Dream #490 (February 24, 2013)

I debated for a while, with myself, about wether or not I should post these disturbing dreams.  I've decided to do it.  Proceed with caution.


In the first dream I was in my grandpa's house during a terribly stormy night.  I was sitting alone at the dining room table reading the newspaper.  Suddenly the radio turned on and a warning was issued.  In the neighborhood, several people had been found to be cut completely in half.  Nobody knew how this was taking place, or who was responsible.  I walked over and turned on a little white television and watched a news reported walk through the city park and stand over a halved body as she described the state of the victim.

This was horrifying, so I turned of the TV.  I crept over to the living room and opened up the curtain a bit so that I could see out to the street by the house.  I saw a strange shape lying in the road.  Curiosity got the better of me, and I unlocked the front door and walked out to see what it was.

When I reached the road I discovered that there were dozens of bodies, each cut in half, lying motionless all about.  I walked down to the end of the street, looking at the halves of faces of the bodies, trying to see if I recognized any of them.  I didn't, but a great sadness began to consume me.

I began to hyperventilate, so I hurried back into my grandpa's house and locked the door behind me.  Just then I heard some strange, muffled pounding coming from the basement.

I cautiously walked down the green stairs, then through the basement, until I reached the cellar.  I opened the door and saw a well-lit white and grey metal container, standing seven feet tall.  The container had a glass window, through which I could see a beautiful young woman screaming and pounding on the glass.  The glass had a thick black line that ran right down the center of it, dividing the image of the woman into two parts.  I knew that this was the machine that was responsible for so much destruction.

I rushed over to the woman and tried to open the death trap.  She was relieved at my presence, yet still had a terrified look in her divided eyes.  I began to sweat as I felt all about the machine for several long seconds, unable to find any sort of button or lever.  All of a sudden, the machine began to make a lot of noise, and I saw a blade slowly begin to creep down above the woman's head.  Panicked I began trying to bust the glass with my fists and I tried prying the door open, but it was no use.

The woman screamed as the blade ran through her skull.  All I could do was watch.


Then I was in a different dream, equally horrifying.


I was sitting in a small aluminum container alone.  Smoke began to fill it, then one of the walls fell and I was free to walk outside.  I walked through a beautiful park on a warm and sunny day.  In the center of the park was a magician standing on a platform, waiving a wand about charismatically.

Amused, I stood with a small crowd and watched him perform slight-of-hand tricks without error.  After a bit of this, he revealed a long, black box and asked for a volunteer from the crowd.  The woman next to me raised her hand, and the magician called her up to the stage and had her enter the box.  She did so with delight.  Then he called for another volunteer.  I raised my hand, but he decided to go with another woman, whom he had join him on the stage.  Then, with the waive of his wand and a puff of smoke, the magician, woman, and box containing a woman, vanished.

I was a bit upset that I hadn't been chosen, and I wanted to see how the trick worked, so I snuck behind the stage and found a trap door hidden there.  I opened it and descended down a tall ladder that stretched down far further than I had thought it would.

I finally made it down into a dark cave.  A small lamp light could be seen about one hundred feet away, so I crept over to it.  There I saw the magician pick up a needle and thread and bend down away from me.  It appeared as if he was sewing something.

I finally came close enough to him that I was just about to look over his shoulder at what he was doing. Suddenly he whipped around and smiled a crooked and wicked smile at me and nodded for me to look past him at his work.  I did so and saw a graphic and horrible wreck.  Apparently the magician had cut off the face of the first woman and had sewn it onto the second.  The woman with the new face, which barely clung to her old one, was still conscious and was wriggling about, unable to free herself from the bonds that the magician had placed upon her ankles and wrists.

I wanted to look away and relieve myself of the ghastly sight, but I couldn't and continued to stare at the sagging and bloody flesh and at the pair of eyes that sunk behind the shadow of a foreign brow.


Finally, I awoke, though the terrifying images couldn't leave my mind for some time.

Dream #489 (January 28, 2013)

After a great tragedy I closed my eyes long enough to dream.

I was in great distress.  In an empty blue city covered in snow I wandered for several long minutes, searching for something unbeknownst to me.  There were headlights here and there, but no cars belonging to them.  The streetlights shined yellow, but a blue light was sewn across the streets and buildings.

