I dreamed I was an ambassador to the Korean embassy. I was hosting an important diplomat at my family's home in the Hill Country. I got home to find they had arrived and had been installed in my sister's room. A young Korean woman was just going in, and the diplomat was not to be disturbed.
I went into my own room, and started looking through my closet to decide what old clothes could be given away. My closet backed onto the closet in my sister's room, and through the wall I heard the young woman scream, then sob loudly.
I rushed to the TV room where my dad and sister were to make sure I wasn't imagining things, or overhearing the television show. They confirmed that they had heard the screaming and crying, and what could we do?
I was the ambassador, so this was my job. I went back to the room and pounded on the door, then went in. The young woman was lying on the bed, crying quietly now. Seated next to her wasthe diplomat. Not the old man I expected, but a sharply dressed, middle aged, Korean woman with a smug grin on her face.
I raised the young woman off the bed and showed her into my own room and bed. I told her she didn't have to let anyone hurt her here, and she would be staying in my room. She sobbed that she was afraid of her boss, because she was a South Korean, and everyone knew that the South Koreans were cruel and depraved. I assumed from this that the girl was North Korean, and raised on anti-South propaganda. I went back to question the diplomat, who said I couldn't punish her in any way, and she had every right to treat her aide any way she wanted.
I told her she was only half right. I couldn't punish or charge her for anything, but I was not required to condone or collude with law breaking in my own home, and that physical, emotional, and sexual abuse were all illegal and completely unacceptable under our roof. Her aide would not be required to see her in private during her stay with us.
Apparently she told her aide that I was requiring her to have a hysterectomy, and the young woman got agitated again. I had to sooth that down, and reiterated that no one here could make her do anything she didn't want. The diplomat informed me that I would be in big trouble for interfering, and I in turn informed her that I would be filing for an investigation. Then I woke up.
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Monday, November 17, 2014
I Can't Even Begin to Title This ~ 11/17/2014
I was visiting my sister, who lived in my old apartment complex down by the Astrodome. She was having a shoe party. Like, a Tupperware party, but with ladies' shoes. I'm not big on shoes, really, but there was a very cute pair of flats in a sort of navy blue and black houndstooth tweed that were the most comfortable dressy shoes I'd ever worn, so I bought them.
I walked down the parking area, out to a plaza where the cathedral stood. I was doing a rough sketch of the façade, with arched openings along the top where a covered terrace ran inside the walls. I was drawing from both life and a photograph, and I'd roughed in the shapes of my composition. I was ready to start a clean drawing on nice paper, and I was trying to decide if I should keep the aspect ratio I had, or go narrower and use a standard paper size.
The original was about four feet by two feet, but the nice paper only came in 18 inch wide or 30 inch wide. I laid a sheet of 18 inch wide over my rough drawing, but for some reason, when I did that, the drawing perspective shifted, and instead of looking the row of arches straight on, they were shown at a downward slant. So I chose a wider paper that I would just trim in the end. It was a pale gold, and I did my drawing in sepia water colors. I was working in a community studio by then, and hung the finished product with my other work for that weekend's show, just as people started to trickle in.
I left to go to my basketball training in the woods. A friend of mine stood down in a wide pit, about eight feet deep, that got broader and shallower on the other side, until it was just a step down from the forest floor. The ground was sandy and thick with pine needles and newly fallen maple leaves just turning from green to gold. I threw the basketball down to my friend, who batted it directly back up at me, and I smacked it back down at him, until one of us missed.
Whenever I missed, my friend handed me up a few round, black berries, the size of large marbles, with a dull, velvety sheen. I had to eat them. They weren't bad, really, but kind of bland and chalky and creamy at the same time. The ball was a little bit flat and lumpy after a while, so we called it a day.
My friend handed me up the last of the berries and two tiny turtles. One was a rich green with a round, hard shell. The other had a soft leaf-shaped shell of pale yellow with brown speckles. I held the turtles in my hands, but suddenly they started to squirm. The turtle witch was coming, and they felt her call. But I couldn't let them go to her, or she'd put them in her soup, so I held on tight. The witch passed by within yards of me. She wore a tattered golden gown, brown and green and scarlet along the edges like the autumn leaves. She wore a tall, bony headdress draped in the same leafy silk. She sang a strange song, but she didn't seem to care that I was keeping my turtles from going to her. They were very small, and she'd have plenty of larger ones soon.
When it was safe for them again, I dropped down into the pit. There was a few inches of dark water at the deepest end, and I placed my turtles gently beside the pool. I walked out of the forest back to Rice campus. There was a Phils concert going on at Will Rice College, so I stopped to listen to that. When it was over, the audience and singers all sat down and pulled out copies of Anna Karenina, because there was going to be a lecture and reading workshop. I stayed for that, because I've never finished reading that book, and wanted to find out if other translations might be easier to read and enjoy than the one I have.
