vitaminc

Final Thoughts

2007-05-25T17:14:52Z

It's hard to believe that it's already time to close the blogs. It didn't seem like it was too long ago I was getting an email from a professor I didn't know asking me to share a dream with classmates I didn't know. I think I've mentioned this before in response to other people's blogs, but I found anonymity to be helpful, especially in the beginning, in terms of establishing a comfort zone for sharing. And not sure if this has been mentioned already, but I think it also helped that we've generally been respectful and supportive with one another on the blogs...how horrible and unworkable would a dream blog have been if we had a personality that liked to tear people a new one every week? So, thank you all. And good luck to everyone with their next phase.

Surreal Moment in Real Life

2007-05-25T07:02:56Z

Ok, this might be a stupid question, but I'm curious if anyone has ever witnessed anything in real life that they thought was surreal? I think it's hard because real life blurs the difference between the surreal and the nuts or the stupid, but there is a difference. This might be a moment, but I'm not sure. I once saw a man in a wheelchair coming down the street towards me. As he got closer, I realized that he was wheeling himself with his feet, not his hands...

Earthquake

2007-05-25T07:01:27Z

This happened a while ago and in my dream deprivation, I'm just remembering it now. I'm dreaming that I'm having a conversation with someone at an outdoor cafe. As I'm talking to the person, the ground starts shaking and I realize that we are experiencing an earthquake. The shaking gets so intense that it wakes me up in real life and apparently, the "earthquake" was my husband elbowing me in his sleep. I found out later that he was dreaming he was fighting someone with his elbow and was winning, too.

The Place Promised in Our Early Days

2007-05-25T06:57:31Z

This is a Japanese anime I watched not too long ago. Memories and dreams are central to the story and help to give the movie a very quiet tone. I thought it was interesting that dreams have a very direct impact on reality in this movie. Now that I'm writing about this anime, I wish I remembered it during the conference so that I could recommend it to the "Can You Tell Me if My Dreams Change My Life" guy. If anyone is interested in more details, here's a link to the Amazon site. http://www.amazon.com/Place-Promised-Our-Early-Days/dp/B0009PLMAS

The Three Musketeers

2007-05-25T06:57:05Z

This novel from Alexandre Dumas is more about political intrigue and swashbuckling adventures than it is about dreams. However, there is a really funny moment in the book where the four friends - Athos, Porthos, Aramis, D'Artagnan - are trying to figure out a way to write a letter to the Duke of Buckingham to warn him about a woman who is on her way to assassinate him (for anyone not familiar with the story, the Duke is English and the four friends are French and since France and Britain are at war during this time in the story, the letter is extremely sensitive and these guys want to avoid getting in trouble in case the letter is intercepted). As they brainstorm, each person comes up with a ridiculous idea and gets teased by the other three for coming up with something so bad. Finally, someone makes the suggestion to disguise the warning by talking about a dream that one of them supposedly had.

Goodbye, Mr. Chips

2007-05-25T06:56:33Z

I'm still very dream deprived so I'm going to continue talking about other people's representations of dreams. I read this book by James Hilton when I was younger. The entire story is a sort of dream because it's being told to us as it is being remembered by a very old Mr. Chips in a half-awake, half-dream state. I thought the dream-like elements made the ending extremely poignant (sorry, hope that doesn't ruin the book for anyone). The book is very British and can be sappy, but it was a cute story and a very quick read.

Reflection on Conference

2007-05-20T15:13:48Z

Woo-hoo!!! So glad it's done!!! The reception was delicious. My stomach hadn't completely calmed from the conference, but what I was able to get myself to eat was yummy. I loved watching everyone give their presentations. Kudos to the first roundtable for dealing with the pscyhoanalyst (although, how cute was he that he just wanted to speak up to agree with you guys?). Kudos to the second roundtable, especially Melissa, for dealing with the "Can You Tell Me if My Dreams Change My Life" guy (was he about to go place a big bet on something?). And I thought the panels did an amazing job presenting and answering questions on their projects; John did a great job as MC and panel moderator. As for me, I was just so happy it was over.

