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Four clear dreams last night (and one just missed) but LD#3 still hiding in the bushes.

1.30 AM A large complex (a cross between a power-station (DS) and a shopping mall...with a grassy base (why not?) We'd lost our very young grandson (the name was right but ours is grown-up) and I'm not happy. Why wasn't someone watching out for him? (me for example) We're running all over, looking for him and I can see a taller person going along a walkway high in the building.

3.30 AM Night-time. A sense of danger. A road facing north, with a line of vehicles parked one behind the other. A couple of people had gone off somewhere, after apparently one had said "I can't take it any more." (perhaps Dell and Rodney were feeling guilty about my cannabis) Some of their things were also missing (major DS) Someone had gone off to report their disappearance and some others were due back from a "mission" A vaguely military scenario (DS)...I'd played MW3 during the day

5.25 AM (An Ed epic) My wife and our (family?) on a breath-taking boat ride down a fast moving river. The boat went through a large subterranean tunnel (Cmon Ed...you pinched that idea from Willy Wonka didn't you?) I actually felt anxious as I saw a falls looming up ahead...which turned out to be a mass of large pipes and some smaller copper pipes (a power station again? DS)

We're gingerly climbing down these pipes...something the wife could never do (DS) Disappointing ending Ed

5.45 AM I'm fiddling about with my teeth and I feel one come loose. I pull out a large metal plate. It had a cutout "C25" plus lots of other letters etched into it and there was some corrosion...the detail was amazing ...it would have comfortably fit into the mouth of an adult hippo. Weird dream (DS)

Lots of detail...lots of Dream signs...total lack of "I'm dreamings"

To-do list. I did a nasal wash before retiring and my pre-briefing was simple and low-key..."I wake up after every dream and remember it" I'll repeat both those tonight and do in-depth build-ups much earlier...I do get the distinct impression that loads of instructions last-thing hinder rather than help my dream recall.

Now I know Ed’s running short of material. I found myself in an Ed-made episode of “Only Fools and Horses.” I had a nice fat wad of cannabis and Dell and Rodney (who were potless) were slavering over it. (I don’t remember this in any episode?)

They tried every trick in the book to procure it (even though I was sharing with them) They rolled ridiculously fat reefers (which I objected to of course) and finally my wad disappeared completely and I tackled them "Where is it…C’mon, who’s got it?”

I sat here wondering why my brain turns out such feeble (and, apparently pointless material) then I’m struck by the obvious again. The cannabis had gone…I couldn’t find where it had gone and one major dream sign for me is mislaying or not being able to find something…it was that DS that triggered my first lucidity. Doh!

There are, so far, crumbs of comfort in most barren nights. One was the fact that I’d confidently not written this dream down (famous people…won’t forget it) When I finally got up it was gone and I cursed myself for not writing it down. I sat there for a while, trying to mentally reach out (as you do)…and it came back to me.

Sometimes I think the brain works against me…then I realise that dream signs are being proferred all the time and and dream scenes built around things that could trigger lucidity if I wasn’t so “unaware” in the dream.

So…put it there Ed….I love yer buddy…although you do seem to be too “soap-opera” in your output and you know how much I hate them…are you listening? You’re worse than the wife…at least she doesn’t know that lucidity isn’t a complete crock of shit, but you do…don’t you? You better do else what is this whole thing about?…if I can’t rely on you then who can I rely on you grey wrinkly splodge of fat (fade out)

Felt lethargic yesterday and didn't really do much dream technique. Went to sleep at aprox 11.45 PM and awoke at 5.20 AM dreamless (not surprising) Stayed up half an hour then WBTB on the living room sofa till the wife got up at 7.45 then WBTB in my bedroom

I either had one long dream or two (I think two because the subject matter was different)

Dream #1
I'm laying in a bed (massive dream sign) talking to a DC who resembled a guy who used to be an co-owner of a company with a friend of mine (get out of my bed!...what will the wife think?) I'm telling him that I lucid dream and I've managed it twice so far????????????? (massive massive mega dream sign) So much for my theory...it didn't trigger lucidity.

