The Bitter Tears in an Alley

I was walking at night in a city. I came across a dark alley. When I looked down the gravel, I saw the Bitter Tears slinking around. These ol' guys:



It seemed like they were trying to be creepy but really they were more like British humor:

Shark Bite

I was standing next to the street and a shark leaped up from the road and latched onto my left forearm. I ran inside the house and locked myself in the bathroom. I tried to open the shark's jaw but it held on so tight. Blood was pouring out of my arm; bright red puddles pooled at my feet. When I finally pried the shark free I flung him to the bathroom floor. It immediately froze and looked like an ice sculpture.

Two Dreams About Fish

I dreamed that I could grab little birds, sparrows and parakeets, by their tiny legs and their feet would latch around my fingers. They liked being there. Also there was a tiny white fish out of the water and I gave it CPR by pressing its lungs rhythmically with my thumb.

In another dream, I was going fishing inside an abandoned and flooded trailer with two of my coworkers. It was a field trip, it was supposed to be fun, a treat. I reached down and grabbed a huge fish out of the water with my bare hands. My coworker Lauren said knowingly, "It's a sturgeon. And its not going to fit in the car like that." She then snapped the head of the fish clean off and threw it in a trash can under the sink. I was amazed and couldn't stop staring at the fish head. We drove back to Atlanta with the headless body of the fish laying on the floorboard of the front passenger seat of the car. Also I had hidden trash can containing the head inside the trunk.

Gutter Punks and Street Art

During an odd little 30 minute morning nap, I dreamed of laying on a blanket in a field of high grass with a friend. We were watching gutter punks build and spray-paint a giant metal structure to our right. More and more people kept arriving and adding different facets to the art piece. I balanced my camera on my friend's knee to do a high exposure shot. I think this is the first time I've actively used my photography knowledge in a dream.

I just had a dream this morning where I was still with my ex-boyfriend, and I was trying to figure out how to tell him I really didn't want to be with him any more. We were at some awesome place that was dark and vacation-y and full of people we were having fun with, but I was also solving some mystery or taking care of some exciting business. I felt challenged because sometimes I would think "Well, he's really not that bad..." and then other times I would think "I really have to just cut this off ASAP." I was not able to convince him that we shouldn't be together, which is very similar to what happened in real life. And then I woke up. But at least I tried to tell him to his face in the dream, instead of just handing him a letter and running away like I did in real life.

Lots of Guts

I had a dream that a friend who is living abroad came to visit me. It was a surprise visit. I owned a house and it was the middle of the night, I think I was cleaning my bathroom or something. And he showed up and I said all disheveled from cleaning and said something like "I'm a hot mess" and he laughed like it was the funniest thing he'd ever heard. In my head I was like, how has he never heard that phrase before? Then there were some long embarassing parts with some making out and long embraces. . . and another friend showed up with someone else, not sure who. My other friend was dressed as a cowboy and was trying to get us to go out somewhere. He left and we went inside and my dad was there. He asked why I had all these dead cats hanging from the ceiling. We looked up and there were dead black cats hanging from the ceiling, with guts hanging out. I said that someone had been putting them there to scare me and my dad removed them and put them outside. I don't remember anything else.

I later had a dream that I was a zombie and that I ate someone.

There ya go

Cult Classic

I had two different dreams about being in a cult.

I walked into an old house with me ex. I am not sure why we were at the house, I think it appeared to be some sort of boutique. We were invited to sit down at a big table with 4 other people. We were all chatting when I started to get a really weird feeling. Something just felt off about the people. They were dressed like they were on soap operas from the 70's. One of the women had big poofy blonde hair and was wearing all purple. I started to feel like I wanted to leave so I went to the door and called my mom. The people were not happy that I wanted to leave so I waited for my mom to get there. My mom and sister arrive and somehow I was able to leave, but my ex wanted to stay. He said "I'll be out in 2 minutes, it will be really quick." As we were leaving there were protesters outside the house, teenagers wearing all black with black eye makeup. They were yelling, "It's a fucking cult!" and holding signs. My mom, sister and I got in the car and started to drive away, but I said we couldn't go far because we needed to pick up my ex. We decided to drive around the block and we'd quick pick him up as we passed the house again. As we were driving we say my ex running. I couldn't tell if he was looking for us or just running. He was acting really strange, though. He would stop and kind of twirl and move around like maybe he was dancing? I kept watching him from the car as my mom was driving farther away from him. He had almost zombie-like dance moves. We drove out of his view and my mom announced that she was almost out of gas. Then the car stopped right before East Wash (in Madison). I was nervous about how close we still were to the house and my ex. We started discussing a plan of how to get gas.
And then I woke up.
When I woke up this morning I remembered both of my dreams really vividly, but now I can't remember if I just blended them into one or forgot the other one completely. But I remember waking up thinking it was really strange I had two different dreams about cults.

