I'm inhabiting the body of a freed gladiator turned adventurer in a Dungeons & Dragons kinda world. I'm being accosted by this Japanese/Okinawan young man who holds a grudge against me. As he keeps trying to attack me, I run across a bridge over a koi pond to his elderly father. First I speak Chinese to him (as some sort of ply, knowing he doesn't speak Chinese). He points down the road (as if Chinese speakers come up to him all the time). The whole time, his son is across the bridge, watching us. I then introduce myself in slow English... "My name is Dan..." He slowly says his 3-word name. I repeat it with him.

As I'm trying to fend off my attacker, there is a voice-over (of the person playing me in this game) talking about my weapons and armor. He says something about how certain weapons are too big for my armor and shield. I'm wearing gladiator-style armor, a small shield and a curved bladed weapon (like the boomerang in Blade).

Later...

I'm looking over a map (while being in it), planning my attack strategies.

Definitely influenced by playing too much Age of Empires.

This morning:

I was in my parent's old house around bedtime. Everyone is in the basement for some reason. My mom's helping my grandmother to bed. I was trying to find blankets and pillows for me. My dad was sleeping on the couch in the den.

later...

I'm reading a Lexington paper about the decline of Subway restaurants. The article mentions lots of readers's complaints about my dad's stores. The end of the article mentions two new stores opening -one in a SuperAmerica gas station and one in an area where "old people live and are happy to have a nice restaurant.

From 5/27/2002:

I was in a large hall/house and had recently done something public or noteworthy. There was a party going on with music on and lights dimmed.

Someone made a loud and disparraging/threatening remark about me. Lots of people laughed. When I heard this, I got up and gave a speech about how hard I'd worked on (whatever it was I had done). I also spoke in peaceful terms, trying to be articulate and not angry at all the people who hated me. Throughout my speech, people were heckling.

Then, an older black musician (a bluesman or '70s funk guy) got up and spoke in my defense.

I walked through the crowd afterwards, fearing for my safety. I started to look for Susannah. As I walked, I felt more unsafe and picked up a wooden sword for protection. I passed lots of people, some of whom supported me.

I open a door tentatively, thinking some of my enemies might be behind it. My mom's there, standing in this tiny wedge-shaped bathroom. She's brushing her hair, which is long, wavy and black (with no grey). She also looks younger. I ask her (in English) what she's doing there. She said she'd heard the commotion in the kitchen and decided to stay put in the bathroom. I asked her if she'd heard any of it. She said no and that she'd wanted to hear it from me directly.

I needed to use the bathroom and tried to get in but the room was so small I couldn't even stand in front of the toilet. I asked mom to leave so I could use the bathroom. There was another bathroom in the house but I didn't want to venture back out.

later...

Jesus Christ came back to earth to punish a corrupt religious leader. Jesus holds the leader up by his balls and slices them off, sending the man falling. The religious leader grabs something on his way down and doesn't fall to his death.

I dreamt about talking to Susannah about teaching our kids to cook.

woke up humming theme to Cheers and Warren G's "Regulators"

late entry from 5/18/2002:

I'm in a house with a squad of Vietnamese soldiers. We were all in high spirits as we prepared to go out for a field exercise or an expedition. Most of the men went out to assemble, leaving just me and out commanding officer. He said something about having an exhibition war-game with another squad. I asked him if we were having a war-game or a scouting mission and he didn't really clarify. He asked me if we minded postponing our usual staff meeting for this event. I said no. I told him I'd be ready to go as soon as I used the restroom.

As I went into the bathroom (which was a bedroom), several cats came in. I thought they were Tom & Lynnette's cats but didn't remember them having so many. An orange and white cat jumped onto the bed and make aggressive, raspy hissing noises at me. I kept trying to get a book to read on the bed but the cat kept lunging at me. A voice (either the officer or Tom & Lynnette) said the new cat liked to keep Eliza (another new cat) in line, even though Eliza behaved most of the time.

woke up humming "The Warrior" by Patty Smyth

I think I dreamt about Sarah Durant (ex-girlfriend) and my grandmother. Can't remember much, except that it was a pretty pleasant dream.

Woke up with random soreness all down my back & butt.

This morning:

I'm in a busy, dark store wading through lots of people. There are armed guards standing around with machine guns. At the door, there are women collecting rifles and personal effects of the men they've lost. (There's a very Israeli-Palestinian conflict feel about the whole thing). I get in line with a woman (seemed like Karen from SF Gate) and hold her rifle for her as she gets her things. The rifle is wooden and heavy. The checkout lady gives her some things and we walk toward the door. I tell her to wait for me and run to a locker to get something. Aman Saxena (a fat Indian kid I knew in 6th grade) is there and asks me why I'm carrying all this stuff for her. (There's a subplot with me trying to explain who Aman is to Josh Weill and someone else).

