Huh?

I used to be good about rolling over on mornings like these and recording my dreams. Then I suppose life happened and all that changed. I’m constantly reminded by my therapist that I need to do this so that is exactly what I’m going to do right now. Last night my dream was so intense that I actually woke up in pain from being stiff. I must have slept completely still for who knows how long due to this freak dream. I say dream because it really seemed like one continuous one. You’d think I did some freak shit drugs last night or something. Not me, not now although I did forget to take my meds yesterday. Hmm… I’m on a trip with a group that I know well. (I have no idea what this group is or who most of these people are.) We go to Las Vegas. Thing is this is present time but Las Vegas is the Vegas that existed in the mid to late 80s. I’m so excited to be able to experience and capture pictures of a Vegas era that is long gone. The original Alladin on my right, no traffic, no pedestrian overpasses, no Mirage, no Bellagio, no Luxor, no Excalibur, no tram, no New York, New York, no Paris, no ridiculous competition building yet. It’s a lot more like the traditional Las Vegas and I’m intoxicated with it. I have no idea how we ended up here but I don’t care. Next, our group is in Circus, Circus. Each floor for some reason is a different era but it’s all Disney. (My last trip to Vegas was with work and we stayed there. It was a little sad to see that even this piece of history had changed. It was no longer Pink everywhere and there was no Circus!) In the dream I am aware that I am twenty years ahead of everyone else there. What I don’t understand is that every floor is designed with a different decade yet the people on the floor visiting aren’t living in the 80s. I go to a floor where everything around me is Disney in the 80s; obnoxious florescent colors, Minnie Mouse dressed in a Flashdance top. I try to fit in with everyone by acting like it’s present day only to find out that everyone around me is from the 70s. They’re looking at everything as if it’s a prediction of the future. Meanwhile I’m actually from 2006! Each floor is a different era and there is no rhyme or reason as to what year everyone on that floor is living in. Add to that, my family is floating around on each floor. My Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, distant relatives keep popping up in front of my face. People I haven’t seen in years all in Circus, Circus. My brother Ruben ends up being an employee in a kitchen on one of these floors. Thing is he’s disabled. Has a limp but I’m not sure if his leg is real or not. I act like I don’t notice it so as not to draw suspicion from him. He acts like he’s been expecting me. I end up at a booth with a fellow traveler from my group (no idea who he is) and we are eating sundaes while sitting across from each other trying to play a game. We have this folded set of what can only be described as flashcards but they’re connected together into a string. He proceeds to tell a story with them by flipping the ‘folded’ cards over and over. I gather that the object of the game is to tell an impromptu story while flipping these cards so that they correspond. The trick is each time you flip your hand back and forth, the cards change but are not supposed to look like you changed them. In other words, they should appear to ‘magically’ change as you tell the story. My turn. I can’t get it to work right. My friend/co-worker/whatever is amused but declares himself the winner. I say the cards I have are stiff and don’t work. He grabs them, ‘softens’ them up and begins to tell another story. I roll my eyes and pay the check. Seems that was the loser’s job. I now find myself with Bill, my cousin. It’s as though he traveled with me to Las Vegas and I’ve known this all along. We decide to take a tour of the casino both knowing we must hide the fact that we actually live in the year 2006. I end up losing him in the shuffle and go back to the ice cream parlor. I’m talking to the waitress when I suddenly look to my left and discover that Perez and Veronica are standing there. Perez impatiently tells me to ask the waitress where the lesbian bar is. I’m just about to tell her that I know where it is when I realize that I might not given the year. I ask. We are told where by a simple pointing of a finger. It is obvious that the topic of homosexuality is extremely “hush hush”. Off we go, walking block after block but we don’t find it. Instead, we stumble upon a huge open air store having a “penny” sale. It’s selling active wear. We sift through aisles of sweatshirts, running shorts and warm-up pants. I realize that Perez and Veronica are no longer in the store. When I get out to the street I see them driving off in my Mustang (which until this point I have never seen). I shout at them but they drive right by. I chase after the car and catch up at a red light. The passenger window is down so I reach in and grab a shopping bag. Inside are stolen clothes. I turn and bring the bag to the owner and suddenly he is talking to Perez and Veronica. He takes the bag, Veronica is now gone