The Medium

Okay, so I have gotten to the point where I can dedicate a night or two and be able to have good recall. The past few nights however, I have stayed up too late. ( Mostly alpha testing a video game set to launch open beta on 12/12/2012.) Yesterday I recalled a couple dreams, but had to hurry to work and failed to write anything down. D'oh! The next month, my main goal is to increase my awareness during the day while doing more reality checks. Hopefully it will become habit.

Waking Thoughts/Dream/Lucid

I am finally getting my sleep schedule back to where I want it. Hopefully I can keep it this way. Had a fairly successful night of recall and focused on two mantras while falling asleep. Those are "I wake up after every dream." And "I remember my dreams." I have read that avoiding the word 'will' in mantras are more effective.

I have recalled two dreams:
The first one was a bit foggy. I was at work again helping get rid of a huge cardboard display that was left in the rain overnight. I remember it being quite a drudgery.
The second dream I was in my house watching TV. For some reason a cartoon I watched as a child was on. It was an episode of Ed Edd n' Eddy that seemed to be mostly the main characters looking back on their past. I recall it was quite entertaining. Later the cartoon changed a bit and turned into a mixture of DBZ and other shows I used to watch.

This has been my first night of regular sleep since working overnight. Last night was quite a bit out of the ordinary, starting out by waking up roughly 3 hours after going to bed. No dreams were recorded though; I could not recall any for some reason. The neat thing though is that 3 hours of sleep felt longer. It was actually pretty nice. Other than that, I woke up a few other times with no recall at all. Hope I keep this up when I can get my routine fixed.

Gonna be two more days until I can get back on regular schedule. That's retail work for ya.

Waking Thoughts/Dream/Lucid

The next few days I will have to destroy my routine again. Having to work overnight till Friday... Maybe I can take advantage of this somehow? I'll do a bit of research. Anyway' attempting to get ready for tonight' I stayed up fairly late last night, which means I had to turn off my alarms that helped me remember dreams. So last night I really did not remember any dreams. I had a few fragments this morning, but was too tired to write them down.

Waking Thoughts/Dream/Lucid

I had several dreams last night, but only one seemed to make enough sense to write down. I forgot to write down the time, but as usual it was very early morning. I would guess around 04:00 to 06:00.

I was once again in an area that seemed to resemble where I work. Only this time the building I was currently in was absolutely huge and convoluted. It seemed to have multiple buildings put into one. There was a Wal-Mart, movie theater, hospital, and a school all in one package. The strange thing is that some parts felt like they came from past dreams; it was one big hodgepodge. Anyway, I was talking with a manager about another employee who was asked to get a few things. We will refer to this coworker as 'M'. M had come back with nothing and made no further attempt to retrieve the items in question. Being a friend however, I did not really get mad, but I was asked to find the things myself. I am pretty sure I was given a list of things with a map of some sort, but I cannot seem to remember what was on it. Walking around, I come across the different parts of the building. My first stop being a back room type area for the hospital wing. For some reason there were a lot of cramped halls, even in the actual main hallways. For some reason, I had to sneak around and act as if I work in that area to get by without raising alarm. Eventually I make my way to the theater, completely forgetting about the 'scavenger hunt'. The theater was large and had two podium like platforms on either side of where the audience sits. I was not sure what was playing, but I recall sitting in the podium and watching the film. The dream then ends shortly afterwards. Looking back, the main color I remember seeing are shades of red.

Now that I look back at these dreams, a recurring setting seems to be where I work. Maybe I will try to incorporate more RC's and practice ADA while working.

Waking Thoughts/Dream/Lucid

The first dream is in my own home, only slightly altered by past dreamscapes. Travis was telling me that some weird things have been happening lately to new people who come to this place. (Remember that my house is fused with another retail-like place.) He says people who go to sleep have reported waking up in a huge amount of pain in their torso. It seems someone, or something, has preformed surgery and removed certain... organs from their bodies. Mostly removal of parts of the reproductive system. Keeping that in mind, my brother and I attempt to stay up all night in attempt to preserve ourselves. I suggest, as the cliché horror story would have, to take shifts sleeping. That is the last thing I remember before waking up. I made sure to do a reality check.

