I did.
A wierd, colourful, migraine induced, lucid dream about the blogosphere with it’s own soundtrack.
A high percentage of Canadians get migraines.
I’m one of them; the cluster variety, brought on by stressers and a sudden barometric drop. We went from balmy to arctic today.
When a migraine hits, I tend to lose a sense of what is around me and the pain takes over. We all have our limitations and most people know when to not push through but rather; give up, give in, and go through, drifting in and out of a pain-laced sleep.
Many of you stepped in and out rather of this dream rather quickly. But you were you. I can’t hyperlink all of you, but I’ll put some of you in, ok?
I’d moved, rather unexpectedly and unsure of where I was going. It was a huge building with, for the lack of better words; a sense of tribes, of smaller family units, of older watching younger, well taking care of sick. It was a palacial building with all kinds of Dr. Suess type staircases and with bloggers I know dashing up and down with a hello to each person they passed. We all knew each other. The building and the environment had the aspects of a stage, but we had less the sense of being performers than of being crew.
I was lost in this extrordinary place and wasn’t sure if I’d done the right thing by moving. So, as typical in a migraine dream, I dashed for the exits.
Bloggers I’ve known since I started from the US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, The UK, the Philippines hollered out as I dashed….
“Hey Bene! Where are you going?”
“I gotta get outside. Gotta breathe. Gotta figure out the key for this song, ok? I gotta to find the owner of this place and find out what I’m doing here.”
Some of you pointed to the exits. Some of you stopped me and said,
“That’s not making sense, why do you think that? There is no owner. He thinks he is, and acts like he is, but he isn’t. You don’t want to meet him.”
Some of you said, “Owner? You are kidding, aren’t you? You mean there is someone who is in charge of this place? Who is he? Tell us more.”
But I couldn’t. A couple of you decided to join my dash for the outdoors.
(Thanks for that by the way, remember, it’s my dream, and there is an underlying threat :^)
All of a sudden about four or five of us spilled out a door to a grassy cloverleaf set of highway ramps. No cars were allowed. I remember thinking how stupid that was, and what a waste of money. Some of you were waiting for us.
“I have to get rid of this song,” I said.
I felt like I could move around with this group, it seemed less static. You were kicked back, outside the box, renegrade rebellious types, and I figured you had some answers to my questions.
“Naw,” said one.
“Give yourself a piano and work out the key.”
“But, the owner…I don’t know my way around. I don’t think he likes this song, and I’d have to use his piano.”
“It’s your song Bene. Sing it.”
And there was a piano and I began fuming about what key we could sing in so we’d all be able to join in.
One of you got quite firm with me.
“Don’t. Don’t work out a key for everyone. Just sing. If you don’t he’ll try to drown us out.”
I didn’t listen. I hit an F chord and sure enough, up pulled a U Haul, the back door went up and a group of singers marched out, military, Michael Jackson precision, razzle dazzle; singing of all things, a Jewish style praise song that was completely discordant.
We were struck dumb and watched the show a bit. They didn’t even notice us and marched up a ramp to the building. It didn’t fit. If their song had meaning, why were we spectators of a form of something that seemed real but had no substance?
“I’ll try C,” I said desperately and tried to start singing along with my dream song track, and accidently hit B flat. That started the singers again. I stopped and blurted out,
“Who is this owner?
I have to speak to him!”
One of you sighed, shrugged and pointed.
There he was, like a politican working a crowd. It was like he was trying to sell something that wasn’t his. He felt, rather than saw us looking, and turned.
He was smiling, but his eyes were cold. Oddly he wasn’t one blogger, he was an image of what some people think blogging should be.
“Hello”, he said all smarmy.
“You are here. Finding your way?
You can come outside whenever you want, but you have to be back in the building by nine.”
I looked at him, and realized I would not obey an order from someone who was pretending. No! I yelled inside myself. He heard me. But I heard all the other silent ‘no’s’ from others.
All of a sudden Instapundit came up beside me with a laptop.
