I had quite a freaky dream last night. Jon and Phillip had a t-shirt store in a large shopping centre and my brother and I were in there pawing the merchandise.

Anyway, we were looking for a t-shirt that I didn't have, but all that seemed to be there were OCL tees and plain white shirts. So, while I was talking to Phillip about tomcat servers (no idea why, but it was a dream - it is not supposed to make sense!), my brother broke into the store room and stole 2 boxes of t-shirts and ran down stairs to a café, where he hid them.

Later on, while a friend was showing me security footage of the day, we saw my brother stealing the tees. The following day, out of some bizarre feeling (apparently called "guilt"), I went back to the shop to rat out my brother (so much for familial loyalty).

When I got to the shop, there was a new t-shirt on sale. It was a red round neck tee, with a navy border around the neck and sleeves, much in the style of a 1960's/1970's football (soccer) jersey. Except that where a crest should be, there was a picture of ALF. Anyway, I bought one of the t-shirts and this seemed to assuage my guilt. Then it all turned out to be some test that Jon and Phillip set up.

This morning, when I come on the site, what do I see but not one, but two new tees. For those who don't remember, ALF was a hairy little alien who ate cats. ALF stood for Alien Life Form.

Coincidence? Nefarious, subliminal marketing devices?

That boy needs therapy.
He's crazy in the coconut.

Great, back to dream discussions again. Although what happens in dreams is (naturally) vitally important to the dreamer, there is nothing more tedious than listening to somebody else talk about their dreams. There I've said it.

In Response to deerboy (#14509):

You might feel that it is tedious to hear someone talk about their dreams, but how do you feel about other forms of exposition based upon dreams? For instance, what do you think of artworks, music, film, fiction, etc., that are based on dreams?

I ask this because my favorite painter [opalines.com] spent much of her career [opalines.com] exploring the connections between her inner dreamworlds [opalines.com], her personal sense of a Jungian "collective unconscious", and her external empirical background. I believe that much of the beautiful surreal dreaminess [opalines.com] of her works is part of what makes them so rich and resonant with the viewer on many levels.

For the past few months, i've been trying to write down as many of my dreams as i can remember. I don't expect these to be interesting to other people, and i don't even really expect them to be tremendously insightful to myself yet. But i'm hoping that over time, i might find some consistencies, recurring notions, and hopefully funny clues into how my unconscious brain relates to my world. So i've been recording as much as possible in my online journal. If you bother to read any of them, please don't say that i didn't warn you that you might find it all uninteresting and pointless. Hell, you'll probably find my journal about my real life to be somewhat mundane and pointless. But i guess i've always been intrigued and fascinated by the way most people's dreams are filled with strange ideas, mystery, and both the beautiful and the ugly. Mystery is often very beautiful, and dreams are sometimes mysterious. That's just my opinion. Why do you hold the opinion that it is tedious to hear about people's dreams?

In Response to Teledildonix (#14521):

But i'm hoping that over time, i might find some consistencies, recurring notions, and hopefully funny clues into how my unconscious brain relates to my world

If I need to pee, I always dream about trying to open a keg of beer.

In Response to Teledildonix (#14521):

How do I say? I didn't say that dreams were boring, just other people's dreams. Of course I love the mystery. My mystery. That's what makes dreams so great. I could really care less about other people's unconsciousness. Why do you think I might be interested? I don't have to and pretty much don't want to tell you about my dreams.

Now art that is evocative of dreams, well, most of the art I like is evokative of dreaminess, I suppose. Conveying the feeling or concept of a dream tends to be more powerful than telling the story. Unless the story is told well, perhaps.

(P.S. evilaltor, I did enjoy your story, though, of course)
 

In Response to deerboy (#14547):

I could really care less about other people's unconsciousness. Why do you think I might be interested?

Oh, i have no really good reason, i suppose. It's just that i've read about some discussions of "collective unconscious" (in the Jungian sense), and i thought maybe people would be curious to see if commonalities, similarities, and contrasts between one person's dreams and another's might help give insight into the way people's minds work on different levels (in general), and that might lead to more understanding between people, and perhaps even improve our ability to relate to each other.

I could be totally wrong, i'm just suggesting a possibility.

Conveying the feeling or concept of a dream tends to be more powerful than telling the story.

That may be true in some cases. But i'm not a painter, nor a musician, nor do i have many other crafts that would help me to evoke dreaminess when i share notions with you; i mostly have only my words. I'm very verbal, but not particularly talented in any artform that a majority of people would find appealing. What about you? How would you choose to attempt to convey a sense of your dreams to me or to anybody?

I don't have to and pretty much don't want to tell you about my dreams.

I'm sorry-- i thought it was a sort of fun topic of discussion. Well, perhaps other people will follow evilaltor's example and share anything they feel is relevant and/or dreamy. I hope to engage you elsewhere in friendly dialogue on other topics if this one isn't fun for you.

In Response to tynic (#14528):

Yeah, I had this dream when I was in summer camp that I had to pee, and I was back in my bathroom at home when I was a kid, and I was about to go piss but I had to keep taking off layer after layer of clothing, and then finally it was all off.

And, uh, I peed.

Lesson being: if you ever dream you need to pee, wake up and get to a toilet.

Whenever my mom dreams that her teeth are falling out, instead of thinking that it means she is afraid of losing a friend or some such nonsense, she takes it as a sign she needs to floss more.

In Response to deerboy (#14547):

I don't have to and pretty much don't want to tell you about my dreams.

I think we can all guess why.

In Response to tynic (#14528):

Maybe your liver is trying to tell you something. (Or... its just your bladder doing the talking...)

In Response to Teledildonix (#14550):

Well, perhaps other people will follow evilaltor's example and share anything they feel is relevant and/or dreamy.

I used to keep a dream journal, probably about 10 years ago or so. I found it going through some old stuff at my mom's house about a month ago. I didn't think they were too strange at the time, but looking back on them, I don't think I'd want anybody to read them; my subconsious seems to be pretty messed up at times. I should actually burn them before the thought police (or Bush's patriot act minions) come after me.

In Response to deerboy (#14547):

(P.S. evilaltor, I did enjoy your story, though, of course)

You do? I should probably call off the pseudodaemons, then,

In Response to Teledildonix (#14550):

Insert Spoon Into Pot
Stir

I didn't say I don't like talking about discussing dreams . . . .

I hope to engage you elsewhere in friendly dialogue on other topics if this one isn't fun for you.

Unit 14334AF112-223, such an arrangement would be mutually beneficial.

(An aside, finally, punishment for speaking my mind. And you wonder why I have no wish to share with you mere mortals.)

I'm just trying to say, not to anybody in particular:

a. Your dreams are more interesteing to you than to anybody else by about an order of magnitude
b. There's nothing wrong with not sharing some things
c. Don't discount the magic of the uncoveyable.

In Response to deerboy (#14509):

I must be doing something right. I am pissing somebody off. Goody.

Hey, moderator, I will talk about my dreams. I dream of becoming a Cold War Supervillian, so Fucky to You.

In Response to deerboy (#14598):

Dammit, who gave me pity points? You have crushed my dreams . . .