Remembering Old Trips Back To Forres (night of 14/12/2023)

I see on facebook that Joe Bird's friend Simon, has put up trips of their recent holiday away. There is a picture of five of them on what seems to be a coach. He has also put up a map showing them where they have been. It seems that they have been in Elgin - 'only twelve miles' away from where I used to live in Forres. I am jealous. I should have made the effort to go. I could have visited Forres again.
I remember other trips I have taken back to Forres - always on my own. An image of white street lights in a dark winter morning.
vague memories from th dream of actually being on a trip there. I am staying overnight in a hotel. I think how strange it will be to spend so much time there. Most of my previous trips seem to have been conducted in onbe day.

Silent Family Room (night of 14/12/2023)

I am in a room with my father and sister. everyone is silent, involced in their own worlds. I think I may be reading. I feel restless and consterained. Is it normal to spend so much time in a room without speaking? I leave the room for a kitchen. I am cooking some food, frying some oil. This is pleasing. There is some kind of butter on the edges of the frying pan which I ease into the oil. This butter is the remnant of previous meals cooked.

Drunken Tangents (night of 13/12/2023)

Night-time. I am walking with a work colleage away from work, down by the playground that leads to Tolladine Road. It is late at night. We have been to the work Christmas party and are heading home.
My friend gets into a taxi, and the taxi zooms off at an alarming speed; screeching wheels, roaring engine.
I feel glad I am not in the taxi, and am amused that my friend has to get the dangerous taxi home.
Then I am not pleased. I am way out in Warndon, and it is late at night, and I have many miles to get home.
I end up by the hospital. This is different to how it is in waking life. A vast road - a huge roundabout. It is now daylight. I am aware I am drunk, and if I were not drunk, then this would look completely different. There is the feeling that this is an hallucination. I go to cross the road, and am suddenlky concerned about being run over, and head back to the pavement. If this is not reality, how would I be able to see any approaching vehicles?
Now I am walking out of the hospital into some kind of countryside. memory loss - a side effect of being drunk. How did I get here? I do not want to walk out into the countryside. This may be a dangerous area, though there is not a great deal of concern within me.
I find myself in an area of the hospital where people are living. There are a lot of asian people here. What would it be like to live here, or to visit people here regularly.
I climb up a steep set of stairs. Someone is in front of me. A woman walks down the stairs, and briefly lays her han d on my leg.

Sunset Path (night of 11/12/2023)

Walking a path through Aconury Orchard. The path runs between a wood to my left and a line of trees / bushes to my right. I notice an orange / sunset light falling between these trees / bushes. I think it would be nice to have a dog with me. I look into the woods to my left. The wood looks deep - wintry - more full of branches than leaves. I think about Leighton (a childhood friend) - and how we might play there - at what point would the woods become creepy and we would have to run out?
The path leads me upwards and into a wood. I come to a river. There are swans floating on the river. The path curves to the left.

Leaving The Manor House (night of 14/11/2023)

An old manor house, luxurious and dark. I have been staying at the manor house for a while, but now it is time to leave. I go back into the house one last time - possible to use the toilet. I am pleased that I get to be in the house on my own.
Possibly connected to the above dream:
I step outside of work for a cigarette (despite the fact I do not smoke in waking life). The outside of work looks like the front of Abbotsfield Comprehensive School. Barbara is smoking by the welcome sign - she does not smoke in waking life either.
I think about walking around the building and back in again - my image of this is of work as it is in waking life (ie nothing to do with Abbotsfield School). my i,mage is of some late afternoon, dark rainy evening.

Is That Jim? (night of 09/10/2023)

 Outside. Stalls and people. it feels like large village fete. I see Jim is there - or is it Jim? I am unsure whether ot say hello or not. He has a beard and looks more handsome than he does in waking like.