After a while, the lecture/workshop gave way to a jewelry market. I began to show my rings and bracelets to one of the vendors. I suddenly had about four rings on each finger of my right hand, some in enamel, some set with gems, in red and green and blue. I also had a bracelet that was a woven string of tiny chili peppers carved out of carnelian. But as I showed the woman all of this, the rings started to fall off of my fingers. A friend of mine who was passing by noticed I was upset about this, and he came and put an arm around me to comfort me. But all my rings fell off, and my bracelet fell to bits, and he held me while I cried.
He was working as an assistant band director at the University of Texas, so after I'd cried myself out and gathered up all my little carnelian peppers and rings that would not stay on, he invited me to come watch the band rehearse. I got as far as the bleachers, and then I woke up.
I walked down the parking area, out to a plaza where the cathedral stood. I was doing a rough sketch of the façade, with arched openings along the top where a covered terrace ran inside the walls. I was drawing from both life and a photograph, and I'd roughed in the shapes of my composition. I was ready to start a clean drawing on nice paper, and I was trying to decide if I should keep the aspect ratio I had, or go narrower and use a standard paper size.
The original was about four feet by two feet, but the nice paper only came in 18 inch wide or 30 inch wide. I laid a sheet of 18 inch wide over my rough drawing, but for some reason, when I did that, the drawing perspective shifted, and instead of looking the row of arches straight on, they were shown at a downward slant. So I chose a wider paper that I would just trim in the end. It was a pale gold, and I did my drawing in sepia water colors. I was working in a community studio by then, and hung the finished product with my other work for that weekend's show, just as people started to trickle in.
I left to go to my basketball training in the woods. A friend of mine stood down in a wide pit, about eight feet deep, that got broader and shallower on the other side, until it was just a step down from the forest floor. The ground was sandy and thick with pine needles and newly fallen maple leaves just turning from green to gold. I threw the basketball down to my friend, who batted it directly back up at me, and I smacked it back down at him, until one of us missed.
Whenever I missed, my friend handed me up a few round, black berries, the size of large marbles, with a dull, velvety sheen. I had to eat them. They weren't bad, really, but kind of bland and chalky and creamy at the same time. The ball was a little bit flat and lumpy after a while, so we called it a day.
My friend handed me up the last of the berries and two tiny turtles. One was a rich green with a round, hard shell. The other had a soft leaf-shaped shell of pale yellow with brown speckles. I held the turtles in my hands, but suddenly they started to squirm. The turtle witch was coming, and they felt her call. But I couldn't let them go to her, or she'd put them in her soup, so I held on tight. The witch passed by within yards of me. She wore a tattered golden gown, brown and green and scarlet along the edges like the autumn leaves. She wore a tall, bony headdress draped in the same leafy silk. She sang a strange song, but she didn't seem to care that I was keeping my turtles from going to her. They were very small, and she'd have plenty of larger ones soon.
When it was safe for them again, I dropped down into the pit. There was a few inches of dark water at the deepest end, and I placed my turtles gently beside the pool. I walked out of the forest back to Rice campus. There was a Phils concert going on at Will Rice College, so I stopped to listen to that. When it was over, the audience and singers all sat down and pulled out copies of Anna Karenina, because there was going to be a lecture and reading workshop. I stayed for that, because I've never finished reading that book, and wanted to find out if other translations might be easier to read and enjoy than the one I have.
After a while, the lecture/workshop gave way to a jewelry market. I began to show my rings and bracelets to one of the vendors. I suddenly had about four rings on each finger of my right hand, some in enamel, some set with gems, in red and green and blue. I also had a bracelet that was a woven string of tiny chili peppers carved out of carnelian. But as I showed the woman all of this, the rings started to fall off of my fingers. A friend of mine who was passing by noticed I was upset about this, and he came and put an arm around me to comfort me. But all my rings fell off, and my bracelet fell to bits, and he held me while I cried.
He was working as an assistant band director at the University of Texas, so after I'd cried myself out and gathered up all my little carnelian peppers and rings that would not stay on, he invited me to come watch the band rehearse. I got as far as the bleachers, and then I woke up.
Sunday, November 16, 2014
An Odd Hike ~ 11/16/2014
I dreamed I was hiking in Big Bend. The trail went past a farm with a black cow and a white horse, who followed me with friendly curiosity until it became clear I was going to feed them. Another hiker came in off a side trail at the foot of a steep, rocky slope, and asked where the trail went. I said that it went up to the main lodge area in the Chisos basin, but first it went by an older, more historic building that used to be the main lodge, but was now more of a retreat center.
