Dreamlog

This was another surprise. My sleep schedule has been terrible. I hope these spontaneous lucids lately mean that my work with dreamsigns and awareness is paying off!

Went to bed around 2AM.

Dancing with Cars
I'm outside my childhood home. The yard looks like a mixture of heavy green and blue hues.
I perform a nose RC and realize that I'm dreaming.
My first thought is to try and stabilize, so I start rubbing the tree in the front yard. It's kinda wet, and I rub my feet on it too.
The dream is very vibrant, with the aforementioned green and blue hues. I wonder to myself if this is what people mean by 'dreamlike'.
I'm rubbing my hands and the tree trying to stabilize but the dream is fading. I started having a mental dialogue.
Sure, this is fading, but even if we have to WILD back in, we should be able to save this attempt.
I held on to the tree trunk, not wanting the dream to end.
To my delight, the dream fades back in. My tactile sense comes back first, holding the tree, and then my vision.
I walk away from the tree and I'm still rubbing my hands together. I narrate outloud what I'm doing as I move.
"I'm dreaming, rubbing my hands, and walking."
"This is a dream."
"I'm dreaming, rubbing my hands, and walking."
"This is a dream."
I approach our next door neighbor's garage door and notice that instead of an actual garage door, there is a set of regular doors in a line.
Perfect. I can use that to go somewhere new. However I'm not lucid enough to think about going to Silverlight Way (fantasy forest goal), and I decide that I want to go to Australia.
Before attempting to open the door, I visualize a green/yellow hued, wild jungle. I really focus on trying to hear the bugs, animals, branches and all that. This aligns with Australia apparently.
I say "Jungle!" and open the door.
And as is tradition at this point, I see a boring neighborhood on the other side of the door.
I shut the door, try again. Fail. This repeats a few times.
On the final try, I get a slightly different looking area. The architecture of the buildings looks a bit more interesting and there is a highway structure with cars high up.
I decide that is a more fitting setting for a lucid dream, so I go through the door.
I emerge into a street, and out in front of me is a set of tall buildings and the highway up in the sky. It's definitely night-time here.
I wander around a bit, enjoying the dream scene and sense of freedom.
...
I'm in a plane-hanger, talking to a tall man that may have been a coworker from long ago. The plane hanger is in the same environment as before, but I lost lucidity at some point.
He's telling me about an acne problem a current coworker, JG, has.
...
I'm wandering and realize that I haven't flown yet, and my lucidity comes back.
I take off towards the tall highway structure.
Music starts to play. It's melancholy, upbeat, but also happy. I can still hear it and I'm wondering if the melody exists already in the real world. It reminds me of Foals a little bit. There was a repeating three note rhythm, and the final lyric in the pattern was 'stop' or 'shop'.
I land on the raised highway structure. I think to myself that lately I haven't really demonstrated a high-level of dream control. I remembered some people on DV that talked about facing that DCs aren't real, and going through with dangerous situations.
I look out to the oncoming traffic and decide that I'm going to interrupt it. I hover in midair on the highway, just a foot or so above the ground.
The first car comes by, and it grazes me on my right side. As it approached it looked like it was moving around 75mph, but when it was close to me, it was more like 30mph. I slide my hand across it as it goes by.
The music from earlier is still playing. The next car approaches, and I do a 'wax-on, wax-off' motion on my right side. The car wildly flips in the air and flies off into the distance. I'm flipping cars with telekinesis in rhythm with the music.
It's total carnage, and I'm just like, vibin' with the music. But it turns out the DCs don't like to be tossed into oblivion, and cars start to park and queue up to block the road. They are getting out of their cars and approaching me. Chasing me.
The music is still playing, so it doesn't feel like a nightmare. More like a music video. I'm flying, running, and jumping to escape them.
Eventually I reach a garage-type area. BD from highschool is there, and he is trying to handcuff me with a bunch of different types of cuffs, but none of them are working.
One of them though, works, and bands my hands together. It's made from a silicon-material, similar to my smartwatch band.
...
There's a spinoff conversation about Apple TV remotes being smooth, and JG from earlier in the dream is showing off that she has a special edition one.
I've lost lucidity at this point.

