Can you get a basket with that baseball in the field zone?

I'm currently working on a news story about March Madness and how it affects workplace productivity. Though I am not completely clueless about the rules, etc. of basketball, I realize I know absolutely nothing about college basketball, and it thus makes me overly concerned about how I will present it in public forum.

I feel like the kind of person that would be watching a game (or is it a "match"? Don't worry ... I know it's not) and cheer excitedly, "Yay! They scored a basket in the end goal!" or "They hit a home run into the basket in the field zone! They're going to the Super Series for SURE!"

I dream of covered-up anxiety

Last night (or this morning -- it's always hard to tell), I dreamed I either witnessed or abetted a murder. I was hiding out in motel room with my co-conspirator (whom I didn't know), preparing to leave the country (presumably for Mexico or Canada, though I feel like it may have been Switzerland). The details of the murder were unclear, and the dream basically started in medias res, after the crime had been committed. I had the foul feeling of murder without having to see the violence. The cops showed up, and we engaged in a ridiculously low-speed car chase in a tiny topless car in which we could barely fit our backpacks (that we had to pack in 30 seconds when we heard the police coming to the hotel, which I believe was in Vegas). What's funny is, I dream often of this tiny car (though usually, it's my secret car that I keep in a closet in my apartment) and this hotel (though I'm usually there with my former swim team ... or Robert Loggia and Bob Saget [though that was only once]).

So, what does this mean? My favorite, albeit not very well-maintained dream site says,

"To dream that you have committed a murder, indicates that you are putting an end to an old habit and a former way of thinking. This could also refer to an end to an addiction. Alternatively, the dream indicates that you have some repressed aggression or rage at yourself or at someone.

To dream that you witness a murder, indicates deep-seated anger towards somebody. Consider how the victim represents aspects of yourself that you want to destroy or eliminate."

So, I suppose the murder part would be cross between the first two, since I'm not completely sure I actually did any of the killing.

And the tiny car part? I don't know.

However, I did find out something potentially interesting about my "disappearing characters" dream from the other night:

"To dream that people or objects are disappearing right before your eyes, signify your anxieties and insecurities over the notion that loved ones might disappear out of your life. You feel that you cannot depend on anyone and that you will end up alone. You need to work on your self-image and self-esteem."

Perhaps a little too deep for me. More Bob Saget, please!

brain trust

I'm currently trying to work on my ability to trust people, but at the moment I'm struggling with it. I realize that I automatically don't trust those that claim they are incapable of telling a lie. A case of protesting too much? That's my feeling. It could also be that my brain relives past experiences and feels uncomfortable waiting out situations that need a little more marinating. I just recently proved that patience and letting someone else evaluate a situation in peace brings that person back (when it's the right thing ... at least, I hope and feel like it's the right thing). So, why am I complaining? I can't tell if it's actually my head/reality or something less rational that's making me uneasy.

Un-deep thoughts are crap today. There may be better things to talk about later (let's hope) ...

dreams of impoverished bliss

Last night I dreamed I met a new man friend who took me home to meet his wife and nine kids. I'm pretty sure he looked like Aaron Eckhardt, but he was vaguely someone else from my life that I can't quite put my finger on. They lived in a tiny house where the master bedroom was sunk deep in the ground (presumably it had at one point been a family room) and was the center of the home, along with the kitchen/dining room. The family insisted I eat dinner with them, which was tacos made of different types of lunch meat and very bland bean salad. I knew they had almost no money, but they talked about it like it was funny, and they didn't seem to care. The generosity was palpable. They ate on two tables, with the oldest kids eating at the table with the parents' in the dining room, and the younger ones (and me) eating at a small folding table, and they were all watching some American Idol-like game show and singing along.

I realized I had my own room, which was essentially the size of the twin bed that was in it. And a few of my friends from college and my female next-door neighbor were also staying there. It was also on a larger property that was an Irish wedding bar (no, there is probably no such thing in real life, but it made sense to me in the dream). Right after dinner as the sun was setting, we were all invited outside to join briefly in the reception of a wedding that was going on there in the courtyard, and we did some line dance to which we magically all knew the steps and that made you feel like you were levitating. Despite the fact that everyone had a place to sleep, we all curled up in the master bedroom together to watch a movie (I had introduced them to my iPhone's ability to play Netflix, and we figured out how to connect it to their tiny television). I couldn't keep my eyes open and was so comfortable with these strange people that I fell fast asleep next to my new male friend (as we were lying there, we were also talking about writing, etc., and he was mentioning being displeased that his liberal arts degree brought him nothing but a minimum wage job on a local construction site). When I woke up, everyone was in a rush to get out of the house (and use the one bathroom). In my search for the bathroom, I realized family members seemed to be just disappearing one at a time, which I chalked up to them leaving for school and work. But then, as I was getting into an argument with the pre-teen daughter over the bathroom, she suddenly just squealed and disappeared into thin air, but her clothes stayed in the place she'd been sitting. I started to walk frantically through the suddenly VERY quiet, deserted house, and realized there had been a baby (that I'd been holding as I fell asleep the night before). I went to check the crib, and the baby appeared to be there, but when I started to move the blankets away, it was just the clothes, etc., still holding the shape and size of the baby.

I walked back into the dining room, and the calm, love-filled house had transformed into a very well-to-do mansion. A very uppity, cold woman I somehow knew was my mother and a teenage girl I knew was my sister grabbed me and asked me where I'd been, then said how happy they were to see me, since I'd apparently been gone for months. I started to tell them where I'd been, and they looked at me oddly, then told me it didn't matter; they were just happy to have me home ... and that they didn't even care they now knew I'd been in an insane asylum for the past few months. I woke up feeling unsettled and missing that crazy, extremely poor but generous family that never existed in the first place.

I think this might be a story ... or a screenplay. Maybe not.

Now if only I can dream in songs again, I can fix some of my problems.

Too much

I've had quite a few solid weeks of packed workdays, which is great. But unfortunately, because the more I write, the more inspired I feel to write, these busy times are also when I find myself most wanting to get back to working on the work that doesn't currently bring me money.

And, there's your briefest and boringest update ever.