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OK, let's try this again...

Edit: I think I will start including more waking thoughts here, as they relate to dreaming/lucidity. Readers may skip this part if they find it boring (not that you need my permission anyway!)

I'm trying to get back into lucid dreaming. I just posted a message in the forums asking for help getting into shared dreaming. I consider myself an open-minded skeptic when it comes to that sort of thing. I don't know if I have seen enough evidence that it's real, but I would kind of like to. Either way, it seems like a good way to get back to work on my lucidity.

On that note, I realize that I have difficulty maintaining self-discipline and even interest in lucid dreaming for long periods of time. This might be due to various factors. For one, I become discouraged when my lucid experiences are short, or seemingly boring. Also, I find the journey of learning to lucid dreaming and dream exploration to be lonely. I will be thinking about lucidity, mulling it over in my mind (I ruminate a lot), and start to feel that the dreamworld is a lonely place. I also start to feel unmotivated and wonder: What good does it do anyone? If my actions don't matter, what's the point?

But then I read dream journals of more proficient oneironauts, and long for the epic adventures and inspiring interactions that they have in their dreams. My dreams seem so mundane. And so lonely.

Enough of that...

I spent some time this evening reading Man of Shred's dream journal. I was particularly intrigued with the Jamie dreams, and the waking-life story that surrounds them. I feel for those two. I really hope things turn out well.

__________________________________________________ ______

Dream Updates:

I have fallen out of the routine of dream journalling. Here are some things I remember from recent dreams (not necessarily last night):

Archaeological site

Archaeological site...I'm assigned a place to work at the top of a large pyramidal mound. I'm a dit disappointed because that means I'll be working with really old stuff before this area developed a lot of culture that I find interesting (I don't know why the old stuff is at the top, seems to conflict with the Law of Superposition)...Someone takes a shower, we do something that we try to hide before they get done...

Old elevator

I think that I have dreamed about this more than once. It's an old elevator, almost what might be thought of as the ruins of an old elevator. There is a floor at the top with some old museum-like things. You can go down. I have a feeling that it is related to Quaker Square somehow.

Other recurring motifs

A large building, or set of buildings...you go upstairs and there is a hallway to another business...

Roadside places where we stop for food...

Going back to one of the old colleges...

Airport...

Paths behind my grandparents' old house...buildings off to the north (is that the right direction?)...

Something about going somewhere on a boat. I am trying to decide on a room for the trip. I see that they have a deck for scuba diving, and think that would be a neat place to stay. They apparently have sleeping quarters here. When I look more closely, I see that instead of rooms we have chambers in which we have to stand – kind of like some stasis chamber in a sci-fi show. It doesn’t look very comfortable in real life. I then start to wonder if I will get seasick. I’m already beginning to feel a little bit queasy.

I don’t remember much from the last two nights. A fragment or two, and one near lucid:

Buying Food (fragment)

…I am in a cafeteria-type place buying food. I think it might be chicken. I put a piece of something on my plate…

Riker’s Lucid Dream

I am in a bathroom. I try to turn on a light, but it won’t turn on. I try another light or two, but they don’t turn on either. Then I remember that I sometimes dream that I’m trying to turn lights on, but they won’t turn on. I do a nose pinch RC, and find that I can breathe. However, I somehow get the impression that this is Riker’s lucid dream (Riker from Star Trek TNG). Not mine, apparently?

I don’t know if I was lucid but not thinking clearly, or if I wasn’t lucid. I don’t know exactly what it meant that it was Riker’s dream. That I was a DC in the dream? Or that I was actually Riker dreaming that I was someone else? Either scenario would be interesting.

Rooftop Water

I am on a rooftop. There is a depression in the roof, that can be lined with a tarp and then filled with water. I think about doing this, because I think it would be nice to wade/swim. But it is getting dark fast and I don’t really want to be swimming when it gets dark.

Con Man in Coffin

Trying to remember the proper order of events here…

There is a guy in a bar. He is playing some kind of a game with the person behind the bar. I think it’s some kind of gambling game. I think he also cheats. Then someone comes to arrest him, but he escapes. The guy (who might be me by this point, I’m not sure) looks for a place to hide. He goes to the back of the building he is in, which appears to be a cabinet making shop or something. He looks for something to hide in, and chooses a long, coffin-like box…

…Later, someone buys the box, with the man still inside. He then remains hidden while this family takes it home and places it in their house. I don’t quite know what it is they are supposed to be doing with this coffin, but I/he is waiting for a chance to climb out. At one point, he can see that there is a fire starting downstairs. The family puts it out, but somewhere around here the guy starts praying for Jesus to help him…

…The man escapes. I/he tries to find a way out, going into an outer room of the building and then outside. The family is not watching, so he runs behind a garage, into a garden area, and eventually makes his way to freedom…

…I think that later, there is someone tying a ribbon around the former con man’s neck, as though to reward him for no longer being a con artist…

Assisting the Clock/Piano Repairman

I have to help someone do some work. In order to do so, I need a measuring stick of the proper length. I look at a couple, and choose one that I think will work. It feels as though I am under pressure to “prove” myself or something.