Basically a Big Party

I was in a coffee shop with Anna, ordering lattes. When we got them, they were like giant chocolate milkshakes, but runny, which is perfect because sometimes milkshakes are too cold for my teeth. We turned to sit down at a table when I saw an old friend of mine out of the corner of my eye. He wore a white lab coat and disappeared around a corner.

"Namir?" I called as I followed him. He peered out from a doorway and replied "Yeeessss??" while at the same time, my cousin Laith peered out from a doorway across the hall, also wearing a white lab coat and saying "Yeeessss??" Laith was also pointing at his head insistently. He had shaved it bald. He smiled like a damn fool.

They both faded out and my guitar teacher appeared. He was wearing an adorable yellow bowtie and a black porkpie hat. I got excited and started to say to him "You look so nice..." but then I realized he was wearing a white sweat suit as well, so I finished with "...from the shoulders up!" The sweatshirt and sweatpants had two different colleges written on them; one was written in blue and one in black. He then put on a suit over the sweatsuit. The suit was black with pinstripes and was giant.

I returned to Anna and drank the rest of my latte milkshake. It had weird chunks at the bottom which I drank as I thought to myself "I may regret this in a moment."

I began singing the song "Nasty" by Janet Jackson. When I sang, the entire song came out of my mouth, drums and synth and voice and everything. As I sang, Anna and other people in the coffee shop started dancing. As I danced, I realized Will Smith was dancing right behind me. I kept singing and we formed a sort of demented conga line, just the two of us. When I got to the verse of the song, I somehow switched into "Rhythm Nation," which I didn't realize until I got to the chorus. I tried to do the Rhythm Nation dance, but my hands were full with a a giant box full of firecrackers. Here's what I missed out on:

Mike Rowe sells me an F150 & a paid work bathroom

My work third floor bathroom has issues at the urinals in real life. Either men at my work can't aim at all or there's a slow leak or both. The point is, for a corporate 4 story building in a business area, it's really not up to snuff.

In my dream, however, to make matters worse, the urinals require a quarter to operate. The apparatus looks exactly like a video game slot. Even with the orange glow.

Shift forward sometime in my sleep, maybe even directly after leaving the smelly restroom. I'm in the middle of a vast field, it's overcast and the weather is moderate. And Mike Rowe is making a hard sell for me to buy som crappy merchandise that I can't recall for the life of me. But the hook was this shiny maroon F150 that we were standing in. Not only does it include one, but two of said crappy merch for a low,low price! Two, crappy plastic, whatevers and you also get entered to own this beautiful truck. Thanks Mike.

'Sup, says Obama

I dreamed that I was chosen to interview President Obama at Beloit College, where I went to school. I don't know why I was picked, but it was mostly because I was an alumni and I had some connection with a professor. Unfortunately, I didn't prepare any questions, so I was scrambling to come up with something within the 20 minutes before the interview was to take place. I also couldn't find any blank sheets of paper - the notebook I had was full of paper, but every page had writing on it. I also had a lot os loose papers stuck in the notebook, but they were all written on as well. I did have two pens and a pencil, though.

I showed up on campus - drove my jeep up a windy road on a hill as it rained and I looked for an umbrella. Campus looked different from how I remember it, more like the campus of the school where my sister went to college. I was surprised that I didn't have to go through any type of security.

I stood in the lobby of Eaton Chapel, where the interview was to take place, and where I took all my music classes as an undergraduate. While we waited for Obama to show up, I gave a tour to an older woman. I can't remember who she was, but she could either be one of my old professors, or a member of Obama's family. I showed her around the building, and was trying to show her the dark staircase in the back of the building that comes up backstage (I had this idea of us coming out from backstage and her being met with a beautiful view of the chapel from the stage) but it was pitch black and there were heavy cords all over the ground, and I was convinced she was going to trip.

Then I was back in the lobby and Obama showed up, walking casually through the door by himself. "'Sup," he said to me, and moved on. I didn't tell him I was going to interview him.

We moved up on to the stage and sat at a small table where we'd do the interview. I still searched frantically for paper. One of my old professors, Ian, sat to my side, just like how a page turner sits next to a pianist. I think maybe he was going to turn pages for me...

I brainstormed some questions to ask him, all the while realizing that I had no idea why kinds of questions to ask. I thought I'd ask him about music, about Iraq, and about his daughters. Sarah whispered in my ear at some point, "Ask him about eating chicken and being a Veggie." Before I got to answer any questions, the people in charge started moving us to our next location. They'd just been taking pictures all along. I hoped I looked good.