Saturday, March 31, 2007

I'm in a museum with some relatives about to say goodbye. It's 8 and our plane leaves at 9:20. I start getting my stuff ready and Susannah (or a male relative) asks half-jokingly if we can take a nap. "It's already 8 and our plane leaves at 9:30 and we have to get back to the hotel to get our stuff, then to the airport," I yell, "You can sleep on the plane!" The people around us laugh. I hug my uncle goodbye and thank him for his hospitality. I want to ask him to settle up any money we owe him but I decide not to.

I hug some other friends & relatives around us (including Hollis, AJ & Laura Fuqua) and start heading out. Hollis walks with me as we make our way through the courtyard. We see a group of Gypsy-like kids and women down in the main courtyard. Some of the kids and toddlers are fighting and the adults don't seem to care. As we walk by them, we see a toddler holding a small dog. The dog seems to be biting the kid. Hollis gets on her phone to call 911. We walk by someone she knows and she stops to ask her if she's working or not.

I continue on alone, my legs feeling sluggish, each step a struggle. I'm carrying a foot-long paperclip, a regular paper clip and two framed paintings Hollis gave me. I throw the paperclips down and consider leaving the art, too.

I exit the huge museum (reminds me of the Forbidden City) into a field. A few kids on bikes ride past me. I want to ask someone where the main exit is but get a little scared I'll get pegged as a tourist and robbed. I walk past a line of trees and see the main entrance to the museum. I also see the main road we drove in on and realize I'll have to take a cab to get back to the hotel. Susannah has apparently gone ahead without me and I struggle to get towards the entrance.

Monday, March 26, 2007

I'm a camera man from a movie crew in a dingy prison. I turn on my tiny digital video camera and start shooting footage of inmates walking into the mess hall. I hold the camera away from my face and walk past them as they file in. When I get into another room, a group of guards and prison officials stop me from filming.

Now, I'm in a caverous room talking to some inmates. They're telling me about the time the "Pity Princess" (a woman who comes to have sex w/ the inmates) fell 15 feet (the height they show me is much higher) to her death. "She was a big girl," one prisoner recounts, "made a huge puddle right there."

As we chat casually, a big glob of something falls from the ceiling and starts to ooze around the floor. It looks like a huge piece of human fat or mucous. The inmates begin running around to avoid it and one prisoner opens a faucet to wash it away. The water just moves the glob around faster and some of the inmates yell, "Quit fucking flushing!"

Saturday, March 24, 2007

I'm making my way up the stairs behind a police officer (who has his gun drawn). We hear Susannah shout, "in here!" and move carefully into a bedroom. Susannah is sitting on a bed while a half-naked man is sitting on another with his gun pointed towards her. The cop swiftly but carefully disarms the man while I go check on Susannah.

Thursday, March 22, 2007

I'm standing just outside a barricade watching someone give a speech to a crowd of people. I ask out loud whether the speaker is David Chase and Vincent Pastore turns to me and says he isn't sure, "Has David done a cameo on the show before?" "David" is speaking about getting out of prison. I'm now in the crowd as he finishes his speech and a procession of horse-draw chariots race by. They're all decked out with neo-Nazi regalia and the crowd reacts disapprovingly. I mutter "Peckernecks" as they go by and a young black man next to me laughs and adds, "Paul Bunyon."

At the end of the procession, a few black teenagers follow the chariots on bikes and scooters. I ask someone if they're a part of the group and they says yes, shaking their heads in disbelief. I walk into a schoolyard and see a young black boy whom I've grown to like. I point to him and say "nice shirt" as I pass. He mutters a thanks. In the yard, a young white man is talking about how the school/prison gave him his shirt today. A younger white man next to him ask to switch shirts with him (perhaps planning an escape) and the older man jokes that he's not young enough to trade places with him.

I'm now the older young man and I walk around the perimeter of the yard spitting alot. A police/guard vehicle drives by me, taking note of my actions.

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

I'm evacuating an area with a group of Marine recruits & civilians. We run through a field, the soldiers leading us. I stop and notice lots of suction cup darts strewn in the grass. We stop near some suburban houses and I go check on the civilian group. I see a man huddled with a baby under his blanket and I go see which one he has. I ask, ""Where's my Sofia?" He digs under his blanket and hoists up another baby. Then he finds Sofia under the blanket.

One of the civilians ignites some colored smoke and we move under its cover. As we come to a new neighborhood, I scout ahead. Some firefighters are spraying the remains of a big house fire while more firefighters are inside a burned out fire station trying to salvage it. I call up a few Marines to assess the situation. One of them doesn't believe that firefighters would waste time trying to save their own station until I show him what's happening.

A few Marine officers and I lead the way to the house while the rest of the group follows a ways behind. One officer asks me how we should handle this and I tell him, "Peacefully." I instruct the scouting party to put away their guns (I have a piece under my clothes).

