Dream 3/15/12
I am outside a store waiting for Gloria and her friend to finish shopping. I figure I might as well play my guitar to pass the time. After playing for a few seconds, I have a curious thought, “How much could I make while waiting out here?” I’ve always wondered how much those street performers were able to take in. I put out my hat open side up and start playing again. Nobody approaches my side of the sidewalk for some time so I decide to just close my eyes and really get into the my performance of June and the Ocean. After a few minutes, I open my eyes to see that there is still nobody around. I pack my guitar back in the case and as I am pulling my hat back on, I notice a a bill float down to the floor. “A 20!” I run into the shop to tell Gloria and her friend all about it.
I hear Jerzy and Gabby conversing in the dining room right outside my bedroom. I slowly get myself out of bed, grab some of the paper snowflake cut-outs that I made last night and head for the door. When I open it, I find myself in a dark dining room with no Jerzy and no Gabby. I curiously head for the living room and find that Jerzy is sleeping on the couch. Was I just hearing things?
Then I wake.
We are all sitting at a restaurant, when my coworkers Gabby, Danielle, Katherine, and another female propose a strange plan. They ask if Rick, Nate, another male coworker, and I would like to have our drinks spiked to see if it can lead to an interesting night. For some reason we accept the idea and fall into a dizzy trance as we consume our drugged water. The moment before I fade to darkness, I request one of my female coworkers to promise to get me home safely. Her sarcastic “of course” leaves me uneasy as I lose consciousness.
Black.
I wake up on an unfamiliar bus route with my male coworkers. I try to make sense of the surroundings but its no use. Suddenly, I see my high school friends, Spencer Kong, Michael Khong, and Jon Luu walking down the street opposite of street traffic. I jump out of the moving bus and run after them not knowing when I’d ever be able to see them again. Nate yells out, “Wait for me!” realizing it would be better to venture back uptown together. Rick follows as a show of solidarity. As I catch up, my friends turn around and bear unfamiliar faces. Am I seeing things?
Suddenly a strange man approaches Rick proclaiming to be a long-lost friend as he draws his hand to his jacket pocket. Rick is alerted to this potential threat, pulls out a gun, and sends a series of shots into the man’s chest. As the stranger falls to the ground, we notice that he had nothing in his jacket pocket all along. Are we seeing things?
Dream 10/23/10
I am in a beautiful cathedral watching Gloria getting married. Family and friends all awe at her beauty. I exit the sanctuary into the night. Suddenly it occurs to me so simply yet with the force of a ton of bricks, ‘why is she marrying him? why is she not marrying me?”
-
I am attending another wedding. As Tim Lew is opening up his car to take out his camera equipment, he pulls out an extra shirt and hands it to me. I realize that I am not dressed for the part yet. Suddenly I realize that I have to go to work, which happens to be in the same building as where the ceremony is taking place. I sit in my office feeling guilty that I can’t attend my friend’s wedding.
I am outside and a burly southern man is chasing after me. His long blonde locks and thick facial hair covers what seems to be a furious face. He catches up to me and I give him a good fight. My friend, the groom, is yelling for me to run but I seem to not have a choice. Then in the corner of my eye, I see a police car parked next to an old house down the street. I break free from the fight and tear down at full speed to it. I grab a nearby glass bottle and raise it in the air. The man stops dead in his tracks. I threaten to strike the car to set off the alarm and catch the attention of the officer in the home. He doesn’t want to but he forces himself to start running down the street in the opposite direction. The officer comes out through the front door with his shotgun across his shoulder and tells me he is going after the man and asks if I want to join him. I tell him that I am going to stay and he remarks, ‘you are just like him when he was your age’ And with that he fires up his engine and speeds down the street with his sirens blaring.
I see my friend sitting on the porch of the old house. I walk towards him then I give him a hug. With tears falling, I say my final words, “I’m sorry I missed your wedding”
-I wake up
Dream 10/21/10
Our team arrives at what seems to be a dental office. The four of us bring in a large package from our van and take a seat in the waiting room. An old chinese man, walks through the door. I realize that he runs the place because his assistant informs him that we have a delivery for him. After we have him sign the proper forms, we grab the large package together and run out the door. We place it in the back of our van and start driving away in a hurry.
I wake up to realize I had been napping in the van. I start to hear the conversation my friends are having about what the package could possibly be. Only Paul Ahn seems to know for sure. The friend driving the car hands me a blunt. The warmth of the hit slowly ushers me back to sleep.
