Ukko The Dwarf And The Pylons Of Infected Technology (night of 11/09/2019)

Reading 2000AD. Getting into it again. Actually realise I am enjoying a comic strip in it.
I think the comic strip is Slaine - I am not sure. In the comic strip a number of figures - possibly Ukko and his dwarf companions are running towards some pylons in the distance. The pylons are in the future, and are somehow causing a toxic effect in the past - they are some kind of 'infected' technology. The pylons are built on the site of ley lines. It is important to work out if they are ley lines or not. There is some discussion on this - how footpaths must run adjacent to the pylons - something the dwarves call 'Paprikolos' (or something similar and Greek sounding). Images of mdoern day day walkers and cyclists using the footpaths. One of the dwarves points out this must be a ley-line, as no-one is living adjacent to the pylons. This is also a sign.
***
Walking Bruno by the River Pinn in Ickenham. There has been some rain, so the river is higher. A man comes up to Bruno and asks if it is alright to stroke him. I say yes, but Bruno growls. I apologise and say this is not like him at all. He goes to walk away, but Bruno immediately feels guilty and goes to lean on the man as if saying sorry.

Fragments, Possibly A Dream Ickenham (night of 03/09/2019)

Looking at a video on my phone I have shot. Buildings passing by. I surmise I have taken this on some kind of barge or canal trip. I do not remember going on the trip.
Looking across a river - or canal - at a door in a building that opens directly onto the waters edge. With two other people (Jono? Kelly?), asking them how much it would take for them to climb up to the top of the stairs we can see through the door. The stairs - like the building - are dilapidated and covered with hypodermic syringes. The thought of entering the building gives me a shiver of pleasurable fear, as if the place might be haunted.
Walking up Woodstock Drive. It is autumn. A sudden hope that the front door of Woodstock Drive may be open so I can look into the hallway of my old house. Impressions of people. A woman walks towards me with her dog. Is this the new owner? I am disappointed she is not, for as I look toward the front door of Woodstock Drive as I pass by, I see a woman with a couple of children outside - these are the current inhabitants of the place.
Walking through Swakeleys Park. A grey day, damp and rainy. I see in the River Pinn (and both the river and park are more feral than they ever were in waking life) - there is a whirlpool beginning to form. I wish I had my phone or camera with me to take a photograph. The path narrows - I have passed along here before, perhaps even in this dream - and I am afraid of slipping and falling into the river. The path steepens, and I have to climb over a low wall. I look down to the watersedge, and see that it is not really very likely that I will fall.

Through The Door In My Room (night of 31/08/2019)

I stand at the back window of the middle-room looking out into the garden. A plume of smoke is rising either from the windowsill, or from a vent on the ground just below. Where is it coming form? I decide it must be coming from the cellar - I head down to the cellar, and discover, much to my alarm, that it is full of smoke. I try to look to see whereabouts in the cellar, but I am blinded by smoke - no wonder so many people die in a fire I think - and head back up the stairs before I lapse into unconsciousness.
***
I am in a bedroom - my room - the house itself - bears no resemblance to anywhere I have lived in waking life. Someone else is with me - possibly Emily. My room is made of brick, and there is a light, airy feel about it - though the room - the house itself, feels old - possibly Victorian. There is a door in my room - a door with windows - in fact the wall around the door seems full of windows, and there is a gap between the door and the door frame. I do not seem to have noticed this properly before. I see on the other side of the door a large room with many potted plants. It has the feel of a disused greenhouse or attic. I wonder how I can get to it. Then I realise that there is no lock on the door, all I have to do is move the chair that is in the way.
I walk out into the room, marvelling at how large this room is - the things I can do here! I call for Emily to come and see, I then realise I am out in the garden - I look behind me and see the windows of next door. It is the garden and not at the same time - hard to explain. Not the garden that could be accessed without going through the door in my room. I look at a stretch of grass that runs up a slope under some kind of covering - at least this part will be private and secret to me.
I walk up another slope of grass - I can see the fence surrounding the garden - the open gate - realise that anyone from outside could walk in - and into my room - there was no lock on the door of my room after all. I am somewhat dismayed at this thought. My dog is running about - again a dog that bears no resemblance to any waking life dog I have had. I notice other dogs have appeared. My dog and the other dog are running about enjoying themselves. With mild surprise I next realise that there are more dogs appearing in a sudden flash of light - as if they are teleporting in from somewhere. the dogs all seem happy and are content to run about in the garden in a chaotic form of play.

New Job In A Fried Chicken Shop (night of 15/08/2019_

I have a new job. I seem to be working in some kind of chicken shop. I am unsure what my duties are, but I am fairly sure I am not behind the counter. A new person has also started - his eyebrow is a single circle. He is messy and dirty - his jumper is covered in disgusting bits of food. He serves customers. I stand in front of the counter. Vague memories of having to fetch something - or clear something away. A middle aged woman comes in - called Steph? - I am told that I will learn far more if I follow her. Here we go, I think about my cosy old job at GTech, where I was comfortable and didn't have to think about learning anything new. She moves quickly and we walk into a corridor passing other people - then up the stairs. Somehow I lose her. I look out for her orange top to no avail. I walk upstairs and into what is the call-cantre - this is a call centre for a delivery company - somehow connected to the fried chicken shop. Lots of people behind phones asking how they can help. People smile at me. I smile back at them, unsure if they are smiling at me or co-workers, A lotr of them are wearing band T-shirts. I am hot and anxious.

