Life is strange, dreams are stranger.

You don't need to live long before you realize life is strange. Good people die and bad people live.

 

As you cruise along a smooth highway an idiot flies around you and cuts you off. Too many clowns for just one circus.

 

However, our dreams are even stranger and often scary. I woke up today angry from a nightmare (is 'nightmare' the right word for a frustrating nonsensical dream?).

 

your destination appears far and difficult

Years ago I combined bits of my dreams with my imagination and created a nightmare. Here's the post of it: "free nightmare for the taking".

Imagination runnin’

A few months ago I wrote, “...in dreamland floating up stream or in any direction is no problem. You can float anywhere your inner imagination wants to take you.”

Float, fly, any which way you get from A to B poses no problem while you are traveling inside your imagination.

 

 

 

But it was just my imagination once again runnin' way with me
Tell you it was just my imagination runnin' away with me

Do you agree that children's imaginations seem to run farther and more often than adults?

For me, the best part of playing with grandkids is watching their imaginations coming alive. Adults seem to suppress imagination. Probably because reality often becomes a big messy burden. My experience tells me that thinking of an idea is easier than implementing the idea. Maybe we get too concerned about the implementation and turn off our imagination.

Another idea to toss your way. What's your opinion of a connection between dreaming while sleeping and imagining?

 

Although I would not want you to forget leaving comment below, you might want to sleep on it.

Float up stream

When I wake up early in the morning
Lift my head, I'm still yawning
When I'm in the middle of a dream
Stay in bed, float up stream (float up stream)

Floating on calm waters is relaxing. If you want to go up stream I suggest getting a paddle. Of course in dreamland floating up stream or in any direction is no problem. You can float anywhere your inner imagination wants to take you.

 

If you didn't recall the Beatles song quoted above, you'll find a youtube clip you can stream below.

 

failed float

No problems in my dreamland. It’s the awake time that bothers me some. My opposable thumb has been opposing me for many months now. It’s very annoying and slightly painful. Bending my fingers so that the little finger touches the thumb doesn’t work like it should. I’m a man losing his grip on aging.

I got to get you into my comments below.

And after all I'm only sleeping.

down the rabbit hole

I've always enjoyed reading and visiting libraries. About a week ago I was planning to stop in and pickup a another book. The library was closed until further notice.  I didn't think the coronavirus would affect our library. We have nice library but our village is small and I haven't experienced large crowds there. Is this closing going to help much?

My wife (one-who-knows-where-stuff-be) brought up a box of our youngest daughter's books. Now this daughter is in her mid-thirties now. Why we have a box of her books is another story for another post (maybe).

Digging through the books I noticed Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland". I've heard much about these adventures but never actually read the book. So I jumped down the rabbit hole.

certainly a not-yet-retired rabbit

I've used the expression "down the rabbit hole" a few times during my career. Not too unusual for someone at a meeting to reply to a suggestion with we don't want to go down that rabbit hole right now. Unless you are the rabbit, nobody is sure where the rabbit hole comes out.

Lewis Carroll created a very strange world down there. Coronavirus is creating a strange world up here. Certainly the surreal things in this book do not have the seriousness of the surreal closed down world this pandemic has thrown at us. But surreal is surreal.

I read a little of it at night as I fall asleep. I think it affects my dreams but my dreams typically are very strange.

The puzzling logical dialogue and puns are fun. There was a conversation about school and lessons. The first lesson was 10 hours, the next 9 hours and so on. The mock turtle explains that's why they are called lessens.

Has the stay at home environment given you a chance to read any classics? 
 





via GIPHY

The Shedd Aquarium in Chicago had to close so now they let the penguins take field trips around the empty aquarium. I'm just as confused as this little guy.





Lastly here's a tune I have not heard in awhile.

Windmills of your mind

Round like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel
Never ending or beginning on an ever spinning reel
...
Like a door that keeps revolving in a half forgotten dream

Windmills spinning are probably a nice pleasant way to describe the way one’s mind can spin. Wheels turning is a common description of a thinking brain. However when those wheels turn and spin out of control, the result might be unwanted.

Dreams start and end within your mind. I read that dreams are a way of our minds sorting out the world around us. Maybe I’m generalizing but I’ve noticed the difficult and confusing can team up to destroy your nice day. So my dreams spiral.

Inspirational music can really move me but so can a good escalator. Recently, I had the chance to visit the temple of coffee, Starbucks Reserve Roastery, in downtown Chicago.

My first ride on a curved escalator was worth the visit. It certainly beats spiral staircases.

