Thread: rcarter's workbook

I have started a new DJ about two weeks ago. Before that, my dreams were often interesting, but almost exclusively visual and conceptual. Now my senses have started to kick in. Last night's dream featured two cartons of frozen Quattro Formaggi pizza that smelled pretty terrible. The night before that I could distinctly feel a person's weight on my back (an unrealistic 4lbs, he's more like 160 in waking life).
After reviewing the last entries, I have identified other possible dream signs (list updated).
I will update this post with short descriptions of the week's nights (starting with the first one since I opened the workbook).
A question for the professors: Even though I instantly forget many of the details of my dreams, it is still enough to take me up to one hour to write all of them down. I account for this by setting my alarm an hour early. In my previous attempt at LDing I have used a voice recorder, but the transcription process took a lot of time that I don't really have, so it's not an option for me. When my recall gets better, is it a good idea to gloss over details so I don't have to get up at 4? Do you use shorthands or other techniques to convey details without getting too verbose?
Edit: I found an interesting perspective on this. Very unorthodox, but it might well be the answer I was looking for. Need to sleep a few nights on that.

Friday, October 16
Went to sleep at 9:30pm. Naturally woke up at 2:50am and had good recall. Noted down a few keywords to aid my memory later and went back to sleep. Woke up from the alarm at 5:00am and only remembered fragments of a dream. When I expanded my notes from earlier into a detailed entry, I remembered another dream.
Number of dreams: 3, possibly 4; more or less hazy, but still better quality than usual.
Time spent sleeping: ~7 hours 20 minutes
Dream signs: all of them

Saturday, October 17
Boy, what a night. Went to sleep at 0:30am. Naturally woke up at about 4:50 without recall. Did a reality check, went to the bathroom, did some reading on the forums. After about 40 minutes I tried to get back to sleep doing mantras and visualization, which took a bit longer with my roommate (who has to work this weekend) rummaging around in the kitchen. Finally found myself in a dream where I tried to get to sleep in order to have a LD. I fell asleep in that dream as well and was in a dark room, where I remembered to look at my hands. The left hand was alright, but the right one had six or seven fingers. All of a sudden the realization hit me, and it was exhilerating. But before I became fully lucid, I heard a loud noise and felt an alien, malignant presence in the room and had a false awakening. The rest of the dream wasn't strictly a nightmare, but it dealt with how that presence had followed me from my dream and was messing with an electronic device at work. Finally woke up at 7:00am and didn't want to sleep anymore.
Number of dreams: 2 or 3
Time spent sleeping: 6 hours max
Dream signs: long corridors/winding rooms, flat dark lighting, failed RC

Mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I did a RC in a dream for the first time (so there is hope for me, hur hur), on the other hand my mind didn't want me to become lucid apparently.
Question for the professors: I have no idea what to make of this. Usually I feel very safe and relaxed in my dreams, even when the plot is objectively terrifying; it feels more like a game to me. That terror I felt after the RC is completely new (as a dream experience, that is, I've occasionally felt terror in waking life). The "evil presence" thing is similar to the eerie feeling I occasionally get at home in the evenings when no one's around, only several orders of magnitude stronger. I don't believe in anything supernatural, yet that emotion was pretty overwhelming. Do you have any experience with that kind of thing you could share?
Edit: The chat people tell me not to worry too much and that it's great progress. Thanks, chat people!

Sunday, October 18
Went to sleep at 10:30pm. Woke up from the alarm at 4:00am with little recall, went to the bathroom and did some light reading for about half an hour before going back to sleep. Woke up naturally at 9:00am with so-so recall (forgot two thirds of three dreams that joined together in a sweeping narrative), but still remembered enough to keep me scribbling for 45 minutes. The dreams had truly epic proportions, a lot like Doctor Zhivago, and dealt with the fate of a miner family who over the years survives a bombing attack by Ayn Rand's private jet and several natural catastrophes.
Number of dreams: 3
Time spent sleeping: 10 hours (YAY!)
Dream signs: None, really. This time, lighting was consistently rich in contrast; several scenes had an ore furnace as their sole light source. No traveling, no friends or acquaintances, nothing.