Finally arrived in Austin... / Lack of Dreamlogging...

I arrived safely in Austin, Texas. (YAY!!)

I only slept two hours last night, so I never quite made it to REM sleep... no dreams last night.

Hopefully I'll have some good stories tonight to keep this good (?) thing going.

Dreamlogging Day 3

1) This one was most likely motivated by me popping a string on my guitar last night and trying to figure out where to take it.
I am searching frantically for a guitar repair place. I find one with some random name like Junky Jake's Guitar Repair or something random like that. Left with no other options, I decide to take my guitar there. The store was filled with 80's axes and a bunch of stoner-type individuals. They say they'll fix it and I can pick it up later. I pick up my guitar when they say they're done and go home (which was the home I lived in when my mother was in nursing school after my parents' divorce: a converted back porch - shared with my mother. Green carpet and a computer desk for my 10 year old computer obsessed self). When I look at my instrument, I realize it is this super crappy old thing - worn and falling apart with old nylon strings (My guitar is a black, delightfully shiny, steel-stringed Ibanez). Pissed, I go back to the store and they deny it. I'm stuck with this crap guitar.

2) Maybe motivated by Rachel and I's teasing of the homoerotic tickle fests amongst the hobbits in the Return of the King (skip to minute 3 and you'll see what we mean).
I am in my room with this girl Joanna that I've known since elementary school (and haven't seen in probably 8 years). We're on my bed and she gives me a Valentine's Day gift - some sort of cheesy bear/mug combo and some chocolates. I am super stoked to have this gift from her and we have some sort of tickle fest. For some reason my brother David shows up and starts chatting with us (maybe he's the Gandalf in this scene?). They disappear somehow and I look more closely at my Valentine. When I open the packaging, I see that it has been re-gifted - a handwritten card is there (for someone else) that is dated 2002. The gift's meaning is obviously tarnished. Two purple and pink metallic transforming/anamorphic dragonfly/beetle type insects appear and fly around my room. I kill one by slamming my shoe against it and the wall. The insect's guts form a large section of purple metallic foil on the wall above my light switch. I lose the other one.

Dreamlogging Day 2

1) I am above these vast expanse of black trees. My family (the Kelly Kids) and I are trying to get out and somehow I am supposed to save us. I believe this one was the first in the series that I recall because I hardly remember any details but the feeling of this huge black grove of horrifying trees.

2) My niece Alexa and I are playing in a house that exists only in my dreams (I have encountered the space before as the home of my Dad and his wife, Elynn). We are in a room with a filing cabinet and dolls. We start talking (she is still four years old, but has the communication ability of an adult). She tells me that she thinks my sister only started loving her when she got diagnosed with cancer. In the way that only can happen in dreams, I pull up this slideshow of photos pre-diagnosis of Crys and her playing and explaining to her just how much her mommy loved her from Day 1.
I start crying. Alexa starts crying; she understands and seems to be comforted.

3) A bunch of the Larson crew, my mother and I all go to a mall. It looked like a dark version of Cielo Vista Mall in El Paso (when I woke up I was thinking about working there at Hot Topic [ha!] and Marti working at that Starbucks and Hayley working at Journey's). We go in to shop and my mother and I break off from the others. My mom is looking at these brown New Balance flats/sandals/croc looking things and I say, "Oh no - we can find better." Somehow my mom and I get separated - I can't find her. I start freaking out. I go through this large car service sort of place and come out into the parking lot. See our car (meaning she is still in this mall) and get nervous that she wouldn't be able to remember where we parked and get back to this spot. I still haven't found her when the dream ended.

That's all I can remember for last night.

Blogging + Dreams... Dreamlogging? Drlogging?

I keep threatening to start posting about the clips that run through my subconscious mind between the hours of midnight to eight a.m.

Today's the day I start.

1) One of my friends screams from her computer for me to come see something. I run in and she has her beau's Facebook profile up, which was recently changed to "Looking for Dating/A Relationship." We scream.

2) My cousin Rachel and I are wearing matching shirts (yellow with white polka-dots and ruffle sleeves. I own this shirt; I don't believe she does.). I think how much better hers looks. We sit on a couch with a bunch of my other cousins and my cousin Ashley (who recently died) is standing behind us wearing all these colorful beaded bracelets. She is discussing her ideas for a huge party we are planning for her.

Last night: nothing too epic. I remember having tons of dreams but don't recall any of the subject matter.

This is not as interesting as I had hoped. Better luck next time.

------

Now. Non sequitur.

I was reading the Book of Mormon yesterday: Alma 46. The end of verse 13 through verse 15:

...he bowed himself to the earth, and he prayed mightily unto his God for the blessings of liberty to rest upon his brethren, so long as there should a band of Christians remain to possess the land — For thus were all the true believers of Christ, who belonged to the church of God, called by those who did not belong to the church. And those who did belong to the church were faithful; yea, all those who were true believers in Christ took upon them, gladly, the name of Christ, or Christians as they were called, because of their belief in Christ who should come.