The large structure rising up from below the ground floor had me thinking of a cathedral or Buck Rogers' starship. Here’s what Starbucks says about the structure:

Standing as the centerpiece of the roastery is a 56-foot steel cask (the company’s tallest), a sculptural blend of form and function, where coffee beans go to rest and de-gas after being roasted. The bronze-colored cask has a perforated shell that reveals roasted beans moving through tubes in all directions, and then accumulating throughout the day like grains of sand in an hourglass.

A very impressive place that is certainly a tourist attraction. I spent about 30 minutes there. While checking out 4 floors, I never ordered any coffee. It’s not clear where to line up for coffee. The 4th floor has a cocktail lounge. The whole place was busy.

coffee mills of your mind

reminds me of chemistry class

My coffee temple visit could have been better if I had time to sit and contemplate the roasting of coffee.

Have you ever described something by saying what it was not? Many concepts and ideas don’t necessarily have direct opposites. Ideas can be just a different shade of another idea.

Would you consider the opposite of “it’s good enough” to be “it could have been better if”? Perfection can be an illusion that is not reachable.

The storm of upsetting news coming out of the impeachment our President of Chaos conditioned me to notice the following lyrics from the song "Galileo" by the Indigo Girls.

Galileo head was on the block
Crime was looking up the truth

I don't believe crime will find the real truth. I do agree with the Indigo Girls that Galileo was the king of night vision, king of insight. How long before congress finds its soul, let alone getting it right?


I’ve provided youtube clips of the songs referenced here for those who don’t know the songs or would enjoy refreshing their memory of the songs.

Lost Dreams

Lately, I can get lost in a dream.

How delightful - right? It’s not delightful at all.

I should reword my explanation. I’ve been having dreams in which I find myself lost. Not scary but very frustrating. I like to enjoy dreams not be annoyed by them. Once I was wandering an office complex. Next time I’m on a small island filled with tourist traps with no direction home.

a chair bear

I wonder if posting about this will reinforce my failed nighttime navigation. Maybe I could produce a smartphone with good GPS app in my next dream.

I typically enjoy dreaming. I only recall a few and like most people I soon forget them.

I’ve read that ideas from dreams can produce real results. Once I solved a problem at work from a dream. You may have heard about DNA scientist, James Watson, attributing his double helix DNA structure discovery to his dream.

I found a wikipedia page listing notable dreams.

John Lennon said his song "#9 Dream" came to him in a dream. I don't know if the title came to him also in that dream, since the numbering appears to be off.

Not dream related but I want to share this odd "piece of art" I spotted at MCA in Chicago. I consider it more of a piece of comedy.

positive thinking

 

you talking to me?

you talking to me?

When you hear voices it is always good to tell others it was God talking to you. It’s tough to argue about what happens in someone's head unless you are a neuropsychologist.

I've been known to talk in my sleep. Long ago as a child (just imagine we were all little children once) I awoke once to find my mother next to my bed asking me questions.

I thought to myself, what could that mean 
Am I going crazy, or is this just a dream 
Now wait a minute

Hmmm, I remember a song about something like this. (oh in case you are wondering, the next morning I denied everything my mother heard me tell her.)

I was once out strolling one very hot summer's day
When I thought I'd lay myself down to rest
In a big field of tall grass
I laid there in the sun and felt it caressing my face
As I fell asleep and dreamed
I dreamed I was in a Hollywood movie
And that I was the star of the movie
This really blew my mind
The fact that me an overfed long haired leaping gnome
Should be the star of a Hollywood movie, hmmm
But there I was
I was taken to a place
The hall of the mountain kings
I stood high by the mountain tops
Naked to the world
In front of
Every kind of girl

STOP - I need to tell you a story I heard from a relative recently. 

Back in the days of streaking, he was out one day in a field near an all girls high school drinking Boone’s Farm fine wine (let me know if you are old enough to remember that drink of choice for underage drinkers) with his buddy. I don’t know if this song inspired them but according to his story, they stripped their clothes off and ran through the hallway of the girl’s school. Naked to the world, in front of every kind of girl.

we don't know why

There are many things we don't know why they happen or exist. Learning from our past and observations is a useful exercise.

Often knowing or not knowing the why answer has little impact on our lives. When tragedy strikes we strongly seek the why answer. Knowing why gives us an idea of how to stop or at least avoid it from reoccurring.

Why did a 29 year old man kill strangers in a night club in Florida?

As Mary Schmich writes in her column about this terrible event:

"Human principle No. 1: Human beings are always more complicated than you think at first."

My twenty-something nephew wrote a good post about his thoughts on this shooting. Please give it a read. It inspired me to write my post.

