XLRHN
8/17: Hard time waking up, and left phone (with alarm) in other room. Despite the slow start, nailed a bunch of stuff at work, had yesterday’s lunch. Serious mid-back-ache; maybe car related. Fun Zumba class (as usual), stopped for Chinese buffet, grocery shopping, home around 10. Writing journal now.
8/18: Cuddly wakeup. Once again, on drugs and very effective at work. Beats me. Set up guest room for the most part, hard time getting to sleep.
8/19: Same thing with drugs and effectiveness. Tai Chi here and there (had to run back and forth because we couldn’t find an empty classroom), surprised Sweetheart, ice cream cake for peoples’ birthdays at work. Stepped into an unnecessary FB debate. Hiked to Q (with only a brief sprinkling), got really great salad and roast yam, but not fond of the venue’s smell. Game was highly distracted, but we eventually got into the rhythm. Almost done with the castle!
8/20: Sweetheart arrived shortly after everyone else left. Hard time getting to sleep - probably the disagreement rumbling in my head. Eventually slept. I wasn’t in this dream: Weedy neighborhood in Jersey. Child Macauley Culkin is crossing a creek, other boys are skipping rocks. Someone yells out the back door of their apartment {which started to turn into the inspiration for a song}. There’s a dog that won’t quite obey commands, but will follow people around and maybe do smarter-than-usual things if you show it how to do it… and it wants to. Something about motorcycle jousting, and one of the combatants telling the other, “God help you.” Early wakeup, not as sleepy as I would otherwise have expected. Watched a bit of Buffy while eating breakfast, went to gym; Sweetheart dropped me off en-route to a charity. It feels weird without her. More people in Zumba this time. Went to Marcello’s for lunch; very attentive service, not too expensive. We had planned various things for the day, but ended up going home and taking a nap. I got up around 6, read some, picked up a little bit; could have done more, but I didn’t want to wake her up. Got some tennis balls for rubbing my back; curiously, there was a peel-back lid like for soup, and even more curiously, there was an audible *POP* and slight exhalation (the plastic container jumped) when I opened it. Sweetheart didn’t wake up until 9. We made arugula and beet and pistachio salad - now realized second salad in one day. Finished Buffy episode. Edited her paper, caught up with day, went to bed in the guest room.
8/21: Very hard falling asleep - some from the overhead noise, but mostly because someone was grabby and I had a headache. I don’t remember most of my dream, but near the end I’m walking around a college graduation. Lots of clubs are having special events. I meet cousins who are playing some minigame with tower defense - classic video game characters against a heap of zombies - literally a heap, illustrated as a dark blue mass with the occasional monstrous head or rotting limb sticking out; I think it was intended as a drawing shortcut and artistic license rather than meaning there was a blob, since hero attacks still ended up affecting individual zombies. Somewhere in the midst of playing, Knox splashes a bunch of people with his speed/houseboat, racing into a spot in pews that are separated by water for some reason. After I finish my turn with the game I get into the auditorium/church and follow, I think in a boat, but I can’t keep up with Knox. Something with family. Sweetheart let me sleep in while making experimental pancakes with red beans. Another day, another Buffy. Fairly well-put-together Pathfinder game, despite cailement being hit by migraine halfway through. Decided to try out Plaka again. Ate dinner first, although it ran into dance time. Had the mixed dips, and some ouzo cocktail. Very pleasant time dancing; danced the whole time from the minute I entered. Left a little earlier than I could have; didn’t want to overdo it, and I knew Sweetheart would be waiting for me. Picked up roses and toilet paper en route - ah, the romantic life. Sweetheart wasn’t at the computer when I got home. I looked around a bit, and after most of the expected places, I decided she must have stepped out for something. After a few minutes, I heard a meow. She had intentionally hidden! I never expected such treachery! She went to bed early for an early morning tomorrow, while I finished up some work.
8/22: Forgot dream. Got up in a hurry, ready for work with no breakfast, came with Sweetheart (who had an early conference call). Very effective day despite the constant tug of FaceBook. Lunch out at Tin Lizzy’s, a little extra for breakfast and pending workout. Wrote a bunch of Board messages, managed info, gym.
