Recent DJ Posts

Date: 16 April

Got insomnia prior to wbtb

A very long series about an hour? with 3-4 deilds in between.

Very fragmented recall but lds were vivid and eventful all the way through

Forgotten nld part, then at some point I realize that I am dreaming and remember the shower task. I boldly get into this building with the task in mind. It turns out to be a special monastery with baths for visitors. I enter a large room, beautiful floor covered with pleasant light brown stone and special sections for bathing. Those look very zen, (standing) human sized "shower" area full of water and surrounded with lighter stones and some stones neatly arranged in the water and a large soap bar among the stones. I get in the special place and start soaping and washing myself while looking around. The dream soon ends.

A fragment where I am flying straight ahead for a while (relatively long in dream flying terms) just enjoying it. I recall one of the intro class students was saying that the most awesome part about flying is feeling the wind, so I pay more attention to it and it really feels great.

Involved in a forgotten part of the ld, then I walk around thinking about the similarities of certain drunk states and dreaming. Me and this female DC make a lot of party noise and look at other DCs. Then I remember the jogging task and decide it will be cool if we both made a little race ahead. I get into a position, but suddenly my body feels exhausted as if we already ran a marathon. I grasp for air and notice taking deep breaths, then wonder about breathing in dreaming (it only exists if you think about it).

Anyways, this is all wrong since we need to jog and not sprint, so we will be ok (less fatigue). We start running at a slow pace, paying attention to the environment. It's the center of an unknown town with a lot of food ads. What's funny is that almost the same ads keep reappearing as we go along. One is of large burger resembling big mac and the other of a less appealing exotic sandwich. I make mental notes as I keep jogging. Then I look at couple of stores, read the names of the businesses and try to remember them. After the last store, I slow down to take note of a Chinese place where they have some merchandise displayed, but it seems to have stayed here for quite a while. Dusty bamboo baskets and similar bamboo and wood items.

Right in front of it is another store, which looks very inviting, so I decide to enter inside. It's full of different statues made of metal, gems, all in Asian style. I have a look at as many of these as possible, even receiving false memories from some statues. End of memory

In a room with bf and a DC that closely resembles Benedict Cumberbatch. This was a long experience and conversation but I don't remember much. Cumberbatch is extremely life like DC, seems to have his own ideas and I understand everything he says (no gibberish). I ask if bf will remember this dream, he answers that possibly no, because the dreaming body can actually roam around and gather experiences without our knowledge.

I feel very uplifted in his presence and even think I have found a persistent character - two weeks ago a similar DC appeared in the dream with the Mexican miners.

But what strikes me the most is the realness of the experience. He has his sleeves rolled? so I can see he has a number of tattoos (I even try to recognize/memorise them initially), but what's most interesting are the tactile sensations. As I run my hand over his I feel the texture of his skin, perfect in terms of texture sensation and I notice that his tattoos are actually fake. Around each tattoo is a little rectangle that reveals they like those tattoo stickers for kids. The difference between the tattoo and the normal skin can be distinctly felt, which I find an amazing piece of dream detail.

At some point the dream fades but I manage to deild back.

I find myself in a store where this constantly shape shifting DC gives me a ring but tells me he is married already. Then he gives me another set of wedding rings with hearts and also shifts to a classmate. I wonder whether there is any truth in his statements and also how entertaining being part of this dream scenario is. Memory gap.

Fragments: Back with Cumberbatch at another dream scene for a short while. The place then transitions to an outdoors part, where I watch a number of DCs flying up in the air. Later, I decide to jog around a bit more but don't get very far this time.

#253 - DILD - 4:28AM

I get really annoyed with the quality of DEILDs so I hope for DILD

I am watching Nick and Hank from Grimm talking in front of a building with a covered pick up/drop off area. Nick walks away and I feel that I am supposed to follow him. I feel like this all a video game and watch as he turns right toward another really close building. I wonder what will happen if I turn the other way. I say, "Screw it." and turn left instead. I follow a narrow alley like a hallway between buildings for a few feet and it suddenly stop at a dead end. I am little shocked and hear loud dun dun DUNN music. I figure this part of the game was not supposed to be seen and I broke the rules. The idea of limited environment makes me think of the dreams pace and I suddenly become lucid.

I hurry back to were Nick went but he is nowhere to be seen. I try to think of my goal but all I can remember is my back up plan, ask a DC for a gift. Damn. I really had something in mind but I just can't recall it. I become afraid that I will destabilise by thinking too long on this so I move on. I look around and see that on the side of a building there is a stairway leading up and an elevator. A Hispanic man in a hair net and white uniform walks up to the elevator, pushes the button and waits. I approach him asking, "Do you have a gift for me?" He looks scared and puts both hands in front of him as he starts speaking fast Spanish. The elevator door opens and I walk in giving up on the man.