Inside the house, I see several firefighters and other inside a vault trying to release two people confined to deprivation tanks. I go into the vault and ask to speak to the persona in charge. Several of my civilians outside have pistols and I whisper to them, "No one fires unless I say so." I begin to suspect the two inside the tanks are super villains and I tell my people to guard them.

Now we're being attacked by martial artists and I send 4 of my women to take care of them inside a boxing ring. I also call for Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes. They come running and I point Snake Eyes towards the ring. Another two enemies appear and I try to divert my women to the new enemies.

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

I've just returned to my store after a trip abroad & I'm trying to get caught up on paperwork. Adam Weinberg is waiting around for me outside. He and his girlfriend filled in at the store while I was away and both did terribly. Adam lingers outside waiting for his checks while his dad (or his girlfriend's dad) keeps bugging me to pay Adam. He's clutching some cash so I know he's been paid at least.

I head outside to talk to Adam and he starts going on about one time when we were filing DVDs together. We'd been talking about Coldplay and U2 and how Bono was now a multimillionaire and into all kinds of stuff besides music. I feel like he's criticizing me for getting far away from my video store roots and is using the anecdote to leverage for a raise. I try to talk to him about his performance but his dad keeps standing next to us and bugging me for their paychecks. I firmly but politely tell him to give us a minute and I head back inside for the checks.

I dig up 3 prewritten checks and start filling them out when my dad walks in and wants me to go count cash at his store. I tell him I'm busy with my own stuff but he won't go away. He keeps bugging me and insisting I go with him. I get more and more angry with him until finally I start yelling in his face, Ï have to get these people paid! I have totalk to these two employees and maybe fire them both, do you understand tha?!" He's lying on a couch and caught offguard by my rage. Several employees clear the room while one remains peeling and cutting lettuce and napa cabbage.

Friday, March 16, 2007

I'm on the side of a highway offramp when I see Sofia driving a convertible. She waves at me and I wave back, slightly puzzled. I watch as she misses the offramp and keeps driving on the interstate. I run to the side of the building to see where she went. A few women nearby walk over and I tell them my daughter knows how to drive but sometimes just "keeps going." They promise to keep an eye out for her.

I walk into the building thinking about trying to find my teenage date. I try to remember what she looked like during our last encounter in the hallway of the school. I remember being distracted by her little bit of baby fat protruding from her dress. I keep thinking about how we might kiss or make out since we have the freedom of having our own car.

I head into the bathroom and notice how filthy it is. There is toilet paper strewn all over the ground.

Later...

I walk into a lobby or lunch room and see Chris Rock (a co-worker) behind a counter/podium. I kneel down to pick something up and notice his shoes are falling apart. I ask him what's up with his shoes and he tells me his house fell apart tonight & wrecked everything. I ask him if his feet are hurt and he tells me they're fine.

I talk to another guy and we try to one-up each other about our various misfortunes. I try to find my other pair of shoes to give to Chris.

Later...

I'm defending a room with a bunch of armed people. We're all watching a doorway for attackers. I have a weapon but it doesn't have a lot of rounds. I suddenly notice 2 assault rifles and a shotgun hanging just outside the door. I dash out and grab them, tossing them to my comrades as I run back inside, slamming the door behind me. I man the shotgun as we all intently wait for attackers. We all stay very still and listen for any signs from outside. Suddenly the door bursts open and we begin firing at a young boy on a motorcycle. He crashes inside the room and grabs for one of us. I fire at him twice at close range but the shotgun only fires small sprays of liquid (which do hurt the boy). We nab him and I yell "Empath!" Our telepathic alley runs over to try to scan the boy's mind. When that doesn't work, I yell for Professor Xavier to do the same.

I head out the door and have to make a big leap to the level below. There is a husky young Asian man there who is an alley. I yell for him to take on "Phenomena,"a powerful enemy. The young man is now a boy with a handful of food runs towards the melee nearby and tries to draw out Phenomena with food.

As the two of them wrestle, a Girl Scout doll comes to life and commands the boy to take over a Humvee. I grab the doll and chide her for making the boy do more than he's capable of. She says that she's seen him do more than that. I see the boy wrestling awkwardly with Phenomena and we run to help.

Thursday, March 15, 2007

I'm watching as Sigourney Weaver auditions for "Alien." The casting agents aren't too impressed with her but I come to her defense saying that see could show fear or anger even acting opposite a teddy bear.

Thursday, March 01, 2007

I'm sitting on the steps in a school or some other public place with a young girl. She thinks I'm a priest (I may be dressed like one) and wants to have sex with me. I lead her down the hall to find a private place, maybe in a restroom. I pass Susannah who gives me a very slight nod (indicating she's planted the bomb in the ladies' room). I want to send a political statement w/ the bomb but I don't want anyone to be killed. I send the girl into the bathroom to see how many people are in there.