The repair guy shows up. He is maybe 60-ish, and seems more friendly than I might have expected. He has the air of an eccentric professor. We get to work on a clock, which I need to steady while he does something with it. Then we are working on a piano, and he starts playing music with one hand. He is very impressive in his musical abilities, and a small crowd of people gather. Since he seems to be taking some time to play music, I sit down to watch…

Water Adventures

I have a little boat. A very little boat. It is kind of like a box, really, maybe 2 feet long and 1.5 feet wide. I also have a little paddle to go with this box. I think I am with my family on some water. We go boating away somewhere…

…Tying up the boat… untying… I jump over something in my boat and land in another section of water (?)… My dad and brother follow me… My brother tries to dive under some obstruction, but gets stuck partway under. I rescue him. My dad dives into the water elsewhere, and says that it is very cold. Apparently the water is very cold in some places…

…(Same dream? Before or after, I’m not sure) we are on what I think is an island. It seems that there are some antagonists taking over, and they make it to some land that is close to where we are. There are only a couple of us, and there are a bunch of them. But, we remember something we watched on a movie or TV show one time, and make explosives with dried grass. This seems to work well, and I think we defeat the bad guys…

Fragment (was I lucid? I don’t remember!)

I am walking through the library of my former college. I see a former classmate from a different college sitting there, but I don’t say hi to him. I keep on walking, and see that the library is full of stuff other than books. This seems odd, and I think I should do a reality check. I do a nose pinch, but I don’t remember what happens after that!

Rooftop Water

I am on a rooftop. There is a depression in the roof, that can be lined with a tarp and then filled with water. I think about doing this, because I think it would be nice to wade/swim. But it is getting dark fast and I don’t really want to be swimming when it gets dark.

Con Man in Coffin

Trying to remember the proper order of events here…

There is a guy in a bar. He is playing some kind of a game with the person behind the bar. I think it’s some kind of gambling game. I think he also cheats. Then someone comes to arrest him, but he escapes. The guy (who might be me by this point, I’m not sure) looks for a place to hide. He goes to the back of the building he is in, which appears to be a cabinet making shop or something. He looks for something to hide in, and chooses a long, coffin-like box…

…Later, someone buys the box, with the man still inside. He then remains hidden while this family takes it home and places it in their house. I don’t quite know what it is they are supposed to be doing with this coffin, but I/he is waiting for a chance to climb out. At one point, he can see that there is a fire starting downstairs. The family puts it out, but somewhere around here the guy starts praying for Jesus to help him…

…The man escapes. I/he tries to find a way out, going into an outer room of the building and then outside. The family is not watching, so he runs behind a garage, into a garden area, and eventually makes his way to freedom…

…I think that later, there is someone tying a ribbon around the former con man’s neck, as though to reward him for no longer being a con artist…

Assisting the Clock/Piano Repairman

I have to help someone do some work. In order to do so, I need a measuring stick of the proper length. I look at a couple, and choose one that I think will work. It feels as though I am under pressure to “prove” myself or something.

The repair guy shows up. He is maybe 60-ish, and seems more friendly than I might have expected. He has the air of an eccentric professor. We get to work on a clock, which I need to steady while he does something with it. Then we are working on a piano, and he starts playing music with one hand. He is very impressive in his musical abilities, and a small crowd of people gather. Since he seems to be taking some time to play music, I sit down to watch…

Water Adventures

I have a little boat. A very little boat. It is kind of like a box, really, maybe 2 feet long and 1.5 feet wide. I also have a little paddle to go with this box. I think I am with my family on some water. We go boating away somewhere…

…Tying up the boat… untying… I jump over something in my boat and land in another section of water (?)… My dad and brother follow me… My brother tries to dive under some obstruction, but gets stuck partway under. I rescue him. My dad dives into the water elsewhere, and says that it is very cold. Apparently the water is very cold in some places…

…(Same dream? Before or after, I’m not sure) we are on what I think is an island. It seems that there are some antagonists taking over, and they make it to some land that is close to where we are. There are only a couple of us, and there are a bunch of them. But, we remember something we watched on a movie or TV show one time, and make explosives with dried grass. This seems to work well, and I think we defeat the bad guys…

Fragment (was I lucid? I don’t remember!)

I am walking through the library of my former college. I see a former classmate from a different college sitting there, but I don’t say hi to him. I keep on walking, and see that the library is full of stuff other than books. This seems odd, and I think I should do a reality check. I do a nose pinch, but I don’t remember what happens after that!

