Paul & Co

I turned everything off at the wall, and only afterwards realised I'd have to re-set the video clock. It serves me right for still sticking with VHS. It's pointless nostalgia. I don't keep a mangle in the house, for Christ's sake.

I'd allotted too much preparation time, and so had to sit on the sofa in my suit-jacket and uncomfortable shoes for five pointless minutes, watching the clock. When the time came, I realised I needed to go to the toilet, so was late leaving the flat anyway.

On my way to the bus stop, I stubbed my toe on a loose paving slab. There wasn't anyone around, at least not that I could see, so I didn't bother pantomiming amusement at my clumsiness and just looked pissed off and annoyed.

The song I was listening to on my iPod had loads of sound effects in it: sirens, rain, wind; I kept thinking it was happening in real life. Even the screaming.

It was only when I got to the bus stop that I realised that none of the above had actually happened. I looked at the electronic bus timetable board, and it was all gibberish. I heard once that you can tell if you're in a dream, because you won't be able to read anything. I'm not sure if that's true, as I'm sure I have read things in dreams, but nevertheless I couldn't read the bus timetable.

And indeed the events of the day were entirely fictional. I hadn't left the house or put on a suit, or thought about these things until just now when I wrote them. I came to the conclusion (in the future - hence the past tense) that I'd wasted my time on something that won't be interesting and profound tomorrow, but will just be nonsensical and annoying.

Another sign that you're dreaming is an inability to vary light-levels. I found that out in a Richard Linklater film called Waking Life. You're supposed to go to a light switch, and if pressing it makes no difference, you're in a dream.

The film was pretty interesting. When I saw it, I was under the influence of certain intoxicants, which may have aided my enjoyment. What it captured particularly well was those dreams where you keep thinking you've woken up, but are actually still asleep. For a moment, you think the dream is over, but then you realise everything is weird.

The film uses cool cartoon/live action effects like the later A Scanner Darkly, and it is a success. I don't know if it would work as entertainment if I was sober, but I'd like to see it again.

Lucid dreaming is pretty enjoyable. I'd like to do it more often. Lucy says she can never have lucid dreams (or more accurately, she never does have them - my original statement made it sound like she was constrained by a court order or something). It seems that an ideal scenario would be total control of your dreams. You could live in paradise.

Even if your 'real' life was shit, you could just treat the dream world as your most important life. All you'd need to do would be make sure the 'real' you has a bed to sleep in, so you're not interrupted.

I've always liked the idea of sharing dreams with people, so you can talk to them when awake or asleeep. I suppose I'm thinking of the cartoon Potsworth & Co (which incredibly doesn't seem to have a wikipedia entry). But at least Youtube hasn't let me down:



What a world it would be...

I'm not crazy about the nightmare guy, but it would be worth it if I could talk to my dog.