His simple answer is hatred. My initial reaction was that is obvious and hate can't be control very well at all. Then I thought about it a little more.

While complete world peace is not coming soon, maybe it could come to your surroundings and spread a little. From ancient times we have been told to love one another (most of us anyway). That is a great message. Even just respecting one another will provide benefits. We certainly don't need to promote hate and profit from it.

I imagine gun sales would drop off significantly if 99.9% of us respected and treated kindly 100% of the others no matter their diversity. So sure there would still be people with bad dangerous intentions. Though I don't believe there would be as many as today.

"Imagine" by John Lennon

Yes this is the view of a dreamer, but dreaming is not a bad thing. Dreaming can open your mind.

"...
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
..."

unusual group of guys

I discovered this unusual delightful group lives in the most unusual place. If you want you can scroll down to the bottom and skip the sequence leading up to this discovery. I think the sequence of events is interesting too.

It started with a newspaper article. I read this article in the Chicago Tribune. (some tree parts and recycled paper were used in the delivery of this article)

The article was about the British Arrow awards which I had never heard of before. They award the best British ads and in a few US cities people pay to watch a screening of the winners. I would probably go to it but the nearest city appears to be Minneapolis.

One of the winners was an ad campaign for Guinness (their stout is a favorite of mine). After watching the ad I wanted to learn more. The ad is NOT directly about their beer, instead it introduces the viewer to this group in the Congo called Sapeurs. The term “Sapeur” comes from the French words for he Societe des Ambianceurs et des Personnes Elegantes (the Society of Tastemakers and Elegant People).

I know there are groups in New Orleans that enjoy flashy flamboyant clothes and maybe it’s the common French influence between the places. When I watch the ad I’m drawn to the background of poverty in this Congo city. That contrast is really the point of it all.

In this article on The Telegraph web site the filmmaker behind the ad is quoted: 

"The Sapeurs have said to me lots of times that when they get dressed up, when they go out and put on a show, they forget their problems. They feel happy."

Who’s calling

(Warning: The post you are about to read contains Lisleman’s distortions and speculations. It only takes a quick spin on my office chair start my inner ear spinning. The truth is out there, I just don’t know where.)

I never thought I’d come to this. What’s it all about?

Late, headphones on, I-tunes playlist background, wondering why I haven’t shut the laptop lid and called it a night.

Cellphone flashes. Strange number shows on the caller id. I silence the gadget as I curse the unknown idiot and his drunken butt call. Another flashing alert, voice message waiting.

Weird, butt call left a message. A moment later a call comes in with the same strange id. I give in and answer.

“Hello”

“Hello, I’m sorry to call so late, 
is this Mr. Lisleman?”

“Who is this?”

“Sir, this is the 
National Security Council office”

“the security of what?”

“The US National Security Council office, 
the President wishes to talk Mr. Lisleman.”

(I pause. Look around for signs I’ve been drinking. No it’s been hours since I had a beer.)

“Hello are you still there?”

“Oh yes, did you say, 
the President wishes 
to talk to me?”

“Sir I must first verify you are Lisleman.”

“Ok, sure"

“Which branch of service 
did you serve in? 
Highest rank and year of discharge?”

“I was in the Air Force
 left as a First Lieutenant in 83.”

“Ok please standby, 
the next person you hear 
will be the President.”

I roll over and fall to the floor. As I stumble into bathroom I remind myself not to stay up reading CNN reports of the Syrian crisis while listening to these types of songs:

Seems I got to have a change of scene
Cause every night I have the strangest dream
Imprisoned by the way, yeah, it could’ve been
Left here on my own or so it seems
I got to leave before I start to scream
But someone's locked the door and took the key

its another tequila friday fragment

He was just a hired hand, working on the dreams he planned to try. The days go by.

After the days go by for a bit, you get to Friday. Friday time means Friday Fragments around this blog.

Take another shot of courage. Wonder why the right words never come.  You just get numb.

But don’t get numb, write some fragments (with or without tequila) and head over to Unknown Mami's and link up, read other FF posts, comment, just have a good time.

 

Ever notice the moon on a bright sunny day? I did today. Just a sliver of crescent moon high in the sky. How special to see this mostly night object during the day.

My experience tells me that women have better night vision than men. Their intuition guides them on a good night. Guys just wait around clueless most of the time. But the Indigo Girls (hey I switched music groups here just to confuse you) tell us that Galileo was the King of night vision, King of insight.

Next on the playlist is “Tequila Sunrise” by the Eagles. We recently went to a free outdoor concert of an Eagles tribute band. They were good.

