Hi all. I'm new, of course. Very cool site! The toturials and message board are just excellent.

So excellent, in fact, that after a week of reading it and 2 days of being an actual member, I had two separate lucid dreams this morning. How cool is that? Quite cool.

I found Dream Views (or DV in DV parlance ) when I woke up this past Sunday morning and realized I'd just awoken from one more of the half-dozen or so lucid dreams I'd had over my 29 years on this planet. It was a "sudden lucidity" occurence, like they had always been, at least as far as I can recall. Within the dream, I realized I was in a dream. And then, BAM, I'm out, dream over.

I Googled around some and came across DV, and was instantly entranced. This site rocks harder than, uh, rocks themselves. Great stuff here. I read a lot and practiced, with no success at even recalling my dreams (that has always been hit-or-miss for me). I placed a pad of paper next to the bed and experimented with music/no music and pot/no pot (I am a smoker). Nothing really happened, but since I came to the site knowing lucid dreams were real from experience, I knew that I could do this.

Two days ago, I joined the site. That night I got some malatonin and used 3mg for the first time (I had never taken melatonin in the past). Slept great, and I was able to recall a bit of the dream I had before I woke up.

Now, I've been doing a variety of WILD by necessity - I drive my roommate to work five mornings a week, and as a consequence I wake up after 5-6 hours of sleep and am awake for 30-45 minutes before I crawl back into bed. As I drive, I do reality checks, primarily the digital clock one and the finger-through-palm one at stoplights and 4-way stops.

The amount of reality checks I do en route to and from her workplace may have something to do with what happened in this morning's dreams.

Here's the set-up: Last night, I took 3mg of melatonin with about 8oz skim milk, then brushed the ol' chompers, smoked a bowl with my other roommate and lay down to sleep. I have a playlist (Ipod), and I let it run as I settled into bed and relaxed. It's pretty much all trance, with an mp3 every 15 minutes (some DVer had this idea on the boards) that asks. "Are you in a dream? Are you dreaming?" I don't recall hearing the fifth song, so the melatonin and music (and pot) sunk me fast. No dreams to really report there, at least none I could remember. I don't even know if I woke up at all.

This morning my roommate woke me after probably 5.5 hours of sleep. I got up, drove her to work, reality-tested there and back. I lay down and was out pretty quickly.

And WOW, was it a cool experience. I had two seperate LDs (I woke up after two hours and the first LD because of my alarm, telling me to move my car so I wouldn't get a ticket) and they were both very vivid (I can only imagine what a little B6, carefully administered, would do to enhance them). Unfortunately, as my dream recall skills are not very developed, I could only remember a few specifics, and a lot of impressions and feelings. But I absolutely loved what I remember.

The first thing that stands out in my mind is how many reality checks I did while dreaming. I had been worried I wouldn't remember to do them! Boy, was I wrong. As soon as I thought I was dreaming (which may have been due to a dreamsign I'm just not cognizant of yet), I did the finger-through-palm RC, and it worked. I knew instantly I was asleep. And the cool thing was, I knew exactly what to do.

I remained calm, stated aloud "More lucidity control now!" and spun around three times to ensure I would continue in the dream. It worked! I was doing it! 8)

I did the finger-through-palm (FTP) RC a lot during the dream - I think maybe I was just so fascinated that it worked! After the first couple of times, I actually took the RC further. I slid my finger through my palm (I say "slid", because it felt to me like my palm was a membrane, and I could actually will my fingers to "web" together) and followed through, pushing my entire fist through behind the index finger, until my left palm was bisected by my right wrist. Wacky, but very neat, and no pain at all. I did this a number of times during both dreams.

The first dream was easier to remember, because from the impression I have the second dream was far more detailed (more people, more actions, more details to recall). I started off in my apartment, where my two roommates and their mom (she doesn't live here IRL) were going to sleep. Suddenly, I'm in a large house, multistory, old frame like maybe the Bates Motel house (with no creepy feelings, though, it was pleasant). I look out the window of my bedroom and see a large, rolling field of grass and small trees and a wooden fence.

The night sky was packed with millions of stars - my first clue I wasn't in the city (I live in Los Angeles). Light poluution blocks our eyes from the glory of the universe here. But in the dream, millions of stars in the brilliant sky.

That's when I thought, "hey, am I dreaming?" I immediately did a FTP RC, commanded control, and dreamspun. Then I took over the night sky, making the stars dance and shift and change colors - kind of a celestial fireworks display under my command. AMAZING. The most amazing feelings I've ever had, like when my son was born. Creationary stuff. Wowsers.

Then, for humor I suppose, Cinderella's castle appeared on the horizon, all lit up with spotlights. Very "Disneyland commercial"-esque.

About this time the alarm rang and I woke up. I moved my car and got back in bed quickly. Perhaps because of the speed with which I fell asleep again, the details were harder to remember. What I do recall:

-Could taste foods. Ate some (don't recall what, exactly, except a tomato )

-Actively discussed things, like the fact that I was lucid, with people through a television monitor

-Could, and did, use some form of "fire magic". I could cause things in my cupped hands to flame and shrivel. Wild!

-And again, more humor from the subconcious: I asked my dream-present Dad (who is not a fan of pot) to try some. He said, "Sure" and asked how. I presented a wide-mouthed cardboard tube and lifted it up from the table, revealing three bongs. He chose the tall one of the three.

That's my experience so far. I really have to thank the people at DV for this awesome site. I'm very interested in mind expansion and exploration, and I feel I came across this place at just the time I needed it to learn more about my own mind. Thanks to everyone here for this wonderful resource!