The last dream was another dream that I'm at work. I seem to be having Lots of these lately. Except this time I'm not actually working, more like exploring. There seemed to be a very old part of the building underground. It almost seemed to have old classrooms. Thee were only a hand full of people there mostly minding their own business. I recall talking to a friend about the camera system in place. Apparently there was an artificial intelligence who kept watch over the place, and I needed to repair a camera where I usually work. Taking a borrowed camera, I begin to look for a place to hook it up. Along the way, I encounter an old friend I once knew. He was some sort of hacker, and was messing with a cartridge thing attached to a pillar. He was talking about how it can alter this dimension through the use of the tool he had. I tried a few things myself but just managed to change the scene to a messed up videogame of sorts. I wake up not too long afterwards.

Waking Thoughts/Dream/Lucid

Past few nights have been out of the ordinary, so my sleep schedule is wrecked again. Seems to be a common theme for me. Anyways here a few bits of information I have managed to remember.

Yesterday:
I was at another house. It was going to be mine, but certain family issues prevented it. There were some people there that I never met before that were cleaning up the place. All I remember doing was explaining what needed to be done and what the past plans were. The house was in a state of heavy disrepair. Much like when the project was first started. I recall talking to a few kids there that were going to mow the lawn. Not all that much happened until I woke up and had to get ready for work.

Today:
Again more fragments, but I'll write what I can. I was at my grandmothers house. Sort of. The place seemed to be fused with other places in past dreams. I tend to get these feelings a lot. I recall that a couple friends were there, one of them being an online friend from a video game I like to play. Alan was gone on some sort vacation in Europe, and I wanted to know how that went. He of course said it was a blast and had a lot of fun. Next I met another friend, Irving. He was going on about wanting to go to space and kept talking about some crazy plans. He eventually trailed off and talked about space movies and animation.

That's the gist of what I can recall the past few days. I will try to be more vigilant in keeping my dream journal up to date every day.
On a side note, I have recently purchased a new nexus 7 tablet. Anyone suggest some good LD apps?

Waking Thoughts/Dream/Lucid

I was walking over to my neighbor's house to collect the mail that was incorrectly mailed to them. It was about mid day I think. Walking over, a policeman stopped his car nearby. He said that there has been some sort of outbreak (I am assuming some sort of sickness) and warns me to stay inside. I then head to my neighbor's house to quickly get the mail. Upon getting the mail, I notice that one is for me. But it is a ticket... That doesn't tell me what I did. Strange thing is though, is that it looks like an oversized raffle ticket with different colors. It almost looks like a prank. Later, I head to the store to meet my mother. Not too much happens and the dream finally collapses. I am in my bed at roughly 03:30ish.

Waking Thoughts/Dream/Lucid

Before bed, I really concentrated on a mantra, " I will wake up after every dream, and remember it with clarity." This has worked well in the past when I first started to try lucid dreaming, and seems to have worked again. I remember I did wake up more than twice, but did not write down anything other than two vivid dreams.

There was a timer. Quietly counting down day by day. Anybody who came across it really did not know what it means. For as long as they can remember, or so a random dream character told me, this terraformed moon is all they have known. I look up into the sky and can see Earth. But it looks strange. Almost dead. The dream character was telling me that this was an old government project. Sending people to the moon to terraform it that is. As to why they needed it livable was beyond me, but I have a feeling that something bad happened. Looking out at the horizon, I can see a brilliant fiery sunset. The dream begins to fade as I wake up in my bed around 03:42. I quickly jot down what I have seen and heard. That dream was fairly short, but extremely vivid.