I like the song. I could better relate if it was a tequila sunset. A tequila sunset would be a hell of alot more fun. Tequila and a rising sun just doesn’t make sense. Of course my night vision would be totally shot after a tequila sunset.

I think about lyrics too much. 

free nightmare for the taking

While I figure out how to write up my colonoscopy story I'm going to repost a nightmare for you. If I were to recreate the following nightmare today I would probably add in a colonoscopy part. Overall it went well, I'm just lacking the right descriptive words for it. Back in 2010 I had this post idea. Take a list of things you don’t like then use them to describe a nightmare.
 
Nightmares are storylines of some great movies.

Here’s a lists of a few of my dislikes:

• tuna fish
• leaf blowers
• losing a credit card or ID card
• missing a flight
• not being able to stop something I’m driving

You might have trouble limiting the list since we all dislike so many things.  Having trouble with your list?  Start with a sharp stick in the eye. Nobody likes those.

The great thing about creating a nightmare is the randomness it allows you. So using the above items here I go. Sorry you can’t close your eyes because you need to read along but imagine me with my eyes closed deep in REM sleep.

Packing, running back and forth between rooms and closets trying to decide what I need for my big trip. Racing the nightstand clock.

It’s hard to imagine. I have never dreamed of being invited to the White House. Mind is racing thinking about how excitingly big this is as I layout my wallet, tickets and invitation letter.

Loud droning noise increasing in volume. It’s coming from just outside my window. A goon is in our tree blowing leaves off the branches.

I lean out the window to yell, I’m falling.

The sound is gone. I’m on my feet. I can move. I join my wife arranging the suitcases into the car trunk.

We are rushing to the airport. Circling the parking lot levels looking, looking, circling. No where to park. What’s that noise? Another leaf blower cleaning off a whole closed-off section of the lot. Damn.

Security lines. Large clock hanging from the ceiling, ticking. Crowded concourse that continues forever. Reach the gate. Flight has departed. We need to pay the gate clerk to change our flight. I can’t find my credit card. I search through my wallet emptying the insurance, library, driver’s license, Starbucks card. No credit card.

We are hungry. But have no credit card and little cash. Enough cash for the vending machine. I turn and am standing in front of a large vending machine. Cans and cans of tuna fish. Nothing but tuna fish. My stomach turns.

I commandeer the airport handicap transport golf cart type thing. The crowd splits in front us as I cruise down the concourse.

Now I’m on the tarmac heading for a plane. Wind blowing. Smell of jet fuel.

I scream. I smash the brake down. Blue smoke blows out from the wheels. Jet engine roars into view. Sounds like a supercharged leaf blower. We don’t stop. My neck muscles tighten.

The sun light slams into my eyes. I look up. A concerned flight attendant shakes me and asks if I’m OK. Do I need anything. I look at my wife seated next to me.

“Did I fall asleep during the pre-flight again.”
“Yes you did.” she says with disgust.
“Hey what did you bring to eat?”
“Tuna fish, want a bite?”

Myth Monday (Sunday edition)

My eyes were opened in a dream, a future’s dream.

Through a foggy mist the great African god Bumba appeared. In a voice that rumbled through the windows Bumba gave me a warning. His English was broken. I could only understand what appeared to be disconnected words.

Sunday, prime, noise, July, future

After deciding he was not telling me of an upcoming Sunday primetime show, I was puzzled about what was going to happen.

frequency, noise, polarization, broken, radar

So many technical terms - did my engineering background and interest in physics lead him to me? Why did he appear in my dream? These questions were not asked but he could read my mind. He was in my mind. He knew my thoughts. Yes was the answer.

“What frequency is broken?”, I bravely thought.

microwave, wi-fi

I woke with a message but unsure of details.  After scribbling these words down and doodling around them, a bleak prophecy seemed to form.

the day of primes - Fifth Sunday of the Seventh Month of the Eleventh year will bring a global event that kills microwave frequencies.

The Monday after -

• not I-pads but paper pads - pens and paper
• hotspots gone cold
• dead cordless phones
• bluetooth that's is just blue
• dead garage door openers
• garbled doppler weather radar
• noisy satellite TV
• Theft prevention RFID tags preventing nothing

Something touched me deep inside, the day the Wi-Fi died.

blog it, they will come

Did I make you think of “Field of Dreams”?

By J. Stephen Conn

Did you know that line is typically misquoted?  The line said in the movie is, “If you build it, he will come.” But that’s alright with me because I want more than one person stopping by to see my work.

Do you need to take the road to nowhere to get to the field of dreams?

I have not watched that movie for a long time but its core idea of seeking your dreams is a universal idea that has been around for ages.

