lucid

Woke up around 6:00 AM, DJed a bit and then MILDed for about five minutes. Drifted off to sleep and had this:

7:45 AM: Maybe a FA? My wife tells me to not worry about having an LD: "It will happen soon." I am in some broken down, burned up city scape (day residue from watching clips of The Matrix yesterday) fighting colossal enemies that grow out of the ground. I am using one of the pole blasters from the movie Stargate. In the dream, the weapon is given to me by a hermanubis:



I blast one of the creatures a few times, then point the pole at some lit up squares above me on a burned out building. This activates an elevator. I plan to use the elevator to travel underground and attack the enemy's legs. At some point during this bit, I become aware that I am either dreaming or watching someone else's dream (??? C/R exactly).

I am running down some hallways. I see an odd-shaped item behind glass used for fires. I cannot tell if it is a fire extinguisher or an oxygen mask. I remove it and spray some gas out. I inhale some of this. It smells quite odd but seems safe enough. Not sure what happens after this.

After awaking from this, and feeling a bit worn out of trying to MILD, I decide to give myself a friendly auto-suggestion (as I have done in the past) and then practice SSILD. I practice SSILD for a little while. During this time, my wife wakes up and gets ready for work, the construction men are walking all over the roof doing who knows what, and I am just lying there.

Things seem to calm down though. My wife stops in to say goodbye, and I decide to roll over and sleep. As I roll over though, I decide to give SSILD one last shot. I do the visuals, then the auditory senses, and then come to my body. Here though I decide to just rest (instead of repeating the cycle). I suddenly feel the onset of REM--sort of like rushing sensation, but also a bit like a heaviness. I feel my body starting to slump over. "No, body--do not fall over!" I think--I don't want this to mess up the WILD! But of course, it isn't my waking body, but my dream body, and I begin to feel myself rolling outward in a semi-circle. At this point I realizewhat is going on--we're WILDing!

When I cease rolling, I have landed in some beautiful master bedroom--not my own!--and slowly get to my feet. I wait for a few moments, in case the dream is not set yet. I then carefully nose pinch. I a little air blockage but not a big deal because I am already sure I am dreaming. I immediately remember my 3-step task and begin to complete the fourth step. However, as I usually use my pocketses to summon items, imagine my dismay when I realize I am in my underwear! I still attempt to summon my phone from my underwear. I reach in, and pull my hand out real fast, saying "phone: be there!" I momentarily see the black outline of the phone in my palm, but then it disappears. I try this a few more times. I finally decide to do some other stuff, since Sensei said the goals for fourth step do not need to be completed in order. Before leaving the master bedroom, however, I decide to take off my underwear (?) as I feel they are useless to me

I place my hand on the wall of the bedroom, phase it through, and then phase through the entire wall. I then think of what else I wanted to do. I decide to look for StephL. This house is very nice--lots of wood and glass and sculpture and art around, and the floor is marble--and I feel odd shouting. I decide to contact StephL telepathically:

StephL, I think. StephL! I try a trick. Ah yes, I think, I remember now--I look around a bit and see a cabinet--StephL was definitely in that cabinet! I run over to the cabinet, but as I approach it becomes smaller--too small for anyone to fit inside. I realize it is unlikely she will be in here, but I open the tiny door anyway--empty!

I continue my rounds. I suddenly feel something bump inside my pocket (wait--pockets! WTF! I thought I was commando! ). Hey, I think--I bet that is my totem! I reach into my pocket and BAM! pull out my f***** totem. Fourth task complete. I am quite pleased as I know I have managed to get some points now. I pass a life-size version of my totem resting on the ground, and squat down in front of it. I feel it in both hands, still quite pleased with myself. I then continue my search.

I enter another master bedroom. On a very large bed--probably king sized--my wife is sitting, nude, wrapped up in sheets. She is smiling at me. I begin to walk over to her, but then remember I am on a quest. Sorry sweetheart! I turn and walk out of some glass doors into a screened-in pool area. Coming up out of the water is a beautiful, porcelain-skinned girl with long, blonde hair. She looks at me but doesn't seem ready to talk.

