it's like the eye of a duck

Last night I had this dream. I was running and leaping through my old neighborhood. I was getting faster and faster, jumping further with each bound, but just as I was about to go around a corner, I ran into a mean old dog.

I could tell it was old because it's muzzle was white, it had floppy ears and a gray speckled coat. It growled at me until I turned around and ran the other way. Every time I paused to see if it was still there, it would get back up (it was old, remember? When I turned around it lay down in the sun like old dogs do) and growl.

I can think of several things the dog might represent. Yep, I think my mind is doing overtime again :P

From thalionar re: distinguished historic women:

( alas, La Maupin was not an option )

I think I dreamt mostly about libraries and fencing last night. I think - for some reason no bright technicolor with surround sound this go. It's irritating that I can't remember this one, but recall in detail the one about the damned spider..

I went ahead and reserved my ticket for "Fingersmith" this Sunday (insert Waters fangirl "squee!"ing here) :) I backed out on the preceding women filmmaker's brunch. Normally I have no problems going to events by myself, but the idea of 2 hours trying to make conversation with people I don't know is somewhat daunting. Understand - I LOVE good conversation, with almost anyone, but I suck at introductions - hence my preference for having a buddy, somehow it's easier to talk to others when you're already talking to someone else. Does that seem right to you?

Awakening to another gray, damp day, but it's casual Friday, woo! Some of my co workers have inordinate fascination with my weekend footwear; today I'm wearing my burgundy Fornarina platforms because it will give them a laugh and keep my feet up and out of any puddles :P

Had dreams that I went to a bookstore with my aunt and uncle and the science fiction and "new age"/weird stuff sections had been combined - very disturbing. Clearly I am in need of some quality weird stuff reading/teevee.

Working on a nice allergy this morning as well, sneezy and itchy-eyed. Claritin and it's generic analogs are beautiful things.

Need to hit the road...

Kisia decided to have an Early Morning Cold Weather Frisky(TM) a couple of hours ago, blithely bouncing all over the bedroom, including on me and doing repeated "trinities" off the side of the bed. While this is terrifically cute when I'm awake, when I'm asleep - not so much. I tried to nod back off for an hour and gave up :/

She woke me up out of beautiful dream where I was sledding in the mountains. Everything was white and icy and evergreen, and I was going to meet my family, flying through the snow on a sled, face first (don't ask me where the power came from - that's the beauty of dreams; I don't have to figure out the mechanics :P).

It is a kind of cold morning - the first this season I'd officially describe as "brisk". The thermometer reads 45F (y'all up north - settle, it's a lower latitude!) and I may wear a (gasp!) sweater today!

Kisia has passed the Frisky to Spice, who is now "singing" to the bugs of her imagination in the hallway. Seems as good a time as any to catch up on some email.

Another cracked out one to fling to the masses.....

I dreamt I was a little girl and absolutely, blindingly terrified by a huge spider that had taken up residence in a window frame in my house. Think of a black widow the size of a tarantula. Nothing new there - anyone who knows me IRL knows that I fear and loathe spiders beyond reason.

My sister, however, was fascinated and spent more and more time looking at it. I kept screaming at her to leave it alone (indeed, I screamed through most of this dream - it's a wonder I wasn't doing it in my sleep). Then I found out it had given her ice cream made with it's venom and she was addicted.

I tried to get her off the ice cream, but then I tried it and got addicted too. All the while the spider kept getting bigger, until it was the size of a serving platter.

Too late I realized it was fattening us up to feed us to it's egg sac, and the scene shifted from me being one of the children to being outside the scene, watching this huge spider weave a web around the girls and lay it's eggs on them....

I woke up in a cold sweat this morning. I fscking hate spiders - HATE THEM!

And what do I see on TV tonight? Huge honkin' spiders, in "Guns Germs and Steel" demonstrating one of the few sources of dietary protein for Papua New Guineans (I'd rather starve, thank you)....

My dream last night consisted of hobnobbing with museum curators who let me fondle red silk and gold cut velvet, and owning two rather short, fat pet snakes that would roll over and let me pet their tummies.

Slept in FAR too late this morning, but at least had a cracked-out dream come of it:

( hoky socieites and modern weapons... )

I had a fantastic dream last night. I was in a record store with real records and CDs, full of knowledgable salespeople ("no, get the imported copy - there are extra tracks", "Voltaire is under 'gothic rock', not 'comedy'", etc.), and unexpected hard to find goodies in every stack (sigh).

Yeah, I have to admit it, I was a teenage vinyl fiend, and still am, to a degree. For me half the pleasure of music is the process: flipping slowly through the stacks, the stink of dust and PVC in the air. The challenge of looking for that one disc (vinyl or compact) that you haven't been able to find yet, the "extras" in the form of liner notes and sleeve art.

However, apart from a few used and speciality stores, what I describe above just doesn't exist anymore. Part of the reason I'm not clued into new music is 1) the less intense interest that comes with age and 2) my refusal to embrace the download revolution.

I've never downloaded any music, legally or illegally. I've used Amazon for sound samples when planning on buying something, but that's about it - I've not even used it that much for researching new groups. Clearly if I want to live in this century I'll have to face the fact that This Is How Things Are Done These Days, and learn how/where to look around.

For starters, can anyone recommend any good online radio streams (preferably not Real Player, as my machine at work won't run it)? I tend to prefer world music/global trance, electronic music in its' bajillion permutations (I'm not a purist), gothic (old and what I've heard of the new).

So, any suggestions?

For some reason I've been plagued (blessed?) with dreams of Scotland several times this week. All manner of mental images of cool green forests, craggy mountains, deep lochs, brick and stone cities.

I don't remember many details of what I did; at one point I was on a train in the rain, looking out at very green hills and coming to a stop in a city with old stone walls and buildings. In another dream I finally found the Loch Ness Monster, and it turned out to be some kind of squid (?)

A lot of this probably comes from a family trip years ago and my childhood obsession with the Loch Ness Monster (other 5th grade girls want ponies - go figure :P), I just wonder why my subconcious is stacking it on now.

This is what late night vindaloo will do to you! I'm calling it "Johnny Depp and the Pit of Pesto":

The scene: I'm going to be duelling Johnny Depp on a floor covered ankle deep in warm, green pesto. Don't ask me why.

He's dressed in his POTC pirate outfit - breeches, boots, big white puffy shirt open to the waist. I'm dressed similarly, minus the slit to the waist.

Of course, the prospect of Johnny Depp + oily pesto and pirate outfits offers many erotic and naughty possibilities ;)

So of course, my main concern is whether we're going to fight using sabers or rapiers.

Yes, I am a sword geek. How could you tell? :P

Also, I'm pretty sure this isn't a past life memory. Strangely, I think something this weird would stick with a soul over multiple millenia, but perhaps this incarnation has had a sheltered life :P