The Green-Dark Canal (night of 09/10/2023)

A dark canal - a feeling of nighttime. Sketchy people setting up stalls along the canal - some kind of gypsy-like underworld. Walking along the canal, passing under bridges. The darkness under the bridges surprises with the viscosity of the darkness. Between the bridges, the light is twilight dark, a deep subterrenean green. I take photographs of the canal ahead of me. I am surprised to see a line of cars parked along the towpath - they are not there when I look up from the camera or phone I am using. Perhaps I have accidentally used the zoom, and this is showing a scene ahead of me along the canal?

A Not-Quite Real Feeling Prison (night of 02/10/2023)

 I am in prison - or day dreaming vividly about being in prison. An underground kind of apartment. lots of men standing around. 'This is where I live now', or something similar. It feels more like a subterrenean flat share than a prison. It does not quite feel real - as if we are all actors in some kind of play.

Going to Meet the Mind of the House (night of 01/10/2023)

An old house - huge and labyrinthine. It is nighttime. I am out in the garden with a lot of other people. This part also feels inside too - large sheds perhaps? There is a cosy feeling about it all - mixed with a kind of excitement, as for a festival or a celebratory religous ritual.
I am sat on the ground - Dave T. is there - also Jim. A girl I think is Suzanna. Words / writing on a wall. This is somehow connected to why we are there.
Flickering firelight and darkness.
Ghostgirl is here too. I am pleased to see her. We do not speak - I wonder if I should speak to her? I hear her talk to someone though. I am glad to hear that she does not sound as crazed as I fear she might in waking life. Other people leave to go somewhere. This is called 'taking shifts'. I am left along with Ghostgirl. I wonder if I should talk to her.
Deeply kissing Suzanna. This is somehow connected to the ritual.
I take Dave away, my arm around his shoulders. A part of me still wishes I was with Suzanna, and wonder where she is. The house is massive - maze-like, full of corridors, rooms, stairways. A huge infinite warren. All lit with that atmosphere of firelight and nighttime. Everything woodpanelled and cosy. I am eager and excited to explore the house.
A small set of curving stairs - do these end at a door? Do we open the door?
It feels like Dave T and Jim are somehow connected to this hosue - did they live here in the past? As we travel further into ther house, it seems that I know what part is coming next.
There is a long curving walkway - then the walkway seems to go through some kind of 'lock gates'. I feel possessed of some kind of ecstatic power.
"All houses are alive Dave!" I say, to which he replies "I know. I used to feel it when I lived in the house at Tolly Road". Is this a reference to this house in another location, or another house he used to live in?
"We're going to meet the mind of the house!" I triumphantly explain.
A sudden image of silent pine trees beneath a grey sky, curving away. This is all part of the house.

The dream also had a soundtrack - that of 'Heaven Heath' by psychedelic folk band Mellow Candle. This song is playing at some point - possibly connected to something displayed on a blackboard? Some kind of art installation? I point this out to someone who is connected to choosing this soundtrack, a tall man with sandy blonde hair. He seems unimpressed with me pointing this out, and explains to me it is not the song that is playing but some kind of recreation of it - a re-recorded version based on the silences between the notes, or similar.

Joining S.H.A.D.O (night of 27/09.2023)

 I am at work - or a work place that seems physically different to waking work. Standing in some corridor outside of a door - possibly to a lift. Barbara is there looking younger than in waking life. she is working for SHADO - the organisation dedicated to fighting an extraterrestrial invasion in 1970s sci-fi show UFO. Or possible the fraud department where I do work in waking life, This is unclear. I am invited to join SHADO. She says that I will not be the queen to her king - meaning that I will not be on the same level as her. I am pleased to be joining this secret organisation.

Sleeping Through The Alarm (night of 25/09/2023)

I am lying in bed and realise that sunlight is coming through the window. It should be dark when my alarm goes off. I check the time and to my horror realise I have slept through my alarm. It is something like 8:20am - I actually should have started my shift.