At last I found a life - a small, dark-skinned girl playing in the street.  I approached her with excitement, but she retreated from me in fear.  I meant her no harm, for I was grateful to find life.  I tried to show her that I was gentle and that I had good intentions, but she would have no part of me.  Frustrated, grabbed some toys from around her and forced my hands in front of her as I showed her that I could also play.  She finally smiled at me, but the smile was quickly transformed into a gasp as a nearby mansion lit up with both light and sound.  The girl sniffed the air, then ran with great speed down the street into the darkness.

I looked upon the mansion with curiosity and with fear.  The front door opened, calling me, so I entered.

Inside was a chaotic party.  People were drinking heavily, carrying on, snorting lines of cocaine, swinging from chandeliers, throwing plates and silverware, and getting into fist fights.  I saw many people I knew partaking in this anarchy, and I was disgusted at them, and they were disgusted at me.  Bottles, food, and people were flying all about me as I made my way up the old wooden staircase to the third floor.

Once on top I walked over a couple making out in order to get to the center of the room.  Then I saw, across the room, sitting in a velvet chair by the wall, Mark Oliver Everett (or E, from Eels).  He was the only other person in the mansion who had not lost his mind.  He was calmly smoking a cigar.  After a few moments, he looked above the rims of his sunglasses and saw me.  He waived for me to come over to him, and I obeyed.

He got up from his chair and put his hand on my shoulder and led me, without a word, over to another staircase.  We ascended up out of the chaos and onto the irenic rooftop, which overlooked the city (even though were had only gone up a few stories).  There E finally spoke to me.

He told me his life story (which I have read in his book "Things the Grandchildren Should Know"), which is laced with tragedy, depression, and suicide.  He managed, after the hardest of lives, to come out of the darkness with a positive spirit and outlook on life.  Instead of making me feel his pain, he bore my pain and turned it into comfort.

Then I awoke.

I wish I could express, in real life, my gratitude for the comfort E brought me on a night of such confusion and sorrow.

Dream #488 (January 19, 2013)

Well, well, well.


I was a part of some sort of retreat with my parents, brothers (Matt and Mike), Jason North, the Chupp family, and several other people.  My family, packed in the van we no longer own, pulled up to a cabin in a Tennessee woods at dusk.  We grabbed some belongings and entered to find that the interior looked much greater than the exterior.  We saw that the Chupps were already there, and both of our families decided to explore the cabin together.

I wandered off by myself into the basement where I found a strange maze of white drywall.  I spent several minutes working my way through the many corridors and turns until I found myself at a dead end.  Frustrated, I burst through the drywall in front of me and found Jason North inside of a bedroom with a bunk bed.  He greeted me as if I had just walked in the door.

I asked him where I was and why he was there, then he told me about a basketball camp that was taking place in the basement of the cabin and that I should check it out.  I followed him out of the room into a locker room that was the size of my parents' home. All the lockers were blue on one side of the room and red on the other, and there were dozens of mirrors placed randomly about.  Jason and I were the only two in the place.

After exploring briefly, I told Jason that I should rejoin my family.

I found myself back in the drywall maze where, after bursting through another wall, I ran into my dad and Matt, who had also just busted out a piece of drywall.  Seconds later, Karen Bartlett (my friend Jacob's mom) burst in through another wall and greeted us.

My dad then told me that we should lock up the Remedy office, which was apparently connected to the basement of the cabin. We all walked up out of the basement, somehow very easily finding our way, and entered into RemedyLIVE's studios.  We shut off all the lights and left out the back door.

As we exited, we ran into a group of four young individuals who were supposedly entering the building to clean it.  They didn't look like janitors to me, so I followed them in.  As I followed the last guy into the door, he 'accidentally' slammed the door into my right leg, crushing it.  My family gathered around me as I claimed that the so-called janitors were impostors.  Somehow they didn't believe me.

A few minutes later, the four came back out with a dog and a handful of Remedy's equipment.  I told my family to stop them, but they still didn't believe me, so I hobbled over to my car and parked it behind the four janitors' van.  Then I dove into the van right before the drove over the curb, through the grass, and out to the road.