and Perez and I continue on in our search for the bar. Eventually we find it. The bar entrance itself is a maze, an upward spiral with typical purple casino carpeting complete with red and orange squiggles every inch or so. The carpet is floor to ceiling and everything is very dimly lit. Perez and I keep searching for the main bar only to take the wrong turn in this seemingly never ending spiral. When we finally make it in we find a lively place. Great music, crowded, a long bar with two convenient stools for us to park ourselves. We order drinks and spaghetti and meatballs. It crosses my mind that the meatballs may be real but I decide that I would give them to Perez (she is a vegetarian too). I ask for directions to the bathroom and leave. When I return the food is sitting there along with salad that is obviously one dinner size split into two. As I’m eating I look around the dimly lit room and notice a t-shirt. It’s black with a red silkscreen of the bar name, Jones, and photos of k.d. lang and Robin Gans. I ask if they are for sale. The bartender says they sold out but should get more in the following week. They do have buttons of the same though. I’m not interested in them. The scene changes and I am now being asked to categorize an entire library of CDs. They’re all Disney CDs. I’m not sure how they are wanted, by genre, by Disney character, by year, etc. I line them up in rows in no organized fashion. In the end they are on a big sturdy table standing up, looking very much like a domino line-up waiting to go down. My Mom is not happy and calls the teacher that assigned this task to me. She offers a way to organize to which the teacher agrees. She and I travel to the place where the teacher is so we can meet. It just so happens that the place is the same bar I was just in although I don’t recall being there. Once I am there I am told that I am needed to help record a track for a new CD. The title of the song is “Maria”. It takes a while but I eventually realize that I had already been involved in recording a song titled Maria. Apparently the original recording was rejected. It was back to the drawing board. The song was re-written. I am a little perturbed but quickly push this aside as we go into the recording studio which is oddly an actual theater. The theater is filled with people who are asked to remain silent while we record the song. We do a run-through for approval. The approving person is Robin Gans. She is happy with the new version. The lead singer makes a comment that he likes my voice, which is being used as backups. In the first recording I was the drummer and I tell him. He was not aware that I even knew there was a first recording. The original recording was very Latin. The new one is more of a ballad. We are in our chairs getting ready to record. We are sitting in the theater seats just like everyone else in the room. I decide I need to go to the restroom but I have no idea where it is and I am concerned that if I leave the room I will get lost in the dark carpeted spiral again. I ask Robin and the directions are simple – take a right and another right. I find it easily. As I am returning I repeat in my mind “left, left” over and over. I return to my theater seat and the recording begins. One run through and we are done. The CD is complete. Everyone is happy. I have no idea what any of this means. Then again, I really haven’t analyzed it yet. This morning I’ve been too busy trying to remember and record every bit of the entire dream. I can’t recall there ever being a time that I’ve remember having one long continuous dream. In fact, as I write I am remembering other little pieces. I’m a little freaked by this. I actually woke up this morning in pain. I believe it is because I was dreaming so intensely that I didn’t move. My back and neck throbbed. I had to use my hands and arms to life my body into a sitting up position. One of my blisters broke but thankfully it’s not painful. My Dad called this morning, Laura made breakfast but I am literally obsessed with getting this out in its entirety. This has got to either have one huge message or many small ones. I can’t stress enough that this is not a cluster of dreams but rather one long detailed continuous dream. To make sure I don’t forget this too: – Weather: ridiculously hot and I’m in Simi – State of Mind: tired, I had a couple of beers last night and I forgot to take my meds – What else? Well, I do miss Vegas although I would not go right now in this heat. It does bother me that virtually all of the history of this fascinating city has been wiped out. I have no idea what my brother being disabled means. Perez? Stealing? Got me! The music part isn’t as strange as it somehow always ends up being some part of my life. Always has, always will. I wanted to play drums as a kid but my Mom forbade me with the excuse that it was a “boy’s instrument”. I have to admit she has a point because I have yet to know a female drummer that isn’t at least bisexual. Singing though? Never something I was interested in. I will ponder this one for a while. I’m certain this has more than one message; at least I hope it does!