Pippin/Kitty

Was going to see the play Pippin again, but this time, along with my friend, I brought my cat, Percy. I remember thinking it wasn't the best idea. We were early, and there was nobody in the lobby so Percy jumped up on a chair, got comfy and fell asleep. I thought it was all well and good now, but once the crowds started entering, she was going to feel anxious. Then I worried that she'd meow so loudly that it would interrupt a song. I decided to put her back in my friend's car, but realized I needed to buy a crate for her to sit in while we watched the show. 

Fraud

Was at a college sponsored event, and some singer/magician was coming to perform. It was standing room only. Rumor was that Kate Bush was going to show up. The crowd was excited. I was in the front row, and when I leaned over to tell a friend I couldn't wait to see Kate Bush, she whispered that she knew for a fact it wasn't Kate who was opening.

Suddenly an announcement came over the speakers introducing the person. I didn't recognize her name but I watched as she wheeled out in a wheelchair. Meredith (a friend) who was also nearby ran out to the stage to help the wheelchair bound woman, and all of a sudden she pushed Meredith out of the way and stood up on her own and started dancing and heading to the microphone. It was all part of her act. 

Meredith was furious and ran out of the venue, and I could see through the windows that she was upset. The performer started playing the guitar, and through the windows I could see Meredith calling out for her mother.

Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?!

I was teaching and having to scream over all the talking. Two students brought babies into class, and others were doing their art in the middle of the table. I was trying to lecture on a reading assignment. Nobody was listening. 

One of the students stood and started packing up her stuff. She walked out the door but before she officially left, she said, "Ms. Clark? Could you remind me what's due next week? I have to leave early," and I said, "It's the midterm next week." She had tons of stuff she was carrying out of the room. One thing was so giant it looked like a body bag. She was Latina. As I was lecturing her about leaving early, another student, an older guy, came up to me. She left, and he started asking me questions about the students and asking why there were so many babies in class today, and I was getting really furious at all the noise and everyone misbehaving, and then he kissed me, and I said, "Y'know, that's just part of the misbehaving, you can't kiss me." I wasn't sure if the other students saw. 

Then I went back to the table and at the top of my voice yelled that they had to put everything away, all scissors, all colored paper, all art, everything. The guy who kissed me was on one side of me, and a girl was on the other. I picked up their hands and was going to make a joke about the unions, a la Sally Fields, but then the three of us started singing, "Can you hear the people sing..." from Les Miserables and we were marching in place, singing at the top of our lungs, and the guy leaned over and kissed my cheek, and I squeezed his hand and said, "You did it again..."

An Interesting Team of Dentists

Jenny McCarthy, Oprah Winfrey and policeman were my dentists. I had to have an emergency appointment. We weren't in a dental office, we were somewhere outdoors on Santa Monica Blvd. in West L.A. Jenny was scraping stuff off my teeth while Oprah acted as her assistant. At one point the policeman had to put those little foam tubes into my mouth. They were yellow and looked like ear plugs. I was gagging as he put them in. He was getting impatient. Oprah kept cheering me on. Jenny told me there was a patch of white on my bottom tooth that I'd have to get checked out by another dentist.

Bar Reunion

I was in the Oakland/Berkeley area having lunch with an old friend (Terry) from graduate school, when I thought I noticed another friend (Cathy). I finally realized it was her, just as I caught a glimpse of her son who was peering at me through the bar. He yelled at his mom, "I think I see your old roommate" and I stood up and joined Cathy around the corner of the bar. 

We hugged hello and it turned out she had 4 kids, all boys. The one who spotted me, joined us and was explaining how he recognized me. Slowly the other three came around. They were all really cute. Two were from her first marriage and two were from her second. One of them asked her to check his diaper, even though he was too old for a diaper. She went along with him anyway and pulled back his shorts. This seemed to be an inside joke because they were both laughing. 

We were trying to figure out the last time we spoke and I said something like, "You're not on 'the book'", meaning Facebook. She said life had been really hard and that she'd divorced her first husband and then eventually married again and had two more kids. She walked me back to the bar to meet her new husband. He was cute, young and friendly. We shook hands and then I walked back to the original area. I was telling her that maybe now was the time for our tv show that we'd come up with when we were roommates. I told her about a promo for a new show I'd seen called "Black-ish", and she agreed now might be the time.