Sure enough, after hiking up the slope, we could see the old lodge, looking like a Swiss chalet, across a glen. It had three steep roofs in a row and was painted pale yellow. There was a sort of lower arcade with shops and cafes, and a lot of young people were hanging around. The stairway down to the lower level was a wide, funnel shaped spiral, so that people going down started in slow circles, that tightened and sped up until they dropped down the last few feet spinning.
I went down the stair myself, and was dropped into a boat out on a mirror smooth bay of jade green water. There was another boat nearby, and we were all taking turns being catapulted out into the water. When it was my turn, I fell deep into the bay, surrounded by a green, hazy light. The water was warm, and felt thick and heavy against my skin. I rose slowly to the surface.
When my head broke into the air again, I was back at the retreat center in the mountains. I was in an upper arcade, open to the blue sky all around, beneath dark hardwood timber a-frame rafters the color of cherry amber. A white adobe Spanish mission perched nearby, its small black church bell tolling in a white arch. I walked across a narrow stone bridge to an octagonal viewing platform, under a red tile roof. There was a lovely view of mountains all around, and the sun setting golden in a rose and amethyst sky. I continued hiking up the mountains through thin patches of snow. The I woke up.
Sure enough, after hiking up the slope, we could see the old lodge, looking like a Swiss chalet, across a glen. It had three steep roofs in a row and was painted pale yellow. There was a sort of lower arcade with shops and cafes, and a lot of young people were hanging around. The stairway down to the lower level was a wide, funnel shaped spiral, so that people going down started in slow circles, that tightened and sped up until they dropped down the last few feet spinning.
I went down the stair myself, and was dropped into a boat out on a mirror smooth bay of jade green water. There was another boat nearby, and we were all taking turns being catapulted out into the water. When it was my turn, I fell deep into the bay, surrounded by a green, hazy light. The water was warm, and felt thick and heavy against my skin. I rose slowly to the surface.
When my head broke into the air again, I was back at the retreat center in the mountains. I was in an upper arcade, open to the blue sky all around, beneath dark hardwood timber a-frame rafters the color of cherry amber. A white adobe Spanish mission perched nearby, its small black church bell tolling in a white arch. I walked across a narrow stone bridge to an octagonal viewing platform, under a red tile roof. There was a lovely view of mountains all around, and the sun setting golden in a rose and amethyst sky. I continued hiking up the mountains through thin patches of snow. The I woke up.
Thursday, November 6, 2014
Reunion ~ 11/6/2014
I dreamed I was trapped in an old house and grounds, and was trying to get to my high school reunion. I planned my escape carefully, building a makeshift hot air balloon to float me out of the garret window and over the walls. It worked perfectly, and soon I was bobbing high up in the crystal and gold air of a gorgeous early autumn day, about an hour before sunset.
I got to the hotel convention complex where the reunion was being held, but I had an assignment beyond just reconnecting with old classmates. See, I'd been in a rock band, and one of my former band mates, the only one who had gone on to become a famous musician, was also suspected of being a murderer. I was to keep an eye on him if I could, and report anything suspicious to my team.
It was hard to even recognize any of my former fellow musicians, since I hadn't had any contact in years. I'd left the band to go to college, and they'd been angry with me, because they wanted to keep it going. I decided the best place to hang out to watch for them was the cafeteria, because everyone loves free food, right? I saw two of the guys come in, and they noticed and recognized me, and were cordial, so that was nice. I had a hard time remembering which was which. They'd worn their hair different in high school, but now they were the same height and build, and had the same short, dark, springy hair, peppered with gray.
Then the person of interest came in, and since he was still a semi-famous rocker, he made quite a stir. He had long curly strawberry blond hair, blue eyes, a narrow, pointed face, and an intense, almost manic gaze. He saw us, but completely ignored us, and went right through the cafeteria and on to the hall where the opening ceremonies were about to begin.
After that, we all went to our hotel rooms, and I spent some time snooping around the hallways, trying to figure out where he might be, and how I could make some sort of contact or establish any sort of surveillance. But suddenly it was morning, so I had to go get ready for the day's activities.
At some point, I was sitting with some other friends, when I heard our old music, coming from a stage nearby. They'd gotten the band back together, but had someone else singing my back ups. This made me really sad, but when I looked over, I noticed a funnel cloud developing in the darkening sky. I pointed and called out, and everyone started scrambling for safety.