The driver proceeded to pull out a gun and point it in my direction.  I grabbed the fella next to me and used him as a shield.  He turned out to be Jacob Bartlett.  I kept telling them to return the stolen goods, but the driver kept threatening me.  Finally, he went out and shot Jacob twice (not killing him, fortunately).  Then, I grabbed his gun and fired into his shoulder.

All of a sudden my dream rewound and I didn't fire into the driver's shoulder.  Instead, I hit him on the head with the gun and got him to pull over.  I kicked everyone out of the van.

Suddenly I forgot all that was going on for I saw the sun rising off in the distance beyond a glowing paradise in the sand by a great ocean.  It had appeared out of nowhere, and I wanted to be there far more than dealing with the four thieves.  I dropped the gun and began running toward the great mansion.


Then I awoke.

Dream #487 (January 11, 2013)

I seem to be getting busier and busier these days.

I dreamt that I was in a post-apocalyptic United States (though it was no longer the United States in my dream).  A community of people was dwelling in a huge gymnasium that was surrounded by whole houses that were inside of this enormous building.  The gym was the center of the community.

In the beginning of the dream, I was an ordinary citizen.  I walked out, in my blue and white stripped pajamas, to my mailbox and, yawning, I opened it up and discovered a purple envelope inside.  I studied it for a few moments, then proceeded to open it gracefully.

Inside was a handwritten letter inviting me to join a group of special purple-robe-wearing monks who were constantly searching for a solution to the problem of our society: we were unable to leave the great building without being destroyed.  The monks thought that there was a chosen Traveler who could explore parallel universes, but this Traveler was still yet to be discovered.  Many members of the community were skeptical of the monks, and rightfully so, for they hadn't accomplished anything.

I, still in my pajamas, walked into the gym and found my way to the great stage that rested at the far West (or what we thought was West) side.  I climbed up to where the monks were practicing their chants and their chemistry.

One of the senior monks, who had a green hood, motioned for me to come to him.  I did, and he explained that I was to go and see the Master Chef.  The Master, as he was commonly known as, was rumored to be the wisest man in the world.  Also, he was great at making potions, and the monks thought that through him the Traveler would find his way into other worlds.

I entered the smokey-green sacred chamber behind the stage, and the senior monk shut the door behind me.  It was dark, but I managed to make my way into a small sanctuary.  There was a purple carpet on the floor, and there were a dozen pews, each with jars of chemicals sitting atop them.  Then the Master, who was sitting amongst the jars, looked up at me, but without revealing his face or changing his posture.  I just knew that he looked up at me from the senses other than my sight.

He pointed at a jar and said, "Five hundred and five."  I looked at him and tried to give him money that I had in the pocket of my pajamas.  The only bill I had was a $100 bill.  He shook his head, took it, and handed me a different jar.  He motioned for me to exit.

When I rejoined with the other monks, I handed the senior monk the jar and he gave me a purple robe in exchange.  After I put it on, a thought entered my head.  "Pennies."

I immediately ran back into the sacred chamber and noticed that all of the jars on the pews had pennies in them.  I grabbed each one until I had gathered 505 pennies.  I gave them over to the wise man who then took off his hood and revealed his face (he resembled Josh Kauffman, a former babysitter of mine).  He then gave me the potion that he initially offered me and instructed me to drink it.  I did as he asked and felt lighter, as if I were spread out over several different scales.

He then blessed me and granted me an exit.

I rejoined the other monks who could not stop staring at me.  The senior monk then guided me to the stage and instructed me to jump off.  I, without much hesitation, did as he told.  As I fell, a black portal formed in front of me and I entered it.

I found myself flying through time and space.  I saw colors that I cannot describe in writing.

I soon appeared in a strange red hallway.  There were hundreds of penguins behind me, caged up and shivering.  One of the penguins began to speak to me, begging me to free them of the oppression.  Then I asked where I could find the key to the cage, and he handed it to me.  Confused, I opened up the cage as looks of horror spread across the faces of all the penguins.  They all pointed their fins behind me.  I turned and saw a great swarm of woodcutter bees flying toward us.