Is This a Dream?

My sister was at my home, and I walked into the kitchen and there was cat food ALL over the floor. I couldn't understand how it got there and I was cleaning it up as she walked into the hall to ask what was going on. I said I was so perplexed and didn't know how all the cat food got on the floor and then I realized it might be a dream, so I said to her: "I think this is a dream!" and she reached her hand out to help me stand up and said, "If it's a dream, you won't feel my hand" and I didn't feel her hand and then I awoke!

The Tide is High

I was looking out on the beach and saw a giant wave form and crest, knocking a wedding off kilter. The bride and her bridesmaids were running up the beach to stay dry. Some of their friends were trying to move the tent, with dinner set up, to higher ground. 

The scene became more and more chaotic. The tide was really high and waves were now crashing into my home. I couldn't believe how aggressive they were. Water was getting all over my wood floors. Neighbors were going nuts. Someone started trying to put pieces of wood planks over the windows. There were tons of people in my apartment - some strangers, some neighbors, and some people from the wedding party. I noticed a gift box, probably for the wedding. There were trinkets in there as well as someone's passport. I decided to save it and I'd hopefully call the person once it subsided. Percy, the cat, was standing on her hind legs and meowing for me to pick her up. The waves kept coming.

It's Good to be the King

I was at some sort of reading. May have been for Michelle. She was there, as was Mel, Lois, Max, Kevin, etc. There was some sort of panel afterwards and Stephen King was on that. When that ended, Mr. King was sitting by himself in a corner, and I was talking to the gang. Kevin picked me up by my boots and carried me over to Stephen King, depositing me on his lap. One of my boots came off - it was carmel-colored and had a little heel. Stephen King said, "This is quite an introduction!" and he was laughing, but I was so embarrassed. I moved over to the empty chair next to him. We started talking and making each other laugh. At one point, someone from one of my classes came over to me and started talking about her work. It was insufferably boring. I finally interrupted her and said, "Excuse me, I'm in the middle of a conversation." King and I continued talking and then another student, a guy, came over and started yammering to me. This time, Stephen King excused himself and walked away. I was so mad. The guy finally shut up and I put my boot back on just as Stephen was coming back.

War and Grape Seed Oil

Was living somewhere other than L.A. Maybe Israel? I had just moved there and was unpacking boxes. A roommate and her mother came to the door and started unpacking their things when all of a sudden war planes were overhead and tons of tankers were driving by. It was so sudden and unsettling. The roommate said, "Now is the time that they are going to force us to consume only grape seed oil." I didn't understand. She clarified that too much of that oil can cause breast cancer and that's why they were forcing us to consume it. I was frustrated that I was so far from home and unable to speak to my parents. I kept thinking that I usually consumed olive oil so perhaps I wouldn't have so much grape seed oil in my system. 

Up, Up and Away

My friend Katie and I were flying to New York. In the middle of the flight, the plane lowered way down and seemed to be landing on mountains. I noticed there was a sort of roller coaster ramp that we were landing on. I assured Katie that I'd been on flights that have done this before. The plane landed for a little and then was gearing to take off again, but it wasn't gaining enough momentum to make it up the ramp. I kept repeating that it was going to be fine.

(side note: I've had this dream before, but not in years, and with different traveling companions)

Walking the Cat

Was walking my cat on a leash through an area of Westwood I'd never noticed before. It was full of lakes and bridges and greenery. As we walked over a bridge, the cat spotted something and leapt down a hill. It was a long leash, so I didn't lose her. 

At some point later on in our walk, a big German Shepherd spotted us and came bounding toward us. As it approached I said very sternly, "Sit!" and I think the cat said something to me like "Wow, you think that will work?" But it did. The dog sat. I looked at it's tags to see to whom it belonged and I asked the cat to pass me my cell phone so I could call the owner.

Plucking Plastic

I was at a beach party and there were little things poking out of my hands, the back of my palms, and as I plucked them out, they were long, toothpick-sized plastic and metal things. The more I plucked them, the more appeared. Some had blood on them. I kept standing them up in the sand. My friend Chrissy was nearby, sitting with friends. I called her over to see what was coming out of my hand. She said she'd look eventually. One of the pieces I plucked was bigger than the rest and had ornate paper cut-outs. When I got it out of my hand, I jostled it around a bit and found that it expanded into a paper lantern.

