3 short dream clips: city in water, PhD in healing, & large animals

So this morning after I woke up, I realized I had a weird dream about a city that was built intentionally in the middle of a body of water (not sure if it was an ocean or a lake). It was a conglomeration of gray buildings, all fairly tall, closely grouped together and looked very technologically advanced. and then spanning the entire length of it (which wasn't very big) was a building that was sort of like the equivalent of a half-pipe, but it was clearly a curved building. it actually reminded me of the superman ride at magic mountain, like it went really high up into the air, higher than any of the other buildings and it was very dramatic looking. I remember thinking how scary it would be to be on the top floor, it was so high. and I also remember just knowing somehow that this city was reno. maybe because I was recently in lake tahoe. anywho, some underwater adventure took place involving swimming from something without getting caught or being seen. I was reading some sci-fi last night before falling asleep, which might explain the weird, futuristic setting. I don't remember the resolution of the dream though.

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then I had a dream about a friend of mine with whom I have fallen out of touch over the years, and even though we were really close growing up, we haven't spoken in at least a year, maybe longer. well I had a dream we were hanging out, and she told me that on top of her amazing life so far, she was going to go back to school. I asked if she meant to get her masters, and she said no, she was going to get her PhD in healing (which made sense in the dream). I got really jealous and started to compare myself to her and my life so far to hers and felt like a big old failure and loser. needless to say, I think I've got some buried issues there in terms of recognizing my uniqueness and not comparing myself to others!

I think being back in school after taking several years off is bringing up these issues of achievement for me. I felt kind of like a loser when I didn't go away to college right away like most of the kids from my high school, and I think I've held that against certain people and it has majorly affected our friendship(s). I don't know if this dream is trying to show me what I want (a PhD?!) or not to compare myself with others & hold their achievements against them. maybe both. or maybe it's telling me to accept myself as I am, and to appreciate all the things I've experienced by choosing a different path.

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finally, I had this dream the other night but kept forgetting about it somehow. this is a typical dream for me: it involves larger than life cute animals!! I don't remember the context at all, but I do remember there was a HUGE giant panda, he was bigger than a horse, actually about the size of an elephant, and I was snuggling on him!! I don't remember his name but I wish I did. anyway, I was ecstatic and didn't want to stop hugging him. and that's all I remember.

in case you didn't know, ugly betty is a feminist.

this morning I had a dream that I was kickin' it with the suarez family (I've been watching a lot of ugly betty!! y que?! it's so good!) and I don't remember if I WAS betty, or if I was just a family member, but hilda was there too. we were in the kitchen doing something or other and there were all these construction workers in the other room who were trying to take advantage of us because we were women! I think they were eating lunch and taking a break from whatever project they were working on. anywho, so I heard them talking about how we were stupid & didn't know anything about construction because we were women, or something mean & disrespectful like that, so I gave them a piece of my mind! which is significant to me because in real life I'm really bad at confrontation and telling people off, I would never normally do that to someone I don't know at all. but I told them something strong and badass, and threatened them with something pretty impressive because after that they shut up and ate their lunches in silence! it was a very proud moment, and betty & hilda both had my backs. haha, so random!!

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I also had a dream about the gossip (the band), and they were total ballers. like bling everywhere, expensive accessories (somehow I just knew), and they were doing some photo shoot with fancy, emaciated, barely-clad models. I think I was turned off by it, like 'oh, they've become such jerks now that they're famous.' I think it has something to do with mike telling me about how they were kind of condescending to this canadian band, fucked up, a couple of years ago. weird.

paprika!

so I went to see this movie today, Paprika, which was brilliant & beautiful. it's about a group of scientists who create a machine that allows you to share other people's dreams, but then the machine gets stolen by a dream terrorist who tries to merge dreams & reality. intense right?! and how perfect for this dream-based blog! well, it was really really good and I encourage everyone to see it. I don't think it's in any theaters anymore, except for maybe a handful or so, but if you see that it's playing check it out, it's well worth it. the visuals are stunning, the story is really moving & interesting (the underlying theme has to do with people not being able to control science and then having science take over), and the music is really great too.
here's a trailer: