Nazrax

Patrick Stewart's hockey gang
I'm in a house with a group of street toughs who have just helped "us" out. I'm in their room, and I see a tiny record player on the bed. For some reason, I think briefly about stealing the record - somehow I know it's valuable. I decide not to - besides just being wrong, I have no desire to cross a group of street toughs - and leave room. As I'm walking out, one of them walks in. He gives me a suspicious look, and I wonder if I have a guilty look on my face from my earlier thoughts. Now I'm in my room, talking with my wife about making copies of records. She's sitting on the edge of the bed working on something, while I'm laying on my side facing her. She doesn't understand why it would be all that hard, saying that surely wax would do the job. I explain that normal wax is too soft, that while it's easy to push into grooves it would deform when removed and so wouldn't be useful for making a good copy. Instead, we'd need some kind of wax that's easy to work with when warm but which hardens completely when cool.

Now I'm at an ice rink watching the group of toughs play a hockey game. I'm excited to find out that they're led by Patrick Stewart - except where I see his name written, it's something like Patrick Steaus. I get a look at his face and - even though covered by a helmet with facial bars - I'm sure it's him. His face is more angular, more lined than I've seen it before, but it's still him. I only got a quick glance at his name earlier, so I look around trying to find it again. I see it out of the corner of my eye - again with that strange almost-spelling - but it always changes to something else before I can get a really good look. Maybe this is his "pen name" that he uses to hide from some of his fame? At one point the names of all the players appear on the wall near the ceiling, moving around in a circle, each name separated from the next by a ♠. Even so, I never get a clear look at the name. Now the game is over and he and his team are skating around the rink on an exhibition lap. As they're leaving the rink I take note of how incredibly smoothly they're skating - it looks unnatural. I also get a better look at their armor/uniforms - they're covered head-to-toe in something that's shiny, hard, and completely black. After they're gone, I belatedly kick myself for not taking a picture - my friends would have loved this. I pull out my phone and open the camera app, hoping my battery doesn't die, looking for something with his picture and/or name. I can't find anything with either. Oh well.


Impressive office
I'm leaving a stairwell and stepping into a long hallway. A foreign couple is pushing a cart towards me, seemingly looking for where they're staying. I move around them and continue on, coming to an open elevator. Looking inside, I see a roughly 10 year old boy. I realize I'm on the wrong floor and decide to take the elevator, but then somehow feel uneasy about getting inside. I realize I'm only one floor down from where I need to be and decide to just take the stairs.

Now I'm walking through another hallway. A light yellowish wall is to my right; the left wall is glass, looking out into some kind of fancy lobby area. Small potted trees dot the hallway. A strange vehicle is coming towards me, and I somehow know it's an automated cart that moves through the halls carrying people and/or things, and that normally it has wheels on the end of long legs (which let it pass over almost anything in the hallway) but that it's currently in a collapsed state. Looking further down the hallway, I see another one coming towards me. This one is extended to its full height and is carrying a handful of people in business suits. I immediately feel that I'm not comfortable with having this thing drive over me and look for a place to get around it - problematic, since it takes up the entire width of the hallway. Thankfully, I realize there's a spot in the hallway in front of me that does actually get quite a bit wider - as if someone cut a larger circle out of that area - and I'm confident that I'll get there about the same time as this thing (it's traveling at about walking speed). As we get closer together I realize that it couldn't have gone over me anyway, since it's criss-crossed horizontal and diagonal struts underneath itself. I'm impressed by its appearance - so spindly, with shiny chrome struts and black wheels that seem much too small for its size - yet it still seems very stable. I move to my right, it moves to its right, and we circle around each other, continuing on our ways.

Now I'm walking through the lobby. This place is gigantic and very attractive. The floor is shiny, pedestals with small statues are dotted here and there, and the walls and ceiling are glass, revealing a beautiful light blue sky. I "remember" that the ceiling didn't used to be this high, that they recently did construction to raise it up, but I can't remember when that construction happened, even though it must have been a significant project.. I walk near a group of seated bigwigs, stopping to hear what they're saying. I notice a woman in a white dress standing nearby - a secretary? - but I don't really pay any attention to her. Individual conversations stop and someone important - maybe the CEO? - starts talking. As I'm listening, I get a feeling that my chest is exposed. I look down and realize that my white button-down shirt has its top button undone, that I'm not wearing a tie, and that I'm not wearing my customary undershirt. All this is odd, but it doesn't explain that strange sense of exposure I just had. I pull the flaps together, somehow feeling self-conscious about actually buttoning the top button without also wearing a tie, then walk off.


Super chase / failed joke TOTM
I'm standing knee-deep in water. I'm in some kind of urban setting, with buildings all around. At least one building directly borders the pool. I see other tall buildings nearby, but I'm also able to see the sky through gaps between the buildings. It's dusk. As I walk along, I come to a strange bump in the water. As I get closer, the bump stands up and reveals itself to be a woman dressed in something resembling Super Girl's costume, with the addition of a mask. She starts playfully chasing me. I generally manage to keep away - neither of us can move well through this water - but she manages to grab an arm or a leg every so often.

Now I'm near a wall (tiled with small green tiles, each a slightly different shade) and realize that I'm dreaming, and if I throw myself through the wall she can't follow. I jump backwards towards the wall, but I have a moment of concern - I judged my distance poorly, and I'm not going to hit very hard. Will it work? I decide it will - this is my dream, after all - and as I hit the wall it shatters and I pass through. For a moment I see only black with green bits whizzing everywhere.

Now I'm seeing what appears to be an ancient monitor. The background is white, and a handful of words and/or a simple graphic (can't remember) is drawn out in giant black pixels. I have no presence here - no body - and this screen takes up my entire vision. I figure this is related to "the void" I've other LDers talk about, and I just need to approach it calmly. I picture the screen splitting down the middle, moving to the side, revealing a new dream world; but all I get is a pixelated animation of the screen sliding apart. I remember that one of the best ways to escape the void is to imagine physical sensations, so I imagine what it feels like to spin around and around.

Now I'm sitting across from Mom at a cafe table. Behind her is a small coat room painted a light beige; I see a coat rack to the left. She looks good, wearing a black and red dress with a red jacket over it. As I'm trying to decide what to do next, I remember that I have dream goals. I remember that the first thing on my list is remembering where my real body is, but I just don't feel like doing "you're not real" all over again. I don't have any recollection of my second intensification exercise. Once I dismiss the "sleeping body" exercise, I remember about the current TOTM, so I ask Mom if she can tell me a joke. She gets a really serious look on her face and says "No ... no, I can't," then launches into this weird philosophical monologue about how telling a joke really exposes the depths of your soul, especially when you're in a dream. I wake up.