The One With the Photoshoot and the Problematic Model

I was trying to take some photos of a woman I know named Mariel but her name in the dream was Anna.  I had my DSLR and we were in a sun room of a house I didn't recognize, but three sides of the room were large windows with blinds that were open to let the light in.

Anna was horrible at taking direction - she couldn't (or wouldn't) do what I was asking her to do, like turn her head in a certain direction, or adjust the position of her arms or shoulders.  I even tried posing her like a Barbie doll and she wouldn't hold that either.  I'd fix one thing, move on to the next, and she'd move the first thing I had fixed.

At one point there was a guy there (maybe a guy I know named Otavio) who was going to be in some shots with her.  He was sitting at a table near a window in front of a typewriter and she was supposed to look over his shoulder at what he was doing, or out the window pensively, but she wouldn't look in the right direction.

There was also another woman that I believe was a coworker or something, and she looked like Victoria Beckham, and we were both wearing large Anna Wintour style sunglasses and we had taken them off at one point while adjusting the scene and we had switched them by mistake.  I put hers on but they were too big, but then when I put mine on, she said that mine were too big and that I needed smaller ones (which is true, I need small frames for my face shape in real life and it's always a struggle finding them).

While adjusting the scene, we found that the "typewriter" was simply a stack of thin books (like that wouldn't have shown up in a photo).

Also at one point, we were trying to take photos on the street in a big city that looked like maybe New York, and a drag queen walked by and wanted me to take some photos with his disposable camera but then he walked away and just expected us to get the photos to him.

The One Where I Was the Musical Comedy Act, of Sorts.

I was in a restaurant and it was time for me to head downstairs to the first floor to the bar section where I was an act of sorts.  I went downstairs and sat at the piano, but I had a guitar.  There was one older gentleman with gray hair, he was balding, and had glasses.  I don't remember seeing a computer or laptop, but I got the impression that he was working somehow.

My thing was I was going to play somewhat funny music.  In the dream, I was about as good at the guitar as I am in real life, which means I only know a few chords and struggle with timely transitions.  I said that I was very good at guitar (obviously being sarcastic) and that I could "learn him" how to play guitar if he wanted.

I started playing the Sound of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel but the lyrics were made up on the fly about how I hit an old woman with my car.  She had her hair up in one of those tiny buns on the top of her head and it left that shape in the side of my car when I hit her. 

The old gentleman found that somewhat amusing, so I kept the subject on her and would sometimes stop of make comments, like how some old lady's hair looks nice but when you go to touch it, it's wiry and rough.  At that, he laughed and nodded like I knew exactly what I was talking about.

I finished that song and asked him what I thought, and he joked that I was going to have to "learn him" how to play the guitar like that some time.  I mentioned that I was making up lyrics on the fly, and a nearby waitress chimed in with some lyric suggestions that I don't recall.  I started talking with her and I woke up.

The One with the Jogging, Mushrooms and Paparazzi Photo

I was jogging in a residential neighborhood with a client of mine who is a runner.  In real life, it has been raining a lot, so there have been a lot of mushrooms lately, which I love looking for and taking photos of.  

So as we were jogging, we were seeing them on people's lawns, including some really nice chanterelles, and I had to stop to take some photos, even though I felt bad for pausing the jogging.

I don't remember how the two parts were connected, but then it came up that a friend of mine (Garrett) had been involved in something of a scandal, because a photo had been taken of him -- I don't remember for sure, but I think he was buying drugs, and I seem to recall it was at a place like the Boatslip in Provincetown.  

The photo was black and white and old looking, and reminded me of the photo of Jack in the Shining at the end. 

The One at the Mall

I dreamed that I was at a pretty large mall.  I went to a pet store that had tiny giraffes in the bird area and little frogs outside of tanks that would lose their legs if you picked them up.  I picked one up and a leg came off, and then another before I put it back.  Then after that I saw a sign that said not to pick up the frogs.

There was another area where they kept bringing out animals to interact with.  First there was a baby goat, so I got down on all fours and it climbed on my back.  At this point, my friend Mark met me at the store.  Then a woman dressed and made up like Marilyn Monroe brought out a lizard that looked like a baby alligator as it raced over to me, but then changed into more of a small gila monster.  At first it looked aggressive, but when I pet it, it became very affectionate like a cat.

Later I was in a restaurant or pub that had this weird bicycle looking thing and if you pulled a ring on a chain, it would open a gate into a secret section that was sort of like a cross between a game and escape room.  It was like a car with a video screen.  I "drove" the car into an area that had fire on the video screen and had to find stuff to put into funnel-like receptacles to put it out.  

A couple of kids came in while I was doing it, and they were trying to play it with me. 

Then I woke up.

The One with Hide and Seek and the Vote

 The first thing I remember was me hooking up with a friend of mine (that I used to work with) in a big, old house.  The friend was also the project manager of a big effort and there was a vote about to take place.  I was a key vote, but the project manager was trying to stall the vote for some reason.

I was hiding all over the house trying to avoid Jen (who is a woman that I used to work with) who was trying to find me so the vote could take place.

I hid behind furniture and in closets.  Two other women found me in a closet and commented, "Oh, you're back in there" and laughed.  Once, I pulled down the stairs to the attic (the kind that fold up into the ceiling) to trick Jen into going up into the attic.

At one point, I ran out of the house and started running away but had to go back because if they knew I left the house, it would count as an absence and the vote could move forward without me.