I go back to sleep and wake up around 07:40ish. Another quick, pointless work dream. Nothing really exciting to post here, but I need to post as much as possible.
My bro and I are at work. We are headed out to where our manager needs us. It's outside by a bunch of makeshift storage areas. Things do look a bit bigger though. Like higher stacked shelves and a almost two story building. The only thing remarkable is a song I was letting my brother listen to. Can't remember what it was though.

Waking Thoughts/Dream/ Lucid

So it's another off day for me. I sorta stayed up too late and threw off my sleep schedule a bit. Not a lot recalled and got a bit lazy this morning and did not write much down. I'll fix that tomorrow.

I am in some sort of car lot with a few empty car shops scattered about. Not too sure what happened, but I recall complaining that we were not selling something... All I managed to write down last night at about 04:40 was: "Car lot and not sell cars?" Yeah, not a lot to go off of.

Later in the morning I am at a horse stable. Which in of itself is strange since I NEVER see any horses. I recall getting on one and riding it around for a little bit before waking up. Yeah, not the most eventful dreams. Tomorrow should be better since I will get back on my regular sleep schedule. Since I have been working on my recall, I was thinking it's about time to work on getting lucid. Will type more later.

Seems my recall is getting better. Tonight I managed to recall 4 different dreams.

The first one was a bit short, but strange. I was at work doing normal things... Sorta. I recall I had some sort of mecha that assisted me in adjusting many prices and labels quickly. I pass by another employee who I have never seen before. She just gave me a look like, "This day needs to be over, now." Returning a gesture, we go on our way. Right before the dream collapses, I hear what sounded like almost like my dad calling my name. It was clear and somewhat loud. The dream ends and I am wide awake at around 03:40.

The next dream is a bit harder to recall all of the details. The main idea is a few friends and myself are in some sort of zombie apocalypse area, but feels like some sort of survival game. Lots of platforms and other such useless obstacles. I recall that something happens and my friend and I find ourselves in a pit with thousands of them. They pretty much leave me alone, but go after the other guy instead. Running to try to help out however I can (we are dead anyway), the zombies all stop. Circled around us, the leaders of the undead army are speaking with us. They have a ancient Egyptian ruler look to them. I don't quite remember what they said, but due to the death of someone living, they needed someone who is alive to rule the army, else they cease to exist. Looking at me, something happens, bright lights blind me, and proclaim me as ruler. At this point, the dream ends gradually.

The next dream my brother and I are at some undisclosed location. It feels like a school, but is like an apartment complex. I really have no clue what the place is. Red brick seemed to be the common theme. Not much happens as the place is still under construction, but eventually a bunch of people are carrying my bro towards the entrance. He does not look good. They say he ate something, and suddenly cant move. The dream implies an ambulance took him to the hospital, and he recovers. Not long after that, my cat did the same thing! Very weird, so I decide to take him to the vet. Though this proves troublesome as we had a hard time keeping him in the vehicle. Which is weird since he should not have been able to move. The dream ends around this time.

The last one not too much happens. I am heading to a relatives house, but decide to get some food before hand. I pick up some popcorn chicken from a generic chicken joint, but still manage to get a chicken sandwich. I get there and my parents are there as well. Not too eventful as it's just normal conversations that I can't recall.

=Stats=
Month: Phoenix
Goal: Fix Recall
Dreams remembered: 4 (+2)
Time: 03:00 - 08:00
Length: Normal
Clarity: Somewhat clear
=End Stats=

Most of the dreams I had were early morning instead of during the night. I would guess around 6:00 - 11:00. Today is my off day, so I was able to sleep in.