“Did you blog this?” I whispered.
“Yes.”
“But he’ll be angry.”
“Yes, isn’t it great?”
“He’s not the owner.”
“No. You knew that. That’s why you came outside.”
Are you going to expose him?
I can’t. He’ll expose himself.”
And he disappeared into a crowd.
I looked at the rest of you. You were very pragmatic, like I’d just caught up.
“We haven’t seen the real owner yet. We will someday. Don’t let yourself be squeezed into this mold. You are in this place but not of it, you know that.
Come on Bene, let’s have some fun for awhile. We’ll go back inside later, there’s lot’s of work ahead.”
I woke up and promptly threw up, and I feel a lot better thanks.
The soundtrack? One Tin Soldier. The original.
Blog on!
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One word: wow!
Awesome Bene! Especially the Seuss staircases! I love that kind of stuff in dreams.
Me too. Gives a nightmare less impact.
I used to get cluster headaches.. I grew out of them (at age 41) but a doctor had discovered that oxygen is a way of stopping them.
But I never had dreams like that. Too much pain.
Great story, though!!!
I just dream about getting chased and falling downstairs…
It doesn’t make such an interesting blog entry, does it?!
God bless BD — Blog on!
Gosh - I just dream about trying to find a toilet in my nightmares. I look and look and look and can’t find one that works - then I wake up and discover I have to go to the bathroom.
Brilliant piece BD
Wow! I wish I had such interesting migraine-induced dreams (albeit without the pain and the throwing up bit at the end). Great post Bene!
I laughed right out loud at the link to the singers. ha!
You have opened a pandora’s box to me with all these blog sites that I have not read before. Now I’ll be spending even more time in front of this blasted screen.
When you spilled out did I offer you a cookie?
Absolutely fascinating! The most unique entry I have seen in a long time. (Of course, it was based off a dream.)
Now, I probably shouldn’t ask this, but I am going to anyway. Did I say: “Come on Bene, let’s have some fun for awhile…” or was I link there for another reason. Silly question, I know, I’m just kinda interested. Teehee.
We all can start our own Zion and escape “the Matrix.”
I loved this entry, so much fun!. Thanks.
Hi Christopher:
Yeah, you really did. I didn’t make up the dialogues or who said them.
As soon as I finished throwing up, I got this written because what people said was very clear, which I thought was rather fun. I can’t remember who all said the rest of the paragraph,…so I didn’t link people.:^) Blog on!
Wow, Bene! Hope you’re feeling better now
Creative dream Bene!
Love your blog, Bene! Clever and creative and original. Please check mine out when you get a moment!
Oh, too cool. I love crazy creative stuff like this. I’m only bummed because there was no link to me… (not really).
Sorry you had to feel so bad to have such a wild dream, though. My own personal favorite was the reoccuring nightmare I had when I was pregant with Ruthanne. I kept dreaming that I went into labor in the middle of the night and couldn’t wake up Jeff. He’s a sound sleeper. So, I told him I was having this dream, right? Well, the whole last two weeks of the pregancy, if I so much as moved in the night, he’d sit up in bed and say, “Are you okay?”
Poor man.
Bene, fantastic. Though goodddogbaddog/uncollectedentires nor my lasters incarnation as onionboy didn’t make it to the tale, it was marvelous, none the less.
thrive!,
O
I was facinated by the music that came on to that song “One Tin Soldier”. I kept going back and listening to it again. I had never heard it before. I did some more searching and found where I could hear the origional recording done by some artist called Coven. Now I know why I had never heard it before and probably will never hear it again unless someone has recorded it using just one person and one acustic guitar. Sounds like it would be a nice song done that way.
It was first done by a Canadian group called The North Country Singers. They changed their name to the Orginal Caste and released it in 1969.
It was used in the movie, but the US producers decided to go with Coven.
It has been done since, but never as well I think as the first group. The writers that gave it to them started Dunhill Records with that release.
Awesome dream! LOL I’m thrilled I was in it, somehow…