I am outside. there are other people about. Some kind of housing estate - perhaps in St Johns? My parent smight be there too. I hope someone will give me a lift to work. I talk about catching a taxi - but do I have a taci company number. the phone number 01905 345 345 vcomes to mind. There may be some kind of barbeque going on. Grassy front lawns and red brick walls. A man with long hair asks if I can make him a coffee. He has mistaken me for some kind of barista working there. I tell him that I do noit owrk there. He apologsies, but in a slightly aggresive manner.

Back Of The House Energy (night of 25/09/2023)

I am in America with my cousin James. He has moved into a new house. We are in a room at the back of the house. A grey, autumnal room - feeling both haunted and cosy. I talk with people about houses having 'back of the house' energy and 'front of the house' energy. This means that rooms at the back and the front have different feelings to them - rooms at the back of the house have a more insular, introspective feeling. Rooms at the front of the house are brighter and more extrovert.

Walking through some kind of shopping mall with James. He moves quickly, and I find it difficult to keep up with him. I lose him in the basement level of some kind of bookstore selling fanzines. I am sure that I will catch up with him. i hope I do anyway.

I cannot believe I am in America. I think about James's old house - he ha smoved from Portland to somewhere like Washington. It would be impossible to pop over to his old hosue as America is so large.

Reassuring Jodie Whittaker (night of 24/09/2023)

 I am looking at a stall of magazines and fanzines, flipping through one. I look to my right and am surprised to see the actress Jodie Whittaker standing there. She is taller than I thought she would be. I thank her for all she has done for Doctor Who - I am eager to reassure her, as I know her tenure playing the doctor attracted criticism. She gestures towards the fanzine I am flipping through. There is an interview with her in it - she may have signed it too. I look at the price - it is something like £146. Tooe xpensive for me to buy.

HMV on Ruislip High Street (night of 07/08/2023)

I am walking along Ruislip High Street. I suddenly think I should be walking with more purpose and confidence. I am surprised and pleased to see a HMV has opened up - silver lettering on the black background of the store sign.
I enter the store and begin flicking through records. I am pleased to see they have a number of records by and Also The Trees. I pick up the reissue of the live album The Evening Of The 24ths. I am disappointed and puzzled to see that they only have the record and inner sleeve. There is no cover.

Findhorn Fragments (night of 28/07/2023)

Fragments really, nothing else. Images of Findhorn Beach in Scotland. Emily against the grey skies. Bleak atmosphere but strangely appealing. The interior of somebuilding - dark wood - the room feels old. This is possibly connected to some kind of voluntary work that Emily is doing.

Interrupted Horse Racing Transmissions (night of 28/07/2023)

 A discussion about televised horse-races in the past. Someone mentions that the transmissions were always interrupted by... Damn, there was a two word name here I remembered when first waking but has gone now. That serves me right for not writing it down. The name sounded vaguely like something from a 1970s childrens TV show. Someone explained that this referred to a military base, and the RAF Tornadoes that were based there.

Images of a Slightly Familiar RAF Housing Estate (night of 22/07/2023)

Images of an RAF housing estate. Red bricked houses - green lawns. The streets seems steep, as if the hosues are built ont he hill.. The sky seems to indicate that it has recently rained. It seems I am watching this as some kind of documentary rather than actually being there. Is this docuemntary somehow connected with Debs - is she connected to some kind of celebration, perhaps a relatives birthday? As I watch these streets, I become quite excited that it may be the streets around where I lived in Woodstock Drive - but I am unsure if it was or not. There are lots of children about.
(The following may be connected to the same dream)
Two children - a pair of young girls are sat on a wall on the edge of a petrol station forecourt. Hot, sunny day. I am annoyed by the girls for some reason. One of the girls has injured herself by banging her head. I am concerned for her safety, but she doesn't take the possibility of a head injury seriously.