Inside, there are three or four men. They look like business men in suits but one gets my eye. He's a large ginger who looks a lot like Arthur Weasley. I ask everyone in the elevator but look at the ginger, "Do you have a gift for me?" Suddenly, they all become very nervous and start clearing throats and muttering uncertain words. I wait patiently with both hands held behind my back thinking they surely have something to give me. The ginger starts patting his pant pockets and dives a hand in one. He quickly produces a coin and tosses it in the air toward me. I think that my dreaming eyes will be unable to follow but I deftly snatch it out of the air. When I look at the coin I see it is copper colored. "Oh. A penny." At that, the elevator door opens on the other side and I exit not ready to give up on this.

I am now in what looks like a waiting room lobby full of people. As I stroll through, I spot an extremely beautiful blonde woman lounging in an arm chair. The room darkens save for a beam of light on the woman. She appears to be from the 40's era but looks strangely like an older version of a Disney star who's name escapes me at the moment. I stop dead in my tracks with my jaw on the floor. I timidly approach the woman having real anxiety and shyness. When I get close she looks up at me. I am barely able to speak at first but my words suddenly rush out at the end, "Um hey. Um so...do you have a gift for me?" I give a nervous smile.
She smiles and nods, "Mmmm Hmmm."
I suddenly lose my nervousness at the prospect of sex, "Oh do you?"
She just rolls her eyes and gets up moving to the other side of the room. There is very large purse or cloth bag on a chair. She reaches in then pauses, "Wait. Do you have a gift for me?"
Shit! I am at a loss and begin to act like the guys in the elevator. I pat my pockets finding nothing but suddenly remember that I can just summon something. For some reason I don't want to be a show-off so I use expectation to find a gift sitting in the room. I turn around and there is a couch with people on it. I walk to the end and expect to find the present sitting on the other side. I push past a woman in a chair and reach down hoping it will appear. My hands grasp on a small box and it materializes before my eyes. It's neatly wrapped in white paper with green and red ornaments on it. Yes!

As I walk the package back to the woman I think that I had better decide what the gift is. I don't want it to be something lame. Judging by the size, I decide it should be jewellery. She's now holding a medium sized box wrapped in red paper with green stripes. We quickly exchange gifts and I tear into mine right away. It's a white box with some writing on it that looks a lot like a board game. I squint to read the yellow writing: NATIONAL LAMPOONS AND BREAKFAST CLUB TRIVIA. I ask if this is a board game and she nods smiling. "Thanks!", I say.
She now unwraps her gift revealing a black felt box. (The type you would expect to have jewellery in) Then, she asks an odd question, "Where does it go?"
I am confused and not sure I understand, "What?"
She repeats herself more clearly now, "Where... does... it go?"
Still thinking she is being very odd, I think "necklace" and trace a line on her chest near her neck. I answer, "Right there."
She smiles and begins to open the box as I take the seat next to her. She pauses, "Is it Lavender Ruby?"
I picture a white gold necklace with purple gems. Wondering what the hell is wrong with this woman I answer, "Well, It's um purple. Amethyst, I think."
She lifts the lid only slightly and quickly closes it looking a little disappointed.
Guessing her thoughts, I ask, "You're going to return it aren't you?"
Without looking at me, she gives a slight nod.
I become annoyed and a little hurt at this, "Why are you being a bitch in my dream?"
Her only response is a playful pouty-lipped-look. I feel bad about calling her a bitch and hug her. I close my eyes as we kiss. The kiss feels odd and I suddenly break away.

I think about how this woman is so lifelike but isn't real at all. In fact, she is just... me. I become curious about what part of my subconscious she is so I ask, "Who are you?"
She smiles and responds, "How are you?"
I don't find the humour in this and sarcastic reply, "Haha how funny." I try again, "What's your name?"
This time get a an actual answer but it seems she is lying because she stumbles on the name like she is just making it up, "Amar...rosa."
"Your name is Amarosa?" (Not Omarosa. There was a distinct 'A' sound.)
She smiles at me and snuggles into my chest. I put an arm around her and want to enjoy this but decide this is wrong. I go ahead and let her down gently, "Well, Maybe in the next life but not this one." I push her away and see looks at me questioningly. "I'm already married. Sorry but I have to go." As if on cue I wake up.

Successful teleportation with closed eyes... my first of these! Great new skill to have. (This was the third of three lucid dreams from this morning.)

Color legend: Non-dream Dream Lucid

Lucid #165: Travel Buddy

The sister of a good friend has been kidnapped and I’ve gone on a mission to rescue her. (False memory: no waking life friend, no sister) She’s being held in a place that looks like a mental hospital. I’m hazy on how we get to this point, but she’s hurt or disabled, and I wind up carrying her slung over my shoulder, pursued by a handful of guys in suits. The hallway we’re in dead-ends at a locked door, but I crash through it.

Now I'm running along a metal walkway around the outside of the building which ends at a railing. I'm fifty feet up and trapped. There’s another walkway I could jump to but it feels hugely risky to do this while carrying another person. I’m wondering what to do when I realize that the whole thing is a dream.

The whole scene goes quiet -- the pursuers are gone and my companion is now standing on the walkway beside me. I realize that she isn’t my friend’s sister or in fact anyone I know at all. My reaction to this is to think Awesome! and begin randomly making out with her for a moment. After just a bit of this she sort of loses interest and wanders away, quickly disappearing. I gaze down at the street below and as I try to look closely at what’s down there, I unintentionally teleport to street level.

I find myself standing in a vacant lot. From the sidewalk, a very attractive woman with a pixie haircut is calmly watching me. I’m still feeling a little amorous so I hurry quickly over to her. “Hi!” she says. “What did you want to say to me?”

I feel a little sheepish because it feels obvious that she already knows. “I was looking for sex.”

“Okay,” she says. “I could do that if you want. But before you decide what to ask for, you need to know that I can help you do anything you want me to.” She really emphasizes this last part.

Even though she doesn’t say it outright, I get the sense that I get only one chance to make a choice. “Can you help me get to the Great Barrier Reef?” I ask, referring to Task of the Year.

“Yes!” she says. “I can help you with anything! We have to take an airplane to get to Australia.” She hurries down the sidewalk and I follow her. Day quickly turns to night as we approach a squat, black building that looks a bit like a dingy train station.

She explains that, “There’s no direct flight to Australia from this airport so we’ll have to stop at <some name> airport.” The place doesn't really look like an airport, but I believe what she's saying.

“Can’t I just teleport to the other airport?” I ask. (For some reason, teleporting right to the Great Barrier Reef does not occur to me.)

“Go ahead! Try it now, it’ll work!” she says, rather excitedly. I feel incredibly encouraged by this. I close my eyes, imagine the other airport, open them again, and now I’m inside a huge room in a new airport! There’s a big flight departure board covered with lots of illegible information about the flights going through this airport.

She’s standing nearby grinning and she says something congratulatory and mentions that we need to catch our flight. I assume that I can just teleport to the next location, though, and I immediately close my eyes again. I get a sudden little jolt of fear that I’ll mess up somehow. In particular I fear that I'll open my real eyes, so I kind of lose my nerve. The room goes into this half-haze, she disappears, and I feel like I’m losing the dream.

I paw at the scenery nearby and after a bit the scene comes back. Unfortunately my travel buddy seems to be gone for good. I wander around a bit more, walking through a bathroom and mentally writing something on the wall. I find this interesting at first but start feeling a little frustrated when the letters and words won’t stay the same.

I roam the airport a bit longer, but eventually the dream fades.

Date: 09 Oct Entry 2/3

At this point I just wanted to sleep, so only wrote the key words for this dream.

LD: No idea how this dream started. I am on one of the streets in my hometown. There are also lots of kids playing here. Having no particular goals in mind, I decide to explore around and get in a shop where they sell crystals, bracelets, etc. My first though is "what am I doing here", since this is an ld and I don't usually do this in lds but non-lds. Anyways, there's some pretty cool stuff on sale - colorful necklaces and I check them out. The shop keeper is a woman that greets me in Spanish. I get a bit confused, does she see me? (I sometimes randomly assume that am OBEing somewhere and the people might be real instead of DCs.)

I say a few words to her and then she gives me some sort of a wooden board with letters on it. I am thinking this is similar to an ouija board and might use it to obtain answers/info this way. It also looks like a good idea for invention, because I haven't seen anything like this before. There is a text that has been scratched on it (no ink) and I try to read the message, but the letters look like ancient Greek and turn to random ones. I then face her and decide to ask her to give me an advice, anything that can be useful for me. I am hoping of hearing concrete instructions of what exactly I should do. (yeah, I know!)

She tells me that I have to live in harmony with the surroundings, because everything from the environment (some words I can't understand) changes our DNA.

