
| My Dreams |
| Dream One I am traveling with my family to Paris with my father, brother Paul, sister and other brother Richard (I think, although he may not be born yet). We are in the Netherlands, Ghent (I think) and on the plane, as we are unloading to catch another plane, I all of a sudden realize that Mom isn't with us...this is reminiscent of “Home Alone”. I look around for Mom and I believe my father then tells me that she died. I am completely devastated and run out of the plane in tears. Later on, I realize that I must go back to the plane and take my bags off and get into the other plane. I have wandered away from the airport and am now lost, but find my way into the airport and start going into one plane but realize that this is not the right plane. There are stewardess sitting down in a “mock plane” attending a class. They are dressed in powder-blue and white uniforms. I ask one of the stewardesses to help me. She asks me where I am flying to. I hesitate because I’m not sure, then realize that it must be Paris. She must unlock a panel and take a few items out (clothes) to get to the plane schedule. When she does, she points into the direction of where the plane is that I must take. I run and run and somehow get out of the airport again and find myself wandering in a part of town where people are playing in a field a kind of a game with a ball. They are young men with slicked down hair, like a goo of black oil covering their hair. I motion to one of the players with my hands to show a plane taking off and shrug my shoulders in a way that I hope he understands that I am asking for the direction to the airport. He points one way and I take off in that direction. I am desperate at this stage because I fear that my plane has probably taken off by now. I continue to wander the streets and find myself (perhaps) on a beach.... I wake up from my dream... Dream Two In this dream, I remember basically just the end of it. We are in a setting where I believe kids are there to learn how to paint. I think John Davis’ s boy Matthew is there. He is very fussy and I believe he is looking for his blanket (security blanket?). It cannot be found anywhere and nobody, especially Matthew want to cooperate and start painting. All of a sudden, John Davis appears in one corner of the room, with the blanket draped across his body...and that’s it, JUST THE BLANKET. John is naked with the blanket across his chest, his penis erected and his look one of pride. He is not as heavy as he is now, in fact, he is quite attractive. That is all I remember from this dream DREAM Three I am in a building where perhaps I am a teacher and there are students and there is some sort of contest whereby students give books to their favorite teacher. I am aware that some students have given me their choice of books and when the time comes, at the end of the day, perhaps, to claim the books, I go all around the room, looking for my books. The names of the contestants (teachers?) are on cards, papers, anything to write on, placed everywhere around the room, on chairs, dressers, lamps, anything you can put a card on, but when I start looking for my name “Ray”, I cannot find it anywhere. I start asking the students who are placing the books by the corresponding teacher’s name: “Where’s my name?”, but I cannot find it anywhere. I am very upset, because I know some of the books I won were good books, but I’m concerned that my name is not placed anywhere. I keep on looking for my name. In this particular dream, there is another element and I don’t know if it is in a separate dream or related to the “Book Dream”. There is gossip going among the staff and students about a relationship that I have with one of the students. It is not anything sexual, but this girl has a crush on me and she is always around me, to the point that people are gossiping about she and I. At one point, she is walking past me, tears in her eyes, and when I ask her what’s wrong, she responds: “Nobody gave me a book”. Perhaps she is a teacher rather than a student since she didn’ t receive books. DREAM Four Today, Sat. July 21, 2007, I took a nap in the afternoon, about 4:15 PM. I usually don’t nap and haven’t been able to do this for many years, but since I have retired, I sometimes lay down and actually drift off to sleep and dream. My dream today, was at home and I was sitting outside on the front porch. I leaned my chair way back and I think I started slipping back. I knew there was somebody on the other side of the street, and they had visitors I think, but they didn't notice me nearly falling back. I think I fell asleep, but then I was awaken by someone in the house calling out a name and I could hear pitter patter on the kitchen floor and dining room. When I came in the house, I saw John throwing a rubber toy and playing with the dog. He was clean- shaven, young-looking, similar to the photo of he and I in Sausalito. I hugged him and said something to the effect that “I missed you!”. I felt so good inside, then I woke up. I miss him very much. It seemed like we were together and life was perfect again. I had my John back. I felt so good inside. I have to be careful and not overreact at his recent contact DREAM Five On Thursday evening, August 30, 2007, I had the most incredible dream...a very frustrating dream. It seems like everything I tried to do in the dream led to a frustrating result. I don’t remember all the episodes in my dream, but the one I do remember which occurred just before I woke up is that I had to go to the toilet and somebody pointed out the way, pointing to a door. But, the result of my search for a toilet was not to be believed. Upon opening the door, I saw darkness and a ladder going down, similarly to the small ladders you see in a drain. I went down the ladder, but as I went down, I had to negotiate obstacles that seem to be sticking up in the air, away from the wall, and as I went down the ladder, I had to move the obstacles, which seemed like sharp sticks, away from my body, face, chest, etc. I started to think that this was not worth the effort and that perhaps somebody was playing a joke on me, and I decided to head back up...then I woke up. DREAM Six In this dream on Friday August 31, 2007, I dream I am a handsome Jewish boy, about 24, living on a beautiful farm in Germany (I think). The opening scene is on a high platform, perhaps a very high silo. I am the boy, overlooking this wide expanse which is the farm that my parents own. I can see the big piece of land, reds and browns, bordered by trees, and in the corner of this piece of land stands our home, a white and black farmhouse. I believe I am talking to my father, who has to leave. Now I have to get down from this height, possibly 60 to 80 feet high, and there is someone waiting below, because I can see myself up on the platform from below. Anyway, how do I get down? Very simple, I let myself down by a rope, as climbers do. The exact method is not clear. Later on, I am walking around the grounds, then in the house, and I have been looking for a camera outfit which I found, and am carrying it. I think my father has been looking for it. Then I see myself in a small group, perhaps farm workers, and I am wearing my little yamulke, Jewish cap, and it is kind of in the form of a little 2 inch candle holder on top of the middle of my head. I then wake up... DREAM Seven I dreamt on October 15th, at about 8:00 AM that I am in a department store, in the furniture section, and I think it is in the bed and other furniture section. I see a package of cookies on a bed, on the top part of the bed which is pushed up against the wall. There are other beds in the room. A young man, dressed in a suit, about 24 or 25 approaches me and asks if he can help me. He is red-faced, a little “puggy, but handsome, round faced and beautiful skin. I ask him if I could have one or two of the cookies because I am pretty sure they are for the customers. He answers: “I’m sorry, but that was for customers if they came in before 11:00 AM. I proceed to ask him again, but he says he can’t. I get upset and explain that I have been a customer at this store for years and he can’t even give me one of those stale cookies. The next part is a little vague in my mind, but I start calling him names and as I’m walking away, I notice he furtively gives me the finger, but by that stage, I have called him names and I remember saying “You stupid pig”. Just before waking up, I believe he has reported me, and I am feeling very sorry for what I did and apologetic. DREAM Eight On Jan. 8th, I had two dreams that were quite vivid. In one dream, I have driven to a garage to have some work done on my car. I have a passenger...I think it is my sister Doris. When I arrive, I suddenly discover something very odd and incredible. I have driven a ways to the garage ON ONLY TWO TIRES! They are on each side of the vehicle, one in the driver’s front and the other in the passenger’s back right side. I marvel at how I was able to drive the car on only two tires. (only in a dream of course). The mechanic, a fat man who reminds me of a past teacher/brother of the Sacred Heart, Brother Norbert, realizes and admits that the garage forgot to put on tires I bought last time I was here. He shows me the papers and they proceed to install the tires on the empty wheel rims. Then I wake up. In this second dream on the same day (early morning), I dream that I come home with a colleague from work, a very nice-looking sexy man. I have plans to have a nice evening. But when I get home, there is a host of people that come to the house. They are all here on business... DREAM Eight (continued) The group is here to discuss a case involving a young girl that was hurt on the property when a limb from a tree fell on her. I am quite annoyed at this inconvenience, because I did not even own the property at the time. They should sue the previous owner since this happened when he still owned the property and before I purchased it. Meanwhile, I ask my very handsome friend to go into town to get some gin and vodka (interesting...I never drink at home). Before he leaves, we notice my neighbor across the street in his bedroom window, and he looks out and says “Hello” and it is one of my colleagues from the last school I taught at...a man with a raspy voice, from Maine, who had a few marriages and divorces with Asian women. When I go back to the sitting room where a whole group of people, the girl who got hurt, her lawyer, friends and witnesses, are sitting around the table waiting to drill me, I first pass through the dining room and I am incensed to see that there are diners there waiting to eat and the man I talk to, the waiter, says that the sign outside says this is a restaurant. I scream at him and tell everybody to leave my home. Then I wake up. DREAM Nine I took a nap from 10:03 PM to about 11:00 PM, just before I watched my regular programs of “Murder She Wrote”, two episodes, running from 11:00 PM to 1:00 AM. In that short period of time, I had a very sad dream. I dreamt that I was at home and my Mom and Doris were there. We got to talking about my room being taken over by my mother...I think my Mom and Dad were having difficulties and she wanted to sleep in a separate bedroom from my Dad. Anyway, what I remember vividly is my Mom being extremely upset at me. She started yelling, shouting at me, and even started beating her fists on me as I curled up on the sofa into a ball to cushion her blows. It was so pathetic and sad. She wasn't hurting me, just so angry and beating her fists against me. I remember Doris being there. I didn't come out of my curled up position, but I could hear her still angry, shouting, and every now and then, she’d come by and hit me again and again. I started crying and when I finally looked up, she was still crying and so sad. I remember taking her in my arms, on the sofa, and caressing her face and head and joking with her. She had by this time calmed herself and Doris was there to lend support. It was kind of a sad dream. DREAM Ten I took a nap today after tennis, from about 2:30 to 3:05 and had a rather strange dream. I write down my dreams, not all of them, but those that I remember pretty well, and usually of a strange nature. I dreamt that I had moved into an apartment after getting a job somewhere. I don’ t remember exactly where it was. I remember talking on the phone on the first day, trying to get an appointment with, I believe, a new doctor. All of a sudden, while I was speaking to the nurse (office worker) about getting an appointment with the doctor, there was a lot of commotion at my door and when I went to the door, it was partially open, and there were a lot of kids outside making noise and they were all Hispanics. I looked out, gave the kids and a few adults, a look, then closed the door and went back to my talk with the nurse. I remember distinctly closing the door shut, but then after a few more minutes, the door opened again and this time, adults were coming into my apartment. I “escorted” them out of the door, out of my apartment, and I locked the door. I tried to go back to my attempt to make an appointment with the doctor’s office, but again, the door was opened and more people came in. I told them to stay out of my room, but they acted like they didn’t understand me. This (Dream Ten...continued) went on for a good hour, whereby I tried to talk on the phone but was constantly interrupted by people coming into my room. A young girl came in, not Hispanic, but Caucasian like me, and proceeded to make herself at home in my apartment. When I asked her to leave, she just looked at me and wouldn't budge. I told her: “What are you doing here...this is my apartment. Why are people coming into my apartment?” I don’t remember what she said, but she seemed insenced at my telling her to leave. She went into my apartment further in and I think went to the kitchen. Some of the adults were watching my television and just wouldn’t leave. Finally a tall young man came in with his wife (I think) and I approached him and asked him: “Why are people doing this to me? Why are they coming in and staying here, in my apartment with no invitation?” He felt sorry and his explanation was very strange. He basically said that that was the way it was here. It seemed to be the custom for people to just wander in other people’s apartments. I think he suggested that I should probably find another place because this is the way it was here. I think he said that he eventually got people to stay out of his place. Then a Latino came in and when I tried to get him to leave, he became a little aggressive and even stepped on my toes with both feet. I was at a loss for what I should do next...then I woke up. DREAM Eleven In this dream on Sunday morning, August 3rd, I dream at first that I am driving in a parking lot, but it seems I am pushing a cart in the lot and I find a good place to “park” so that I can have an easy exit after the show (I’m not sure what I’m there for, but I can see the lot and all the carts vividly in my mind). After parking my cart, I suddently realize that I was pushing somebody else’s cart and I notice my cart parked at another location in the parking lot, so I immediately switch the two carts, and now my cart is facing an exit so I can easily get out. Strange... Then I am going into a fairgrounds with my sister Doris and my brother Paul. They are walking a bit in front of me, so I have to rush. I think I am a little bit behind because I had to park the cart. Where’s the car? We walk into an open shop (it’s a fair, so the shops are mostly outside under a blue sky...sort of like the Saturday and Sunday outside fair in Palm Springs that I have been too on occasion). As I enter his tent, an artifact, a vase I think, comes rolling towards me on the floor (was it grass?), and I swing at it with a club (I’m not sure what kind of club, not even sure it’s a golf club) and knock it across the room. The owner comes towards me, glaring, and I apologize profusedly and he says something like: “It’s OK”. Well Doris, Paul and I shop around a little and we decide to go on, but I am behind because I am looking at an item and it’s like in a box with different parts to it, and I have to put each piece away in a box. Meanwhile Doris and Paul have left the shop and are walking a little ahead of me. Before I leave, I ask the owner if he needs anybody to work. I tell him I’m looking for a part time job to supplement my income. He says “No” and I leave the shop. There are about 3 or 4 paths throughout the fair area and I don’t see Paul and Doris, but the owner points out the way that he saw them going on and I thank him and rush down the path looking for them. As I go down the path I notice that most shops have closed down, or the owners have completely vacated their assigned areas. I am now quickening my pace looking to catch up to Paul and Doris. Suddenly I come to an area at the end of the shops where there are a lot of people walking around small hills and fields, and further down, I can see hilltops overlooking what I think is the ocean. In the distance, I see Doris waving to me, so I head towards her. As I approach, Paul is coming down the hill, and they both head towards me. We meet sort of halfway and continue to walk together in a field which is also a little hilly. Every now and then I see a large club on the ground, about 6 to 7 feet long and I notice that people are picking them up and every now and then, hit spherules that are on the ground. I pick one up and a lady next to me is trying to hit one of these little balls, so I help her and hit it with my club. Then Paul says that we should head back, but I object saying that I haven’ t seen the ocean and we turn around and head towards the hills overlooking the ocean. I think I can hear the surf as we get closer, then...I wake up. At this stage, I think I got a call on my cell phone which is next to my bed. I place it there every night to charge it. It rings twice, I pick it up and listen, but there is nobody on the line and no message. I think it is my sister and I want to call her back because she is having problems at home with Ronnie. I decide to call her in a bit and lie back down. I sleep for another 2 hours or so and wake up. DREAM Twelve It is difficult remembering a dream upon awakening. Very often, the dream is so vivid when you are actually dreaming it, but when you awake, unless you write it down immediately (and even then, it may be “fragmented”), it becomes “disjointed and fragmented”. I’m going to set down my dream now and not go on philosophying, otherwise, I will forget more and more. This dream is in two parts and I don’ t know whether or not they are related. In the first part of my dream, I am I believe in the bathtub, soaking like I like to do at times, then I hear scuffling and strange noises going on in the other room. This seems to be a strange house, not the one I am living in now. When I get out of the tub and walk into the living room...there on the floor is a little puppy, playing with something on the floor. I can’t remember what it is, but I can picture the puppy. At this time, I am going to try and find a picture of the puppy: This is pretty much the “kind” of puppy I saw there on my living room floor. It is not quite the same type of puppy, but similar to the one I saw. (The photo of the kind of dog I saw is below here: At first I was surprised to see this animal in my house but then I noticed that the door to the living room (this must have been a different house because my home does not have a door leading to the living room.). I closed the door and assumed that someone had opened my door while I was bathing and let the puppy in. I approached him and I was tempted to put him back out, but felt sorry for him and as I approached him, I noticed that he was full of fleas. I thought of bathing him thoroughly to try and rid him of the fleas, but...then I woke up. I don’ t know what the significance of this dream is except to say that I often think of adopting a couple of dogs from the pound. I miss my dogs that I gave up to the pound years ago. Next dream probably occurred after I got up to go to the bathroom, then went back to sleep. I am working downtown in an office and I am brand new at the job. Perhaps this dream has happened due to the fact that I have applied to substitute teach and may be called this coming week to work. This job that I am at, however, has nothing to do with teaching. What I remember about the dream is that I am new and trying to learn the “ropes” and lunch time comes along, and all of a sudden, I am alone in the office, and I find myself in a room with bunk beds and a few executives come in, one by one, to take a nap and I make my apologies as they undress, one by one, and get in the separate cots to take a noontime nap. Then I have to leave this large room (I can still picture it with the three men, in bed talking to each other about finances, etc. I then am in another room and I have to iron my clothes perhaps...I’ m not sure, but I do know that I am without clothes on, perhaps only shorts, when the office girls start to come in one by one, and I have to hide in the closet. What a predicament! If they see me without clothes on, it would be unbearable. Then, the last thing I remember is trying to get my shoes on. I just can’ t seem to slip them on...they are too tight....I wake up. DREAM Thirteen I am in a building with a long corridor with benches on one side, perhaps it is a library, because as I am writing this now, even though I have awaken from the dream, I still have fairly vivid scenes from the whole dream. Anyway, I have been told that another person, a young lady that I seemed to have gotten along well when I was here last, will be joining me, according to what the “librarian” says. I have a feeling now that perhaps this is a place for writers to meet and share their writings and experiences. I am laying down on this bench, reading and I think I am nibbling on something, and I am sharing with another person, sharing my work, my written work, that is. Then, the librarian comes over and tells me that I must move my car because I am blocking someone. I can’t imagine this because when I parked my car, there were nobody around and no way I could be blocking anyone. I rush to where I parked my car, at first, having some difficulty remembering the location. Of course, my sense of direction is such that this is no surprise, but anyway, I digress...I remember parking between a building and an old chainlink fence, partially down and the ground is overgrown with weeds. When I get to the car, I noticed that next to my car is the gate and through the gate, I can see a “drive” overrun with grass, weeds, and it hardly seems used, but I suppose I must be blocking someone coming up that drive. I didn’t even think that somebody lived in that area. Suddenly, someone taps me on my shoulder as I am standing there trying to figure out how to back up my car and looking over the fence. It is a lady, dressed in a warm long coat, black and gray in color, with brown threads throughtout, and the lady looks familiar. As I am standing there, looking at her, I gasp in surprise and say “Penny...Penny Lake”. She doesn’t seem to recognize me a t first, but then eventually recognizes me. Penny Lake taught with me at Mount Vernon, my first school I taught at when I came to Los Angeles. I remember her as Penny Lake, but she became Penny Gwin after marrying Jim Gwin who also taught at the same school. I gasped, not only at recognizing and meeting her after so many years, but especially at the fact that she looks so young and beautiful. She has her hair longer that what I remember her having, and although she must be around my age, in her 60’s, she looks like she could be in her 40’s. We chat a little, then I realize I must move my car. “You live down there”, I said. “Yes”. I don’t see the house from the spot I’m at. I figure it must be hidden below, at the end of the drive which meanders from the spot we are in down to the bottom of what looks like in a gullly. I can only imagine the house being grand. The next part of my dream can only happen in a dream. I see a problem in trying to back out and leave the area, but I find it easier to simply “pick up my car and move it out of the area”. Yes, you read right, reader; I picked up my car and walked with it under my arm out of the area I was parked in. Well, after all, it is a Prius! That is pretty much the end of my story. I can still see myself, lugging my blue Prius under my arm, seeing Penny Lake (Gwin) as clear as can be, and having this simple wonderfully fantastic dream. DREAM Fourteen Today, May 11, 2009, I lay down for a nap after my tennis game in the morning and lunch and had a dream. It was about 1:30. I rarely nap and if I do, it is not for long. This nap lasted about 2 hours which is very unusual. In my nap, I am with two people on a trip. I am with a female and a male. The female might have been with my sister since I often dream with her in my dream. The other traveler is Randy across the street. I don’t like Randy too much. We don’t talk because of an incident that happened. I complained because he was parking his van in front of my house at one time. He wasn't blocking me as many people have done in the past, blocking me from coming out of my driveway onto the street. We are somewhere and I am picking them up after they finished talking with someone. As I pull up to the curb, my car is acting funny and although I am pressing on the brake with my foot, the car is not responding well. I pull up and my car is sort of swaying right and left. Once they get it, I proceed to have them get in, then I pull forward, and the car is slowly moving, as if the brake is on. I check the brake, but it is not on (foot brake or emergency brake that is), and I am struggling to move the car forward. I barely make it to a very precarious intersection, and when I finally get it across the intersection, I have to pull over and Randy says he will check to see what’s wrong. All the time, I am aware of his presence and therefore very nervous. I wake up. As I write this dream, I am aware of another part of the dream that is on my mind. I don’t think it had anything to do with the incident above, however it occurred before the dream segment above. In this part of my dream, I am also going on a trip, then I end up in a sort of shelter where I have left my sleeping bag and some other equipment and I stop over briefly before I continue on my journey. The shelter is hard to describe except to say that is likened to the shelter offered by an overpass on a major road somewhere. In the shelter there is a woman and something happens and I give her an embrace. Perhaps it is due to something that has happened for which I am grateful, and I have her to thank for it. The vivid part of the dream is our embrace. It is a hug, then a kiss on the cheek, and a moment where I wonder if I should kiss her on the lips because I feel at that moment arousal. She is a pretty woman. The rest after that is kind of vague except for the fact that she is on the way to meet someone, a man whose picture she shows me and she is anxious to meet this man. I am at that point a bit embarrassed and then.....that is all I remember. DREAM Fifteen Today, June 29, 2009, I dreamt that I was at a skating rink and one of the workers mentions that I am skating erratically and calls to my attention the fact that my skates need sharpening. I ask him for the price for the sharpening and he replies: “40 bucks for a fast job and 75 for a more detailed job.” Well at the time, I can’t afford to pay for the sharpening and I tell him that I will consider this next time and I then continue skating. But, as hard as I try, I cannot go to the right, toward the rink boards, but rather, I seem to lean toward the middle of the rink, toward the left. After a while, and feeling frustrated, I get off the skating rink, take off my skates, and head home. On the way home, I see the worker who suggested that I sharpen my skates, but he looks really different... in fact, he is in drag, wearing a horrible-looking dress, and terrible make-up. Then I say “Oh, I know you.” Then we exchange greetings and then I go on my way. In another part of the dream, which seems to be unrelated to the above, I come across what looks like doors to mines, several doors, and when I open one, I see people in the dark moving out of the light, and this happens with other doors I open. Then I wake up... DREAM Sixteen Today is July 2nd, 2009 and I had a dream last night where I am on an island and I want to buy some gum at one of the stores on the island, but they don’t sell it and I go from store to store and find out that only one store carries gum, but the man who owns the store does not want to sell me any gum. (Strange dream, huh?). Eventually, I lodge a complaint and sue this young man who refuses to sell me some gum. I have a daughter in this dream and this young man loves my daughter. He is also a very intelligent man. (I must have been tired when I woke up and recorded part of this dream because I say at the end of the dream that “I will continue this dream later”. Unfortunately, I never did continue and one wonders if I settled the matter in this dream. “Settling” the matter is probably not the right term to use. Perhaps it is like the old saying: “If you are falling in a dream and you reach the end, then that is the end of the dream as well as your life.” I think I have heard this before. At this point in my life, I am interested in only recording my dreams and not interpreting them. I believe only a Native American Shaman could do that, or at least, I would rather they interpret my dream than anybody else). DREAM Seventeen In this dream, I dreamt on July 12, 2009, I am on a mission with three other people. I don’t know is we are on a mission for the Government or another agency, but right now, the Government seems feasible. At one point, we are climbing up a slope, but on a bridge. The walk on the bridge starts off on a flat plane, but as we continue on the bridge, the structure starts to slope up and up, to a point where we are going up a 90 degree incline, (how with ropes...? - the dream does not provide that answer), and just as we reach the top to get on the other side, two of us fall, but we are clinging to the side of the bridge on what seems to be rigid cloths. I don’t know who it is that falls and is clinging to the side of the bridge...is it me and another, or the other two...? I’m not sure about that. Well, on with the dream. At this time, I turn to my friend and ask him: “Should we tell the captain about the other two, what happened to them?” At this point, I guess we are dealing with the military, and all of a sudden, the characters in this story have gone from 3 to 4. This is where we are at now, two of us clinging to the bridge and we are concerned about telling the captain about the fate of the other two, but the main concern at this time is “How much longer can we hold on here before we fall...?” Below us is nothing but space, space and the mountains below, far below us. I turn to my comrade and ask him if we should tell the captain about our predicament and then maybe he can send a jet to pick us up, in mid-air. This is such a strange dream...that’s it. DREAM Eighteen This is the dream I had on July 14th, 2009, Bastille Day. I am a tutor and I’ m not sure where I am tutoring, perhaps a school. I am asked to tutor a young woman named Emma. I can remember the name clearly. I am also asked to go and tutor a young man who lives far far away, out of my way. I am asked to tutor these two on the same day. Emma, I believe, works at the same facility that I do. Things tend to get a little “fuzzy” at this stage, as apt to happen very often in dreams, but the next thing I remember in the dream is that as I am driving home, I notice a young lady hitchhiking and it’s Emma. I told her that I would try and make it to her place to tutor her, but since she is here now, I think to myself “Why don’t I just pick her up and give her a ride, and since she’s here, I can also tutor her at her home.” That way, I can kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. The next scene is very strange...I am now walking and I need to get a car to get Emma and me going (what happened to my car?), and as I am walking there, I noticed a pink little car on the side of the road. I come up to the car and it’s really quaint, with two seats in it, and it may even be a convertible. I pick the car up from the side of the road (yes, it’s a dream) and the little car has rust all over it. Emma also helps me to pick it up. As Emma helps me to pick up the car and put it on the road, I notice that she has rust and dirt all over her hands and face and I laugh when I see that. The last part of the dream is that we have put the little car on the ride and we get in and get ready to drive off... How strange...in dreams, one gets supernatural powers, I guess. Anything’s possible. DREAM Nineteen In this dream, on July 16th, this morning, I am at a grocery store. I am doing some shopping and Doris is with me, my sister Doris. She is probably visiting from home, from Maine, or perhaps I am visiting her in Maine. The dream does not make the location clear. We have bought about $23.00 in groceries (the actual figure is still fresh in my mind) and now I’m at the register and it’s time to pay. At this point, Doris is no where in sight, and I don’t have enough money on me to pay for the groceries. I think I have to go back out to the car to get the money (perhaps a checkbook?). The store has even called Doris over the intercom. Well, I am in the process of writing a check when Doris finally comes up, eating an ice cream cone. We ask her where she’s been, the grocery clerk and I, and she says that she’s been on an exercicle, doing some exercise. I guess we’re all upset at her because she didn’t help pay for the groceries. It’s kind of a silly dream isn’t it? BUT, that’s what I dreamt. DREAM Twenty On July 18th, I had a dream. I am dreaming that I am at a school, probably teaching, and the school is having a contest for the most popular teacher. There were two sections in the school, and each teacher would go to one section, perhaps it was a meeting hall or auditorium, and talk to the students. After talking to the students in this one hall, I wasn't sure after that if I were to be picked as the “Best Teacher”. But the next segment of the dream takes me to the cafeteria. There must have been something else happening in the school, because a few of us went to eat at the cafeteria. The other teachers who were not at the cafeteria probably went out to eat. This is reminiscent of the days when I taught and we had afternoon meetings with the students dismissed from school. Some of us would stay at the school, eat in the cafeteria or in our rooms, while others went out in groups to eat at local restaurants and fast food places. As I’m standing in line, I noticed chicken being served, nice big pieces of chicken. I ask the cafeteria worker for some chicken, to which she brusquely replies: “No, this is not for you!”. Well the chicken, it seems, was for the staff, the cafeteria workers. I saw them cutting big pieces of chicken for themselves. Then, I saw some ham. The ham did not look very good and I don’t remember if I had any or not. After this, I saw cups of apple juice and I was thirsty for just something like that. I asked for the apple juice and once again came the reply: “No, this is isn't for you. There’s something to drink over there for you. I did not like being treated like this...here is all this nice food and drinks, but it’s all for them, the cafeteria workers. Then, behind me came a former teacher of mine. (AAIIEEIGGHHG! At this point, I screamed because I am recording on my iphone, but I disengaged, inadvertently, the recording...but I did manage to get the recording back and continue recording my dream.) This former teacher took the apple juice from me, the apple juice that the cafeteria worker had reluctantly, the smart ass, given to me .Then, after the apple juice was taken from me, I asked again for some apple juice and was told that it was not for me, but she reluctantly again, gave me some juice. I don’t like this man at all behind me! (Shades of John Heinrich!!!). He made a nasty comment and said something like: “Oh, you’re always complaining about something!”