Reflection on Course Web Project

2007-05-20T14:55:47Z

Woo-hoo! So glad it's done! Seriously though, when I finished my page, I took a glance at everyone else's work and I thought people came up with some really creative and interesting projects/pages. When finals are done, I know I'm going to be spending some time reading them.

Orlando

2007-05-20T05:11:07Z

Another one that's both a movie and a book. There's nothing really dream-like about the story, but I thought I would mention it anyway because its main character lives for four hundred years or so - spends the first two hundred years as a man and the second two hundred years as a woman. How's that for a composite figure?

Rebecca

2007-05-20T04:35:35Z

I thought Alfred Hitchcock did an amazing job at turning Daphne DuMaurier's book into a movie, but there was one scene in the book that ruled. For anyone who is not familiar with the plot, the story is about Max De Winter, who brings home a second wife (known only as Mrs. De Winter throughout the entire novel). Shortly after she arrives, the second Mrs. De Winter begins to feel completely eclipsed by the presence of the first Mrs. De Winter, Rebecca, even though the first wife has been dead for some time. And the mystery thickens from there. There is a point in the story where Mrs. Danvers, Rebecca's loyal maid, tries to convince the second Mrs. De Winter to commit suicide. Mrs. Danvers becomes very suggestive, almost hypnotic, and causes Mrs. De Winter the Second to go into a trance-like state. The moment is very dream-like and suspenseful.

The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, Her Lover

2007-05-20T04:07:50Z

I've been seriously dream deprived this semester...soooo...I figured I would post some blogs on a subject that seems to be popular for our class - dreams and literature, movies, art, etc. (I guess "media" would be the word?) I thought I would start this set of blogs with the movie, The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, Her Lover. It's been a while since I've seen it, but I remember it as having a nightmarish quality to it because everything about it was so intense. As the characters moved from room to room, the colors of each set would change dramatically and every color was extremely vivid. The plot was extremely sadistic and violent. The pace of the movie was extremely fast. I had gone to see this movie because a friend of mine had been dying to see it. I can't say I liked this movie, but considering the fact that I still remember it, it definitely made an impression on me.

Reflection on Web Project

2007-05-07T22:56:17Z

For me, the fun part of the web project was researching for images and playing with the layout of the page, such as the colors, the fonts, etc. The surprising part was the "About the Author" page. I'm going to be honest and admit that I was reluctant to write anything for that section. At the same time, I thought it wouldn't be difficult to come up with something about myself, especially since I have had a year-long opportunity on the blogs to practice writing about myself...my thoughts, my feelings, my dreams...me, me, me...I, I, I. However, when the time came, there I was - staring at a blank screen and hearing the figurative crickets while I was absolutely unable to think of anything I wanted to say about me. It was unexpected to be experiencing writer's block over something that was supposed to be simple.

Transition Eyeglasses

2007-04-22T15:34:15Z

I had this dream last night where I get new eyeglasses. I choose to get transition lenses (the ones where the lenses change tints - they become darker outdoors and lighter indoors), but my lenses are defective because they become dark indoors and light outdoors. As a result, there is a point in the dream where, even though I'm wearing glasses, I'm practically blind because I go from a bright, sunny day into a dimly lit building. As I'm trying to feel my way around this building, people approach me and compliment me on my glasses; they tell me that they think my glasses are beautiful and that the glasses make me look beautiful and that the world must seem wonderful when viewed through such amazing glasses. They are being sincere, not sarcastic, with their compliments.

Stupid Stuff

2007-04-12T22:19:16Z

Something I found when I browsed The Onion today...just felt like sharing some stupid humor...hope you enjoy :)]]>

Heroic Computer Dies To Save World From Master's Thesis

Professors lauded the laptop for taking the literary atrocity with it into oblivion.

Planes and Dogs

2007-04-10T07:08:09Z

I'm not certain if this qualifies as a dream, but I remember this happening to me early last month during a plane ride home. I was sick so I was constantly dozing. However, the flight was a turbulent one. Plus, the person sitting next to me had carried on his dog. I normally like dogs, but this one smelled like urine. Everytime the plane shook, I was in this half-conscious state where I dreamt that I was falling out of the plane with a dog at my side.