Dream #527 (September 6, 2014) Warehouse, Unintentional Kidnapping

Oh.


I began the dream driving a black car late at night.  I was listening to The National as I pulled up to Kyle Heffelfinger's house.  He came and sat in the passenger seat, then I proceeded to pick up Andrew DeSelm and Tim Johnson (they were living together in my dream).

We had a nice, chatty ride over to an enormous warehouse with a ceiling that must have been over one hundred feet high.  Tim then began to direct us in setting up a stage with lighting, microphones, amps, etc.  We worked efficiently.

After we were about 75% finished, a group of high school hooligans broke into the building and demanded that we give them all of our equipment.  We refused, and were suddenly joined by a bunch of middle-aged dudes in Tae Kwon Do uniforms.  They took care of the problem with ease.

I decided I needed to go for a ride after that, so I left the warehouse and got into my Buick LeSabre (the black car I drove to the warehouse had transformed into it at some point in my dream).  I drove down by the ocean front and looked out at all the different shops/attractions.  Every once in a while I was able to catch a glimpse of the actual beach, which was gorgeous (it was still nighttime by the way).

I was attracted to a mini-golf joint about a mile down the road, and I pulled into a drive-through/parking area.  There I saw Melissa Moyer and Erin Steele (two people I know from Prairie Camp) playing a round of putt-putt.  There were several other Bethel College students there that I recognize but don't actually know.  It looked pretty crowded, and I'm not too fond of putting for an audience, so I decided to leave.  I pulled out and drove down the road a ways.

I head a frightening giggle come from my back seat.  I turned around and realized that 3 young sisters (ages ranging from 5-13) had snuck into my car whilst I was watching the putt-putters.  I began to freak out, because if the parents were to see their girls with a bearded stranger such as myself, they would most likely freak out; I feared I would get arrested or something.  I quickly did a u-turn and drove back to the putt-putt place (what is the difference between putt-putt and mini-golf?).  Somehow in a few minutes the place had closed for the night and everybody was gone.

I drove around, telling the girls to point out their parents if they saw them.  We had no success for what felt like hours.

The girls were getting very tired and needed to find a place to sleep, so I took them down to the beach.  They were cold, so I buried them all in sand until they were comfortable (trust me; I wouldn't do this in real life).  Then I began to pace about, trying to figure out what to do with these sisters.  I walked down the beach a short ways and again ran into Melissa.  She was building a sand castle by herself (I assumed Erin was probably somewhere nearby).  I was about to ask her if she would help watch the kids so that if anyone were to find them, they wouldn't assume the worst.


But I awoke, thanks to Kody Heffelfinger.


I fell asleep again and had a quick dream that I was at a huge party at a fairly small house in the middle of the day.  I didn't know anybody there, and for some reason almost all of the guests were elementary school teachers from various schools in Indiana and Michigan.  I walked about eating my hotdog, trying to find somebody to talk to, but I had no luck for most of the dream.  After a while I did find an elderly gentleman who talked to me briefly, but he then tried to sell me insurance.


Then I awoke.

Dream #526 (August 2, 2014) David Bowie and Edible Action Figures

It happened last night.


I dreamt that I had traveled across the country to work as a videographer at some  big conference.  I brought my luggage (a large black duffle bag and a backpack) to the house at which I was assigned to stay.  I had been given a key, so I let myself in and set up my sleeping bag on one of the beds in the bedroom.

The house was modestly sized and had a consistent turquoise and white color scheme.  The bedroom had two single beds connected to opposite walls.  The kitchen was tiny, and the living room had a floor-to-ceiling window that looked out over some sort of Tron-esque game (I paid little attention to it).

After exploring the house a bit, I walked over to a large chalkboard in the living room and began writing poetry.  I was soon interrupted by the arrival of my roommate, David Bowie.