. I said: “Ah Shut up before I punch you in the nose!” Then the dream ended there. The only possible teacher I can think of that I would like to punch in the nose is John Heinrich...but that’s another story! DREAM Twenty-One This dream was on July 19th, 2009. In this dream, I am teaching as opposed to being retired. On this day, I rush to my classroom because I have been out for a while, perhaps with the flu. This is probably at my old schools, Mount Vernon or Thomas Starr King. But it could also be at the new school that I substitute for, La Canada High School. I sometimes have to rush to school to find the classroom I am going to substitute in, usually a room hard to find since I am new at the school. I have to go back to my room or somewhere to find information for the coming parade that the kids are preparing for. I don’ t remember much after that, but this is reminiscent of the Olympics that we had at Mount Vernon in 1984. All the homerooms had to choose a country and march in the parade, complete with competing athletes from the homerooms. I chose “Lichtenstein” for my Homeroom. We made a flag and all and participated in the parade. I don’t remember much of the rest of the dream, although I know I had to rush to the field and help my kids prepare for the parade. DREAM Twenty-Two I took a nap today around 4:00PM and I don’t usually take naps, but I dreamt in this nap, so I must have been sleeping. Today is the 26th of October and in my nap I am in some court, a King’s court I believe and there is a contest. A little man is sitting on the bottom step leading to the royal thrones and he has a gem in his navel, I believe, and three contestants must try and hit the navel gem. I am one of those contestants and I have for my “ammunnition” (get ready for this), crackers, yes CRACKERS. I break them in smaller pieces and the object is to run from about 30 feet away and throw the cracker piece and try and dislodge the gem in the little man’s navel. One of the other contestants has spears, made of very light material, probably rubber, so as not to harm the individual. After a few trys, I succeed in hitting the gem squarely and knocking it out of the navel. I am the winner. (for the sake of time right now, I cannot finish this dream but will try later. I do know that my prize is not given to me. Nobody is around to congratulate me. This is reflective of my feelings at the present time which have to do with my inability to make friends and keep the few friends that I have. I am kind of in a slump right now.) DREAM Twenty-Three Today is the 29th of May, 2010. It has been months since I last wrote about my dreams. It seems like I dream every night, dreams that I often forget when I awake, but sometimes, they are dreams that I should immediately write down as I awake, because I do remember some of them, partially, or sometimes vividly. In this dream, I am on an island and for some reason, a Greek isle comes to mind. Perhaps it is Mykonos where I have been in the past, vacationing. I am at a house, where I am renting a room and the landlord is a doctor. It is a young woman , a young doctor, but she has to leave to pick up her daughter and I accompany her. I have no transportation and for some reason, I go with her. She goes to her clinic, and she waits for her daughter. I wait for her in the clinic and she leaves and from the window, I see her walking down the narrow street filled with people and I see her meet her little girl and she picks her up, hugs her and proceeds down the street. I see all this from her clinic window. She walks away and I go out to catch up with her as she walks with her daughter down the street. When I get to the street, there is nobody out, but I proceed down the street. As I walk down the street, in front of me, hovering in the air, is a huge bird...it looks like a huge bird reminiscent of the Chimera, or more aptly the Griffin of Greek lore. It hovers in the air and seems to come closer, menacingly, but still at a distance, hovering ever closer and closer. (see image on the right). Also, on my right are other strange birds, walking back and forth along the path. I fear this creature flying ahead of me, blocking my path and am also afraid of the other birds now beginning to encircle me. All of a sudden, the birds around me disappear and the creature that is blocking my path, approaching me from the air, has either gone, or in its place, there is now a man, hovering in the air. He is young, round- faced, with a stubble of hair on his chin, with no wings, but his body is floating in the air, close to me. I can picture his face as clear as can be right now... probably the most vivid part of my dream still in my mind. He speaks some words and behind him, coming to his right side, is another figure, almost a twin, and he says something to the second figure which seems to be aggressive towards me, but he introduces the figure as his sister and assures me that there is nothing to fear. I then wake up. DREAM Twenty-four I’ve always believed that writing is a good way to feel better about yourself, your life and talking about it on paper, doesn’ t make you feel so much alone. This dream is an on-going dream...it is a waking dream, a sort of nightmare. I have no friends, no friends at all. Every day, and it’s been like this for the past 3 or 4 months, I feel so alone. I am trying to find friends and I cannot do it. The few friends I have had just are not real friends. I feel so alone. I have everything I need, a good home, actually, I have three homes, comfort, and have so much to share, but I cannot find anyone to share it with. My favorite sport is tennis, but I fear I will have to give that up. Today, I admit, I played and lost and that is always a bummer, but when I complained that I thought it was unfair that Bob, one of the tennis players, “Mr. know-it-all”, told a friend of his that he should play in the next court because they needed a fourth. When I complained that I didn’t think that was fair and that they should draw cards, his comment to his friend Chris was: “You’ll have to draw cards with the ‘guy behind me’”. My response was: “The guy behind you is “Ray” and I walked off the court. Everything goes wrong for me. Is it me? I don’t know what to do. I am getting more and more discouraged, even depressed. My life just doesn’t seem to have any meaning any more. I am fortunate that I sleep well, but I fear that is a problem. All I want to do is sleep. There just doesn’t seem to be any reason to wake up anymore. Ed Serra is out of my life and perhaps I have been at fault there. I have always found him to be so negative, and he gambles, and I have shared my home in the desert with him, but I want to be able to go there, enjoy my home, go when I please, and not have to cater to his needs. I had a tenuous relationship with Larry, my next-door neighbor and the other day, I told him not to come over anymore. I told him to forget about paying back the money he owes me. His whole reason for any kind of contact with me, his “friendship” is to borrow money. I am feeling a bit better by writing. Nobody is going to read this, I’m sure, but I have to express my feelings. I am feeling very sorry for myself at this stage of my life. Since I retired from teaching in 2006, I have kept myself very busy and have enjoyed my life, but it just seems that now, there is no enjoyment left in my life. Today, I got up early, went to play tennis, but I came back early because of the incident at the courts. Now I don’t know what to do anymore. I love to play tennis, but now, hardly anybody goes to play and the few that do are not very nice people. I don’t do much at home anymore....I have let my housework go, my home is not clean, and I have hardly any desire to keep it clean. Why should I when nobody ever comes here, except my piano teacher. Now I have said many negative things...let me try and enumerate the positive things in my life. I am learning how to play the piano...I MUST CONTINUE WITH THIS...PRACTICE AND MORE PRACTICE if I am to be anywhere good at it. Besides, I am paying for piano lessons. I must concentrate on this and see this as a positive aspect in my life. In fact, today, I will clean house and focus on my piano practice. I have met a man named Bill and had dinner with him the other day...I really would like to see him again and have dinner. I enjoyed my first meeting. This will not develop into anything, since I am HIV and I know that once I tell him, it will end any kind of relationship with him. The most I can hope for is some kind of friendship, but it is hard to be hopeful about that, when I reflect on my past attempts at relationships. Once I tell anyone that I have the virus, it scares them away. Tomorrow, another positive occurrence is a dinner invitation to Bill’s house, through Phil. We had a falling out a while back, and I don’t want to dwell on the negative aspect, but rather the positive. Phil went out of his way to invite me to the dinner, although, Bill is the one that invited me, but the positive aspect is still there. I feel much better, having talked about this. I don’t know if anybody out there is listening, but I still feel good about myself. I think I will concentrate on the good things that I enjoy, I must, because this is a very difficult time in my life right now. Another positive occurrence in my life right now is my trip to Maine. I really don’t want to go. I feel Doris has tricked me into going, spending money, for what...for my older brother Paul’ s 70th. I have seen as a negative, but I must think of the positive aspect. All the negatives are: going through the uninteresting and tedious process of flying, the money spent on the trip, the reason for the trip. The positives: going away for a change, seeing my siblings, and perhaps visiting my home and a “promised trip” to an Amish community with Doris. Doris is doing better right now because she has met someone and she has gone through a lot of trouble to celebrate Paul’s birthday, and I want to share in this. After this trip, I will not be going to Maine for a very long time. I will make the best of this trip. I am enjoying my cup of coffee right now and am feeling a lot better about myself. It has been very much worthwhile sitting down at my computer and writing about my “depression”. It has made me feel much better. My plans for today are: to clean house, start cleaning the back room, maybe do a little reading later, and PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE on the piano. I’m also looking forward to picking up my watch at “La Memoire” later on today. I am hopeful that he will find a watchband my watch, my Marea that I bought in Mykonos on my cruise in October of 2008. I am very hopeful that the watchmaker will find a band for my watch. I will call him at about 1:45 PM, hold my breath, think positive thoughts, and hopefully pick up my watch today, with a band. He said he could not replace the crystal, but at least I will have my watch back. “Oh Lord, I thank you for listening to me. I am going through a rough time in my life right now, but you have made me feel much better. I must continue to survive, feel good about myself, and enjoy life, the days, months, years, I have left on this earth. Thank you Lord.” My day has been so much better since I sat down and had a talk with you, Lord. I did a few things today that were good. I watered the front yard, I got my watch back with a new band, and I washed my car. It is now 9:00 AM and I feel much better. I will now sit down and practice on the piano. I feel so much better. DREAM Twenty-five I had a nice evening and slept well. I woke up refreshed and ready for another day. I had a dream where I am driving home from somewhere, I know not where, but in my dream, I believe Ed is also driving home in his own vehicle. At one point, he goes off the main road (freeway) and takes a small side road heading up the mountain. I am not sure where he is going, but I continue on my way home, then a while later, he calls me to tell me that he is stranded in snow. I turn around and follow his trail to see what the trouble is. In the next scene, I find him stranded, then jump forward quite a few miles and to our alternate destination...a small cabin up on the mountain. I own this cabin and the first thing I notice is that there is a huge leak into an area of the house (perhaps the kitchen?). I think the water is coming from a glass- domed roof. There are other people there, a couple and a young child. Everybody seems protective of the child. My question at this point is: “Where did Ed find out about my little cabin in the woods up the mountain? And why is he here? I can only assume it is because of his curious temperament. He has no business being there, but....it is Ed isn’t it? I then wake up. That is all I remember of the dream.I am still feeling positive today, after the terrible beginning of the day yesterday, June 30th, 2010. Today is Thurs. July 1st. I have a few activities planned and a few appointments. I will go to the optometrist this afternoon to choose my new glasses, which is a positive. I am also going to a dinner where I was invited by Bill Bliss, a man I met at my piano teacher’s party last Sunday. Supposedly, Phil gave Bill his phone number and Bill invited him to dinner, but made sure to tell Phil to invite me. I have the funny feeling that somehow, Phil “wrangled his way” into the invitation. But I should not feel this way. It is a nice gesture. Something that is keeping me happy is that I have my watch on with my new watchband. I paid $25.00 for the band which I think is a bit much, but that’s OK...at least I can wear my favorite watch again. It is a watch with the brand name “Marea” which I purchased in Mykonos when I went there as part of a cruise in October of 2008. It needs a new crystal, but no jeweller can fix it because the crystal is not available here in the U.S. But I’m still happy about it. Today is going to be a good day. I also want to take my motorcycle out. I want to keep on riding it every now and then and become a little more confident. I don’t want to give it up. I only go for short “safe” trips around the area. I also will do some house cleaning today. Now I will have my breakfast and get ready for the day. Thank you, Lord, for watching over me this evening and today. Dream Twenty-five...continued Sat. July 3, 2010 I will continue to write my thought as much as possible, each day, because it makes me feel much better. From now on, though, I will head the daily entries: “Diary (and the date). On July 1st, I went out to dinner at Bill and Howard’s home. They live right here in Pasadena. Phil was there. We had a falling out at one time, but I think we have renewed friendship. He also invited me to the dinner and also, I will be going with him to a July 4th’s party on Sunday, the 4th. I think it is so nice that we have kind of renewed acquaintances and that he invited me to this party. I went last year and it was kind of fun. I am feeling fairly good. I have been suffering, however, with a slight pressure behind my eyes. Ever since I have had my eyes checked, I have felt a little pressure in that area. It’s sort of like a “headache”, but not bad, just pressure. I am hoping that I can see the optometrist again, but I have a feeling this would cost me. Perhaps if it is a “follow- up”, they, the Plan, may cover it. I will call on Monday. Yesterday, I went to pay for my glasses will I will be getting in about 1 week. I’ m glad I will have them for my trip to Maine. Well, compared to my first entries regarding my feelings, this is good, this is a good change. If the reader notices, my whole beginning has been positive and I have enumerated positive happenings. I still should talk about what I think to be negative (frustrating) events that have occurred in the past 2 days. Last night, I got myself a pizza, but I wasn't feeling too good. I had a fever of about 102, went to bed and slept pretty well this past evening. (I am changing my record now. I am listening to one of my favorites... the 2 record set of “Fantasia”.) The few negative items to mention: my slight “headache” and temperature last night, already mentioned. This morning I was also frustrated by the computer again, working so slowly and the fact that I can’t seem to send out emails from my Charter Account. I worked on it this morning and hope that I have fixed the problem. Today, I went for a nice walk and enjoyed the day. It is a beautiful day here today. I am going out to “The Other Side” tonight to meet someone named Tony that I met on Daddyhunt. We will have a few drinks together. Then tomorrow, Sunday, I am going to a July 4th party. I am looking forward to these two events. In closing, I must mention another negative thing...I have received another daily alert from Trans- Union indicating about 10 more attempts at my credit. They are all fraudulent and I have to be constantly alert since somebody is trying to use my personal information in opening up accounts, applying for credit, cards, etc. All in all, it has been a pretty good day so far. I must fight to prevent little things like frustration with the computer, and other frustrations to get the best of me. Diary - Sun. July 4, 2010 HAPPY 4TH OF JULY! Well, today I woke up very late because I had trouble sleeping when I got to bed at about 1: 20AM. Before I came home from the Other Side, I stopped off at Astros and had the intention of getting some soup or a salad...I ended up ordering a lamb shank dinner. It was reasonable, cost- wise, and fairly good, but I ate this at about 1:00AM which was a mistake. I should never eat so late. Anyway, I had trouble getting to sleep and I finally did and slept late.I had my meeting with Tony that I met through Silverdaddies and we had a nice talk. It would be nice to cultivate his friendship. I certainly need to find and cultivate friends right now. Tonight, I am looking forward to Phil coming over and our attendance at a rather elaborate New Year’s Eve Party, which I attended last year and had fun. The morning is already gone because I slept so late, but the time that I have left, I will spend cleaning and putting things away. There is always something to do at the house. In closing for today, the positives are: a get together with a friend and an enjoyable 4th of July. Also, I received a card and a beautiful key chain from Doris, with a beautiful humpback whale on the key chain. One negative: my penis is very sensitive because I am subjecting it to treatment to get rid of precancerous spots. This morning the aldara cream made it very sensitive and bloody. A soak in the tub made all the difference in the world. Diary - Monday July 4, 2010 I slept fairly well last night. After the 4th of July party, I went to bed around 1:30 AM, slept fairly well and woke up this morning around 8:15 AM. I had my breakfast and am writing a few words now at about 9:50 AM. The July 4th party was nice and I enjoyed myself. Phil and I had trouble getting there...PHIL HAD THE WRONG ADDRESS! I got frustrated trying to program my GPS to get us there, but he didn’ t even have the right address. I met some interesting people there. This morning, I will practice on the piano for a while. I have a doctor’s appointment at 3:00 PM. Nothing much else to report for now, but will probably add some more information later on today. Diary - Thursday July 8, 2010 I have not written for a few days and there is much going on and so I wanted to put down a few words today. Well, there is still a lot of negative occurrences happening in my life, so I might as well mention them first, then I’ ll dwell on the positives. I waited today for my piano teacher to come by and give me my lesson and he forgot. A whole 2 or 3 hours were wasted. I will be quitting after these next sessions. He (Larry Evans) will try and hold me to the lessons (I pay him $130 for two lessons), but I will stand firm and tell him that I will be going to Maine and will have to forgo lessons for now. Besides, it is getting to be overwhelming...with chords, scales, etc. The next lesson will be EXPLANATIONS. I finally got a hold of Larry this morning after several calls reminding him that we had a lesson this morning. Coincidentally, as I took my walk this morning (positive occurrence), he happened to drive by and we set up another appointment. I will stick to my guns when he comes and tell him not to plan any more lessons UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. Of course, he makes his living giving paid lessons, but I also have my life to think of. I just cannot afford to continue for now. As Phil said yesterday: “Perhaps you have enough lessons for now and have learned the basics and now it is a question of putting what I have learned into practice. Another negative is the fact that I have learned that my medical plan is not cut out what I thought it was. Anthem Blue Cross is bogus and pays nothing for my medical care. The District has really cut down on benefits. That is a big negative. But as the Blue Cross agent advised, I will wait until the next renewal period in September...I may have to switch to Kaiser. I will (as the agent suggested) read the choices carefully. He told me that many people are dissatisfied with the plan, or lack of benefits. Another negative that occurred is my constant frustration with the computer. I seems to be running slower and slower. I need to push myself away from it when I start to get frustrated. Another negative occurrence is Doris’s doing. Today, she called and asked me if I were bringing a gift for Paul. At first I said I was already paying for my trip and all the expense involved, but then I changed my mind and told her I would go in half with her on a camera that she will get for Paul. I have told myself time and time again that my place is here and that I should not travel so much, especially to Maine. I really have nothing to look forward to there. It’s just another expense that I don’t need. Doris “tricked” me into going this time. It is Paul’s 70th birthday and when she first approached me on this, my hesitation made her put a guilt trip on me: “Raymond, don’t you feel bad that you’ll be the only member of the family not attending?” I assumed that she was getting everybody together, but as it turned out, Richard and Helena are not attending for valid reasons. I am now committed and all, including my flight booked and ticket paid, but I feel I have been “tricked”. I don’t want to tell her how I feel, but after this trip, I AM STICKING TO MY GUNS! I will plan no more trips. Another negative occurrence is the lack of cooperation I am getting from my so-called property manager in Maine, Claude Chabre. He is really lame. I never hear from him and then when I do, he states that he hasn’t heard from me. That’s a lot of ((**&**&^%! Well, the good thing is that apparently, he has gotten a sheriff to move in for six months for $700/month As cheap as that is, Claude assured me that the tenant would pay for everything, including the oil (heating), yard work, electrical, waste, etc. Well now for the Positives: I went for a walk and had a nice walk today. Also, I played tennis yesterday and had two sets. I didn't do too well, but I enjoyed myself. And, a really nice plus was that Phil invited me over for dinner last night. He didn't want me to spend my Birthday alone. That was very nice of him. He made beef stroganoff which was pretty good. I brought some champagne over and bought some mushrooms for his stroganoff. We had a pleasant evening. I got there around 6:15 and left around 9:10PM. I didn't spend the day alone. That was very nice of him. Well, I guess that’s it for now. I feel a little better talking about my day and past few days. I will continue tomorrow. Lord, grant me the strength and patience to live my days in comfort and peace.. Diary - Saturday, July 10 Last night, I slept very well, compared to the night before, Friday night. I had trouble catching my breath and did not sleep well at all. I finally got to sleep about 3:00 or 4:00 AM. I was not able to wake up the next day, Friday, to go and play tennis. I did do some good things during the day. I went for a walk in the late morning, cleaned the house a little, and prepared my Treas. Report for our club’s meeting at night, on Friday, July 9, 2010. We always meet on the second Friday of every month at 6:00 PM. And so, Friday was a good day. I did some leisurely work, went for my walk, bike ride, and prepared my report. Our club, PCMC (Pacific Coast Men’s Club) is preparing for its annual hiking/camping event at Black Mountain. Unfortunately, I will not make it this year because I am going to Maine. That is a positive negative since I would have preferred to go on the camping trip than go to Maine. Doris will never know the sacrifice I have made to go to Maine and celebrate my older brother’s 70th. Even now, I regret going. Anyway, it is done and I must go to Maine and forgo my camping trip that I enjoy very much. Well, I think by the time I am closer to my trip to Maine, I may start looking forward to it. I just got off the phone to Phil Dessert and I made a date with him to go to The Other Side tonight. We will go and have dinner at the Flying Leap, the restaurant attached to the bar. Phil will call up later to make a reservation and I will pick him up at his home and we will go there for a dinner and then stop off at the bar for a few drinks. Today, I will probably go for my walk, maybe even a bike ride. The more I ride my motorcycle, the more confident I get. I’ll clean up in the house a little. So I have a few things to look forward to. I may even get in the spa for a soak. That’s what I’m planning today. I may continue later. Diary - Sunday, July 11, 2010 I had trouble sleeping last night...couldn’t catch my breath which seems to be a common occurrence lately. I don’t know if this has anything to do with stress or perhaps it has to do with eating certain foods, sometimes late at night. This is a negative that I have to put up with now and then. It seems to go in stages. I will go a month or more without any major problem sleeping at night. As long as I catch my breath with a good inhalation, I drop off to sleep fairly easy, but otherwise, if I have to struggle for air, it makes it very difficult for me to sleep. I finally got to sleep late and I of course woke up very late. I didn’ t even go to Mass today, but just stayed home and watched TV. There is a Lucy Marathon on and I watched a few episodes and laughed. I had breakfast, a banana and later for lunch, Phil’ s upside-down pineapple cake (yuck, that should not have been eaten for lunch!) I think another negative today is that I hear my patio enclosure room constantly making the noises with the expansion-contraction of the structure and the rivets, I think are making that noise. I don’t know if this will continue, but I find it extremely annoying. Whenever it warms up, it does that. VERY ANNOYING AND NEGATIVE! I have to lodge a complaint with the BBB about that. I copied all the emails I have been sending to Claude Chabre, which he claims he has not received, and sent it to him in a hard copy, I also reiterated the fact that I will be coming up to visit my home in July when I’m in Maine. This is a definite negative that I have to deal with...Claude Chabre is really quite hopeless as a property manager. He does not communicate much, does not make much of an effort to rent my home. I hesitate to send him $100/month...WHAT FOR!? He has finally found a tenant for my home...$700 MEASLY DOLLARS PER MONTH. I’m not very happy about that, but the tenant will have to pay for everything... heating, electrical, waste, etc. I know I am pretty negative today, but that’s the way I feel. I haven’ t been out at all, just staying inside and “vegetating”. I doused the cat this morning with a pitcher of water, got her good. I know that is not a nice thing to do, but she is absolutely worthless. All she does is eat my food and show absolutely no affection at all. I would really love to get rid of her. I will not pay one penny for the Vet for any kind of care for this creature. She is not worth it! I must find some positives now...I did laugh a little today watching Lucy, did enjoy my night out with Phil, somewhat. The hamburger at “The Flying Leap” was ok (with small letters), and I guess that is about all for now. I hope I can get a good night’s sleep, so I can go and play tennis tomorrow. I do enjoy that so much! Lord, forgive me for not going to visit you in your home today... grant me peace and contentment...” Diary - Monday July 12, 2010 I had a good night’s sleep and woke up early and played tennis this morning. I played two sets and had a good work out. After tennis, I went to Home Depot and received credit for pieces of tiles that I didn’t use for my room enclosure. I called Toyota and made an appointment for the recall testing, went to the Pasadena Police Dept. and filed a report for the identity theft that I’m going through and I felt much better about that. I also finally got a call from Claude who claims he has not been getting any emails, but now I made it clear to him to use my “rayinpas” address rather than the “cetacea” address. I also informed him that I will be visiting the house in July. He said he would send me a copy of the tenant agreement. I also called the LAUSD Health Benefits Section to get some info. I will probably change from Blue Cross to another carrier in September. Blue Cross sucks. I also deposited the PCMC checks, and called Gail and she said they would send me a check for the prepaid fuel not used. All of these items are positives. It has been a very good day. O want to clean up the house now and practice some piano. Oh Lord, thank you for making my day go so well today. Thank you for watching over me. Diary Wednesday July 14, 2010 BASTILLE DAY Today was an exceptionally good day. I woke up early, had my coffee and went to play tennis. I won both of my sets today. It was very hot out on the courts. I and my partner won, 6-3 and with another partner, we beat our opponents 7-6 (tie- breaker). I came home and was working on my computer trying to get the ipod on my iphone to work...after syncing and after quite a long period of time, it finally worked again. After, I showered and went out with Phil for lunch. We had a pleasant lunch. I bought a gallon of spoilt milk back to the store and the manager was nice enough to replace the sour milk. I was embarrassed though...I went to Vons first, then the manager pointed out the fact that the milk came from Ralphs, not Vons. (Ha Ha). Tonight, Richard called me from Colorado and we had a nice chat. All the occurrences today were very positive...I had a nice day. O Lord, I thank you for keeping me safe this day and I pray that when I lay down to sleep, that you watch over me and keep my soul safe. - Amen Diary - Thursday July 15, 2010 I went to bed around 11:45 PM and slept pretty well. I woke up this morning around 8:30 AM. I had my breakfast, a banana and strawberry shake, then went for a walk. It is going to be another hot day. Yesterday was very busy, but mostly working on my computer to sync my iphone and try and get the ipod to work. After several hours spent doing this, my iphone worked and now I have my ipod again. I didn’t have to restore my iphone which I hate to do. Another good thing about today, the optometrist called me to tell me that my glasses were ready, and so I made an appointment to go and pick them up at 2:45 PM. I think the day will be nice, although hot. What I plan to do today: maybe go for a bike (motorcycle) ride, but I may not do this because of the heat; I will definitely vacuum my rooms and put away laundry, papers, etc.; I will also pay some of my bills and call the Credit Bureau, Transunion, and get instructions on getting a 7 year fraud alert placed on my file, which I can do now that I have a police report. I should also try and send letters of grievance to Medicare, for reimbursement for my doctors’ visits. Lord, thank you for watching over me during the night, for keeping me safe, sane and intact, and I thank my guardian angel for also watching over me - Amen Diary - Friday July 16, 2010 I woke up early this morning and went to play tennis and had a very good workout. I won one set and lost one. It was very hot on the courts...too hot to play more than two sets. After tennis, I sat down with the tennis group under the shelter, where it was much cooler, and had a nice chat. On my way home, I stopped off at the Post Office and mailed off my three packets to the three major Credit Bureaus with the police report, requesting a 7 year fraud alert on all Bureaus. It cost me $18.00, but that is because I sent the packets certified mail. Since I’ve been home, I’ve done very little except some computer work. I’ll continue this later. Oh, I just got off the phone with Phil. We plan to meet tomorrow for dinner and then a stop at The Other Side. (I have left off numbering my dreams for a while and I have put my entries down as part of a diary. I continue to number my dreams below) DREAM twenty-six A Dream I had on July 30th, 2010 On Friday, July 30th, 2010, I had one of the most vivid dreams to date. I am in a class on a military base and I am in a dilemma because as the class is about to end, I don’t remember where I parked my car. Doris is there and I am trying to find her in the classroom... there seems to be a lot of people in the classroom, but I am having trouble finding her at first. There are many people in the class that look like her. Also in the classroom is my teacher colleague, John Davis. I am trying to get his attention because the class is over and people are starting to head home, but I still have no idea where I have parked my car. The only thing I seem to remember is that a military bus took us into the base to the classroom. But where is my car? As I look back now and try to remember more, I seem to recall that Doris is no longer in the dream, but John Davis, my colleague is. I am trying to get his attention for he is very much involved in talking to someone and as the dream progresses, this particular person and I end up looking for our respective cars and grow a little closer in this common effort. Anyway, John finally listens to me and I explain to him the situation I am in. He doesn’t seem to comprehend the situation and continues to talk on (John does like to talk a lot... I know) with fellow classmates and does not seem to be paying attention to me. He finally starts to listen and realizes that I am in a very strange and difficult situation because I have met him and others somewhere in the City (I’ll talk more about this “City” later in my writing of my dream), where we have been doing some work (?) and I have no idea where I have parked my car. All I know is that from the work area, we made our way to a bus stop where the military bus took us into the base to the classroom. At this stage of my dream, John Davis seems to fade away and is no longer in the dream, but the man he was talking to that started talking to me and I to him is now more prominent. He also is looking for his car and we both have a Prius, blue in color. Now we come to end of my dream. Dear Reader, and that is that this fellow is rather attractive and I wished the dream would have lasted longer because I was becoming attracted to him more and more. In another scene in the dream, as we are looking for our cars, we come across a home where in the front lawn are many pieces of furniture and there are little signs next to some of the furniture, in a foreign language. Here is one: “Zie Voegleit”...this is probably not the exact wording I see in the sign in my dream, but it is close enough. For some reason, I think I am in a Danish Village. Well, at this stage of my dream, I feel I am about to find my car. Earlier, I went through my pockets and at first, it seemed like I didn’t have the keys to my car, but I found them. Now I can see several blue Priuses parked m the streets and....I awaken now from my dream. That is all I remember. A Trip to Maine I have not kept this diary up to date and am writing now after over three weeks. A lot has happened since that time, notably, my trip to Maine. Departure Wed. July 21, 2010 This trip was planned to celebrate my older brother Paul’ s 70th birthday. Doris did all the planning. I reluctantly went, because there were functions here at home that I would have preferred to attend and also...as I get older and the world gets “crazier”, I don’t enjoy flying as much anymore. The flight went well, and the trip from LAX to Newark, NJ, flew on schedule, and the flight from Newark to Portland went smoothly. There is nothing much to say about the actual flight, except for a measly handout of pretzels and soda. Thurs. July 22, 2010 I got to PWM (Portland, ME airport) on schedule and my brother Paul showed up without my having to wait too long and picked me up and drove me to Doris’s. On the way, we stopped off at Cole Farms and had lunch. I treated him to lunch...I had two lobster rolls...yummmmy! In Maine. they serve lobster rolls in hot dog rolls. The lobster rolls were very good: 2 for $12.00. The ride was long, about 2 1/2 hours long. We got to Doris’s about 3:30 and it was so nice to see everybody again, Doris and Angela. Paul stayed to visit & chat for a while. Doris’s boyfriend, Bill showed up. (very unimpressive man. I know it was just a first meeting, but I sensed a feeling of homophobia from the man...very unimpressive man). I went to bed later, about 11:00 PM...nothing more to recount for that day. Friday, July 23, 2010 I got up at 8:00 AM, had breakfast with Doris and Angela, chatted, then in the early afternoon, we went to to shop in Ellsworh. On the way, down the road from where Doris lives, we stopped off at a shop and visited with a sculptor, Ray, an interesting man with 50% Shoshone and his friend (wife or lover...I’m not sure) and had a long chat. His partner, a woman named Kathy, a full-blooded Abernaki Native American, did some beautiful work with beads and other stones, bracelets and necklaces. I found out later that she suffers from Bipolar- and is often depressed, according to her partner Ray. I bought a bracelet for Angela and later went back and bought a matching necklace. After that, we did some shopping and spent the rest of the day relaxing at Doris’s. We spent the rest of the day catching up on a lot of things and just enjoying the day at the house. Doris lives in Franklin, Maine, in a beautiful old home (see picture below), with waterfront to a beautiful little bay. She really has a beautiful home. Right across the street lives Ronnie, her ex-boyfriend that she dumped when she found out he was surfing the internet chatting with other women. The sad part is that Doris has been “jilted” and unfortunately she lives right across the street from the man. I’ve always liked the man, but now of course, in Doris’s defense, I don’t speak to him anymore. Saturday, July 24, 2010 Today was the big day, the day that Doris had planned for and the main reason I made this trip to Maine this time - Paul, my older brother’s 70th birthday celebration. We left at about 10: 30 AM, because it’s a long drive to Lewiston, Maine from Franklin, Maine, and we wanted to be there early enough to spend some time with Paul and Kathy. We told Paul that we would take him out to dinner, and of course, Kathy, his wife. We got there in plenty of time after an enjoyable trip, spent some time at home. Paul gave me a pair of shorts because I was wearing long pants and it was kind of warm. We went to a restaurant, called Sedgley’s, a beautiful old style farmhouse in a very rural area and Paul didn’t seem to suspect anything about his birthday surprise, except when we got to the entrance... we were all trying to push him forward, in front of us, to enter and have the guests surprise him. Being a man, he wanted to let the ladies first, but we got him to go in first and....” Surprise...Happy Birthday”. The guests all did a fine job in welcoming him. The dinner was superb with a fine choice of appetizers, entrees and desserts. Doris planned all this, with the much needed help of Jackie, Paul’s eldest stepdaughter from Paul’s marriage with Joanne. After the meal and gifts, some of us headed to Jackie’s for drinks and a great chat out by the roaring fire. Jackie lives in this old house, with a big back yard and I believe Josh also lives there, Josh, a son of Jackie’s. I realized for the first time the wonderful love that my brother enjoys from his family. It was very evident at the celebration and at Jackie’s. I believe he has done a lot for this family and they all are very appreciative and love him dearly. We were getting ready to head back, but a wonderful treat was in store for us. Paul insisted that we stay in Lewiston and booked us rooms at the Ramada Inn. The rooms were beautiful and before we retired, we went to the dance hall, and we all danced up a storm: Paul, Kathy, Doris, Angela, and...yes, would you believe...ME. I am always so nervous about getting on the dance floor, especially as I get older, but I loved every moment of it. We all had fun. In the morning, Paul and Kathy came back and joined us for breakfast and I was happy to pay for the breakfast. What a beautiful series of events I attended. I was glad to be part of it. (next, I will talk about Paul and Kathy’s new dog, but I have to find out what the breed of the dog is and his name). I am continuing my report on my trip to Maine, about 2 1/2 weeks after arriving from my trip. Thursday, August 19, 2010 Before I go back to my trip, I will discuss what my day has been so far. I have been under some stress lately involving my “Identity Theft” situation, spending a good deal of money on landscaping at my home in Pasadena, and other worrisome, but minor events. Last night, I stayed home and just relaxed. I took a nap in my beautiful new room on the day bed and rested so comfortably...I lay down around 5:15 PM, for about an hour, then got up, fixed my dinner, and watched a little TV, then went to bed around 10:00 PM and slept soundly throughout the night. It was a much-needed rest. I woke up this morning feeling very refreshed, and by 7:25 AM, I was out the door because I had an early appointment for some blood work for my appointment with Jasper this coming Tuesday. The lab techs at Quest Diagnostics on Green St. in Pasadena are so accommodating and kind...they advised me to go early on this day, without an appointment, and although there were about 6 people waiting, I was the first to get my blood drawn. After my appointment, I went to MacDonald’s and “treated myself” to a Macmuffin...etc. After that, I picked up a pack of cigarettes and went to the bank and inquired about savings accounts with Amy (interest- bearing CDs). Yes, I said “picked up a pack of cigarettes...”; I have that bad habit which I will talk about here at a later time. A Trip To Maine...continued The longer I wait to continue to narrate my trip to Maine, the more I forget, and so today, I will try and remember the highlights of the trip. My last entry was on the 24th of July activities in Maine...the rest of the time spent there will be summarized next...... Maine Trip.... July 25th to Aug. 2, 2010 The series of events for the other days of my trip went this way, as much as I can remember. Doris bought some lobsters one day, at an extremely good price, then we went home, and I put them in boiling water, head first, since I was told that by doing it that way (head first), it kills them instantly, and so they don’t suffer. Anyway, at one point, Doris dropped one of the feisty “clawing” lobsters on the floor in a panic, and I picked it up and put it in the kettle. Now that I think of it, it makes me chuckle. We had a lobster feast that night, complete with new potatoes and a salad. YYYUUUMMMMM! The next “adventures” was a trip to the Amish Country...we left very early, had a nice trip, but the actual visit to the Amish Community was a little disappointing. I guess it is to be expected, since they do not like to associate with “other than Amish”, but they are forced to in order to sell goods to tourists. We met one man in the community, that did not seem to be typically Amish, and was trying to get our addresses, especially mine in California, with the intention of coming to visit some day...even offering to buy me dinner. I certainly did not fall for that. No way was he getting my address. (Unfortunately, he was not at all attractive...shallow as that may sound, at least I am honest in saying: “If he had been an attractive man, who knows....”