"Are you StephL?" I ask.

"No," she says. "My name is Katerina : some Russian patronymic that I don't entirely catch. She is treading water, and her mouth goes under the surface while she is talking, so I miss that bit.

"Can I swim too?" I ask. So much for my quest.

"Yes," she says, "But I am getting out."

I jump into the water, come up and then swim over to her. My fingers somehow get tangled in her hair. I pull them away gently, as I do not want to pull her hair. She lets me touch her. She is wearing a full-body, dark teal wet suit. She then says something demeaning to me, or kicks off of me, or something. This gets me kind of riled up

"I like girls who are a little mean to me," I say.

She is now climbing out of the pool, but she lingers a minute. "You're lucky I like retards," she says.

I laugh. "What?"

"Yeah," she says, "Retards--boys I can be mean to."

We are now sitting on a ledge, still in the water. I move in close and slide my hands along her waist. She feels nice. I suddenly remember the contest. What was I supposed to be doing? I slide back a bit, because I have thought of a good final task.

"Do you mind if I try something?" I ask. She shrugs. I quickly and forcefully push my hands out at her, with the intention of using TK to knock her backward into the water. Nothing happens. I try a few more times, and remember how CanisLucidus knocked over a speedboat rather effortlessly. I try doing the motion lazily, not caring. The girl looks bored. Oh well.

I move in close again.

And I think that is enough, Dreamviews.

I will say that the dream ended with me feeling like things were destabilizing; I focused a bit on my senses and managed to hold it together a few more moments before I woke up.

6:27 AM: My mom is driving me to school in the city (I never went to a school in the city!). We are running a bit late (. . . skipping some NL details, getting to the good stuff ). Once she drops me off and heads to work, I realize I have forgotten my lunch (a caramel and chocolate protein bar) and my bite guard (in case I want to take a lucid nap!). I turn and run back to the drop-off area, scanning the busy thoroughfare for my mom. Students and people are moving all over the place. I finally see her; she is moving back in my direction carrying my book bag. I think of several things to say, and one seems most appropriate: "You brought my bag." (Please don't try to make sense of this!)

She replies, "At least you said that." She seems grateful. Now that I have my things, I am heading (finally) towards school, when all of these emergency personnel get in my way. Seems there has been some sort of accident. I have to thread around behind them. As I do so, it occurs to me that I have no idea what my school is like on the inside. I know it isn't the first day, and I marvel that I have been on autopilot so much at school! I am excited to see what this new school will be like! I then nose pinch, in order to be certain I am not dreaming.

Ah, I see. I look around and notice a friend from WL. In WL he is a very towering guy, and he looks the same in this dream. I ask him, "So even this isn't real." It's more of a statement than a question.

He looks at me and nods. He then proceeds to say something deep that I have now forgotten. I decide that this DC is legit and ask him some more questions.

"Does the dream world contain stability?" I ask. "Does it contain stable locations?"

He shakes his head. "You create and control dreams."

"What is the most important aspect of dream knowledge?" I ask.

He looks at me as though he is a bit surprised or nonplussed. He then points at me, as though the answer is obvious.

"You mean controlling myself?" I ask.

"I mean controlling your mind," he replies.

We are now somehow in a small, empty diner. I ask him if he can help me control my mind. He nods and extends his hand. I take it and he proceeds to hurl me into the air towards the ceiling. I turn in the air and fall to the ground. My shin bangs one of the diner tables. This actually feels just like I imagine it would in WL--painful. I tell him so. He makes a face (like I am being a whiner) and points to a more open area.

As I am moving, however, it dawns on me that even pain in the dream world isn't real, and as I think this, the feeling evaporates. I realize I can't be harmed. In a moment, I remember Mancon's guide for flying (in particular, let the clouds suck you into the sky). I try this briefly but don't have time to work it properly as my pal has already grabbed me again and tossed me into the air. I now fly into a whirling ceiling fan and smack against the blades. This does not hurt, however.