Maybe if I take a walk in a corn field, a great post idea will be told to me. My blog followers would multiply. But actually I would probably freak out hearing voices while alone in a corn field because I would be reminded of “Children of the Corn”. It’s too cold for walking corn fields now anyways.

But it’s never too cold for dreaming.

I picked out two quotes on dreaming from brainyquote.com to share with you ---

A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality. John Lennon

Some people see things that are and ask, Why? Some people dream of things that never were and ask, Why not? Some people have to go to work and don't have time for all that. George Carlin

Blog it, they will come.

But will they leave a comment?

thanks for the nightmare

Reading blogs trigger ideas. Not necessarily grand ideas that will be taught to future generations. Just interesting ideas that you can use on your own blog.

The other day I read a post by Eternal Lizdom that listed things she didn’t like.

While commenting I thought of a post idea. Take a list of things you don’t like and use them to describe a nightmare.

Nightmares are storyline of some great movies. 

Here’s a lists of a few of my dislikes:

• tuna fish
• leaf blowers
• losing a credit card or ID card
• missing a flight
• not being able to stop something I’m driving

You might have trouble limiting the list since we all dislike so many things (you did see the recent election results). If you are stuck start with a sharp stick in the eye. Nobody likes those.

The great thing about creating a nightmare is the randomness it allows you. So using the above items here I go. Sorry you can’t close your eyes because you need to read along but I have mine closed.

Packing, running back and forth between rooms and closets trying to decide what I need for my big trip.

It’s hard to imagine. I have never dreamed of being invited to the White House. Mind is racing thinking about how exciting big this is as I layout my wallet, tickets and invitation letter.

Loud droning noise increasing in volume. It’s just outside my window. A goon is in our tree blowing leaves off the branches.

I lean out the window to yell, I’m falling.

The sound is gone. I’m on my feet. I can move. I join my wife packing the suitcases into the car.

We are rushing to the airport. Circling the parking lot levels looking, looking, circling. No where to park. What’s that noise? Another leaf blower cleaning off a whole closed-off section of the lot. Damn.

Security lines. Crowded concourse that continues forever. Reach the gate. Flight has departed. We need to pay the gate clerk to change our flight. I can’t find my credit card. I search through my wallet emptying the insurance, library, driver’s license, Starbucks card. No credit card.

We are hungry. But have no credit card and little cash. Enough cash for the vending machine. I turn and am standing in front of a large vending machine. Cans and cans of tuna fish. Nothing but tuna fish. My stomach turns.

I commandeer the airport handicap transport. The crowd splits in front us as I cruise down the concourse. 

Now I’m on the tarmac heading for a plane.

I scream. I smash the brake down. Blue smoke blows out from the wheels.  Jet engine roars into view.  Sounds like a supercharged leaf blower.  We don’t stop. My neck muscles tighten.

The sun light slams into my eyes. I look up. A concerned flight attendant shakes me and asks if I’m OK. Do I need anything. I look at my wife seated next to me.

“I fell asleep during the pre-flight again.”

“Yes you did.” she says disgustedly.

“Hey what did you bring to eat?”

“Tuna fish, want a bite?”

had too much to dream last night

I don't recall the cub being there

The other night I dreamt about a tiger that was pursuing me.  It was warm out, there wasn't any snow.  I was running around trying to hide between houses and behind trees.  At times, there were others with me.  I don't clearly remember but I think they were some of my kids.

I was very worried about this hungry tiger.  He never caught anyone but nobody likes a tiger on your ass.

Why should you care?

You probably don't but this was my scary dream (not really nightmare intensity) and this is my blog, so you get tigers and read about a place where the shadows run from themselves.

Yellow tigers crouched in jungle in her dark eyes.

Ok maybe I need to turn the Ipod off hours before sleeping.

I can still remember learning about dreams.  I did a report in high school about dreaming and the brain.  I believe researchers had only recently discovered the importance of REM sleep which is the period when you dream.

Did you know, during REM, the activity of the brain's neurons is similar to that during waking hours, but the body is paralyzed.   Occasionally, a person can wake up before the paralysis is gone and just can't move.  

A few months ago I watched a PBS show about theories explaining why we dream.  Very interesting stuff.  Some believe dreaming helps us prepare for the future.  One thing is very clear - dreaming is essential for normal daily activity.

Most of us have had those deja vu moments.  Maybe you dreamt something like that moment before?

So if there is a tiger following me, I'll be prepared.  Yeah right.

as the talking heads told us

"...This ain't no party this ain't no disco this ain't no fooling around...."

Just in case you need to refresh your Electic Prune memories: