Pratfall

Sep. 19th, 2010 10:22 am
bunsen_h: (Default)
[personal profile] bunsen_h
I'm walking quickly down the stairs, just going from one floor to another in the house.  At the bottom is a nice polished hardwood floor.  And then my feet go out from under me, I flail, and land with a splat.  Some idiot has painted a rectangular patch of the floor, right in front of the stairs, with a thick coat of white paint.

I'm up, dripping, paint oozing into my clothes and shoes.  I look around: there aren't any signs or other warnings posted.  The painter guy is standing there in coveralls and a cap, and I look at him in angry astonishment.  "I told everyone," he says: what do you want of me?

"Like hell," I say.  "That's obviously not true."

"Okay, not everyone," he says.  Slightly abashed, mostly why-are-you-on-my-case.

I then spend a long time in the dream partially dismantling my running shoes in a sink, trying to wash the paint out of them; there's the smell of latex paint.  I realize that I need to get my clothes soaking in warm water soon if I don't want the paint to set in them.  And at this point I wake up.

And, lying in bed thinking about it: Who comes up with this stuff?  Who would think, even for a moment, of painting a nice hardwood floor with white paint, in an area right in front of a staircase?  Not to mention the lack of warning signs?

My unconscious, that's who.  Thanks, unconscious.

If this was supposed to be some kind of metaphor for the way my life is going, I don't really need that message.
 

Date: 2010-09-19 02:41 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] dewline.livejournal.com
Sounds like a too-commonly shared meme going through a lot of peoples' minds in REM sleep these days.

Date: 2010-09-19 03:04 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bunsen-h.livejournal.com
What meme is that? I assume it doesn't specifically involve idiots painting slippery floors at the bottom of staircases.

Date: 2010-09-19 03:14 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] dewline.livejournal.com
Metaphors for self-sabotage and fears of same in general, I'm thinking.

Date: 2010-09-19 11:56 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ambiviolent.livejournal.com
It took about two years for my unconscious to grasp that Mum was *dead*. Not coming back. When it did though, I never dreamed again that she was alive - not once in close to a decade.

Until Friday night, when I had a nightmare about failing you because Mum was having surgery at the same time and place, and I had to take care of her too.

Let's say it unison: Thanks, unconscious!:P

Sympathy!

Date: 2010-09-20 01:04 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bunsen-h.livejournal.com
I still dream about my maternal grandfather, once in a long while -- the one of my more distant relatives who really understood me. I still miss him even though he died when I was young.

And I really do appreciate all that you're doing for me, and all that you've offered to do. I want to emphasize (again) that if something comes up and you have to bail, I'll understand, and won't think that you're "betraying" me or anything. I'm already feeling somewhat guilty about your taking time off from school to help me.

Date: 2010-09-20 02:53 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ambiviolent.livejournal.com
Thank you, Dr.B, that's kind of you to say. I'd like to emphasize that there's no reason to feel guilty. If all goes well, the only thing I'm missing is an aerobics class. I have only one course that day, and the prof posts streaming audio of the lecture to WebCT. All is well.

Date: 2010-09-23 01:43 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] dewline.livejournal.com
Eight years next Christmas, and I still dream of my Dad on occasion...

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