The first one I remember is a Super Mario based game played on the SNES. Strange thing though is that the game itself, instead of being in 16-bit graphics, was played completely in 3D. Though it was different; like trigger-based pre-rendered scenes. The colors seemed to be hues of grey and darker blues due to the fact it was taking place in space or something. I am guessing on a space ship of some kind. I remember most of it was creeping around corners and seeing some huge robots that looked vaguely like another video game character (Samus). It was just weird since my field of vision seemed to encompass the screen. Not much happened other that loosing and the dream scene slightly changes. Now the dream is not a video game at all, but somehow the current character is like a miniature figure of a person sneaking around for some reason. Somehow I knew that it was remotely being controlled. All I recall is that the room had yellow hues and dressed similar to a normal home... In space? Later the scene changes yet to another video game themed dream. (It's been some time since I have had these.) This time mixed with elements of Minecraft, Mario games, and Touhou. Generally the scene was in the actual game viewed in 3rd person. It had strange levels with Touhou bosses that I really can't explain. After each level, I could freely walk to other levels Minecraft style and dig as usual. The only other character I ran into was my brother, Travis. Did not really do much... I wake up and jot down a few notes then fall back asleep.

My last dream was like watching a really bad movie with Santa in it. He was in the United Kingdom in an undisclosed location, but somehow I knew where he was. He was having a weird parade. Things got a bit trippy and I can't recall all of the details, but somehow he opened up a floating box and a puppet-like harlequin thing came out and attacked me in my own bed. How this happened I have no clue, but it did. Finally I managed to smash the horrible thing to pieces and went on my merry way. Not too sure what happened afterward, but there's my story.

... Well, at least recall is increasing. XD I came across a very helpful post that I highly recommend: Linky
=Stats=
Month: Phoenix
Goal: Fix Recall
Dreams remembered: ~2 (+2)
Time: 06:00 - 11:00
Length: Normal
Clarity: Somewhat clear
=End Stats=

Well, tonight I only recall a few fragments. Maybe not even fragments, but ideas. I will list as much detail as possible. I wake up at around 4:30 to an alarm I set. I wake up thinking it's time to get ready, but realized I still have two and a half hours till I gotta get ready. At the time I recalled bits of a dream I guess I started to have, but I got lazy and did not write anything down. I fell back asleep and find myself waking up at 7:00. The only memories I can salvage are: Donuts, a doctor for some reason, I think there may have been some driving segments, maybe a restaurant, and while sitting here thinking I believe I talked to someone other than family. If I remember any more, Ill write it down.

Before going to bed last night, I did not properly prepare myself. I was just too tired and crashed fast. I don't think I even tried any auto suggestion mantras or even simple dream incubation. I am off tomorrow, so I will try to be a bit more relaxed and go to bed at a decent time.

EDIT:
Took a hour and a half nap after work today, and managed to have a dream around 20:00. I was working at some sort of apartment complex that looked almost like a hotel. I believe the walls were red or some sort of warm color. I was helping a lady move her belongings into a room when her children dropped something and made a mess. I was helping clean up ( I can't remember what it was) when I noticed a medium sized crt tv with Mythbusters showing. The dream change shifted to where I was not there, but still passively watching. Kari was for some reason being kicked out of that very complex I was working at, but doing a myth at the same time. Some sort of stomach related myth, and stuck in the bathroom. She could not come out, because the Midnight Crew were in front of the door singing a song. They were slightly different having normal skin and some sort of face paint. Not long after this I woke up.

=Stats=
(pre-edit)
Month: Phoenix
Goal: Fix Recall
Dreams remembered: 0 (-1)
Time: N/A
Length: N/A
Clarity: N/A
=End Stats=

The dream began with normal stuff at work that I can't quite remember. Obviously it was not all that exciting. Later that night, my father took my brother an I to Sonic (the fast food restaurant) to get some chocolate malts. During this visit, he insists on blaring some music; Though I can't quite remember what the song was. It was not too long before i woke up and got ready for another day...

=Stats=
Month: Phoenix
Goal: Fix Recall
Dreams remembered: 1 (+1)
Time: Late REM, last dream before waking
Length: Short/Fragment
Clarity: Below Normal
=End Stats=