Dragging my Mind Over the Gap Between Is's

Wednesday, June 22nd

I. “Scared of Doing”

This dream takes place in another unfamiliar location. What really stands out to me about this one is the fact that I am coherently reading music off of a sheet of paper. The lines make sense and everything, meaning that this is a composition that occurred inside my head without my conscious effort. The strange thing is, in the dream it is Joe Chambers (who I am incredibly fortunate to be studying with) that wrote this tune. Unfortunately I can’t remember it, only that the changes are similar to Charlie Parker’s “Donna Lee.” I am trying to solo over it on a piano, and while I cannot follow the chord tones of the II-V’s very well (I’m not a piano player so that’s not surprising) I am playing stuff in F minor over mostly the whole thing (Donna Lee starts off in Ab Major so this is actually plausible) and that works over a lot of it. My part is a harmony part; the part Joe is playing is the melody. T.S is sitting behind me and has my same part.

I think the task in the dream is that everybody present in the room has to try and play over it. After I’m done, K.M (somebody I have not talked to, come into contact with or even thought about in at least 4 years) comes up to me and asks how soloing over changes works. I don’t remember my explanation but it seems inadequate. M.B is sitting next to me, and turns to me and says “You know what it is? I think she is scared of doing.” I'm not sure whether or not I understand the meaning of that.

The end of the dream is J, a classical vocal major, trying to do the same thing and having a huge amount of trouble. She very quickly becomes frustrated and lets out a whole string of ‘fuck this’s and ‘fuck that’s.

Tuesday, June 21st

I. Broken English

My memories of this dream take place in an old school building. I am in a classroom a few times and the rest of the time I am outside in the hallway. I do not remember anything that happens in the classroom but I go in there during the dream at least twice.

What I remember is talking in the hallway with a few peers. I don’t recall who they were. At one point the door to the classroom opens and J.D, the woman I currently work for teaching guitar lessons, opens the door. She apparently teaches the classes going on in this room. She says sarcastically, “You should talk a little louder out here.”

I have a book in my hands and I’m having an in-depth discussion with the people with me, I believe there are two of them. (This is a bit difficult to explain…)

Somebody in the book talks about how when he breaks something, it makes him find the woman he is destined for. It is accompanied by an illustration of a David Shrigley-esque figure slamming his forehead into a mirror, which is cracking outward from the point of impact.

Another teacher hears us talking about this the first time when she walks by. The second time, as we are still talking about it, she stops and says “This again?” She sits down with us and adds another dimension to the conversation, saying that Adam does this in the bible by using broken English to find Eve. (?) The point of this seems to be that it’s a literary device used in the Bible.

All I know is that this made a tremendous amount of sense in the dream however when I woke up and tried to put it into words it sounded very stupid.

II. “100 Yards From My House”


Two different locations and situations in this dream.

First I am driving down College Rd with M.B. I know its College Road but none of the things we see exist in physical reality. There are many tables with people selling things, none of which I remember specifically. There is also a bar/bodega type thing across the street from a small outdoor arcade. I see a small child attempting to play ski-ball but he doesn’t seem to be very good. Later I look over and he’s climbed up to get closer to the holes, and is throwing balls directly into the highest scoring ones. His mother yells at him and he backs off. About this time I see a nugget of weed sitting nearby him that I know intuitively is his, and he blurts out something along the lines of “You need weed when you’re on welfare!”

The other time I am in the band house, except instead of it being on the island where I currently am it is 100 yards down the street from my house. I realize this as I am outside in the rain, stumbling around drunk in the street.

Inside the house, I overhear J.S talking about how when you pull a tick off your skin it means that you are insecure. (?) This has come up because L.P has just left the house with some girl, and since it is raining out he is wearing the only pair of boots he can find, which is a pair of girlish-looking rubber boots. When they leave, somebody inside the house says something along the lines of “She knows how to take care of a tick.”

The dream ends when I am looking for my computer to listen to folk music at the request of A.V. I have just expressed to the rest of the people in the house “I just realized I am 100 yards from my fucking house!” They seem sympathetic.