. The other trip we took, the following day, on July 28th was to Robbinston, to see my home. It is always a pleasant drive there, and Doris and I packed a nice lunch and picnicked on the way. When we got there, I was happy to visit this great old home, but sad to see that the grounds had not been cut for a while. As usual, as per Claude Chabre, who is in many ways incompetent in managing my home, but in some ways, OK...I was not able to get inside the house because of lack of communication on Chabre’s part. He NEVER, or hardly communicates with me. The tenant had taken Monday and Tuesday off to be there to let us in...Chabre never verified this with us...AS USUAL. So I had to be satisfied with seeing the property from the outside, although, I did open the barn door and peek in and saw my truck there. One of these days, I’ m going to get it running again. The highlights of the trip include: attendance at a concert in Gouldsboro, a concert given by students at a very prestigious music school in Maine. I leave the following space available for the name of the school when I find out what the name is. The ticket was bought for me by one of Doris’s very dear friends, Jean. I loved the performance and I recently sent her a “Thank You” card for the nice gesture. Another highlight of the trip was my very first experience kayaking...YES...I finally did it. Doris had been wanting to give me a few pointers on kayaking, and we went for a little jaunt on the bay at the edge of her home in Franklin. We didn’t go very far, but at least I had my first lesson. I enjoyed it very much. Other events included meeting Angela’s best friends, a family, Serena and her two beautiful children, blond and blue-eyed, a girl and a boy. The husband was not present, but I saw a photo of him and he is very handsome. Anyway, this is a very special family because they love Angela so, and vice verca. I have recently sent Angela a check for her car insurance. I talked to her and found out the amount she would need to get the car back on the road (insurance, registration, sticker, etc.). What prompted me to do this was the fact that she was stuck at home, not able to go out much, and by doing this (sending her the money), she now has mobility. As I was talking to Serena, the thought came to my mind, that she (Angela) can go and visit them when she pleases, now that she will get her car back on the road again. I also got a chance to meet Angela’s boyfriend, a very unfriendly young man. I was told that he was very shy....still, he hardly looked at me when I was introduced to him out there by the pit fire on Doris’s yard, near the stream...a very “unimpressive man”. The sad part of my trip occurred on the last day when we went to Lewiston on the way to the airport in Portland where I was to board the plane on August 2nd...we stopped off in Lewiston to meet Paul (older brother) and we went to visit my Aunt Priscelle at CMG (Central Maine General hospital). It was so nice to see her and we all knew that this was most probably the last time we would be with her. She was suffering from Diabetes and her body (organs) were shutting down. I said a prayer: “Matante, on vous aime...we love you and God loves you. You’ll see him soon and you will be so happy”. After our visit, we chanced meeting Louise, my cousin Roger’s ex-wife, that I am very fond of. She looked so beautiful, elegant in a way, and we talked for a while there in the hospital parking lot. I started keeping in touch with her, briefly, about 1 1/2 years ago. It was so nice to see her. After our meeting, Doris and Paul drove me to the airport, dropped me off, and I took the plane about 6:40 PM. I am not too crazy about flying anymore, but I lucked out on this first leg of the journey, from Portland to Atlanta. While I was sitting in the coach area, just before takeoff, this young guy asked me if I would be willing to change places with his girlfriend...wait for it...she was sitting in FIRST CLASS. What a nice treat...I sat in first class on the way to Atlanta, had a few gin and tonics (gratis of course, and some nice snacks. What a change from the measly pretzels they give you in coach. Then I almost lucked out on the second leg of the journey, my flight from Atlanta to L.A....they were looking for a few passengers to step down and take a later flight. In a case like this, you relinquish your seat to another passenger, and the airline drives you to a nearby hotel, pays for your room, and picks you up the next day, and you also get A ROUND TRIP TICKET ANYWHERE IN THE U.S. FOR FREE, GOOD FOR A YEAR! I’ ve done this before and it was great. Unfortunately, they only needed two passenger to “step- down” and I was the 3rd. I just missed it. Oh well...maybe next time. The flight went well, got to LAX on time (about 11:40 PM), caught the Blue Shuttle back to Pasadena, but got home at about 1:20 AM. I was very tired and went pretty much straight to bed. Next will be my activities since I have been back. August 3 to September 1, 2010 It is hard to believe that I have been back almost one month already and we are in September. The year 2010 is already 2/3 over and 2011 is just around the corner. I digress... getting back to my diary. Since I have been back, I have pretty much gotten back into my routine...playing tennis, going for my walks, going out to dinner with friends, Phil and Ed.... actually, I go out to lunch with Phil and usually, if I go out to dinner, it is with Ed. I am glad to be back. Besides the usual chores and activities, I have been to the doctors for results, usually of my blood work. My primary doctor, Irena Jasper, gave me the results of my latest blood work and everything seemed to be good. My glucose is good, my cholesterol, good, triglycerides, fair, and my overall health seems to be good. I have been hesitating going to the doctors because now I have to pay 20% of each visit. Medicare pays 80%, but when a doctor’s visit can cost up to $140.00, I end up with a bill for 20% of that! What a rip off!. Come September, I think I may have to change my medical plan. Well, I have not been writing this diary, day by day, as I had originally planned, but I still continue, only sometimes, the entries span a week or more. Some other activity of importance that I have done is to spend quite a bit of money on landscaping. Emilio put up many ficus trees (is that fici?), dug up each one, put in a drip system, planted two beautiful trees in the front, and two bougainvillea against the fence (on Larry’s side). He spent many hours on the work, he and his workers, but it still cost me about $4000. I shouldn’t have spent so much money. Well....it’s done! San Francisco...Aug. 27 to 30 I have been wanting to go to San Francisco for a while and I usually make the trip there at least once a year because I love the City and I also want to visit Manfred and take him out. This trip was not the most pleasant one...for a few reasons. Pros of the Trip I always enjoy the City. It has not lost its charm. I love the changing weather, the hills, sights, the exercise, walking etc. In the past, pros have also included seeing and spending time with Manfred and staying at his friend, Helga’s house. Other pros included a discount that Helga gave on the rental of her unit...she took $50.00 off the regular price: $75/night. It actually came out to about $62.50 /night. Helga also invited Manfred and I to dinner on Saturday night. She made what Manfred raved about, her special dish of “German Pork and Potato Dumplings”. Well the salad was very good, the pork, good, and the dumplings....so so. Contrary to Manfred’s claim, it was nothing to write home about. Another nice aspect of the trip was a trip to Sonoma with Manfred and he treated me to a lunch at a very nice restaurant. We also visited the Mission and the Mexican Barracks. Cons of the Trip In a nutshell, the long boring trip to San Francisco and back, Manfred’s constant chattering and his idiosyncracies, a failed attempt at meeting with someone, an itchy rash that I developed as soon as I got there, etc., were a few of the drawbacks of the trip. Well that is pretty much my experience of this San Francisco trip. It really is no longer any fun to go because of the long drive and Manfred kind of gets on my nerve. Tuesday, August 31, 2010 On my way home from San Francisco, on Monday, I made a call to the dermatologist and asked for an appoint ment to see Dr. Peia. At first, they could only give me an appointment for next Thursday and the lady I spoke to said that she would give me a call if there was any cancellation. I called again later and expressed the urgency of my coming in and they made an appointment for today, at 8:50 AM. I went to the appointment and the “good doctor” a young Chinese man, looked at my rash and determined that it was some kind of bacterial infection, so he prescribed some creams. I think he’s full of shit...these are insect bites, but I went ahead and made the appointment. Now, I will probably have to spend the money I saved on staying at Helga’s to pay for this rip-off visit to the doctor’s. I know I sound a bit bitter, but I think it’s a rip off, to see these doctors for about 10 or 15 minutes or less, and pay about $150 for one lousy visit. Of course Medicare pays 80%, but I still pay 20%. I’m finding this hard right now, because before Medicare, the District was paying for everything. Now I have a $7,500 dollar deductible, before Blue Cross pays for anything. I am definitely thinking of changing my Medical Provider. Wednesday, September 1, 2010 Today, I woke up early and went to play tennis. I won two sets, and lost one set, and had great exercise. I practiced on the piano for a while. I stayed home, and did not see anyone, except Larry who came to visit me for a while, wanting money. He really seems to be in the dumps right now. He had to move out of his little place next door. To hear him talk, he sleeps in his truck. I thought about that today (now it’ s Thursday, and I’m writing in retrospect) I gave him $10.00 and he said he was going to put some gas in his truck and get himself some tacos, 2 of them, one dollar each. This kinds of tears my heart out. He really is in need. Do I put him up here for a while...do I keep on giving him money? I can certainly offer him food and take him out to lunch or dinner sometimes. I just hope he is not sleeping out on the streets. I also took my bike out for a ride. I always say a prayer before I leave on the motorcycle and say a prayer when I get back safely. Thursday, September 2, 2010 I went for my walk this morning, stayed home, had my breakfast, lunch, dinner, got in the jacuzzi, practiced on the piano, and am trying to quit smoking. Smoking is a sexual activity for me. I’ll have to write about this sometime. It is difficult to write about because I think it is a psychological problem. I equate smoking with masculinity, love the smell, and the whole atmosphere of watching me smoke and smelling the smoke emanate from my mouth and nostrils. I am getting turned on just talking about it. This goes way back to my childhood, when I was sexually aroused by men smoking, including my father. That’s pretty much all I can say for now. It is a hard habit to quit, not only physically, but in my case, definitely, psychologically. I am up to date on my diary. I have skipped a lot, but will try and recount my daily activities. Friday Sept. 3, 2010 First of all, I have to say that it has been two days since I have had a cigarette. I’m not going to say anything about that until it is more convenient to talk about the wish to quit smoking. On with my daily log of events. I woke up this morning after a fair night’s rest, brushed my teeth, had my breakfast of cereals and coffee, and went off to play tennis. I played only one set, but it was a long set and we were evenly matched, reached 6-6, and we were beaten in the tie- breaker. Bullet Bob and I played against Jose and FX. It was a long set, but I got my exercise in. PROS so far are: tennis this morning, good deed in bringing Anna-Lee, one of the tennis players, to her home not too far from the courts to pick up a spare car key because she had locked them up in her car. I enjoyed doing that favor for her. I talked to Brady in DHS and he is doing much better. He had an emergency situation when his hernia started to put a strangle hold on some of his organs, his colon in particular. He was rushed to the hospital, had emergency surgery and he is doing much better now. There are really no NEGATIVES to talk about thus far today. I will continue my narration before I retire this evening DREAM twenty-seven. Saturday September 4, 2010 In this dream that I had Saturday night, which by the way happened after I went out with Ed Serra for dinner, included Ed in the dream. It does not always happen this way that someone is in my dream that I have just seen or recently been with. From what I remember, we have gone to a home where I think it is a museum and there are some wonderful old pieces, memorabilia. Anyway, Ed mentions that he loves many of the old pieces, and the next scene in the dream shows all the pieces being delivered to his home...I guess in this dream he has found a home. He is presently living or paying to live in somebody else’s home that he is very unhappy living in. When I am visiting him, I see all these great pieces in his home, one of which is a vintage sewing machine, sort of like an old singer machine. I am feeling very envious (jealous I guess) that he has received all these pieces. Then two of the ladies come in from the museum and at first it looks like they are here to take back these pieces, but they are both touching a large pan which is very hot, because underneath the pan is an old stove that has been cooking this meal for quite a while unbeknownst to everybody there. I’m not sure what happens next...I wake up. Sunday September 5, 2010 Today was a regular Sunday...I went to Church and Mass at 11: 30 and heard the message for the Gospel which was that Jesus encountered some people in his travels who wanted to enter the Kingdom of God, but Jesus explained that before you can enter into the kingdom of God, you have to renounce and give up all that you have. After the Mass, I went for my gym exercise. At night, I went out with Ed to West Hollywood for a film at “Being Alive” and we were to have a dinner. It did not turn out as we expected, and Ed and I got into a bit of a “row” and we ended up by each going our separate ways. I wanted to have a subway sandwich (I am trying to cut down on the spending), but Ed talked me into going to Denny’s and we had a “cheap meal”, but I should have stuck to my idea of going home and picking up a $5.00 subway sandwich. That was pretty much the day. Monday September 6, 2010 Labor Day I don’t remember if I had a dream or not, but I did play tennis this morning and had great sets, came home, fixed the hose, practiced the piano, and did very little for the rest of the day. I watched TV at night and went to bed around 11:15 PM. Tuesday, September 7, 2010 I may have dreamed last night, but I have no recollection of the dream (if I did dream) because I am writing my thoughts, a few days later. I did not sleep much, maybe about 5 hours. I think I may be drinking too much coffee, so I am trying to cut down on that. I have also stopped smoking. I don’t like to talk about it, because I have tried before, but usually start up again. Right now, I am fighting the urge to have a good cigarette...(ironic isn’t it that I should say “a good cigarette”, when no cigarette is healthy for you)? I have been spending hours on the piano, trying to prepare myself for my lesson this coming Thursday. It has been over a month since I had lessons from Larry Evans. He is coming this Thursday and I am trying to prepare for it. Phil took me to the Cheesecake Factory at the Americana today. I thanked him. We had a walk around and then I went to his place and tried to help him put a new picture of himself on the websites. I will stop now and call him to see how he is doing. Wednesday, September 15, 2010 Over a week has passed since my last entry. I will try and catch up to date today. On Wed., Sept. 8, I went to play tennis in the morning and had a wonderful workout. I played with Diane, Jose and Bob (bullet Bob they called him) and after that, I came home and pretty much did very little for the rest of the day. I hesitate to say this, but it’s almost as if I may be getting bored being retired. I never thought I’d hear myself saying this. My activities include pretty much: tennis, walks, outings with Ed or Phil, club activities such as meetings and events such as Luaus, Rummage Sales, etc. And that’s pretty much it. I could be doing things at home such as gardening, writing, reading, etc. I crave the company of people and my sex life is practically nil right now. I have no partners and even masturbating is becoming more and more of a challenge. I don’t think that is good, but what am I to do. I just am not meeting anyone. Of course, I have never been aggressive enough and the reason I don’t meet anyone, is primarily my fault. I have not smoked a cigarette for 16 days and I fear I will not continue with this. It seems that I’m missing an “old friend”, as terrible to say, since smoking can eventually kill you. I want to quit for good, but I’m afraid I will eventually start smoking again. It is something that I enjoy and as I have stated before in the past in my diary, it is a sexual feeling with me. Thursday September 9, 2010 Today, I did very little except go for my walk in the morning and stayed at home, watched TV and did a little work outside trying to get the garden going. I did prepare my Treasurer’s Report for the meeting tomorrow. On Friday, we will be electing the officers for the new year with PCMC. I am nominated for Treasurer again, so we’ll see how that goes. Unfortunately, we have very little left in the Treasury, about $920.00. This is about $500 or more less than in the previous year(s). I believe some people did not do their job in getting the advertising out to get more people to attend Black Mountain. I did not attend this year because I went to Maine and apparently, only about 20 attended....very poor showing! Friday September 10, 2010 We are on the eve of our Nation’ s worst attack on its soil, Sept. 11, 2001. Tomorrow will be the anniversary and the news seem to predict possible bad repercussions against the Muslims. I did not go and play tennis today, because I wanted to give my legs and feet some rest. I believe I may have overdone it last Wednesday, so I decided to stay home. I have not seen Ed lately because he is busy preparing Charro’s home for a party which I am invited to the event is part of a series of “filmings” to help launch Charro’ s son in the “music industry”. David Yerkes, Andy Myers, Larry Evans, my piano teacher, were also invited to the affair. We talked on the phone, but we haven’t seen each other for a while because he is exhausted from all the work he is doing. I went to the meeting at night, our PCMC monthly meeting at Don Meadows. The elections went well...I was elected Treasurer again, Preston, President, and Eric, Secretary. I have my report, ate, came home and went to bed. Saturday, September 11, 2010 I woke early, around 7:00 AM, had my breakfast and went out for a walk. I spent the day watching tennis, Federer and Novojeck (sic) and the Serbian Novojchik beat the Swiss player Roger Federer. Now, I can hardly wait to watch Nadal play Novojchik for the final. I didn’t do too much else today. Sunday, September 12, 2010 The big event today, of course, was Charro’s party and so, I didn’ t do too much except to get ready for that. I did not go to Mass, nor to the gym. I stayed home, watched a little TV, napped, and showered and got ready for the party. I dressed pretty well, with a suit and tie, dress shoes, and took off around 4:45. I left in plenty of time, but I had trouble programming Charro’s address in the computer in my car (GPS) because I was putting in “Lexington Ave.” and later found out it was “Lexington Rd.”. I kind of panicked for a while, but eventually figured out the right address by checking the Thomas Guide. I got there and the guests went up a red carpet, where at the top of the stairs, Charro was there to greet them. The director had me go up with a couple of girls and we didn’t say much. The party was nice and I enjoyed myself. I had a few drinks, took a few shots with my Rebel, then went outside on the patio, sat down and just looked around. I got a few shots of Charro. Eventually, Larry came all dressed up very nicely, played the piano for a while, then came out to join me and some other people at a table. A man named Robert was nice enough to come over and introduce himself because I was sitting there all alone, not knowing anyone there, except Larry who was playing the piano, and David and Andy, who were working in the kitchen. Well an incident happened at the beginning which was not too pleasant. Ed got pissed off at one of the guests (may tell story in detail later), made a scene, and eventually left in disgust. I think he said Carmen’s husband (Carmen is Charro’s sister) kicked Ed out, and apparently punched him and kicked his van door. Ed told me this later on that night. Such drama with that man...there is always some drama going on. I almost had him move in with me, but thought about it and decided against it which was one of the best things I could have done. As I said, there is always some drama going on with him. He tends to be very loud and negative and complains constantly. I can take so much of him.....(I can just imagine what would have happened if he had moved in with me...OH LORD, thank you, thank you.) I had a nice meal and chatted with Larry and some friends and eventually left around 9:00 PM. I got home around 9:45, watched TV and went to bed around 11:00 PM. Monday September 13, 2010 I got up at around 6:44 AM, had my breakfast, and went off to play tennis. I had some great matches today, or sets rather. I believe I lost 2 sets, but won one. They were very close games, though. Ed called me up and said he had work to do. I told him that Phil was taking me out to dinner at PF Chang’s in Pasadena. I told Ed I’d talk to him tomorrow. In the afternoon, Phil came over around 5:00 PM, and we had a little wine and then who showed up??? Larry from next door, or rather, who used to be from next door. He had to move out and now I am not sure where he lives, but when he comes to visit, it is usually to get some money. And so, I gave him 10 dollars for gas and food. I will have to put a stop to this because I do not have the money to do this often. We went to PF Chang and had a great dinner. We got home and Phil had forgotten his sweater at the restaurant and he decided to pick it up in the following days. He called up the restaurant and made sure to tell them to keep the sweater until he could pick it up...asked them to write his name on the sweater. (talk about picking up the sweater for Phil on Tues. and playing such bad tennis on Wednesday which is today...this is to be continued...right now, I’ m getting in the jaccuzi) Tuesday September 14, 2010 On Tuesday, I woke up, had breakfast, went for my walk, then I went to the Pasadena Mall to pick up Phil’s sweater. The girl at Chang’s gave me validation for my parking and I left very quickly and I didn’t have to pay anything. Later, I called Phil and told him that I had his sweater and that I would bring it to him on Wednesday when we met for lunch. Nothing much happened for the rest of the day. Wednesday September 15, 2010 I woke up early, had my breakfast and went to play tennis. My games were very poor today. I did not play well at all. I haven’t been playing well for the past week or so. I get very frustrated with my serving and games. Today, I played 3 sets and lost them all. It wasn’t because my partners were bad... I was! I went home kind of disgusted with myself. I have got to learn to enjoy it more and not be so critical on myself, otherwise, the games are no longer fun, but too competitive. I treated Phil to lunch today. I had sole with spinach and garlic potatoes... yummy. Phil started off having ??? (I can’t remember the fish right now, but I personally don’t like this particular fish because it’s too “fishy” and salty.). It was Sea Bass. Anyway, Phil did not like his fish...”too salty”, so he switched it to sole like mine and he was very satisfied with that. We went to his place and I took a few pictures with my iphone and helped him to put a picture on the websites...Siverdaddies, Bearfront, etc Thursday September 16, 2010 I slept pretty well last night, got up and had my breakfast, then went for my walk. I practiced a little bit on the piano today. I have to prepare myself for next Thursday’s lesson. I want to do well, so I am preparing for Larry’ s lesson on Thurs. Sept. 23rd. Ed came over last night and we had dinner and watched a little tv. I am planning a trip to the desert this weekend. I was fortunate enough to get a call from the Substitute Desk in the afternoon, assigning me a job this Friday (tomorrow). Friday September 17, 2010 I got up at about 6:20 AM, showered and brushed my teeth, had some breakfast and left for La Canada High School. I took Mr. Gillelan’s Science class. As usual, the students were extremely well-behaved. It is always a pleasure to substitute teach in the district. I did not sleep that well the night before. I guess I get a little nervous before appearing in the classroom, but everything went very well. Since I taught today, I could not leave for the desert early on Friday, so I had to leave at night, around 7:00 PM. After school, I showered, finished packing, and relaxed before leaving for the desert. I picked up Ed at his house at around 7: 15PM, and we took off for the desert. There was traffic for a while, but it slowly opened up after the Ontario area, and we pretty much breezed the rest of the way. We got into the desert at my home at about 9:15PM. It was nice to see the house again. We had a bite to eat, sat outside in the front for a while, then went to bed. I watched a little tv...but unfortunately, my tv started acting up and making a very loud noise. I was determined to try and get another set the following day. I went to bed and slept very well. Saturday September 18, 2010 I woke up around 8:00AM after a very good night’s sleep. We, Ed and I, went out around 9:40AM and had breakfast at Michael’s then went out to do some “antiquating”. I didn’t buy anything except a TV for $29.00. I of course took a chance that the set would work. We brought it home, I plugged it in and it worked very well. And so, I will get rid of the other set and hope that the present one works for a while. I didn’t think it would be worthwhile and worth spending money on a good set, like a plasma set or big screen television since I am not at the house very often. What is the point of spending a lot of money on a television set that I won’t enjoy for most of the time. At night, we had dinner at the house. Ed made some spaghetti and I made a salad. We then went out. I drove Ed to the casino, as usual, then I went to the Street Bar and had a few drinks. I met Doug there, a friend of Jim Eubanks, that I have know for quite a few years. Doug Barnett is always very kind to me. I don’t know any people in the desert, and so when we do run into each other, he is always friendly. He took down my info such as phone and email and told me he would mail me his information. I had a good evening. Before Doug came into the bar, I was talking to this fellow next to me and we had an interesting conversation. I saw Doug walk in, got off my seat and walked over to talk to him. After talking with him, I left the bar and realized that I had left my change on the bar at my original location. It was almost 16 bucks...when I went back, it was gone. I asked the bartender if he had seen my money and he said no and that I should talk to the owner who was in his office counting the money. I went to the office and explained the situation to him and he was kind enough to give me the $16.00 back and I was so appreciative that I gave him a $5.00 tip. I then went across the street to the other bar, had another drink, but I had to call Ed and asked him to walk over to the bars and drive us home. I was kind of feeling those three drinks I had and I didn’t want to chance being stopped by the cops. We went home and went to bed. I slept pretty well. Sunday September 19, 2010 We woke up this morning and had a bite to eat, then took off for Indio to go visit the junk shops. Unfortunately, Ed and I got into a fight. I suggested that we leave early and head back this coming Sunday, today, instead of Monday and he got all huffy. I got angry, we exchanged words, and went back to the house on Nicole Ct., and we even cancelled going to visit his friend David Brewster, and after packing, we left for Pasadena. We didn’t talk for a while, but I felt so bad, then we started talking and everything seemed to be OK after that. I dropped Ed home around 4:30 PM, went home, unpacked and relaxed for the rest of the day. I went to bed around 10:30PM, because I wanted to play tennis the next day. Monday September 20, 2010 I don’t remember too much what I did today, except that I did go and play tennis in the morning. I had a good exercise, but my playing continues to suck. Tues Sept. 21st to Sunday Sept. 26th 2010 I am writing and endeavoring to catch up on my diary, but it has been almost a whole week since my last entry. Things that I remember will be written down. This past week, I have spent a lot of time with Ed. He continues to be extremely negative and complains constantly. His every reason for coming around is to enjoy my house, for he continues to stay at a place that he hates. He rents a room and has very little freedom at his place. And so, every chance he gets, he calls, and manages to get over here. After the barbecue on Sunday, the 26th of September, I have resolved to have him stay away from here. Once he gets here, he manipulates me and somehow, stays for hours at a time and I cannot get rid of him. Also, if he has the opportunity, he gets into my pants. I disdain having him touch me, but somehow, he manages to have sex with me. I have tried to have good sex with him, but if truth be known, it seems like I am allowing him to touch me because I kind of feel sorry for him. But the truth is, he DOES NOTHING FOR ME, NOTHING AT ALL! I am putting my foot down. I actually would like to have him stay away from here, not touch me, and perhaps go out to lunch or dinner, but keep him away from my home. Well, as I continue, I will put down what comes to mind, although, it has been almost a week. Last Thursday, September 23, 2010, I had my piano lesson. I have spent quite a lot of hours, preparing a couple of pieces and practicing my scales and chords. Unfortunately, I still don’ t practice enough and I will never become a good piano player, but the money that I am spending on the lessons should account for something, and so, I don’t want to give it up, but continue to give it my best shot. Today is too hot (9/27/2010), and I don’t feel like practicing, nor have I since last Thursday, but sometimes this week, I will start practicing again. It is as if, I go by the 2 lessons I get per month. In other words, I cram in as much practice time as possible, but don’t spread it all out, and rather, practice a few days for hours at a time. Other events and activities that I remember have been talks on the phone, usually with Ed, Phil and my sister. Otherwise, I don’t talk to anybody else. I wish my life was fuller, as far as friends and acquaintances. Phil and I talked about having a Barbecue here at my house soon and I decided on Saturday, Sept. 25th, but since Larry Evans couldn’t come on that day, I changed it to Sunday, Sept. 26th. I know when I have functions here, people usually enjoy themselves, but there is always a lot of work and preparation before the event. I started calling various people and the number came out to around 14, a small but nice group for my Barbecue. I will name the guests later. This is reminiscent of Hyacinthe, from Keeping Up Appearances, when she plans one of her “Sit-me Down Buffet with her Worceshire China and goblets” affairs. (or something of that nature). I have to giggle...I love British comedy. They are so unique and usually make me laugh. The week has been pretty much taken up on preparing for the barbecue: cleaning the house, making a list, calling people, planning a menu, doing some shopping, etc. Ed has been around quite a bit helping me with the preparation. I actually could have done this without him, but I then end up by having him participate, and he tends to start controlling and taking over. The days have been pretty much like this: he calls, complains on the phone, they always asks “What are you doing tonight”. During this whole week, he has spent about 3 or maybe 4 nights here. Once he gets here, it is always a big deal to try and get rid of him. I cannot and will not spend too much more time in my diary talking about him, because then my writings take on a negative aspect and unlike him who is always negative and brings down other people with his negativity, I on the other hand wish to be more positive in my outlook. If anything else comes up while I am talking about the Barbecue, I will mention it. Sunday Barbecue Sept. 26, 2010 My guests at the barbecue were: Larry, my piano teacher (without Tony, his partner, who was invited), Phil, Malcolm and Rick, Don Espinoza, my Masseur and his partner Jimmy (nice- looking), Bill Bliss and Harold, David Yerkes and Andy, who came in from visiting in PS, Michael Scott, Ed and I. And, Joey, my Korean friend came in from Palm Springs. We were a total of 14, including me, and everybody had fun. We played croquet that I set up in the back. Bill Bliss was kind enough to do the barbecuing. He did a great job. It was perhaps 102 in the shade, but everybody showed up and had a good time. I figured I spent about $75.00 for this barbecue and it cut deep into my money for the month. I really cannot keep on spending so much. I have to really start cutting back. Well, today, the day after, Monday, Sept. 27th, it is still very hot out there and I am in the house, under my fans, watching a little TV, writing, and just relaxing. Good-by for now and thanks for listening. The Week of Sept. 26th (26 to 30) I am falling more and more behind on my diary, but will try and catch up again. My attempts at smoking have failed. After stopping for 15 days, I started again. On the 15th of September, I went to get myself a pack of cigarettes and started again. Now I am smoking more than ever. Positives that have occurred for the rest of this month of September, especially the last week have been my barbecue, my continual tennis exercise, walks, piano practice, and I have been called to substitute twice in two weeks. I really enjoy my substituting because the kids are so well- behaved. I was called to sub on Friday Sept. 24th and Friday, Oct. 1st. I had one of the most beautiful experiences I have had for a long time on Oct. 1st while substituting. I substituted on that day for an English teacher and his classes were so well-behaved. In 3rd period, a young man, attending the class as an aide for extra credit, sat down next to my desk and spoke to me for the whole period. He was a tall handsome young man and his name was Samuel. He spoke so well, so polite, was interested in