8/23: Wandering around a wintry shopping center, complete with cozy train. In one of the shops, I realize I’m completely nude, and grab a gift towel set and wrap it around myself {kind of similar to gym}. No wallet, either, but I have a friend (“Brian”?) shopping elsewhere, and ask the clerk if I can go find them to borrow five dollars. {Scene shift} Riding on the train. {Scene shift} A very distant friend is hitting on me, and asking me needy questions about if I could possibly love her, or if there’s anything wrong {reminiscent of experience with user sleeping-hare insisting I give her a chance; was thinking about that recently}. I tell her she should not be asking me that, I’m with someone {curiously, not Sweetheart}. I don’t mention this to distant friend, but I’m engaged to (dream lover). {Scene shift} A girl died in a Victorian mansion. Some book has all kinds of rules and suggestions about how things are supposed to be - something about curling up the bottom of the wallpaper (this room has taupe with loverly knots criss-crossing at diagonals), and something about not leaving dolls in the bed because it’d be uncomfortable to roll over them. Room is simultaneously cozy and unsettling, and I think the dead girl is one of my relatives. Not sure if I should be freaked out or relieved. I was only kind of in that last one; some of it was happening when I was out of the scene, as well. Found out that “Transmetropolitan” was publicly available, re-read the whole thing in one go. Highly recommended. Sweetheart demanded samosas, so we went to Masti this time. Lots of nose-blowing; it’s hard to find stuff there that doesn’t get my nose running, although curiously the pickle wasn’t that spicy. Watched “Graduation Day”, called Dad, got to talk to S’mom as well. Assembled furniture.
8/24: Forgot dreams. Work got basics done, but still pulled off course by a lot, including a case of the nasties. Picked up jacket at long last (Sweetheart had it in the trunk for months, followed by another few weeks at the cleaners). Went to dinner early, joined by Sweetheart’s colleague Candace shortly thereafter, and her boss a little while after. I probably should have gone for something new, but I got the vegetarian sampler again. Kind of drifted out of the conversation when it got too work-related, but I was able to pop in here and there. Lots of smoke coming from the kitchen. Started Season 4.
8/25: I had a relatively easy time sleeping, but in the morning I realized Sweetheart had moved. Made tea, tidied a few things, and got morning stuff done. She woke up later, said she couldn’t sleep but didn’t want to wake me. More work stuff, met Sweetheart for lunch. Chiro after work, got the kinks out, borrowed a TENS for persistent back pain. Sweetheart was napping when I got up. Organized game stuff, she woke up while I was gathering dinner supplies and ended up cooking despite her condition. Another dinner and show, then she got to reading about infectious diseases while I took care of night stuff and preparing for Pathfinder.
8/26: Another early morning; together with Monday meant getting to leave early. Annoyed with Tai Chi class; everyone else being on an insecure communication program means I have to compromise my tricorder to stay in the loop. Very nice dinner at My Parent’s Basement, including a surprise visit with Alexandra (we were apparently saving her from the “bro-ery”). Game was something of a disaster: The Wi-Fi didn't work for an hour, one of the characters got cursed, the combat was interrupted by dogs, and they found a way to skip to the final boss. I had to pause at that point because not all the players were there and I want everyone to be able to take part for the grand finale. That being said, the metagame section afterwards was excellent. We got to talk about character interaction, differing play styles, and the qualities of the possible adventure paths for the next series I run. Home earlier than expected because of the paused game, and unexpectedly, Sweetheart was still awake.
8/27: Restless rest, in-and-out of dreams. DragonCon scheduling. Filing through pews back-and-forth in a mostly-empty church: Down one all the way, around the end, and back up the next one. Elizabeth Carrol is there. {Wake up briefly?} Sleepover at John’s apartment {looks more like Dave Stahl’s in real life}, Yin-Yin is the last to leave. {Indefinite break} There’s a Chinese cultural show. Afterwards I start playing with a soccer ball, others (including Jingjing) join in. I do a really high uncontrolled kick, I’m planning on a super headbutt but it drops in front of me instead. Lots of related-to-recent-experiences there. Dropped Sweetheart off at school, went to General for breakfast. Poached eggs and grits were very nice, and sopping it up with toast was fun, but I felt out-of-place in workout clothes. All kinds of places were locked on campus, gave up and decided to type on my tricorder while circling the track. Found a third dime, this time in the workout studio… this is getting odd. I didn't make much of it finding one in the parking lot yesterday, or on the stairs at work the previous day, but this is three days in a row. Zumba was fun, a few new songs, other students from last week came back. Weird misdirect with shopping; went up to Global Mall for laddu, ate lunch, decided to head back home instead of continuing to shopping. And then, rather than heading home, went to see “Suicide Squad” instead. Amazing characterization for Harley Quinn (and pretty good pairing with Joker), great story for Deadpool (even if it’s a cheap shot), not much else. Perfect timing to head over to Iron Age, although the GPS got confused (along with us). Fun time cooking our own bowl of veggies, even more fun watching trippy Korean pop videos - missed former roommates. Went nextdoor for dessert, got a loverly slice of cake (despite it not being any of the presumed specialties). Despite others talking about keeping the party going, we headed home to hit the hay.
8/28: Slept in in the guest room - her more than me. Negotiated this and that, I agreed to go to the distant outlet malls with her. Bothersome time trying to figure out where to go while the church folks flooded out for brunch. Ended up having a very nice lunch at Romano’s, all kinds of quality ingredients fluttering through the taste. Found mushrooms hiding in a secluded section of the parking lot. Made it up to the mall, spent several hours and a few hundred dollars, decided not to get shoes that just didn’t impress me. Back South to meet Jason and Joanna (and Benjamin). Very nice house, similar pattern to Sister’s; neighborhood’s a bit buggy, and apparently has rabbits. Joanna offered us crepes, which was the perfect opportunity to bring out the collection of preserves we had brought for them. Thereafter went to Madras Mantra for a light dinner and some heavy conversation - all good, but lots of relationship stuff that would scare some people in the first year of dating.
8/29: Woke up before alarm, got everything ready for work. Start of work was really on-key, end was less so. Sweetheart was getting pictures taken for her pass, so I decided to meet her for lunch. Met at gym, realized how much I missed her back on Saturday when I knew she wasn’t there. When she asked about making change for tomorrow’s application fees, I suggested we pick up a little something from a shop to break a 20, and she decided to interpret that as “let’s eat out for dinner”. Went to Las Brasas again, had the spectacular chocolate cake. Home, got all the things together for her application.
8/30: Forgot dreams with the creeping awareness of movement. Woke up early with Sweetheart shuffling about getting her stuff together. Walked to shuttle stop, started reading Pathfinder. Work was pretty focused, very few FB-related distractions, mostly good at pulling myself back on-task when I did get distracted. Lots of con-related e-mails and postings. Shuttle home, more reading en route. Kept strolling waiting for a gap in the traffic, and it didn’t happen for half a mile, so I decided to take a secret path home. Stopped a few times when the path was blocked. Lots of cleaning at home for pending arrival, broke a razor while cleaning the stove. Made spinach-and-cream gnocchi, with leftover sauce from Romano’s yesterday.
8/31: Forgot first dream, Sweetheart woke me up to ask the time. Vacation homes on the edge of a cliff. Running down a wooded hill. Some kind of flood, jump on kayaks in a river. Friend is unconscious, but we get him into a kayak and pointed down-river. Very rugged landscape. Come to the end of the river - like where a waterfall would be, but it’s just the end of that part of the course. Some concern about going around a corner, but I seem to manage. This part involves climbing ropes and rock-wall climbing handholds while carrying the kayak with legs. Johnny is ahead of me, Adam is behind me, and there are a few other people farther along the course. The ropes I’m on bend, and dip to let the three of us off at the bottom. An older couple (Black woman and White man) ask how we got ahead and whether it’s legal. Nice to see my subconscious is getting more integrated. Sweetheart said she heard her phone ring. Curiously, mine didn't, but karishi was at the door all the same. A bit of catching up, Frontier is terrible, and sent him to bed. Fried an egg badly - sticking to a non-stick pan, melting the plastic on the spatula. Very distracted at work, last slice of cake for breakfast before they throw the box away while I’m gone. Looked up D*C stuff, lots of D*C conversations (as well as general quips) on FB. Workout, realized I needed another 2000 calories after workout, decided to go to Green Ginger. Very nice.
