Dream Log: August 3, 2001

A group of fellow students and I get on a plane home (to Hong Kong) from Italy. The trip that we took there was the gift of a wealthy benefactor who thought we could learn from it. As soon as the 'plane takes off, this benefactor, with whom I have become friends (perhaps he is an alum), calls the airplane phone, and we chat the whole way back. When we are about to land, I tell him with surprise that we have been talking the whole flight, making it seem short.

We get back to Hong Kong, and everybody goes their own way for the night. It's late, and I find myself on the street in Central, where I still have a ways to walk uphill to get home. However, I walk down the street looking for shops in which to buy traditional Chinese dried snacks (like dried mango, dried prune, dried squid). I find one, but have trouble purchasing because of what kind of money I have on me.

Well, I give up. I hail a cab, and go home.

Yet another military dream:

A refresher course in the army had taken place. (This is sort of thing in Finland that those who have accomplished their national service are ordered to take a refresher camp lasting about 2 weeks. Usually you have to attend in these rehearsals 2-6 times during your lifetime.) We were sleeping in a room full of people in bunkbeds. I was sleeping next to Jussi in a lower bunkbed and our beds were arranged so that if he wants to come out of bed he has to crawl through my bed. And of course it was Jussi's time to be a nightwatch!
I woke up shortly after he was awaken by previous nightwatch. It was his complaints that awakened me. He was far too tired to be awake and after he saw my eyes open he asked me to replace him. Jussi said that he will take my turn later. I didn't want to do this. I grunted "fuck that" and I turned my back but it didn't help. He just continued complaining and then he invented to pretend being slightly sick. I started to become really frustrated. After a while I figured it out that I cannot sleep anymore so that I could replace him as well. Jussi asked me to touch his forehead to ensure he has a fever. His forehead was stone cold but I agreed with him.

So I went to the corridor outside the room to indicate that some one is coming soon. In the end of the corridor there was the previous nightwatch and also a sergeant. I was little surprised that a sergeant was there because he should have been sleeping now. But then I took a look at a watch and it was almost 6AM already. I was a bit confused because this wasn't a time for the second nightwatch.

Anyways, I went back into the room and I took some clothes with me. Then I walked towards the nightwatch and the sergeant to change the rest of my clothes. There was a room next to them where I could change and where I could find appropriate clothing.
However, I didn't find pants nor boots. And then several other people arrived to pick up their clothes too. They were hurry because it was a breakfast time. It was a complete mess! Eventually, I was left with my own jeans and boots. Well, there wasn't anything I could do even I knew somebody would complain about my outfit. I decided to ignore all the complaints and I stepped out of the room, in front of the sergeant.

There is a house with a glowing thing inside it. I know that the glowing thing has something to do with the answers to all questions. There is some kind of quest involved with this house, and a very short man that isn't around anymore. I remember him talking to me and then leaving. I am supposed to find something, which is related to the glowing thing in the house. I don't go in the house but I can see this green glow coming from inside, and I know the thing is very large and very important. The house is old and looks more like a cottage. There are very old trees in the yard, and a short, wrought iron fence with a busted gate in front of it. It is fall probably because none of the trees have leaves. There is a winding path through the woods next to the house, and this path is important in some way.

I am supposed to find something. I have gotten a clue that is "follow the path and find the ending" with a picture of the house, which is why I am there.

Cut to ... big room like a mausoleum or a church. Vaulted, gothic ceilings and pillars. A big bed-like thing in the middle of the room with pillows, and pillows and carpets all over the floor. The building is gothic but the decor looks like the El Asqua Mosque in Jerusalem. D, H, and MC are there. There is another person, and I'm not sure if this person is male or female, but MC is rolling around on the bed with him/her and laughing. D is off by herself doing something, I don't know what. H is making loud, rude comments about whoever is on the bed with MC. I am trying to get her to lower her voice so that she isn't overheard.

Cut to house.

D, H, and I are at the house. A couple of skanky guys show up in the yard and start poking around and asking questions. They try to bum a smoke off me and I say no. They are asking questions about the house and whatever it is we are looking for. I think they are looking for the same thing, but that they are like the bad guys and will not do good with it if they found it, because if we find this thing we will know everything. The entire knowledge of the universe will pour into us and it will be bliss. D and H are there with me because I don't want this only for myself, I want to share it. I remember again the path and the clue and I start walking down it. I am carrying H and it is easy because I'm strong and she is light. D is kind of dancing around and laughing and keeps straying from the path and running back to H and I. D is skipping like a little girl; acting and looking very cute. We get down the path a ways, I am carrying a box with pictures in it--they are very old and very important. I have my French army coat on that I bought in the Albany surplus store.

It starts to rain. Slowly and then harder and harder. D is loving the rain and dancing around in it. I'm still carrying H who is also enjoying the rain. We are on a very open part of the path that is going up a small hill through a meadow. I'm not bothered by the rain but I'm concentrating on moving forward and keeping my box dry under my coat. It starts to hail. We start to run back to the car. D keeps yelling "ouch!" when hail stones hit her and she's running like hell. I'm running too, and the hail is smacking H on the head. For some reason I'm not getting hit and I kind of wish I were. We get in the car and are tired and wet and basically happy.

Then I wake up.

Stoned Cat & Ralph's Puzzle

• I'm in a mountain cabin near Mount Shasta with August, Tish, Genery and Allen. We're sitting on a couch on the deck outside, overlooking the vast forest-covered valley. My black cat, Twinkie, is there with us and her personality seems more human-like than usual. We're smoking some pot and somehow Twinkie gets a lungful of smoke and very dramatically falls limp on the coffee table. I immediately rush to her aid and find she's not unconscious, just really stoned and relaxed. For the rest of the dream I carry her around with me, sending her my loving thoughts. The day goes on and the sun sets dramatically behind the mountain. We all go inside and I see that there are some older folks here: August's step-dad Jon with a friend, my own father, and Ralph Abraham, a chaos mathematician from UC Santa Cruz who was buddies with Terence McKenna. August and his dad are talking about swimming over a waterfall when Ralph asks me for some scissors. He's telling my dad that he's going to make what he calls a "Poisson Puzzle". As he cuts up a piece of cardboard into polygonal shapes, he describes it as one of those puzzles where each piece has a number written by each side and the goal is to arrange all the pieces so that all adjacent sides have matching numbers. He seems to get confused in the process of cutting. I pet my cat and look on.

I dreamt last night that I was laying on a cold steel surgical table. The skin of my torso had been sliced down the middle and clamped to stay open. My bodily organs were exposed to the cold, dry air. Some tall auburn-haired guy with one of those doctor masks tied on to cover his mouth. He was wearing glasses and his hair was tied back with some piece of cloth. He began poking and stabbing and prodding at my organs, puncturing some of them. Then I woke up.