what I had to say as well as I in what he had to say. He said he was applying at a few colleges and universities, mainly Boston College and Berkeley University. What a handsome and interesting student this was. To be able to sit down and talk to someone who is young enough to be your grandson and carry on a very interesting and mutually beneficial conversation is so fulfilling. I had great respect for this young man and I suppose, I saw a little bit of myself in him... anxious to get along with my life, further my studies and, even if I do say so myself, with a head on his shoulders as I had at that age. I enjoyed my youth and had so much fun, but at the same time I prepared for my life. All around me are individuals who are struggling...WHY? Because they have not prepared for their lives. Ed is an example...as Larry is, and so many others. When the class ended, I shook his hand and wished him the very best. Teaching as a sub at La Cañada is always a wonderful experience. My day went very well. Before that day, other wonderful positives for me was my piano lesson. I learned quite a bit on this day, especially in regards to scales and chords. Larry did very well. I had been practicing for many hours before this lesson. I will need to get back to practicing for the next lesson, this coming Thursday, Oct. 7th. Today is already Monday, Oct. 4th. Monday September 27, 2010 This morning, I woke up pretty refreshed after the weekend. I had a barbecue on Sunday and it went pretty well. Joey came from PS and attended my barbecue and stayed over, but woke me around 2:00 AM to tell me that he couldn’t sleep and so he went back to PS in the early morning, around 2:30AM and I went back to sleep. I got up at 6: 40AM, had breakfast and went to play tennis. My playing continues to be pretty poor and I get really frustrated with myself. I came back home, had lunch, watched a little TV, then took a nap. DREAM twenty-eight A Dream in the Afternoon of the 27th of September, 2010 I am working in a mall, but in the parking area. I have just gotten a job picking up garbage and I must exit the facility, but have great difficulty in getting out. Meanwhile, I meet several people. My father is also working there and he has another job, but his boss has given me the garbage collector job. I meet Vance Adleman there, who used to work the night shift, but now has another job. I also meet some other people that I know very well and they also have been given other jobs during the day, from other jobs at night. I do not remember who these other people are. There is a young girl that I know from my teaching days who is also there with friends, but she is constantly wasting her time and mine and jokes a lot. Anyway, I don’t remember who this girl is. The problem I am having is that I must exit the parking area, inside the building, so I can go to the facility to get my garbage truck so I can get to work and start picking up the garbage. But, I cannot get out of the area, down the ramp and exit. I am driving a Lexus SUV, just like a used to have, and whenever I try to manoeuvre out of the area, my vehicle can’t turn to get down the ramp to exit. Several people try to help me, and at one point, I think I have found the way out, but I forget where I left my exit, and....I wake up. It is a very hot day today, very uncomfortable, and all I have done since I came back from tennis is to just lay around the house, listless and just took a nap. Friday, Oct. 8th, 2010 (Subbing) My day went very well at La Cañada High. I subbed for an English teacher. His classes went pretty well, although some of his students were a bit noisy, but they calmed down. I do enjoy subbing at that school because the students are so much better behaved than any students I have dealt with in LAUSD. After, my home ready for the meeting. The meeting had to be canceled because so many members weren’t attending. It was frustrating because I had done so much preparation...grocery shopping, marinating the meat, expenses, etc. I tried not to let this get to me and be upset because of the lack of thoughtfulness of some members. Anyway, I contacted Preston before the meeting and the meeting was cancelled. Well another incident occurred on Friday, before I left for the desert the next day, Saturday: I tripped in the dining room, smashed one of the panes of glass in my window. It was dark and I had moved the chairs away from the dining room table to prepare for the meal for the meeting that never materialized. Anyway, as I was making my way to the kitchen, I tripped on the chair that was moved by the window and my elbow went through one of the glass panes and smashed it. Luckily the curtain was partially drawn, so it absorbed the impact of my elbow smashing into the window, otherwise I may have been cut very badly. I picked up the broken shards of glass with gloves on, and put one of my paintings, temporarily, to block the empty window pane. I decided to wait until I came back from DHS to have it fixed. After this entry, I will call Joy to see if I can get her handyman to come fix the glass. Trip to DHS (Desert Hot Springs) On Saturday, Oct. 10th, I drove to my home in DHS, unpacked, rested, then called Joey to set up tennis for Sunday. We agreed to meet around 7:00PM for tennis. Meanwhile, I showered and went to a Silverdaddies meeting at Clubone11. This was a meeting for all singles in Silverdaddies. I had a nice time, et a few people, had interesting conversations, met Dennis a tennis player that I think is very hot, but we talked mostly about tennis and then he went on his way to visit with friends. I also met a few other nice people. I also met Irwin, a man that I chatted with on the Silverdaddies website almost a year ago. We had a nice chat. I know he is very much interested in seeing me for an “intimate tète-à-tète”, but I like him, but I don’t think, asexually. Besides, I would have to talk to him about my HIV status and, Dear Reader, we all know where that usually ends. Sometimes I think: “Why bother?”. After tennis on Sunday, I decided to return back home. I rested when I got back, cleaned the house a little, had some stew in the evening, watched a little TV, then went to bed fairly early because I wanted to play tennis the next day. Well that pretty much brings me almost up-to-date. My week of Oct. 11th to 16th I have pretty much done my routine activities for this week which includes tennis every day of the week, Mon., Wed., and Fri. On Friday, tennis was OK although the weather was kind of “misty”, but we still managed to play a couple of sets and I played fairly well, much better than I usually do, at least in the past month or so. On Thurs., the 14th, I went with Phil to the Elephant Cafe in Burbank and we had a very nice meal. Then, I went with him to his apt. to try and help him get some more certificates for restaurant dining, but we had trouble getting on the site, so we had to forgo this procedure. He called the company and the girl told him she would send him a new card. Dream Twenty-Six Before I continue with my “Diary”, I will talk about the dream I had on Friday night, Oct. 16th. The dream actually was on Saturday morning around 6:00 AM. DREAM thirty I dream I am somewhere with my Lexus and I have unfortunately driven precariously close to a cliff and I cannot get out of my dilemma. I am with someone else, but cannot figure out exactly who it is. I go to the house on the property which seems to harbor rooms to rent and there is also a mechanic attached to the property. I remember getting out of the vehicle and looking over the cliff that I am perched on. It is a beautiful view of the ocean and islands close by. The mechanic informs me that he will have to wait until morning to tow my Lexus away from the edge of the precipice. Meanwhile, my “friend” and I stay the night in a room. I remember giving him a device, perhaps a cell phone, that he has to work on because it is not working properly. I picture him at a table with tools and vaguely picture the device he is working on...let’s say it’s my iphone. Well the other details I can remember is that there is a woman with her daughter staying there. Another “not so delicate detail” I remember is that the toilet gets all plugged up and it is not very pleasant. I think the water is starting to overflow at one point. The rest of the details are not clear and I wake up from the dream. My Lexus and the situation it is in is left unresolved...perhaps for another dream? Saturday Oct. 16, 2010 I had a good night’s sleep and dreamt, as usual, but do not remember my dream on Saturday night. I’m sure that I did dream for I dream every night...sometimes remembering my dreams other times, not remembering. When I woke up, I fixed my coffee, take care of regular “morning business”, showered and started working on my computer. Then Phil called me to remind me to pick him up by about 1:00 PM for the “Beer Fest Party” at John and Chet’s, as part of the SF Valley Primetimers group get-together, and I was surprised because for some reason, I was thinking the party was late afternoon or early evening. I told Phil I would pick him up around 1:00 and started getting ready. I didn’t have to shower, so that saved me a little time. I suggested he drive but he talked me into driving. Once more, he got lost and we did the same thing we did last time we went over to John and Chet’s... drove around and around for about 30 minutes until we finally got to their place. I was very disappointed at this gathering. I know John and Chet did their best to entertain the group, but I found myself alone most of the time. The group is very “clickish” and nobody hardly spoke to me. Also, Vince was not there. I find him to be very handsome and enjoy his company. The food was so-so, the group, boring, and I just didn’t enjoy myself that much. The San Fernando PrimeTimers are “disbanding”, that is, are losing their president, John, because the work is too overwhelming and he does not get any help for all that he does. I expressed to Phil at one time that I might be willing to take over the group with a little help, but as I looked around at the members, there is nothing I see among them, in common with me. Between you and I, dear reader, I find this group to be made up of “old dilapidated individuals, profusely imbued with multiple maladies, physically and psychologically, very clickish, and I have no interest in expending energy and time endeavering to please this group with fun activities. Besides, I think I would be taking too much responsibility, more “than I can chew”, so to speak. After dessert, cake, apple pie and ice cream, Phil and I left, then I dropped him off because he was going to a function right after this. We made tentative plans to maybe meet after his activity and maybe go to “The Other Side”, but I was pretty determined to just stay at home. I am becoming more and more “rooted” to my spot at home, and find it less and less desirable to go out, especially to waste my time in bars. I watched a very good film called the “Crucible”, a film about the Salem Witch Hunts, and went to bed around 10:30 PM, but not until I had a tuna fish sandwich. I am eating more and more, smoking more and more, and letting myself go. End of Saturday’s report. Sunday October 17, 2010 Today has been a rather gloomy day, although days like this don’t really bother me. It’s a nice change to see rain, mist, cloudiness, etc. We live in a desert and we need rain here. Today I woke up around 8:30 AM, had breakfast, worked on the computer, bathed, and went to Mass at 12:30, and from there to the gym where I had a pretty good workout. Something amazing happened while I was gone. I forgot the cat was inside and when I left I put the alarm on, but she must have stayed put for over 3 hours. I was very fortunate that she did not get up from her spot on my bed and set off the alarm. If she had, I may have missed the call from the Alarm Company, because I had my phone turned off in Church and left it in the car when I went to the gym. If the cat had moved, the alarm would have surely gone off, and I probably would have missed the call, and this would have been a “False Alarm” which can cost up to $100 +. Boy was I lucky! Nothing special for the rest of the day. I had my dinner and will probably go to bed early...around 9:30PM. GINO I met a God, a Hercules, a Man A dream that every mortal has A prisoner of Love that I am Bound by a body chiseled on Olympus I met Gino who inhabits Sicily I have fallen in love with Him Gino...it is a God among men A sweet and kind godling he.I cannot believe that such a beautiful man exists that would be attracted to me. He is so far away, but I have written to him and even talked to him by phone, on a program on my cell phone called “Skype”. We had phone sex, the only thing we could do at the time. He wants a man, a man to take him and show him love. I know he wants to be fucked and I would do that, and such a body and soul which he has would stir up the embers of desire that I must have still in me. I would kiss him, on every inch of his body. smell his breath on my face which would be enough to make me viral again. I would kiss him so tenderly, lick his face, eyes, cheeks, eyebrows, nose, lips, stick my tongue deep within his mouth, take my breath away while he does the same to me. I would hold him, take his face and head in my hands and feel the hardness, the sculpture of his face, that strong masculine and handsome face. I would let him press me against his strong hard body, feel our cocks pulsating against each other, then take his ass in my two hands and bring him closer and closer. I would ask him to turn around, lay down, pillow under his stomach so that his ass is reaching up in the air, then kneel down and kiss his asshole, prep him for the pleasure that is to come. I want to give him what he wants, what he needs. Lick his ass, use my spit to prepare his asshole, then gently slip the head of my cock into his hole...gently, oh so gently. “Gino, Gino, go easy on me, I know your ass is ready for a good fuck, but you have to go gently...I have a short fuse. Feel my head, my cock head? It’s a big head, take it easy. That’s it, inch by inch and don’t make me come yet...gently, that’t it, take it easy...now, my head is in your ass, slowly, slowly take every inch I’ve got. Here’s an inch, another inch, that’s it, slowly, I know your hungry ass wants my cock and you will get it, in time... enjoy it, here’s another inch, and another, keep on sucking my dick in you, work on the head and shaft with your ass, use those muscles, one more inch, one...you’ll get all 7 inches...how’ s that? You like that cock up your ass, Gino, huh, oh yeah, I’m completely in you, you’ve got every inch I’ve got...now you really want it, you want me to ram my hard cock up your hungry ass, huh, yeah, here baby, take it, take it, aaahhhh, take this cock from daddy, it’s all yours, work on it, baby, oh yeah... aaahhhhh! Look at that fuckin’ ass work that dick! Come on baby, pound your ass against my crotch, feel every inch inside your ass...let me feel every inch inside you, stroke that cock side to side than ram it deep inside... aaahhhhh, ram that sucker in... RAMMM it it! Feel it baby? Feel your daddy deep inside you... you like that, huh, you want more? TAKE IT BABY!!! AAAhhhhhhhhhh! AAhhhhhhhhh! Oh Yeah!, Yeah, THAT’S IT! AAAAHHHHHHHHHH! Is it a fantasy? Does this man really exist? Is he what he looks like? I spoke to him and he sounded so good...we spoke English, French, and I believed in him. This may be a figment of my imagination, he may not be real, in the sense that he may not be who he is in his pictures. The voice sounded like a young man, and fit the pictures that I have been admiring so! Last night, a man at the bar I was at, suggested that perhaps this is not an honest man, it is not the “Hercules” that I have seen on the pictures. In other words he is not what he seems, he is not the man in the pictures, it is a FANTASY! I don’t care, fantasy or not, it is still my fantasy, if it be one, and it pleases me tremendously. Such a man that would be attracted to me is enough. I am revitalized and I am enjoying my moment in the sun. It is the most exciting experience I have ever had. In our phone sex, he jacked off and ejaculated...that is what he told me and I believe him. If I had such a man, I would gladly be his and he mine, I would leave him my home, I would cherish him for the rest of our lives, BUT I would not own him...I would let him be GINO, MY GINO, but I would let him be who he is, a free spirit, a beauty of nature, a work of art, a strong handsome virile man that he is and always will be! GINO is no longer... The previous pages were devoted to a handsome man I met on Silverdaddies and I even spoke to on Skype...but, “Alas, it was probably just a fantasy”. Anyway, he doesn’t write to me anymore. I don’t regret the experience...such an incredibly handsome man! Oct. 18th to Oct. 29th 2010 It just seems that I cannot keep up to date on this diary like I used to, and so I find myself trying to catch up by “clumping” what I remember in a week, or in this case, two weeks. I continue to have dreams, but cannot write them down because I forget what I dream about by the time I get to this diary. How marvelous and exciting dreams are...you’re imagination is at “full throttle”, with no impediments. You can travel anywhere, be with anyone, do incredible things, etc.I thank God that I usually sleep well, dream, and wake up to enjoy another day. I’ll try to catch up on activities by going backwards: Oct.29 (today): I woke up around 9: 00AM and did not sleep very well. I don’t know what was on my mind...maybe Larry who continues to park in my driveway. Last night, when I came back from running some errands, he was in the driveway which I found to be very awkward and an inconvenience and I honked my horn to tell him to move out of the way and Frances, from across the street came out. I don’t think the neighbors are very happy about Larry continuing to park there. He is homeless and I have done the best I can for him. I allow him to park there at night, give him a cup of coffee and sometimes something for breakfast, have called the shelter a few times to try and get him in a shelter, but I don’t think he makes an effort to get himself “inputted” and get to a shelter. I have made a decision to tell him that Doris, my sister, is coming to visit next Monday for a week and that he cannot park there anymore. It’s a lie...she’s not really coming, but I can’t have him do that anymore. I think I’ve done everything I can for him, but he has to go. He’s homeless, sleeping in his truck, but I can’t be responsible for him...NOT ANYMORE!. I didn’t play tennis this morning, regrettably, because I was too tired for lack of sleep. I do enjoy playing. I will wait until next Monday and be sure and rest up so I can play. I do enjoy it so! Today, I also paid a few bills and straightened up in the kitchen and got some papers in order. These are all negatives...I should have started with the Positives, but I’ ll mention that later. Two more negatives: one is that I called up Democratic Headquarters here in Pasadena and had the intention of going to Lake and pick up some signage to put up on my lawn for the democratic candidates but changed my mind when I was told that I had to pay for the signs. The heck with that. Secondly, Doris called and wanted to talk to “pass the time away” as she put it. After talking for a while, she abruptly announced that she was at Bill’s and that was the end of our conversation. I guess it is partly due to my “jealousy” but also for this “shrug” from her. I wasn’t very happy about that. I have the feeling that one of these days, she will attempt to come and visit...WITH BILL, her new beau. As long as I live, I will never welcome him in my home. She may try to persuade me, but I cannot let this man come to my home. I believe he is a homophobe, and I don’t like him. Their visit here will never happen. I think I am coming down with a cold...my nose is itchy, I feel sneezy, and I’m taking Airborne, aspirins, sudafed, to try and fight off this cold, if indeed it is one. Larry came over on Tuesday for my piano lesson and he had a cold. I hope I didn’t catch it from him. Yesterday (Oct. 28th), I went for a walk, then when I came back, I rode my bike. It was a nice ride and I even stopped to fill the tank up. It took just a little while to warm up and start up (the bike), but I got it going and went for my ride, up York Blvd. to the mountains, in Altadena. I enjoy my rides. I want to keep it for enjoyment and also, so that the carburetor doesn’t get clogged. On Wed. Oct. 27th, I went to play tennis and had three great sets. It was wonderful playing after almost over two weeks of not playing due to the rain. There were not that many people there, but I did play with some fairly good players and good my exercise which is so important to me. I always like to tell people: “Oh year, I play two or three times a week, for as long as my legs are still good and my lungs allow me. Of course, smoking is not a good thing to do...well, I’ve talked about that before and will attempt again sooner or later to quit. After my tennis, I came home, watched a little TV, went to pick up my pills and pretty much relaxed for the rest of the day and went to bed around 10:30 PM. I also did go out with Phil for our “weekly jaunt at a restaurant for our 2 for 1 luncheon”. I do enjoy these get-togethers. The previous days were pretty much standard: Tues. Oct. 26th I went for my walk, stayed home for the day because of the rain Mon. Oct. 25th No tennis due to rain. Stayed home except for grocery shopping and cleaning the house a little bit. Sunday Oct. 24th I went to Mass and had two wonderful things happen. John Davis and his fa- mily joined me in Church. This Sunday, I talked to Richard, the man in charge of Church activities and I got him to allow me to bring the “offerings to the priest at the altar. John assisted. It was a great experience. Then I took the family to lunch As I continue going backwards, now from Oct. 23 to Oct. 17th, I guess I have to summarize. I have not played tennis in all of this time because of the rain, although, I did go to the courts on Wed. the 20th and even though it was a little misty, we still managed to play two sets. There were not too many people there, but I still managed to play a little. Otherwise, I managed to do a little walking when it was not raining and I did. I also did some Substitute Teaching for two days in that period of time: Thurs., Oct. 21st and Fri., Oct. 20th. My next check should be about $320 which will be very nice in helping me to pay my bills. It is getting a little overwhelming right now because all my taxes on all my three homes are due. I have nobody to blame but myself for this, but the extra work (subbing) and pay comes in very handy. The two other activities that come to mind (so I can wrap this up) is Bowling last Sat. the 23rd. It was nice getting together with the group and we had a great time then a good dinner at Marie Callender’s. Also, last Tuesday, the 26th was my piano lesson and I had to tell Larry that this was my last one. First of all, he is getting very forgetful and mixes up the dates and times, and has even forgotten one day of practice. Also, I don’t like the way he handles my fingers on the piano. He takes my fingers and jams them on the keys sometimes and I think this is due to frustration on his part. Also, another reason for my quitting the lessons is because of the money. I’ve got to economize somehow. I do want to practice, every now and then, however. I must practice so that I don’t lose what I have learned. - fin - Friday November 5, 2010 I find that I can no longer keep up with this Diary on a daily basis. But I will continue putting down my experiences, positives and negatives, as often as I can. Yesterday, Nov. 4th, I did not sleep very well. I had a few things on my mind, one of which is cancer. Because I smoke, I worry about that. I want to quit, but I continue. I had the intention of going to play tennis today, but I woke up early. I dreamt last night. DREAM Thirty-one I had much difficulty in sleeping, but I finally did, for probably about 5 hours. I had two dreams, totally unrelated I think. I am trying to get to my dream now before I forget. Vividly, I can remember in one trying to protect and save two cats from the claws of a beautiful wild cat. I want to say it is a bobcat, or maybe a lynx. I have with me a mature cat, possibly my cat, Miss Kitty and a kitten. We are somewhere away from home and all of a sudden, there is this beautiful large (about the size of a cocker spaniel) cat, mottled with orange, black and yellow spots, a very thick tail and a beautiful small round face. He doesn’t seem to be threatening to me at all, and I think at one point, I try and pet it...but I am more concerned with trying to protect my cats. Other details of the dream include trying to put my cats in the car without success, putting them in the barn, but the barn door won’t close tight enough, then trying to keep them in the shed, but I can’t do it. At one point, the “bobcat” grabs the kitten in its jaws, but I smack it on the head, and it drops it. The rest of this dream is vague, too vague to remember. In the second dream, I am in a large hall and possibly am teaching at this institution. We have a couple of entertainers that come to sing for the assembly. They are a man and a woman. I don’t remember the man much, but the woman is dressed in a dark suit, and she is a rather “Amazonian” type. At one point, I help her get up on one of the tables where she performs. Two other aspects of the dream have to do with my driving along somewhere and as I begin to go up a hilly part of town, I see a boy drenched in sunlight, in front of his home, in front of the garage, and this boy reminds me of myself when I was his age. The other part of this dream I remember, is talking to the entertainer about this incident, and showing her a photo of myself when I was just a boy, relating the picture to the boy I saw just a while ago while driving along. Finally, the last scene is that the woman entertainer gives me a piece of tile, dark in color and irregularly shaped, about the size of a card, a playing card, and she points to a broken piece of tile on the floor and asks me to replace the broken tile with the one she is giving me. If I where to describe the shape of the piece of tile, I would say, after looking at a map of the U.S., it is similar to the shape of Florida and Texas, combined. A more accurate description would be the combination of Florida, Alabama and Georgia, when looked at a map. The joining of these three states as you look at the shape on the map, is similar to the shape of the tile. I wonder what the importance of this “shape” is in this dream? Nov. 6th to Nov. 30th Much has happened in the last 3 weeks or more that I will summarize here the best that I can. I continue to dream and remember some of the parts of dreams and forget many other parts, sometimes, not remembering whole dreams. I have continued playing tennis which is the love of my life, taking walks occasionally, attending club functions such as meetings, parties, and other social activities. The highlights of these past 3 weeks fall into 3 main events: Thanksgiving Dinner, Paul and buying a new car. Thanksgiving 2010 On Thursday, Nov. 26th, I had my Thanksgiving Dinner here in Pasadena for the 4th year in a row. This takes a lot of preparation and as with get- togethers in my home, I always worry that the events will go well and they always do. This year, I had a total of 18 guests that attended. I had beautifully- decorated tables in the following rooms: a table for 6 in the dining room, table for 6 in the living room, and two tables in the new back room, the patio enclosure, one table for 4, the other for 2. Don Helton brought the delicious turkey, Ray Lusinck, his cranberry mold dish, David Yerkes and Andy, hors d’oeuvres, ham and salad, other guests, vegetable dishes, salads, desserts, wine and champagne. It was a total success and everybody ate well, and enjoyed themselves. I was left with quite a bit of cleaning which took two days of work, but that’s “part of the course”. Guests also sat outside by the wood fire in the wood pit (or drum). I’m always concerned that things go well, but they always do. Paul I met a man named Paul in the desert three weeks ago. I met him at a party that I was invited to by Joey, my Korean friend that I play tennis with. Paul was bartending at the party I went to and we looked at each other and were very much attracted to each other. That weekend was the Gay Pride Festival in Palm Springs and on Sunday, I went to the Parade and Festival with Joey and friends and had such a wonderful time. I met John, a man that I have been corresponding with on SD and he introduced me to a friend of his named Terry. They both were very nice people and very attractive. Later, I went to the Festival with Bill and Harold. Oh I forgot to mention the fact that Bill Bliss and his partner Harold were guests at my home in DHS. I met Paul at the entrance to the Festival and we spent a good part of the afternoon, walking around and having a pleasant talk. The Encounter with my Ex I have dreaded the time when I would eventually meet John face to face. John and I lived together for 13 years, with a 2 month separation, but otherwise, 13 years in the same home. He walked out one day and I took it very hard for the first year, not wanting to do anything, not wanting to go out, not wanting to meet people, just feeling sorry for myself and going through all the emotions that a human being can experience, I believe. That’s when I met Ed who took me out of my shell, introduced me to the Club I belong to, PCMC (Pacific Coast Men’s Club). and helped me to “get back on my feet”, so to speak. I told Ed that I wanted to be “Friends” and nothing else with him. We were intimate at times, but I was never satisfied because he did not interest me sexually, but I treasured his friendship more than anything else. But I digress. Getting back to John Lewis, my ex, I finally met him after almost 6 years and I had dreaded this encounter. When he left, he “closed the door behind him and never looked back”, meaning, he just didn’t want anything to do with me anymore. I made a few attempts at the beginning to try and stay in touch with him, but he refused to reciprocate. I have spent long periods of time blaming myself for the separation, but “life must go on”. Anyway, as Paul and I were walking around the Festival grounds, I saw John (who had put on quite a bit of weight and looked fat), and we embraced, kissed, and spoke a few words. He was with his usual friend, Ken (I came across his partner Chris a few minutes later), which I greeted and John also introduced me to a man, short, a little heavy, whom I assumed to be his “new lover”. I introduced him to Paul and we went on our separate ways. The encounter was very casual and went very well for me. Now, if I never see John again, it won’t matter at all. And Paul..... is such a sweet man. I have felt very comfortable with him. This past Sunday, Nov. 28th, I went down to the desert, unpacked my clothes at the house, chatted with Brady, then picked up Paul and we went to Bongo Johnny’s (I think that’s the name...it is on Arenas Road where all the gay activities are) and had a nice Brunch. We then went to the house and Paul saw my home, spent some time there, then later on that evening we went to “Shame on the Moon” and had dinner and watched a mediocre show of the impersonator named ______ (I don’t remember his name), who is well know for impersonating Judy Garland. The performance was not that good, but Paul and I had a good time. I had lamb chops which I love and Paul had spare ribs. I paid for both meals, although Paul paid the tip. I don’t want to get in the habit of paying for his meals, etc., but I did it this time, but cannot afford to do it on a regular basis. My intention was to tell him about my HIV status, but I did not. But any contact we had was “safe” and I know I will have to tell him sooner or later. I don’t know what the result will be, but I care for this man very much. We spent the night in my home in each other’s arms and slept together. At night, as we stood outside the front of my home, watching the stars and the view, we both saw a shooting star. That was very special to me. We made a wish and what I wished for is a secret, because if you reveal it, it may not come to pass, they say. But I can say, that it had to do with Paul and I. We had breakfast the next day in my home, I drove him to his mobile home in the park he lives in, then I went to visit Joey, and sought his advice, especially on my concern over my HIV status and my growing relationship with Paul. I listened to Joey and he gave me some good advice. I then drove home, with hardly any traffic on the road, and arrived home with no mishap. That night, I talked to Paul on the phone, and he texted me a wonderful message which made me feel very good, and I responded. Our next meeting must include my talk about my HIV. I dread the time, but it must be done. I pray God that he will not reject me. DREAM thirty-two Thursday Dec. 2, 2010 Today, I took a nap around 3:30 PM and dreamt that I was at a function and it was time to eat. It reminded me of the seminary where meals were sparse and we had to do with what we were served. I was very hungry as my appetite goes and I improvised my “plate”. We were given small dishes, plastic little bowls to put our food in, but I took a container (plastic also) so I could put more food in the container. I forgot what the food was, but it wasn’t much, not much variety anyway. I took big portions of, say it was salad and some kind of stew, bread and butter and made my way to the table. Somehow, I misplaced my tray while going back for maybe a knife and fork and found it eventually. I woke up shortly after this and had a craving for a peanut butter sandwich which I made and ate. I think this was because I was thinking of the seminary where we were served peanut butter often in the morning and the goal was to put the peanut butter on our plates, which we dished out from a dish that we got from the nuns kitchen, and to make as many peanut butter sandwiches as possible. Anyway, I satisfied my craving for a peanut butter sandwich when I awoke from my dream. In Retrospect...Wed. Dec. 1, 2010 I talked to Paul from Palm Springs for quite a while last night, from around 6:30 to 7:15 PM. I say “talked to Paul”, which is not quite correct, because he spoke nonstop about his problems, Ty and Warren and his lover Larry. It was very revealing, the whole conversation. I was debating and waiting for the time to tell him I am HIV, but now, there is no need. From what I have gathered from his talk, he is in perfect health and he complained mostly about two of his best friends who are suffering from various ills which he is fed up with, fed up with hearing about their ills and their lack of doing something about it, mainly exercise. But the most revealing point of the conversation is his great love for a 75 year-old man named Larry with whom he has fantastic sex, but unfortunately does not want him as a lover. I cannot compete with that, especially since Paul is in need of good sex and he gets it now and then from a 75 YEAR OLD MAN! He says Larry gets hard at the drop of a hat. Good for him. I am sadly not for Paul, nor he for me. I will no longer count on any kind of relationship with him. I am not about to be heartbroken again. That is pretty much the end of it. December 11, 2010 For the past two weeks, things have been pretty much the same. I still continue to play tennis, but have not gone for walks as often as I used to. The notes for today reflect pretty much what I am going through right now. I am going through a period of uncertainty in my life. For the first time, I feel very vulnerable as far as finances go. I am really feeling the crunch. I have pretty much used up all my savings. What has been very much of a strain on me is having to pay real estate taxes on my three properties. I am left with one property not rented, the other, with very little rent, and I think I will have to get a tenant here in my own home in Pasadena. I have recently paid over $3,300 just in real estate taxes. That is not counting the property insurance on all three homes. If I can get a decent amount back from income taxes, I might be able to get out from under this mass of bills and depletion of my savings. It never ends. I never should have bought the property in the desert. I’m afraid I took too much of a bite. It’s not the time to sell, so I am stuck with three properties with no income except for $500 from the one in the desert. I am going to have to change things...very soon. I have to cut down on spending... cut corners. CHRISTMAS EVE (December 24th, 2010 Well, quite a bit has happened for the past 2 weeks (almost two weeks). Yet, in a way, things have been pretty much the same. I played tennis on a regular basis for the first week, but the second week has kept everybody off the tennis courts and in fact, has kept people mostly indoors....RAIN! My goodness, I don’t remember seeing so much rain, except a few years ago where my garage got flooded and the same thing happened this time. I need to put a drain in front of the garage door, but I can’t afford that. I put foam on the bottom but water still got inside. I don’t know if it’ s because I left the garage door open one night or because it still (the rain) seeps in through the bottom. Anyway, there has been no tennis for about a week. Today, I went to play after so long. I played three sets and lost all of them. I don’t mind losing but when it’s three out of three sets, that is kind of discouraging. I heard from Ed who is kind of stuck in Palm Springs because Josie’s son, Marc, had some kind of “blockage”, I think in the esophagus...I’m not sure what it is, but they had to rush him to the hospital and Ed has to stay down there and help Josie out. It’s just as well, because I have two functions to attend: today, Christmas Eve, I am going to Phil’ s for dinner. He will prepare tacos, although I have to get the meat and the tortillas. I’m not too happy about that. He invited me over and I end up by spending the money. He will have the rest of the ingredients, but I actually am paying for the most expensive part of the meal. On top of all that, I bought all the ingredients for a pineapple upside-down cake and baked it the other night. Oh well, I’ve been telling Phil I would make one, since he has been asking me to for a long time. Then on Christmas Day, I am going over to Michael Scott’ s for Christmas Dinner. I am to be there at 4:00 and dinner is served at 5:30 PM. Phil