The Neighbours Flats (night of 21/07/2023)

I am living in a house full of flats - a version of the house I am living in now, but not. Dark wood panelling in the hallways.
Meetings in the hallway with neighbours. There is some kind of issue with accessing the other flats, connected to some kind of machine that responds to voice commands, a little like an Alexa.
I am in my flat. I hear someone calling for me. I open the door to a friendly looking neighbour. The robotic machine - something that might be taken to a 1970s television show / film - is on wheels. Some kind of tube leading to a mouthpiece you are supposed to speak into. I am unsure what to do.
Anothe neighbour is there as well - a man with a slight hint of an aggressive nature about him. I do not like him so much.
Another time. I am saying to someone that I never see another of the neighbours. One day I am surprised to see that their door is open. I look inside - a huge room like a vast hallway vanishing into the distance. I see that a small family lives here - the very vastness of the room means that I never hear them, and this has led me to suspecting that no-one lives there.
I am also surprised to see a number of small tables with sewing machines on them. Someone may have been using one of the sewing machines. The scene make sme think of some Victorian textiles workplace.
I also see into the aggressive man's flat. A large room - not as nice as mine. I am happy I have the flat I have. His flat consists of one large room. At the end of the room I can see that he has a balcony section, which I do not have. He may be out there watering plants.
In the garden of the building. Other people. Probably othe residents.
I see amongst a pile of rubbish to be taken away, a number of my belongings - books and the like. I see a copy of ghost stories by Sheridan le Fanu. I wonder why I wanted to get rid of this as I quite like Sheridan le Fanu's ghost stories.
I have a memory of when I moved into my flat, the aggressive man's flat was empty. I stored some of the stuff I didn't want on top of the shelter over his bed (a bit like the canopy of a four poster bed).

A Mugger With A Knife (night of 21/07/2023)

I am in Brighton. It is night. Dark back streets and orange streetlights. It feels like we are walking the backs of houses and shops and restaurants. A deserted area. I am with with someone - possibly Emily or Louise. It strikes me suddenly how dark the shadows are between the pools of streetlight. Perhaps this is dangerous.
A man appears out of the darkness, intent on violence - perhaps this is a mugging. The man is tall and resembles Nick the folk singer, who I used to work with - but with a moustache. He is wearing some kind of beanie hat.
He pulls out a small knife and approaches us. There is some kind of scuffle. I am somehow on the floor, but he drops the knife, and I pick it up.
Another man comes out of the darkness to help us, and pushes the mugger back. I stand up holding the knife. The knife is small, and the blade looks blunt and inneffectual.
The mugger looks at the knife, and pulls out a hige machete concealed inside his jacket.

Gangs, Intimidation and Cameras (night of 16/07/2023)

I am living in a shared house - a detached one in what seems to be an urban area. This shared house is possibly connected to work, but I cannot recall which of my colleagues are in the house.
I do recall that Katy is in the house - Katy is someone I went to school with when I was a child in waking life, and I haven't seen her for nearly 40 years. In my dream she is blonde with wild hair. There is a flirtatious atmosphere between us. She lies on me. I pull her down and she kisses me lightly on the lips. I am pleased by this.
Nighttime, a sofa in the living room. The CEO of the company - perhaps on some kind of poster.
I need to leave the house - perhaps to go to a nearby shop or petrol station. I am confronted by a gang of dangerous teenagers on bikes who are involved in some kind of drug running crime. A feeling of intimidation. they are coming for me. I go back to the house, but my key will not work. The teenage gang are coming. I must hurry.
Attached to the side of the door is some kind of old school film camera. A middle-aged Japanese man comes up to me. He is interested in the camera. Despite the growing nearness of the teenage gang, I stop and talk to him, extolling the virtues of SLR cameras. He is interested in buying the camera. I try to take the camera off the wall - this is somehow connected to me getting into the house and into safety.
A sticky, slimy part of the camera comes off in my hand - the film cannister or something seems to have rotted. I apologise to the man and explain that I have not used one of these camera for a long time.