8/18: Cuddly wakeup. Once again, on drugs and very effective at work. Beats me. Set up guest room for the most part, hard time getting to sleep.
8/19: Same thing with drugs and effectiveness. Tai Chi here and there (had to run back and forth because we couldn’t find an empty classroom), surprised Sweetheart, ice cream cake for peoples’ birthdays at work. Stepped into an unnecessary FB debate. Hiked to Q (with only a brief sprinkling), got really great salad and roast yam, but not fond of the venue’s smell. Game was highly distracted, but we eventually got into the rhythm. Almost done with the castle!
8/20: Sweetheart arrived shortly after everyone else left. Hard time getting to sleep - probably the disagreement rumbling in my head. Eventually slept. I wasn’t in this dream: Weedy neighborhood in Jersey. Child Macauley Culkin is crossing a creek, other boys are skipping rocks. Someone yells out the back door of their apartment {which started to turn into the inspiration for a song}. There’s a dog that won’t quite obey commands, but will follow people around and maybe do smarter-than-usual things if you show it how to do it… and it wants to. Something about motorcycle jousting, and one of the combatants telling the other, “God help you.” Early wakeup, not as sleepy as I would otherwise have expected. Watched a bit of Buffy while eating breakfast, went to gym; Sweetheart dropped me off en-route to a charity. It feels weird without her. More people in Zumba this time. Went to Marcello’s for lunch; very attentive service, not too expensive. We had planned various things for the day, but ended up going home and taking a nap. I got up around 6, read some, picked up a little bit; could have done more, but I didn’t want to wake her up. Got some tennis balls for rubbing my back; curiously, there was a peel-back lid like for soup, and even more curiously, there was an audible *POP* and slight exhalation (the plastic container jumped) when I opened it. Sweetheart didn’t wake up until 9. We made arugula and beet and pistachio salad - now realized second salad in one day. Finished Buffy episode. Edited her paper, caught up with day, went to bed in the guest room.
8/21: Very hard falling asleep - some from the overhead noise, but mostly because someone was grabby and I had a headache. I don’t remember most of my dream, but near the end I’m walking around a college graduation. Lots of clubs are having special events. I meet cousins who are playing some minigame with tower defense - classic video game characters against a heap of zombies - literally a heap, illustrated as a dark blue mass with the occasional monstrous head or rotting limb sticking out; I think it was intended as a drawing shortcut and artistic license rather than meaning there was a blob, since hero attacks still ended up affecting individual zombies. Somewhere in the midst of playing, Knox splashes a bunch of people with his speed/houseboat, racing into a spot in pews that are separated by water for some reason. After I finish my turn with the game I get into the auditorium/church and follow, I think in a boat, but I can’t keep up with Knox. Something with family. Sweetheart let me sleep in while making experimental pancakes with red beans. Another day, another Buffy. Fairly well-put-together Pathfinder game, despite cailement being hit by migraine halfway through. Decided to try out Plaka again. Ate dinner first, although it ran into dance time. Had the mixed dips, and some ouzo cocktail. Very pleasant time dancing; danced the whole time from the minute I entered. Left a little earlier than I could have; didn’t want to overdo it, and I knew Sweetheart would be waiting for me. Picked up roses and toilet paper en route - ah, the romantic life. Sweetheart wasn’t at the computer when I got home. I looked around a bit, and after most of the expected places, I decided she must have stepped out for something. After a few minutes, I heard a meow. She had intentionally hidden! I never expected such treachery! She went to bed early for an early morning tomorrow, while I finished up some work.
8/22: Forgot dream. Got up in a hurry, ready for work with no breakfast, came with Sweetheart (who had an early conference call). Very effective day despite the constant tug of FaceBook. Lunch out at Tin Lizzy’s, a little extra for breakfast and pending workout. Wrote a bunch of Board messages, managed info, gym.