My friend continues to sling me by my arm into the air. A voice comes over the PA telling me to come to the dean's office, but I realize I do not have to go, as I am dreaming. The theme from Mortal Kombat begins to play.





I am mid air (and mid-fan) when I awake. My heart is pounding and I assume the adrenaline pushed me out of sleep.

I feel like most of the lucidity pegs were in the holes last night . . . not sure what I was missing, really. Maybe my awareness was low. I have been trying to up that a bit today . . . .

(??): I awake with the distinct impression that I had just been lucid! Unfortunately, not a single memory. Not sure what awoke me either--maybe just the autosuggestion I give myself to wake up and remember stuff! I take it as a good omen, though, and go back to sleep . . .

5:44 AM: I am in a movie theater with my wife and mom. Mom asks my wife why I keep pinching my nose (!). My wife explains to her that I'm "testing reality" and then my mom begins to pester me about RCing. I yell at her while walking down the hallways toward the movie. I ask her if she would rather spend the evening alone, and threaten to sit in the car for the rest of the night if she doesn't put a sock in it. She somehow transforms into one of my professors from college. He wanders down the hallway lamenting, "Literature!" as though I had turned my back on it forever.

My wife and I stop in front of a movie poster. It has black and green detail -- similar to night-vision goggles -- and is about lucid dreaming. She asks if I want to see it and I realize I have wanted to see it for some time. I check the run time (134 minutes!) and then check my watch (!). I realize we will not be out until very late. I am suddenly not so keen. Wife wants to stay now, however. She shows me where our theater screen will be. We will not be sitting in the main theater, but out in the hallway. Our screens are in front of us, to the left, and above us, to the left. She indicates them with a laser pointer, and a little smiley face appears where she points it. She tells me "This is a good thing," indicating the seats. Our view is obstructed by other movie goers. I tell her this is not a good thing and that we have terrible seats. We end up staying. Before the movie starts, we are asked to stand and clap our hands and sing to some music. My wife joins in with everyone. I just stand there because I don't want to sing.

(??): I am walking down a sidewalk and I realize I am dreaming. I also can distinctly feel the vagueness of the dream world. This is not a visual-quality issue, but more of a "this is a very unstable experience." Probably due to being fairly awake while trying to LD. I observe the dreamscape and allow the action to move of its own accord. I continue to mosey along, and then enter a shop to my left through a glass door. The shopkeeper or cashier is positioned behind a counter to my right. She sees me and my NL body attempts to walk past her; I choose to smile at her as I pass. As I make it to the back of the shop, I decide to test stability at this point. I feel that if I can just manage some concrete physical action, then the dream will be good to go. I nose pinch. I of course can breathe but this destabilizes the dream and I wake up, breathing deeply. Really a great time to DEILD, but I wasn't able to pull it off. Think REM needs to be a little more strongly asserted to get there!

Fragment 1 ,12:33 AM: Dreamer is teaching me how to WILD. A neat SL where I am "aware" that I am in a NLD. Driving in a car, with brightly-colored backgrounds to the environment. Dreamer's main advice seems to be relax and have fun. Dog bark and shout in WL from the street wake me up and out of this. Believe Xanous here as well, but not sure.

Fragments 2, 5:28 AM: Dreamer is teaching the whole DV community how to WBTB and incubate dreams. At some point I am nervous about my dream practice, but then decide that whatever I am doing is probably OK. More here but C/R.

Lucid, 8:45 AM: I am walking between classes back in high school. I am outside, and walking along a sidewalk outside. I glance at my wristwatch and realize it is 6:40 pm. I am confused, as I am not sure how it can be 6:40 at night while I am at school. I nose pinch and can breathe. I become lucid, but do not fully understand what is going on. I am under the impression that my WL body is asleep somewhere on campus (maybe I took a nap somewhere?) and that I will be late for class if I don't wake up. I try to wake up a few times (by "opening my eyes") and fail. I am surprised, b/c this has not failed me in the past.