The Haunted Lift (night of 15/07/2023)

I enter a lift at a hotel. I feel I am working at the hotel rather than staying there. Despite the fact that I can see no windows - the whole dream seemed to happen in the confines of the lift - it has a feeling of nighttime.
I press buttons on the life, and the lift seems to take me to other 'behind-the-scenes' levels - soemthing to do with 'engineering'. These floors do not seem to be 'above' or 'below' - but almost sideways. Strange figures come up on the lift panel. I am not meant to be on these levels. I press buttons, trying to get to wherever I am meant to be.
There is a sign on the lift about emergency procedures, advising that the safest exit route, and the correct place to meet up, is 'across the park' or something similar.
Perhaps I can just leave the lift and escape, and pretend I was never here?

Homeless Region (night of 15/07/2023)

I am homeless.
I am with other homeless people, sleeping in sleeping bags in a grassed area - rather like Hove Lawns. Someone says to me that it is good I am here, as the other homeless region can be violent and dangerous. There is a leader to this group of homeless people, a Greek looking man whose name is something like 'Jardin'.

Swans Like Fishes (night of 11/07/2023)

Some kind of wide shallow river running down rocks from what seems cliffs. There seems to be different sections to the river - some deeper parts. Dark, brown water. There are swans in the river - cygnets just reaching maturity, resembling adult swans, but their plumage is jagged and grey. Their entrance into adulthood seems to involved some kind of ritual involving other swans. A vague feeling that this ritual is aggressive. The swans twist and turn in the deep water like fishes.
There are people here. I am here too, though do not seem to know the other people. There is also a black goose who stalks at me in an aggressive fashion, pecking my ankles. Initially alarmed, I take a step back, but realise there is nothing to be concerned about, and the goose loses interest and walks away.
I notice that some people are walking through what I thought were deeper parts of the river, but I can see the water is only a few inches deep, and it is possible to walk through.

Bouffant Man (night of 05/07/2023)

 A cheesy looking man with a bouffant hairstyle. Possible leather jacket. Looks 1980s. big cheesy grin.

Records In The Supermarket (night of 03/07/2023)

There is a record stall in the supermarket,reminds me a little bit of the old Woolworths in Uxbridge. . I flick through the records hoping to find a copy of Immortal's new album. I do not find it - there seem to be lots of metal bands with black and white covers. I also see a copy of Brazilian hardcore / thrash band Ratos de Pauro for £30. I wonder who would pay £30 for a Ratos de Pauro album.
I have a feeling I am meeting Jenna and Ellen. An image of myself walking between big grey buildings, possibly some kind of bus station. There is an autumnal twilight feeling to everything - grey light fading. A soft dreamlike atmosphere.
(The following is possibly connected to the above dream...)
I am showing people at work my latest purchase from eBay - a green spaceship I used to have when I was a kid (and recently bought in waking life from eBay too). The work interior is dark, and feels like early winter. Along with the green spaceship is some kind of white spaceship, and maybe a toy van. These came with the green spaceship I wanted.
I play with the white spaceship, wondering when the last time I played with a toy spaceship was.

A Return To The Top Corridor (night of 02/07/2023)

One of my recurring dream-themes is that of a haunted top-corridor in either a hospital or educational institution. I haven't had this dream for many years.

I was back in Worcester University - though it bore no resemblance to it's waking life counterpart. I was with Graham and his wife Clare, and also Kirsty Bishop. It suddenly struck me that I had not visited the haunted top corridor for a long time, and wanted to do so - a sudden thrill of fear and excitement at the thought of this. Graham was initially enthusiastic about doing so, but soon changed his mind as he needed to get home. Kirsty showed more enthusiasm.
We headed up the stairs, but everything had changed. We looked down from some kind of gallery onto a huge futuristic complex - like a sci-fi filmset from the 1980s - all walkways and shining neon lights. I noted with interest that there were only single people walking about. It seemed hard to know if we were accessing the haunted top corridor or not - the stairs went up and then down again. There was a pleasant feel about the future complex.
Graham had agreed to give Kirsty a lift home. She may have been living in Yorkshire.
(The following is probably connected to the same dream...)
Because I had left the interior of the university, I now needed to queue up to get back in again. Long queues of people. They are charging 50p to re-enter the premises. Do I have enough money on me or will they accept a card payment? My parents are somewhere behind me. I would like a cigarette, but do not want my parents to see.

