Running into the sun, but I'm running behind...
I have a very vivid dreamstate when I sleep.
There's sometimes a ridiculous level of detail to my dreams and I also have a series of recurrent themes and settings. An example of the latter is that I've dreamed many times of a place that is clearly the campus of my alma mater, but, it's also not. There are all these changes... new buildings, a couple new roads, that sort of thing. And these changes remain so consistent amongst my dreams that involve this campus as a setting that I could practically draw up a map.
This altered-state campus played a part in my dream last night.
Apparently, I was running a marathon through the campus and surrounding town. And it was a messed-up marathon, too. There were guides there to help you know which way to go, but even they weren't sure what was the official route. So they just kept pointing people in a variety of directions and clusters of runners were crossing paths and colliding.
That's not even the weirdest part. About five miles into this "marathon," my clothes disappeared. I looked down and I was running stark naked.
But wait, it gets stranger... I didn't stop. I just kept running. Around real parts of campus. Through imagined portions, too. In buildings. Through classrooms. Along streets. To quote Forrest Gump, "I was run-nayng."
And I finished the marathon, all 26.2 miles of it. The last 21+ naked. Oh, and after the marathon, I became one of the most searched topics on Google and a trending topic on Twitter.
In my dream, I was so proud.
In real life, I'm at a loss.
I pray there's no possible interpretation of this dream.
On the way home last night from a signing with Chicago Blackhawks Center Dave Bolland, I decided to stop at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (known as "Fermilab" around these parts). It's not like I have business there. In fact, my grasp of science is so bad that it would likely be in the lab's best interests to keep me far, far away.
However, they have a buffalo ranch on their grounds! For years, I've wanted to drop by and take photos of them. I've never really seen a buffalo before, other than in a zoo. And, for some reason, I never stopped by. It's on my way home, for God's sake.
Last night, on a whim, I decided to give it a shot.
Have you ever seen a buffalo up close? They're amazing creatures. Stunningly majestic. They saw me coming and stopped what they were doing to walk up to the fence and check me out, too. I snapped dozens of shots of them. Sorry, I have yet to offload the photos from my camera, but I do have one from my iPhone to share.
Eventually, like most other living creatures, they got bored with me and moved on. And they displayed their disgust over me quite explicitly. Several peed a giant yellow stream akin to what a garden hose might output. Another reared up his hind leg to fully expose his ass and then wrenched his head around to lick himself in my general direction. Have you ever seen a buffalo's butthole? I can now say I have.
But, the fact that something that big was also that flexible was kinda mind blowing. Remember back when George Bush used "Shock and Awe" in a public speech? He wasn't talking about the war in the Middle East, he was talking about buffalo perfect circles. Wow.
I have dreams like that ALL the time! They're so freaking weird!!
Buffalo butthole... hahahahahahaha...
Posted by: Sybil Law | Thursday, 16 September 2010 at 01:27 PM
I have an incredible knack of forgetting my dreams in an instant. I swear if I don't write them down the very second I wake up, there's no way I'll remember them after I've been awake for a minute.
Posted by: Kevin Spencer | Thursday, 16 September 2010 at 01:47 PM
I had a feeling you'd dig on the "buffalo butthole" bit.
Posted by: kapgar | Thursday, 16 September 2010 at 02:24 PM
Even the ones I forget I wind up being reminded of at some point in the future. For better or for worse.
Posted by: kapgar | Thursday, 16 September 2010 at 02:26 PM
This is so weird. I was just thinking of a recurring theme in my dreams this morning. I am in normal places, like yours slightly different but, everywhere I go, dorm room, attic, etc, requires me to go through some sort of very small tunnel of some sort. I am pretty claustrophobic as it is. I used to be able to lucid dream but I haven't concentrated on it enough for a while to do it. When you can though, it is pretty trippy.
Posted by: Bob "Pappy" Richardson | Friday, 17 September 2010 at 08:06 AM
Interpretation... or premonition? Mwhaaa haa haa...
Posted by: sue | Friday, 17 September 2010 at 01:28 PM
I've had similar stuff happen in dreams. Familiar places with unfamiliar means of accessing them.
Posted by: kapgar | Friday, 17 September 2010 at 06:44 PM
Hey now!
Posted by: kapgar | Friday, 17 September 2010 at 06:44 PM
Interpretation: Anything for fame ...warn me if you're going to take on the Chicago marathon! ;-p
Posted by: CD | Saturday, 18 September 2010 at 09:01 AM
I think I'll leave naked attention getting to the cowboy in Manhattan or Darryl Hannah in front of the Statue of Liberty. ;-)
Posted by: kapgar | Saturday, 18 September 2010 at 09:36 AM