8/23: Wandering around a wintry shopping center, complete with cozy train. In one of the shops, I realize I’m completely nude, and grab a gift towel set and wrap it around myself {kind of similar to gym}. No wallet, either, but I have a friend (“Brian”?) shopping elsewhere, and ask the clerk if I can go find them to borrow five dollars. {Scene shift} Riding on the train. {Scene shift} A very distant friend is hitting on me, and asking me needy questions about if I could possibly love her, or if there’s anything wrong {reminiscent of experience with user sleeping-hare insisting I give her a chance; was thinking about that recently}. I tell her she should not be asking me that, I’m with someone {curiously, not Sweetheart}. I don’t mention this to distant friend, but I’m engaged to (dream lover). {Scene shift} A girl died in a Victorian mansion. Some book has all kinds of rules and suggestions about how things are supposed to be - something about curling up the bottom of the wallpaper (this room has taupe with loverly knots criss-crossing at diagonals), and something about not leaving dolls in the bed because it’d be uncomfortable to roll over them. Room is simultaneously cozy and unsettling, and I think the dead girl is one of my relatives. Not sure if I should be freaked out or relieved. I was only kind of in that last one; some of it was happening when I was out of the scene, as well. Found out that “Transmetropolitan” was publicly available, re-read the whole thing in one go. Highly recommended. Sweetheart demanded samosas, so we went to Masti this time. Lots of nose-blowing; it’s hard to find stuff there that doesn’t get my nose running, although curiously the pickle wasn’t that spicy. Watched “Graduation Day”, called Dad, got to talk to S’mom as well. Assembled furniture.
8/24: Forgot dreams. Work got basics done, but still pulled off course by a lot, including a case of the nasties. Picked up jacket at long last (Sweetheart had it in the trunk for months, followed by another few weeks at the cleaners). Went to dinner early, joined by Sweetheart’s colleague Candace shortly thereafter, and her boss a little while after. I probably should have gone for something new, but I got the vegetarian sampler again. Kind of drifted out of the conversation when it got too work-related, but I was able to pop in here and there. Lots of smoke coming from the kitchen. Started Season 4.
8/25: I had a relatively easy time sleeping, but in the morning I realized Sweetheart had moved. Made tea, tidied a few things, and got morning stuff done. She woke up later, said she couldn’t sleep but didn’t want to wake me. More work stuff, met Sweetheart for lunch. Chiro after work, got the kinks out, borrowed a TENS for persistent back pain. Sweetheart was napping when I got up. Organized game stuff, she woke up while I was gathering dinner supplies and ended up cooking despite her condition. Another dinner and show, then she got to reading about infectious diseases while I took care of night stuff and preparing for Pathfinder.
8/26: Another early morning; together with Monday meant getting to leave early. Annoyed with Tai Chi class; everyone else being on an insecure communication program means I have to compromise my tricorder to stay in the loop. Very nice dinner at My Parent’s Basement, including a surprise visit with Alexandra (we were apparently saving her from the “bro-ery”). Game was something of a disaster: The Wi-Fi didn't work for an hour, one of the characters got cursed, the combat was interrupted by dogs, and they found a way to skip to the final boss. I had to pause at that point because not all the players were there and I want everyone to be able to take part for the grand finale. That being said, the metagame section afterwards was excellent. We got to talk about character interaction, differing play styles, and the qualities of the possible adventure paths for the next series I run. Home earlier than expected because of the paused game, and unexpectedly, Sweetheart was still awake.