Monty Python Hooligans (night of 03/08/2019)

A video being shown - perhaps on a news programme - of a group of lads travelling down an escalator. Loud and aggressive chanting, Are they going to see a football game?
An interior of a pub - this feels like Brighton - an upstairs and downstairs. I have to leave. Daylight. It transpires that the loud and aggressive men - obviously violent - are some kind of Monty Python hooligans and will be going to see the stage show.
A series of art studios set in a courtyard - moss growing on walls. Am I thinking of hiring one out? Do I already have one?
I realise I have left my sketchbook behind - in the pub where the Monty Python hooligans have gathered to watch the stage show. Fear and uncertainty. Perhaps they will be destroying my sketchbook. I must negotiate with them to get it back. Perhaps they have not found it.

Tiny Cowled Figures (night of 19/07/2019)

A canal. It is night. It appears to be the setting of a fantasy novel - or a film. Despite the fictional nature of this knowledge - the scene appears as if it is real. Despite the knowledge that this is 'fantasy' - the setting appears to be contemporary. The canal veers off into the distance. two figures - men - are waiting for something - for someone. Insectoid / humanoid figures approach alarmingly fast from the distance.
Walking through Swakeleys park. The psychogeographer John Rogers - walking on the side of the park near the tennis courts. Night-time as well? Possibly earlier. Small cowled figures haunt the park. They look like Jawas from Star Wars - but inside their hoods is a grinning skull.
John Rogers begins to run. He realises how dangerous these cowled figures might be. Swakeleys Park is edgy and haunted. He runs for the train station.
Reality seems to shift. Everything looks like a cartoon now. He leaps over a wall and into the train station - but what train station is this? Not the one he was expecting - it has a name like 'The Station On The Hill'. I should have written this dream down when I woke up.

Madman With A Violin (night of 29/06/2019)

Brighton. A dream-Brighton. It is night. In a place that feels like the tangle of streets by the station - or perhaps New England House. A madman with a violin is crouching on the ground, full of aggression. There is a woman here too. I am not sure if I know her.
The madman with a violin is unhappy - muttering to himself - we must escape him. We find ourselves in the darkened rooms of a building that make me think of some cheap hotel decades ago - red carpets and stairways and claustrophobic corridors. I suggest to the madman with a violin that perhaps it would be a good idea to turn his unhappiness into a song. This makes him more furious. He is going to attack us. I run up the stairs - then down the stairs. He is following me. If only I can get him to attack the woman - he can only follow one person at a time.
***
Brighton, Entering a pub. Perhaps the Evening Star. Sarah is in there. I do not want to go in and leave. I am unsure if Sarah has seen me.

Reverse Woodstock Drive (night of 25/06/2019)

In the house with Joe (though seeming slightly different). A knock at the door - through the window (unable to do this waking life) I see a number of people at the door - Americans? Germans? Tourists? They seem to have a number of map books. Joe has no intention of answering the door and dismisses such ideas in an off-hand way. If they are lots tourists I am eager to help them. I put my shoes on (?) and rush downstairs (the living room now on the first floor?) and open the door. One of the tourists - a woman - is walking away. I say 'hello' but then stop, puzzled. The path leading away from the front door is different - there is also a part of the house to my left - a kind of forward projection of the building - but we live in a terraced house and should all be flat? It reminds me of Woodstock Drive - I think I am aware of this in my dream - but not quite - as at Woodstock Drive, coming out of the front door, the forward extension of the house (containing the dining room / my room) should be on my right. What on earth is going on?

Waiting For A Play To Begin (night of 24/06/2019)

Waiting for a stage-play to begin. It seems to be some kind of college or amateur production rather than a professional outing. The cast seem to be composed of women I work with. I see Ellie, who now looks even more like Edward now she has cut her hair. I wait for them to begin, slightly nervous. I think how glad I am that I am  not on stage, with my penchant for laughing and giggling inappropriately. I feel oddly physically uncomfortable too, slightly sick.

Ideas For New Sapphire And Steel Stories (night of 18/06/2019)

In  a room with Steph - possibly others - Matt? We are waiting for Kirsty - something to do with a kite. The room is on the ground floor, and has the feel of some utility room - a garage or storeroom. Kirsty has turned up! Steph points out we can hear her from the car park. We step outside to find her. It seems to have turned into winter and night - a wind is roaring away. We look for Kirsty - outside seems to be some giant car park. As we walk to the car, I suddenly get ideas for Sapphire and Steel stories - a group of of security guards have odd things happen over the course of a night turn up ('we have been sent by your superiors'). I think about what odd things might occur - perhaps they will open the door of whatever building they are meant to be guarding, and a Victorian child might be there. Perhaps the guards themselves are involved in whatever is happening - perhaps the security guards are even working for the Transient Beings themselves?

Not Going To See And Also The Trees (night of 16/06/2019)

Walking down a sloping street. Andy is stood by the side of the road. I make an effort and say 'hello' to him as I pass. He rasps a 'hello' back. He looks unwell, as if there is some vital part of him decaying. He is stood with someone else - a figure who also has an unhealthy diseased look about them. There is a feeling of great antagonism between us. I have said hello because I might run into him at the And Also The Trees concert that night, and don't want it to be awkward. Even though it is going to be anyway.
Later.
I am not going to see And Also The Trees in concert. From a distance I look at the Malvern hills, where they will be playing. I cannot believe I am not going to be there, and am going to miss them again, espedially when Andy ans Claire will both be going. Perhaps others.

Going To See And Also The Trees In Concert (night of 15/06/2019)

I am going to see And Also The Trees in concert. Arriving at the venue. Dark. Night. Feels like London. I see that Simon, the singer, is coming out to have a cigarette. Will I have to talk to hime? What will I say? I push inside to buy my ticket, awkward to avoid any embarrassment. Inside I see the rest of the band gathered around the merchandise table - again confronted with the same anxiety issues... I push through the queue, the large rucksack on my back nearly pushing somebody over.

