Thread: Task of the Month for August 2014

Originally Posted by OpheliaBlue

Advanced TOTM!!

This must be National Wimmens Month..... You guys are knockin em dead......

I just can't remember them when it counts..

Overall, this year has been amazing for members' TOTM accomplishments. You guys really floor me sometimes.

Originally Posted by OpheliaBlue

Plus even lucid accidents can hurt

specially when you carelessly take out your eyeball.

Originally Posted by Box77

specially when you carelessly take out your eyeball.

You know ti be honest, it didn't hurt. But it felt really idk, vulnerable just dangling there. And I briefly had the thought to pull it all the way out and feared THAT would hurt, so that's why I stuffed it back in.

For me, this was way worse than pulling out an internal organ.

Originally Posted by OpheliaBlue

You know ti be honest, it didn't hurt. But it felt really idk, vulnerable just dangling there. And I briefly had the thought to pull it all the way out and feared THAT would hurt, so that's why I stuffed it back in.

For me, this was way worse than pulling out an internal organ.

I cannot even see those filmed eye operations!!! If I could just slap the surgeon just to release the stress of the idea...

Last night had a DILD and worked on the advanced tasks. The eyeball one went very smoothly! No progress with Howl's Moving Castle, though. Relevant paragraphs from DJ quoted below:

Which task first? I love the idea of Howl's Moving Castle so I decide to start with that one. First I try to summon the castle directly, not through any special method, just willing it to approach on its own legs. It doesn't appear promptly, so I start with plan B: conjure a fire, call it "Calcifer," and feed it until it becomes strong enough to build the castle from the ground up. The first part should be easy; I've practiced conjuring fire before in this very spot. So I hold out my right hand and concentrate on creating a flame in my open palm. There's just one problem. It is raining, quite heavily actually. Typical dream perversity! I'm trying to fill my palm with fire, but meanwhile it is filling up with water. I ignore the dream's little joke, and keep concentrating on the fire.

Sure enough, I shortly begin to feel the heat and see the brightness of the flame. I set it on the ground and start feeding it chunks of pita bread, calling it "Calcifer" and trying to coax it to respond. It grows larger at first, but doesn't show any sentience, and now the rain is causing it to dwindle despite my attempts to feed it. I decide to continue this experiment indoors, out of the rain. I pick up the fire, just carrying it in my hands, go inside and set it down again on a flat stone ledge, about two and half feet in width and height (the interior of the house no longer corresponds in any way to RL). I feed the fire and continue calling it "Calcifer" to try to get a response, but it ignores me, and I feel silly talking to a fire. I go outside, careful to take the fire out again with me so as not to leave it untended in the house, and fly up in the air before releasing it. I instruct it to go seek out Howl's Castle, hoping that it might reappear at some point later point in the dream.

I return to the ground, once again in a place recognizably like my back patio, though it is no longer raining. What next? I realize the eyeball task should be quick and easy, if I can stomach it, so I ought to knock that one out of the way. I consider going inside the house to use a real mirror, but I don't want to waste time so I stand outside the sliding glass door to the kitchen and rely on the faint reflection of myself I can see there. There is nothing unusual about my reflection—much less so than usual, actually. When thinking about this task in waking life I had decided (for the sake of safety and squeamishness) to try to remove the eyeball in a more hands-off way, simply raising my palm and trying to pop it out through will alone, but now that I'm ready to go I don't even remember that idea. Instead I lift my right hand to my right eye and just start digging in there. I feel a momentary discomfort, enough to make me think, "I'd better be damn sure I'm dreaming!" before I feel the fingers slide smoothly into the socket with little pain, and this reassures me.

The eye pops out easily, but it is attached to a surprisingly thick, gross, fleshy stalk. Even at the time I realize that my experience has probably been colored by other accounts of this task I've already read on the DV thread, some of which mention similar stalks. The stalk is inconvenient and ugly so I keep pulling until the eyeball breaks free, then turn it around to inspect it. It looks remarkably like an eyeball. I had been hoping that it would transform into something cool, like an orb of glass or even a jewel. But nope. It is a disturbingly life-like eyeball, with a distinct iris and pupil and even a bit of red tattered membrane where the stalk had been attached. When I aim the iris and pupil toward me, they already look dead and unseeing, so it doesn't occur to me to try to use this eyeball to see with. Also, although I don't take note of this at the time, in retrospect I can report that there was no subjective change in my experience of vision; I was still "seeing" as though with two intact eyes.