8/27: Restless rest, in-and-out of dreams. DragonCon scheduling. Filing through pews back-and-forth in a mostly-empty church: Down one all the way, around the end, and back up the next one. Elizabeth Carrol is there. {Wake up briefly?} Sleepover at John’s apartment {looks more like Dave Stahl’s in real life}, Yin-Yin is the last to leave. {Indefinite break} There’s a Chinese cultural show. Afterwards I start playing with a soccer ball, others (including Jingjing) join in. I do a really high uncontrolled kick, I’m planning on a super headbutt but it drops in front of me instead. Lots of related-to-recent-experiences there. Dropped Sweetheart off at school, went to General for breakfast. Poached eggs and grits were very nice, and sopping it up with toast was fun, but I felt out-of-place in workout clothes. All kinds of places were locked on campus, gave up and decided to type on my tricorder while circling the track. Found a third dime, this time in the workout studio… this is getting odd. I didn't make much of it finding one in the parking lot yesterday, or on the stairs at work the previous day, but this is three days in a row. Zumba was fun, a few new songs, other students from last week came back. Weird misdirect with shopping; went up to Global Mall for laddu, ate lunch, decided to head back home instead of continuing to shopping. And then, rather than heading home, went to see “Suicide Squad” instead. Amazing characterization for Harley Quinn (and pretty good pairing with Joker), great story for Deadpool (even if it’s a cheap shot), not much else. Perfect timing to head over to Iron Age, although the GPS got confused (along with us). Fun time cooking our own bowl of veggies, even more fun watching trippy Korean pop videos - missed former roommates. Went nextdoor for dessert, got a loverly slice of cake (despite it not being any of the presumed specialties). Despite others talking about keeping the party going, we headed home to hit the hay.
8/28: Slept in in the guest room - her more than me. Negotiated this and that, I agreed to go to the distant outlet malls with her. Bothersome time trying to figure out where to go while the church folks flooded out for brunch. Ended up having a very nice lunch at Romano’s, all kinds of quality ingredients fluttering through the taste. Found mushrooms hiding in a secluded section of the parking lot. Made it up to the mall, spent several hours and a few hundred dollars, decided not to get shoes that just didn’t impress me. Back South to meet Jason and Joanna (and Benjamin). Very nice house, similar pattern to Sister’s; neighborhood’s a bit buggy, and apparently has rabbits. Joanna offered us crepes, which was the perfect opportunity to bring out the collection of preserves we had brought for them. Thereafter went to Madras Mantra for a light dinner and some heavy conversation - all good, but lots of relationship stuff that would scare some people in the first year of dating.
8/29: Woke up before alarm, got everything ready for work. Start of work was really on-key, end was less so. Sweetheart was getting pictures taken for her pass, so I decided to meet her for lunch. Met at gym, realized how much I missed her back on Saturday when I knew she wasn’t there. When she asked about making change for tomorrow’s application fees, I suggested we pick up a little something from a shop to break a 20, and she decided to interpret that as “let’s eat out for dinner”. Went to Las Brasas again, had the spectacular chocolate cake. Home, got all the things together for her application.
8/30: Forgot dreams with the creeping awareness of movement. Woke up early with Sweetheart shuffling about getting her stuff together. Walked to shuttle stop, started reading Pathfinder. Work was pretty focused, very few FB-related distractions, mostly good at pulling myself back on-task when I did get distracted. Lots of con-related e-mails and postings. Shuttle home, more reading en route. Kept strolling waiting for a gap in the traffic, and it didn’t happen for half a mile, so I decided to take a secret path home. Stopped a few times when the path was blocked. Lots of cleaning at home for pending arrival, broke a razor while cleaning the stove. Made spinach-and-cream gnocchi, with leftover sauce from Romano’s yesterday.
8/31: Forgot first dream, Sweetheart woke me up to ask the time. Vacation homes on the edge of a cliff. Running down a wooded hill. Some kind of flood, jump on kayaks in a river. Friend is unconscious, but we get him into a kayak and pointed down-river. Very rugged landscape. Come to the end of the river - like where a waterfall would be, but it’s just the end of that part of the course. Some concern about going around a corner, but I seem to manage. This part involves climbing ropes and rock-wall climbing handholds while carrying the kayak with legs. Johnny is ahead of me, Adam is behind me, and there are a few other people farther along the course. The ropes I’m on bend, and dip to let the three of us off at the bottom. An older couple (Black woman and White man) ask how we got ahead and whether it’s legal. Nice to see my subconscious is getting more integrated. Sweetheart said she heard her phone ring. Curiously, mine didn't, but karishi was at the door all the same. A bit of catching up, Frontier is terrible, and sent him to bed. Fried an egg badly - sticking to a non-stick pan, melting the plastic on the spatula. Very distracted at work, last slice of cake for breakfast before they throw the box away while I’m gone. Looked up D*C stuff, lots of D*C conversations (as well as general quips) on FB. Workout, realized I needed another 2000 calories after workout, decided to go to Green Ginger. Very nice.