He instantly began talking to me about music and lyrics, and insisted that we sing his songs together.  I was rather intimidated by him (though I was equally weirded out by him), but he was persistent and persuasive.  We began singing songs off of his album Hunky Dory and I was nervous the entire time, though David seemed to be enjoying himself.  While we sang, he cooked up some eggs and made some cookies for us to enjoy.

Eventually I had to leave the house and head to the convention center.  There I met with Seth Bartlette and he told me about a time when I traded my videographer services for assault weapons, and I was embarrassed by that story because I am not a fan of assault weapons whatsoever.  Then Seth instructed me to create a large, "artistic" display on a white board.  I found a bunch of edible action figures sitting in a nearby basket, so I used those and created a sort of scene out of them.  I used dry erase markers to add to the decor.  As I was finishing, guests began to gather about the board, not to admire my work but to eat the action figures.

I quickly grew frustrated, so I walked out of the convention center into my real life neighbor's backyard.  There was an enormous basketball contraption set up on the basketball court in the yard.  I walked over to it and tried to figure out its function(s) but had no success.  Morgan (my neighbor) walked out and waved at me.  I asked her what the contraption was and she didn't respond, instead choosing to walk back inside.

I stood there in the dark for a long time, thinking about David Bowie, the convention, the edible action figures, and the basketball contraption.  I then realized that I was standing next to a large level, so I pulled it.  Suddenly, the basketball contraption lit up and various parts of it began to spin, whirl, tilt, bounce, and animate.  It was quite a spectacle.


Then I awoke.

Dream #525 (August 23, 2014) Justice League/Teen Camp/Train Gambling

This was an odd mashup of things.


I dreamt that I was a part of the Justice League.  Well, it wasn't quite the traditional DC Comics Justice League because there were a couple Marvel characters (some version of Spider-Man and Wolverine) and some nonexistent superheroes (including my character).  My power was that I had superhuman mind strength (it'll come into play later, but it was mostly useless).

All of the Justice Leaguers were sent to Prairie Camp to take a bunch of teens on a field trip.  When we arrive, we rounded them all up and led them into a crazy train (similar in look to the train in "Snow Piercer").  The train was unbelievable fast and we were able travel great distances over short periods of time.  We went to a zoo (and didn't stay there long), then to a baseball game (and watched a few hits), then got on the train again.

Every time we boarded the train, I joined in a game of poker.  I won every single game and made thousands of dollars.  I felt a bit guilty for taking everyone's money, but I was excited at the same time.  Some of the other Justice Leaguers were getting a bit upset with me.  On the last let of the journey, on our way to some volcanic island, I wind 6700 bucks in one hand.

At that moment, a bunch of boys without shirts on and with black headbands grabbed hold of every person on the train and they took over our minds.  They led us of the train and we began to slave away at various tasks they wanted us to do (hammering nails, smashing rocks [typical], and preparing food).  Finally my mental superiority began to kick in and I was able to fight off the mental control.  Furthermore, I reversed the brainwaves and discovered that if we were to jumped into water, the mind control would be broken.

I started grabbing my fellow Leaguers and some of the teen campers and throwing them off a small cliff into a nearby lake, breaking the mind control.  The problem was that if one of the shirtless boys touched the flesh of a person, they would take over that person's mind again, so we had to flee the island over the only bridge: the railroad tracks.

Finally everyone had made it into the water, so we were all running as fast as we could down the bridge.  Suddenly a fleet of yellow aliens wearing turquoise spacesuits swarmed about us and fired crazy lasers at us.  If any part of the body was hit with one of these lasers, it would disintegrate.  The weird Spider-Man guy lost two arms and a leg, and several other people suffer casualties.

I was soon hit in the chest.


Then I appeared, as the same character, behind my parents' house in Koontz Lake.  It was nighttime, and I was alone in the backyard.  I crawled up onto a pile of junk and looked about.  Finally, Morgan Ferch came over and started talking to me about her engagement.


Then I awoke.