Dream #2
My wife telling me that workmen had replaced (some equipment) in our house and they weren't able to take the old equipment away. I'm not surprised. When I went into the garden it was absolutely stuffed with enormous Victorian-type engines with very long piston-arms (the photo is the closest I can so far find - minus the flywheel and overhead pipes)

They completely filled the garden...stretching right across it (I estimate there were aprox eight of them) Old Victorian-era machinery again (I like steam engines etc but I'm not an anorak)

I don't know whether to be annoyed or encouraged by dream #1... Ed has taken on board my earlier comments re dreaming of dreaming and hit me. I'm clinging to the hope that it's a good sign and #3 will come soon. It looks like I have to stay in bed half the morning to accrue enough "dream energy" to stand a chance of doing so. At least the weather's getting colder and daylight comes later and that will help.

An average non-lucid night…catch some dreams, miss some dreams…but brightened by two “firsts” I tried SSILD during my afternoon “nap” just to see what happened.

I did the sight, sound, touch cycles and lay down. For the first time I got…not SP…but definite muscle tremors and bright flashes…like “technicolour migraine” That was it during the time I was prepared to lay there, but it’s a step forward.

Event #2 was while going to sleep for the first time at night. Again, I’d done the sight, sound, touch cycles (I find them relaxing) but it wasn’t relaxing enough so I set my touch lamp to low setting and lay there musing…intending to turn it off when I was close to falling asleep.

Suddenly, a small creature zipped across my line-of-sight then instantly vanished. It was so quick that I didn’t get much detail but my impression afterwards was that it seemed like a cartoon animal character. Whilst writing this down something has gelled.

In my DJ, on 17/9 I whinged about wanting more dreams and I wrote “damn you Ed! (my brain) even a cartoon would do!” Once again, I’m struck by the ambiguity of dream events. Did this written comment bring something out at random (in this case, as a vivid hypnagogic image) or was my mind deliberately “playing tricks” with me?

It startled me, because it wasn’t with the whistles and bells of a lay-down deliberate WILD or SSILD…it was something that appeared when I (thought) I was wide-awake. I said “WOW!” again (completely forgetting to do an RC) Because I’ve read up on things, it wasn’t frightening but it put paid to immediate sleep. Roll on the day when I think “oh yeah?” then climb into a dream.

2.20 AM
A very basic kind of police station. There was a constable with me and I was up to no good I think. I tried the door and was surprised it was open.. I wanted to know if the room was ready for “handover” and he said “yes” I got the impression that another constable had died and I noticed a stack of notebooks still in the room.

7.20 .00 AM
“We” were all on holiday somewhere (was it my real family???) Everything was untidy and during the night I sensed something moving around…it was a cute black puppy and it was joined by two other dogs that had appeared from an “upstairs flat” that Ed had suddenly inserted into this movie masterpiece (I could have sworn we were in a caravan originally) Ed…why dogs again?....we’re not getting one if that’s what you’re hoping.

An old friend, who we haven’t seen for about 15 years turned up unexpectedly and I’m uncomfortable about the shambles and she’s also embarrassed. The wife sends me off for eggs and I check my money. (who wrote this Ed...Enid Blyton?)

This morning, I mentioned to the wife that this friend had turned up in my dreams and, for the first time she responded with interest rather than politeness…because she had also dreamt about her! I watched her recount her dream and she seemed puzzled by the fact that these details were emerging…a sort of “where did that come from?” look (that’s dream recall my dear) On what mathematical scale should I place that co-incidence?

Not LD #3 but a good night generally. I'm hampered by OAP pains at night (my legs and neck...not excruciating, just enough to distract) I've now found that tensing my leg muscles brings temporary relief and that helps. I tried Bako's Autosuggestion Tutorial last night and I also switched off the alarm.

02.50 AM Woke feeling ill (again) Sure there was a dream to be captured but feeling ill made me miss it.

04.25 AM I now know that around that time is dream time so, (hopefully) I'll no longer need an alarm I've a hunch the alarm hampers "pre-alarm" dreams. Still feeling faintly ill but I got the dream.

There was a property which had a large "workshop" with big folding doors. A coach party of men had stopped nearby and there was a suggestion that they were drunk (never!) and I feared larceny so I was closed the doors. I looked around the adjacent properties. (definitely more looking around and noticing detail)

There was also a conversation (this dream...an earlier one?) between a manageress and her male superior. She had a problem and he wasn't helping her solve it. He "wasn't going to tell her her job" and he was basically saying "get on with it." (virtual twat!)