Behind Old Hillingdon Tube Station (night of 13/06/2019)

I am behind old Hillingdon tube station. I think I am trying to get up to Long Lane, but do not seem to be in a particular rush to get there. Behind old Hillingdon tube station is a tangled edgeland wasteland - a thorny tangle of bushes and red mud earth. I will have to ascend a steep slope to get to Long Lane. There is another path that runs up to it though, running parallel to the slope I wish to use. It is a shallower slope and more obviously a path. I am puzzled though. I have memories of using this path before and it was much different - then consisting of a series of long, steep stairs (both sides over shadowed by bushes) alongside which a sloping path ran. I have memories of running up this path.
There is a man and a woman here. At first I thought that they were children or teenagers, but they seem middle aged, like me. They seem to be messing about - just hanging around - and having an innocent good time - rather like teenagers, but without the inherent threat. I talk to them about the changing path up. I go to walk up the shallower path, but a voice from the bushes says 'help me'. I do not trust the voice and look around warily, but can see no source for it.
I decide to try and climb the steep path, and looking up it seems even steeper now. Looking up toward the top - where Long Lane should be, I can now see a pair of iron gates / fences - and another wire fence encircling an industrial complex of small building around a great chimney reaching to the sky.
I climb up using the roots of plants and trees that are sticking out of the red earth. It is harder than I thought. The man and woman tell me to be careful of the 'honey' - some substance smeared on the roots. Is this the reason for the root I have grasped in my hands feeling oddly repulsive? I am getting nowhere. I do not feel safe. The man and woman watch me. It seems to get steeper as I climb. I give up on this venture and jump down.
***
Some kind of industrial refinery. Night. With Barbara (possibly other people) from work? Running into the refinery, then out again. Playing games with the security guards. There is a far fence, on the other side of which a steep drop. Barbara runs in, and pulls (I think) the far fence down. We will be caught for sure this time. There is little in the sense of threat or danger to this possibility.

Random Lava Movements (night of 12/06/2019)

I am with Imran, an old friend from school. He seems melancholy over something. We are walking along a rocky path / concrete road by the edge of a sea. Lava is bubbling across the path. I do not remember where this lava comes from. We do not seem particularly concerned at the lava bubbling across the path. As Imran tried to get past one of the bits of ever encroaching lava, a spit of it suddenly shoots out, random and unpredictable. I tell him to be careful. I look with sudden concern at the lava seeming to suddenly be everywhere. How will we get past? This dream is connected to the sight of looking down on what seems to be an 'Austrian' village from high up in the mountains.

***

A serial killer has either been released from prison or has escaped. The police have issued warnings. The killer is known to break into peoples houses to torture and kill them, hiding in the smallest of the unused rooms. I check a small room at the back of a house the killer might use, a kind of annex by the back door. This part of the dream house feels very high, as if it is on the summit of a hill, or just before a huge drop down.
***
I am looking at moving house into the Warndon area. This is connected to Government benefits or some kind of official scheme. I try and look at my routes to and from work from my possible new house. It will take me much longer. This troubles me (in waking life, my workplace is actually situated in Warndon). Do I really want to move here?
The house is near a big supermarket - Waitrose or Asda or Tesco - some place like that. I am outside it - concrete pathways and overhangs. People passing by. I am suddenly afraid of a group of teenagers on bikes. I hope they will not be violent towards me. This will not be a good sign if I am to live in the area. I go to walk through them, and they ignore me completely and cycle off. One of the teenagers I see,  is in fact a middle-aged Asian man with a moustache.
With someone else? Am I moving in with someone else? The house is down a small alleyway (again, more concern at the location) - even though the alleyway or path seems quite open. I say goodbye to someone as I go to look at the house? Meeting an estate agent outside? This section of the dream is quite confused.
Near the big supermarket. I am pleased to see there is a bookstore here 'John Hale Books' or something similar. I am tempted to have a look around before they close. The bookshop is situated inside a huge area contained by perspex walls. The feeling of a shopping centre interior. I walk around the curving perspex walls, looking for a way in. There are ways in - but these - cut into the perspex itself are only about three foot high - as if made for dwarves or children.

***

(i woke up after the last of these dreams and scribbled notes to help me remember them when I woke. One of the notes I wrote reads (it is quite illwegible) 'new way home'. I can't remember if this is connected to one of the above dreams or not. I have a singular image connected with this phrase, of a green bush lining a pedestrian walkway under a wet and grey sky.)

Body Found In Gloomy Countryside (night of 11/06/2019)

A body of a woman found in gloomy countryside. Patches of melting snow. Grey skies. Wet, cold. There is the feeling that this is some kind of documentary. No real emotional connection to the fact a body has been found - just a single image of that bleak countryside, like the side of the A40, just outside Ickenham

***

On some kind of day trip involving a boat. Long barge moving lazily through waters. Docking at Diglis Island (larger in real life?) - but again the same grey skies as in the above dream. Going to pick someone else up. I am glad they are coming, whoever they are. Disembarking from the boat - stepping on foam squares floating in the water? An image of a bleak interior - possibly of the boat - feeling like an basement or a cellar, damp and black.

I think it's some kind of trip to see the cricket - that's the feeling anywhere. Walking up the stairs in a building - images of wood. "This way if you're not paying for anything" - a man ushers us in. Are we not supposed to show some kind of card or ticket? The man does not seem bothered.

In a large bar area. Sitting down. Has it really been this easy to get in?

(I think the following is connected to the same dream) - needing the toilet. The bar / cricket club does not have one. Walking down the street to use the public toilets, located on City Walls Road, running into Raz. Explaining to him where I am going. There is some discussion - I think - about why I don't use the toilets in a nearby pub rather than using the public toilets.