Dream #524 (July 11, 2014) X-Men and Groceries for Matt and Andrew

Borrowing,

I dreamt that I was Wolverine from X-Men.  The weird thing was that I didn't look like Hugh Jackman; rather, I looked like James McAvoy (who plays the younger Charles Xavier in the film).  I was sent to the future where I was supposed to wipe out some water god.  The machine that sent me to the future looked like an Ikea bed with all white sheets and a soft white pillow.  Above me was a bright white light fixture that I think also played a role in sending me through time.

The world of the future was a monosaturated blue.  There were many impoverished people wandering about who were slaves of the water god.  As I walked about these poor people, I occasionally encountered and battled some of the water god's henchmen.  These fellas wore an armor that looked like a mix between that of a knight and a samurai.  They used longswords but I was much too quick and strong for them to take down.

I finally battled my way to the headquarters where a film was screening.  I believe it was "Scream" (or something very similar to that).  Instead of continuing my pursuit, I decided to sit down and watch the movie.  Not long after I got comfortable, a man walked around the small theater and handed the 8 or so people in the audience a wooden toy house with a flat roof.  I played around with it as I kind of watched the movie.  I soon discovered that the toy house's roof could be transformed into replicas of various classical art pieces (none of which I'm able to name).  When I discovered this secret, I shouted for joy and showed everyone else in the theater my discovery.

After this I decided to visit my friends Matt (Erdel) and Andrew (DeSelm) at their apartment.  In my dream, their apartment building was a 100 story fancy hotel.  The center of this cylindrical building was hollow, so the door of every room opened up to a balcony that had a view of all the rooms below and above it.  Andrew and Matt greeted me and asked if I could go grocery shopping for them.  I agreed and left.

I went to a weird gas station market that was eerily and dimly lit.  Surprisingly there were some really good deals there, especially on cereal (which was extremely exciting for me).  I bought several boxes of cereal, a couple tennis balls, and a few other random grocery items Matt and Andrew needed.

When I brought it back to them I told them about the cereal deal and they didn't care.  Then Andrew took one of my tennis balls and threw it out the door down into the core of the hotel (they lived up near the 70th floor, so it was quite a fall for the tennis ball).  I was upset with him, and I left their apartment in order to find the ball.

I took the stairs for some reason.  In one of the stair wells, which was painted all white, I discovered a group of teens eating pizza, smoking weed, and discussing Wes Anderson films.  I asked them if any of them had seen my tennis ball, and one of the girls told me she saw it just a couple floors down.

Then I awoke.

Dream #523 (July 10, 2014) Post Post Apocalyptic

So

I was walking around the post-post-apocolypic streets of Brooklyn.  Society had been more or less wiped out and rebuilt.  Basically there were fewer people and a lot of empty buildings, though the jobs and various lifestyles were roughly the same as they are now.  Also, a dark violet twilight leaking from the atmosphere was the only source of light.

I ran into an old friend of mine from college, Lenny Walsh (maybe he goes by Leonard to some).  He invited me to work on a feature film that was in the pre-production phase, and I accepted.  He lead me to an old building made of blueish-grey bricks.  Inside there was a meeting occurring around a large wooden table.  I sat down and listened to people talk about the film.

Things seemed to be going smoothly until somebody at the table spoke up (it was a woman I've never met in any life).  She said that the child actor (side note: the child actor in this scenario had not yet been born; he was going to be perfuming as the lead character as an infant) would most likely not work out.  According to the last ultrasound, he had a condition known as "bubble on the brain" (I highly doubt this is a 'thing' in real life).  This most likely would cause brain damage and other malfunctions that would be unfitting for a lead actor in this film.

Everyone was saddened by the news, because the mother and father had gone through the pregnancy in a way that was supposed to help assure the child would be a good actor (music, diet, exercises, etc. all played a role in this preparation).

However, the mood quickly changed when a young(ish) couple in the room (in real life they are Jonathan and Elizabeth) spoke up and said they would "create" the replacement actor.  I thought this was all quite ridiculous.