Before I try to wake up, though, I decide to enjoy the dream a bit. I attempt to fly, and C/R whether or not I manage to do so. However, I do climb up a metal radio tower of sorts, and consciously make my body lighter in order to pull myself through the air and not damage the thing, fragile pieces of tower. In dream, I think I am adjusting gravity, lol. I try very hard to remember where I have fallen asleep, or what waking life looks like at the moment, but cannot.

FA: I "awake" from this dream into a world more populated with DCs, but same landscape. I am no longer a student at the school but am now a teacher (wtf?). I hear a PA announcement telling me to come to the dean's office. I follow, and am met by someone who demands to know where I have been. I explain that I fell asleep "up in some damned tower" and am told my picture needs to be taken. A ceremony is going on, and I am asked to partake in it. A special, heavy jacket is placed on my shoulders. However, the people involved soon find out I am not a Christian and take the jacket back! I don't care though and just wander off. Another announcement comes over the PA and says employees cannot leave until 4:30 pm.

Fragment 3: My stepfather taking family out to eat. My mom narrates this dream, explaining how he has exerted control over us using his wealth and influence (). He says something nasty to me, but I do not respond, as I am conscious of eating the roast beef dinner he has just paid for.

Fragment 4: A man is teaching children to LD. He explains that a good reality check for children to do is to stop breathing, and wait for a superhero to rescue them. He advises parents to keep a good watch on their child though, as sometimes a superhero will not arrive and the child may die. He demonstrates by saving a child who is currently not breathing (and obviously not being rescued via dream!).

Lucid
DV Member
FA

5:17 AM: I am making a t-shirt for my club. I want it to feature quotes from Metallica, and I feel our members will like this. I show some designs: it is a chessboard with the words RED and BLACK stenciled on first row of squares. Writing is in red and black, lol. I know I will have to pay for this, especially to use Metallica's words and music, as they are so serious about being reimbursed (Napster!). A club member discusses the pros and cons of the project. In particular, he discusses how many people we are trying to reach are not being so due to poor storytelling skills on Sensei's part. Sensei favors good vs. evil conflicts, with good always prevailing. My club member (a WL friend) gives an example here discussing the merits of a literary work, in particular, a work in which Tannhauser (in this work, evil) has his "flesh tanned" at a Christmas dinner (some kind of medieval punishment). He then becomes a good guy and wins "the curried Christmas turkey breast" in some sort of competition (a joust, maybe) and defeats someone evil in single combat (swords). The idea is that Sensei's rigid preference for good over evil is excluding people from the club. Due to Sensei's popularity, this literary work is not nearly as damning as the club member hoped it would be. It is also expressed to me that I should use different Metallica material as this is the last time I will be combining Metallica and club slogans, for some reason (I've chosen stuff from Kill Them All but now consider whether it would be better to use Garage Inc. or And Justice for All. Multiple WL friends appear in this dream.

7:11 AM: My father and I have a heart-to-heart (day residue). He is writing a blog about President George W. Bush leaving office; president is spelled "presdent"-- I sigh at my father's poor spelling! He calls my mother and begins talking on the phone. He is trying to explain about new cellphones, but uses a lot of technical jargon to sound smart. She says, "Speak English, man!" He then suggests taking a Vicodin to "calm herself." I shake my head. He sees this and asks what is wrong. I tell him he is being really rude. He hangs up on my mom; he does not think he has been rude. I put it to him this way: "If someone told you to take drugs every time you got annoyed, you'd be pissed." He still is not getting it. "Dad, I need to say this," I say, and make it clear I don't want to be interrupted. I then have a personal conversation with my dad that I would rather not relate on the Internet!