Kidnapped (night of 09/06/2019)

I have been kidnapped and held prisoner, taken hostage for a ransom by a group of men. I know I am to be killed. being held in a large house in the countryside. I may be being held prisoner with someone else / other people. At one point there is an escape attempt. Will it really be this easy? Walking up a gravelled slope through trees. One of the men waits for me. I ask him if I can have a cigarette. he says the 'price has gone up' and is now something like £30.

Sort Of An Assembly Hall (night of 07/06/2019)

A place - sort of an assembly hall - which resembles the interior of Abbotsfield School - also a little like the cavernous call centre of G-tech. I am here with Lady K. Did she live here once? She seems to have some connection to the place. Lots of her stuff is being sorted out from a small room - ready to be thrown away. I pick up a letter which is ostensibly to a letter from Canadian singer Celine Dion. Then I realise how foolish I have been. It must have been an article from a magazine. I feel vaguely guilty at the thought of throwing away a letter from Celine Dion though - and then I think - but Lady K is meant to be sorting her stuff out though. There are old magazines here - Sunday supplements and the like. I marvel at how big they used to be.
In a small room off the side of the assembly hall (all brown wood and age). A man is in here with us saying something. I have my back to him, but turn around and am surprised top discover he looks like some kind of goth/metaller.
Lady K holds me, kisses me on the cheek. I am unsure whether or not I should return the kiss.
In the assembly hall - now reminding me more of the call centre. A large room opens off the main hall, in which there are pieces of musical equipment. Luke and Jethro are playing instruments - though seem to be warming up rather than playing them. I wonder if I should join in. How good I would be at jamming with them. I wish they would hurry up and play something.

The Woman From The Newsagent (night of 06/06/2019)

About to enter a hours, keys upheld. The woman from the newsagent on the way to work is standing next to me - in the doorway of the house next door. She seems delighted to see me, and tells me how happy she is that I come into the newsagent. She has been away. I tell her how much I have missed her. we hug. She has a lovely smile.

Work Gossip (night of 05/06/2019)

Walking along a dark street with Nicky, gossiping about people at work - though the work we are gossiping about seems to be more Family Investments than my current job. Nicky tells me about someone who doesn't do very much work, and that lower management would 'like to get doing graphs'. I tell Nicky about a gay couple we work with whoa re having arguments, and - though it may not be news to her - of a relationship between Linda and John. I am wary of saying something to loud in case the people concerned are behind me. A girl comes past on a bicycle.

Assembly Hall Dance Exercise (night of 04/05/2019)

In some kind of assembly hall of a school (and also something vaguely reminiscent of a shopping mall as well). Seated on a table. There is some kind of expressive dance exercise about to kick in - the kind of thing that kids may have had to do in Steiner schools in the 1970s. Everybody about to wave their arms about in an expressive way... The thought horrifies me. Will I be forced to join in? I say to someone at the next table that this kind of thing makes me feel very uncomfortable.

Trying To Order Drinks (night of 03/06/2019)

The bar of a cinema. It is day. Trying decide what drink to have - and what does everybody else want as well? Trying to read the percentages on the pumps as I do not want anything too strong - or do I? There is a slope in front of the bar. The actress Natalie Dormer is sat with the group of people I am with, silent and looking down.

Keys Left In The Door

A shop - or at least some kind of lock-up / garage (reminiscent of Lion Mews?) connected to a shop - possibly a record store (though there is no sign of any shop front or merchandise). I have left the shop and notice that the man who owns the shop has left his keys in the door. I go upstairs to return these to him. He accepts them without a thanks. I think he is having an argument with his wife. I have a feeling I do this twice. The second time I return up his stairs with even more trepidation.
***
Looking at a photograph of our old cat, Tiger. Thinking she was 9 years old when the photograph was taken, halfway through her life, and she seemed old then. (Also: an image of Tiger running about, fit and healthy and surprisingly agile. Thinking that despite the fact she is old, I cannot imagine her dying).
***
In Westeros with Cersei and possibly Tyrion. Hedges of vast gardens and rich houses. Cersei is being a bitch with a small but deadly dog, using the dog to threaten to rip people apart. I work out a way to get upstairs with the dog - am I going to kill the dog? Unsure. This dream is fragments now.

The Demolished Pub At The End Of The Street (night of 27/05/2019)

In this house, in this street. Feels different - whiter - more light. Joe is going away on holiday, though needs something picked up - his quilt I think. He pulls up outside and beckons me over. I grab his quilt and run over. Next thing we are walking along to the end of the street. I ask him how the cricket went - he expresses a contemptuous surprise that I am 'taking an interest in cricket now'. I say that I am always interested in how he does. The street looks very different - more buildings - more urban - more like the St Marys area of Southampton. At the end is a pub - or was a pub - it is in the process of being demolished. A hallway stands - a door - and a small entrance hall - the portion of the building this has been attached to is no more - and the main part of the building is set further back from the street.

Going Out With A Transgender Woman (night of 26/05/2019)

A dark room - reminiscent of Malta. I have asked out a transgender woman, who resembles Yaz from work. We are now going out with each other. She is beautiful and silent. She moves about the darkened room. I do not know how to speak to her - what I should say. I realize I must tell her how I feel - even if we are seeing each other. I am reminded of Kirsten, my first girlfriend of school - I didn't know how to talk to her either. It suddenly strikes me that this woman is Matt's girlfriend. I am horrified. How could I accidentally have ended up seeing a friend's girlfriend?