As these things were going on, a friend of mine from high school (Alik Hall) was joking about people with "bubble on the brain."  They were rather cruel jokes (I tried my best not to laugh, though it wasn't easy).

At last, I left the building and continued my solo walk from where it was interrupted.

Eventually I awoke.

Dream #522 (May 19, 2014) Pool Sermon

After a month of little sleep:

I was in a swimming pool and the water was cyan and not as transparent as water should be.  I dove down to the bottom, wearing my blue goggles that were only useful in keeping water out of my eyes since I could barely see anything underwater.  I felt around for the sinky baton (I'm not sure what those things are called) that some random pool person had thrown down for me to retrieve.  At last I found it (after being underwater for well over a minute).

When I came to the surface, I realized I could stay underwater as long as I wanted, for I had learned to absorb oxygen through the pores of my skin.  I immediately dove back down into the water and sat at the bottom of the pool for a long time, studying the shapes and alterations in light around and above me.

Finally, after a long and peaceful time alone, I decided to rejoin the pool party taking place above the surface.  When I came up, I discovered that my dad had gathered everyone together, including my cousins and a few old high school classmates, and was delivering a sermon from the diving board.  It was compelling, but most of the people chose to chat amongst themselves rather than listen.  It was difficult to hear my dad over the generic crowd noise, but I could hear him talk about how mankind was destroying the earth and how God didn't need to bring judgement upon us because we were bringing it upon ourselves.

After I heard this, Alik Hall (friend and former high school classmate) asked me if I still believed what I believed when I was younger (he was referring to belief in God).  I contemplated this question for a moment, then said I think I do.  I said that I feel as if I understand far less about who/what God is than ever before, but I also told him that I sense a rhythm to life that is far more complex than any man can comprehend.

After those words, I awoke.

Dream #521 (April 3, 2014) Student Film and NYC

Here is a dream.


In the first part of the dream, I entered a large bar with my brother Mike.  Bethel College was showing a film there that had been made my several students at Bethel and was funded by the college (it was an interesting venue choice since Bethel doesn't allow their students to go into bars or drink).  There was an open bar, and I grabbed a tea (yes, they served tea) before sitting down in a folding chair facing a projector screen.

The movie started, and I managed to sit through the entire thing.  It was well over an hour long, and it wanted to be hilarious, but it was horribly obvious and boring.  Somehow Bethel had tons of cameos, including Samuel L. Jackson, Adam Sandler, Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman and more.  Some of these cameos were just stills animated with voices of Bethel students, but others were actually in it somehow.  I was perplexed and angry simultaneously.  There were some occasional special fx (there were a ton of explosions) that were impressive, but I couldn't stand most of the film.  The plot revolved around a game called 'Ambush' (created by Andrew DeSelm) where people had to target each other, eliminating them until there was only one last survivor (it's a bit more complicated than that, but I don't think I need to explain all the rules here).  Basically, there were many death scenes in this film.

When it was finally over, I was happy to leave.

The second part of the dream flowed seamlessly from the first.  I walked out of the bar and was in New York City.  I decided to go on a walk, and walk I did.  It was afternoon when I started, and I walked clear past sunset into the night.  Finally I decided that I should find a place to stay, so I knocked on a random door.  Gwyneth Paltrow answered the door and told me she didn't feel like hosting a guest, though she suggested I try an apartment across the street.  I walked over and found that the door was open.  I walked inside the dark apartment and found it to be empty.  So I wandered around through the kitchen and living room until I entered the bedroom.  There was a bunk bed in there, and I climbed up to the top bunk and wrapped myself up in the dinosaur sheets and blankets on the bed.  There was a Batman pillow case with the face of the Joker on it that I remembered from my childhood (I used to be terrified of that face), so I flipped the pillow over to the Batman-faced side.

Suddenly a light was turned on in the next room.  I cowered under the covers.  I saw the silhouette of a woman standing in the doorway.


Then I awoke.