dream
Okay, so I had a strange dream last night. I say strange because I rarely have dreams, and when I have dreams, they are typically very hideously nightmare-ish. Last night's dream was actually pleasant which makes it exceedingly unusual. Anyway it's running around in my head and I figure if I write it down I might manage to stop thinking about it.
In my dream, I visited a guy I met long ago in Champaign - Eric. In real life, Eric's moved off to Iowa, is in a relationship, has a kid, and is still deeply involved in music. Back then in C-U, Eric and I spent time together talking about all number of deep philosophical and spiritual things and became quite intimate with one another. Anyway, in my dream he was living in a housing co-op situation... I remember arriving and he was in the middle of bathing... in a round metal tub, like one might find on a farm... in the front yard of his neighbor's house across the street from the house he lived in. He saw me arrive, got out of the tub, and sauntered - unabashedly naked - into his house to get dressed and let his housemates know I had arrived. We had a group dinner and he introduced me around. He had a music performance he was getting ready to spend the evening involved with and his roommates had tons of projects art and work and canning produce which they were in the middle of, so I had been invited to host an important guest that was arriving a bit after dinner. They all took off to do their various activities, and I then was the only one around to receive Neil Gaiman when he arrived. I set a couple of chairs out on the lawn and started to just casually converse with Neil Gaiman.
It was very odd. It was like he was an old friend that I'd been hanging out with for years. We talked as peers or equals. Asking about what projects he had in the works, what things were like with Amanda, how she was doing, how were his dogs... etc. Talked about projects I was working on and how things are going with all the people that frequent my house. It was like he was an old friend and we were just catching up. I went in to get him a glass of water and ran across my SLC friend Gary. I invited Gary to join in the conversation, which he did... adding another chair to the lawn. Gary started asking Neil about who he is and what he does... commenting that he'd never heard of Neil. When I pointed out that Neil created Mirrormask which I've tried to have Gary watch with me, Gary made a face and stated that he didn't much care for that one. I mentioned some other things Neil had worked on and Gary acted very haughty and said that none of that was a valid contribution to society, and why did he bother wasting his time on such frivolous, unimportant projects. He was laying in with more criticism and snobbish elitism (he's a professor of Spanish literature at the U here and I think I sometimes feel frustrated by his skewed view of things) when I had to go in to find some back-up who would be on my side of appreciating Neil.
I was specifically looking for my friend Mike O. who also appreciates Neil, but I ran across Shae instead. I invited her to come talk with Neil... and she came out all hero-worshiper style just gushing about how awesome he was... and trying to pick his brain about how he got into writing, how he got his ideas, what was next for him... etc. I was frustrated because neither of them quite had the ability to talk with Neil as a person, as a peer, as an equal. He's just a guy... he just writes books and other creative things that appeal to many people. I was wanting to search out Mike to get him involved in the conversation because I thought he'd have some really valid contribution to the conversation. I couldn't find him... but came across a couple of Eric's housemates very involved in sex in a bedroom that had the door wide open. I watched for a few moments then I kept poking around the house trying to find Mike. Eventually I just kind of woke up. Upon waking, I felt two things very strongly... first, I was disappointed that I couldn't share the visit from Neil with Mike, and second, I felt as if I hadn't quite discussed everything I'd wanted to with Neil. I also observed once I was awake that the Neil of my dream had cut his hair quite a bit shorter and I liked it better longer.
That's it. Not sure what it means or why I dreamed all of that. I liked it though.
In my dream, I visited a guy I met long ago in Champaign - Eric. In real life, Eric's moved off to Iowa, is in a relationship, has a kid, and is still deeply involved in music. Back then in C-U, Eric and I spent time together talking about all number of deep philosophical and spiritual things and became quite intimate with one another. Anyway, in my dream he was living in a housing co-op situation... I remember arriving and he was in the middle of bathing... in a round metal tub, like one might find on a farm... in the front yard of his neighbor's house across the street from the house he lived in. He saw me arrive, got out of the tub, and sauntered - unabashedly naked - into his house to get dressed and let his housemates know I had arrived. We had a group dinner and he introduced me around. He had a music performance he was getting ready to spend the evening involved with and his roommates had tons of projects art and work and canning produce which they were in the middle of, so I had been invited to host an important guest that was arriving a bit after dinner. They all took off to do their various activities, and I then was the only one around to receive Neil Gaiman when he arrived. I set a couple of chairs out on the lawn and started to just casually converse with Neil Gaiman.
It was very odd. It was like he was an old friend that I'd been hanging out with for years. We talked as peers or equals. Asking about what projects he had in the works, what things were like with Amanda, how she was doing, how were his dogs... etc. Talked about projects I was working on and how things are going with all the people that frequent my house. It was like he was an old friend and we were just catching up. I went in to get him a glass of water and ran across my SLC friend Gary. I invited Gary to join in the conversation, which he did... adding another chair to the lawn. Gary started asking Neil about who he is and what he does... commenting that he'd never heard of Neil. When I pointed out that Neil created Mirrormask which I've tried to have Gary watch with me, Gary made a face and stated that he didn't much care for that one. I mentioned some other things Neil had worked on and Gary acted very haughty and said that none of that was a valid contribution to society, and why did he bother wasting his time on such frivolous, unimportant projects. He was laying in with more criticism and snobbish elitism (he's a professor of Spanish literature at the U here and I think I sometimes feel frustrated by his skewed view of things) when I had to go in to find some back-up who would be on my side of appreciating Neil.
I was specifically looking for my friend Mike O. who also appreciates Neil, but I ran across Shae instead. I invited her to come talk with Neil... and she came out all hero-worshiper style just gushing about how awesome he was... and trying to pick his brain about how he got into writing, how he got his ideas, what was next for him... etc. I was frustrated because neither of them quite had the ability to talk with Neil as a person, as a peer, as an equal. He's just a guy... he just writes books and other creative things that appeal to many people. I was wanting to search out Mike to get him involved in the conversation because I thought he'd have some really valid contribution to the conversation. I couldn't find him... but came across a couple of Eric's housemates very involved in sex in a bedroom that had the door wide open. I watched for a few moments then I kept poking around the house trying to find Mike. Eventually I just kind of woke up. Upon waking, I felt two things very strongly... first, I was disappointed that I couldn't share the visit from Neil with Mike, and second, I felt as if I hadn't quite discussed everything I'd wanted to with Neil. I also observed once I was awake that the Neil of my dream had cut his hair quite a bit shorter and I liked it better longer.
That's it. Not sure what it means or why I dreamed all of that. I liked it though.