I never expected HER to say that...

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Has this ever happened to you?

I have a casual friend who I’ll call Sue. She’s a really cool girl, very open-minded and intelligent, and easy to talk to. She’s a reasonable, level-headed person though occasionally can be mindlessly silly. But all in all she’s a very smart, stable, capable fun person. A gasp pragmatic teenage girl. So here’s what happened.

One night, she was sitting beside the bed in the hotel room, talking to Catalyst. I was sitting on the bed (as was Catalyst) and talking to a fourth person, Friend #3. All in all, at that moment there were 2 separate conversations, but both of them were personal and more intimate than usual. Spending a weekend together had pulled us all a little closer, it seemed. Suddenly, Friend #3 and I stopped our conversation and turned to face Catalyst and Sue. To this day I can’t remember why exactly we turned around. Sue and Catalyst must have been discussing dreams. Because this is something along the lines of what I heard…

Sue: I can control my dreams.
Catalyst: -raises eyebrow- Really?
Sue: confidently Oh yes. Ever know that you’re dreaming, right before you wake up? And you’re able to change the outcome of your dream?
Me: -nod- Yeah
Sue: I can do that. Really well. -goes on to describe in detail how adept at manuvering in dreams she is-
Catalyst: -slowly and thoughtfully- Cool.
Sue: Yeah. I plan on like, when I turn 60, going into my dream world and never coming back again.
Catalyst: -surprised- Wha? Uh. Huh…
Sue: -giggles at surprise- Yeah.

I glanced at Friend # 3. What the hell?

She went on to describe her plan. I couldn’t believe it. Here was someone who I thought would blast anything supernatural as being superstitious and manmade, and she could control her dreams? Was going to cross into her “dream world” when she was tired of this one?

I’m exaggerating the weirdness of the whole thing, I’m sure, but it was so disconcerting to have someone who I thought I had pegged out as reliable turn so randomly odd on me. She has never since spoken about her dream-control, or anything else as out of the ordinary. She is still just Sue. But yet, sometimes when I look at her, I remember what she said, and I wonder what else she doesn’t talk about. I would have expected something like that out of the crazy Wiccan-experimentor identical twins, who were convinced dolls were alive and scratched them while they slept.

Mebbe I’m dumb. But it bothers me.

2

Oh really now…that’s nothing. So she has cool dreams, so fucking what? I really don’t think it’s that big of a deal. She was probably just joking around.
In fact, I wish I could do that. :frowning:

3

I was at work one day, and as usual we were poking fun of the guy who works next to me about being gay, amongst other things [sub]*before flaming me, note that this is very ironic because…well, just trust me there :wink: *[/sub]

Well, the one lady, an older woman who looks like your stereotypical grandmother, looks over at him, and says the last thing I would have ever expected to hear.

“All this time I thought you didn’t try and pick me up because I was old, fat, and ugly, and in really it is because you are gay?”

Needless to say, everyone else in the room was promptly floored laughing, as no one had expected her to say anything even remotely near that.

4

I wish my grandma said stuff like that. All she ever does is sit there and stare at you blankly.

5

Ugh, I really should have proofread that post.

“and in really”

In the words of homer… Doh!

6

I have heard that if you start writing down your dreams that you will get so you remember more and more of them. Then you can start thinking of something before you go to sleep and this will develop into being able to control your dreams. I don’t know if this is ever supposed to get to the level that Sue described, but it seems possible. Some people may have a natural talent or somehow may be able to develop it by chance.

As to entering her dream and never coming back that is another concept. I’ll pass on that one.

7

It’s called Lucid Dreaming, when you can control your dreams. I used to have them once in a while and they’re really cool!
Anyways, what your friend Sue says kind of sounds like an Allie McBeal episode I saw where a lonely old woman goes to court to be able to be on 24 hour meds so she could be in a deep sleep, being fed intraveniously…etc. Apparently she was able to, throughout her life, control her dreams and in her “dream world” got married, had kids, basically lived a fullfilling life. Her waking life was full of illness and loneliness and she wanted to completely submerge herself in her dream world. Her heaven I suppose…
Hmm… wouldn’t it be cool if our dreams were really just another life experience in another dimension?
Scary? If so…apparently I’m Wonder Woman!
hehheh

8

i was walking and talking with a girl i’d been casually dating for a while, and she mentioned how serious she was about her modeling career (have i mentioned that this girl was way out of my league? and that i have no idea why she ever went out with me?)
anyway, i said something to the affect of “someday i’ll be able to say ‘i knew you when you weren’t famous’”
she responded with, “who knows? maybe you’ll be able to say you married me.”

…
what???
how am i supposed to repond to that?!?!?! we’d been out a handful of times, and everytime i was around her i was reduced to a babbling pile of girl-smitten goo (honestly, i had no right dating a girl who looked like her). and now she mentions marriage? yeesh.

9

I think it’s cute that you think 60 is old. Your opinion will change when your parents get there.

10

I once sat on a bench in a park. The woman at the other end of the bench gave me this look that I thought was saying “You are invading my space”.

I looked at her and said “Don’t worry, I’m not going to touch you or anything.”
She replied “Why not?”
I had no response.

11

I am reminded of a certain Queensryche song…

Can your friend actually control the duration of her sleep as well? I don’t mean to rain on anyone’s parade, but unless she can control her sleep patterns and make herself comatose, she might have a difficult time staying asleep.

If she can, however, she’d better get that living will sorted out in advance. :stuck_out_tongue:

12

Now I want to know what you look like. But seriously, you obviously think too poorly of yourself. Drop dead gorgeous or no, she’s still a woman like the rest of us, and she sees something in you that she apparently likes. Learn to relax and enjoy being with someone so beautiful.

13

Or, if you don’t like that idea, give her my number. :stuck_out_tongue:

Regarding the OP, though, there used to be these goggles advertised that were supposed to detect REM sleep and use lasers to somehow initiate lucid dreaming. I always assumed (and still do assume) that it’s bunk.

Whatever you do, don’t let that woman watch The Matrix.
[sub]I wasn’t kidding about the phone number thing, either.[/sub]

14

In case you want more information on lucid dreaming, here’s the FAQ. There’s really nothing flaky about it; it’s a practical skill you can develop over time, and it can teach you a lot. Besides which, it’s incredibly fun.

And as to a retirement plan, I’m hoping by the time I’m ready for it, I can be hooked into virtual reality full time. Wire me up, turn on the machine, and I’m gaming for years. By that time, I’m hoping there’ll be virtual versions of EverQuest and such; massive multiplayer games, going on for weeks…

Sounds better than Florida.

15

I used to dream alot, now ever so often. But I can control my dreams too, not all the time, but most. It’s kinda like you are telling a story to yourself or something while you are the one it’s happening to all at the same time. I know several people who can do this. I don’t see why you’d think it’s weird, though.

16

Excuse me ?!?!? WTF ? :smiley:

17

The reason I found it weird was it seemed out of place for Sue to say.

I’ve no idea if Sue can control the duration/time period of her sleep.

And she loves the Matrix.

Lucid dreaming is neat.