September 22

I dreamed that I was visiting an elementary school. I can't figure out whether I was a visiting teaching artist or if I actually had a kid going to the school. I just remember one of the teachers being Nia Long and instead of having desks in each classroom, they had huge king size beds on which the students sat to learn. The school was in a dark foggy area of the world, almost Tim Burtonesque and the students were primarily minorities.

The creepiest most disturbing thing about the dream was recess. Myself and a few other visitors were invited to watch recess from the 5-story patio-like seating area in a nearby apartment high-rise. At first, we were sort of excited to watch recess because it was set up on a blacktop, and much like a carnival- there was a ferris wheel, a couple roller coasters, and even some fast food stands.

However, when recess actually began, we were horrified with what we saw. We sat and squirmed in horror as we watched young students get on rides that were in terrible condition. There were two types of rides that I distinctly remember- there was some type of drop ride, much like the "tower of terror," that pulled its riders up to the highest elevation in a car attached to the side of a high-rise via a cable pulley system and then dropped them to the ground. There was a ride that spinned riders around attached to a cable coming from a 10-story pole. The horrifying part was that some of these rides didn't have seat belts so we watched as students flew like rag dolls out of their seats on the rides and into the air hitting nearby buildings and even electrical wires. We sat stunned as we watched young kids get injured and even killed as a result of these defunct recess rides. The scene culminated with electrical wires dropping to the blacktop and shocking all of the students walking around on the ground. What was even stranger was that the students on the ground were shrieking with a terrifying laughter as they ran for the yellow school buses. These crazy thrill-seeking kids couldn't wait to get on the dangerous rides and seemed to get a kick out of the disastrous things that were happening to their classmates all around them.

Just as I watched the students run for the buses, my friend Jenna called and woke me up! I'm not sure what this sort of dream could mean, but it was strangely interesting.

September 19

Last night I dreamed that I was traveling home from an audition. It was the middle of the night, and I was with a couple friends. Some of these friends were hybrids of friends that I have in real life. One was Che'La McIntyre from high school, another was a hybrid of Amanda Greco (someone I work with on the Spirit of Philadelphia) and another young lady that I was in the PRISEM program with at Hampton University. Her name escapes me right now. At any rate, we were using several IPhones to navigate our way back home because we were in the middle of B.F.E. We decided to make a stop at a Greek-inspired restaurant to eat. Somehow this restaurant turns into an impeccably decorated frat boy toga party with elaborate costuming, corinthian and composite columns, gold leafed crowns and stunning staircases. We make our way through the passageways and by the end of the party tour, my Amanda-hybrid friend is bragging about how she has somehow collected the numbers of several drunken frat boys. We leave the party and decide to keep traveling. We switch cars and drivers and now I'm driving. For some reason, our IPhone is giving us incorrect directions and we end up on some military fort in the middle of night, lost and unable to figure out a way home. There may be more deep down in my subconscious, but that's all I can remember right now.

September 5

Last night I dreamed I was working for a summer camp held on UVa's campus. I worked in food services at Newcomb Dining Hall.

What was interesting about this campus was that it housed famous child actors, like Halley Joel Osment, Dakota Fanning, and that guy from 500 Days of Summer and Angels In The Outfield. At any rate, the only memory I have is of me serving them food in Newcomb.

The second part of my dream took place at a huge banquet hall at a church event. There were several cameos from old friends from home including Bethany Wherry, Keisha Johnson and other childhood friends. There were also a lot of old dignitaries like the mayor and contemporary scholars. I can't recall who specifically but I know they were there.

The last portion of my dream took place in an apartment complex in an area that felt like Bardstown, Kentucky. I was waiting around in an apartment for Joilet Harris to finish catering a kid's birthday party. In one part of the dream, I walk over to the party to taste the cake and I wake up...

That's pretty much all I can remember unfortunately, but it was interesting.