I had meant to look at my reflection again after pulling the eye out, but I forget to do so. Instead I'm absorbed in inspecting this very ordinary-looking eyeball and trying to find any notable details to report. I do observe that the iris seems to have changed color: from the initial blue it has faded to a drab brown. It is still kind of creepy to be holding my eyeball, so without experimenting further I pop it back in. Luckily no difficulties there, and only then do I remember to check my reflection. I look normal and still don't notice any changes to my vision. I feel a momentary regret that I didn't remember to try to transform the eyeball into something else before putting it back in, but I feel reasonably satisfied with the task so I'm ready to move on.

Basic Task! Tried the Advanced Eyeball Task . . . I was a big baby though and it didn't go well:

Spoiler for Basic Task:

She begins to answer. I suddenly realize I wanted to do the task of the month? What were those tasks? She is talking but I don't hear her now. I begin trying to pluck out my eyeball. I focus on this very carefully, and try to phase my fingers through my face to get a better grip. I'm not having much luck, and I think to myself, I am not tearing my eye out of my face, even if I am dreaming. I decide to do the basic instead.

I turn to my friend and ask her to tell me a word in a different language.

She says some gibberish. "And what does that mean?" I ask.

She suddenly laughs. "Oh my god," she says. "I've got my words mixed up!" She then gets up and starts walking off, laughing. I look around for someone else to help.

I see a gangster-looking fellow sitting near me. I decide to ask him.

"River," he says.

"Ok," I say, a little peeved that this is an English word, "but what does it mean?" I ask.

"Vitherur," he says.

"Virrerrur?" I ask? I'm having trouble understanding his accent. He nods and says, "Vitherur."

"Vitherur," I say. He nods again. I consider asking him to reconstruct the order, but figure the information is the same: vitherur = river. I then decide I am going to fly.

The whole dream can be found here: "Ballroom Flying" - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

Originally Posted by Box77

specially when you carelessly take out your eyeball.

Someone I know decided to test pain in LDs (he's that sort of guy). So he summoned a spike stuck in the ground pointy side up and impaled his hand on it. He said he's never experienced any pain like that in waking life, like an electric shock running up his whole arm.

Think I'll stick to robbing banks with a banana and asking for foreign words from DCs, I don't need that other stuff!

Originally Posted by ThreeCat

I am not tearing my eye out of my face, even if I am dreaming

Amen, brother! No ripping out hearts, brains, eyes, gonads, etc.

Originally Posted by FryingMan

Someone I know decided to test pain in LDs (he's that sort of guy). So he summoned a spike stuck in the ground pointy side up and impaled his hand on it. He said he's never experienced any pain like that in waking life, like an electric shock running up his whole arm.
Amen, brother! No ripping out hearts, brains, eyes, gonads, etc.

QueenZukin seems to have had quite a painful experience, actually . . . . I am not sure whether mine would have hurt or not, so I might try it, which probably means I will touch my face again in a dream, and then try to find Howl's Castle

Originally Posted by FryingMan

Someone I know decided to test pain in LDs (he's that sort of guy). So he summoned a spike stuck in the ground pointy side up and impaled his hand on it. He said he's never experienced any pain like that in waking life, like an electric shock running up his whole arm.

He should've injected himself with some dream anesthetic

I had some nice WILD/DEILDs last night but I ended up doing stuff off my personal goal list and just messing around. Tonight I'll keep the goals in mind, promise!

So are those wings removed at the end of the month, or are they 4evah?

Originally Posted by Treetopdriver

So are those wings removed at the end of the month, or are they 4evah?

They get removed at the end of the month but then we get a new set of tasks for the next month

Treetopdriver: At the end of the month.

Cool Verre!! That kinda happened to me, where a member was wondering if you get credit if the eyeball is out, but still attached to the fleshy bits. So my dream incorporated that. Then yours had all the grossness mine did, but you took it one step further and released the eyeball, so kudos to you for that! I didn't examine mine further than being shocked by the gore of the whole situation. Now I wish I had taken more time with that =/

Originally Posted by OpheliaBlue

Cool Verre!! That kinda happened to me, where a member was wondering if you get credit if the eyeball is out, but still attached to the fleshy bits. So my dream incorporated that. Then yours had all the grossness mine did, but you took it one step further and released the eyeball, so kudos to you for that! I didn't examine mine further than being shocked by the gore of the whole situation. Now I wish I had taken more time with that =/

I think I may need a psycho therapist if I got to pull my precious round almost blind little astigmatic white ball out of its socket to see my creative goreness in action... and I know it WILL be the only task I'll remember while the other safe ones will stay gone with the wind... and knowing me, I will be sitting in front of a nice warm speaking flame inside a castle with a strange door next to a poster with the photoshop logo, wile a nice woman pointing at a funny colored dial will be saying a strange word that I won't understand and I will be like "Which were the other tasks???"

