pop quiz!

Dream: I forget to register for classes at the local community college, and decide to just show up to the first class anyway. My friend (and old boss), Paul, is in the class. It is Abnormal Pyschology. The teacher is young, and might be Jim from The Office, but I'm not sure. He surprises us with a pop quiz, and I am nervous until I realize all of the questions are about popular science fiction TV shows. I ace the quiz and ask if it's OK that I showed up without registering, and Jim(?) says, "we'll figure something out."

the flaming umbrella.

Dream (a segment): I've taken up performance art, and am nervous about my first group showing. My performance consists of me pouring lighter fluid all over the top of a large black umbrella and lighting it on fire, then holding it above my head until the flames go out. I am standing on the side of the stage envisioning myself on stage, and trying to decide how best to douse the umbrella in lighter fluid – one circle around the top? or drench it?

Rock collecting.

Sunday Nap Dream: I am standing in the office talking to Donovan about what to have for dinner. It is sunny, and the windows are open. I say, "what about quesadillas?" and I hear an echo come from outside the window, mocking me, "what about quesa-deeeeee-uhs?"

I lean out of the window and see one of the neighbor's kids, an elf-like boy with a shaggy haircut, standing in the alley watching us.

I say, "you know I can hear everything you say out here."

He says, "I know, because I can hear everything YOU say. Want to know what you say?"

He has a label maker in his hand and begins typing. He prints out a label and hands it to me. It reads: QUARTZ.

I excitedly show him some of the rocks in my rock collection, including a piece of quartz. He shows me a shiny, black, rock with rainbow swirls. It is lumpy and blob-like. He tells me his dad just bought it for him.

tiny creatures (part 2).

Art: Here is the art inspired by my dream, tiny creatures.

It's like...I knew he was cute, but also a little creepy, and he was moving very quickly and it never became clear to me what he actually looked like.

The ferns popping up in the neighborhood gave me a good starting point to work with. Initially, I began this as a single flat image, but it just wasn't capturing the frenetic energy of the tiny creature from my dream in the right way, so, as you can see, I tried my hand at animating him.

Balance.

Dream (a segment): I am in yoga class, but no one has a mat, and the room is lined with books. Comedian, Tig Notaro, is there with me, and the instructor is telling us to practice our balance. We both keep falling over and laughing, and the instructor tells us to get it together and Tig and I agree she is terrible at yoga.

This is not my beautiful home.

Dream: I am staying at my mother's house, which she has just moved into. It is a large, winding, Victorian, in the middle of a large field. I tell her I've come up with a great way to water her garden without leaving the house, and extend a garden hose through the window, spraying water out into the yard. The wind bends the water back into an open window of the house, and my mom rolls her eyes at me.

It is night, and I am sneaking through the house looking for my pajamas, trying not to wake anyone. I am opening cupboards, and do not know who is sleeping in each room. I give up my search and go to bed in my clothes, then, restless, I look over at a couple of chairs next to my bed and see my pajamas strewn about on them.

I hear my stepfather's voice through the wall, saying "The house found them for her. I don't like it here."

I realize the house is alive.

•••

Recurring Theme Discovery!

Houses that I know belong to people in dreams, but recognize are not the houses they inhabit in reality.

tiny creatures.

Dream: I am eating dim sum at a restaurant with my friends and family. My friend Sheila has a new pet, but I cannot tell you what kind of animal it is. At first, I think it is a statue of some kind of chipmunk-like creature. My Dad asks me to take it outside and take photographs of it, and my friend, Jon, comes with me. We set up the tiny creature against a nice backdrop, and I notice there is movement inside of the statue, and a tiny-tiny face peeking out at me from inside.

I say to Jon, "Oh! He is inside of this little box?"

Jon says, "Yeah. Of course he is. Open it up!"

I open the statue, which I now see has a hinge on one side and a clasp on the other, and a tiny brown thing pops out and starts bouncing and zipping around, making little "squee" sounds. I open up the box, which is now just a tiny cardboard box with holes in the side, and the little fellow just hops back in and waits for me to close up the top. Jon nods.

A Dream within A Dream.

Dream: I am watching TV. There is an ad for a new show on Cartoon Network that features the comedic stylings of my ex-boyfriend. His logo is a weird bar code. I stand up to tell my husband how weird it is, and then I go get ready for bed.

In my dream, I go to sleep and begin to dream that I am in an elevator with six people that I have never met before. We are all going to the same floor. The elevator begins to speed up and shake, and we shoot straight through the roof of the building, into the air. I say to the people, "We are going to die." Then, I cover my face with my hands and tell my husband out-loud that I love him, even though he is not in the elevator with me.

I wake up from my dream within a dream, and am relieved. Our house has two rooms that are flooded up to our ankles with water, but they are supposed to be this way. There is a very large, cartoony, Asian Carp that has invaded our home, but we just let him live there and feed him toast.

Stargazing with David Bowie.

Dream: I am at a cabin, and David Bowie and I are stargazing together. We have a pretty fancy telescope set up; one of the white ones that look expensive. A comet flies overhead. It looks like a big yellow ball with trails behind it. I make a wish. David Bowie shows me a photo series of comets that he has been working on. He has been playing with long and multiple exposures.

I say, "These are very interesting."

I am worried that anything I say will sound stupid to David Bowie.

He says, "Yeah...sort of abstract expressionism," and smiles at me, mischievously.

Witches & Demons.

Dream: I am a witch, and I work at Sephora. I am wearing all black. Michael Fassbender appears and stands very still. I place my hand on his face, my left palm touching his cheek, and I say "I know you are a demon." His eyes flicker and change into goat eyes.