I couldn't get into any of the shelters, and now a second funnel cloud was appearing. I began climbing the walls and stairwells of the hotel, scrambling like a monkey to get to a safe place I knew of. I dropped down into a hidden courtyard, and dashed through the thick metal door of a windowless room. My mom and sister were in there already, safe, and I slammed the door shut behind me.
It turned out, the only way to solve the mystery and get out of this room was to work a crossword puzzle. My sister had started, in pen, and had gotten five of the six clues she'd worked wrong, so I got mad at her and took it away. I was halfway through when I woke up.
I got to the hotel convention complex where the reunion was being held, but I had an assignment beyond just reconnecting with old classmates. See, I'd been in a rock band, and one of my former band mates, the only one who had gone on to become a famous musician, was also suspected of being a murderer. I was to keep an eye on him if I could, and report anything suspicious to my team.
It was hard to even recognize any of my former fellow musicians, since I hadn't had any contact in years. I'd left the band to go to college, and they'd been angry with me, because they wanted to keep it going. I decided the best place to hang out to watch for them was the cafeteria, because everyone loves free food, right? I saw two of the guys come in, and they noticed and recognized me, and were cordial, so that was nice. I had a hard time remembering which was which. They'd worn their hair different in high school, but now they were the same height and build, and had the same short, dark, springy hair, peppered with gray.
Then the person of interest came in, and since he was still a semi-famous rocker, he made quite a stir. He had long curly strawberry blond hair, blue eyes, a narrow, pointed face, and an intense, almost manic gaze. He saw us, but completely ignored us, and went right through the cafeteria and on to the hall where the opening ceremonies were about to begin.
After that, we all went to our hotel rooms, and I spent some time snooping around the hallways, trying to figure out where he might be, and how I could make some sort of contact or establish any sort of surveillance. But suddenly it was morning, so I had to go get ready for the day's activities.
At some point, I was sitting with some other friends, when I heard our old music, coming from a stage nearby. They'd gotten the band back together, but had someone else singing my back ups. This made me really sad, but when I looked over, I noticed a funnel cloud developing in the darkening sky. I pointed and called out, and everyone started scrambling for safety.
I couldn't get into any of the shelters, and now a second funnel cloud was appearing. I began climbing the walls and stairwells of the hotel, scrambling like a monkey to get to a safe place I knew of. I dropped down into a hidden courtyard, and dashed through the thick metal door of a windowless room. My mom and sister were in there already, safe, and I slammed the door shut behind me.
It turned out, the only way to solve the mystery and get out of this room was to work a crossword puzzle. My sister had started, in pen, and had gotten five of the six clues she'd worked wrong, so I got mad at her and took it away. I was halfway through when I woke up.
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
Intrigue on the High Seas ~ 11/4/2014
I dreamed I was in a muppet movie. I was a detective trying to figure out who was trying to sink the pirate ship we were sailing around the Caribbean. Miss Piggy and Janice were mermaids so I sent them out on underwater reconnaissance, and to interrogate any sailors they might come across.
I went below decks to talk with our passengers, Drs. Gregory House and Lisa Cuddy. House was in the theater, ensconced in one of the plush red velvet chairs. He supposed to be writing his regular editorial column for the New York Times, and Cuddy was trying to get him to be more persuasive and less insulting. The editor came out of his office to put in his two cents. House launched into a compelling, if vitriolic, rant, and the editor said THAT was why he hired him, to write like that, not just to castigate people who agreed with the opposing view without offering any supporting points for his own. I decided that, while we didn't know WHO was trying to sink us, House might be the reason WHY.
The mermaids were back by then, and I reviewed video footage from their hidden cameras. I could see the satiny white sand of the seafood, and the turquoise water all around, and, scattered here and there, bits of explosive devices and shipwreck debris. This gave me the clues I needed to determine, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that the culprit was...
A pair of black, knee-high, trouser socks. And then I woke up.
I went below decks to talk with our passengers, Drs. Gregory House and Lisa Cuddy. House was in the theater, ensconced in one of the plush red velvet chairs. He supposed to be writing his regular editorial column for the New York Times, and Cuddy was trying to get him to be more persuasive and less insulting. The editor came out of his office to put in his two cents. House launched into a compelling, if vitriolic, rant, and the editor said THAT was why he hired him, to write like that, not just to castigate people who agreed with the opposing view without offering any supporting points for his own. I decided that, while we didn't know WHO was trying to sink us, House might be the reason WHY.
The mermaids were back by then, and I reviewed video footage from their hidden cameras. I could see the satiny white sand of the seafood, and the turquoise water all around, and, scattered here and there, bits of explosive devices and shipwreck debris. This gave me the clues I needed to determine, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that the culprit was...
A pair of black, knee-high, trouser socks. And then I woke up.
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