Don't Fuck With The Moon (night of 25/06/2023)

Some kind of interior space that looks a bit like the workshops below my old flat on lion mews in Hove. The space seems empty but may be some kind of shop. I am there with another man. There is some kind of teasing between us. A woman walks by - blonde hair - For a second I think it is Lucy but then see that she has dreadlocks and it is not. The other man is on the floor. Have we been wrestling? Someone has a tattoo - like a scar - of a crescent mooon. 'Don't fuck with the moon!' I declare in a tone of playful triumph.

Poor Route (night of 24th June 2023)

I am playing some kind of computer game, or rather, it looks like a computer game, but I can't remember there being any controls or a screen. It looks like a very early computer game - a bit like Frogger or something similar. You control some kind of creature and have to make it jump over or avoid other creatures - notably spiders. The icons are very basic.
I am playing the game with a child - a boy of about 8 years old. The game is quick and hard to control, and our avatar gets killed by spiders. A message come sup on the screen-which-is-not-a-screen. Flashing words saying 'POOR ROUTE' - this is why we have failed - we had taken the wrong route through the spiders and obstacles.
Alan Moore is connected with the dream at this point, perhaps as some kind of mentor type figure.

Following The River (Night of 18 June 2023)

I am walking a road through a wooded area - tall trees and quiet. I may be on a bus at some point. The River Findhorn (no relation to it's waking hours counterpart) is snaking through the trees. The road, via bridges, crosses the river. It suddenly occurs to me that I should be following rivers to their source on my days off (presumably from work). The thought concerns me - the idea of doing this on my own - but also strikes me as absurd that I haven't been be doing this before. One part of the river looks nice and peaceful. At another part I think I don't like this section so much but in a way that tells me I am interested in my responses to different parts of the river.

The World Beyond The Back Gardens (night of 19/01/2023)

Cleobury Mortimer, though it bore no resemblance to it's waking counterpart.
Behind a row of back gardens of houses, one of which I lived in or my parents lived in. A muddy track leading to a wood - a kind of field outside of the wood. A dark twilight. I had something to do in the woods - a gathering of something - or looking for something. A spooky atmosphere, oppressive, though pleasant. Looking back along the track at what looked like streetlights on sheds in the gardens - were these orange streetlights? No. I was disappointed they were not. An awareness that this was a new dimension - a new world to be explored. Trying to work out which house was mine by counting back the number of the houses - for some reason it was hard to tell from the world beyond the back gardens.

Crimson Streetlights (night of 05/03/2023)

Nighttime. The road is overshadowed by trees. Looking down a street. I wonder if the streetlights there are the old orange ones - they are not, but are shining a pleasing crimson colour.

Indoor Market In Stone (night of 04/03/2023)

I am back in Stone - though the village bears no similarity to it's waking life counterpart. It is night and I am walking down a road lined by trees. I notice that the street lamps are switched off, and am glad that I can use the torch on my phone.
I find myself in some kind of indoor market. I think to myself how odd it would be if I came across a comic stall - like something from a dream. I round a corner, and realise that there is a comic stall in front of me. I notice an old ragged copy of Swamp Thing on the counter. I look at the comics displayed on the wall behind - they seem to be black and white fanzines. They confuse me. I look outside, and see a street of suburban houses. How are these in Stone? I realise that I need to get back to Stone somehow. I need to head out into the night.