- I think / sort of. This time it was even more frustrating...

Vague, but I got the sense it was another one about dreaming.

I was talking to someone about making things more clear or real ( c ). I remember looking really closely at my hands and they were super sharp and crisp looking ( a ). I think I -- or it could have been the person I was talking to -- was wearing an olive green coat. It was probably me since I always wear coats of that colour.

It's annoying that I had a dream that might be coming from my reality check knowledge and practise and yet I didn't question the reality of the dream even though I was questioning the unknown DC about it. Now THAT is the definition of frustrating.

Dream 2 - Dream Fantasy XIII

This was mostly a videogame dream, specifically about Final Fantasy XIII.

I was in a party with the characters Sazh and Lightning but we weren't all in the same place all the time ( c ). We somehow swapped bodies unexpectedly, but then swapped back ( c,f ). Something might have happened in-between but I can't remember it now.

The in-between feeling is annoying here. It's like a bit actually is missing. I do remember there being scenes where my view was obscured by large save points, which I think may have been during this missing segment.

Anyway, it happened again and I found myself in a room with bunks built in to the wall, it was a pretty sci-fi looking room. There was a save point right in front of me, obscuring my view ( c ). The floor was bright red and tiled.

Thinking on it now, the room reminds me a lot of the room where Lister sleeps in Red Dwarf in its layout and design, but it was cleaner.

When we switched back, Lightning was angry at me and felt that I had ruined our friendship forever because of what I'd done. No idea what I did though, if anything.

Dream 3 - The Homophobic Road

My dad was driving me somewhere in his car. However, we were in America on some freeway ( c ). He commented about how the roads are different from back in the UK.

There were announcer-like voices coming from the roads themselves telling us about the rules for driving on it ( c ). The current road told us that it was for homosapiens only, but I took this to mean people who weren't homosexuals ( f,c ). It told us that the road at the turn off coming up was for gays. I commented that in the UK nobody would give a shit who was driving on the roads, gay or otherwise.

I would like to know how my mind came up with a homophobic road system. Lol.

Anyway, we continued on and the next thing I know we were pulling up outside the shop at the end of our street. My dad said to get out and make my own way there. I was now aware that we were going to my Gran's and Aunt L's house ( i,c ). I told him that if we were both going to the same place then I might as well stick with him so I got back in the car but in to the back seat ( c,a ).

He drove in to the street and parked up at the side of the road. The shop front was on our street when it's usually on the main road it feeds on to ( c ). The shop was also larger, with larger windows and lots of random stuff in them. For some reason I clearly remember the window and door frames being a nice shade of green.

Anyway, he gets out just as my cousin, C, comes out of the shop ( c ). my dad goes inside. She is crying. She gets in to the other side of the car and sits next to me. She continues to cry and I want to console her but don't know how ( c ).

C lived with my Gran and Aunt L, but both are dead. Maybe this is why she was crying in the dream. I must remember dead relatives as a dream sign!

Around this time I can hear church bells that are annoying.

The church bells are actually a new alarm sound I was trying out. Usually my alarms make it hard for me to remember my dreams when I wake up, so I tried looping a recording of church bells, thinking it could be load enough to make me, but natural and ambient enough to not break my concentration too much as I tried to remember my dreams. Anyway, it didn't wake me, it just showed up in the background noise of my dream. Heh.

Next thing, C sees a baby hat with a bear on it ( c ). It is stuffed in to the drivers seat sun visor. She removes it and starts to cheer up, laughing at how cure it is. She notices a teddy bear somehow fixed to the inside of the car door on my side. She leans over me and puts the hat on the bear and cheers up more because it's cute. We both laugh.

As she continues to play with the bear I think about how dodgy it must look from outside the car with her leaning over me like this ( i ).

My dad walks out of the shop but he's morphed in to the comedian Johhny Vegas ( f ). He gets in the car and I insist that nothing untoward was going on! ( a )

Ok, so C is kinda hot, but she's my cousin!

Weirdly, he's making a new Iron Man movie ( c ). We talk about it. I play with the bear and some really strange shaped safety pins ( f ). He tells me about his dumb idea for a really philosophical ending -- I forget what exactly. I tell him how dumb it is. He knows but thinks it'd be funny to do it anyway.

I don't like super hero movies and avoid them like the plague. It annoys me that over the last few years I can't even seem to avoid discussions about them. I think my dream was making fun of them.

When I wake up, 55 min has passed since the failed church bell alarm. Stupid alarm.

Colour Key: Non-Lucid, Lucid, Commentary/Notes
Dream Sign Key: Inner Awareness( i ), Action ( a ), Form ( f ), Context ( c )

This was my most concerted effort to lucid dream yet. Lots of reality check drilling during the day, tried to MILD at bed time and again after waking up once. Then I did a WBTB and tried to WILD but had issues getting to SP (close though I think.)

Anyway, it's a little frustrating, but there you go.

Dream 1 - Noir

I wasn't able to remember many details, which was frustrating. The imagery I do recall was interesting. There was a film noir vibe to the locations and people at points.

I was in an office. I think I was a journalist of some kind ( c ). There was a woman. Somehow I was able to get her a job there.

Earlier I had also given her a place to stay in what I think was an apartment I lived in.

I remember she was looking for someone. I remember giving her advice, but I'm not sure what about.

At some point there was a street. I recongnise it from the city where I live. I feel like I'm in an American city though, perhaps New York ( c ).

For reference, I live in the UK.

Dream 2 - The Man

Nothing but a brief flash upon waking up, but this is what I gleaned from it.

I was sitting face to face with someone. We were talking, but I have no idea what about. There was nothing around us but either black or white, but I can't remember which -- it might have been both or either, it's really weird ( c,f ).

I vaguely recall that I thought the person was wise or knowledgeable in some way. My mind is telling me the person looked like the character John Locke from Lost, but for some reason I'm not 100% convinced as I seem to also remember white hair extremely vaguely ( c ).

I'm wondering now if this was another dream about dreaming like I had the other night. Something about the scene, albeit the tiny fragment I remember, is really dream scene in a movie cliché to me.

Colour Key: Non-Lucid, Lucid, Commentary/Notes
Dream Sign Key: Inner Awareness( i ), Action ( a ), Form ( f ), Context ( c )

Only the one dream recalled tonight, which was after trying WBTB for the first time this morning.

I was briefly outside on a front porch before the door in front of me was answered. A girl I don't really know very well in reality, J, answered ( c ). J ignored me and I let myself in. Next thing I remember we were in her kitchen. I was sitting down and she was just standing there. Her hair was a mess as though she had had a fright. Her eyes were closed and I realised she was sleepwalking ( c ). Next thing I know she is walking off out of the room and towards the stairs. I followed as far as the kitchen door and remarked at how it was unfair that I tried and failed but she hadn't even had to try ( i ). I remember feeling angry, but also that I liked her cream coloured PJs.

So, my thoughts about dreaming are at least making it in to my dreams it would seem.

The house itself struck me as very American suburbia. I find that strange because I never have dreams that take place outside the UK, or a very UK-like setting.