Baby in a Cereal Box?

I was visiting friends. The woman was feeding her newborn baby on her bed and the baby slipped down the bed, which was tilting at an angle. The mom caught the baby by the collar and we were all laughing about it. She continued feeding the baby and we were talking about what had just happened, when the baby slipped again, but this time out of sight. The husband and I were searching all over for the baby but could t find him. The mom kept saying "oh my god, the baby's dead, I killed the baby". I was beginning to think she was right and was starting to panic but then at the foot of the bed there was a cereal box and I grabbed it and shook it and all of a sudden the baby's head popped out confused but laughing.

London Calling

Was in London and I had a very rich grandmother. Jen Kagan and her mom had just bought a rental property there and I was telling my grandmother about it and she said I'll buy you one and you can rent it out. I was so excited. I told her it didn't need to be too big. The home we were staying in had 6 bedrooms.

Confusing Chemistry

Was instructed to come up with a lesson plan explaining certain engineering facts to students. I was very confused and wondered if I could somehow do a presentation using the periodic table and focus on hydrogen gasses, of which I know nothing about but was willing to research. I was thinking something along the lines of hot air balloons and then was thinking about helium and how to explain how it worked.

Meow, Meow...

I was in Hollywood and it was late and I had to use the bathroom. I knew my friend Katie was out of town, so I decided to sneak into her apartment to use the bathroom. When I walked in, her cat was sleeping in its bed near the kitchen, and barely batted an eyelash at my appearance. 

After I used the bathroom, I noticed another cat - it was tri-colored, really big and had fur like a sheep. It also had a blue, large patch over it's eye. It was extremely affectionate. I didn't understand what it was doing in her house, but then I remembered that she said she had been interested in adopting another cat. I figured she got it right before she left. 

I looked around and noticed there wasn't much water left in the bowls, so I filled up a water bowl, but then noticed on the kitchen counter was all these plastic containers and I got confused as to which one was the original water bowl  Some of the containers had tomatoes growing out of them. I realized I'd have to tell Katie that I snuck into her apartment.

Hologram Failure

I was at some sort of fair with my mom. The most popular attraction was a hologram depicting a bunch of people eating at an outside table. We ran over to that exhibit. There was a long line but we finally made our way to the front. We wanted to see the girls at the head of the table, which I think were Obama's daughters. By the time we got there, it wasn't working; the girls weren't moving. I pressed the buttons next to them, as did my mom, but no luck. My mom asked me to go back to the ticket counter to explain it wasn't working, but I said, "No, there has to be a way to figure this out."

A Trip to the Hospital

 

I had to get some sort of medical testing done. Went to the hospital and the nurse was Marni (colleague) and she said I had to do a 2-hour test that would test levels of depression. She said doctors were finding that depression was the link to many illnesses. I rolled my eyes and sarcastically said "Really?!" They would put a patch on my palm. Initially, she made it sound like they were going to have to put a clamp on my jaw, so I was relieved when I heard otherwise. We had to pour olive oil on my palm for the patch to stick.

I said I wanted to go get something to read, and we all headed outside to Jennifer’s (sister) van. I picked up 2 books from the floor of her front seat and as I was doing that, a guy was moving his car and drove it into my car, which was parked nearby, and then into Marnie’s. He looked at us before zooming away. I caught his license plate number: 4FV 2N2, I kept repeating it. I spilled some olive oil on my blue shirt. Jennifer’s van had changing colored lights inside.

Mane Line

Dream #1

I was navigating some sort of subway system in another country. I knew there was going to be a bombing and I was trying to find a train to get home. I think I was in Russia. I was frantically searching maps from an underground tunnel, and I remember there was a blue line and a red line.

Dream #2

My brother-in-law was in need of a publicist and I was scrolling through my emails to find names that I'd been given. One was Michael at M.A.N.E Productions, but when I looked closer I realized it was M.A.N.D Productions. I gave him another name from my list, too. I wasn't sure what he needed them for.

No New Tale to Tell - 5/1/14

Last night I dreamed I grew a long tail. Then I cut it off with scissors.

I believe this is because I started a new novel, a new tale.

But I think Freud would have a different take.