[Dream] Letterman shows me the world — and we visit Neil Gaiman

In a new episode of "What the Hell Did Bev Dream About This Time?", I was treated to a vivid dream where David Letterman took me all over the place to see interesting things and people. It was like I was his assistant or something.

Along the way, my clothes got messed up, so I was forced to continue the journey wrapped in a towel. This made me uncomfortable and nervous, but Letterman paid it no mind as he had lots to show me on our trip.

Eventually, we ended up at a venue where Neil Gaiman (one of my favorite authors) was having his latest work presented (I believe it was in movie form). I was upset about still not having any clothes to wear, and especially since Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite people and, quite frankly, I had a crush on him. How embarrassing!

Soon after this turn of events, my alarm went off and I didn't get to finish the dream. Bummer! It was a fun, interesting, and realistic dream, so up till the time I woke up I enjoyed it immensely. David Letterman and Neil Gaiman in the same dream? MOST EXCELLENT!

Dutch/Rotterdam connection?

Many months ago, I had a dream where such a ship appeared and I was on that ship, watching as it was sailing near a big city. I blogged/journaled about it and may have posted about it here as well. Now I'm glad I did write about it because the other night I had the STRANGEST experience where I had a FLASH memory of me in a past life (at least that's how I understood it).

Out of the blue, I saw myself wearing a medium blue linen dress, along with a blue hat that had a strip of white around the edge. The hat had triangles folded up on each side. I 'saw' myself dressed like this and knew I'd seen that type of hat before, but couldn't immediately place where I'd seen it because I was almost ready to fall asleep myself and in a hypnogogic state. Which, of course, is when fantasies, hallucinations, and all sorts of mind-altering stuff can occur.

After Googling images, I found the hat I saw in the sudden flash in my mind -- turns out I was in traditional Dutch dress, and the hat was a traditional Dutch hat (!!). I knew I'd seen it before, but it didn't connect at the time what kind of hat it was or who would wear it. Color me shocked! I also found images of people wearing the SAME clothes I 'saw' myself wearing in that flash memory.

Then I remembered that this past year I'd dreamed about the ship with 'Rotterdam' written across the side of it. That past dream was suddenly triggered. I Googled images and found a ship with 'Rotterdam' on the side of it. BINGO! There it was. It was all too weird.

In addition, I then remembered that I'd signed up to take a course on Dutch. I signed up for no apparent reason; it just seemed interesting. With everything else going on at the time, I'd abandoned the course because my load was too full and I'd decided to take it on a whim with thoughts of completing it later.

The other night it all came to me. I tried to tell Paul, but he was half-asleep and as I was telling him, he fell off into slumberland. So I texted Britt about the entire thing so I could remember it later to post here and on my blogs. I didn't want to forget everything, and once I fall asleep, I'm apt to forget things when they're pushed out of my head by new dreams and thoughts.

Now, I cannot say this was a past memory. I have no proof of that. The image flashed into my mind and the thought that came with it was that it was me in a past life. But we all know our minds are cunning things, don't we? Regardless, what an amazing, living computer our minds are!

I'm not sure what this was all about, but it was cool as hell and I don't know what to make of it. But I did go and sign up to take that Dutch class again!

[Dream] Cobras & Demons

Two big dreams last night. In the first, I worked in some sort of a warehouse where people would come to have dinner and watch performers do all sorts of things. A group of snake charmers were charming a shit-ton of cobras (they were a bunch of pretty colors, though).

Now, I don't like snakes and I'm scared to death of cobras and vipers! Well, one snake charmer came over to me and tapped on my right shoulder (from the front). The cobra leaned down and laid its head (or nudged its head) on my right shoulder without biting me. I was scared shitless and I remember holding my breath in terror!

Then, the snake charmer was touched by the cobra and the snake charmer ended up dying -- I tried to run around and find an antidote (something called H1-something or another, but could only find H2-something). The guy's body bloated up and died, his stomach was big and distended like you'd see in a Feed the Children ad.

I did not die from the cobra touching me, though. I felt like, somehow, I'd been blessed and protected by the cobra (not sure if that makes sense). So, THAT dream was freaky and weird. But then...

Discovery: I have a lot of dreams -- a TON of them! -- about battling and/or exorcizing demons. Most always when I forget to take my Trazodone before bed. Then I wake up with a sore body and barely able to move from having my muscles tensed up all night, as a result of fighting demons (could you get more symbolic?!).

Last night I was helping our friend Carly's neighborhood rid itself of demons and Josh P. showed up as well. I didn't want to do down into Carly's basement, because it would be a high and tenuous climb to get back out of it, but I went in there anyway.

When it was time to get out, there was no other way except to climb up a steep, rigged ladder that was unsafe and shaky. I'm terrified of heights in real life, so in the dream I had no other choice but to face my fears and climb that shaky ladder and chance falling a long way down. Since there was no other way than up that ladder, I decided to avoid looking down and climb that ladder. I was scared to death. In the end, the ladder nearly came loose, but I made it up and out of the basement and to safety again.

Funny how the demons were less scary than that damned ladder climb! Anyway, last night's dream couldn't have been more dead-on about life right now, or how I'm feeling. I've never wanted to climb 'that ladder' many times in my life. I don't want to now, either. But sometimes climbing 'that ladder,' no matter how scary it might be, is the only way out of the abyss known as the basement. Damn...helluva dream, eh? Lots to think about.