Great eye grabbing, pulling and inspecting dreams there Ophelia and Verre! Congratulation!!
Sounds like both your eyes were in action, even while one was hanging about, Ophelia - did that produce special effects maybe?

Originally Posted by OpheliaBlue

Cool Verre!! That kinda happened to me, where a member was wondering if you get credit if the eyeball is out, but still attached to the fleshy bits. So my dream incorporated that. Then yours had all the grossness mine did, but you took it one step further and released the eyeball, so kudos to you for that! I didn't examine mine further than being shocked by the gore of the whole situation. Now I wish I had taken more time with that =/

Hehehee - who might that have been, haunting you guys with gory anatomic details like optic nerves and appending muscles?!

Originally Posted by Box77

I think I may need a psycho therapist if I got to pull my precious round almost blind little astigmatic white ball out of its socket to see my creative goreness in action... and I know it WILL be the only task I'll remember while the other safe ones will stay gone with the wind... and knowing me, I will be sitting in front of a nice warm speaking flame inside a castle with a strange door next to a poster with the photoshop logo, wile a nice woman pointing at a funny colored dial will be saying a strange word that I won't understand and I will be like "Which were the other tasks???"

Yeah - such things always stick in my memory best and fastest, too - the "outrageous stuff". Come on Box - new experiences beckon - you can do it!
Says she, who just two nights back was too cowardly to let herself get hit by a lighting bolt for Maxis' lucid dare - but I'm working on it!!
I didn't read back now, but one thing, which seems not to be expected with eye-out-pullings is pain - probably except you'd really took care to invoke it on purpose. It feels really great to do something like this - something you wouldn't ever consider doing in waking life! So give yourself a little push over that psychological edge there - you'll feel like a hero afterwards! And the great thing - it's safe, it's "only" a dream!

Originally Posted by StephL

Yeah - such things always stick in my memory best and fastest, too - the "outrageous stuff". Come on - new experiences beckon - you can do it!
Says she, who doesn't manage to allow herself to get hit by a lighting bolt for Maxis' lucid dare - but I'm working on it!!
I didn't read back now, but one thing, which seems not to be expected with eye-out-pullings is any pain - probably except you'd really took care to invoke it on purpose. It feels really great to do something like this - something you wouldn't ever consider doing in waking life! So give yourself a little push over that psychological edge there - you'll feel like a hero afterwards!

I know what you mean... lately I've been so much into the subject that it has become one of those things that pushed me to do just for curiosity when I was a kid (yep, never put the finger into the bulb socket to test if it's off) most probably I will end up doing it long after this month is gone (the task I mean )... perhaps it would be nice to have a thread to post outdated tasks made just for fun?

P.S. There were lots of lightning rods near my grandparents' house because of the electric storms, I know the lilac (purplish white? don't get the translation) light and the lovely thunder like the palm of my hand

Originally Posted by Box77

I know what you mean... lately I've been so much into the subject that it has become one of those things that pushed me to do just for curiosity when I was a kid (yep, never put the finger into the bulb socket to test if it's off) most probably I will end up doing it long after this month is gone (the task I mean )... perhaps it would be nice to have a thread to post outdated tasks made just for fun?

That's a great idea for a thread! And a very welcome motivation to not let go to waste so many great ideas - wow - do it! Ophelia - what do you think, somewhere around here? I would find it lovely to have a place to tell people about how you finally did the August 2013 this and that wonderful task just for it's very own merit and beauty!

P.S. There were lots of lightning rods near my grandparents' house because of the electric storms, I know the lilac (purplish white? don't get the translation) light and the lovely thunder like the palm of my hand

Part of the problem is, that I know exactly how it is, when lighting strikes only meters away and in the mountains:

Too Cowardly for Suicide Mission on Maxis Behalf - Lightning Bolts and Half-Cattiness - Dream Journals - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

But just while posting here, I had an idea - I won't try to transform into a cat and then draw the bolt, this didn't really work anyway yet, transformation, but do it as a human. Aand - what it will do, will be dramatic, but won't kill me - the strike will transform into a cat! pawprint.gif
Or so I hope...

Originally Posted by StephL

But just while posting here, I had an idea - I won't try to transform into a cat and then draw the bolt, this didn't really work anyway yet, transformation, but do it as a human. Aand - what it will do, will be dramatic, but won't kill me - the strike will transform into a cat! pawprint.gif
Or so I hope...

As long as you don't do in WL what my brother did as a kid, attaching a cable on his head like an antenna to go out running on the yard under an electric storm to see if a lightning stroke on him, sounds good. Luckily nothing happened then...

Well, it's time to hit the pillow... I forgot to mention a banana... perhaps that one?