will be there around 1:00 PM to prepare the turkey. I personally think it will not be done on time. I’ve already mentioned it to both of them, and they assure me that the turkey will be done by 5:30. Tutoring I started tutoring again and I have the little girl, Leslie Tovar for my student. I’ve tutored her before. The family is so nice. Now the mother has just had another baby, a little girl named Briana. Leslie is so sweet. She works hard to read better and I enjoy tutoring her. I have tutored her 4 hours so far. After Christmas, I will tutor two more days in December, then spend New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day in the desert in my home. Phil and Ed will be joining me there. I think Phil will sleep in the spare room and Ed will sleep with me. My gardeners just showed up. I was hoping they would since they have missed one week and the grounds are really a mess! Well, my life is pretty much on the same schedule and I am getting slightly bored. I think what I would like the most, something I want more than anything in the world is to meet a nice man that I can spend my remaining years with. I sometimes think that this will not be and that I will spend the rest of my life alone. I am not giving up hope. There must be somebody out there who is looking for me just as I am looking for him. DREAM thirty-two A dream I had I dream that I live in a big place with a lot of land and the place is old and rustic and a lot of young people come to visit, all young men. I think these young men are from my college days. We do a lot of drinking and eventually, undercover cops show up. A delegate tries to go off on a plane, which takes off on my property - over a cliff... plane starts propellers...and that’ s as far as I can remember. STRANGE...STRANGE! Saturday, January 8th 2011 DREAM thirty-three Dreams are not often vividly remembered upon awakening. In my dreams, many “dissipate” in my mind when I awaken, so that I am unable to write them down. But last night, (actually it was this morning, Sunday, Jan. 9th 2011, around 7:00 AM), I dreamt and this is the essence of my dream. I am with my Mom and Dad and, I think, with my sister at the seashore. My Mom tells us that she wants to swim to a raft with people, about 1 mile offshore. Meanwhile my Dad and I walk along the beach. There are two distinct activities going on. At the time, I did not think it odd that nobody was concerned about my Mother swimming that distance. Anyway, as my Dad and I walk on the beach, we come across a young man doing tests on a dolphin. Actually, I have added something that I am not sure was in the dream. It is a young man, but I am not sure what kind of fish he is working on. He may be an ichthyologist who is studying a “beached fish or mammal”. Anyway, at one point, my Dad wants to take a photo of the young man and I and the fish. In our talk with the “scientist”, we learn that there is a fluid in the fish that determines its exact age and condition. I recall the fluid being a viscous pink. At that particular time, I learn something: that every fish (mammal? I don’t know) contains this fluid in their body, and the amount of the fluid determines the creature’s age and health. At this point, I am walking back with my Father, and we find my Mother and sister, sitting on a blanket and a lifeguard strolls up and explains that Mom had a rough time swimming to the raft. She got so tired, she turned back. ...... End of dream DREAM thirty-four Sunday Morning, January 9th, 2011 In this dream, only a few “scenes” are left for me to remember. I am in a bizarre landscape, with nothing but very desolate scenes...dead trees, murky pools, hills and depressions, all of a reddish, yellow and black color. I am either walking or riding in some sort of vehicle and at one point, I am crossing the railroad tracks and I rush across the tracks with the train just crossing, but as I cross, I am forced to wait before crossing a second track because another train is coming across this track. And so, I am caught in the middle of two trains streaming down two tracks. Meanwhile, I am trampling along on this horrible landscape and I approach a dwelling and before going into the house, I must try and get the “muck off my feet” and I can see others nearby trying to clean their feet. This is all I can remember of this very strange dream. Sunday Morning, July 24, 2011 DREAM thirty-five I can remember two dreams I had last night, and pretty clearly, and so, I am writing these down now. Every night, I must get up to go to the bathroom, sometimes 2, 3 or 4 times. There are times when I have gone to the bathroom up to 6 times during the night. I suspect this may be because I have drunk too much liquid the evening before I retire or ate too late, etc. This is of course inconvenient, but I still manage to fall back to sleep pretty quickly and still manage to get about 6 to 7 hours of sleep every night, on the average. Due to these circumstances, or the sleep I am getting, that is, going to sleep, getting up and going to the bathroom, then going back to sleep, getting up again, to the bathroom, etc., I seem to have the ability to have multiple dreams. I don’t think the dreams are related. For instance, these were my dreams last night. I may have dreamt several dreams since I got up at least three times, but two dreams are very vivid...in fact, after my first one, I went to the bathroom and before getting back to bed and falling asleep, I wrote down my dream. DREAM ONE: I am somewhere, out walking with some friends, and I know that Phil is with me. At one point, we are sitting somewhere, but I’ m not sure where. At this point, I need to go to the bathroom (this seems to be maybe related with the fact that, shortly thereafter, I awoke and did go to the bathroom here at home), so I see a restaurant across the way, make my excuses to the group and head to the restaurant. I cannot remember the name of the restaurant and for some reason, it seems like it is important...oh well, let me continue the story... I have to go to the bathroom pretty bad at this point, and when I enter the restaurant, there are two waitresses there and I ask one to use the bathroom and she hesitates, looks at the other waitress, and it is evident that this is a situation where “The facilities are for customers ONLY”. But, both waitresses agree to let me use the bathroom.. But to my bewilderment and “shock”, one of the waitresses follows me in the bathroom and stays in there, at a distance, while I attempt to pee. It’s as if she has to be there with me so I don’t trash the place. I attempt to pee, but I cannot with someone there with me, especially a woman. Then in another episode, but related to this dream (and I don’t know if this was in the same dream, or interrupted with my getting up to pee during the night), I am back at this restaurant, and this time I meet the owner, a woman named Janelle. She is middle-aged, with a “hard face”, but somewhat attractive, businesslike, but friendly enough. I can almost picture her clearly... simple yet elegant, dressed in dark tones. At one point, I am looking at some clothes which are folded over a sort of wooden rack and some of the clothes are bermuda shorts, but they are used, full of holes...it’s as if I am in a junk shop, shopping for old clothes, used clothing which I have done time and time again with Ed and Doris, especially, because we love “antiquating”. DREAM TWO: In this dream, on the same day, actually it is Sunday early morning, possibly at 4:00 AM, July 24th, I am dreaming that I am at my home in the country...I picture mostly a yard and there is an old barn and I am looking to put up a poster of a recent event, perhaps a club get- together, a family party, but whatever the occasion was, a poster has been made for advertising. I am fond of doing posters since I have done work like this before, going back to the time, in the 80’s when I was in charge of the school paper and advertising... but I digress here. Continuing with the dream...I am looking for a suitable place to put the poster, perhaps on the left, where there is some kind of structure, perhaps a tool shed? But windows, grates and other things attached to the building does not permit me to hang the poster, so I concentrate my attention to the barn on my right.... At this point, I am reminded of another dream, one that I had that same evening (or morning)... now I am on top of a building, but I am stranded, with no ladder and I must get down somehow. There are other workers on adjoining roofs that are doing some work and they have ladders, but the buildings they are on are not attached to my building, and I cannot get to their roof and use their ladder to get down. (this is quite incredible, for as I write about these two dreams, a third is coming back to me). I must get back down, and I see passersby and try to get their attention and at this point, I use “sign language” to get their attention and try to communicate to them that I must get down, but I don’t have a ladder and I need for someone to get a ladder for me....that is all I can remember of this part of the dream. Now I continue with the second dream...I am looking at the barn and I can see where I can put the poster up and envision other posters being placed on the side of the barn for different future events. I talk to someone there about, of all things, medical plans. He, the other person, talks about his medical plan that I used to have, and I talk to him about a new plan that I have and we share the different benefits that we have with our different plans. At this point, a beautiful little puppy, snow white in color, with dark brown eyes, comes into the yard chasing a bright pink ball and I think he is the cutest little puppy I have ever seen. A man, a worker, a peasant comes in looking for the dog, apparently the dog’s owner. I use the term “peasant” I do not know why, but he is perhaps a farmer in the area. We talk about the dog and I find out that he knows a man that has about 7 other dogs, maybe from the same litter and he tells me that the owner is asking for only one dollar ($1.00) for the puppies. I tell him that I want a dog and will pay that price...he hesitates, then I bargain with him: $2.00...$5.00....I then wake up from the dream. These are my dreams for this Sunday, July 24th, 2011. Why are these dreams so vivid and others are not so, to the point that I cannot remember details, I don’t know. My dreams are important in the sense that they mean that I am sleeping soundly, and there has to be reasons for them. It is a mystery that I cannot understand. In a documentary about dreams that I saw not too long ago, one researcher stated that: “Perhaps dreams are signs that they warn the dreamer of future events that will occur, but present warnings to the dreamer to prepare for situations that will require proper coping strategies. Thank you God for letting me breathe correctly and dream these wonderful and exciting dreams. Dream on Wed. July 27, 2011 DREAM thirty-six I dreamt this morning around 4: 00 AM that I am in school, but as a student and I believe I am in a French class. The teacher (and I think it is Paul Scibetta, a Dean from my old school Mt. Vernon. He apparently was a lady’s man and had an affair with the ESL Coordinator)...and in this dream, he calls me aside to tell me that one of the students has complained about me. He says she doesn’t like me and he wanted to let me know. Well that is kind of serious with me because I want everybody to like me and I feel bad usually if I am not liked by someone. I ask the teacher who the person is, but at first he is reluctant to give out the name. Meanwhile, I dream that I go into a classroom, but cannot find my seat, and then I ask the teacher and she informs me that I have been transferred to a much higher- level class because I am proficient in French - it is my native language. I don’t know if this occurs before or after I find out who doesn’t like me in the classroom. I think I left home late and that is why I was late coming into the classroom. There is another incident in this dream that occurs, but I am not quite sure where it fits in...I come home at the end of the day and I have put a pan on the stove and the burner is still on, but luckily the pan had some water in it, but it has been on the stove which was lit all day. This is a reminder that lately when I was staying in my home in the desert (Desert Hot Springs), one day I came back from shopping and Brady mentioned the fact that I had left one of the burners on when I left, but this time there was no pan. He kind of scolded me on it. When I mentioned this to Ed, I said: “We have to be careful when we leave to make sure the stove is always turned off”. He immediately replied: “It wasn’t me.” As a matter of fact, I believe it was he that left the stove on, but I didn’t want to pursue it...... I have learned from experience that he can be very stubborn, but that is understandable because I myself can be very stubborn about certain things. Continuing the dream, I spoke to the teacher again and this time he told me who was upset with me and it was Stephanie. When I was at Mount Vernon, one of my dearest friends was Stephanie Linder. She figures in this dream. She was upset with me for some reason and I felt very bad, but I couldn’t let on that I knew because I had heard about her displeasure toward me from the teacher. I had to find a way to get back in her graces....then I woke up. DREAM thirty-seven Dream Sat. 3:00 AM July 31, 2011 I had several dreams this morning. In one dream, I am living in the desert, I’m not sure where, and my neighbors are David Yerkes and Andy Ayers. In this dream, Andy is clipping his dogs. I believe he has two poodles and one has already been clipped and he is in the process of clipping the second dog. He has put all sorts of ribbons on his dog so that he looks kind of “freaky” and he is ready to cut and trim his dog. I see David further up “the slope” and say hello and proceed to my home. That is pretty much all I remember about this dream. In the second dream, there are several components to it. I meet a lady and she has a friend and her friend is about to go shopping and asks her if she wants to pick up a bottle of gin, vodka, or other hard liquors. You see, her friend is an alcoholic. In another dream, I am staying at a home with many different rooms, a very large place. I have had dreams in the past where I own these homes, one a large three to four-story home and there are parts of the home that I have never even explored. Another place that I own is a very simple place that needs a lot of work. I use to dream of these places before the homes I have bought since 2011, one in Maine and the other in the Palm Springs desert area. Anyway, in this dream, I am preparing for my trip back home. I think I may visiting some place in Europe. All of a sudden, on the day of departure, I realize that I haven’t even checked the departure time on my tickets. At this stage, I am frantically looking for my ticket that I cannot locate, and so I proceed to look in all of my luggage because I fear that I may miss my flight back home.... then I wake up. DREAM thirty-eight Dream on Sun. 7/31/2011 8:00 AM What this started off as a diary of dreams has turned up to be several different writings. The last numbered dream was “Dream 25” and after that, this document pretty much became a diary, however, if I want to continue to distinguish between a “Diary” and “Dreams”, let’s say, this entry now will be “Dream 26 of many others”, etc. DREAM thirty-nine Dream 39 of many others.... On Sunday, the last day of July, 7/31/2011, I dreamt again, and this particular dream stands out pretty clearly in my mind. I am driving along a road and I then come to a fork in the road, where the road bears to the right and left and I decide to take the right fork. I have seen cars driving this way before and I am curious as to where it leads to. It is a very narrow road with wood, rocks and other obstacles to the right and to the left and I must be very careful on this narrow road not to hit anything. I notice that the car before me almost hits obstacles on the side of the road. When I come to the end of the road, I then get on a platform, which moves to the left and tilts and my car and myself fall into the water. I then swim out and notice that there are people there milling around on the shore, some acting like they are in a resort. I panic and want to get out of there and find out what has happened and why and how do I get my car back. I walk to the office and I am told to speak to a lady who is pointed out to me. She is busy in her office with people walking around and the office is dirty, with junk all around and she doesn’t look very professional. That’s all I remember. Perhaps this dream refers to my ongoing quest to get rid of my present Prius and my wish to get a brand new one with GPS.... Dream forty Today, Thursday, August 4, 2011, at about 8:00 AM, I had a dream. Now, at 10:15 AM, as I am writing about the dream, it has become more sketchy and I only remember parts of the dream. I am in a school, teaching a course and at one point, I have my laptop open with a desktop photo of the kids in the classroom. However, I have to be careful and I am concerned that somebody could go to the laptop and click on some of my personal material. I am dealing with this young lady who is very influential in the sense that she is probably the president of a student program that I am in charge of. Somehow, I have to put my truck (yes in this dream, I own a truck) at the club’s disposal. Later on in the dream, I talk with this young lady (I can almost picture her in my mind) and notice that she has a necklace with a pendant which has been awarded to her and means that she has much “power” now in her club. The next event is that I am told that since I cannot commit to having the club use my truck for their activities, she basically “fires” me and that is pretty much the last thing I remember about this dream. DREAM forty-one On Saturday, Aug. 6, 2011, I had a dream at about 3:00 AM. I dreamt that I was teaching, perhaps substitute-teaching, in a class and there was a guest in the front, perhaps there to observe me. This is a procedure that usually occurs for a new teacher and the purpose of course is to evaluate the new teacher, usually done by a “master teacher” with experience. Well this particular teacher was none other than... ANGELA LANSBURY, or should I say “Jessica Fletcher”.It’s not too unusual to have her in one of my dreams since I am a great fan of hers and I also have the “Murder She Wrote” collection and I watch episodes of the program just about every night. Back to the dream...I am in the back of the class and she signals to me that she is writing me a note and that I should read it. She has collected, or rather, the students have brought up their assignments to her in the front of the class. She is sitting behind what looks like a lectern. At this point, my attention is taken by a young man sitting in the back, way over on the right side. He is one of my favorite students, a very handsome young man and he has been always pretty quiet, but all of a sudden, he starts talking quite a bit with me. As I said, he is a very handsome boy. At this point, I should make it clear that I sometimes come across very handsome young men, usually high school age, and I have an attraction towards them. It’s important to say at this stage that I curtail my thoughts and I have no “bad thoughts” concerning them. Very often, they remind me of when I was young, handsome, full of life, adventurous... Well, now that I’ve made this clear. I wanted to be clear on this because I am attracted to men, but always to those my age, slightly younger, or preferably, a little older. Anyway, after my chat with this young man, it is time to dismiss the class. I go to the front and review the assignments left on Jessica’s lectern and I am going to read her note. The assignments, by the way, are on small square pieces of paper, neatly piled up by Jessica, the size of these pieces of paper (assignments) are about 3”x3”. Now I am reading her note and I can pretty much visualize the paper and her writing. I cannot remember, of course, the exact content, but it has to do with a note from the French Teacher (?) indicating that she will not be in tomorrow and I should let the office know. Perhaps the note even contains a lesson plan? At this stage, I need to call the office and let them know, so I go next door to another teacher’s classroom and ask to borrow the phone to make the call to the office. I feel like I’m imposing, but the teacher, a beautiful young lady, lets me use the phone. The phone is in an alcove in the room and as I am about to grab the phone, the young lady comes over, reaches out near the phone to get a cigarette that she has been smoking. That’s a strange twist. Then I wake up. DREAM forty-two On Monday, August 8, 2011, I had this dream at about 2:00 AM. I am dreaming that I am in a garage where I have a van parked. I have to get going to a town hall or some kind of hall where a small group that I belong to will put on a show. In this dream, my brother Paul and my neighbors Joy and Randy are characters who play a role. My brother Paul is on his way to the hall, but I don’t have the address nor the phone number of the hall. This has happened before and I had to miss the meeting, but that is because, at that time, either I or my brother Paul did not have a cell phone, but this time, he has his )or I have mine) and so I can call him to ask him directions. The rest of the dream is kind of sketchy although I remember some incidents. I don’t know what happened next concerning the call I needed to make to my brother for directions, and perhaps this next scene indicates that I either didn’t get a chance to make the call or I woke up before the call... anyway, a man came into the garage and introduced himself as the owner and also there was a boat garaged there in the back...that’s all I remember from that scene. Another part of the dream introduces Joy and Randy who call me over, outside, to come and look at two new barstools they just bought. Also, at one point, I thought they owned the garage and allowed to park my van there. But in another scene, I have parked my Prius in Joy’s garage and she is furious that I did that without asking her. Then I wake up. DREAM forty-three On Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2011, I dreamt in the morning that I am visiting the home of Don and Jesse. At one point, I am driving a nice-looking convertible and I am at their house and they have a few guests over, but I am totally ignored and nobody talks to me...it’s as if I don’t even exist. Then in one part of the dream, it seems like the tables are turned and they are visiting me and I put one of the female guests up in like a tower and she wants to come down, but I don’t release her.. this part of the dream is very vague. In another dream, I have left the movie theater and it is the one I used to go to in Lewiston, the Priscilla theater and I used to go there in the hope of meeting someone in the bathroom. Anyway, in this dream, I am leaving the theater and then as I am outside, I realize, I HAVE TO GO TO THE BR and I ask the ushers to let me back in to use the bathroom, but I have trouble getting them to help me. They are of East Indian descent I believe, and finally they let me my father Later on, I am making my way back home after using the bathroom, and I see myself at night, climbing a particular hill that I remember well because when I was learning how to drive, I remember coming down the hill and I had to brake because a dog had run out in front of the car...when I got home, I told the story to my father, with pride, because I felt I had done a good thing and I think he was proud of me. One of the rarest good feelings about my father. In another part of the dream, although it seems very unrelated, I am visiting with Joe Borerro, or maybe it is John Lewis, both past lovers, and in the morning, as I am leaving, Joe’s partner (or maybe it’s John’s) comes in. I vaguely can remember what he looks like, but he is nice-looking....etc. That’s pretty much all I remember about this dream. The strange aspect of this and dreams lately, is that the characters are those of today, or recently, and they are part of my dream. DREAM forty-four My computer seems to be running slower and slower to the point that this morning, when I turned it on and wanted to access Pagemaker to enter my latest dream on the word processor, it took so long to load that I tend to lose sight of my dreams, forget them, but I’m still going to write down my latest dream below. It is about 6:00 AM on Friday morning, Aug. 12, 2011 and I am dreaming that I am on a bike in front of the City Park in Lewiston, Maine. I am perhaps close to the age I am today, possibly younger, and I am on a bike heading to my mother’s house to visit her. I am bicycling right there on Maple St. (I think that’s the name of the street right in front of the park) and I am just turning left at the other street, in front of the old red and grey-stonned church, Saint Patrick’s, and as I going along on bike, I am having trouble with the bike - it is very hard to peddle. Perhaps it needs oiling? There are three men, walking near me and they comment on the work on some of the homes. Meanwhile, as I am passing in front of the old stone church, somebody drives up and parks in front of the church and this man gets out and exclaims: “These are the stones I’ve been looking for”. He is talking to someone in the car, but I cannot see the passenger. He is referring to the stone fence in around the church, and is pointing in particularly to some stones that add artwork to the masonry. It’s as if he is about to start pounding away with a mallet to get to these fine stones. I think the old church is closed down. Meanwhile, I am still struggling with this old bike, and it is getting harder and harder to peddle. I can see it clearly, this scene, as I go down past the old church and head to Knox St. where I was born. I am peddling down the street and get to my mother’s apartment house. This is not quite accurate, the surroundings that is. My family did live in a three-story apartment house for a while, but I think that was on Pierce St...in this dream, I am on Knox St., but in front of an apartment house that didn’t really exist then. I realize that as I’m standing in front of her apartment house, which is more modern that the apartment houses at this time, I haven’t even called her to let her know I’m coming to visit. Throughout this story, I sometimes picture her in the apartment, perhaps in the kitchen, wearing an old dress, but with blue and white apron, all ready for cooking. I can picture that apron, in front of her dress, draped around her neck, blue and white with some design on the apron, which I cannot see clearly, but perhaps something like pots and pans as motif. At this stage, I am a third party definitely, because I dream the characters and see my self vaguely, and all other characters, save my mother, which I can still see fairly clearly even now as I write down my dream. She is as usual a rather short, stocky woman, her hair either short or long.... Am still right in front of the apartment and I realize I don’t have my phone or I’ve forgotten her number, or maybe I have even forgotten to bring my phone so I can’t call her. (Yesterday, I went to the Hollywood Bowl with Ed to see and hear Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons”, etc. and I forgot to bring my iphone, which is very rare. Perhaps that is why this particular incident also occurred in my dream, not having my phone.) Next in my dream is either forgotten or perhaps I wake up. However, there is another dream here, not associated with the dream about my visit to my mother. In this dream, I am somewhere with a group of people, mostly all young, and I am visiting a set, possibly in Florida, where a whole community has been built for a film. I am going along in a speedboat with young guys, and we stop off at a house where I am looking out from the top floor which is completely enclosed in glass, and I see a scene which is very prehistoric, looking at a swamp with dead trees sticking out into the sky, with creatures swimming in its waters. There are huge “Lizard- like” creatures that are climbing along the dead trees, some of them just laying there sunning themselves. This is truly an incredible sight, very prehistoric. Then we leave this house and we are speeding along in this fast boat, and there are apartments and homes all along the way, mostly on the left side of this “canal” and I ask the “boys” on board: “Are all of these structures built just for the set?” and I am told that most of them have been built just for this set in a movie. The next scene takes place in one of the boy’s home and we are sitting down, and one of the guys makes a “pass” at me with some comment, and I remember that one of the guests in the home starts to do an impression of Bette Davis and I laugh my head off, but the rest don’t seem to be amused. I thought the impersonator was very funny.... then I wake up. That is all I remember of this dream. DREAM forty-five Saturday, August 13, 7:00 AM: I believe this dream occurred in the morning after I went to the bathroom. Very often, I may be giving the wrong time, because I always get up once or twice in the morning and it seems like most of my dreams occur when I go back to sleep for an hour or two, but then again, these dreams may have occurred before I woke up. I am at a school and everybody there I think are grown-ups. It is time to leave and people are milling around in the hallway, getting their coats to leave. The coats are actually all “ponchos”. (blanket-like covers with a hole in the middle that you put over your head and wear like a jacket) and it looks like people are just grabbing any one. I am at a loss, because I am looking for something very simple, sort of generic, but some of these are very nice (the ponchos) with nice designs and some of them probably expensive, and so I cannot find one and hate to use one that somebody will be right behind to say: “Hey, that’s mine!” In another part of this dream, I am outside, ready to grab a bus that will take me home, and one of them is coming down, and the driver isn’ t too concerned about slowing down and he has to because I am there in front of him, then as he goes by, he gives me a very nasty look...that’s all I remember. DREAM forty-six It is about 8:00 AM on Sunday, August 14, 2011 and I dream that I am at home, I think my Mom’s home and the whole family is getting ready to attend a wedding. I am not sure who is getting married, but it’s somebody in the family... perhaps Paul? Everybody is running around getting ready and Doris notices something on my skin. I have what looks like pimples or marks and she and I talk about them. When I was young, I had a terrible skin condition, with a lot of acne and I was covered on my chest, back and my face also had many marks (acne). I recall my mother having this condition when she was young. I think this condition was probably passed on to her children, although, from what I remember, I was perhaps the only one to suffer with this. My siblings went through the common “preadolescent” changes in life, into their adolescence, but I am the only one that had a very bad case of acne and it lasted throughout my teens. It was very depressing for me. And so, my sister Doris, who in this dream is a nurse, or attached to the medical field, proceeds to start going over my back to see if she can do something about this “infection”. I am insistent that this is acne or scars from the past, but she insists that they are...I’m not sure what she says, lice? fleas?...I see in my mind’s eye, myself sitting down in what could be the kitchen and she is “digging” into my skin to try and determine what it is and how to get rid of it. Meanwhile, time is passing and we have to continue getting ready to go to the wedding. In one instance, somebody comes in the kitchen (let’s say she and I are in the kitchen), and I ask her to stop because people are curious and noisy about what is going on and I am feeling very bad and embarrassed. At one point, a young girl, as I remember her, a Black girl, with pigtails, in a red flowered frock, with big brown eyes, comes in, goes to the fridge, then after getting something out of the fridge, she kind of waits around, trying to find out what’s going on. Now I’m beginning to think that this probably takes place in the South, in a big ole mansion...and recently, I was watching “Murder She Wrote”, as I usually do at night, (I have gotten the complete collection of Lansbury’ s “Murder She Wrote”) and I am at number 49 which recently, at these numbers, shows her films and not her series on TV. Anyway, in this particular film that I saw, it all takes place in the deep South and Jessica is in search of a distant relative and in the film, through diaries and old letters, she goes back to the 1880’s and she is playing the part of an old character in the past, an aunt of hers... Seeing this character, this young Black girl, in the story is probably associated with the film. Anyway, my sister stops checking my back, and I guess as we indicate the privacy of the situtation, she leaves. The story is becoming more and more vague, but I seem to remember her showing me some of the tissue she removes in the form of bumps, and she is trying to explain to me that these are signs of...again, I’m not sure if were talking about lice, fleas, or perhaps even insects which are laying eggs on my skin and body. UUggghhh! this is rather depressing, but that’s what I dreamt.\ I know that I am going to wear a bright “sandy-colored” suit, perhaps even yellow in color. Now here is the “clincher” to this dream. In the last scene, I am looking out of the window from where I am sitting in the kitchen, and I see the family car in the driveway. I think my father is driving. On the roof of the car is a HUGE CAKE, yes, I repeat, a huge cake that we are bringing for the festivities. If we are going to a wedding, then it must be a wedding cake. Somehow, my father has strapped that cake to the top of the vehicle and we are going to bring it with us. Finally, as we are driving to our destination (the dream does not go that far, the destination that is...), we have to drive through small towns, and in one, as my father (I’m pretty sure he’s in the dream) is barreling through this one town, ahead of us, a trucker has just gotten out of his truck and is about to cross the narrow street, but the space between he, and his truck, and the other side of the road is narrow and we assume that we are going to slow down and let him cross...but NO...my father continues without stopping, and we barely squeeze through in front of the trucker. As we drive by, I look back and see a very, perhaps angry or at least astonished look on the man’s face. ende DREAM forty-seven It is Tuesday, August 23rd, in the year 2011 and I have this dream at about 6:30AM. I am teaching and I have two classes, probably French classes and perhbaps it is towards the end of the year and I am going to give a party. I buy chips, popcorn and other candy, and buy soda for the party. At one point, while we are having the party, someone calls on my phone...it is a young lady and she is calling from Alaska and I think she used to be a student or wants to talk to one of the students.... Now we back up in this dream. It’ s almost like this is a flashback to the dream. Now, I am at school and I have to find a way of going out and getting a few things for the party, such as chips, pop-corn, cheetos, soda, etc. Time is running out and a friend of mine at the school (he reminds me of someone I knew in the Air Force, Bob Ruel who was a friend of mine. He looked like a weasel. Or this could be Maurice Loiselle...) has volunteered to take me oujt to the store in his car. At this stage, we only have about 2 minutes left before the kids come back to the classroom. Well, there is nobody at the school. I think some of the administrators are on vacation or they just aren’t at school. One of the administrators in school is a black lady that I kind of liked, but I don’t remember her name. And so we are off school grounds and Bob takes me to some shops, but there are no stores to get candy. Bob has come here to look at something he is interested in in the department store. At this stage, I am furious at him and tell him to take me to a store and that he is a selfish individual, and that I have to be back to school now with the candy for the party. He then takes me around the corner to a store where they have what I need. But all the chips and other party candy are hanging on hooks from the ceiling. I proceed to take down some of the bags, Lays potato chips is one of them, and take them to the clerk. He is a short Korean (I think he is Korean) and starts to add up the items and gives me a bill for the amout and I think it is outlandish and tell him that I will report him to the police for charging these outlandish prices. I pay reluctantly, and get in the car. Meanwhile Bob is talking to me trying to calm me down. The little Korean comes out of his shop with a card and another item which I don’t remember. He gives it to Bob and when we open the card, there are $15.00, a ten dollar bill and a five dollar bill and a talking card which basically apologizes for the altercation. The rest of the dream is a bit sketchy, but Bob talks to me and tries to calm me down and I think at this stage I feel sorry for being the way I am, mistrusting and always seemingly complaining. (If Phil Dessert ever read some of my dreams, he would have a field day because he thinks I complain too much.) End of Dream Dreams I Have Recorded The following dreams have occurred about two years ago and were taped as soon as I awoke, but I never had the chance to put them on paper. DREAM forty-eight Dream of August 8, 2009 This dream is in retrospect, because I am writing this down over 2 years later, on August 25, 2011. In my dream I am somewhere with my Aunt Connie and Uncle Adrien. Adrien died years ago. But in my dream, I am mostly with my Aunt Connie. We are somewhere in this dream and I seem to think that we are in South Africa. We are at a camp, where we are sitting outside. This camp is know for its past activities, and it was perhaps a mill. I climb the mill from outside, but I get stuck while climbing.At one point, Aunt Connie says that when I was young, her friends in South Africa wanted to sponsor me to go to South Africa, as a teacher, or other...I’m not sure. That is all I remember from this dream. DREAM forty-nine Dream of August 9, 2009 In this dream I am visiting a friend, and I’m not sure if it is a “sexual encounter”, or otherwise. Now I am laying down on the bed. He is in bed with me, then someone is knocking at the door and my friend gets up from the bed and lets his frend in. His friend comes in holding a beer, then leaves. In another part of the dream, we are at the seashore and my friend goes wading in the water. He is with some other friends that I know and I think there are others in the dream, and some of the characters are women. I want to go in the water, but I don’t have any bathers with me. And so, next, I am walking along the seashore and I come across a structure...