I walk down some stairs with Karen and a couple other guys as she talks about her dead/martyred boyfriend. The stairs become gigantic and we have to carefully hop down each one. One of the other guys asks us where we're going. Someone else explains that Karen (or another woman) found a place with Union soldiers that was safe and had food. We start arguing about something. Then the conversation turns to remembering the foods that the martyrs liked and makes us all hungry and sentimental.

Scene change (3rd person omniscient):

There are lots of Union soldiers milling about as we walk out of a cave. I ask how the girl came upon the Union soldiers and whether this was all a flashback or what. Apparently the scene was present tense and we had really found the soldiers. I wonder out loud if the Civil War era soldiers can deal with seeing a Chinese guy.

Our group quickly runs to what looks like a graduation ceremony in an outdoor pavilion. There's a banner with the year 1972 (though some of the letters and numbers look Greek).

End.

From 5/12/2002:

I was being interviewed by someone about workplace violence.

I'm riding in a minivan (that's very high off the ground). I've standing on the left side as the driver drives on the right. We're driving thru what looks like UK's campus.The driver disappears and I decide to take the car. I'm standing up in it, trying awkwardly to drive it. Though it's an automatic, I drive it with the difficulty of a stick shift. I drive a block past the university and end up in a really sketchy block. A bunch of homeless/seedy looking black men are milling around. I make a hasty u-turn and try to get the hell out. Suddenly a man jumps on holds a tiny blade to my neck from behind. I'm not sure how dangerous the blade is but decide not to risk it. I leave the van and try to think of how to explain to UK about losing the car.

I wander back through a darkened campus. This time I'm armed with a gun & ready for action. I see a man following a woman, about to mug her. I see some commotion and draw my gun. Someone else fires a gun and I fire at him. Lots of shots go off.

I run to the people and realize none of them are criminals. They were all nervous people who were all armed. They were firing at an intruder in the factory just down the ramp.

I approach them and we all explain ourselves. I go down to the factory to see what caused all the shooting. There was lots of commotion about a female employee who had been mistaken for an intruder because the computer system didn't recognize her. She had dyed her hair red apparently. She was sorta Asian.


from 5/11/2002:

I'm watching some music/interview show with 2 guys (one older guy with a sage-like voice) and Margot Timmins (Cowboy Junkies). They discussed guitarists and the blues. The men lamented that musicians didn't know their musical roots. Margot said that even her friends who didn't listen to blues know who John Lee Hooker (or some other blues great) is. She started playing a tune from Caution Horses. She also had a tabla on her lap with her guitar and when she shook her leg, the vibrations of the drum got picked up by the guitar's mic.

From 5/5/2002:

I was waging a war against a greater enemy. We were in a room with lots of folders. I was barking orders to a group of people. I said "I need (this many) people as spotters, shooters, loaders and runners." I instructed a fighter on what to load up and what not to. I told him we mainly wanted weapons, ammo and propaganda materials. We had to regrettably leave behind the personal correspondences. I wasn't getting as many people as I needed but we still got to work.

We were something like rebels and our enemies were the empire (though nothing resembled Star Wars).

Woke up humming Tori Amos' Past the Mission.

Late entry from 4/27/2002:

I was in a hospital where Susannah had just had out baby. Somehow Beth (friend from college) and Sarah (ex) were also there having my baby. I was sitting in a hospital bed talking to Cathy. I told her I had no idea how Sarah could be having my child since we hadn't been together for 7 or 8 years. I said that when she visits, we always have "a little something, something". "You know how it is." I said. Cathy said something about Laura coming to the hospital too. She wasn't pregnant but was maybe getting her tubes tied (?). It didn't seem weird at all that 3 women were all there having my baby.

Somehow, there was also an award show there that night where I was being honored (or I had to participate in some way). I wanted to see Beth & Sarah but didn't know if I had time. A nurse came in and told me the schedule (I did indeed have a few hours to spare). I was overcome with joy & I hugged Cathy. I darted out of the room (noticing that a large crowd had gathered and a nurse was trying to make her way through it). I ran to the restroom. There was a large box blocking the door and I started kicking it out of the way.

When I awoke, I actually expected to see a baby. I was kinda sad when I realized it was all a dream.

Woke up humming Live's Rattlesnake.