I find the answer much more profound than one would assume. I can't believe she just said that. It changes our DNA? She nods yes. Can you repeat this again. (I am trying to memorize it as hard as I can). She repeats the answer again. I want to ask her more things, but at this moment, similarly to inception, lots of DCs - the kids from outside storm the place and I can't talk to her. I tell them to bugger off but the dream ends.


Almost forgotten short ld.

LD Frag:I am looking at my feet and decide I want to change my clothes and shoes. Initially, I have the desire to make a pair of purple shoes appear, but briefly see only one. Next, I am wearing a flip flop on one foot and a gray high heel shoe on my other foot. I make some sort of grey leggings appear, then think people won't be very interested in reading this entry.

Color legend: Non-dream Dream Lucid

Lucid #150: Eden

I'm in a vast, quiet white void. There's a woman here as well, long brown hair, late 20s. She's not a romantic interest but rather a colleague and collaborator on some kind of important project.

We're looking down from high above at a nearly featureless white room floating in the void. Two DCs are in the room, one male and one female, both of them controlled by us. The male is my avatar and the female is hers. While I'm thinking about this, the notion of dreaming crosses my mind and I become lucid.

She says something like, "This is how we create everything." I know she means that this is how we create a dream world.

There's a door in each wall of the white room and we each guide our avatars out through separate doors into two different new rooms. A nearly identical scene takes place in each room: each avatar steps into another nearly featureless white room that contains a DC of the opposite gender. In each room the female gently places one arm around the male's shoulders and lays him down on his back. Then, the female straddles the male like something sexy is about to happen, but she only sits like this for the briefest moment (both of them fully clothed.)

Now the couple stands up, accompanied by a newly created, fully-grown DC! (My avatar produces a "daughter" and my collaborator produces a "son".) Then each of the three DCs exits through different doors into a newly-created room, each of them encountering a DC of the opposite sex. And then the scene repeats again, the woman in each room laying her arm across the man's shoulders, lowering him to the ground, and winding up as a trio.

Each round of this doesn't take long and in just a few moment what was once a single white room is this sprawling network of hallways and chambers where DCs walk outward like ants. Some of the DCs eventually come to doors that lead them out onto a grassy hillside. As they spread further out, the hillside grows along with them. Soon there's land everywhere with DCs walking all around.

My view pulls further and further back and I see dirt roads, a stream, a little town. I'm having a hard time keeping up with how quickly all of this is happening. I make some remark about how beautiful this is and I sense something like silent agreement from my collaborator.

I decide that I want to explore this world more closely and immediately I find myself standing in the middle of one of those white rooms. I walk through a door up ahead of me and emerge into another white room. The idea of trying to complete some tasks finally occurs to me, but the dream ends pretty soon after that.

Date: 17 May

Pre bed: 120 mg gingko

Total sleep time: 8 hrs

WBTB: took 2xpeppermint oil tablets, half cup matcha tea, duration 10 mins (OK, not too asleep, not too awake)

Dream quality and recall: Very vivid dreams, emotions, I got woken up a number of times and forgot any other dreams/fragments.

Fragment1: Me and my dad at some unknown place, I notice two pairs of lions, that is four lions in front of me. They look a bit like from a simulation. They are lazily lying on top of each other, I like them.

Fragment2: I am with my parents possibly in front of the hotel. Somebody tells me Checker lives there, one the first floor. I fly up the window to see him. There are three beds and three guys in the room, they notice me so I have the chance to quickly peek at only one of them. Not sure if it was Checker.

Dream3: Me and parents in a hotel again, my dad is about to order some food, guacamole on the menu. A bit later we are preparing to leave the place, I go somewhere to take a shower, get my things. I end up on a dark unlit staircase, going down, feeling a bit creepy, then up again. I keep on following this staircase until I reach the last floor. There sititing in the darkness on a sofa is a woman, watching TV. She is a bit blurred. I also notice that the wall next to the stairway has a window with nice view of the stars. This is on woman’s property so I want to ask her if I can go and star gaze. But when I turn to key, I have problems with my vision – I only see with one eye, grey darkness in the other. I try to change this but it doesn’t work, so I go down the stairs, fall and land in our old place.

Dream4: I am in a toy store, which is actually in an apartment with family relatives. We are looking to buy toys for their kids. I see something like a lego computer toy, red colors. It feels more like a kindergarten, there is a room full of kids. I am in a different room which is rapidly changing, and see my friends, they have a small boy irl. My friends are more like part of the background. I concentrate on their boy, which is also here. I like him very much and talk to him. He does not look like a child at all, more like a mini version of an adult, his eyes are unusual. He is extremely smart and answers back. I mention the word “quarter” and wonder if he knows what it means. I ask him does he know what is half of a half, and also ask him to tell me what we have just been talking about. He knows it all.