Did a WBTB & WILD after one hour. I cannot progress beyond SP and what I call "rushes" No bells, lights, whistles, dancing girls, Grand Parades...not a whiff of a dream (Damn you Ed!...a cartoon would do!}

07.35 At some sort of fete or boot fair and examining a piece of rock and noticing the detail on it. Then looked at a clump of what were supposed to be small shell fossils. The detail was incredible...and impossible of course. Small fossil shells leave imprints in rock, not whole shells (forgive Ed. He's just...unconscious) Then got into an argument with the father of a rude small boy. The debate was impassioned and the traded insults seemed to be coherent...very detailed and civilised...no swearing...no violence (category U...green to other countries)

09.30 Was I (the next) Dr Who (after Peter Capaldi)?...Dr who gets positively geriatric. "We" had cornered a villian and I held a shotgun??? (no screwdriver?) I gave it to my assistant while I apparently decided to wake up.

Conclusions. Much more awareness (but not enough yet) I like Bako's tutorial and getting off to sleep seemed easier...although, being older, I have to really squeeze to get back to sleep after 08.00 AM. I haven't yet sufficiently conditioned myself to DEILD it seems.

Gradually honing my diet (now includes Cod...sorry Cod, I know you're endangered but my needs are greater I think...what's your life against my dreams?) A good collection today...I feel I'm always at, or around, the door of lucidity nowadays...gotta up my awareness and memory and further refine my diet

Lucidus Alohomora!

My new Harry Potter spell (Alohomora apparently opens locked objects) A very appropriate spell I think.

No lucid dream last night.. but, it will take a little while for the new diet, richer in Anthocyanins and beta-Carotene, to kick-in. I'll see what happens, then I may try changing my SST.

As I stated before, my SST used to be 1.30 - 2.00 AM and I had a few really vivid dreams and 2 really amazing hypnagogic visions (before I started LD). Old people's REM periods are different - fewer but longer and it will be interesting to see what happens (during the adjustment period of my SST and how my body reacts to going to bed later)

Theoretically, everything should eventually move forward 2 hours...making 08.00 AM the start of the "rush hours". I could also try switching to my SST from 10.00 PM (it's a bit early, but it's worth going to bed early to try) Only one captive dream last night...Ed seems to have given up on pre-alarm wake-ups at the moment.

08.00 About a black guy who attached himself to my family. True to dream-weirdness my house seemed to be spread around outdoors and he had set up "rooms" (not unlike a scenario on a recent "Top Gear) The rooms consisted of thin temporary walls...that's it...and it was quite impressively furnished

How he got it all there was a mystery, because he was riding around in a strange "small box" on wheels. I was miffed with him because he'd broken the top string of "my guitar" (I'm noticing fine detail) and I experimentally played it...disappointingly I didn't sound like Clapton...just naff old me...It looked like a very long acoustic mandolin yet there was a full-blown Marshall stack just across the way???

Semper paratus

Am I down-hearted? Nope. With every setback I've so far discovered another avenue of exploration. I had one small memorable dream + a potentially good one about a holiday camp...and I overdid "remembering" again and fell back to sleep.

7.00 ish I'm sitting on a chaise-longue with a group of people and we all had our legs outstretched and pointing towards a fireplace. The woman next to me put one of her legs on top of mine...then the other. That's it...it's not much, but it's enough for me...

I keep a record of the stuff I eat. Food must play a part in how we dream...else how would we get our main source of melatonin in the winter? On both lucid nights I had blueberries, coleslaw and a small coffee when I WBTB. I very rarely eat coleslaw and I've been missing out the coffee, the past few nights...in case it's been contributing to the difficulty in quickly going back to sleep

People my age tend to be deficient in melatonin but I'm reluctant to take too many substitutes because there are known health-risks. My age-group is likely to be the group who should perhaps sway their diet towards certain foodstuffs because we are most likely to be deficient in certain things that perhaps aid LD. Sour cherries are a good source.

Sour cherries are a new super-food (and, of course big business know this and they're relatively expensive and fairly difficult to get in the UK) Anthocyanins are the likely "helpful" ingredient. Fruits and vegetables rich in anthocyanins include blueberry, cranberry, bilerry, red raspberry,blackberry; blackcurrant, cherry, Concord and muscadine grape, red cabbage, and violet petals (you can eat violet petals! look out neighbours, I'll be like a rampant sheep) Stuff the cherries, most of these are cheaper...especially neighbours violets...I'll eat 'em in-situ

Coleslaw is presumably beta-Carotene. (again caution needed re amounts) Includes cantaloupe, mangoes papayas, carrots and yams. spinach, kale and superfruit Vietnamese Gac (10 times higher than carrots, for example.) I'll be out looking for Vietnamese neighbours...and definitely coleslaw's on the menu boys!