(I can picture the structure now), and it looks like the ruins of a church with a lot of rubble inside and I seem to go through this church several times in my dream. I have to be careful when I am inside because of all the rubble, and in order to get out of the church, I must go up the steps to the door, then go outside. I do this going and exiting several times in my dream. I see a path, to the right of the church, and I see someone in the water wading, but the water seems murky and cloudy. I want to go into the water, but I am looking for my friend....at this point, my dream ends. DREAM fifty Dream Aug. 16, 2009 Today is Sunday, Aug. 16, 2009. I woke up early this morning at 6: 30 AM, watched a little TV, then went back to bed around 7:20 AM, and this is what I dreamed. I am at home and there is someone that I know that is coming out of the bedroom, but I don’t know how he got there. And then I realize that there are other people in my home in this dream. Now we are sitting down on chairs, outside, most probably near my home, in the sun. There are people sitting down here and there on the chairs and I ask them to move the table and chairs because they are (the chairs) in the sun. Nobody is willing to tell me what happened, that is, how did all these people get here, for what reason. Am I perhaps having a barbecue, or what? How did I end up by having this man there, my guest, that I have been cruising? How did he get there, to my home? Now the other people in the group - people I have know from the past and I wish I could name them - number about 6 or 7. I think Andy is one of the members of the group, Andy is David Yerkes’s partner. I am asking the members to tell me what has happened, how did we come together, what happened last night? I don’t remember anything. Nobody wants to say anything, and I know that something bad has happened. Finally they leave, and as I look at the cars, they are all “smoky” because in one particular car, Andy is sitting there and he is smoking and he smokes like a chimney. After that scene, I don’ t remember much, but the only thing that comes to mind is that I am out at a bar and I must have gotten pretty drunk, maybe even caused a scene. (That is very unusual because I never get drunk), Somebody drives me home. Maybe I even had an accident, and I forgot everything, and now I am at home with this group of people and I am trying to find out what happened the night before. But nobody is talking, nobody wants to mention what happened the night before. Are these friends? What happened, why does nobody want to tell me what happened? That’s the dream. Thoughts from Aunt Priscilla (taped on Aug. 29, 2009) “My father had 5 sisters in Victoriaville. I had two brothers. Fern was one of them. He left and I don’t know if he is still living. Robert was the elder one in a special place. Fernand, went to live in Ohio, then Connecticut, during the war. He died and was buried in New York. He was never buried. Ray: I don’t remember Pepere Roberge much, but one day he took me for a walk and I remember the grounds beigh strewn with many dead leaves. I remember Pepere in my mind. He was a very big man. Priscilla: I think at one time he weighed 300 lbs. Ray: Now Memere, lived in front of the park, when she died and she was living on the second place with Rosanna. She was living on Park St. Rosanna and Clara were sisters. They were half sisters, Demerise Brogan. Doris: You must get pretty tired when we leave, right, with all this talking. Priscilla: Oh no, I enjoy talking like this. Ray: Did someone in the family have a glass eye? find out what happened the night before. But nobody is talking, nobody wants to mention what happened the night before. Are these friends? What happened, why does nobody want to tell me what happened? That’s the dream. Thoughts from Aunt Priscilla (taped on Aug. 29, 2009) “My father had 5 sisters in Victoriaville. I had two brothers. Fern was one of them. He left and I don’t know if he is still living. Robert was the elder one in a special place. Fernand, went to live in Ohio, then Connecticut, during the war. He died and was buried in New York. He was never buried. Ray: I don’t remember Pepere Roberge much, but one day he took me for a walk and I remember the grounds beigh strewn with many dead leaves. I remember Pepere in my mind. He was a very big man. Priscilla: I think at one time he weighed 300 lbs. Ray: Now Memere, lived in front of the park, when she died and she was living on the second place with Rosanna. She was living on Park St. Rosanna and Clara were sisters. They were half sisters, Demerise Brogan. Doris: You must get pretty tired when we leave, right, with all this talking. Priscilla: Oh no, I enjoy talking like this. Ray: Did someone in the family have a glass eye? At this point, Doris and I are laughing because of the “glass eye” bit. Doris: Do you remember Joline Bisonette? How was she related to us? Priscilla: She would be Florence’ s daughter. Les Bisonettes had large families. Those were the nice times when we all lived on Knox Street. At this stage a fire alarm goes off and Aunt Priscilla does not know exactly what that sound is. Priscilla: You’re visiting from California? Ray: Yes I am. Priscilla: And you’re not married, huh? Ray: No more. Priscilla: And you have children? Ray: They’re all married...Doris, Paul, Richard and I try to get together at least once a year. Ray: I remember being on the porch, on a long swing, on a sofa that swung, and on the second floor, then one day after a big storm, the swallows came out and would swoop down and get all the insects that had come out after the rain....it’s funny how some thoughts remain vivid in your mind. Priscilla: Yes that’s true...the swing, I just don’t remember it. Doris: Your kids come by and visit you. Do you see your kids now and then? Priscilla: Yes, there’s Helene, with 4 kids, Norman, Paul, Raymond... Ray: You could your boys after your sisters’ children, huh? Doris: You had 5 children right? You have many grandchildren? Priscilla: I don’t know now. Connie married, but had no children. Forward to Present Time DREAM fifty-one Dream on Thurs. Nov. 11, 2010 This is Thursday and I had a dream last night and in a room there are three or four women and one of them is doing a dance to tease the other women and I don’t know, but I think I may be that woman dancing, and I am in drag. One of the woman is dressed in sexy leotards and I have a very long flower that I am holding, but I think it’s a fake flower, and as I dance and gyrate, I take the flower and put it on parts of her body and brush the flower across parts of the body, then all of a sudden, as I am doing this, I see a huge tiger....this is an abrupt ending to the dream. DREAM fifty-two Dream on Nov. 13, 2010 This dream occurs at 5:15 in the morning of Saturday, November 13, 2010 and this is what I dreamt: In the dream, I have to drop somebody off in an area of town and I have some children with me and they are waiting in a gift shop and I am sitting there with them and in the gift shop are various types of candles and it is actually a junk shop and all of these candles go for a dollar, $1.49, $159, $2.00, etc. This is something very familiar with me because I’m always shopping around in junk stores, and I especially look for cheap candles. The kids are looking around and see things they want, but they haven’t got much money. So I tell them: “You should just take them”. I’m actually telling them to steal at this point. Now were still waiting to pick somebody up. I’ve dropped somebody off somewhere and I promised to pick them up. I don’t know how these children come to be in my care., they are with me and range in age from 8 to 12... maybe a little younger. Some of the children have gotten some food and one of the girls looks like she’s eating fudge. She cuts it up and people are eating the candy. I realize what I am doing at this time. I’m actually allowing these kids to take this food and eat it (stealing). I wake up. DREAM fifty-three Dream on Tuesday, In this dream, I am with Ed and we have gone to visit some friends and there are two girls there and we are watching something on TV which has to do with the Anti-Gay League, or homophobes are going to be looking for groups of poeple who are gay but these homophobes have a “code word” which they will use to identify these groups: “Fellas”. That’s pretty much all I remember about this part of the dream. I am with somewhere with Ed and there is somebody with Ed, and I realize that Ed has made a date with this guy and I realize that I am a “third wheel” here and that I should leave them alone. The funny thing is that I get in the car and I drive to my home, which is DIRECTLY ACROSS THE STREET. When I get to the end of the driveway, then as I look into the house, I noticed a light on in the house and I don’t remember leaving any light on. I get out of the car, go on the porch, then just as I am about to open the door, somebody rushes out of the house and I grab him. This guy has glasses, a little shorter than me, not very attractive, wearing glasses. Now I want to know what exactly he is doing in my house. I am pretty brave talkling a stranger in my home, but he doesn’t have a gun. He says he just came into my house to relax. It looks like he didn’t steal anything. Now Ed comes in and I don’t know if I called him because I felt something was wrong. The guy has a package for us and I am a bit wary about this stranger opening this package up, but he does and inside, there are....steaks...end of dream. DREAM fifty-four Dreams on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2011 I have lost count of the dreams in so far as the numbering of them, and so, I now entitle them by the date. On Sunday morning, I had two dreams in the early morning hours between 4:00 AM and 8:00 AM. First Dream In this dream, I am by the ocean and I believe I am now at a “bait shop”, although I am not sure exactly what a bait shop is since I have never really been in one except what I see in the movies. But this shop has fishing gear, and bait. I am with a group of people, maybe family, but I’m not sure who these people are. We are in the store to get containers so that we can go out and schoop up fish and water and put them in our containers. I have a cup and I am looking for fish to put in the cup. I see pools here and there and as I approach one pool of water, I see some fish. I see a rather large fish compared to the others, I’d say about 2 or 3 inches long and I want to put it in the cup that I have. Instead of using the cup, I reach down and grab it and as I am putting it into the cup, he (let’s consider our “catch” male for now), nibbles at me, or bites me, and draws just a little bit of blood. I think at this point, I am concerned about rabies. Anyway, the fish is in the cup of water, but he just barely fits into the cup. He has no room to swim in. I need to get a container that’s big enough for him. In this town that I am in, I look around for a larger container to put him in. I think I have seen people sitting behind some of the shops drinking coffee and I’ve seen empty coffee cans about. Perhaps I can find one of these. I finally find one, but this one has a handle on it, like on a paint can, but it is completely clean, and almost new, so I take that can and I also find a lid for it. I think: “This is going to be perfect for the fish”. I head back to a cabin, and I believe we are staying at a cabin there, and now, in my mind, I can picture the cabin, with a large front porch, and you have to go up some steps to get to the porch, and I am going to transfer the fish and water from the cup to the can...I wake up. Second Dream This morning I woke up around 7: 30, went to the bathroom, then went back to bed and fell asleep and had this second dream. I am going to a restaurant, and just as I am about to enter the restaurant, who should walk out of the restaurant as I am going in, but Phil, Jose and somebody else, but I can’t picture who it is right now. It might be Larry Evans. As we walk by each other, I say “Hello” and they respond, but Phil is ignoring me completely...like I don’t even exist. I walk in the restaurant, sit down, then the waiter comes around and gives me the menu. Just then, Phil walks back into the restaurant and comes to sit next to me. He is wearing the same old clothes, his burgundy sweater and long pants, etc. I ask him why he completely ignored me when we walked by each other. He gives me a flimsy excuse which basically is that I was loud and he was embarassed to acknowledge me. (Can you imagine!?). At that stage, I proceed to read him the riot act and explain to him that I am what I am, and he is snotty and there is no reason to be like that. He is sitting down, and meanwhile, there is a Chinese girl (I think she is Chinese) who sits next to me, perhaps in the next booth and she is leaning over towards me and she asks me a rather strange question. “Are you two brother and sister?”, she asks. At this point, I don’t think I hear her right, and so I ask her to repeat the question and she asks the same question again. How strange I think...then I ask her “Which one do you think is the sister? (ha ha, at this stage, I laugh a little)”. Meanwhile, the waiter comes back and I don’t think the Chinese lady answers the question because of the interruption. The Chinese lady is very young, probably in her early twenties, short, and has very short hair and I think she is wearing glasses. Now a young Chinese man comes by with champagne and he starts to fill a cup at the edge of my table. I am thinking that is for me and I say: “Is that for me?”. But actually, I think this young man is not a waiter, but perhaps the husband or boy friend of the lady I’ve been speaking to. Then, they both get up and leave, taking their champagne and cup with them. I wake up. DREAM fifty-five... Tuesday Morning, Aug. 28, 2011 I woke up at around 5:14 AM this morning and recorded this dream before going back to sleep. I am somewhere in a house, perhaps my home in Maine. From the top floor, I think my bedroom, I hear the sound of voices. It is the other inhabitants (guests?) who are leaving and going out. They are heading for the car. I rush outside and say: "Where are you going?" They respond that they are just going out. "But you didn't even tell me you were leaving and going out!? I don't want to stay alone." So one of the guests come back and comes up to me. We are friends and he is sympathetic. Well they all come back and wait for me. Meanwhile, I am going through some old clothes, but I find a nice shirt to wear. So I try on this shirt and it fits pretty well and I decide to wear this to go out. I remember the shirt being kind of "loud" and it reminds me of that shirt that Ed gave me once, sort of silky and brightly- colored. DREAM fifty-six Today is Wednesday, the last day of August: August 31, 2011 In this dream, I am going for an interview for a teaching job and my father is with me and he is driving me to the location. The dream is still vivid in my mind even over 6 hours later. We have difficulty finding the way. Route 1 rests vividly in my memory and we check the map and see that there is a Route 3 fairly close by and another Route 3 much further on. I don't remember exactly which route we take, but we choose one and we are on our way We arrive at the home (or maybe a school) and I am ready for the interview, but the secretary informs me that the Principal (?) is busy interviewing someone else and asks that I have a seat and wait. I am finally asked to go into his office. He is a big burly man, handsome, and he is sitting at his desk and he starts to interview me. He lights up a cigarette and asks me a few questions. He wants to know a little about myself. I oproceed to tell him in a nutshell that I was born in Maine, joined the Air Force, spent some time in San Francisco in the military, finished my college at SFSU and aopplied for a teaching job in Australa and taught there for 4 years, returned to SF, then moved to L.A. where I taught for the LAUSD for over 28 years. At one point, I tell him I have to go to the bathroom, and he points to the corner of the room and I piss in what I think is the toilet, but it is exctually some kind of a pot that he may have brought back from his travels. I am of course embarassed and I am not sure what happens next but we are standing up and he starts to caress me and I am excited, but I stop him from hoing any further and explain that we could do this later, hoping that we would continue, but after he hires me. He porbably is horny now and if we did sex now, he may not hire me later. The next scene takes place on his ranch where we are riding horses. He is not sure I am capable, but I have had the experience and ask him if the horse has a sensitive mouth in reference to his bit and how sensitive the horse may be. That is the end of this pleasant dream.That is the end of this pleasant dream. DREAM fifty-seven This is my second dream. I am somewhere looking at my home from the outside and this is another home not one of the homes I already own. There is a lot of activity going on in the area, construction and a lot of people around. As I look at my house, I notice a large opening on the side of the house, near the eave on the right. There is a family of birds nesting there and I see the parent bird and its brood, two chicks I think. They are exotic birds, multicolored and bright. I now must find someone to remove the nest and birds and fix this hole. I go inside the house and I notice that there is a workman doing electrical work. There is is loud music blaring in different parts of the house and when I try to turn off the music in the different rooms in the house and I ask the technician to turn the sound off. I notice that certain rooms in the house have puddles of water and I am bewildered by this and I am told that there was a fire in a house next to mine and the fire department doused the flames with hoses and some water came into my home. The next thing I am doing is looking for Joy Towe's phone number so I can call her and get a referral from her for one of her workmen to come to my home and take care of the birds outside and take care of the hole. I believe I then wake up DREAM fifty-eight I dreamt this dream on Aug. 25, 2011 In this dream I am at school, perhaps it is at Mount Vernon and I receive a complaint from Jennifer Burton and Mrs. Genevieve Taylor who attended a piano recital or some kind of concert and they complain about the pianist and I am in charge of the recital ...the complaint is about the pianist who was "abusing the piano" and also in this same dream, I am walking around and I probably go to the cafeteria and get some spaghetti which is a popular dish there and I have a plate of spaghetti and I have my roll and I have my napkin and I am walking around and there is snow on the ground and I slip and drop my plate of spaghetti and I make a fool of myself. That is pretty much the essence of the dream. DREAM fifty-nine This morning, I woke up after a dream and I remembered part of it. I dreamt "blah, blah, blah...see it's recording now. This is probably just testing my iphone "italk recorder" DREAM sixty Today is Sunday, August the 28th, 2011. I am somewhere by the seashore, near a bait shop, and I am with a group of people... maybe it's family? I don't know. What we are doing is gathering fish or maybe crustaceans in the pools of water by the seashore. We have containers, including cups to get the sealife. The object is to take the fish home. At one point, I see a whole lot of different fish, some of them being large fish in the pools, and I catch a large fish and put it in the cup which just barely fits in the cup that I have. Now I have the fish in the cup, but as I am handling the fish, it bites me and draws just a little bit of blood. The fish seems to be almost tame. Now I need to get a bigger container because this fish is to big for the cup. Now AI am going around this little town that I am in and go to different shops and restaurants and what I am looking for are those metal coffee cans, empty discarded ones that I am so familiar with, since I am a big coffee drinker. I remember seeing an empy one at some point. I go in one particular shop and I find one, but it is actually maybe an empty paint can with a handle, as most paint cans are prone to have. It is clean and as I said, has a hancle, and so it will be perfect to put that fish in. As I am looking around, I also see a top for the coffee can. Now I have my empty and clean paint can with a top and am going to what may be the cabin where we are staying and I am going to put the fish in the cup into the paint can with water. The last scene is on the porch of the cabin...and then I wake up from this dream. DREAM Sixty-one I've had another dream on the same day as the dream above, Dream Sixy, I woke up on Sunday, Aug. 28th at about 7:30 AM and had this dream just before waking up. I awoke earlier, went to the bathroom and went back to sleep and dreamt that I am in a restaurant and as I walk in, who should walk out of the restaurant at the same time, but Phil (Dessert) and he is walking out of the restaurant with his friend Jose, and there is a third person with them, but I cannot remember who this third person is - he has slipped my mind - Jose and the third person say "Hello" to me, but Phil is completely oblivious of me, and he doesn't even look my way. He just walks out of the restaurant without greeting me. I proceed into the restaurant and I sit down. I am waiting for the waiter so I can order my food. Then the waiter comes around and hands me the menu. Meanwhile, Phil comes back into the restaurant. He comes and sits next to me and he is wearing the "same old clothes", his burgundy sweater and long pants, etc. I say to him: "Why did you ignore me when you were walking out? You did't even look at me." Then he replies that this is a restaurant and I was shouting at him (which I don't remember doing). "Boy you sure are fussy!", I tell him. As we are sitting there, this Chinese girl who is sitting next to my booth, behind me, and she asks me a very strange question: "Are you brother and sister?" She didn't ask if we were "brothers", but rather "brother and sister". At first, I didn't think I heard her right. And so I reply: "Excuse me". And she asks again: "Are you brother and sister?", pointing to Phil and I. I think to myself that that is strange. Then I ask here: "Well, which one of us do you think is the sister?" (Here I laugh at the question". I don't remember what her reply is. I think the waiter then comes back, and perhaps she didn't have time to answer. Meanwhile, this Chinese man comes over and he is short and there is a cup at the side of the table where I am sitting and he fills the cup with champagne and I ask him if that champagne is for me. Now I have been thinking that this man is the waiter, but he is actually the husband of the Chinese girl that sat in the booth behind me. Or maybe he is the boyfriend. (I'm not sure). Now they both get up and leave...and that's the end of the dream. DREAM Sixty-two This dream occurred on Saturday, Sept. 3rd, 2011. I am living somewhere, but am not sure where, and I have a friend visiting me. I have a beautiful dog, but am not sure of the breed, but he has a big round face and is really a beautiful dog. And I also have small animals in my home that look like...dinosaurs. Yes, you heard me right...DINOSAURS!. When it's feeding time, I give my dog his food and water and the dinosaurs have their own (very strange isn't it?) bowl that's part of their make-up. I put water in the bowls and I use a scoop, or ladle (Here I kind of snicker... heh, heh) and pour the water in the bowls. At one point, my friend is going out and instead of using the regular front door, where the steps are, but I tell him to be very careful because once he opens the door - it's a sliding glass door - I tell him that there are no streps to the outside and there's a drop there. And then my friend makes a joke about...about sleeping with someone is a sin. I don't know what the punchline is, if there is a punchline, but in the dream his comment makes sin, but I don't quite remember the exact words. The double entendre there means that two guys sleeping together is a sin, but...anyway...that's the end of the dream. DREAM Sixty-three Today is Friday, Sept. 10, 2011 and the dream I had is that...oh this is strange, but Abby, from NCIS is flying to my home. I think she is a doctor in this dream and not a forensic scientist likre in the series on TV. She is going to operate on me. I can just picture her in the plane and in the back of the plane, is a boat, er, some kind of a rubber boat, in case she falls into the sea, I guess, so she can get on the raft in case the plane goes down, and meanwhile, (I don't know how this is related), but it's time to eat and I'm looking in the refrigerator, and I'm going through frozen foods and I don't know if I had to do it (prepare a meal?), but there's somebody else in this dream, a younger person, a woman. Maybe it's my mother...I don't know. But I notice that some of these foods...you put them in the oven, you bake them, but you put a paper towel, you wet the towel, and put the towel over the food. I've never heard of doing this before...then I wake up. DREAM Sixty-four Sunday, Sept. 11, 2011 In a school, where everybody is walking in a huge yard, and we're trying to rush to get somewhere, perhaps heading away from danger, and at one point, somebody is right behind me and they are walking quickly and step on my heel, behing me, and as I look back, I see this girl there and I recognize her from somewhere, and for some reason, I never really thought she was a nice girl. She usually gets into trouble (perehaps one of my past students?) She immediately moves over and acts like she hasn't done anything, like she didn't walk on my heels, but I realize then that she did this on purpose. I remember distinctly going up to her and saying: "You know, you may not think much of me, but I think...I'm not quite sure what I said, but "You may not think very much of me, but I'm very important.", something like that. End of dream. DREAM Sixty-five On this same day, Sunday, Sept. 11th, I had a second dream. I am driving somewhere, I'm not sure where, and I'm going down a steep hill and there are cars on each side of me, and I think later on on my drive I end up in San Francisco, and while in the City, as I am driving (something that I rarely ever do, since I prefer to park my car and walk mostly in the City), but in this particular dream, I am driving and I see an old church, to the left as I am going up a steep hill. At this point, I am going up the hill, whereas just before, I was going down the hill. So I decide to stop, turn in the driveway and go visit this church. It happens that, and I don't know if this is a weekend or a weekday, but here are people going in and coming out of the church. They are apparently holding a service. Now I said I was driving in a car, but NOW, as I approach the church, I'm on a bike. I have to put my bike somewhere. I can't just bring it in the church, and on the right side of the church (and this is an old Gothic- looking church) is a man, a funny-looking man, outside and I think he is escorting people in the church, and I approach him and ask: "Where am I going to put my bike?" Then he shows me a spot and I put my bike there, then I go into the church. In the church, oh it's hard to explain, but it's really old and dilapidated, and there are people sitting there and there is a Mass going on, and I don't quite recall what goes on next. But I do recall that before I leave (but I don't stay for the service), I want to pick up one of these bibles that are located in the in the back of the pews, and I almost do it, but I think the old man that helped me to come into the church that helped me to find a spot for my bike, may be watching me, and I don't want to be caught leaving with a bible under my arms, so at this point, I leave the church get my bike and I don't know what happejnss next...I think that's the end of this dream. (NOTE: Something similar happened at the church I attend. At one time, I wanted to take a hymnal and I was trying to find a way to take a new copy which was in front of me in the pew in the church, Saint Andrew's), but I felt so guilty about doing it, that I asked one of the ushers if I could't take the hymnal and he says I can, and so I feel better about doing it honestly.) DREAM Sixty-six Today is Sunday the 25th, 2011 and I dreamt that I am walking along and I come across children playing outside a home. I see an old home, overgrown grass, an old porch, and there are children, aged about 5 to 8 years old, about 4 or 5 of them playing outside. I do not see adults around and I am curious, and so I approach cautiously and ask them what they are doing. I then go inside, always looking for an adult and not find any adults, but I see more children and I realize that this is a sort of school, where is the teacher, or any adult for that matter? I am in what looks like a classroom and I hear some of the children humming and singing. I ask them to sing the song for me and they do so, but half-heartedly. I ask them to concentrate and sing loud so I can hear them clearly. I think they then sing a beautiful song with beautiful words. At this point, I believe the adult comes along. He is the teacher and his actions now come into question...how could he leave this school and all these children on their own. He is liable...I wake up. DREAM Sixty-seven On Saturday, October 8, 2011 This morning, Saturday, Oct. 8th, 2011, I dreamt a very short dream, or at least, I can only remember part of it. I dreamt that our street here is part of a Community Program, like a “ Homeowners Association”, similar to the one that I belong to at Bar D in Colorado, or similarly to Manfred’s Association where he lives in his “Condo/Apartment Complex” in San Francisco. The two men across the street, Randy and John are in charge of the "Homeowners' Association" and we have an altercation at one point and they come to my home regarding an issue (which I cannot remember right now. I get so frustrated that I want to punch the big guy Randy in the face, because I'm so mad at him. We have had a falling out, going back a few years, but the neighbors across the street, Frances and her husband Carl, are also at odds with them, I think, because of the two men's dog being a nuisance to them. Anyway, that is pretty much the main part of the dream. As I try to look back at the dream a few minutes ago, that is all I can remember of the dream. DREAM Sixty-eight (There has been a few days since I last wrote down some of my dreams. The reason is not because I have not dreamt, but rather because I did not take the time to write the dreams down nor to record them. I dream just about every time I go to bed and I am recording my dreams, those that I can remember, just because I think it is a good exercise and because I find it to be very interesting.) I dream that I am living in a big old house with many other occupants and I believe that some of them are also teachers and they also teach at the same school that I teach at and it is in the morning and everybody is scrambling to get ready for work. In this dream, I concentrate on two individuals and I. We are getting ready to go to work and I think we work at the last school that I taught at before I retired, Thomas Starr King Middle School. I am looking for a lunch to make and I find on the table some sandwiches already made, but I must find a bag to put my lunch in. By the way, the sandwiches are kind of "soggy", but I don't have time to make any. I am looking in drawers and cabinets, and then one of my colleagues finds a bag but it is kind of "greasy", but I put my sandwiches in the bag anyway. I say: "We're going to be late...we'd better get going" I remember when I was teaching at Thomas Starr King, the big problem with getting there a little late was that you could not find a parking place because every place on the campus that you could park your car was always occupied. So we set out and I know we will be late, but we have no choice. I think that living in this old house I just mentioned is a new event, because my schedule is not what it usually is, that is, getting up at a certain time, bathing, having breakfast, etc. As I am driving to school, I take the same route that I had taken for almost 4 years to King MS, on the 2, then off at Fletcher, but in this dream I am driving what seems to be a bus, a multicolored bus, and I am high up in the driver's seat so that I cannot see the road clearly, and as I exit the freeway onto the Fletcher ramp, as I turn left, I am straddling the two lanes and there is a car to my left and one to my right and I barely avoid hitting one of the cars. At this point, I notice that the CAR ON M Y RIGHT IS A COP CAR! The last thing I remember saying in my dream is: "uh ho...I'm going to get a ticket..." End of dream. DREAM sixty-nine Today is Sept. 14th, and it is Wednesday. I dream that I am in a shelter, sort of a shelter, I believe, and I am staying on the 2nd or 3rd floor, or maybe it's the 4th floor in the building. I am in bed and a dog comes in, sort of like a pug, or maybe it's a little bulldog. And the manager of this place, which is like a dormitory where people come and sleep. Well, there is a dog there and I call him and he comes over to my bed and I start petting him, but after a while, I want him to go away because he is bothering me. Now the owner is a friend of mine, well kind of a friend, in a way - I want to say it's Bruce Zisterer, my tax shelter man...it's someone of that caliber. He's a friend, yet not a friend, maybe just an acquaintance, and I don't think we get along that well, and when I see him I ask him: "Can you take that dog away?". And then he responds: "Oh no...you wanted him over; now you keep him. He is your responsibility." Next, we get into a "tish" or an argument. I don't know what happens after that. DREAM Seventy Today is Thursday, September the 15th, 2011 and I have quite a few appointments to go to today: doctors' appointments. Last night I dreamt and I am dreaming that I am going to town and I have a carload of students and there is a woman that I think may be the principal of the school. Now we're driving along, and I don't know how this happens, but I have my motorcycle with me, but I'm still driving in a car, and I don't know if we are towing the motorcycle, and the next thing is that she is trying to get on the motorcycle to start it, but she is actually on the street trying to push the motorcycle (only in a dream can this happen! ( in order to get the motorcycle going and now she's on it and (My God!) the motorcycle takes off and everybody's worried. "What the heck is going to happen to this woman. She looks like she's going to fly off the motorcycle. Now my intention is to park the car and go to the library with the kids. I think she is very impressed with me, taking the kids to the library and all. She thinks I am doing a good think by taking the kids to the library and exposing them to some research and all. The next scene in my dream is when I am trying to find her and it reminds me of a scene when I was in Barcelona, Spain, walking down these bizzare little narrow streets with shops on each side and also small hotels, so I am looking for her and I get to this place where I think it is a garage or a house and everything is white and I can see her at the end and I don't know if she is still riding the motorcycle or just pushing it still. That motorcycle is a heavey mother too! And then this woman comes out and the place seems to be only for women only, maybe a restroom (?). Now I can't go in there, but meanwhile I go next door because I need to go to the bathroom. The building is a very strange structure. I think it is a bathroom, but when you go to the urinals, everything is plastic and you have to put your...er... pee pee (hehehe) in a hole and pee through it, and pee in this container-like structure, but it's all made of plastic...that's pretty much all I remember of the dream. I probably had to get up and pee at this stage of the dream. DREAM Seventy-one Today is Thursday, November 2, 2011. I had this dream last night: I am in somebody's home and I don't know if there any kids in the house, just adults, I think. I dictated this dream on my iphone, in an app called "Dragon Dictation". It is quite an application. You dictate and the application translates your words into text. It is not that accurate. You have to be very precise in your dictation. This dream is being typed from this dictation, and so it is not very accurate. Besides the part of the dream above, from what I can make out from the dictation is that...the adults in the house have all sorts of toys and one of these is a sushi machine which somehow has to do with a rocket ship and it has "shoots out you know the various missiles" (which statement does not make much sense, but I am reading from the dictated material.) End of dream DREAM Seventy-two This dream is not in sequence with the preceding dream, but I am nevertheless including it here and may change it later. Dream on Oct. 5, 2011 In this dream that I had last night, I am going into a theater and I'm walking in and I walk in looking for two leather jackets that was left behind. Perhaps somebody else was with me when the leather jackets were left behind, hence two leather jackets. As I walk into the theater, there is no activity going on, no film nor show. It seems to be a pause in entertainment. I see two cowboys sitting there, two very nice-looking guys. I think they are watching me. I see them sitting on the right side, but I make my way to the left side because that's where the jackets were left. I think I make a mistake when I go to that side because there are two guys sitting there and they don't look at all friendly. One of them says: "What do you want?". I say to them that I am looking for leather jackets, and I do this apologetically. At this stage of the dream, I remember that they start giving me trouble and so I start to leave and they get up and start following me. I try to get out of there