1st fragment: I am riding my bike at my workplace. My boss is discussing new for the fiscal year with a bunch of suits outside in our courtyard. I am riding around them on my bike, not a care in the world. I am surprised at how light I feel, and jump the front tire over concrete steps and bumps. I notice that I am not riding my wife's bike, and am surprised--the tires are different. I also realize I have no helmet on and decide to be extra careful while riding. I almost fall from the bike from riding down too steep an incline, but manage to catch myself very lightly. Again, I think this amazing, but don't make the connection

2nd fragment: I am with my wife. She is hiding folded up dollar bills (day residue) in the little door of the car gas tank, for if we ever need money for gas. I begin to tell my sister where the money is, then decide not to.

FA: I feel I have woken from all of these dreams. My wife awakes, excited. "Did that really just happen!? Did I really dream that!?!?" she asks. "Tell me that was real!" She is crying happily as she gets her DJ out. I assume she has had some poignant experience and I say nothing, so that she will not be distracted and forget. She then gets up and uses the RR. I am worried she will forget her dream before writing it down; I don't want her to lose her dream and be sad.

(WBTB and WILD attempt--7:30ish)

8:29 AM: I am riding in the car with my mom on the interstate. I suddenly become cognizant that I am dreaming. I nose pinch to confirm. "Isn't it funny," I ask her, "that none of this is real?" I then nose pinch again (just to be sure--leaping from a speeding vehicle is almost never a good idea) and then open the door. The pavement and road shoulder are moving incredibly fast. I just step out, and the world slows down around me; I land safely on my feet. I manage to fly around a little bit! I get up in the air, and say "Look, I am higher! I'm higher!" Each time I say this I am lifted higher into the sky, or rather, the ground drops farther and farther away. It comes into my mind that I am tricking the dream (doh!) and the ground resumes its normal position. I am messing around with flying some more when I remember my 3-step task. I reach into my pocket and summon my cellphone; it is there. I open the lock screen and read some texts; some stuff from my dad, but all gibberish. I toss the phone away. I approach the wall of a building and phase my hand through; it passes through like a ghost, which has never happened before. I am already phasing my body through the wall, and the normal feeling of passing through jello or plasma or whatever returns

Inside is an odd shaped room--sort of bottle-necked with a square body and long-necked hallways. I can't remember exactly what occurred in this room, but I know I did not encounter any DCs or eat anything . . . lol. I see a mirror and wonder if phasing through a mirror is a task (old TotM, I believe--heard about it from podcasts). I phase through (a first for me, actually) but C/R what was on the other side. I suddenly realize I've been running about for a bit and have not seen any DCs--I forgot about my mom at this point. I leave this building and decide to summon a WL friend. "Jane (not her real name) be around this corner!" I say. I run around the brick side of the building, onto a cement patio with a picnic table. Sitting on the picnic table is my friend. She appears for a moment, and then changes into an old crush from high school. She looks really good and I almost lose it, lol. Her DC is stable, and looks exactly as she does in WL, except for dream glamour that always makes distracting DCs incredibly beautiful. We have a conversation.

"Hey (insert my WL name, lol,) it's really great to see you! you look good!" she says. She is wearing short shorts and her feet and legs are sandy, as though she's been walking at the beach. "You look good, too," I say, though I am cognizant that she is not real. She notices me oggling her and offers to have sex with me (which started out as one of my NL goals in several lucid dreams). I begin to comply, but then back away. I say, "I've been trying really hard not to get distracted during dreams, so I think I won't this time." She smiles and gives me a thumbs up. "Good job," she says, and then begins talking about her life and stuff. Admittedly I lose interest at this point and begin thinking about the tasks. I realize I should listen attentively (dream yoga and all) but then think, "I don't have time for this." I interrupt her: "What are some good lucid tasks for me to accomplish?" She sits for a moment and thinks. "How about flying?" she asks. I groan. "I'm terrible at flying." I look at her. "Do you know how?" She smiles and nods. "Show me, please!" I say. She holds out her hand and I take it and we walk out to an open area. I am very excited: I am finally going to get to advanced flying, and my crush from high school is going to teach me. Sweet! She looks up into the sky and then jumps. Nothing happens. She tries a couple more times and shrugs. I leave, annoyed, and decide to find someone who does know how to fly in this damn dream.

I run about the dream landscape, doing lots of high jumping (onto the backs of cars, up onto buildings and such). I find a hotel that seems to have people in it. I enter; it is packed with DCs. I look around at all of them: who would know how to fly? I ask one. She gives me a weird look and says she does not know how. I see a headless woman carrying a tray of something; surely a headless DC would know how to fly? I approach and ask, and she replies, "Um, I don't think I want to buy any," as though I am a salesperson. I ask a man and he looks disgustedly at me and says, "Oh, a dream question." I finally look around and shout, "Quiet!" Everyone stops talking and looks at me. There is still music and laughter coming from the ball room. "Tell them to be quiet in there too," I say (C/R if they shut up or not, lol). I say, "Who in here knows how to fly?" The DCs look around at each other. Finally a girl my age raises her hand and says, "I do." She asks me if this is the only way "Santa will bring me wings for Christmas" (A DV reference). She agrees to show me, and then proceeds to waste a lot of dream time screwing around, looking out of windows, rummaging through stuff. I keep asking her to hurry, because the dream will end soon, and she tells me to be patient or something. At some point, I begin to feel odd tactile sensations--someone brushing my hair, and tickling my body. I am not sure if these are random dream sensations or my wife trying to wake me up IRL. I move away from the area I am standing in and the sensations fade. I realize the dream will end soon and I quickly try to scan back through the events, in order to remember the dream better. As I am doing this I wake up. I think to DEILD, but then realize I will forget this dream (In all, this LD lasted about 45 minutes!)

3rd fragment: I am trying to open a car door. The handle snaps off in my hand. I flip it around and put it back on backwards; the handle works fine even though it isn't installed properly. I realize this is odd and wake up.

4th fragment: I have a somewhat lengthy dream, but am under the impression that I am merely deep in thought. In the dream, I am teaching a class on lucid dreaming. My students and I are back in the previous LD environment, with one of my WL friends leading the pack, lol, explaining what she wants to see in a dream. I look out of a window and tease them by saying, "I think I see a rat catcher!" We are walking through a beautiful wood-floor home, with many staircases and sunlit hallways. My high school crush passes again, and we meet eyes. She pats my stomach as she passes. I am suddenly aware that I am actually dreaming, and not merely deep in thought imagining myself to be dreaming, but I run out of REM time and wake up.

4 fragments: 2
3 dreams: 3
1 LD: 5

WBTB (sako!): 2
WILD (unsuccessful): 1

Basic
RC/stabilize: 1
Interact with dream character: 2
flying: 4
basic summoning: 4
Gain invulnerability: 4
Hand through object: 4
Use electronic device: 4

Advanced
Phase through object: 8

Three-step task
Summon phone, hand through object, walk through wall: 30

I am getting 73 total points. Let me know if this is not correct!

Red: DV members
Blue: Lucid

2:10 AM: Fragment. In an enchanted garden at night. All of the creatures here (mainly butterflies) are constructs, and are designed to "find out" thing about people (listening at the proper moment, or asking particular questions). This has something to do with sleep and dreaming but C/R (can't remember).

5:43 AM: (FA) I attempt WILD, which initiates missed FA. gab sees me trying to WILD and decides to help. She explains her method of WILDing: she visualizes Naruto in meditative posture (yeah right) before a big battle. She says the moment Naruto gets into meditative posture, he begins telling her he is ready to WILD. "I can see people fighting," he says. "The closest fight is the best one!" and "I'm ready right now," and "I'm still ready" and finally, if gab misses these cues, "I've woken up!" I marvel at how easy it is for gab to WILD!

The dream transitions to a false WBTB (lol) where I am ordering pizza with Sensei and a coworker. I have to walk down a long dirt road to get to my room, but am excited about having pizza. I explain to my coworker and Sensei that I will probably not have any soda because I need to return to bed for the competition. I also look at myself in the mirror at some point. Nothing weird; I just look tired. I contemplate taking Galantamine, then remember that it was hard to fall back asleep after a lucid dream. I reassure myself by remembering that we've just purchased some blackout curtains and I can sleep as late as I need to. I then take the Galantamine (?) but cannot remember a moment later if I took it or not. I ask my coworker if I took it. He says he thinks so. I tell him this is important, and is he sure? He assures me he is certain, and says, "You took something from that bottle." I am satisfied. I ask him if he wants one and he declines, saying he has heard it is ineffective. I assure him it has worked for me in the past, though he chalks this up to my "good recall." He admits his recall is very bad. I say mine has not been so great either lately.

(WBTB, WILD attempt 2)

7:24 AM: Meeting a Tibetan medicine student in a grocery store. We have an argument about how best to induce lucid dreams. He is trying to sell me some junk medicine. He then says that "half of the mind is dark" when travelling in different countries, which is why I am not remembering dreams. I tell him this is ridiculous and that the mind is never "dark." He becomes angry and says he cannot teach me anything. I try to calm him down. "Can't we have a discussion?" I ask. "Is homeopathy always right?"

"Yes," he says. He storms off. He then returns and says he is going to inform my "carlo" (no idea what that is) and my lama as to my rudeness. He also says he is going to find "all of the people that love me" and inform them too. I begin to get angry now to the point of violence. I implore him not to contact my friends and family, and get involved in my affairs. I also explain to him that our relationship is business, so do not make it personal. "Tell me you are understanding reality right now," I say.

A child I know wants to get past me to the drink cooler. I move out of the way. I am conscious now of making a scene, and decide to walk away. I head over to the freezer section, thinking I will preemptively call my lama and inform him of some lunatic who will be calling soon. I doubt he'll be mad at all. I meet a little old lady in the freezer section, and she asks for help finding the "orange juice with sugar." I begin digging through the freezer trying to find it. She tells me she completed "three years" of something "in three days." I politely ask how this is possible, because I feel she may have dementia. She explains how her personal business fell apart due to internal conflict. Dream (mercifully) ends.

8:58 AM: At a lake with a high school friend. He sees me and asks me to come over. I do. He then ignores me to talk to someone else (rather typical of him, I'm afraid). He sees an overweight girl walk past. Apparently she looks at him, because he says to the other guy, "Do you see this girl looking at me?" They then make fun of her. The other guy says, "Tell her to go inside, turn on the AC, and press the button that says 'food.'" They laugh then. I am disgusted, because they chose to make fun of her because maybe she found my friend attractive for a moment. I wonder why I am sitting her being ignored and then it hits me: Oh yes. This is a dream. I nose pinch to RC. I am about to set off to take care of my tasks, but I cannot pass up this opportunity.

I truly look at my friend for the first time, and his eyes bug out and seems a bit cartoony. I look away and he stabilizes into himself. He tells me we are going somewhere else now. While he is talking, I am listening, and start to lose lucidity. I mentally repeat, "This is a dream" to stabilize. Lucidity returns. I tell him I'm not going. He asks why not. I say, "Because you're supposed to be my friend, but being around you is neither friendly nor fun." I then walk away. He tries to follow me, but I start running (quite elated actually) and jump high over a 9ft fence or so and easily land on the other side. Escaped!

I then set to the tasks. I attempt the basic flying task. I leap into the air, high again, and yank branches down off of a pine tree. I swim my arms a bit, but don't see any real flying. For some reason, in dream, I become convinced that I have satisfied the basic flying task, but C/R when I wake up. Oh well.

I then attempt advanced flying. I peer up at the sky. It is very far away, blue, with white clouds. It seems impossible. I tell myself, "This is just your mind. You can fly right up into those clouds." I remember StephL saying that advanced flying seemed kind of scary, and I empathize with that thought. I jump into the air, staring straight up, and fall right back down. I try a couple more times. Nope. I decide to do the basic dream control task and set off.

I run down to my school building where I went to school as a child, and see a bolt in the wall (at this point I attempt advanced flying again, but still no success). I begin to shape the bolt with my hands, expanding it, and willing it to change into something else. It transforms into a combination lock. The lock looks more like a paperweight than a real lock, but it certainly is no longer a bolt. I am satisfied. I turn to find something else to mess around with and the dream ends.

So I tallied my points and it's actually 18.5:

2 NLD: 2
1 frag: 1/2
1 lucid: 5

RC/Stabilize: 1
Interact w/ DC: 2
Basic Object changing: 4

WBTB: 2
WILD: 1

If anyone has any advice on flying and advanced flying, I would love to learn. It's one of the things I want to do more than anything, and one of the things I have been least successful at in the past. Sometimes I am OK at basic flying, but most often it has been challenging. I am much more adept at manipulating the environment.

This was completed for Dreamer's DV Challenge!

Finding Fris
I am trying to lead meditation for my mom and sister. My mom criticizes me for laying out the cushions incorrectly. I have already had to interrupt my own meditation to help them, so I am not pleased. My sister is taking a very long time to get here! I finally say f*** this and get into my car and drive off.

I am driving through my hometown, and suddenly appear in the city where I live. I am driving through a college campus. I know I need to get to work soon, but realize I did not tell my wife where I was going. I reach for the phone to call her, but realize I have my old phone from college, and that I will not be able to contact her on this. I also realize I've brought my cat along by mistake, and that when I open the car door she will probably get out, and not be able to defend herself. I am starting to get stressed out by current events!

I find myself now walking in a mall that also happens to be a college campus, and it occurs to me that I might be dreaming. I do a nose pinch and can breathe. Lucid. I pause for a moment to just breathe and look around. Everything becomes strikingly vivid. I try to remember my tasks. At first, nothing comes, but then . . . Find Fris! I set off. I am very happy to have remembered the goal! I try to call Fris on my old phone, but this does not work. The phone only has one large green button in the center, and when I press this, I hear a voice come out, but for whatever reason (can't remember now) I am not satisfied with what I hear. I think I toss the phone away.

I begin running around calling out, "Where's Fris? Where's Fris?" A DC stops me and says he's found him. He points to a storefront ad for cigarettes. The add has a silhouette of a cartoon character on the front. I tell the DC that this is not good enough and continue my search. Different DCs stop me, either with rumors or reports, or just false information. As I am making my way down the thoroughfare, I notice an extremely beautiful DC -- maybe the most beautiful woman I've ever seen -- walking past me. I almost lost the objective and run after her, but then wrench my eyes away and continue on. Other male DCs were looking at her as well!

A friend from WL finally stops me as I am ascending some stairs and points me in another direction. "I just saw Fris over there, but watch out, because there is a crowd." I'm like, "Wtf, a crowd?" I run over to this spot and have to shove some DCs out of the way to get to the inner circle. Fris is sitting on a brick bench. He is a rapper, and all of the people are his fans. I ask him if he is really Fris, and he says, "Yeah, yeah." I wonder if I have to do anything else to meet the task. I ask Fris for his autograph (I mean, he is a famous rapper, right?). Fris agrees and is signing my paper when he sees my ring. He asks me if I am a mason. I say yes, I am. We talk about Freemasonry! Fris has all of these interesting skull rings on. He then asks me if he can hold my ring. I say certainly. He tries to work the ring off of my finger, but he is going so slowly. "Just pull it off," I say, "You're being too gentle." He finally gets it off and is examining it. By this time the crowd has dispersed (they walk away as we are talking). He takes out a lock-smithing tool kit and begins fiddling with my ring. I realize that he is trying to resize the ring to his own finger! I get kind of pissed about this, but then remember I am dreaming and that he can't do anything to my ring. I just shrug and watch. He is very meticulous. I then contemplate whether or not I've removed my ring in WL, and seem to feel my WL hand holding my ring. At this point the dream destabilizes and I wake up.