8:00

Fragments

…I used my Grandfather’s teapot, or something. I decide that I will get him a new one…

…Handing out pamphlets for some kind of a program where people can work and have money for tuition (or just have tuition paid, something like that)…

…I get a nose bleed. I don’t remember too much about this dream, and what I do remember is kind of disgusting, so I won’t give the details…

10:55

Fragments, with many dream signs

…It is time to exchange gifts (Birthday gifts?) with my brother and father. I and am looking through some things that I had set aside earlier, I think. They are books. I think I’m worried that I don’t have enough, especially for my brother…

…Something about wearing clothes that I think make me look like a bum…

…People are being given credit for something. Like a movie, or a scholarly work, or something. I am mentioned, because I helped (though not very much). There is a lady who thought she had helped enough to be there too, but she wasn’t mentioned. This seems to upset her, and the guy next to her puts his arm around her (or some such gesture) to support and comfort her…

…Going up some carpeted stairs. I am looking for other parts of the building for some reason. There seem to be some little kids following me…

…The Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith (1970s version) are in a hotel room. There is something about a blanket. They share a bed in the hotel room, which I don’t think they should do. However, I remember that something happened to the other bed in the room so they might not have much choice…

…There is something in my ear. At first, it seems to be a tattoo. Then maybe a bug? When I finally get it out and look at it, is a skull bone from some kind of fish…

…I am in a hospital-like building. I’m wandering around, not sure why exactly. I don’t want to get caught, and I recall somebody saying something about how I should hang around the doors that lead from one area to another. That way, the people in one area will think I work in the other area, and not bother me. I also pretend to look at stuff on the wall…

…I am underneath a bridge. The water is kind of deep, and I’m trying to think of what would be the best place to land if I had to drop there. I decide close to the bank would be a good idea. Then I drop there (I don’t know where from). I crawl out from under the bridge and into an area that seems to be like a deserted industrial area. This might have led into the hospital scene above, but I don’t remember…

Woke up around 3:30. Recall the following:

Person with unusual head (doesn’t look like a head, more like a ball). Some kind of math involved? The person turns…

…I have a Bible that looks like Myst: The Book of Atrus hardcover.

…Water, island (?). About dream control, but not lucid. I think that it would be easier to do something unusual like suck up the water around me and spit it out than to try to do something less unusual. I then go under water…

Driving. Something about telling the truth about something. It involved people being treated harshly…

6:20am

“Labyrinth” in chimney

We (Dad and I, perhaps) are doing something with the mulberry tree at my Grandparents’ old house. This involves taking apart one of the branches, in which is a piece of metal. This appears to go along with some other metal pieces, and attach in a chimney to perform some unknown function. This has been a mystery of the house for some time. I think of it as a labrynth for some reason. There are some symbols in the chimney describing what it is that you are supposed to do, but the symbols are hard to interpret.

I think the mulberries on the tree were of a very pale color, almost white.

Also, I think this may be a part of the dream:

There is something down in the basement that goes along with the labyrinth. It is behind a lot of my clutter, though. I go down to look for it.

Fragments

I don’t remember much details of this dream. Here are the notes I took when I woke up:

Scary place, much shooting, can get trapped there, getaway at end

People are playing a game of football, but it isn’t a real game of football. This is some kind of a trick, and there are explosives and gas bombs and such hidden in the equipment. In the end, the real football game starts up, and I wonder about the believability of people wanting to play another game after having just played a game. There is also something about somebody singing (the National Anthem?) The fake guy sounded OK, but the real guy who was supposed to sing is supposed to sound better. This takes place, I think, on the UA campus…

…A bunch of people are looking out through the windows of campus buildings. Someone is getting an award, I think. He’s a professor, or something…

…Involved in some kind of intrigue. This has to do with transporting some item. I try to be sneaky about transporting it so that I’m not in danger. The bad guys are going to try to get me if they know what I am doing…

…Something about classic TV shows and the invention of the microwave oven. It seems that the microwave began to be used between 1968 and 1973, and there is a documentary showing clips from I Dream of Jeannie and/or The Avengers in which people are using a microwave…

…It is raining. I don’t really have a shelter, but I have a blanket so I cover up with that. I seem to recall that this was about the invention of tents, but I don’t remember for certain…

…Putting on my socks and boots because I want to go outside and “mitigate” something. Whatever it is has to do with water? Putting a cover on something?...

…Doing archaeology somewhere. I dig up some artifacts, which include some strange round things. I don’t think people are impressed by that. There is some other stuff too though. Also, there are holes that have been dug and filled in again, and I am looking through some of the filled holes. I find some metal artifacts associated with one of them…