September 4

I dreamed I was back in school, it felt like a college atmosphere, and I was taking a history exam and most of the questions were about wars and slavery. My professor was Caroline Leipf (Outreach Coordinator for the Walnut Street Theatre's Education Department). I had 3 hours and the amount of difficulty I had taking this exam was unbelievable. I spent the first 3 hours circling my multiple choice answers on the exam booklet only to find out at the end of the exam that I wasn't supposed to write on the exam at all. I asked Caroline if I could just write my answers on a sheet of notebook paper- she said "no" and told me that I was supposed to write out the questions and answers in a blue book (y'all remember those) and that she would give me an hour after class to do so. When I start writing the exam on my paper- I realize that every answer I've given is wrong so I end up having to re-take the exam and re-think each question so I don't fail.

The second part of my dream, I'm at a summer camp with some familiar faces- Ashley Spearman (friend from Philly) and Amanda Gray (from UVa, in my dream, her name was Amanda Ani). I don't know why these 2 young ladies were in my dream, but every year this camp has a pageant (much like the Miss Western Branch Pageant my high school has every year). They choose girls to be in the show and guys to escort the girls. The only thing I remember from the actual event is just a sequence of scenes consisting of clips of my memories of being an escort like five and a half years ago.

The next part of my dream is almost like a photo album with snapshots of my high school days.

That's about all I remember before waking up.

September 3

Last night I dreamed that I re-enrolled at UVa. For some reason, I decided to do a fifth year, which consisted of a French 331 class (taught by my high school french teacher, Mrs. McKnight) and a singing class taught by someone else I went to high school with, Patrice Covington. All my classes were held in a high school building and my schedule had pictures on it from the last semester of classes. What was so interesting about this dream was that EVERYONE was trying to get into the French class and there were a lot of issues with the waiting list for the course. At any rate, I kept bragging about how I'd already gotten my degree from UVa and telling everyone that I didn't know why I was back.

Thats pretty much all I can remember

September 2

I dreamed that I was going on a field trip with my school- it was either a middle or high school- one that I had never actually been to. For some reason, I was required to bring my sister along. For those who know my sister, you know that she can have an attitude sometimes. Something or someone made her mad and she decided to lock me out of the bathroom rest stop that we make about twenty minutes into the trip. Someone eventually lets me in because I really have to pee, and it's an urban school environment with large staircases, brick walls, and stench. There are no bathrooms so I pee down a staircase in the gap between railings watching my urine careen down to the very first floor of the stairwell-- some even splashes on an obese woman wearing gray sweatpants standing at the entrance to the stairwell- she doesn't notice. Well, at some point, we leave the school and we are in my grandmother's front lawn and my sister has turned into a gold cat- much like Garfield. She hops up onto the mailbox on the lawn and catches a fungus that turns her paws a disgusting green and whitish color.

The part of my dream takes place at Stephen Foster Productions in Kentucky- a theatre I worked for a couple of summers ago. I was hired there again to do a show similar to The Wiz, it wasn't The Wiz but it was a very whimsical show much like The Wiz. There were a lot of people I know working there as well, including Patrice Covington (an actor I went to High School with), Ben Dibble (an actor here in Philadelphia), Candace Thomas (another actor here in Philadelphia), and Anthony Corlette (another friend from High School who now lives in NYC). What was different about working for SFDA in my dream was that it was held on UVa's campus in a cafeteria that doesn't exist there.

The next part of my dream is, again, very disjointed- it includes a series of scenes. I end up watching one of the run-throughs of the show on a night off, Tichina Arnold walks in in full costume to perform and I kept calling her K.C. I end up watching this dress rehearsal until about 7:15am in nothing but a robe and a knit cap. As I'm leaving, I notice that everyone is having breakfast in one of the lobbies of the theatre. Ben Dibble pulls me to the side to talk to me about coming to see another show he's performing in that night. I agree and exit the building walking through New Dorms on UVa's campus wondering if I'm missing some essential rehearsal. Then I wake up.

