Goths never age (night of 29th April 2010)

.
A member of the 1980s obscure goth band Into A Circle. I thought he was looking remarkably young. He was telling me how they had a song on 'Gay Bikers Disco' or a similarly titled album.

The Puzzle Game (night of 27th April 2010)

19.
A hand-held puzzle game, rather like those found in the 1980s. This was in the form of a maze, in which you had to guide a metal ball somewhere. Manipulating this device caused a corresponding change in a curious reality, though, whether this reality was, or wasn't, a facet of the game is unclear.
A building, like some venerable university institution. Set in the old autumnal grounds of the city. This building was the base of an organisation dedicated to fighting demons (shades of Buffy the Vampire Slayer again). Demons were forever trying to penetrate the building.
Manipulating the device also controlled a demon. The purpose of the game / reality was to try and get into the headquarters of this anti-demonic agency. I could not get my demon past reception - the entry gates required some kind of ID that the demon did not have, and my manipulation of the maze game could not create.
The POV of view in the dream shifted between three perceptions. The first one was that of playing the maze-game, and noticing the corresponding changes in reality, the second was of watching the demon (who seemed to be nothing more that a slightly monstrous-looking human) trying to gain entrance to the building, rather like watching a film (or Buffy the Vampire Slayer...) and the last was of actually being the demon itself, feeling it's frustration at being unable to enter the building...

20.
A free standing bath and shower in a corridor of a building. Dark brick walls. I am reminded of Forres Academy - my secondary school in Scotland. I am taking a shower, or rather, waiting for the shower to warm up. Other people are waiting for the shower too. I begin to think is it normal to be naked in such a public place? It does not seem particularly abnormal. I am aware that the other people waiting for the shower are becoming impatient with me. They will become even more impatient when they realise I have to leave the shower while I go and retrieve something from another room.

The Family Hermolle under Nazi Rule (night of 26th April 2010)

18.
Some kind of museum. Perhaps watching the kind of documentary that is shown in museums as part of a special display. Unsure. An alternate world where the allies had lost World War II, and Britain fell under Nazi rule. The museum was dedicated to chronicling the history of the time when Britain was first invaded -1n 1945 or therabouts. At that time, all British citizens had to prove who they were to the occupying nazi authorities. There were documents - or photographs- relating to my family at that time. A story was told of how the 'Family Hermolle' had to present themselves at the townhall, with a bedstead from home as proof of their identity. An image of my grandfather. Were our family Jewish in the dream?

Fragment (night of 25th April 2010)

17.
Willow?

Happy Drawing (night of 24th April 2010)

16.
I am working on a drawing, and am using pencils of watercolours to paint the brickwork of a wall a pale blue. I am happy doing this.
(What an incredibly boring dream!)

Dreaming of Future Doctor Who (night of 23rd April 2010)

14.
A dream of a coming Doctor Who episode. The Doctor is on an alien planet, there are a number of other people about. The alien planet resembles an english countryside with a dark and brooding sky. A spacecraft lands - a flying saucer type. The ramp opens and a number of people descend. One of them is Riversong (a character in the current story). The episode ends. I turn to Andy (?) and say to him that is the Doctor's wife, and that it was a good episode. Secretly I am not convinced.

(I had this dream on the night before tonight's Doctor Who, when Riversong returned of course (I did know this was happening). Strangely, last week, I had another dream about this episode, about the malevolent weeping angels in my flat. Two dreams about an episode I hadn't yet seen. Hmm.)

15.
People in a kind of wild country, remniscent of the Undercliff Walk that runs back from the Marine. A dark and stormy sky, edging toward nightfall.

Revenge Killing in Prison (night of 21st April 2010)

9.
A friend will not tell me why she is going to Essex over the Easter holidays. I keep badgering her for information, even though I know it is because she is going to see an unsuitabke boyfriend.

10.
I visit a prison. Whilst there, I stab a prisoner to death in one of the cells. This is some kind of revenge killing for something he has done to a member of my family or a close friend. I know I will be caught for this, and find myself a cell to sit in and wait to be arrested. I fall asleep. I wake up. Sarah is here. I think her dress looks beautiful and this makes me sad becuase I know I shall be in prison for a long time. No-one has come to arrest me. Perhaps I can get away with it?

11.
Someone dangerous has finished their prison sentence. It is my Mum's new partner. Everyone knows he is bad news. This is the first time I have met him. He seems to have a moustache and long black hair, looking a little like Nick Cave. We are in some living room. Shaking his hand. It is a bit slimy, but he seems nice enough.

(There seems to be a rather obvious recurring thread through the above dreams. Aside from this they seemed to be separate dreams, so I have treated them as such)

12.
People from work. The interior of a building, remniscent of a school, or the printing rooms in an art college.

13.
Tom is talking to me about the goth band The Sisters of Mercy. He is saying how they were a ridiculous 1980s band, awful yet strangely compelling.

A Long Walk Home (night of 20th April 2010)

7.
In an unfamiliar city street. The feel of a provinicial town. Meet Andrea in a kind of market square. Sunny day.

Having to walk home from work - a different place than the waking life call centre. The work building is situated in a rural area - the feel of Scotland. Evergreen trees and shadowy glades. A long, grey road. Do not mind having to walk the long route home from work because I have Roberto Bolano's magnum opus to read, '2166'. Explaining this to Andrea. She looks at me askance.