We are now in some kind of a cabin, and I can see large construction machine moving menacingly outside. I remark to the kid that this is very similar to a dream, so he should not worry. I then begin to explain about dreams in general, and that he shouldn’t be afraid of nightmares, but once again, he seems to understand the issue better than me and already has lots of experience. While we are talking there is a strange animal in the cabin, it resembles a panda, and in my dream mind is a panda. We caress it. This whole last section of the dream is soaked with very positive feeling.

Dream5: I am in some kind of game, they have levelled the terrain so there are no objects, just green grass. I command an army of some kind, I zoom out and try to find the leader, which is in red. This takes a while, but I finally spot him. There are a number of sections of the terrain, one territory, which we will later cross, but I first want to establish a city. It turns out I cannot establish the city there, but must go north and conquer one. As I am trying to save, the menu is similar to that of Pharaoh game, and I find out that I have been playing with only one city download. Numerous city downloads are available. At the same time I see a message that the team doing these updates will be retiring, so no more game updates after two weeks? At the top of the menu game location is one which belongs to DV.

#180 - 7:07AM - DEILD/DILD - 3 of 3

The alarm clock went off at 7am. I let my wife be the one to hit the snooze because I wanted to go for a DEILD. I was a little disappointed that I missed so many opportunities to become lucid after the first two LDs. I didn't move a muscle or open my eyes and focused on the back of my neck. I got weak vibrations right away. I continued a little longer hoping that they would get more intense like usual. Another bad idea.

I found myself non lucid in a public restroom that looked a lot like a home bathroom. I take a leak in a normal toilet (not a urinal). A miniature version of Ms. Page (I'll leave the first name off to protect the innocent. ), an ex girl friend of mine that later became a good friend, is sitting on the back of the toilet with her boyfriend chatting away. I say something about privacy and go to a row of sinks to wash my hands. There is a soft soap pump bottle and when I squirt some out I knock over the bottle. The top was loose and liquid soap spills all over the counter. I notice several men on either side of me washing their hands. Embarrassed, I say out loud, "Ooops. Sorry, I'm still half asleep." I pause. Still... asleep. DING! The light comes on.

I realize I am dreaming and for fun, look into the mirror. I smile real big at my self and make funny faces. I'm really excited that I am lucid and it shows on my blurry face in the mirror. I leave the bathroom with no real task in mind and go exploring.

There's a slight memory gap but I was basically running around what looked like a shopping mall laughing manically and being overly hyper. I end up busting in some door that went into some office space in the back part of the mall. There are several women sitting at a conference desk. For some reason the song Hey Ladies by the Beastie Boys pops in my head. I confuse the lyrics a little and loudly sing, "HEY LADIES! WHERE'S ALL THE SINGLE LADIES IN THE HOUSE!?" My intentions were never sexual and judging by all the bored and disinterested stares that I got in reply, I think my subconscious knew it.
I say, "What? Really? Nobody?"

Then I remember that I saw Ms. Page in the bathroom and began to regret that we haven't talked in a long time in waking life. I see a corded phone on the conference desk and pick up the receiver to page her. At that moment I realize I have no idea how to page so I fake it. I dial 'star' 'eight', thought about it moment then, 'nine'. I hear a tone on the loud speaker and I speak, "Umm..." I hear my voice over the intercom and to my surprise it sounds very realistic. "(first name) Page please call.." Oh shit what extension? I look on the phone and see some random letters and numbers printed in white on black. I see '*16' and decide thats it. "... extension one six". I thought 'one six' was a little short so I add, "six six." Sure I'll add a few 6's. Why not?As soon as I hang the phone up it rings.
I answer. "Hello?"
I hear a very lively and smooth female voice reply, "Hey! What are you doing?
"Oh", I said. I'm surprised at how much it really sounds like her. "I just wanted to see you. You know... nothing weird. Just wanted to chat and see how things were going. Can you come here?"
She sounded happy about the idea. "Sure I'll see you in a minute." I hang up the phone and decide to walk out of the office into a more public area to keep things from getting awkward.

I find myself in a busy food court and take a seat on a bench looking around for her face in a sea of strangers. I feel the dream getting distorted and hazy so I get up and pace around. I still feel really amped up and decided the pacing was a good idea. My legs feel tense and energetic and what I really want to do now is go for a run but I force myself to calm down and wait. I'm curious if she will actually show up.