Tiny Stairways (night of 24/05/2019)

A large and empty building - huge rooms - well-lit and vast - nothing in them. Opening the front door with a key (the door opening straight onto the street?). The floor od each room is covered in some kind of grey powder? I am with someone else - I can't remember who - possibly Emily. I discover that in the walls are tiny doors - at elast two of them. I call emily over and open the door, to discover a tiny stairway heading downwards. I reach my arm down the stairs - puzzled as to who would build these tiny stairways and for what purpose.
***
I am with a friend and their parents. I agree for the taxi to drop them home first. They live in the outskirts of town. The taxi seems to be taking a long time - heading out into dark streets without streetlight. The edges of the countryside, without light of any kind. I am concerned over how much this will cost and begin to regret my decision.

Evil Upstairs (night of 22/05/2019)

In the hallway of a building. A feeling of lots of stone. The base of a hotel. Garrie from work looks up a set of stairs. An absolute evil is yup there, heading down.

Back To Uxbridge (night of 16/05/2019)

I have come back to Uxbridge again on another pilgrimage into my past. A grey and overcast today - hint of slight wet in the air. Walking around the station (bigger and more 'urban' than recalled). Walking into Smiths - is it in the right place, I wonder? I look back - no, it is in the corner where it has always been - but it is also here, where Our Price used to be. I follow 3 teenagers in - one of them - a girl - is barefoot. One of the teenagers head straight for the counter. The layout of this Smiths reminds me of the one in Worcester.
I head around the back of Uxbridge, looking for a toilet. I know there is one in The Pavilions shopping centre. I do not seem to be able to find the shopping centre. My phone rings - I am not sure who it is - if it is Andy - or maybe an old man (unknown in waking life) - who may be recovering from recent hospital treatment. I talk anyway, and do not ask who it is, and am careful to use no names.
I talk about this return to Uxbridge - of how to everyone else I pass by it is just a normal day - nothing special - but how it is really important to me - as this may be the last time I ever come back to Uxbridge. As I say this, I wonder if I am correct. I want my last return to these teenage grounds to be on e which provides closure or at least a bit of happiness. As I explain this to whomever I am talking to, I pass by groups of Indian women - to them, Uxbridge is normal and the everyday.
As I walk I continue looking for The Pavilions shopping centre. I appear to have walked out of the centre of town, and am now in an oddly deserted outskirt full of unused looking industrial and municipal buildings. I look at one building - ringed by wire fences, and note that the rubbish has piled up to almost the first floor. Is that the same pile of rubbish I remembered when I was a teenager, back when it was smaller, when the pile of rubbish was just beginning? Anyhow, it is not The Pavilions. Where on earth is it? I say to my phone companion, that the thing with Uxbridge is that it is a lot harder to find your way around here than other places... so much easier to get lost.
I find myself down a very narrow pathway, bordered by two high embankments / walls that tower above me. The centre of the path is littered with rusty remnants of some industrial project - each side of the path has a narrow ledge it is possible to walk along. I am not sure whether or not it is easier to walk along these, or the sandy ground of the path itself, and make my way over the industrial objects.
I eventually come to the end of the path, and have to clamber through some polythese covering the end. I feel guilty about ripping this - but do so anyway, and clamber back up onto a path by a road - a roundabout in the distance - other empty looking buildings.
I turn and look back into the path, and am surprised to see a gravestone, just at the head of the alleyway. The gravestone looks new , and seems to be for two or three people. I read the inscription - one is for a woman, who died at the age of 66, after she had an accident 'learning something new on her corncob machine' - while another name is that of an air pilot who died in an aviation accident.
I continue walking.
I am approaching a patch of grass I remember from other return trips to Uxbridge. I wonder if maybe I should contact Simon? I know he lives here, and wont have seen him for over 20 years. Perhaps that would provide some sort of closure?
But my alarm goes off, and I am wrenched from dream back into the waking world.

Kissing Maisie (night of 15/05/2019)

With Maisie at Forres Academy. Not sure why I am there - some kind of return trip. It all looks completely different... Deeper into the school, I see a curve of a corridor, and realise that this is the same as it was (though bears no relation to it's waking counterpart). I ame excited by this, and I feel the years start to drop away. Pupils wearing white shirts come in - they look old somehow - but as if I am seeing them through the eyes of the 12 year old I was when I was at this school.
Now in some kind of underground parking facility - I definitely don't remember this from my school days... Sat with Maisie in a car holding hands. She accidentally on purpose exposes her nipple. I am worried that people will be able to see.
Somewhere else. Maisie talks about how expensive it is to keep her car running. An image of me flicking through copies of Swamp Thing from the 2000s. Kissing Maisie. Feeling her tongue flicker against mine.

The Malevolent Force In The Airing Cupboard (night of 12/05/2019)

I have access to Andy's old flat on Denmark Villas. The flat is empty. Andy has just moved out. No-one else has moved in yet. Putting my key in the lock and gently opening the door. Marvelling at how many times I have walked in this hallway before.
There is a damp, unpleasant feel to Andy's flat. Some of his old stuff is still scattered about. There is a small enclosed outside area - all paint peeling brick and stone, quite claustrophobic... I piss against the wall (of a fireplace? is this inside or outside?).
Inside the flat, looking at an airing cupboard in the corner. I think I have a company - a dog may have been here as well - reminiscent of our first dog Bruno. I look at the cupboard in the corner - the door opens, and a mass of clothes come out and recedes again - given life by some malevolent force within Andy's flat. A swelling and blossoming of of trousers and shirts and rubbish.
Later on, I approach the airing cupboard, and bury myself in the things there - now which seem to include saucepans as well as clothes. "Help me!" I shout out, to whoever is in the room "I'm below the water! I'm drowning!" I am neither, but I want to give across the impression that the airing cupboard is a portal to some other place where I might well be drowning.
I am fooling no-one.
***
Working back at The Telemarketing Company, though the building is somewhat different - now reminiscent of The Overlook Hotel from The Shining, lots of floors and stairways and lifts. Suki is also working there. She has been away last night with Claire, my cousin, on a possibly work orientated trip to Germany. I see her on one of the floors, about to step into a lift, explaining to someone that the Common Room is on the same floor as whatever room the person she is speaking to wants to get to - something like that anyway. I give the opinion that I can't believe that I can still get lost in the building after working there so long.
I am eager to tell Suki that Claire is my cousin - a fact I do not think she knows, but the call centre is busy, clogged with people. A manager takes me to the side - a conglomeration of various call centre managers I have had in the past - and talks to me about my drawings, my 'doodlings'.
Sat with Suki in some kind of breakroom - again clogged with people. I want to tell her that Claire is my cousin, but a loud man sat next to her interrupts me. Suki shushes me and stares into space.