Cally from work giving me a flyer for a party that will last four days and begins at midnight on the first day. Trying to explain to her that I am too old for partying these days, and certainly not for parties that last for four days.

8.
Difficult to explain this one. There was a surreal pun filled single page series of illustrations in childhood comics such as Whoopee etc. These were called 'World Wide Wierdies' and featured such things as 'Ghoul-ditz Castle' and 'The Isles of Silly' etc. In this dream, there were objects that were based on these cartoons. For some reason they ended up being burned in a furnace located in an industrial basement. I remember seeing one sculpture / object burning in the fire. The basement had tiny windows situated high up, looking out into the night. There was also the feel of a swimming pool about the place.

Insects of an Unknown Country (night of 19th April 2010)

3.
In a room on the ship. Despite the fact there was a resemblance between the room on the ship and my bedsit, it felt like a room that was also centuries old. Wood panelled walls? Perhaps. The room was dark, and in the room was a woman, dressed in, maybe, 16th century attire, all voluminous fabrics and flowing dresses, hair all darkness and ringlets. I looked up, and saw, covering my television (even though it was the 16th century or thereabouts) was a mound of apples. The woman was suddenly angry. The fact that the apples (which were being stored in the room) had tipped over meant that the ship was carrying slaves in the hold. The woman said that she would rather bed down there with the slaves.

4.
A plane journey. The plane lands on water, in the harbour of a foreign country. I am allowed outside when the plane lands and see that numerous air stewards and stewardesses are standing on a number of 'skis' that are attached to the plane. They take out an oar each and paddle the plane to the quayside, despite the fact it is a jumbo jet. I am impressed by this, and feel I am let into some great secret. I am allowed to put an oar into the holding area, a small cubby hole as we alight from the skis of the plane.

Walking with my father along a city street. We are in Prague. A number of people pass by wearing animal masks. This is because there is a long celebration occurring in the city.

The country seems to be Prague, Italy, Malta and Cornwall at various points through the dream.

Staying in a holiday building in the city. My family are there. My parents suggest I walk down the alleyway that runs adjacent to our building. The sky is gray and drizzly. Down the alleyway is an old cottage. Anomolous and anachronistic, I am strangely impressed by the sight of this building and its hidden location. Is there some idea about drawing it?

I want to look for insects in this foreign country, which is famed for them. I know I shall be repulsed by the insects but also fascinated by them. Because of the recent rain I know there will be many insects out. I come across a pathway -looking suspiciously English- and overgrown with weeds. I begin to move down the path and realise that I can see the insects. They are, indeed, repulsive -eyes with legs, thin and somehow obscene worm creatures. I know they are all highly dangerous, and am sent into an ecstasy of terror. Showing my parents bites I have recieved from the insects - white raised areas that slightly itch. I point out how similar they are to bedbug bites.

Our old dog, bruno. My Sister. A hallway / landing type of space. Windows looking outside. A room full of people having a party.

(I cannot know for certain that the above is all from the same dream, but given the consistent factor of my family and a foreign country, I presume it is).

5. A music shop that is Russian in origin. I am amazed by the quality of the records. I pick up a double vinyl edition of 'Opheliac' (I presume by Emilie Autumn). The cover is vastly different. I wonder if the shop would have such beautiful records if they didn't sell their main products of MP3s. The shop is dark, and I remember nothing of it but the rack holding the Opheliac album.

6. The comedienne Emma Fryer was on television being interviewed. I pointed out to Claire that she was once romantically interested in Joe. Claire was not as excited about this as me.

A Teacher in a Victorian Winter (night of 18th April 2010)

1.
I was working as a teacher at a school called Grange Hill. This was, really, the only connection to the childrens programme, as far as I can recall. The school had recently relocated to Liverpool, and this had caused numerous problems. The school, and the surrounding landscape in which the school was situated, seemed desolate and haggard, a winter landscape redolent of old war photographs. With some other teachers, I was overseeing the transferral of a group of children fromone building to another. The buildings of the school resembled vast Victorian factories and gothic churches. The children, who appeared to be of an adolescent age, were crossing a frozen pool. Because they had crossed the pool in the morning, the ice had weakened, and inevitably cracked causing the crossing teenagers to fall into the water. They did not seem unduly concerned by this - the water was not deep - and I viewed this with as if it was some kind of slapstick comedy routine. One girl was sprayed with water when an overhang of ice broke, and a vast plume of water, like a shower spray, soaked her.
In the main hall of the school. Tiled floors. Vast cathedral like interior. Arches and old time. Stained glass windows. There was also the feel of something industrial about it too. The walls were pale and institutional, and there was a ragged decaying air about it all.
The headmistress of the school appeared to be the actress Cathryn Bradshaw. In the dream, I remember thinking that I had known her when she was eighteen - about twenty years ago. She was very anxious about her role as headmistress, an anxiety that had been triggered by the move the school had made to this icy wasteland of Liverpool. She sank down to the ground. The stress was too much. She was having a breakdown.

2.
An alleyway at night. This may have been the alleyway from Drumduan Road in Forres. I was traversing this alleyway, taking longer and longer steps. I realised, that by moving my feet whilst in the process of lifting my feet I could float, and propel myself along. Was this flying I wondered? I was momentarily concerned by the appearance of two dark figures in front of me - threatening teenagers. I floated into them and pushed them out of the way. I was relieved.