Originally Posted by Box77

I know what you mean... lately I've been so much into the subject that it has become one of those things that pushed me to do just for curiosity when I was a kid (yep, never put the finger into the bulb socket to test if it's off) most probably I will end up doing it long after this month is gone (the task I mean )... perhaps it would be nice to have a thread to post outdated tasks made just for fun?

P.S. There were lots of lightning rods near my grandparents' house because of the electric storms, I know the lilac (purplish white? don't get the translation) light and the lovely thunder like the palm of my hand

I recently phased through a mirror for the first time. I remembered it from the podcasts while lucid and decided to go for it

Maybe one could use your above mentioned space, Box, also for ideas for tasks, which didn't make it into the final five, but strike one's fancy in a special way? There always tend to be so many fantastic proposals in the task club...

You guys can call it "B Sides." Or "Rejected," after the Don Hertzfeld animation

As soon as I get my wings this month, I'm intending to go through all the previous suggestions to put them in a thread somewhere, so people can go back and use them for inspiration.

Of course, I need to get lucid first! (nothing so far this month!)

I did have a rather promising unsuccessful WILD last night (I was doing it at bedtime just to practice concentrating) followed by an oh-so-very-nearly lucid dream in the small hours (in which I even made a map of the house I was in so I could remember it when I woke up without quite passing the threshold into the kind of lucidity where I realise I can do dream things *now*!)

So close, I can't believe I won't get there tonight... :-D

SammyTheSnake

I want to Do Basic Task I/II and Advanced Task II
I love moving castle movie

I tried the advanced tactic 1, of pulling an eyeball out, but ended up fulfilling basic task 1 instead (Ask a DC to tell you a word in a different language and its meaning), kinda. I don't know if this actually counts...

I don't remember much of this dream oddly enough. As usual, my dream companion the Kind Man and I were in an enclosed room together, alone. We were discussing a subject cordially, though I don't remember what it was. The Kind Man was laughing softly as we spoke. He poured us both cups of tea. I told him "hey, check this out" and I began to dig into my left eye with my right hand. The Kind Man abruptly stopped laughing and asked me what I was doing. When I didn't respond, he told me to stop. I remember really wanting to show him that I could do this, and thought it would be a funny prank. His tone got more panicked as I dug further into my eye socket, trying to pull my own eye out. I remember this being very difficult and taking a lot of effort on my part, also I didn't want to burst or damage the eyeball in any way so it was difficult with just my fingers.

The Kind Man's voice got more panicked as I did this, until he finally shouted something, something in a language that wasn't human. I don't remember what it was now, but it caused me to stop and lower my hand and look over at him. I opened my mouth to ask something, but I don't remember what. He answered in English, but I don't remember his answer. Then he put his hands on my shoulders and pressed his forehead against mine and told me I was being too trusting of humans and their games. He asked me- no, he made a statement to say I will not remember much of anything of this when I wake up. Then he told me that he had "kept me on this side" for long enough, and I promptly woke up.

Mind you, I actually don't know if this counts, so I won't apply for now...

Originally Posted by StephL

Maybe one could use your above mentioned space, Box, also for ideas for tasks, which didn't make it into the final five, but strike one's fancy in a special way? There always tend to be so many fantastic proposals in the task club...

Thinking about it, there are lots of 'to do' lists, but I don't know if there's actually a 'finally got to do' or 'failed to do' collective thread (sorry I don't know the aka for that sort of things ) to find more inspiration. Perhaps many of those attempts are just buried in the DJ's? I find it to be great to put a right space to openly share those experiences with the option of being reviewed more than once, because of mostly I see people opening threads with the classic shape of "I DID IT!!!!!" and after a couple of "Yeah! Wow! Great! Congratulations! Clap clap clap" the story is over (sometimes including the user who doesn't appear anymore). Wouldn't it be nice a space to collect all of those attempts, successful or not? in stead of letting them wander alone? I tried a couple of times ago to do something similar, but perhaps it was my lack of experience that I didn't manage to make it interesting and keep the threads alive.

Originally Posted by SammyTheSnake

As soon as I get my wings this month, I'm intending to go through all the previous suggestions to put them in a thread somewhere, so people can go back and use them for inspiration.

Yeah! A lot of times, and I mean a lot of times, I found really good ideas spread here and there in the forum which some, I managed to accomplish, others are still in my personal to do list I would happily share those in a proper space, I don't care who starts it as long as it has a really good introductory text which hopefully will push people into an avalanche Maybe it would be something like "mention the task first and then tell us how you accomplished or failed"?

Talking about fails, where is CanisLucidus with his epic fails, I miss reading those ! Well, It's time for a nap, perhaps I can come up with some bananed robbery?