Suburbs Of Memory (night of 30/04/2019)

I am living in a shared house with Jane B. The house resembles 136 London Road - or at least the kitchen area - the only part that appears in the dream. It is night time - dark windows that look onto the playroom. A feeling of silence. I am singing a song - but in exactly the same voice that Jane B used to sing in. The words of the song - my own - contain the lyrics 'suburbs of memory'. Jane B is in the kitchen - she is busy and looking melancholy. Distracted and in a bad mood. Has she heard me singing in her voice? I do not think so. I try to say hello to her, but I am met with a sullen silence. The barest response.

Fragments Of Silent Worcester (night of 29/04/2019)

The region of Worcester around the base of London Road / the cathedral - once a common dream-element, now not so much since I have moved back here. A confused collision of fragments. I cannot remember what order they go in.
***
Walking under a row of shop awning - where Siam Smile is now - the feel of a market. Looking at the dark sky - it is night-time. Also busy as well - the feel of a Christmas maerket. Now I am past the market, and look to the sky - I am surprised to see here that it is light - still day, even if late afternoon... Perhaps it was an optical illusion caused by the shops awnings?
***
Heading to the cathedral gardens. Late evening - but still sunny - that kind of rich, heavy sun I associate with late summer. I want to go for a walk down by the river - but is it safe to do so so late? An image of people walking aherad of me - I think I decide it is still safe to walk by the river.
***
Walking near the river with a girl - a young teenager - maybe about 15? She has some connection to people I have known in my past - though unsure what. I am teasing her about where she grew up - on some kind of council estate. She says something that I shouldn't make fun of council estate living\because they are 'all for one and one for all' or something similar. I am shocked. I hadn';t meant for it to be taken that way (or whatever way I was teasing, I can't remember) I tell her that I grew up on a lot of RAF housing estates - not quite council estates but similar I try explaining...
We come up to a large house - ragged and magnificent - in it's own garden, but surrounded by the streets of Worcester. Something pkleasing and attractive about the house. Is this where she used to live?
***
The dark interior of a shop selling old things. The shop is run by an old woman. I am involved in some kind of performance and need to purchase an animal mask. The shop is full of second hand bric-a-brac and scrappy antiques. The numerous rooms have the feel of some kind of bed and breakfast - is it also a place where actors come to pick up things to use? I am upstairs and most go downstairs - I try to find an animal mask din the main room - other people are there also looking for things to sue in their performance. Suddenly intimidated, I want to leave. Perhaps I can make an animal mask out of papier mache.

Night of 29/03/2018 - Canal Walking Holiday

I on some kind of canal walking holiday with Emily - perhaps and Al and Claire too. Walking along the canal towpath at night. Looking at out huge, distorted reflections on the still, canal water. Suddenly excited that these are shadows cast by the moon - the moon is causing these huge distortions.
Is there a dog with us? I think so.
We stop for a rest on the towpath, and I fall asleep. I wake with my hand resting on the dog. Al and Claire have gone far ahead. To my surprise I find that the towpath is near to a busy pub. Two kids come cycling along the towpath. We make room for them and they pass us by. We head into the pub - it is a family orientated 'estate' style pub - or perhaps a social club. It is busy. A man at the bar is having a conversation with the barmaid about a certain kind of shampoo - ' but surely it is used only as a booster shampoo?'. It is busy and I seem to be in the way everywhere. I ask Em is she wants a drinks, but she says 'not unless it's a cup of washing up liquid'. I cannot buy a drink for myself because of the £5 card limit. I tell her I shall head back to the boat (apparently we now have a boat) - she disagrees with me, and I ask her why - and she says something about running water. I tell ehr that the place is starting to make me feel socially anxious, and she changes her mind.

***

Again with Em? Finding two dogs in a back street. The dogs are happy and friendly and need looking after. Where are the owners? I cannot leave them to fend for themselves. Finding an RSPCA stand. Perhaps they will look after them. I suddenly realize that I have left my bag in a huge square shaped hole in the ground - (are we at the beach?) The bag - a kind of cross between a laptop case and a suitcase is open - exposing my laptop - anyone could have stolen it.

***

I need an eraser, so I head into the cathedral gift shop to find one. The interior of the shop has all changed arounf. I go and look at the books - there is a second hand section for remaindered and damaged stock. I flick through the titles and am pleased to find two reprinted copies of the 'Not At Night' horror anthology series - but these are very damaged (rips in the cover etc) and not that mach cheaper than they would have been at full price. Disappointed. I find the erasers in a pot,a nd queue up to buy one. The erasers are slightly dirty and ragged looking. They will do though.

Maps of Southampton (night of 24/02/2019)

Looking at a map of Southampton - or certainly an aerial view. Lots of factories and industrial buildings lining a river that cuts through the centre of town.
Someone is explaining to me that the river is full of fishes that eat shoes. Many people do not notice till they get out of the river and their shoes fall apart.

Shortcut In Stone (night of 09/02/2019)

Back in Stone, Worcestershire, a dream region.
Standing on the road that leads up the hill. I can see over the fields. Buildings. A small footpath runs by these buildings. I am surprised to see a street lamp down this footpath - I did not realise this footpath was so well used. I start daydreaming about Stone - about this footpath - I have only come back as a visitor. What would it be like to live here - to fall in love here? To meet a girl for a second date and perhaps walk down that footpath?
At some point I walk down that footpath - it is a shortcut across the fields. I am surprised at how quick it takes me to walk the length of the footpath andf wish rit could be longer. The footpath takes me through a stretch of trees. Across the fields I can see a small hill with at least two clumps of trees on it - spinnies, as I know them. They entrance me. I take my phone out to to take a picture, but three people come along the path and disturb me.

Unknown River (night of 06/02/2019)

I am walking with Sarah and some other people by the side of a river / canal. I have not seen Sarah since I left Brighton. I am eager to tell her that I do not miss the place ata ll.
I suddenly realise that I do not recognise this stretch of river. We are crossing a high footbridge, and I lookl down and see a fast rushing river in an orange bed of mud. I look upstream and see small channels and rivulets, little pools, all within this landscape of dangerous looking mud. The look of it fascinates me. I must remember to come here when I'm on my own, I think.
We continue walking. I ask Sarah for news of Brighton. She says that everyone was down the beach last night and - Too late! I slip on the muddy embankment, and save myself from plunging into the water, by pushing myself up on my elbow - though there is no real sense of danger of me falling in - I reach out a hand hoping, hoping to be pulled back to the footpath. An image of some people walkin away. Other people do not seem to know what to do.

Lost Glasses (night of 04/02/2019)

It seems I am sharing a bedroom - possibly living - with a number of girls from work, Sarah, Vicky etc... It is morning. We are all getting up. Some of the girls are talking about mens' rooms - how the view out of their room is often seen as an alpha-male dominance thing - the better view from the room - the more kudos that man has (particularly if the room is higher up?). I am looking for a shirt - I find myself rolling about in cupboards full of clothes.
I am now in a supermarket - this is also the room too - or at least a place connected to it. I put down my glasses on a sofa down one of then aisles, and the lens falls out. I am annoyed by this. I leave the glasses where they are - I shall fix them later. A man comes up to me - he has a number of lenses - lenses that will fit into new glassers. Some of these lenses might actually work. I know that he has got these lenses from the pharmacy attached to the supermarket. He says that if I accept these glasses from him, that I will be in his debt. This disturbs me greatly - whoever this man is - I do not want to be in his debt. Perhaps the optician who gave him the glasses had to because he was in his debt too? I have an odd feeling that the man is some kind of devil...
I return to my old glasses, to fix them with sellotape - but where are they? Disaster! I cannot find the glasses anywhere - cannot even remember what sofa I had left them on! Karen turns up, and she suggests that I go to the opticians to get another pair - I tell her I am terrified of opticians.
I realise I am going to be very late for work.
I wake up angry and irritated, though very relieved my glasses have not been lost in the supermarket.

Bookshop Closing (night of 30/01/2019)

Bargain Books in Uxbridge. Now run by a woman called 'Helen' (who resembles Emma next door, and not the Helen who worked in Bargain Books back in 1989). Bargain Books is closing, which makes me somewhat sad. Helen is pleased to see me. Flicking through the books trying to find something genre-related.

Centuries Old (night of 19/01/2019)

Outside 136 London Road.
It is night.
My headphones have become caught up with my keys (?). Attempting to remove them. Difficult. I decide to film myself untangling the keys from the headphones. I am using some kind of laptop / pad to do so. The camera operates strangely - filming me when the camera is pointing away. It seems to sort itself out.
I cast sneaky glances at 136. All the rooms are dark. No tantalising glimpses of the in side of my old house tonight. 136 still has an odd presence about it though.
(looking at the image which I am filming. I think it is of me stood across the road)
Across the road there are a number of my friends sat round in a circle. I go to join them and this portion of the dream is now set in a room. I sweep my camera around, filming them as I say 'hello to all these superheroes and superheroines'. I am overjoyed to see my old dog Bruno amongst them - he is looking very old (the words 'centuries old' are heard - or at least associated with this section of the dream). I go to say hello to him - and though he does respond, his responses are that of an animal who has indeed lived for many centuries.
Is there also an old man with a long beard, somehow connected to Bruno?

Broken Glasses (night of 20/01/2019)

Waiting with my Mum for a train. To my horror, my other glasses break. Both my pairs of glasses have now broken and this means that I will have to face my fear of and and all medical procedures and actually go to the optician. I am glad that my lens did not drop into the path of the train.
I will have to fix my glasses as best as I can for now though. We look for a seat on the train - a drunk man lolls in one of the seats, sprawled about. Mum sits down in a seat for one - where am I to sit? I really want to fix my glasses.

Arrests Across The Street (night of 15/01/2019)

I am woken up by some kind of commotion in the night. Music, noise, lights. Flashing lights in my room coming through the curtains. I realise that the dreadful people across the road are being arrested. I peek through a gap in the curtains, and see a man crouched in the doorway. I pull back into the darkness of my room. I do not want to be spotted.
*
The Co-op in what appears to be London Road, Brighton. A happy dog is running about. One of the store staff, an older lady, I explains to me, that the dog is hers, and she is now allowed to bring it into work. 'I've never seen her so happy, now that she has her customers she says of the dog. The dog is certainly a happy one, running about, outside the store front, then back again. I crouch down,a nd the dog comes up to me. The dog, though small, is surprisingly strong, and pushes me onto my back. I look up. One of the store staff looks down at me. I am afraid I have got in the way of him putting out a delivery - though it is unclear whether I am or not.