I held out my hand and, from another universe, appeared a jar of potion.  I threw it at the bees and they immediately became docile.  I told them to repair all the damage they had done to the penguin's world, and they began to obey me.

As the penguins began to thank me, I left their world and entered another one.

This world, which was like a populated desert, was full of kids dressed in ragged clothes.  They were all running about, screaming and waiving their arms in the air.  I tried to locate the oppressors, but I was unable to do so.  The world was full of shattered wood and debris.  At last I found a young boy who was, instead of panicking, taking shelter underneath a canoe.  I looked down at the child and touched his shoulder.  He looked up at me and, as I saw his fiery blue eyes, I knew that he was the Chosen One, and that I had already fulfilled the Traveler's Prophesy.  I grabbed the boy's hand so that he could join me back to my universe.  Suddenly, all of his world began turning to dark black soot and starting spinning around us.  Things were not quite as simple as I had imagined.

Then I awoke.

Dream #486 (December 26, 2012)

Post Christmas Post.


I dreamt that I was dwelling in some large apartment community outside of a city with many of my peers from Regent University.  I had my own little living space with a couch, a small table, a bed, a tiny kitchen, and a computer, all in the same room.  Everything was painted blue.  I was even wearing a blue blazer and blue pants (not jeans).

I left my apartment and walked down the hall to Dan McCullum's room because I was supposed to join him in attending a community Christmas service.  He had several other friends of his hanging out at his place, which looked very similar to mine (except he had more movie posters).  Derrick Collins (who was in his own little world during the entirety of his stay in my dream), Shea Weekley, and some made-up girl that was, in my dream, Shea's grilfriend, were all present.  Shea was currently in the bathroom, and I chose to sit down on the only open seat on the couch, which happened to be on the end next to Shea's girl.

Dan, who was sitting at his desk, began to ask me some questions regarding my latest videography experiences.  I told him that I had just finished writing a feature and that I intended to purchases both a RED One and a 35mm motion film camera (I don't have money for that in real life).  Dan then became quite critical of my decision and asked me why I would purchase such cameras.  He said that he thought shooting on a RED was a sorry method of visual storytelling and that 35mm film had died.  Then he told me that I should get an Alexa, that it was the only way to go with a camera (he definitely does NOT have this opinion in real life - he would argue that there are stories and styles that call for different tools).  I said I would get the Alexa if I had the dimes for it.

Then Dan told me he had some research to do before we left, so he turned his focused onto his computer.  Then, to my discomfort, Shea's gal began to scoot over in my direction.  After I ran out of room on my end of the couch, she scooted right into me.  She looked at me and started flirting with me like a madvillain.  We ended having an interesting conversation about Japanese film after the first few awkward conversation attempts.

Shea finally came out of the bathroom, and by that time I had taken an interest in this rather aggressive gal that my subconscious had invented.  The girl became quite silent after he entered the room, but she slipped me a note that said we could continue the conversation about Kurosawa, Mizoguchi, and the like after the service.

I decided not to go to the service at that point because I wanted to avoid the awkwardness.  I ended up wandering out of the community in the darkness.

I found myself in an old movie set that was, in my dream, designed by Buster Keaton.  There were tons of trap doors, falling walls, spinning rooms, and trick furniture, and I had a great time experiencing this place by myself.

As I was getting ready to leave, I was greeted by Shea's girlfriend (she never gets a name).  She walked up to me and asked me why I didn't go to the Christmas service.  I told her that she was primarily the reason and that I didn't want to screw up the connection, as small as it was, that I had with Shea and company.

She persisted, however, that we become a couple.


Then I switched to a different dream.


I was wondering through Oregon-Davis High School (though, in my dream, it was far bigger and located in a city).  I was working for some large event they were hosting, but I had time to kill.  I tried to find my math teacher that I had in school, Mrs. Badertscher, but I couldn't locate her classroom.  I walked to the front office hoping that a staff member would know where to lead me.

I found that the entire office staff was on vacation.  As I was exiting the school, I heard a voice call my name.  I turned and saw none other than Jay-Z (apparently an old friend of mine in my dream).  I walked over to him and he told me that he was filling in for the entire office staff (he is a business, man).  Then he asked me how I was doing, and I told him about the screenplay I was working on.  He wished me luck with that, then told me to check out the city parade that was then taking place.