as fast as I can. I don't know exactly what they want, but they eventually catch up to me. I'm not sure where, either in the lobby, or at the entrance to it, and it looks pretty bad because they may beat me up. Before anything else happens, I wake up. DREAM Seventy-three October 5th 2011 This is a rather long dream. I went to bed at midnight and dreamt. I had the most bizarre dream. I try to eat well at night before bedtime and the night before the dream, I had a salad and crackers which was very good to do, but as usual, I ate something else, a ham sandwich with tomatoes and cheese. That's after eating the salad. I also nibbled on trail mix. That's is the problem I have at night, my intention is to eat early, have a good meal, then go to bed at a decent time, but I always end up by eating too late and too much. The reason I am writing this all down is to explain this bizarre dream I had. I'm going into the country, in this dream, and I don't know if I'm alone or with someone else. Actually when I think back now, I think my sister Doris is with me in this dream. She wants something...but in the drive to the country, we are going to visit Jackie who is Paul, my older brother's daughter, adopted daughter from his marriage with Joanne. Jackie is an interesting person. When I went home for my brother Paul's 70th birthday celebration, I got to know her a bit better. I think we have all "snubbed" her at one time because she is "promiscuous"...I don't know, but that is because we are a bit "prudish" in the Laliberte family. I guess we think that way because she's had several boyfriends and kids from a few guys. Anyway, in this dream I am going to visit her with Doris. Jackie lives on an estate in this dream. It is an incredible chateau set amongst hills, and as you go into the chateau, it is filled with halls and full of people. This dream probably has elements from a program that I had just seen before going to bed, a documentary on cathedrals of the world. In the program, they show how these cathedrals were built, each successive one, rising higher and higher into the skies. The documentary shows how some of these cathedrals were sometimes built unsafe and even in some instances, the cathedral roofs would collapse. Well this is probably the reason that the estate she lives on is so elaborate. Maybe I transferred this particular stucture from the documentary to the dream. Now getting back to my sister and something that she wants. Whatever it is, I refuse to give it to her. It's like a "hairbrush" that she wants, but the hairbrush has been used so much that it's starting to lose many of its bristles. As I use the brush, it's falling apart and I try to put the pieces back together and as I give it to her, I set it on a table as I enter a banquet hall, in this huge mansion. Now in one scene, I see people sitting down and I am looking for a place to sit, but as I'm walking toward the food, I see Jackie coming out of the kitchen holding a huge pot of rice and she is about to put the rice in what looks like a cauldron filled with a mixture of hamburger and seasoning, with its own juice, but as she is lifting the pot of rice to put it into the other pot, she drops it into the other pot. As the contents fall into the hamburger and seasoning juice pot, some of the contents spill and fly out and somebody close to the pot gets burnt. I want to say the person who gets burned is Bridget, Jackie's younger sister. Bridget is wearing a beautiful outfit and the juice splashes all over her and burns her and now she's waving her finger at her sister, in a very punitive manner because she blames her sister for burning her and soiling her dress. A very strange dream this was. I can remember walking outside the mansion and I see another structure which looks "Gothic" pretty much like the Gothic Cathedrals that I saw in the documentary before the dream. This other structure is a grand old "Gothic structure" and I ask somebody nearby: "Who lives there?". He responds that she (Jackie) is trying to rent it. He says "the family" and so I imagine he means Jackie and her boyfriend or maybe her husband? He tells me it is a building owned by a "contesa" maybe, I don't know, but they're trying to sell it or rent it. That's pretty much all I remember about the dream. When I wake up, I have an episode of "GRD" which I have had for a while and so, I get up to take a pill. DREAM Seventy-four Sunday Aug. 28, 2011 Last night I dreamt that I am somewhere by the ocean, in a bait shop and I am with a group of people...I don't know who, maybe it's family. What this group and I are doing is getting containers and we are going to the pools along the rocks near the ocean to gather fish. We want to scoop up with our cup water and fish and put them in the containers. We want to collect the fish and take them home. At one point, I see a whole lot of different fish in a pool and I see one and I scoop it up in the cup and he just barely fits in the cup. At one point, I handle the fish and it bites me and it draws just a little bit of blood. It seems almost...how shall I put it...almost tame. Now I need to get another container because this fish is just too big for this container. I look for a container and walk around this little town that I'm at. I am going around shops and restaurants and what I am looking for are empty coffee cans, discarded coffee cans, and I remember seeing one at one point, so I go there and I find one. Actually it may be a paint can because it's got a handle and it's clean. I figure it will be perfect and as I am looking around, I also see a top to it. So now I have a clean paint can with a handle and a top. Now I head back to what looks like a cabin where we are staying at. I'm at the cabin on the porch and I am now going to put the fish that I have in the cup into the can....that's pretty much all I remember from this dream. DREAM Seventy-five August 28, 2011 I woke up this morning and went to the bathroom and returned to bed and had another dream. At about 8:00 AM. In this dream I am at a restaurant and as I walk into the restaurant, who should walk out at the same time...? Phil. He's with Jose and there is a third person with him. I look at them and greet them, but Phil completely ignores me. He doesn't even look my way. I go in and sit down ready to order. Then the waiter comes along and gives me the menu. Meanwhile, Phil comes back in and he sits right next to me. He is wearing the"same old clothes", his burgundy sweater and long pants and so on. I ask him: "Why did you ignore me?" He says something about this being a restaurant and you were shouting. Well I don't remember doing that, but I tell him basically that "that's just me". Meanwhile, there is a Chinese girl that has come to sit right next to me. She is real close to me and she asks (this is very strange): "Are you two brother and sister?". At first I didn't think I had heard her right. I say: "Excuse me?" and she repeats the question: "Are you brother and sister?" as she points to Phil and I. At this point (I laugh a little here...hee hee) I ask her: "Well who do you think is the sister?" I'm not sure what happens after that. I don't know... maybe the waiter comes back. She doesn't have time to answer. Next this short Chinese man comes over and I think he's the waiter. He fills a cup with champagne. I ask him if that champagne is for me, thinking he's the waiter, but he's actually the husband or the boyfriend of the Chinese girl. Then they both get up and leave. And...that's the end of this dream. DREAM Seventy-six (An eight-minute dream) Oct. 5, 2011) Today is Oct. 5th and it is about midnight. I went to bed at about ll:45 PM and I had the most bizarre dream. That evening I had a salad around 7:30 which is a good thing to do: eat healthy and not too late. HOWEVER, as usual, I ate just again just before going to bed. I do this all the time. I eat a good meal, then I eat again and again just before going to bed. This is a habit I must stop. Anyway, I had a ham sandwich with cheese and tomato which was after the salad. I also had some trail mix in between the salad and sandwich. I just eat too much. The reason I am sharing my "eating habits" now is to explain perhaps the reason I had such a bizarre dream. I am visiting a country, I'm not sure where, but my sister Doris is with me. There is something that I have that she wants. I'm not sure what it is. I think it is when we were younger. In this country, we are going to visit Jackie, Paul's (my older brother) elder adopted daughter from his previous marriage (2nd marriage) to Joanne. Jackie is an interesting person, someone that we have not always had much respect for because she is not stable, been married a few times, no husband, several children from different men, etc. Her lifestyle has always been so "foreign" to our way of thinking (the Lalibertes). But she is a good soul. In this particular dream I am going to visit her. She is living on an estate, in an incredibly huge "chateau". As you go into the building, it has huge rooms, with halls and many bedrooms and high ceilings throughout. There are also many people there. This dream may have been, in part, part of a result of a program that I saw just before going to bed. It was a documentary on the great cathedrals of Europe. Some of these cathedrals were Gothic structures and the building in the dream that we were visiting, I believe, was a huge Gothic structure also. The documentary was very interesting. It explained how these cathedrals were built higher and higher, with much competition amongst the religious orders in different towns throughout Europe, like France for example. Often, in their zeal to build higher and higher structures, the architects and contractors built unsafe structures which sometimes ended in disaster and even collapse. Perhaps this is why this part of the dream includes this incredibly large chateau. And so, I am there and as mentioned earlier, there is something going on with my sister who is also there with me. There is something that she wants and I refuse to give it to her. I think it's a hairbrush. The hairbrush has been used so much that it is falling apart with some of its bristles missing or coming out of the brush. I try to put these "patches" of bristles back together, then I give her the brush and set it on the table. People are seated at the table and I am also looking for a place to sit and also look for the food to see what will be served. At this point Jackie comes out of the kitchen carrying a huge pot of rice. She is about to put the rice from this pot into a huge cauldron which has a mixture of hamburger, seasonings, and juice. But as Jackie is about to pour the rice into the cauldron, she drops the heavy pot into the cauldron and some of the contents, especially the juices splash out of the container. There is someone near enough to get soiled and burned. I think that person is Bridget, Jackie's younger sister. Bridget is wearing a beautiful dress and some of the mixture splashes all over her dress. She now is waving her finger at her sister in a very punitive manner. This was a very strange dream. Let's see....what else can I remember about this dream? Well I'm walking around and now I'm outside the building and off to the right, I see another building. It also looks like a Gothic structure, probably again influenced by the documentary I saw before going to bed. It is a grand building and I ask someone: "Who lives there?". I am told by this man that the family is trying to rent it. The "family" that is trying to rent the building is actually Jackie. The building is owned by...I don't know, I think it is a Contessa. This lady is trying to sell the building or rent it. This is pretty much my dream. When I wake up, I have a slight problem with my GRD, which is not bad. It occurs sometimes. I realize that I did not take the Pantropazole, medicine which is a pill that controls the influx of gastic juice into the esophagus. And so I take the pill and that is it for this dream. DREAM Seventy-seven Sept. 11, 2011 I am visiting somewhere, but not sure where, but I am driving somewhere in a school where everybody is walking like in a big huge yard and everybody is rushing to get to somewhere. Maybe people are seeking to get away from danger. At one point, someone is walking directly behind me and they walk on the back of my foot and as I look back, I see this girl there, somebody I recognize from my past, someone that I didn't think was very nice. She immediately moves over and acts like she didn't do anything wrong. Then I realize that she has done this on purpose and I remember going up to her and saying: "You know, you may not think much of me" and I don't remember exactly what else I said to her, but "I think I'm very important" which I said, something like that. And that's all I remember about this dream. DREAM Seventy-eight Sept. 11, 2011 I am visiting somewhere in this dream, but I don't quite remember where. Now I am going down a steep hill and there are cars on each side of me...later on in the dream, I am in San Francisco and as I am driving, which is something I usually never do in SF. I usually just park my car somewhere and walk preferably, but in this particular dream, I am driving and I see an old church. It is to the left of me as I go up the hill. Earlier, I was going up the hill, now I am going downhill. I decide to drive into the driveway and go visit the church. It happens that many people are going in and out of the church. I don't know if this is on a weekday or weekend. I think they are holding a service in the church that day. I said I was driving, but now as I approach the church, I am now on a bike. I have to put my bike somewhere...I can't very well bring it in the church. On the right side of the church, and this is an old Gothic-looking church, is a man, a funny-looking man, outside and I guess he may be an usher, escorting people into the church. I approach him and ask him: "Where can I put my bike?" He shows me a spot next to where he is standing where I can park my bike. And so I put my bike in that spot. I enter the church and inside (it's hard to describe...it's really old) it's dilapidated but there are people sitting there and there is a Mass in progress, but I don't quite recall what goes on next. But I do recall that before I leave, and I haven't intended to stay for the service, I want to pick up one of these bibles that are in each pew. I almost do it, but I think the old man outside may be watching me and I don't want to be caught furtively taking a bible out of the church. Anyway, I go out, get my bike, and I think I leave. I'm not sure because the dream seems to end there. (This reminds me of an incident that occurred lately where I wanted to take a hymnal out of my church, Saint Andrew's, but could never bring myself to do it, and so I asked the usher if I could and he said: "OK".) DREAM Seventy-nine August 9, 2011 I had a dream where Abby, from NCIS is flying to my location because she is going to operate on me. In this dream, she is on a plane and in the back of the plane is a boat, a rubber boat, which is there in case the plane goes down and she falls into the sea, then she can get on the raft. Meanwhile (I don’t know how this is related) it’s time to eat, and I’m looking (yawn, yawn) through the refrigerator and going through frozen foods and I don’t know if I have to prepare my meal, or somebody else. There is somebody else in this dream, a younger person, a woman, maybe my mother (I don't know). But I notice that some of these foods have to be put in the oven, bake them, but you have to put a paper towel over them, a wet paper towel. I've never heard of that before. That’s pretty much all I remember from this dream. DREAM Eighty Sept 3, 2011 In this dream on Saturday, Sept. 3rd, I am dreaming that I am living somewhere, I’m not sure where, but I have a friend visiting. I have a beautiful dog, but I’m not sure what breed he is. He has a beautiful round face, a very beautiful dog, And…I have small animals that look like…DINOSAURS! Yes you heard me right. When it’s feeding time, I give my dog water and food, but the dinosaurs have their own bowls which is part of their make-up. I try to put water in the bowls and I use a scoop, like a ladle, and I take the water and put it in the bowls. At one point in the dream, my friend is going out and instead of using the front door which leads out to steps, he goes out the side door and I have to tell him to be very careful because when he goes out the side door, which is a sliding glass door, he has to be careful, because there is a drop outside, no steps. Then he makes a comment to the effect that: “Sleeping with someone is a sin”. I don’t know what the retort to this is, but the meaning seems to be that two guys sleeping together is a sin…I don't know what the outcome is because I wake up. DREAM Eighty-one This dream takes place on Oct. 12, 2011. I had some really strange dreams today. In one dream I am living with a whole group of people in a home. I think most of us are teachers. In one point in this dream, I am heading off to school. The day is quite chaotic. There are people all over, food on the tables, that we are trying to get together for our lunches. We need to make our lunches for school. I’ve managed to make our sandwiches and now I am looking around for some bags to put our lunches in. I’m looking everywhere in cupboards, drawers, on top of counters, etc. Then somebody shows me a bag, but it looks kind of greasy. Anyway, I manage to get all the lunches done and now I’m rushing off to school. And now, (cough cough), I’m on the way to school, with two colleagues with me. But I am sitting way up high in a bus and I recognize the area. I’m heading for Thomas Starr King, my last Middle School that I retired from. As I get off the freeway, I’m on this bus way up there. Apparently, I must be driving because I am in a narrow street and I have to watch my driving, because there is a car on my left, then on my right. I can’t see the road very well. I notice that the car on my right happens to be…A COP! At this point I say: “Well here we go now…I’m sure he’s going to pull me over and give me a ticket. I don’t know what happens after that. I wake up. I dreamt other dreams, but I'm not sure what they were. I was going to play tennis this morning, but I stayed in bed until 8:00 AM, a beautiful day. It would have been great for tennis, but I decided not to play today. DREAM Eighty-two Monday, Oct. 17, at 7:26 AM In this dream, I am staying at a hotel and I’m traveling and I am going through the hotel, going up the floor looking for this person. I go up to the 7th floor and I am walking around and looking for someone in rooms, looking for this particular person, but I am not having any luck finding this person. This is a fancy hotel. I go to the soda machine, a coke machine, and I put in my money, a quarter, so this must have been a long time ago when soda was so cheap. Out comes this can which is misshapen, in the shape of a triangle, not a circular can, and the can is almost empty. There’s not much soda in it. There’s something definitively wrong with it. So I go to the front desk to ask for my money back. Meanwhile there’s this scene of many nuns around, but they look like they are “gay”, like the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a group that started off in SF, and they are all dressed in white and they have heavy makeup and they are all “milling” around, maybe near the coke machine, and I don’t know if this is in the same dream. Now I see an old woman, like an old “hag” dressed in a print dress, with high heels and a floppy hat. I think she is being interrogated by someone in the hotel. Then along comes another woman almost dressed like her, like a twin, and both of them look very strange. That’s pretty much all I remember of the dream…besides, I have to go to the bathroom. DREAM Eighty-three (2nd dream on Mon. Oct. 17th, 2011) I’ll be leaving on the 19th to go to SF. The reason I mention this is because I believe that dreams occur for reasons that are somehow related to “waking incidents”. Anyway (cough, cough), I think this dream is part of the same dream or dreams that I have had this Monday. I am traveling with a friend, I think an ex-lover. For some reason, I want to say Joe Borrero. But in this dream, he seems to be a much bigger handsome man. We are going all over…and I think he’s driving. At one point, he almost hits people in a crosswalk which is very well marked. He’s driving erratically, and that’s when he is driving. But later on we are now walking and as we are walking, he tells me that he wants to stop off in SF which is really not part of our plans for this trip and it entails more expense. I am hesitating about this side trip and he looks very upset. As we’re walking, I want to hear more about this trip. Now we stop off at a furniture store and part of the store is “open air” and perhaps it’s a flea market; I don’t know. But there are plenty of chairs to sit down on and we sit down on two comfortable chairs. Again, I want to know why it’s so important that we stop off in SF. I think we have bought tickets to go overseas and have plans to travel to different places. We are supposed to fly and land at a particular place, perhaps Los Angeles? But he wants to stop off in SF and I suspect, (and I know he’s going to get angry…he had a terrible temper) that he will be very upset if I don’ t go along with this change of plans. But he insists that it is very important to return to SF. I suspect that this has something to do with when he was with his ex. I’m sure he has had quite a few exes. I know when we broke up he had several people he was seeing, and so I don’t know exactly what the story is here. And that’s all I remember about this dream. DREAM Eighty-four Saturday, Oct. 29, 2011 I’m dreaming that we are gathering at a location where we are going to go on a long hiking trip. I am with someone, a tall man, but I’m not sure who he is. As we get to what seems to be a border, the border guards direct people down certain paths. When we both get there, this friend and I, are directed to the path that leads to China. We are both surprised at this, but we are both happy that we get to go to China. This is a short dream and that’s all I remember of this dream. DREAM Eighty-five Nov. 7, 2011 at 7:30 AM I’ve had a few dreams this evening. In one dream, I am in a store, shopping around, and I pick up a pack of cigarettes, which is unusual because usually these are behind the counter, but I pick up a pack of cigarettes, and I put them in my pocket and I just walk out of the store, which is very strange, because I never do that…I usually pay for them. Then in this same dream, I am staying somewhere, in a hotel, or a boarding house, and as I enter my room, I notice that there are two people already in the room. (hold on a minute, I’ve got to check something here. I’m looking for something here. I think I’m looking for the mike). So, I’m not very happy about where I’m at, because where I’m at there are two other people staying in the same room. Although there are three beds, it doesn’t look like it’s going to be very comfortable. I now look for the owner and when I find her, I ask: “Are there any other rooms?” and she brings me to another room and I tell her that I think this accommodation might be better. Then she proceeds to start spraying the pillows and the bedding and with a sponge, she starts wiping down part of the bedding. I ask her what that is and she says: “Oh, they’re bugs…bedbugs. We have to get rid of them.” After this, I ask her if she has another room. Now she shows me another room. This is a nice long room, with a bathroom, shower, and I think even a little kitchen. In the back is the bed. This room seems much better than the three rooms I’ve seen so far. This sounds like “Goldilocks” trying to find the most comfortable room, or in her case it was the most comfortable bed, but I am trying to find the most comfortable room. I think that’s pretty much it for this dream. Bits of Dreams There are many dreams that I have had where I remember just bits and pieces, but, according to the book I am reading, “Dream Sight”, by Michael Lennox, dreams are part of a phenomenon, or a process called: “Collective Unconscious” where there are certain universal characters and occurrences which are universal. For example, some of the dreams, I realize, are related to incidents in my waking life. One such dream had to do with a friend of mine, actually a Club member (PCMC, Pacific Coast Men’s Club) where I had offered my home for him to stay in because he had to move out of his apartment and didn’t have anywhere to go. Unfortunately he doesn’t have a car and so his staying here would have been difficult since he is going to school in the San Fernando Valley and Pasadena is not easily accessible to his college and everyday activities. He would have had to take public transportation and that would have been a hardship for him. I speak here in the past tense, because he was fortunate enough to find someone else to put him up nearer to where he lives. But in a dream, he was staying here and he used my motorcycle to get around. But in my dream, I had to make sure he had a license to ride a motorcycle and in one part of the dream, he actually rode the bike and did OK. In another dream, just recently, I dreamt that I was living in a home and I would put up some kind of a sign on one of my windows to signal for some one to come into my room when I was ready because the person and I would have sex. Every night, I have dreams but I don’t always feel like recording them or getting up to write them down. The phenomenon of dreams can sometimes be explained by events that have just occurred in “my waking life” and therefore are not such a mystery. Dream Eighty-six Today is Thursday, Nov. 10, 2011 I had a very bad evening...I did not sleep very well and had to get up a few times and eventually got back to sleep. All in all, I did not have a good night's rest. I did have a dream, a rather sad dream. I am traveling with my siblings, Paul, Doris and Richard. I'm not sure where we are in the dream, but before the dream, I was thinking of them. Unfortunately, I have not kept much in touch with my brothers and sister, especially with Richard because of something that happened with him and his "shrew" of a wife, Helena. I don't want to talk to them anymore. I will discuss the situation, the occurrence, at a later date. The last time I went home to Maine and stayed with Doris, I was not very happy. I am always uncomfortable in her home because she sticks me in a little room with hardly any room to move because it's really a storage room for her. I am not looking to going back home to Maine again, probably never. I don't talk to Doris much on the phone anymore. I guess I just want to be pretty much on my own. Things have changed quite a bit between them and I. I've never communicated much with Paul and I just don't seem to "give a damn" anymore. I've been thinking of them in my "waking state", so maybe this is why I had this dream about them. In our travels, it seems like Paul and Richard are "conspiring" to do something. We're all traveling together and visiting places, but the two of them want to take off together and go somewhere else, but there not including me, nor Doris, I think. As the dream progresses, I try to find out where they are going. There are other elements in the dream, but I can't think of them right now. End of dream. An Incident with Richard and Helena About three years ago, Richard informed me that he and Helena were planning a trip to California, way up north for a short time where they would stay in a cabin, part of their Time Share. I just assumed and took it upon myself to drive up there and spend a few days with them. The drive up took about 9 hours. I made sure not to be too "intrusive" and decided to come up and meet them the day after they got there to give them time to relax, find their accommodations, etc. I asked him how long I should stay and he kind of left it up to me and so I thought maybe 2 or three days would be enough. I had planned to take them out to a nice dinner. Well, as I said the trip lasted a good 9 hours, but finally made it up there and met them, almost accidentally, in a little town near Bodega Bay. I settled in with them in their cottage and later on that evening, we went out to a nice restaurant and I treated them to dinner. I should mention at this point, that Helena was her usual self, glum and not too friendly. Anyway, the next day, we went sightseeing. It is a beautiful area up there and we saw some beautiful sights especially near the coast. We are visiting and at this point, we haven't had lunch and it is about noon, so I mention have a bite to eat. Richard agrees with me, and as we are visiting these little coastal villages, we are (me especially) looking for a sandwich place maybe where we can get something to eat. Now I don't think there is anything wrong with this. At this point, it is past 1:15 PM and I am getting hungry. As I am coming out of a small restaurant, I notice they are fighting, or at least, she seems very upset. Right there in the main street of this little town, she eventually (Helena) comes down on me and starts shouting: "You know, Richard and I planned this trip and you come along and spoil it...words to that effect." She continued and basically was telling me that I interrupted their trip. Richard kept on saying, loudly: "Helena, what are you talking about? Why are you like this? We've been doing what you wanted to do." I'll say this now and I believe this from the bottom of my heart: I made a fool of myself, but what's worse, they, or at least she, MADE A FOOL OF ME! At this point, I wanted to just about cry and certainly leave. She pouted for the rest of the day and we hardly, all three of us, said anything to each other. I left very early the next day. I could hardly wait to get away from them. Oh yes, Richard is my brother, but as long as he's married to her, I want nothing to do with either of them. I am still very hurt from all this and I believe this is over two years now and I have not spoken to either of them since. Dream Eighty-seven Tuesday Nov. 15, 2011 Today I have an appointment with Dr. Kanhlou, a very important appointment and I don't want to miss that. He is such a nice man. Before I went to bed last night, I took a sleeping pill, which is not really a sleeping pill, and I believe I have taken "sleeping pills" maybe 3 times in my life. I don't want to get addicted to those tablets. I guess I haven't been sleeping too well, and so I decided to take this sleeping pill. In this dream, I am traveling and...well in one part of the dream I am driving along and I puff on a little pipe, maybe a cigarette, or grass...I'm not sure, but all of a sudden, I am so high! Now I'm not driving, but I am going to a home and as I get into the house, I can hardly walk. As I enter the home, it looks like it's a convalescent home. There are people all around, but it is dark inside and there are plants all around. Now there are chairs here and there, and somehow, I stumble over to a chair and I sit down. Now there is someone in charge here, but he does not bother me, although I think he knows I'm a little stoned. It does seem like I'm really high on something and I can hardly move. Now I sit down and just relax. In another part of the dream, I am traveling with someone...Doris I think. There is somebody else with us. I'm not sure who, but it may be Angela. We end up going somewhere, and it seems to be the same home, the convalescent home and now the workers are feeding everyone, but we brought a big sandwich with us and maybe some chips? While they are feeding everybody, they take our sandwich and meanwhile we are sitting down conversing with people. They take the sandwich, cut it up in pieces, then start serving people. They serve Doris and Angela (if it is her...I'm not sure), but they don't give me any of the sandwich. Meanwhile, everybody else is being fed. Everybody is eating away, but nothing is brought to my part of the table. I'm getting hungry and I ask someone: "Where is my part of the sandwich?" Well, somehow they have given it to someone else and I'm still sitting there with nothing to eat. Finally, the worker starts bringing other dishes which is what they are serving everybody else. These people are characters. Again, I think we are in a convalescent home and the inmates have just finished singing a song, while beating on their instruments like drums and playing their guitars. I wish I could describe some of these "characters". In one particular scene, this man is playing away on his guitar and he's got a buddy sitting next to him, and he's also playing a guitar, then they start singing a duo and he puts his arms around him, in a "buddy manner", and as I look around the room, there are all sorts of men and women who are staying in this home. Finally they bring me some food and it is pretty much what the others are eating...I don't know... vegetables and other dishes. I finally get to eat. Dream Eighty-eight Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2001 I went to bed around 10:30PM and by about 11:00 PM, I was sleeping soundly and dreamt and woke up around 1:30. I went to the bathroom, had a cigarette, and am now dictating the dream that I had. It is still very clear in my mind and that is why I am dictating the dream into my iphone via an application called: "Italk". I am in a house, with stairs, a big house. The house is John's house (my ex, John Lewis) and his lover is away. John is wearing a very nice pair of pants and a nice shirt. He is kind of dressed up because he's having company over. I'm there and I still have feelings towards him. But his lover is away and I kind of picture him as a hunky man, a nice-looking man, but he's away in this dream. At one point, John mentions that his "husband's" away and I miss him"...or something like that. So many things are happening in this dream. Doris is there and maybe --- even my parents? I don't know for sure. She's dressing up like a teenage, like they use to in the 70's, and she's wearing a short skirt and she looks like she's only in her thirties or even younger. At one point, I bitchily say: "Act your age". I don't know if she hears my comment, but I can just picture her wearing a short skirt and she has her hair combed like she had when she was in the Peace Corps. I think she's going out for a date and I go upstairs where I have a bed and it's a large room, where people are watching TV, going in and out of the room. John is around, but I'm not sure now if this was Joe Borrero. I think it's John. Now guests start arriving and I think they are coming for a dinner or party. One of the first to arrive are a large family. I think it's Aunt Priscilla. I hug the kids, like Elene, but she's a grown woman and she is there with her brothers and sisters and all their kids. Also, Aunt Connie is there with her kids. Pauline is there and the other daughter (whose name escapes me) and I hug them also. When I go to hug Pauline, she kind of turns her back to me. (Claire is the other daughter's name.) She says she has a cold. There are all these people there. Now I see this man there and I say: "Mom, how are you?" This is strange because Mom is not there, but this man is there and he looks like her. I continue to go around the room hugging people. A neighbor from next door comes around and he seems upset because of all the noise going on. I'm not sure who this person is, but one of the guests visiting is Paul Laflamme. He used to be one of my classmates when I was studying to be a priest in Bucksport, Maine. I believe he died a few years back. I've never really gotten in touch with the whole group, although one of the seminarians, Maurice Loiselle, whom they called "Stretch" has tried to organize the group via email, but my pride does not allow me to be a part of this effort. At one point, I went home and we had planned to meet Maurice Loiselle, with Doris coming along, but had to change the day to the following day, and we got excuses to the effect that they couldn't see us. They were too busy. Well, I looked at this this way: "I've come all the way here and you can't make an effort. Well, buddy, you have just missed an opportunity...TO SEE ME AGAIN! See ya." Well I have digressed here...back to the dream. The reason I have gone back to my seminary days, is because one of the seminarians, Paul Laflamme was there. I see him very clearly in this dream. Now getting back to the dream, I see all the relatives, aunts, daughter, sons and their kids. They are such a big group, that they come...