Most of my blather can be read elsewhere on this site anyway,. Ever onwards...

Everything You Need to Know About Foods High in Melatonin

Family celebration last night...a few beers and to bed late, with very little preparation so I'm not that surprised that I had not a sniff of a LD. I dabbled with herbal tea last night...I tried Valerian plus "Lime Flowers-Valerian - Hops -Passion Flowers -Fennel" It tasted like I imagine fragrant cat piss would taste (I'm only guessing,) Maybe all herbal teas taste like that. I'll soon know, because I bought 2 more.

I still laid awake...with maybe just a hint of "spaced out"

7.30 AM I find that, as well as visuals, my dreams seem to have "implanted" mental locations..."this is in Scotland - this is an old run-down factory"...things like that. There was a man in a large group of people, who function was to erase people. He literally was holding a small rubber (I kid you not!) I went over and snatched the rubber off him and started vigorously using it on him. Bits of him didn't start to disappear though He said something like "You can't do that to me" and I said something like "Well I certainly going to try" (Ed...is this another of your symbolic mini-budgets ?)

?? A mini-dream about a paddling pool and I shuffled across it on my trousered-knees, towards something that looked like a large floating biscuit, but turned out to be a piece of wood (was it worth the film Ed?)

10.00 We were watching a movie and someone, who looked like Sigourney Weaver, suddenly ripped of her blouse and exposed her breasts (I hope for her sake that it was just Ed's poor interpretation of them) At some stage the audience, including the men, decided to join in stripping-off their upper garments and (mercifully) I left the cinema (and the dream) about then.

I did 2 WBTB...one at 6.00 AM and a mini one later. Interestingly, I forgot all my conditioning and got up from my bed as soon as I awoke. But I recalled the dreams as I moved towards the kitchen and that's a first...usually they would have vanished in a puff of smoke...so a crumb of comfort there then, at least my memory is improving somewhat.

I interpret the "rubber" dream as a poor visual of my desire to see modern day regime leaders (and one in particular) disappear and again wonder about the role of the subconscious brain as a biological computer. Maybe it goes with something like "tyrant...eliminate...delete...rub-out...rubber..and just literally "sees" it that way, without being aware how ludicrous it is. It would explain a lot

I can still barely believe I've just had LD #2 but JoannaB's words from my previous lucid posting confirm it.

"A dream about being lucid would not have that kind of self-awareness. It would be for example more like watching a movie in which you were a star and the star does cool stuff because it is a dream, but you would not have real awareness of dream state, it would be happening to you."

And that's it in a nutshell. Also, if I can have dream #2 like this I can have #3 #4..#5 etc...soon even I "Mr self-doubt" has to be convinced More about this dream later...I had one dream before the LD one

04.50 AM I felt ill when I woke up. (that's only happened once before, months ago) I tried to DEILD but, although the after-dream effects were still "white-hot" it failed

Pretty vivid dream. I'm in a pub I think, and there's scaffolding reaching way up to the roof...which looked about the height of Canterbury Cathedral. Someone is trying to fit harness onto me and I think I was supposed to be climbing up this scaffolding. I not happy about this. I hear someone say that the tackle won't fit me (bloody cheek...I'm overweight, but not that much)

"I'm not doing it." I say firmly. "I guarantee that I'm not going up there."

08.00 AM I'm in a virtually featureless bedroom...it's all a bit vague. I'm in there with the wife and there's a double-bed That's a mega DS because we don't even sleep in the same room - except in single beds in a hotel. That's apparently all I needed to make me say "I'm dreaming"

I'm still in the bedroom and no major excitement this time (I've been self-conditioning) But I did forget to RC. I can hear the wife saying something in the distance but I'm too busy to listen.