I come up behind one woman that I think might be her and quickly give her a friendly hug from behind but when she turns around it doesn't really look like her. I just go with it hoping she will change. I say, "Hi! It's good to see you again." The woman just glares at me. I notice now that she is a blond and my friend was never blond and now her face is all wrong. I say to her, "Oh sorry. I thought you were someone else."
She hatefully and sarcastically replies, "Uh yeah.. You think?" and storms off.
I shout after her, "WELL WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING?"

I search around some more and spot Ms. Page sitting on the bench that I was just at. I walk over and sit next to her. She is holding a toddler and I remember that she was pregnant the last time I talked to her in walking life. I study her face for a moment to make sure. It looks just like her but her face is a little shifty. I shrug that off as normal.
"Oh hi!" I said. "I forgot that you had another kid! What's her name?"
She starts talking excitedly but now the dream is fading. I take her left and and hold it in both of mine. I don't care anymore what she is saying and I begin to softly stroke the back of her hand for stability. It's not working and I shush her so I can concentrate.
Showing real concern she asks me, "What wrong?"
I say, "Oh nothing really. It's just that I'm waking up now and I don't want to." The scene fades to black.

I see another scene forming but force myself awake as I know my time must but almost up. The dream felt like it went on for a long time and I was afraid to forget.

The alarm goes of for the second time once I start to DJ in my phone.

Finally -- Advanced Task of the Month!

Color legend: Non-dream Dream Lucid

Lucid #87: The Diamond

I'm driving somewhere in California, preparing to merge onto the freeway. Some guy in a Hummer blocks me from merging in, though, even steering his behemoth vehicle toward me so that I have to run off the road. I wind up on some semi-abandoned, crumbling old road, following one other car. The road's filled with enormous potholes and huge slabs of the road jut up at crazy angles. The other driver and I steer carefully around these chunks as best we can and I'm very worried that I'll break an axle. I think that this is all cause by California's ever-present budget woes.

The road ends at a marina but the other car has vanished. I get out of the car and sit by a wooden railing, pouting about my problems. As I look down at the water, I see a little girl crash a jet-ski into a dock, fly over the handlebars, perform three perfect back hand-springs, and walk off as if nothing has happened. I'm impressed by her athleticism and very relieved that she wasn't hurt.

There are narrow wooden walkways leading in a couple of different directions, but none of them are wide enough to fit a car. I need to keep driving but I don't want to leave my car here. I think that if this was a dream, I'd just go jack one, Grand Theft Auto-style. This thought makes me critically question reality and I realize that I'm dreaming!

I leap to my feet and take flight, soaring high enough to see the top of a nearby apartment building. There's a huge pool party on the roof of this building, lots of DCs milling around, and I decide to check it out. I discard the "Great Wall of China" Task of the Year for now and decide that I'll do the "make a diamond out of coal" Advanced Task of the Month.

I look for the DC who seems most in charge and central to the storyline of this party scene. A girl that's seated in a beach chair nearby seems to be the focal point of the scene. She's mid-20s, black, very cute, and three or four of her girlfriends stand deferentially around her as they all talk. While it's not an exact match, I notice that she looks a bit like Stacey Dash.



As I walk up to pseudo-Stacey, she and her friends turn to look at me. I say, "I'm going to give you a diamond." One of her buddies, a brunette holding a slender glass of what looks like champagne, laughs at this.

"Are you serious?" asks "Stacey".

"Totally serious," I say. "It's for a task. You just need to hand me that lump of coal that you're carrying around."

"Sure, take it!" she says, handing me a peach-sized lump of coal. Whew, glad that worked, I think to myself. Stacey and her friends watch me, intrigued. I give the coal one quick squeeze, imagining that it immediately feels sharp and hard like a diamond. I open my hand and yes it's a diamond! There are some lumps of dusty black coal-crap on it, but I quickly brush them away, revealing a sparkling, golf ball-sized, round cut diamond.

Her friends murmur appreciatively and I hand Stacey the diamond. "Aww, it's so nice!" she says, smiling appreciatively. She holds it up to the sunlight to admire it then stands up and approaches me. "Hey, will you help me out with a question that I had?" she asks.

"Sure. What's up?" I'm very intrigued about what her question is.

"What's the difference between..." she begins, pointing toward herself and circling her finger as if to indicate "me" or "all of me". Her voice trails off and I quickly wind up in the void. The excitement of TotM and the anticipation of the question get me too wound up, though, and I wake up before I can use the void to travel anywhere.

I buckle down for DEILD but I feel like I'm not going to fall back asleep. I try to really let go, and after waiting for a bit, I slip back into a non-lucid dream: "Stacey" is in a dark, wood-panelled office, seated across from a severe-looking woman in her 50s. Stacey is visibly upset and says, "You have no right hire someone else to ghost write my story! How can you do this to me?"