While the Christians were happy to take on this name, it was still someone else who dubbed them as such. This made me think of the name "Mormon." Same thing applies. While I am happy to take on the moniker, it was still someone else who assigned this title (the non-Mormons in the 1800's; based on our belief in the Book of Mormon). While these declarations are not the worst thing in the world (I certainly adore the fact that I am defined as Christian and Mormon), they are still evidence of someone else deciding who and what I am. There are a zillion instances of "the other" defining who/what we are (i.e. crazy media coverage, anti-Mormon literature, some scary lady yelling at my roommate at the bus stop because she was reading the Book of Mormon).

In the last General Conference, Dallin H. Oaks (of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles) said the following:

We live in a time when some misrepresent the beliefs of those they call Mormons and even revile us because of them. When we encounter such misrepresentations, we have a duty to speak out to clarify our doctrine and what we believe. We should be the ones to state our beliefs rather than allowing others the final word in misrepresenting them. This calls for testimony, which can be expressed privately to an acquaintance or publicly in a small or large meeting. As we testify of the truth we know, we should faithfully follow the caution to speak “in mildness and in meekness” (D&C 38:41). We should never be overbearing, shrill, or reviling. As the Apostle Paul taught, we should speak the truth in love (see Ephesians 4:15). Anyone can disagree with our personal testimony, but no one can refute it.

To that I say, WORD. Though it is definitely scary at times to speak out for what I believe (I am consistently shocked at the vehemence/seeming anger of other faiths towards my own), it is so worth it. And at some point (maybe not soon, but I'm hopeful), people will cease to be hostile due to lack of understanding or belief.

Cool design thing...

One of my besties, Lisa, posted a link to Wordle - a cool word randomizer applet. I put the text of my sister's blog about Alexa in and selected all pink. Cute.

I'll miss you, Estelle...

Estelle Getty, the amazing Sophia Petrillo, died yesterday. She was the youngest of the Golden Girls and the first to go. I really was holding out hope for a reunion show entitled
"REALLY Golden Girls"... sigh.

I'll miss you, Estelle! You were such a sassy broad.

Missed Connection, continued...

Okay, so here is the follow-up tale to my Missed Connection adventure...

He replied:

hey colleen,
so is it a bad thing i posted my first missed connection? and i'm going to be in your blog?

weird. honestly, i've never done it before.

well, i'm dana. tattooed bloke indeed. (never, been refered to as a bloke since my friend chris returned to the UK). how are you doing? care to talk about nerds?

Ha! So, I replied.
Then, he replied.
Then, I replied.
Then, he replied.
Then, he replied again.

I haven't replied to those last two yet, mostly because I don't know how to respond to:

um, after reading this today, i'm glad i don't sound too dumb considering i was quite flavored during my response.

I was drunk-emailed! Haha, I am considering something like: "What is "flavored"? I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and don't understand your heathen ways."
Maybe too much?

Craigslist and Missed Connections

Thanks go to Natalie, who made this whole hilarious event possible.

So, on Craigslist, there is this section called "Missed Connections." Essentially, if someone sees someone they think is cute or whatever and just missed their opportunity, he/she would go to Craigslist and post, hoping that their object of affection might see it and make up for the "missed connection" (clever, eh?).

So. You readers know I recently got a book entitled "Nerds: Who They Are and Why We Need More of Them." I was on the Orange Line, got off at Sullivan Square. I noticed this guy, and noticed that he noticed me (remind you of the Fresh Prince of Bel Air? I may be the only one who gets that reference...). We got on the escalator at the same time (maybe orchestrated by him? I couldn't tell...). Well, I boarded the 101 bus. I noticed this guy again, and he was looking back at the bus. He looked back at the bus a couple of times and it appeared that he was writing something down or looking at an iPhone/cell/something. I thought to myself: "wouldn't that be hilarious if he was getting the bus number for a missed connection?"

Well.


Hahaha! I was meaning to check out the listings just for kicks, and kept forgetting. Then, Natalie (this is where she comes in) sends me the following on G-chat (and we have the following conversation):

Natalie: is this you? http://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/mis/756395239.html
me: OH MY FREAKING GOSH
YES
HAHAHAHAHA
I know who that is
!!!!
Natalie: is it really?
me: YES
i smiled at him
and laughed
Natalie: hil.ar.ious.
me: and i saw him look at my bus number
hahahahahahah
Natalie: i wondered if it was based on your blog about the books you got; and the orange line
me: YES
hahahahhaha
Natalie: YOU SHOULD RESPOND
me: I TOTALLY WILL
and you'll get the credit
hahaha
Natalie: NICE! Freak, I've always wanted one written about me. BUt I also look for my friends. :)
me: hahaha
that is HILARIOUS
i have to blog that
Natalie: DO IT

I emailed my nerdy friend. We'll see!