I bang experimentally on the white wall and the room seems to bow inward (don't do that again I think) This time, everything seems much more stable and I really want to explore I move out of the room to go downstairs. I'm aware of moving down much more easily than I normally would. There's a bannister with a grooved indentation running down the top...I feel my hand running down the polished wood

There's an open door, on the right at the bottom and, in my opinion, a fairly cluttered room (the sort that some older people have, full of momentoes and ornaments and non-coordinated colour schemes. There a small black dog in there (another black dog!) Strangely,I feel like I'm somewhere in Scotland (never been there)

There's a kind of conservatory on the left...not the modern kind but more basic...rectangular, mainly glass and from a much earlier period. This is very cluttered and I can hear a woman speaking from an alcove round on the left-hand side. I'm eager to move round there (my first post-lucid DC, although, based on yesterday's experience, perhaps I should have been more cautious) Maybe my haste to get round there did it, but the dream ended. I tried to DEILD again, but failed...I'm now desperate to work on this problem...it should now be my number-one priority

The next few weeks are going to be wonderful. Looks like my dreams will keep fairly stable, as long as I take it steady. I remembered to keep calm at first...now I must reinforce my conditioning about RC’s …and DEILD mastery is an absolute priority

Now comes the hard part maybe...Lucid dream #2. Another fruitless night...except for one dream, which I'll get out of the way quickly.

Most of the dream is lost in the mists but it definitely involved two "ladies" and me in a bedroom (bed = DS) No disrespect to the opposite sex but these two were GRIMM (I seem to recall that they made the ugly sisters look like the Kardashians) At one stage, something winked at me...and it wasn't an eye. They were indeed "Ladies of the Night" (because they shouldn't be allowed out during the daytime)

Mercifully, I don't recall that anything "happened"...just these two laying about in various non-seductive poses and me trying to stay out of their way. I hasten to say that I'm not a "dirty old man"...I appreciate beauty in a woman and I like maturer ladies...but never young girls or women. I use "an attractive woman" as a dream sign because I figure she would draw my attention...and hopefully trigger "it's a dream."

But, again I sense forces at work. Given that dream sign, why would I dream of two that were so repulsive? Could it be, my brain playing a joke...or even trying to avoid triggering lucidity? Those malign forces again. Apart from that, there was nothing. I slept through my 5.00 AM alarm and woke up an hour later.

Another thing. I'm becoming more and more convinced that KISS (the acronym "Keep it Simple Stupid") is best when dealing with Ed, my brain. Laying down and mentally running through a list like "I'm going to wake up after every dream before my alarm rings at 5.00 AM...then I will get up for an hour...then back to bed...and I will continue to wake up after every dream and I WILL become lucid tonight" isn't a good strategy.

Ed probably looks up, loses interest (or focus) halfway, then goes back to his magazine (Wink probably) Also, I think that setting an alarm does register too strongly with him (I wish it always did with me) and it seems to override everything...hence no collected dream from the early part of the night.

Another thing. The night I became lucid I'd eaten strawberries blueberries and a banana (+ two beetroot extract tabs). I hope they weren't the catalyst because this is going to become an expensive hobby.

Addition - I missed the obvious These women were so awe-inspiringly awful they should have triggered an "I must be dreaming" response (Sorry Ed- it's me that's thick) Although...technically it could be called a nightmare...and can you say "I must be having a nightmare," and become lucid on the back of that?

Post-lucid I've hit two walls...One I'll get over, the other is insurmountable. The first is difficulty going back to sleep. At the moment the half-hour either side of 9.00 AM is maybe my door to Lucidity at this stage. The dreams are different, they're awash with dream signs and I'm clearly puzzled by certain events in the dreams. I'm starting to question...

Because I know this time-period is the golden ticket, this puts pressure on. Ideally, I could set my alarm to wake at 7.30 AM, get up for an hour, reading LD-related material (I can now see the potential of that...it strengthens the attempt) Back to bed at 8.20, do ten minutes of mental preparation and off to sleep (hopefully) within ten more minutes

Nope. The World is waking up (including the wife) and i lay there and I can feel that time-window shrinking by the minute. So, last night I set the alarm for 6.30 to build-in an extra hour's leeway...and i needed it.

9.00 AM I'm in a large open office (DS). I moved further up the section (to do some photocopying I think) and I realise I'm bare-chested. I'm very embarrassed and puzzled "Why did I take my shirt off?" I wonder. I'm questioning and that's good...but it didn't trigger "I must be dreaming" this time. I attempt to put on a T shirt Why am I wearing a T shirt? (I'm questioning but not reacting this time)

I struggle to put it on and it seems to have multiple layers (at the top anyway) I'm puzzled (but still don't react) Someone touches my leg and it's my boss and he starts photocopying alongside me...and I wake up (maybe in case he starts to make a move on me)

I can see that, on another night, I might have said that magic word "dreaming" (I know I'm there but it can still just as easily go either way and I need to beef-up the conditioning) But I was embarrassed and that was a distraction in itself. I was afraid to look up, fearing that everyone would be staring at me.