The lady, who I think is her publicist, is unsympathetic. "Not everything is about you." I wake up.

This was an interesting little LD where I pulled off Basic Task of the Month. The woman in the restaurant was a very intriguing dream character. Much sharper than the typical DC. Who was she?

Color legend: Non-dream Dream Lucid

Lucid #72: The Wish

I'm in an elevator talking to some guy from Brazil. I suddenly realize that I'm going somewhere with Wife but she's not in the elevator. The doors are open, so I step outside the elevator, thinking that she must have fallen behind. Instead of Wife, I see my friend SA heading toward the elevator and become lucid when I remember that SA moved to Seattle a few years ago. I also remember the fact that I intended to have a lucid dream.

"Hey!" I say to SA as she hurries by and steps into the elevator. "Oh hey!" she responds, giving me a quick wave just before the elevator doors close.

I'm in a long marble hallway. I rub my hands together and say, "I am having a really stable lucid dream." I feel confident and I remember the Tasks of the Month that I wanted to try. At the end of the hallway is a restaurant and when I enter it, I'm greeted by a tall Indonesian-looking man who's about 20. "Can I help you, sir?" He seems friendly enough, but somehow he strikes me as dull-witted.

I'm about to perform the "wish" Task of the Month ("Tell a dream character that he/she may have 1 wish granted.") But I have this sense that the DC I'm speaking to is just an "extra" in the dream and that I'll get a more meaningful answer from someone else. I tell him to "Take me to the most amazing woman in the restaurant." (This sounds shallow, and in large part it was -- I thought it'd be more fun to grant an attractive woman a wish than some dude. But the important subtext of my request was that I wanted to speak with an interesting, highly intelligent DC.)

"Right this way," he says, without missing a beat. I follow him to a table with a window overlooking the city. The woman seated at the table is a short, very attractive Asian woman who looks like she's about 25. She's seated at the table with four men in suits, also Asian, who looks more like bodyguards than boyfriends. Even though she's easily the smallest person at the table, her presence is by far the most commanding. As I approach, the men inch subtly but protectively toward her.

The woman casually waves her left hand and says, "It's fine." The men settle back into their seats, the aggressive tension subsiding. She looks at me, cocks her head to the left and simply says, "Hello."

Through the window behind them, I see a downtown skyline backlit by the sunset. I somehow feel like this is her city. I'm not intimidated by her, but I am impressed by her. I may be the king in this world, but she's somebody important too. A crime boss? The city's mayor?

"I can grant you one wish," I say. "You tell me what you want and I'll do it."

Without hesitating, she says, "Can you grant me a kiss from any DC that I want?" (Yes, she said "DC"!)

"Definitely. I can do that."

"Okay," she says. "I want a kiss from Brad Pitt." She says it like a challenge.

The straightforwardness of the request amuses me. I nod, extending my hand to the right to try the "handshake" summoning trick that I used to summon Xanous a few dreams back. I imagine that Brad Pitt is standing just a bit off to the side and is now reaching forward to shake my hand. There's just a slight pause and then something slithers into my hand that feels like a cold, wriggling fish. It feels disgusting and I hope that Brad Pitt just has a really weak handshake.

I turn to look at what I've got and see that I've somehow latched onto the elbow of a woman that was walking by. I let go of her elbow and she walks away, seemingly oblivious to what just happened. I wonder why her elbow was so gross.

When I look back at the table, I see a couple of black spots forming in my vision. I laugh off my failure, saying, "Don't worry, I've still got this!"

The black spots are growing now, partially obscuring my view of the attractive young Brad Pitt fan / mayoress.. "Careful," she says. I think that I ought to be prepping for DEILD but I also feel like I'm close to success and want to try to sneak this one in. As the black spots grow, I have this overwhelming sensation that the reason the room is darkening is that my eyes are closed. The urge to open my eyes gets the best of me and my real eyes open.

This was a fun but weird DILD that hit right at the end of a very long NLD. The sudden introduction of this "Dream Coordinator" character was interesting. I enjoy it when my subconscious plays back at me like that.

Color legend: Non-dream Dream Lucid

Lucid #66: The Dream Coordinator

I'm on an epic quest, roaming on foot across the United States with several odd characters: a man in his 50s dragging around an 8-foot potted plant, an 11-year-old anorexic boy, and a pretty, short-haired woman in her mid-40s named "Mrs. Rearden". I've been journeying with Mrs. Rearden the longest and I trust her completely.

It's a foggy morning, and we're all sitting for a moment on a long couch outside of a gas station. I notice that gas is "$1200 / 1000 gallons". I think, "$1200?? God, that's expensive." But I take a moment to do the math and realize that this gas is actually super cheap. "Ah... tricky, tricky!" I think.

I see one of those gas station signs with the changeable letters. It reads, "DUDE THIS SUCKS", which I find surprising. I look closer and see that it has changed to "YES WE'RE OPEN!" Just below the sign I see a row of frightening stone gargoyles perched along one of the gas station walls. Finally I've been bombarded with enough clues and now I know that this is a dream.

The other DCs stare silently ahead, so I ignore them and take a look around. It's still foggy, but I realize that I'm not outside at all but rather in what looks like an enormous airplane hangar. There are windows high up in the corner and I float toward one, planning to phase outside. As I reach the window, though, my vision goes black.

I feel myself floating back down, so once again I imagine that I have a gladius in my hand and start swinging it around everywhere. I land back on the ground, but everything stays black. I can still feel the weight of the gladius and my moving arm, though, so I feel fairly relaxed. I start probing at my dream body and discover that I seem to be wearing nothing but my boxer shorts. Suddenly worried, I check to make sure that my wiener is still there. Yes, all is well.

I've been in the dark longer than I'd like so I call out for help. "Somebody come help me! Mrs. Rearden, I need you to help me!" There's no response. I poke and slap at my face, hoping something will happen. Finally, I decide that maybe something will happen if I take off my boxer shorts. As soon as I attempt this, I hear Mrs. Rearden shout, "Don't do that! Stop it! Here, I'll help you." She grabs my left hand, gives it a hard yank, and pulls me into a new dream scene just outside of a door.

I keep a grip on her hand and we walk through the door. We're on the second story walkway of a mall. Mrs. Rearden looks frightened. She mutters, "This is not where the Coordinator wants us to be."

I'm stunned by this. "Who? The Coordinator?"

"Yes," she says. "The Dream Coordinator. This was not what he had planned." She is really upset and keeps looking nervously around the scene

I tug at her hand and move with her further along the walkway. As we approach an elevator, I say, "There is no Dream Coordinator. This is my dream and we don't answer to anybody. But you don't have to come with me any further. I think I'm okay on my own now."

She responds that she wants to help, but as she's speaking, I become disconnected from my dream body. My perspective sinks down to the busy food court on the mall's first floor. I feel like an insubstantial apparition and I'm desperate to regain physical form. I try the gladius trick but it feels all wrong.

There's a guy with a shaved head nearby, black, in his 30s, wandering happily around the food court. I move toward him, hoping that if I make physical contact it'll bring me back into the dream. He sees me floating toward him, though, and takes off at a dead run, screaming in terror. I don't blame him -- if a ghost in nothing but boxer shorts came after me, I'd run like hell, too. With nowhere else to go, I run out of steam and the dream ends.

I've been reading Robert Waggoner's book so I took the opportunity last night to ask my subconscious a question. I had to ponder the reply a bit, but in the end the message made a lot of sense. Cryptic, yes, but felt very relevant.

Color legend: Non-dream Dream Lucid

Lucid #34: The Dinosaur Petting Zoo

I'm walking down a suburban road on a cloudy morning. I look up at the sky, noticing the way that the sun gently illuminates the back of the clouds. Even though everything in the scene feels as real as waking life, I know this isn't any place I've ever been before.

When I shout up at the sky, my voice is loud but takes on a slightly buzzing, almost robotic quality. "Tell me something important!"

There's no response, but I hear two dream characters chattering across the street. There's an Asian lady in her early 60's, dressed in a silvery fairy costume with puffy sleeves and fairy wings. She's talking to a young girl. (Her granddaughter?) I approach the lady and decide to talk to her directly.

Me: "Will you tell me something important?"

Her: "Yes. I'd say that you're not usually afraid, but sometimes you let yourself get scared."

Me: "When should I be less scared?" I can see the scene shifting around me. The house behind her is turning into some sort of white wall, but I ignore it for now, keeping my focus on her.

Her: "You're the kind who won't try the dinosaur petting zoo."

Me: "The dinosaur petting zoo?" Now her face keeps changing. She's becoming younger, then older again, her hair lengthening and shortening while we talk.

Her: "Yes. You're the kind that will walk right up and make a donation... and then be afraid to go in yourself."

I see that we're in a bustling airport terminal now, all white walls and windows. The lady has become a young woman, and she smiles and turns away. I lose her in the crowd.

Briefly, I consider exploring this new environment but decide that I want to remember every detail of this conversation so that I can think more on it later. No more exploration, and no DEILD. Time to just wake up.