by Robin S » Tue Oct 16, 2007 9:41 am UTC
Three nights ago, I had a number of dreams, only two of which I remember in any sort of detail.
The first took place in a swimming pool near where I live with my family, where I was diving in from a position already in the pool. I got a strong feeling that myself and those around me were penguins from the film "Happy Feet", and I think we were diving for fish. I had a wife, or at least partner, and child. Then, a tyrannosaurus loomed at the poolside and it was probably about then that I woke up.
The second I remember slightly more vividly. The first I remember is walking down a wide, straght, red-carpeted staircase as are stereotypically depicted as leading into ballrooms in films. Other people were dotted around. As I was doing this, I commented that it was strange, as I didn't usually perceive auras (or words to that effect). Once I reached the bottom of the stairs, where there were considerably more people close in age to myself, I became aware that the "aura" was in fact a high-pitched keening sound, which changed in volume as I walked around or moved my head. I'm not sure whether others could hear the sound. Either way, I soon realized that it was emanating from a source, namely a closed (possibly locked) wood-panneled door, which I opened to discover a room resembling a biology laboratory from my high school. It was a wide, open room with a laminated floor and benches. The far walls had large windows, through which I could see at least one pair of (featherless) raptors approaching, à la Jurassic Park. I quickly retreated through the door whence I had entered. The alarm seemed to have been sounded, as everyone was scrambling towards what appeared to be some sort of fire exit through a relatively featureless white corridor which reminded me of the sperm duct from the end of Woody Allen's "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex, But Were Too Afraid to Ask" and also of the Kamino interior from Star Wars: Episode II or the white internal area where Obi-Wan meets Yoda at the end of Episode III. I think there were more raptors; the place had the feel of being under assault. I woke up at that point.
Edit: I don't remember my dreams from two nights ago, but last night I had one in which many XKCDers were at some sort of convention, and Randall sent us all named, enveloped invites to a party of sorts. Each envelope contained a long rectangle made of card with three windows like an advent calendar: the first had the recipient's name in an elegant script, and the other two had distinct designs of some description. I seem to recall that the design on the middle panel was more minimalist than that on the third. I discovered that the card was similar to those scratchcards you sometimes get free with snacks: removing the panel with my name on it revealed some unimportant text that I forget, while removing the middle panel revealed something equivalent to "you lose". Around me, everyone else seemed to have realized that it was the third panel which was intended to be removed, and were happily celebrating their invites while I stood there feeling a little lonely. A semi-friend from a few years below me at high school, with whom I had been discussing the previous evening (in real life) the XKCD fora, among other things, then received some sort of special invite. I'm not sure exactly how it was special, but seem to recall that he received his after everyone else. It may or may not have been associated with the number 280. I had been watching a stage show by Derren Brown on television the previous evening, and for some reason my friend's receipt of his invite was equally impressive to one of Brown's pieces of mind-control trickery. At any rate, he got to go and I didn't. I don't remember any more after that.
limu->i(patience)=0