Of course that time in the morning is normally wake-up time and I've had eight hours of sleep If I can get another couple of LD's I'll try dropping back to a 05.00 AM wakeup and WBTB at 06.00 AM That's where my DJ shows a solid three hours of good dream time. But, I must work at getting off to sleep again quickly.

The second wall is the wife. My first reaction in the LD I had was to tell the wife...we always discuss things (rather we did always discuss things) I get, from her, the same reaction most of you get ...uncomprehending ...uncomfortable...the shutters go down. So we move apart on this one...I can't talk to her about LD so deal with it...

On here, we're almost a secret society and we have other like-minded people to talk to. I have a mental picture of a crowd of (mainly young) LD'ers moving across a golden beach, some swooping and diving, others in an assortment of wondrous machines, with an old man dragging along behind, desperately trying to will-up some form of transportation

Flushed with excitement at my little Lucid moment yesterday I limbered-up last night, ready for another charge at the iron gates of Fort Lucid. I slept rather badly I think, waking for brief periods, at what should have been the very end of dreams but with no tell-tale signs of muscle tremor or "eyeballs" But I still managed 2 dreams last night.

06.00 AM My wife and I were boat-fishing (we shore-fished a lot in the old days) We "hit" a "biggie"...(her and/or me?...it seemed to switch from one to the other) It was an enormous "bite"... a large ray and it was difficult to bring it aboard. "We" tugged really hard

Somehow this massive fish passed over us like a low-flying airliner and landed back in the water on the opposite side of the boat (nice CGI Ed but 2 pensioners collectively doing that to this leviathan?...far-fetched, know what I mean?)

9.10 AM There was a quantity of furniture etc, laying at the kerbside in a street...a sofa, with a coffee table in front of it and other items, including an old non-electric iron. It was like a scene from late 18th/early 19th century London, when evictions were common. But there was the body of an old lady wedged between the sofa and the table. I could see the possibility that anyone passing on the path would not have seen it

My father was looking at the stuff, but had clearly not noticed the body. I was impatient (and very rude) and I said "Look Look!...open your eyes and look!" That's all I remember...I bet you know what's coming next. My father died in 1984 and I'm sternly telling him words that were part of my pre-bedtime self-brief. "Look around in dreams...notice anything unusual"

Again Ed took my words and chucked them back in my face. But he also showed my dead father and I didn't pick up on it and become lucid again last night. Maybe he's saying "OK..well done for the previous night's lucid moment but you ain't there yet boy...lots of work still to do if you want regular lucidity. ..and point taken...

My Dad was born in 1893. He married my young mother when he was in his fifties (his toy-girl) A few times I've had dreams that seem centred in that period...Maybe there is something in genetic-memory. It's these kind of strange oddities and co-incidences that I love about the dream attempts.

3.40 Complicated dream. Some kind of dormitory and I seem to play a trick on people in the dormitory by banging doors (I'm a reckless devil me) Some people outside apparently heard me and came into the dormitory and I pretended to be asleep (Ed! This is crap mate...C'mon!)

Cut to me walking with a woman (definite likeness to a former work colleague) I'm telling her that I've taken out a lease on a building within a commercial park and she said "Yes, I heard you had."???? (I really must get out more)

I repeated what I did the night before and got up at 07.00 AM and stayed up for an hour, revising a list I'm doing for memory improvement. I went back to bed and did 5 minutes running through memory checks and dream signs, then my usual instruction re waking-up after each dream and recording it. I woke up once after a small dream and resolved to remember it and go back to sleep (that's been risky in the past, but I do remember it and that's a step forward already)

(Not sure of time) There was a lovely black dog with a very shiny coat and, for some reason I pinched its tail. It must have really hurt and the dog was obviously in pain and I comforted it. (No...I'm not proud of this one...but then it's down to Ed anyway isn't it?)

9.20 am I was working at a desk in a company (DS) A woman brought me a package and told me to send it to (I don't remember the company name) I thought "That's not part of my job description." but I must have located the phone number of a contact and I rang him to confirm the address and recipient. He blathered on and seemed to be complaining about me ringing him Then I couldn't find the package on my desk and I thought something like "That's odd...I must be dreaming."