(heh, heh) in a Uhaul. There is a Uhaul parked in the drive and I see kids on the roof and all around the vehicle. I see someone getting ready and that person is wrapping gifts at a table. This must be around Christmas time. I think this is all I remember of the dream. (this recorder I am using is a neat application on my iphone. I have just paused the recording). I am now going to take two pills I bought just recently called "Somnapure" which I picked up at CVS. I hope this helps me to get back to sleep. I want to play tennis tomorrow. It seems like I can't sleep straight through anymore. I am always getting up to go to the bathroom and getting back to sleep. The other day I took a sleeping pill called: "Donapazole" which is a heavy duty sleeping pill. I don't want to start getting hooked on these. Another thing I remember about this dream is that I go out on my own, walk around the house, out, up the hill and I don't know why I go out...to smoke? Probably. I have been smoking a lot lately. When I come back, for some reason, I don't have my shirt, my Tshirt. John comes into the room and I'm a little embarrassed, because I don't want him to see me without a shirt. As I said, I still have feelings about him. Things are not the same as they were, of course, but I just don't want to walk around in his presence without my shirt. So I'm looking for my Tshirt and I see what I think is a Tshirt on the table, and as I go to pick it up to put it on, I realize that it is not a Tshirt, but rather a cloth which is the same color as my Tshirt, gray, I think. Some people think one doesn't dream in color, but I think we do... DREAM Eighty-nine I've just put in the date and time for my last dream. Thurs. Dec. 8, 2011 In this dream I see thousands of people at a gathering and I see Ed and I go over and sit down next to him. Meanwhile, people are filing by, just going by, back and forth, I said "thousands of people" which is an exaggeration because there are actually hundreds of people. I see Ed talking to someone. Then he is walking along with people and I watch him and he seems to go out of sight because I can't see him anymore. I get up and I want to join him because I'm feeling lonely (yawn yawn here). And so, we walk and I walk and I see him in the distance, in the far distance. I see him disappearing in the distance. There are people walking all around and they are walking up and down hills and in the distance, I see lions. The lions are roaming around and I assume they must be in an enclosure. Then all of a sudden, I see the lions starting to chase people. In the distance I see the lions chasing people. Now there is panic with people running around, trying to run away from the lions. In the next instance, I have to get out of the way myself because I can see a few lions heading my way. To the right of me is a hill, an elevated area and all along the sides of this hill are ruins, small buildings and rooms in ruins. As I'm climbing this hill, I look back and see people scrambling for their lives with the lions chasing them. Instead of going back the way I came, I decide to start climbing the hill. I don't know if that is such a good idea because here I am alone, looking, stumbling, trying to climb up this hill. The hill is sandy and full of loose stones, and so I climb and stumble now and then. Everywhere are ruins, filled with chambers, rooms, buildings, some with no roofs, no doors, nor walls. I look back and I see some of these lions, especially one male, coming up the hill. At this point, I have to find a place to hide where it's safe. Now as I look up, I can see a structure, a room, and out of the room comes a lion. So there are also lions up on this hill. At this stage, I think I am about to find refuge in a room and I don't know what good that would do, except for the moment it would provide safety, but I would have to come out eventually. Now I wake up. This was kind of a scary dream. I usually dream pleasant dreams, but not this scary. DREAM Ninety Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2011 In this dream, I am renting a room in a house, not sure where the town nor where the country is. It's a "second class" room with a rickity bed. I rent the room. I have forgotten a lot about this dream, but I remember when I came back to deposit the keys. As I open the door to the house, there on the floor, where there is like a "landing" before you go up to the stairs, there are two women, laying down. One looks like she's getting ready for a burial, with a wrinkled face, and the other woman next to her is a younger woman. Now this I think is a mother and daughter who are on the floor....EXERCISING! They are exercising their limbs I guess. The whole scene is rather funny. There are some other parts of the dream I don't remember. I guess I should record them at the time, but I wake so often that I want to go back to sleep, otherwise, I lose too much sleep. When I get up to go to the bathroom, I should write the dream or record it then, but as I just said, I then want to go right back to sleep. I have not always kept up with my dreams, that is writing them down, for quite a while, but have started again. For every dream I have written down here, there are probably 6 or 8 that I have not written down. Needless to say, I dream constantly. I think I have skipped a few weeks, even months for a while because my computer "crashed" about 2 months ago, but is now working again. I had a problem with sitebuilder and I have got it working now. DREAM Ninety-one Today Wed. Dec. 20, 2011 Before waking up today, I had a dream. As I am recording today, I am going to sound a little funny because yesterday, I went to get my "teeth", that is my upper and lower partials. They have done a great job with these and it was very reasonable thanks to the good dental plan I have. It cost only $125 for both partials, and that includes all the work and preparation for them. Anyway, I will sound a little funny talking until my mouth adjusts to the new "teeth" and metal and clamps. The technician, Jose, told me I would sound a little funny speaking for a while until I get used to it. As an aside here. Jose, the tech is an absolutely handsome young man. I still prefer men my age, a little younger or older, but every now and then, I am very impressed with young men much younger than me. I would not want to form an attachment with much younger men because relationships don't last when there is such a disparity in age. Anyway, getting back to the dream, it is now 7:28 and I am visiting somewhere, maybe Las Vegas, but now I'm not sure and yet just a while ago while fresh in my mind, I knew, but now I'm not sure. It is a family reunion... Doris, Paul, even Mom and Dad are there. We did have a family reunion in Las Vegas about 4 years ago, but Mom and Dad were not with us of course. We are sitting down for a meal and a young girl is sitting next to me (I'm trying to think who this is). I want to say it's Angela, but it can't be because she's grown up now and not a girl. As I'm sitting there, I see Doris coming over with Richard and Helena. At this point, I am very upset because I guess I didn't think they would show up. (For my feelings regarding Richard and Helena, see previous entry: "An incident with Richard and Helena".) I don't want to spreak to either of them even though Richard is my brother. I just do not want to talk to them. Anyway, I'm sitting down in a small dining room and people are sitting at various places. They, Doris and the two, walk in and sit and at this stage, I'm speaking to someone on my left and I may be talking to Doris. All the while, I'm trying to avoid both of them and do not even want to look at them, but I glance their way and Helena is dressed fairly nicely and looks good from a distance. Again I do not want to talk to them. I'm not sure what the next part of the dream is...I don't know if they come over, if some people are upset, if they come over, if I walk away. I don't know if at this stage, I am actually recalling the dream or if I am projecting. I do a lot of projecting in my "waking life". I will have to talk about what "projecting" means in my case. End of dream. DREAM Ninety-two In this dream, on Sat. Dec. 24th, I am interacting mostly with this woman and...I don't know, I'm forgetting a lot of the dream now, but I recall doing things like going out on my own and as I walk around, I see kids standing by a fence, talking and I recall seeing designs, maybe in the snow, or is it grass? Right now, things are happening, going through my head...in this dream, in the house, from there I'm looking outside, from a porch and next to the house are two churches, side by side, and there are artists outside painting beautiful "kaleidoscopes", multi-colored and brightly-colored mosaics. The person I am with doesn't like them at all. What I am remembering now is that she (?) is going out with a man, maybe her husband or maybe someone she is separated from. There is also a little boy with them. I am left alone and I have been out with them on occasion. I guess I am a guest in this lady's house and now, she is going off with the man and the little boy and I am left alone. They may be going out to do some shopping. I suddenly feel alone and lonely. What shall I do now? In the room I'm at, there is clothes all around me, piled up everywhere, kind of in a tidy way, folded in piles. I've just come into the house from outside and as I come in and start going up the stairs, the light automatically comes on and as I reach upstairs, I say to the woman )something is missing here. The last mention of her was when she was going out shopping...anyway, she is back in the house now): "Oh you have a sensor to put on the lights?" She says "No, they are not on a timer or sensor; I turned the lights on when you came up." When I was outside, with the group of young boys who had just finished cleaning a field, I approached the house and I see blue, perhaps the house is painted blue, a very pretty little house on a nice street, and as I approach, I hear her through the window saying something. I can picture the house now: it has three stories, with a gable, and I think the lady lives on the upper floor. That is pretty much all I remember of this dream. DREAM Ninety-three Monday, Dec. 26th 1:30AM If I don't record this right now, I will forget pretty much all of the dream. And so I am recording this now. The essence of this dream goes like this: I know this man and we are kind of seeing each other, maybe dating, and he is a nice-looking man, a little heavy, bearded (yawn, yawn). I seem to picture him sporting a brown beard. I guess he must be pretty young since I do not see any gray in his beard. At one point, we are riding along on our bicycles and we go to different places and in one place, we are at a museum and I see a beautiful building with trees and I am carrying, what looks like one of those cases for artwork... I guess you would call it a portfolio to put your artwork in. I'm carrying about six of these large folios and I am manoeuvring my bike as I ride carrying these portfolios. In this particular part of the dream, we are trying to decide what we are going to do at night. My friend has just mentioned that he has gone out to a bar, I'm not sure what it's called, but it's a popular bar, maybe in SF or in PS. We are riding along and trying to decide what we are going to do. I say that I will go home and have dinner, but he hints at going out to dinner. That seems to be all I remember about this dream. I think it's just a pleasant dream. DREAM Ninety-four Wed. Jan. 11, 2012 This dream is out of sequence with other dreams, but I am writing down what I can remember from the dream which occurred about 6 hours ago. First of all, I am have a lot of trouble sleeping because I am having to get up every 2 hours or so to go pee. This is very unhealthy and unusual. There is something going on with my body. Either my kidneys are not working properly or I am drinking too much fluids before going to bed, and yet I have been limiting my coffee intake. I will have to talk to the doctor about this. It is very unhealthy because I am not getting a good night's sleep lately. Dream of Wed. Jan. 11, 2012 I remember parts of the dream and in this dream, I think I am a lover with John Davis. He is not the heavy-set man that he is today. In one scene, he has a little girl and I am trying to help her up the stairs and she trips, falls, and hurts herself very badly. She is bleeding on the legs and feet. I feel so bad. I carry in and put her on the sofa and that's all I remember from that scene. The next part I remember is that John and I are having a quarrel because I think he is seeing someone else. Those are the two scenes I remember from this dream. I must have dreamt a lot of other dreams because, even though I went to bed at around 10PM, I awoke every two hours or so to go to the bathroom. This is very debilitating. DREAM Ninety-five Tonight it is now about 11:00 PM and I had this dream: Today is Wed., Aug. 23, 2011 and I am going to record the basics of this dream and go back to sleep. In this dream, I am with Ed and we go somewhere and when we come back we go to visit a friend. There are 2 girls that we visit and in our conversation, we start discussing something that has been in the news recently, something that has to do with Gay issues. The article mentions that groups made up of homophobes are on the prowl looking for people that are gay and they will be calling these people (I think this is the word) "fellows" that identifies the gays. When you think of it, all the appellations given to us through the years have included: sissies, queers, faggots, fags, etc. etc. etc. That's pretty much all I remember of this particular incident, but another part of the dream, as we are about to leave, I get the impression that there is something on Ed's mind and he explains that he has made a date with someone for that night. And so I leave, but the funny thing is that I drive just across the street to where my house is. And so, I don't have very far to go. When I get to the end of the driveway, as I get out of the car, I see a light in the house and I don't remember leaving a light on before I left. I get out of the car, go to the porch and before I open the door, somebody rushes out of the house and I grab him and bring him into the house. I can describe this man: he wears glasses, a little shorter than me, not very attractive. I want to know what he is doing inside my house. I was pretty "brave" in intercepting him as he fled the house, but luckily, he doesn't have a gun. He says, he came into the house and just relaxed. He says he didn't steal anything. Now Ed comes in and I either called him or he just knew there was something going on in the house. The intruder has a package for us and he starts to open it. I am actually wary about what the package may contain, but he opens it and it contains......STEAKS! Strange, but I believe that's what I said on the recording...STEAKS. End of dream. DREAM Ninety-six Sunday, Aug. 28, 6:59:43AM I dreamt that I am somewhere near the ocean. As I walk along, with a group of people, I come across a bait shop. I'm not sure who the group is...maybe family? I'm not sure. What we are doing is getting containers and going around to the pools to get some fish. We want to scoop up some water with the fish in a cup or container that we have. We need to take the fish home. Perhaps this is a science class going out on a field trip to get specimens of fish. At one point, I see a whole lot of different fish, small and large in one particular pool. I scoop up one fish and get it in my cup, but it barely fits in the cup of water and at one point, I handle the fish and it bites me and draws just a little bit of blood, but the fish seems to be almost "tame". Now I need to get a bigger container because this fish is too big for the container. Now I go around the area looking for a bigger container. I look around near shops, restaurants, in this town, for a container. What I am looking for is maybe some coffee cans and I remember seeing one at one point. I see one, but it is actually a paint can, complete with a handle, and it is clean. I figure that will be perfect to put the fish and water in. As I am looking around, I also see a top to the can. Now I have the can with the top and of course my cup with the fish and water. I return to the cabin where we are staying at and I am on the porch and am ready to transfer the fish from the cup to the can...that's it for the dream, what I remember. DREAM Ninety-seven Thurs. Dec. 5, 2011 I have just gotten up to go to the bathroom to pee. I want to go play tennis tomorrow, but I don't know if I am going to make it. I have to get enough sleep before going to play tennis. The dream I had was very nice and peaceful. I dream that I have met someone, a very big handsome man. He has a big body, but he's so beautiful. We are somewhere vacationing, in the water, swimming. He has a home, but here we are staying in a hotel. I go to the bathroom and prepare myself properly, for sex maybe? He comes into the bathroom and in the bathroom, we smell gasoline because in the bathroom, there is a small table with a can of gasoline on top. I have moved it a little when I first went into the bathroom. There is still the smell of gasoline...now, I jump to the scene where we are in the pool and he picks me up in his strong hands and arms - he is very strong. In the pool, there is some kind of a pageant going on and there are a troupe of swimmers swimming all over the place. You can stay in the pool and these swimmers are all over, underneath, all around you, but anyway, my friend picks me up and lifts me up over his shoulders, and he throws me into the water, and the throw is so powerful that I am up in the air and so far out, that when I come down, I am at the other end of the pool, near the edge. I am heading for the cement of the pool, so I manoeuvre and just miss hitting the edge. I finally come down into the water, and I am able to turn to the right and miss the edge of the pool. So I stay in the water with my friend, and I see him as I surface from underneath, that he is very frantic because he thinks I have hit my head on the edge of the pool. And so I see that he is looking for me everywhere, frantically, then he sees me and I can see a sigh of relief on his face as he heads towards me. But I continue to play the game, going underneath the water, swimming away from him, but close enough so I can observe him, while he's looking for me. And so we continue this activity, sort of a game. But I am so happy with this man. I don't know his name and I can just picture him right now: a big man, big muscles, balding, tall and very handsome. Then I wake up, go pee, and that's the end of the dream. DREAM Ninety-eight Monday Dec. 9, 2011 Today I had several dreams or maybe it was one dream in segments. In one dream, I am at a family's house having dinner and they are very poor people and at one point I am looking for a bathroom but I think it is outside, because I am now outside. I see hedgehogs out there, and it is really quite a messy sight. I spill something and I have to wipe it up. One of the family members has to leave immediately because he has a job as a taxi driver and he has just been called to pick up a client. Then in another part of the dream I am flying with someone and this person is a "disaster". He actually is the pilot and the plane that we are in is a very small plane, and as we are flying, we fly low and scrape walls and I don't know what happens next because that's the end of the dream as I remember. DREAM Ninety-nine Tues., Jan 10th, 2012 I have just woken up and just dreamt that I am by the ocean and I see a young man and his little boy. I have started talking to them and have become friendly with the two. I believe I carry the boy and he carries me (the boy or the man?) and I think that's kind of strange, but we go into the ocean and I find out that the young man is suffering from a very rare disease and it is very debilitating and the tells me his symptoms and how he has left everything to his son and he has made preparations because he may not live much longer. He says this disease affects parts of his body and he has a bacteria in his body that devours parts of his body and has to do with "gristle" that is degenerative. I don't know for sure, but it's something like that. End of dream DREAM Hundred Thurs. Jan. 12, 2012 Today, I went to bed at about 8: 00PM and I am now awake at 10: 00PM to go to the bathroom. I took a flomax today before going to bed because I went to see the doctor, my doctor, Dr. Kahnlou and he prescribed flomax in hopes of helping me to sleep more and not have to get up so often. I believe I have an enlarged prostate that forces me to go to the bathroom and pee so often in the night. I dream that I am home, perhaps in Maine, and I am young because my sister's there and she is young. My father is also there. In this scene, I am looking for some pepsi in the house because I am thirsty. I don't find any pepsi in the fridge, but there are glasses here and there, with some pepsi in them, half drunk. I am looking for a bottle, and at one point, I do see a bottle of pepsi in the fridge and I try to pour myself a glass of pepsi, then my father comes along and he says, "No, that pepsi's for Doris" and Doris gets her pepsi and meanwhile I fill a glass with the pepsi left over from the glasses here and there. I'm not sure what happens next, but I manage to pour myself a glass of pepsi from the half filled glasses. My father next get into a very bad quarrel, an argument, and at one point, he starts to beat me up, hitting me, and at one point, I taunt him and scream out loud: "Go ahead, hit me". I think this may be an unconscious feeling that I "harbor" of when I was young and I was very difficult, always trying to get some attention, but I only received "bad treatment". At this point, I remember the times I went to visit him in Maine, when he was alone, after Mom died. I always felt and still do that I was always a sore point for him. I don't think he ever wanted to see me. The problem is that I know he never accepted me, my lifestyle, etc. I tried to accept him, but I guess I did not accept him. He was always talking about "tits and asses" in reference to women. I guess that was his way of saying: "You're not normal; look at me, I love women's tits and asses. I think I confront him at one point and tell him: "Why don't you act your age". I feel that he thinks at his age, he's still a young stud going around chasing women. This was not a very good dream. DREAM Hundred-one Sat. Jan. 13, 2012 I've had one of the most horrible dreams I've ever had last night. It is now 12:30 AM and I just awoke from this dream. It take place somewhere where horrible things are happening to children. It is also happening to me. It is my father, and yet not my father. I know him. Perhaps this is not happening to me. A boy has upset his father and the things his father does to him are horrible. He caches him and he takes a knife and starts to put slits, cuts on the boy's head, from his forehead to the back of the head. The boy is in agony and is bleeding profusely and this man is punishing him for, I don't know what for, I'm not sure. It's just horrible, horrible and the boy finally escapes by running into a room and closing the door behind him and locking it. And now his father suffers through some kind of agony. It's his turn now to suffer. I'm not sure what he is suffering from, but he is undergoing a terrible experience. I think that's all I remember from this dream. I don't usually dream such terrible dreams, but I did this time. DREAM Hundred-two Saturday, 1-14-2012 Well here is another dream where I am somewhere and I need to go to the bathroom. I think these dreams must occur as a result of my needing to go to the bathroom. Oftentimes, the facilities are not very sanitary. In this particular dream, I am traveling and I end up by having to go to the bathroom. My tennis shoes get filthy and the bottom of my pants. I am looking for something to clean my shoes and pants. I'm traveling all over the place, and I'm on my own and things are not going too well. I don't remember anything else about this dream. I guess that's about it for now. DREAM Hundred-three Tues. Jan. 17, 2012 In this dream, I am staying in a beautiful apartment. There are three beautiful apartments in this complex. They are all on the same floor and I am staying with John, my ex, John Lewis. We are expecting guests and I've been told that I can go for an interview for a job, a very good job. One of the tenants, maybe the other host...I don't know for sure. Anyway, he, this other host, tells me that John is interested in one of the guests that are coming. He's a big tall guy. The guy next door asks me if I wouldn't mind staying with him and the tall guy that John is interested in can stay with him. John and I used to be a couple and lived together for 13 years, but now we are just friends in this dream. Anyway, I have no choice in the matter, because it is John's apartment and we are no longer lovers. I'm rushing around, getting ready to go, meanwhile, this guy comes in and starts to converse, but I have to leave and go to this interview. I'm not even sure where this interview is to take place (yawn, yawn). I'm not even sure if I'm going to get there in time. Meanwhile this guy is talking to a group of people and I have to leave. Come to find out, this fella is handicapped...I think there is something wrong with his stomach. Now he is supposed to stay with John and I don't know how that will work out because of his "problem" (I'm not sure exactly what it is, except to say that it has something to do with his stomach. I leave and go for the interview and when I return, John brings me into his room and he wants me to stay with him because things didn't work out with this guy. I don't know what happens next...I wake up. DREAM Hundred-four Tues., Jan 18, 2012 I am looking back in retrospect to a dream I had this morning. It is now 8:20 PM and I am recording what I remember of a dream I had this morning around 8:00 AM. In this dream, I am somewhere and I am with... DIANE. She is a tall black lady who works in OB-GYN. She is a nurse and we play tennis together about 2 or 3 times a week. In this dream, we are driving along and we come across some road work and the workers are doing some work along a stone fence, and some of the workers are working in other parts of the complex. But Diane gets out of the car and starts to pull these weeds out that are growing between the sidewalk and this stone fence. She is very fussy and meticulous and is pulling all the weeds out. I'm kind of helping her out. I don't remember much more about the dream, but at one point, she takes a break and (ha, ha, hee, hee), and takes out a big joint and starts to smoke it, which is very unlike Diane. I don't think she would ever do this. That's pretty much the dream. DREAM Hundred-five Feb. 4, 2012 In this dream, I am in the desert, and I dream the following. I have to say that I dream pretty much every night. I am rushing, rushing, and I have about 20 minutes or so to pack my bags and have to catch a flight. I have to catch an international flight, or a long distance flight, or whatever, and I rush up to my room and in the process, I drop a pen, or a belt, or something, and somebody is looking for that pen, and I am in my room and I am trying to get everything together to catch that flight. Now I only have about 15 minutes left and somebody comes into my room and starts to talk to me about the pen that his employer lost and he's willing to pay a lot of money for this lost pen, but I can't deal with these interruptions because I have to pack and I am trying to do this and talk to these people at the same time, so, I show them a few pens that I have but none of them match the pen that is missing. And now, it's a belt that they are also looking for...I don't know, something like that. But I am rushing and rushing and finally, I seem to have all my luggage together, and as I am bringing my cases downstairs, but the elevator isn't working...that's pretty much the end of the dream. This is a very strange dream as most dreams are. DREAM Hundred-six Feb. 9, 2012 It is now 7:17 AM and I have just had this dream. I am trying right now to record this dream before it fades away. This is a very strange dream. There are many components to this dream and I am trying to put it together. I have come back from a trip, yes this is another dream that involves a trip. In this dream, I am at school and in this dream figures Mr. Crittendon, who by the way, used to be a VP at Mount Vernon while I was teaching there. He was a heavy- set Black man, of short stature who, as I said, was the Vice Principal of Mount Vernon at one time. I have parked my car and I think we are parking our cars together, and then walk over to the school, (hold on a minute....), and...I'm continuing right now with an interruption to go to the bathroom, so now, continuing with the dream, I have come to school and parked my car at the same time that Mr. Crittendon has parked his, and now we walk together and then go to his office, or somewhere else in the school, then we sit down. Now I am carrying with me a big cake and some other items (snicker a little bit), and we visit for part of the day, let's say, it's in his office. Now there is somebody else there, mayby a student (?), and now we are sitting down at a table, I don't know exactly where, , but all the while, I am thinking to myself, I have to go back to the car eventually, but I can't remember where I parked my car. Now the day is over and it's time to go, but I don't know where I parked my car. This dream gets stranger and stranger, because, now I am back in Maine. I think I am now where my Mom and Dad used to work at the woolen mill, and somehow, somewhere in the back of the facility is where I parked my car. I can almost picture the area, but I'm not sure exactly where. So now, I am walking with this big piece of cake that I have (is seems it was a whole cake earlier, but now it's just a big piece of cake), and I am also carrying some other items, and so I am walking along, and in front of the woolen mill, I can see various shops. When I was there last, to visit with my family in Maine, I observed changes in the facility. The company had sold the mill and parts of the facility had been rented by small businesses, and so, a few shops were now there. Some of these small companies were clothing stores, outlets, gift shops, etc. At one point, as I am walking along, I start to go into this clothing store, and I see some really nice clothes, and I notice a man, who is probably working there, because I think he is hanging up clothes here and there. I also notice that he is wearing a very nice pair of pants, a shirt and a vest, and my attention is on the vest, a beautiful vest that I love and am interested in. And so, I go to the counter to speak to the clerk there and the clerk is a lady who is talking to another lady, perhaps a customer, and then I get the clerk's attention, and I ask her how much the vest is, but then she tells me that these clothes are just for children and she says that the store doesn't carry any clothes for adults and then I feel very bad about that. And so, disappointedly, I leave the store and am walking along, and there is water here and there, as I remember the woolen mill being situated on water, but I am trying to get to the back of this compley where I think I have parked my car. Now something else comes to mind. In order to find my car, I realize that I have to catch Mr. Crittendon before he leaves, so that he can help me located the parking area where I parked my car. I guess I find him, and I ask him where I parked my car, and he gives me the directions to the parking lot in the back of the school, but now I'm in Maine. I don't quite know how this all happened, but now I continue to look for the car and the next place I come to in my dream, and here I think I am pushing something along, but I don't remember now. At first I had a big cake, then it was a piece of cake, and now it's something else. Now I come across a little shop and in the shop I see a woman who is working, either at a typewriter (secretary? or perhaps she is doing some laundry) and I notice that everything in the room is white, and she is wearing a cap and is also dressed in white. (As I recall this dream now, mostly on my recorder, the scene comes back to my mind, and she looks more like she is a nurse). As I look into the room and her through the window, she looks up suspiciously at me, but I keep on walking. I feel that she is a bit concerned about my presense because she is alone in the room and I am a stranger, so I continue to walk so as not to disturb her, but I am still looking for my car. This whole dream seems to be an adventure to get to my car, but I never get to the car. I don't know if I ever find my car, because that's all I remember about this dream. A very strange dream. DREAM Hundred-seven Feb. 9, 2012 It is now 7:17 AM and I have just had this dream. I am trying right now to record this dream before it fades away. This is a very strange dream. There are many components to this dream and I am trying to put it together. I have come back from a trip, yes this is another dream that involves a trip. In this dream, I am at school and in this dream figures Mr. Crittendon, who by the way, used to be a VP at Mount Vernon while I was teaching there. He was a heavy- set Black man, of short stature who, as I said, was the Vice Principal of Mount Vernon at one time. I have parked my car and I think we are parking our cars together, and then walk over to the school, (hold on a minute....), and...I'm continuing right now with an interruption to go to the bathroom, so now, continuing with the dream, I have come to school and parked my car at the same time that Mr. Crittendon has parked his, and now we walk together and then go to his office, or somewhere else in the school, then we sit down. Now I am carrying with me a big cake and some other items (snicker a little bit), and we visit for part of the day, let's say, it's in his office. Now there is somebody else there, mayby a student (?), and now we are sitting down at a table, I don't know exactly where, , but all the while, I am thinking to myself, I have to go back to the car eventually, but I can't remember where I parked my car. Now the day is over and it's time to go, but I don't know where I parked my car. This dream gets stranger and stranger, because, now I am back in Maine. I think I am now where my Mom and Dad used to work at the woolen mill, and somehow, somewhere in the back of the facility is where I parked my car. I can almost picture the area, but I'm not sure exactly where. So now, I am walking with this big piece of cake that I have (is seems it was a whole cake earlier, but now it's just a big piece of cake), and I am also carrying some other items, and so I am walking along, and in front of the woolen mill, I can see various shops. When I was there last, to visit with my family in Maine, I observed changes in the facility. The company had sold the mill and parts of the facility had been rented by small businesses, and so, a few shops were now there. Some of these small companies were clothing stores, outlets, gift shops, etc. At one point, as I am walking along, I start to go into this clothing store, and I see some really nice clothes, and I notice a man, who is probably working there, because I think he is hanging up clothes here and there. I also notice that he is wearing a very nice pair of pants, a shirt and a vest, and my attention is on the vest, a beautiful vest that I love and am interested in. And so, I go to the counter to speak to the clerk there and the clerk is a lady who is talking to another lady, perhaps a customer, and then I get the clerk's attention, and I ask her how much the vest is, but then she tells me that these clothes are just for children and she says that the store doesn't carry any clothes for adults and then I feel very bad about that. And so, disappointedly, I leave the store and am walking along, and there is water here and there, as I remember the woolen mill being situated on water, but I am trying to get to the back of this compley where I think I have parked my car. Now something else comes to mind. In order to find my car, I realize that I have to catch Mr. Crittendon before he leaves, so that he can help me located the parking area where I parked my car. I guess I find him, and I ask him where I parked my car, and he gives me the directions to the parking lot in the back of the school, but now I'm in Maine. I don't quite know how this all happened, but now I continue to look for the car and the next place I come to in my dream, and here I think I am pushing something along, but I don't remember now. At first I had a big cake, then it was a piece of cake, and now it's something else. Now I come across a little shop and in the shop I see a woman who is working, either at a typewriter (secretary? or perhaps she is doing some laundry) and I notice that everything in the room is white, and she is wearing a cap and is also dressed in white. (As I recall this dream now, mostly on my recorder, the scene comes back to my mind, and she looks more like she is a nurse). As I look into the room and her through the window, she looks up suspiciously at me, but I keep on walking. I feel that she is a bit concerned about my presense because she is alone in the room and I am a stranger, so I continue to walk so as not to disturb her, but I am still looking for my car. This whole dream seems to be an adventure to get to my car, but I never get to the car. I don't know if I ever find my car, because that's all I remember about this dream. A very strange dream. Dream hundred-eight Friday Feb. 10, 2012 In this dream which is a pretty sad dream, I am teaching a class and I don't know if this is in a new school, but it's the beginning of the year and the students have new books, but the situation is disastrous. I am teaching in a long classroom, a rather long and wide- shaped classroom and I don't know if this was a music room at one time, but there are some kids way way in the back, some kids in the middle and some closer to me and right next door is another classroom and I think this classroom next door is a music classroom because two of my students go into the room to listen to the music, so I am everywhere in the room frantically trying to get the classroom organized and I have to shout sometimes to the students way in the back trying to get them to bring their chairs closer to the front of the room. I am trying to organize the classroom better. I am having difficulty getting the class started. It is a new book we are using and I am trying to get the class started, trying to get their attention so we can review the book together. Now these two kids that have gone to the other room...I have to try and take their names and one of them volunteers his name, but the second student refuses to give me his name. The situation seems to be when I am subbing for a teacher and I don't know the students' names. My intention here is to get their names so I can call their parents, so while I am trying to get this second student's name, he refuses to give me his name. Just then a monitor comes into the classroom and she is a big black girl and she says she is coming through in case I need her help. I ask her to take this young man downstairs and get his name because he refuses to give me his name. I need to make an appointment with his parents. So she proceeds to take him out of the classroom and escort him to the office. Meanwhile, there are all sorts of things going on in my classroom. I am trying to keep my cool, my composure, but this is a particularly difficult situation. I've never encountered anything like this before. I need organization in my room. I have always been that way. In any teaching situation, I must have organization and discipline in my class. It seems here that the kids are all over the place. So now, the kids in the back start bringing their chairs forward, from way in the back. I still have problems in the class. For instance, the noise level is unacceptable. There is one kid who keeps on following me around because I am using her book, her textbook because I don't see any other book around. Meanwhile she keeps following me around and keeps asking me for her book. All of these things are going on and meanwhile I am trying to get this class organized so I can teach a lesson. It is a very difficult situation and I guess you could call this a "sad dream". Meanwhile, as I finish recording this dream, I cannot get back to sleep, because I want to go and play tennis. I went to bed around 10:30 PM last night and I have been up since about 4: Other Works....Poetry |