Recorded at 7:25AM.

Went to bed around 3AM.

Home Assembly
I'm at the bottom of a set of stairs. The stairs look 2D or paper-like.
The house we are in doesn't look like somewhere I readily recognize, but it might have been similar to M and J's house from far back in my childhood.
I'm with my girlfriend's family once again. They notice I am trying to climb the stairs, but having difficulty due to not being able to put weight on my shoulder.
This is reproduced accurately. I actually have recently had surgery, and this makes some sense.
One of the uncles uses a lever, and the stairs start to move from the bottom up, carrying me to the top.
...
Later I'm in the kitchen of my Grandma P's current home. I'm with my T friend group.
We are stationed around the kitchen counter island, and we are playing a competition or game.
We are trying to assemble something quickly. Our friend J who moved away was also part of the game, but remotely. He finishes first, winning the game.

Woke up around 2PM.

This one caught me off guard. I've failed to go to bed at my planned times, so I didn't attempt a WBTB. But regardless, my brain decided to give me a lucid dream

Went to bed around 3AM.

Lucid Fruit
I'm in the backseat of an SUV/minivan looking out the window.
I get a vague sense that the world looks too bright so I do a nose RC.
I can't believe it, but I'm dreaming!
I look around and admire the world. It's a bright sunny day.
I'm with a family. It might have been my girlfriend's but I didn't look closely.
The car parks at a grocery store parking lot.
I decide to roll withe flow of the dream and walk with the group to the entrance of the store.
When we get in, I see a man stocking the fruit near the front of the store.
I decide that I should stabilize and I start rubbing my hands.
I try to remember if I have any specific goals in mind, but there is what feels like a block on my memory.
I ask the man how I can better stabilize the dream. He tells me to touch all the fruits and feel the surfaces.
I start to do this, but the dream fades.

Woke up around 12:30PM.

Went to bed around 1AM.

Hogwarts Chill
I'm at Hogwarts near the entranceway.
There is a reception desk set up that I am approaching.
I see Draco Malfoy nearby. I notice that I am very cold.
I wake up and realize I'm cold because the blanket is off me and the fan in blowing directly on me.
Recalled around 7AM.

Woke up around 8AM.

Went to bed around 12:00AM.

Another Reunion
I'm with my friend R from highschool marching band.
We are in an big gym, reminiscent of the one we used to sleep in during travel for competitions.
I recall looking around and thinking about how real everything looks.
R's jeans and the glossy wood floor are high in detail.
But I don't reality check, despite being somewhat aware that this is an illusion.
I ask R is he is going to the reunion. He says yes.
We make our way down a hall, and end up in the S building auditorium.
There is a screen on the stage, showing us going onto the stage as Freshmen.
When I go to sit down there is a handicap section.
I think about how as of recently I don't need that anymore (not exactly true, still in recovery).

Obstacles
I'm with my brother running away from something.
It's night-time and we are on the sidewalk behind our childhood home.
I'm ahead and I reach the entrance first.
There is a brick section over the window where we need to get to.
I start to pull at the bricks and I'm making an opening.
I try to make it through but I can't fit. I get back at it and try to open it more.
But not fast enough. My brother catches up and starts berating me for not getting the path open.
I'm getting upset and scared.
More bricks reappear.

Woke up around 9:30AM.

Went to bed around 1AM.

Fragment
I'm at the airport.
My Grandma P, Uncle J, and brother are there to pick me up.
I'm angry with them about something and I storm away with my bag, outside, and across the street.

Zones
I'm at a football game at my highschool field.
It's nighttime, under the lights.
A cheerleader girl bumps a microphone boom on the sideline and apologizes.
Initially I'm on some bleachers on the endzone side of the field.
DTP.
There's a football game on a screen, and I see the cheerleader bump the boom and apologize exactly the same way.
I'm in a bar that looks like a Pizza Hut with my girlfriend and my friend J.
J is having a rough time from too much weed.
The bartender looks like Ryan Reynolds and he is making us a series of strong looking drinks.
The bartender also lays out some joints and calls them 'enchiladas'.
I realize that I need to be able to drive home so I take it easy.
There's another guy here (seems to know the bartender), and I'm concerned that if I get sick, he will try to get with my girlfriend.
All recorded on waking around 8:30AM.

Went to bed around 1AM.

Fragment
I'm in a movie theater. Reminds me of IMAX. There is a group of people with me.

Quest for Buried Treasure
I'm on a quest. It feels like a video-game.
There is a 2d sidescroller-styled 3d environment. Similar to Sonic Colors (which I've been watching gameplay of recently).
It is a beach-like place, with beaches on the left and right sides, and ocean beyond. Sunny, of course.
The land proceeds forward and I'm searching for buried treasure.
I'm leading a group, and I've found the treasure before so they trust me to find it again.
We find other treasures along the way, including equipable pink gear.
Recorded on waking around 12PM.

Previous Results
<6hr/10m/8mg (Galantamine)>
#1: Moderate lucid (Seeking The Elusive Fantasy Forest™, Night of Friday 9/8/23)
#2: Weak lucid (False Awakening and Fade, Night of Saturday 9/9/23)
#3: Weak lucid (False Awakening, Night of Wednesday 9/13/23)
#4: Moderate lucid (Silverlight Way, Night of Thursday 9/14/23)

Summary
It's 50/50. Some great lucids here, but still not the level I'm looking for. Going to tweak a couple things and run a new test.

New Test
<6hr/20m/None>
3 nights in a row: Re-establish sleep rhythm. Go to bed at 11PM and wake at 7AM.
2 nights in a row: WBTB. Go to bed at 11PM. Wake at 5AM (6hrs). No supplements. Stay awake for 20m. Return to bed.
Repeat until four WBTBs are attempted.

Went to bed around 1AM.

Pre-WBTB

Fragment
Brief impression of a Punch-Out-like video game.

WBTB
Ratio: 6hr/20m
Supplements: None.
Sleep Cycle: Semi-stable.
I got up and walked outside of for a bit, doing plenty of reality checks. I try to make the entire time outside a reality check.
I also review my dreamsign list, trying to commit the top 5 to memory.

Post-WBTB

The Vanishing Plant
I'm walking around in my living room and I do a nose RC out of habit.
To my surprise it fails and I become lucid.
I remember that narration is supposed to help stabilization so I start talking out loud.
"I'm rubbing my hands, I'm rubbing my feet, I'm walking."
I think about what I should do next and consider taking a bite out of the kitchen table, but then decide against.
It wasn't all that exciting last time I did that.
I recall that my goal was to try and observe my dreamworld, to gain an understanding and hopefully a feel for the 'dreamlike'.
I leave through the front door and go outside.
It looks near identical to reality, sunny summer day, except there is a plant nearby that is missing the bottom.
Like in a video game where a texture is missing.
I note that daytime/sunny is one of the top dream signs, and wonder if there are more 'missing textures'.
I also connect this missing texture idea to my top dreamsign which is 'video-games or inspired by a video game'.
"I'm walking around, I'm observing the dreamworld, I'm rubbing my hands," I say outloud, attempting to stabilize again.
I decide that I want to go somewhere more interesting, so I close my eyes and attempt to transform the scene into something else.
I think vaguely about changing the season into fall or winter.
I open my eyes with hope, but the scene only changes slightly. Objects have changed position, but no theme change.
I recall flying through the neighborhood some more, but my lucidity fades.
...
Later I'm in somebody else's house, lucid and looking around.
There is a woman I don't recognize, vaguely Hispanic looking.
"Is there a portal around here?" I ask.
She replies in the negative.
Despite this, I open a closet nearby and try to imagine a green swirly portal inside.
Nope, just closet.
...
I'm at a sleepover at work with my coworker JM.
Apparently we have to sleep there because there is a test we are running.
We have sleeping bags setup on the production floor.
I feel as sense of awkwardness because there are people around us working and I wonder if I should be doing the same.
Recorded on waking at 9:15AM.

Notes
I'm going to start a series of 4 tests for the 6hr/20m/none configuration with this being #1.
Initial impression is my control and dream length were lesser compared to 6hr/10m/8mgGal (Galantamine). This could be unrelated to the configs, and due to the currently only semi-stable sleep cycle.
I want to test whether galantamine is needed for more vivid dreams, and also if my 10m WBTB wake time is limiting my lucid dream experience.
I know that changing multiple variables at once isn't the best science (but I intend to test more configurations later).
General guidance for WBTB seems to recommend much longer than 10m, so I perceive a likely improvement by making it longer, hence earlier testing of this configuration.

Went to bed around 12AM.

AI Dream Augmenter
I'm in bed telling S about a dream I just had.
I have recorded it on my phone through voice, and an AI program augments it with video and sound.
It's playing an anime-esque intro about me as a ninja.
I think it is hilarious and cant wait to record more dream with it.

Game Night
I'm at my current home, though it is mixed with my parent's house from northern Michigan.
We are sitting by the doorwall on the ground ready to play a board game. It might have been snowing outside.
D, my brother, and my sister were among the group. Some of my sister's friends may have been there too.
D is standing nearby with a big bowl of goldfish crackers.
The game pieces are mixed with another game. There are red, white, and off-white. The game was Risk.
My sister says they were playing something last night, to explain why they are mixed up.
We start to unsort the pieces.

Grandma's Mafia
I'm at a mixture of my Grandma P's past houses. This one feels more like a compound.
Currently upstairs in the guest room getting ready for a shower.
My Uncle J calls for me before I can get in.
...
I'm out on the patio. It's sunny.
There is a wooden file organizer, and there are dollars sorted into smaller sections of it. I think I see a $1000 bill.
A black lanky man approaches and I'm worried he'll attack me.
Turns out he's just here for payment.
I now 'know' the backstory that my Grandma P runs some mafia operation.
I direct the man to my Grandma, because I don't know how to pay him.
My Grandma P shows up, gives him some money and walks him out.
My brother and sister are here now.
My Grandma P gives me a see-thru golden ball, and there is a sudden urgency to deliver it to a safety shed nearby.
I run to the shed, make it past a closing metal door, then a sharp turn inside, and another timed door.
Shed is barren and musty, but more brown and orange hues from the sun bleeding through.
There is a conveyer belt running through the shed, but it goes through a wall.
There is a tiny opening to the room where the ball needs to go, but I can't fit.
...
I'm out in the yard below the patio with my brother and my sister.
We're talking about the big reveal that Grandma has been a mafia boss this whole time, and Uncle J too.
It has been generational too. We talk about that and look at the muddy yard in front of us where some kids are throwing footballs around.
I reach a troubling conclusion that this mafia info explains my Mom's death, and that she had been innocent.
I see here briefly as a ghost, and she seems relieved that I understand.
I'm hit with an intense sadness and I fall to the ground for a minute.
My sister notices and asks if I'm OK. I lie, saying everything is fine, and move along.
We reach the underside of the patio and enter a garden area.
I'm carrying some garden wireframes of dogs.
Grandma P is there, and she shrugs off our concerns about the situation, as if we disapproved of her new bingo meetup or something of similar caliber.
We move up the stairs leading to the patio deck, and I hear an incessant bee or bug buzzing at my ear.
I start slapping my arm at it, not wanting to be stung.

All recalled/recorded on waking around 9AM.

Went to bed around 11:30.

The Hallway Theater
I'm at my highschool between the P building and S building. It's snowing outside.
I'm running late to English class. I'm concerned that I will be reprimanded for reading Harry Potter for my assignment because I have already read it.
I reason that the choice is valid because my perspective will be different. I've gone through a lot of growth since the last time I've read it, political stance and puberty among those changes.
...
I'm in an upstairs hallway that resembles S building, but it is much more narrow.
Still running late to class.
Hilary Clinton, wearing a blue suit, is power-walking behind me.
I slow down and let her pass by, wanting to avoid an interaction.
This tactic succeeds and I reach a dark section of the hallway.
There are three rows of seats, split into two sections.
It's some kind of Hallway Theater.
My classmates are there so I sit down at the left section near the back.
My friend D and a girl run by and I hear them say something indicating they are running late.
"Ya'll need to get it together!" I say as they speed by.
I get some laughs from the class for this.
"Those are my best friends," I tell them, wanting to show I wasn't bullying random people.
A couple people I was friends with in highschool (underclassmen from my senior year combination rackets class) S and possibly J, look back at me.
I'm concerned that they are upset because I specified others as my 'best' friends, but they appear content.
...
We're still in the Hallway Theater, but now there are VR headsets hanging from the ceiling.
Classmates are putting them on so I do the same.
There is a floating UI option for lives, and I set it to zero. It applies to the entire class.
A pong game begins within a shared AR space, and somebody gets scored on.
That person dies.
Fear spreads and everyone starts taking the headsets off.
Not wanting to allow anyone else to be killed by game, one person is ordered to keep playing so that nobody else gets scored on.
...
Kris, Suzie, and Ralsei from Deltarune are in a VR-generated forest environment.
The trees are massive and reach to the heavens.
I'm playing this game as Kris. I think D and the girl may have been the other two.
We are exploring as a team, and trying to eliminate other players.
I set up an ambush and direct my team to sneak nearby.
I creep my neck past a branch we are standing on and see two tanks.
The tanks are the opposing players' avatars.
I spring into action, and appropriate battle music plays.
I transform into a woman in a military uniform wearing a beret and open fire on the tanks.
Recorded around 8:30AM on waking.

Went to bed around 11PM.

Memory Storage
I'm with my girlfriend S. We're in a long hallway.
Seems like a hospital. Sterile. Clean.
There are bodies in metal drawers all the way up and down the hall.
I can see some feet sticking out.
S goes to one of the drawers and opens it.
There is a small paper cartoon person standing inside.
I feel some relief for finding this paper person.
Recalled on waking around 7AM.

Went to bed at ???

Purgatory Island
I'm on an island in a Harry Potter game.
Lots of grey colors. Feels isolated and alone.
3rd person view. Playing as a man in a bowler hat.
Like Wayne from Mistborn.
There is a water-logged cave up ahead.
Recalled from early morning.

Went to bed around 11:15PM.

Moving On At Work
I'm walking outside at work between buildings, heading away from my main one.
There is an RV setup on a grassy hill where the stairs leading to the visitor meeting center normally is.
My mentor B is there. Getting to see the RV is a sort of right of passage, according to the plot of the dream.
Inside the RV there are a bunch of shoes hanging on the walls on all sides.
There is a man inside the RV that says there is a chemical engineer van as well.
J from marching band is there, and there is also a puppy nearby in the street.
The puppy is smart, and J is playing frisbee with it.
...
Later I'm walking back toward my building.
I'm texting with E who used to work there too.
She's talking about a 4th of July event with the group I recently missed.
I send her some pictures of my girlfriend and I on a pirate ship, vacation.
She's talks about how she is about to have her fourth kid.
I get a sense of relief/closure.
The path that normally leads to my building leads to a different building nearby.
I'm late for a meeting and I've forgotten something. I decide not to go back for it.
E is there now in person and clarifies that she's only having one kid.
I tell her about W and how now I'm a twice uncle.
The meeting room is located in a similar place, but it has two floors instead of one.
I wake up and think about recording the dream and do so.
Then I wake up for real and write down the dream.
Recorded at 4:30AM.

Fragment
Something about deception, dwarves, and World of Warcraft.
Recorded on waking at 7AM.

Went to bed around 11:00PM.
All recorded at around 4:45AM. I lost a lot because life was busy today and had to wait until the evening to write this.
Plus, my nightstand notes were not very detailed and I underestimated how dark my room would be in the early morning.

Fragment
I'm at home sitting on the couch with my girlfriend S.
My neck is killing me. She comes over and reveals a red neck pillow she has made for me.
It feels godly when she puts it behind my head.

Fragment
I'm playing a 2D video game that resembles something from the SNES era.
Point of view is from overhead, like The Legend of Zelda.
There is a plot-line that involves time-travel, and when the player traverses eras, the 'future' has a blue-purple styling compared to the standard green-grass look in the present time.

Fragment
Something about World of Warcraft.
I might be playing a new expansion.
My friend Z is there.

Fragment
Something about my Grandma P and Uncle J.