I wake to stillness and notice we just pulled into a driveway of a suburban home. A friend hands me a another blunt before we get out of the van and I comment on his messy wrapping. We get to the front door and I suddenly notice that I am wearing nothing but tighty-whiteys. In my embarrasment I ask Paul to ask the host of the house to lend me some pants.
Andrea So happily greets us and lets us in. Paul whispers to her then she yells out to her brother to bring a pair of track pants. She hands them to me with a snicker. We sit with Andrea’s father who is pleased that we have brought the package to him safely. He opens the cardboard box to reveal a small dishwasher appliance. he enthusiastically explains how energy efficient this model is and how he can’t wait to use it. Our team, with the exception of Paul, look at each other in disbelief. We took the risk for this?
Andrea and her family are heading out the door but invite us to relax in their home. Her father hands me an envelope, as I close the front door. As I walk to the living room I hear one of my friends reply ‘how is it more efficient when you can only stick a third of your normal load in that thing?!’
I sit next to Paul and hand him the envelope but he asks me to hold it open in front of him. He likes to fan his fingers through the bills eyes closed to get a sense of how much we have. All of a sudden a swarm of ants rush out of the envelope and crawl over Paul’s arm.
“What the hell!!”
The rest of us start laughing and start dividing the cash into fours.
Dream 10/16/10
We are all moving into the dorms. The atmosphere is buzzing with the excitement of the new year and the thrill of having friends so close by. Everybody shifts into their respective rooms and starts to get settled. Andrew Ma already has his clothes neatly lining the closet with an impressive collection of penguin scarfs neatly draped on hangers.
I go downstairs.
Michael Kang is unpacking while his girlfriend seems to be getting ready for the shower. She heads to the bathroom and before even closing the door, she drops the towel that was covering her mid. I think to myself ‘she is getting far too comfortable here, far too soon’
i head back upstairs to the common area.
The sunlight generously pours into the room but the rays are gentle and warm. I look out the open window and see ocean waves skimming across the beach, creating that familiar sound.
I am content.
Dream 9/20/10
I walk into the restaurant expecting to meet many familiar faces. I see Christine Choi sitting at the table with an unfamiliar person next to her. I look down into the cradle and see the beautiful face of her baby boy. I come near to tears.
Post-Inception
*If you are as cautious as I was tip toe’ing around Inception spoilers online, refrain from this post!!
I, like many of you, thoroughly enjoyed Inception. It spoke to me on a nearly profound level. Now before you think I am getting too dramatic, feel free to read my past blog post which you should note was written August 2009. Granted Christopher Nolan had the original idea in 2001 but viral marketing for the film had not started until spring of this year. This timing made the film seem like a conversation with Mr. Nolan about the concept of dreams.
Now I would like to address the debated final scene. In my past blog post, I conclude it by stating that dreams can be reality. But what I believe Nolan is implying with the ending of the film is that reality can be as beautiful and horrifying as dreams. My most profound experience in the film was the sequence in which Dom gets off the plane, checks in through airport security and reunites with his children. Listen to Hans Zimmer’s brilliantly crafted “Time” during this entire sequence. I never had a score illustrate a film’s message as vividly as in this sequence. This moment allowed me to realize how beautiful reality is. There are those times when we wake up too early from a great dream and desperately strive to fall back asleep to reenter that world. Why don’t we desperately strive to wake up from our dreams to reenter reality?
So yes, in my opinion, the totem fell =) But not in the cut because otherwise there would be no conversation.
I do love a good Inception discussion so feel free to share any of your experiences or ideas with me.
Inception
There are three big reasons why I am excited for Inception next week.
1. The cast. An incredible ensemble of people that I appreciate. Just feel free to scan the list. A similar wow factor as The Expendables but with much more potential.
2. The plot. I am fascinated by Christopher Nolan’s original works, most notably Memento. It definitely is an exciting experience to be introduced to brand new characters in a brand new environment dealing with brand new conflicts that you never knew could exist.
3. The connection. I often share my dreams on this blog in an attempt to explore the purpose of dreams and try to find their connections to reality. It is exciting to find a film that will explore the subject and give me a new perspective on the matter.
Dream 1/6/2010
I walk into a fairly crowded restaurant with my dad to grab some lunch when suddenly a table of men start pestering me with verbal abuse and ill words. We continue to combat for a couple of seconds as I back up to my reserved table. The men at the opposing table fall silent when they realize the party that I am eating with: Benito Mussolini, Saddam Hussein, and Kim Jong Il.