This Really Is A Shit Day (night of 14/01/2019)

I return home. I am living in a large Vjctorian house in Brighton - a room of separate studio flats. I enter the hallway, and pass by a man on the stairs. One of the other residents. We do not say a word to each other. I go up the stairs to the first floor, then up to the second floor, then up - hold on. The stairs to the third floor end in a wall (brown wood panelling as all of the house). Of course! I live on the first floor! Silly me! Mystery solved... I head down the stairs - but no. That is certainly not my flat. Everywhere seems subtly changed. I think I may head into one of the flats (at the front of the house) - it is certainly not mine though - I look out of the window, and see that though it is the same street I am on the house seems ton have changed location a bit - shifted to the left or right, Perhaps I am in the wrong house? Then I think... as I passed one of the flats, didn't I see the landlord, Dr Raouf (who was my landlord in waking life from 2003 - 2007) doing something. I hope it wasn't in my flat. I did not give him permission. I do not want him to see my flat as it is very messy. It turns out not to be my flat anyway.
Despondent I head out. I am joined by two of our old dogs - docile, as all our old dogs are when they turn up in dreams. At least I have some company. Outside, I turn back and look at the house. Yes, it is definitely mine. A grey and sober day. I ring a friend and tell them what happened.
I am on a train with a number of other people - I think I am going up to Worcester. The train guard comes along and asks for our tickets. I wish I had checked I had mine before boarding the train. I look through my wallet - no, nothing there - then all my pockets. Nothing. To my growing horror I realise that I will have to buy another train ticket. This really is a shit day, I think to myself, what with the issues with the house changing, and now losing my train ticket. The ticket inspector seems sympathetic, and as I go to pay, says that he would need to take my card details for 'VAT purposes' anyway.
*
With a number of other people. Phillipa from Pure Fundraising is one of the people there - or at least someone who resembles her. In the dream though, we had gone to school together when in Scotland. She gets me to tell everyone what she had been like at school, when she was incontinent and had to wear a nappy. She seems quite happy with this tale being told.
*
Returning home, Brighton I think. Scaffolding around buildings. Someone says that a famous Hollywood film star is in town shooting a new film. (An image of someone falling from a piece of scaffolding? Blood pumping? Is it a horror film?). I idly wonder what if someone lived on one of the streets closed for filming. How would they get home? This bothers me. What if someone had a studio on one of the streets used for filming and they had an exhibition to get to (an imagine of someone coming out of a building carrying lots of painting into a busy street). Would the filming stop to allow them to set up the exhibition or not? What would be more important?

Astronauts (night of 13/01/2018)

A circle of people is stood outside, in some kind of garden area with a Mediterranean feel. They have been selected to go on a mission into space. They are not professional astronauts, though it is unclear whether or not they have taken part in a competition (television?) or something done as part of as career. The people look very ordinary. One of the people who has been selected is a woman in her mid-thirties. Wide smile. Brown hair. The group are being told of their being selected by another woman, who has already been into space. She looks very much like the woman who has been selected. What my role in this is is unclear. I have a large vessel for filling water - an earthy colour - it may be made out of clay. I go to fill this up from a tap in the garden. This will form part of their preparations somehow.

Brighton Ghosts (night of 12/01/2019)

In Brighton, in front of the train station.
I step out of a car? A bus? A black cat gets out too - it is a friend's cat. I certainly have some connection to it. I am suddenly concerned for the cat. Afraid it might get run over. It races up the street, toward the sea.
*
I am showing Sarah Chamberlain the stairway of the house where I live. The stairway is ornate and Victorian. I am very proud of it. I am showing her via some kind of camera / computer, controlling the viewpoint though some remote means. I see beyond the bannisters, my room in the distance of the landing. It is less impressive.
*
Sarah W is crying and upset. I am stood on an 'upper level' - perhaps some stairs? Sarah is outside. I am looking down on her. Sarah seems to be in some kind of garden. There is a washing line behind her. I am afraid that it is me who has upset her. She says that she feels she has no 'get-up and go' any more.

The Cat By The Riverside (night of 09/01/2019)

The shallow banks of a river. Muddy. A number of pipes jutting out of a stone wall discharging water. Trees. Branches, Tangle. I am passing by - some kind of vehicle, a car, a boat? I look at the muddy embankment by the pipes. It looks cold. I cannot imagine sleeping there.

I am on the bank itself now. A black cat is there. To my horror I stands on the cat's tail. The cat is unhappy, and tries to scratch me. I hide my hand inside the sleeve of my coat. I am worried the cat will no longer want to be friends with me. I try to make friends with the cat again.

 *
This may be connected to the above dream - perhaps set in the same location? - Vague images of a computer screens and muddy river banks. A cold room - brown panelling...
I am at work. My last call of the day comes through. A customer is angry because there has been some damage from one of our vacuum cleaners. I think I talk to both the husband andwife. Neither wants to give me their account details. Some of the text on the screen is highlighted in green squares. This means that something has gone wrong with the computer - I will not be able to use it. Is it  because I have reached the end of my shift. Didn't the same thing happen yesterday? The custoemers are angry. It transpires that the Air-Ram vacuum that has caused the damage is not theirs, but someone else's. They are the ones that have been damaged, but the vacuum is not actually theres. I am puzzled and do not know how to proceed with this. 

Charles Manson Is Disappointed In Me (night of 06/01/2019)

I am in Sainsburys. 1960s leader of murderous hippy-cult Charles Manson is sat cross-legged somewhere inside. He is disappointed in me. Disappointed and angry. I must escape from Sainsburys. Getting out of Sainsburys is difficult. A maze of shelves selling a variety of tinned goods and groceries. Larger than I recalled. I must make it up Rainbow Hill towards work. I will be safe there. Slipping between parked cars as I cross the road, about to start the gentle upwards slopes. Grey skies and thoughts of rain.