I thought that sounded fun, so I left him and the school and walked down to Main Street where the parade was, well, parading through.

There were tons of gigantic balloons of various famous cartoon characters that passed by.  Then I noticed a float resembling a trolly pass by, on top of which stood the Oregon-Davis basketball team.  I recognized many of the players as my teammates with whom I had graduated years before.  I ran up to the float and walked on.

There I talked with Coach Hannah and asked him how the former players were again eligible to play.  He said that there was some loophole that they were taking advantage of, and that he wanted me back on the team.  I thought it was ridiculous, but for some reason I accepted his offer and took my seat, with my number (#20), on the float and immediately began waiving at the crowd.


Then I awoke.

Dream #485 (December 25, 2012)

Merry Christmas, brethren.


I dreamt that I was attending a professional basketball game with a few friends and neighbors.  Most of my friends were enjoying the game from some pretty good seats in the stadium.  I, however, had seat very close to the floor, but they were facing away from the basketball court.  My neighbor Donald was next to me, and every once in a while we got up from our seats and walked around the corner of the bleachers to see what was going on.

At half time, Don and I were talking about baking brownies when, with little warning, he sneezed a load of snot right in my face.  My eyes were covered in a thick mucus and, though I tried to stay calm, I could not hold in my disgust.  As I tried to scrape the slime off of my eye, I began to feel as if I were going to throw up.

I made my way out of the gym and to the concession stand.  I grabbed a styrofoam bowl and proceeded to vomit an oatmeal-like substance into it, filling it to the top.  After that episode, my stomach was at ease.

I left the stadium and walked through a tunnel to my hotel, still carrying my puke.  I took an elevator up to the top floor and went into my room.  There I, for reasons unknown, place my bowl in the refrigerator.  I then sat down on a black leather recliner and tried to sleep.

The next thing I knew, I heard the hotel room door slam and I saw my friend Kevin Chupp walk into the kitchen.   I didn't think much of it, until he came out with a styrofoam bowl and a plastic spoon.  I watched him take a bite then remembered what he was eating.

"No!"

I tried to stop him, but it was too late.  Apparently he enjoyed the spoonful, but I couldn't allow him to eat the rest, so I took the bowl and threw it out the window onto the city street below.


Then I awoke.

Dream #484 (December 22, 2012)

I'm still here.


I dreamt that I was in my old high school.  The last class of the day had just finished and I was walking home (I live probably 5 or so miles from the school) with Brandon Johnston and Adam Pflugshaupt, both former classmates of mine.

We, for some reason, were discussing airplanes as we walked over the largest hill on the school rode.  At the perfect time in the conversation I whipped out a paper airplane, which I had made in class earlier that day, out of the pocket of my blue sweatshirt.  The guys were impressed with its look and design (I had drawn, in pencil, some interesting artwork all over the plane), and they prompted me to give it a toss, which is exactly what I did.

The plane flew much further than I had ever seen a paper airplane fly before, and it landed about 110 yards away from us in a nearby field.  The three of us ran as fast as we could after it to make sure we could find it in the tall weeds.

As I ran into the field, I was stopped short by a strong pain.  I fell to the ground and stared at the sky until it lessened.  About a minute later, Brandon, carrying my plane, and Adam walked up to me and asked me if everything was alright.  I said probably, then looked down at my foot.

A large weed was somehow forced underneath the nail of my big toe on my left foot, and it came clear through out the back side of the nail.  It was bizarre and very painful, for the weed had thorns and briars all up on it.

I, with a strange pleasantness, slowly slid the weed out from under my toenail and jumped to my feet.  The pain was great, and I wasn't able to walk very well, so Adam said he'd call for a ride.  He and Brandon helped me to the side of the road as Adam called somebody on his cell phone.

We only waited for a few moments before some high school gal in an old, beat-up blue car zoomed up to us and slammed on the breaks right before passing us.  She manually rolled down her window and told us to hop in, which we did.

The back seat was filled with all kinds of strange stuff, including toy trolls, rubber ducks, honey combs, and tinker toys.  The girl was talking on and on about something, but I couldn't understand her high school girl accent.


Eventually I awoke.