[Dream] Yasuldation means...?

The word 'yasuldation' showed up in my dream last night. It is common for various words, names, and phrases to pop up in my dreams. Usually, they're written out, and I read them in my dreams and try to remember what I read afterward.

I woke up and strove to remember the word because I'd never heard of it before. I was curious about whether it was a real word. The answer is no; it's not an actual word. The closest thing I discovered is that 'yasul' is a Korean word that means metallurgy.

I suppose one could say my subconscious loves to make up new words. As a writer, that's exciting and interesting. At least I think so!

The best thing about my dreams is that they're so intense and rich in the images, words, and stories that happen in them. I never know what I'll dream, and each night I go to bed with a sense of anticipation over what adventure awaits during my slumber. Keeps things interesting!

[Dream] Blonde little girl with a cherubic face

Last week I dreamed I was combing the back of a girl's hair. Others were working on her hair and they were knotting it up and making it messy. This little girl's hair was so blonde, it was nearly white. As a child, Paul was a towhead and his hair was just as light.

In the dream, the girl's hair was not quite to her shoulders, so it was still short. I brushed the back of her hair, marveling at how pretty and smooth it was. The girl had such an innocent face, too. Almost cherubic, I'd say. Upon awakening, I felt peaceful and serene. Interesting dream, for sure.

[Dream] Defending friends from hate and gossip

If I ever had a normal dream (whatever that is!), I'd be surprised. Then again, I'd probably be disappointed since I'm so used to strange, twisted, surreal dreams.

Last night I dreamed I was in a large building where church services and other events were held. More than one group or organization would meet there. In this case, I was there to learn how to conduct a special ritual or service for a LGBTQ organization. I was there as an ally, because in this dream (and in real life), I'm heterosexual. They gave me an impressive, white-feathered cape/robe to wear. It was heavy, but gorgeous. The feathers were small, not large, and there were countless ones all over over the cape/robe.

In another area of the building, a right-wing, evangelical church congregation was meeting. I found out through observation and overhearing things that they were saying awful, mean things about my friends in the LGBTQ organization. The churchgoers would smile a fake smile when they saw anybody from the group I was with, but then they'd immediately talk and gossip about them, making fun of who they were and saying snarky things about gays and homosexuality in general. They were haughty in their manner and acting like they were better than everyone else.

The thing that angered me the most was the two-faced behavior of the churchgoers. They would plaster on a fake smile, then drop the act and become vicious and mean when they went back to their area. In real life, as well as in my dreams, I can't stand such duplicity. I cannot stand it even more when nobody will challenge it and call people out on their behavior.

When I got the chance, I went over to the area where the churchgoers were and I stepped out into the big room/area, startling them (because they were busy trashing my friends down the hallway in another room). Four of the church leaders/evangelicals were at the front of the room, and I walked up to them and pointed at all of them. Then I confronted them about their false, duplicitous behavior. They were so taken aback, they didn't know what to say. Someone had heard and seen what they were doing, and they never expected to get caught.

After confronting the mean-spirited and homophobic congregation, I walked out of the room, leaving all of them speechless. Then I returned to my friends at the LGBTQ event, donned my white-feathered robe, and learned how to conduct the honorary ritual. It was a beautiful, uplifting ceremony and everyone was happy. I was nervous, but did okay.

After it was all over, there was much laughter and hugging, with plenty of conversation. I was glad that I had stood up for my friends and defended them against people who pretended to be good people and holier than thou, but who were actually mean-spirited, gossipy homophobes who gained pleasure from hurting others and saying awful things about other people.

A strange, interesting dream, but the end of it was terribly satisfying.

[Dream] Who is John Kavorsky, and why is his name in my dream?

John Kavorsky. I do not know anybody by that name, but I read his name in one of my dreams the other night. 

My old FB friends will know that I have a habit of seeing names, addresses, and random words in my dreams at times. I try to write them down or record them in some way just in case I need to refer back to them. 

I also saw "Ft. Ord" written on an old stone sign at my former university, Phillips University in Enid, OK. Why "Ft. Ord" would be written at the bottom of that sign is beyond me. Doesn't make sense. Then again, Trazodone-fueled dreams usually don't make sense.

[Dream] Cafeteria shenanigans

Last night I had another weird Trazodone-fueled dream. I looked into it, and Trazodone does give some people weird-ass dreams. They're so bizarre and disconcerting to some that people stop taking it. Not me, though. Strangely, I look forward to a new adventure every night.

Some dreams are more disturbing than others, but they're *never* boring. Last night I was in a cafeteria with my daughter Britt. The cafeteria was full of all sorts of food -- but it was weird, odd food. Strange colors, strange combinations, odd dishes.

Britt kept wandering off, which annoyed me. I'd turn around to ask her something, and she was gone again. When I went to call for her, I'd yell for Wendy, even though I knew her name was Britt. The name Wendy came out of my mouth each and every single time, and I'd go, "Damnit, I meant Britt!"

I told Britt about the dream and when I mentioned that I called her Wendy over and over, she replied, "Mmm...Wendy's sounds good." Lol! I have to agree with her. I could go for a Frosty right now.

Yes, I know it's not healthy food and all of that. I'm not completely daft! I still want a Frosty and a spicy chicken sandwich. So there! ;-p