Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Dream: Tree Attack

I'm at home / retreat in the front yard driveway.  Suddenly I notice a rogue tree in the distance to the north.  I'm scared, and I feel personally threatened as if the tree is sentient and intends malice toward me.

I think that this is unbecoming of one who is training to be Enlightened.  The other Buddhas in this retreat would not be afraid, and I should not be either.

Forget that.  I walk quickly around the garage side of the house to the little corner formed by the porch and the garage.  I hope that the tree will attack the other Buddhists and somehow not find me.

Dream: Soured on Car Mechanic

I'm at the car mechanic's shop.  He located a used car for me and is in the process of prepping it.  The owner's son tells me about a pipe that needs to be replaced.  I'm thoroughly dismayed – I don't want to have to do any work on the car.  But I remain stoic.

He takes me into the back and shows me some license plate samples, asking me to choose a color.  The first plate is extremely gaudy, with sunburst / peach on the left side that transitions to blue on the right with a dividing arc near the center.  A second plate is less brilliant.  It's also smaller, less tall.  I pick a blue from the first plate and a letter from the second, which I call blue, but he calls it slate.  With that decided, I make my way out of the place.

I see a large number of cars parked in the lot and a very long table with a white table cloth and stacks of folded cloth napkins.  It looks like a huge dinner party is being set up.  “Why wasn't I invited?” I wonder.  “I'm his biggest customer!”  Oh well.  I shake it off.

Saturday, February 25, 2017

Dream: Karate Graduation

I'm in a karate studio.  Kids are playing a board game on the floor.  It has lots of pieces that appear to be little soldiers.  They are separated into four groups by color: blue, green, brown and black.  I step over the playing area to get to the main part of the dojo.

I'm with the other students, sitting against the wall.  We watch as an instructor demos a move: block, punch, take-down.  He tells us to pair off and practice the move.  The boy next to me walks away quickly to find another boy.  I'm left with a lot of girls / women to choose to practice with.  Many of them don't seem interested in working with me.  Finally one agrees.  She has an unusual outfit on.  It's a purple / lavender turtleneck top with a jewel-encrusted oval hole at her throat.  We face each other.  She throws a punch.  I block it, but I don't remember the rest of the move.  Then I throw a punch.  She doesn't remember either.  But it's too late – the practice session is over.

As folks mill about, an instructor announces graduation.  He has a stack of several plastic-bagged uniforms.  He pulls a paper from one and reads my name!  I come forward.  He puts a yellow cap on my head, and people clap.  I've been here only a short time, but I came from another school.

I transfer the stuff from the plastic bag into my black back pack, which is up against the wall we were sitting against.  Now the uniform is dark blue, not yellow.  I put it on.  It's more like a gown, and it has a rigid piece of plastic that covers my throat.  I guess it's meant to protect me.  Some students recognize me and congratulate me.  One says that they won't take it easy on me anymore.  I say that that's a good thing because I'll learn more if I get punched for real.

Dream: Attack of the Green Aerial Disc

I'm outside in a park-like setting on a path. I'm talking on the cellphone with a vendor or client. The guy is telling me that I should try walking while I talk. I jokingly say that I don't think I can, but I start walking anyway. There is light rain in the air.

When I get back to the parking lot, which is about ten feet below the ground level of the path, I see that my car, a grey Ford Escort sedan, is nearly submerged in water. I see that I left the windows halfway open. My black Labrador retriever was in the car, but now he is standing up near the path. Good boy! The red car that was next to mine floats away.

A little while later the water drains away. I get in the car, which is now parked in a different spot, across from its previous spot further from the path. I start the car. I wipe the passenger side door on the inside with a towel. I can see the previous parking spot in the rear view mirror. Water is gushing into the parking lot at that point. I get the car out of there.

Now I'm standing back up near the path. I decide to look for even higher ground. I find a small green hillock to stand on. Now I see a huge wave of rough green liquid flowing slowly toward me, about two stories high. It appears to be made of water and grass clippings. Other people are crowded together with me. The wall of green liquid stops just before it gets to us as if it solidified.

Now there's a wall of it blocking our view in that direction. But up in the sky right above us a huge ball of the green liquid shoots up and begins to fall. It lands right next to us. It make me wonder if the hillock we're standing on was made by a previous ball of green liquid that fell from the sky.

I feel less safe on the hillock so I decide to walk around. I feel that we're being targeted. The waves of floods have formed walls and corridors between the walls. I walk through these corridors toward the source of the flood. I see a green grassy disc in the sky. It has an opening that I presume the green liquid comes out of. The disc is hovering and rotating several degrees back an forth like an oscillating fan. The orifice is pulsating slightly.

Now I'm inside a public building, like a rest stop. There are a few other guys with me. We realize that the town / country / earth is under attack. We storm out of the building to stop the attack.

[I wake up to the song "Merry Old Land of Oz" from the Wizard of Oz.]

Thursday, February 16, 2017

Wednesday Weigh-In 20170216

I'm no longer trying to stay in ketosis, but I continue to eat meals that have lower than typical carbs and low-glycemic, to boot. I'm trying to sleep more, and breathe more, because there's only so much you can do with diet if you're not sleeping and breathing well.

Waist = 40.75"
Height = 5' 9"

References:
  1. Wikipedia BMI page
  2. Tanita Scale with Body Fat monitor
  3. Javascript must be enabled to view the data.

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Wednesday Weigh-In 20170201

Suddenly we find ourselves in February.

Waist = 40.75"
Height = 5' 9"

References:
  1. Wikipedia BMI page
  2. Tanita Scale with Body Fat monitor
  3. Javascript must be enabled to view the data.