Then the scene seemed to change to open countryside and I could feel the heat of the sun. People talk about excitement...well I felt joy I thought I can tell the wife that I'm lucid! Then I thought don't lose the dream and it started to go and I think I felt a bit dizzy. I remembered about spinning and I did it for a very short while...I usually get very dizzy doing that but not this time. It seemed to stabilize but then I wake up. But I noticed the background music I was playing was absent...then it seemed to fade-up. I remembered to check that it wasn't a false-awakening then I tried to get back into the dream but I've never done that before and it didn't work.

I'm pretty certain it was lucidity but I'll keep it low-key at the moment and see if I can achive LD#2 Then I'll know won't I?

It's no good. Despite my firm intention to concentrate only on the dream journal and ADA at the moment I can't resist also experimenting...I'm just built that way. Last night I decided to put all my effort in an attempt at Laberge's "An Hour of Wakefulness Before Morning Naps Makes Lucidity More Likely"

i set the alarm for 6 AM. ( a lot later than I've ever done) I got up, concentrated for about 50 minutes only on LD related things. I already have my tailor-made "awareness" list and I started my own "memory-improvement" list. I'm retired so things like "traffic-lights" and "crossing a street" are not that relevant because I can go for days without going out. I took things from my DJ like "seeing some meat" "a wrapped present or card" "seeing family" "seeing my bed". That only made 16 items so I'll find at least 16 more, then rotate 3 items to react to per day.

I spent 10 minutes , running through my old dream signs...my reality checks and mantras, then settled down. By then it's daylight and the traffic noise is building so I mentally recited two mantras "Peace of mind" (had that one for years and it works) and my new one "slip"...telling myself to let my mind slip into that floating pre-sleep state, where thoughts come and go without me latching on to them. It worked and I felt myself going down down...and I was soon asleep (very pleased with that, I must try that more)

I was in the large service lift of a power-station (massive dream sign) I felt very tired (or was I faintly aware that I was asleep?) I set the lift for up, then realised I'd set it to the top boiler floor. I reset it down to the control-room floor.As I walked out I said "I'm so tired. I really need to be more alert...I need to wake up."

...and I woke up. GRRR! To be fair to Ed one of my pre-sleep conditioning phrases was " need to be alert" (meaning I need to be aware in my dreams) and I suppose that was the end result. I lay there fuming for a while then tried the "slip" routine...and it worked again and I grabbed another small dream.

I'm in an office (DS) and I'm looking for a kettle to make a coffee. (a fair bit of looking but no spotting of blatant dream signs)

I'm intrigued by Ed's "alert" response (his literal interpretation) Computers are great at chess moves but pretty crap at things like TV live-captioning. (subtleties of accent and strange words that humans would adjust for, computers show the most bizarre interpretations) Is the part of the brain that controls dreams like that? (when I say "I want to be alert in my dream" it just picks out "alert" as in "be awake"?) I must be careful how I phrase things in future. Keep it simple and to the point

Not a complete disaster... pretty vivid dreams...I think there was small progress...I will try again

Out of the desert now...only one dream but last night was a bit of a lash-up as per usual...

7.00 AM A lovely, warm little vignette by Ed, about an indoor cafe. It looked like a double-decker bus minus the engine parts...a "themed" cafe shall we say? (maybe using-up the props from Monday's bus stop incident) The wife (plus others?) were with me and there were customers seated on both levels. One of the staff was apparently going round with a raffle (looked like a very large box of Christmas crackers...I think Ed likes Christmas)

Cut to me watching a diner being served with what looked vaguely like shredded beef and vegetables. It looked nice and I gravitated towards the serving end. There was a guy cleaning out a large glass cabinet, inside which was the skeletal remains of what looked like a small cow...("looks like beef's off the menu boys") The others had disappeared somewhere, to look for a toilet...and cut...and fade

Not bad Ed...only the large rib-cage looked out of place...and the fact it was just in a glass case...and the fact that I don't remember any other shops being inside this "indoor place, whatever it was...I could go on...despite the fact that I'm being fairly diligent about ADA, I never picked-up on anything so I'm not there yet then.

I remember watching a documentary about an indoor market and cafe in Wales...that's where he got the idea. It's interesting to note that very rarely now does any of my original Dream Signs appear in Ed's script (and only peripherally when they do) Does highlighting them exorcise them?