August 31 and September 1

The last few nights, my dreams have been extremely disjointed and incomplete. The night before last, the only sequence of action I can remember from my dream is trying to stop Tyson (the dog I'm dogsitting for a couple weeks for a friend) from peeing in his waterbowl. And last night, the only sequence of action I can remember from my dream is about my cousin. She was featured in a magazine for something I can't quite remember, I just remember looking at the layout in my dream. I also dreamed that her and I went to see a movie together at a theatre that we used to go to when we were younger in Chesapeake at Military Circle. Well, we went in a huge white van and the movie theatre was now missing the ceiling, so we were watching the movie under the stars, which was kinda neat but strange none the less. I also ran into Jose', theatre school coordinator at the a theatre I used to work for, at the movies as well.

I don't know what all this means, I guess I just haven't been sleeping that completely lately so my dreams have also been incomplete.

Oh well...we'll see what happens tonight

August 28

I dreamed that my family was planning a trip to Iowa or Idaho, some state that started with the letter I. I just got home from Philly and the planning was well underway. Some of my family had already left, by way of private planes that they flew themselves. My mom offered to fly me in her plane but after I was unable to withdraw money from an ATM for my ticket (?), I kindly declined her offer. I was secretly nervous that we would crash, considering my mother has never had piloting lessons. We instead go back home and have a huge dinner with the family.

After dinner, we decide to "walk it off" by WALKING to Newport News. Newport News is about a 40 minute drive from my house in Chesapeake, so you can imagine, walking is not usually commonplace. But, we begin walking. The entire time cars are driving by offering us rides, which we politely decline and eventually news reporters start following us (a la Forrest Gump) questioning our motives and asking why we had decided to walk across the city. Things get really interesting when our walk takes on the form of a marathon-- we now have and announcer broadcasting our every move and we even have small crowds forming in bleachers along the highway cheering us on. When we come to a body of water- we panic. There is a small wooden bridge that looks as if it would fall at a moment's notice. We begin to cross it and it breaks. I swim back to where we started and someone from the crowd helps me onto the street and I walk to the other side of the lake (I don't know why we didn't do this in the first place). The rest of my family manages to swim to the other side, but they come out of the water naked and my dad has turned into Tim Allen.

However, we discovered that my sister was missing, at which point the announcer informs us (and the crowd) that she hadn't actually jumped into the water yet- she came prepared and was putting on a wet suit and swim cap and that she would be ready in a moment. As I watch my family emerge from the murky water...I wake up.

August 25

I dreamed I was cast to replace a star in a new musical! The venue was sort of a hybrid between several venues I'd either been in or worked for in including my own high school auditorium. But, for some reason, I was being extremely unprofessional- I couldn't remember the dance steps or my lines and I kept walking through the audience to make backstage crosses. I can remember two friends of mine being in the show with me- Aundrey Ligon and an amazing young lady I worked with a few years ago at Heritage Rep- Erin Farrell. The rest is sort of indecipherable or has disappeared into my subconscious.

August 23

Last night I dreamed I was planning a trip to Switzerland but everything was done at the last minute. (As is my usual way of doing things). I was flying out from NY and I was staying at a my friend Anthony's place in Brooklyn but his apartment oddly resembled a combination of the apartment I had in Louisville and my home in Virginia.

At any rate, I'm packing a really small suitcase literally 2 hours before my plane is supposed to leave. My mom and stepdad (who died back in May) came home to drive me to the airport. I kept telling my mom that I'm gonna be late but all she was worried about was me remembering to bring her back some Swiss chocolates. I tell her that I have to print my flight reservation but instead of doing that I end up getting on facebook to change my status and not even printing my reservation.

At this point, my mom is in the car honking the horn so I rush out with my suitcase and an armful of other junk. My mom tells me to catch the school bus and that it will take me to the airport. I get on the bus and the bus driver ends up being the head busdriver of the city and she has to stop and check on the kids and buses of every other driver in the district.

Then I found out that this bus driver also owns a distillery in South Carolina and she tells me that I can have all the bourbon I can drink for the plane if I just walk to South Carolina and get it. Well, in my dream, South Carolina is right around the corner and I go. Haha. There are a slew of workers in white coats and hairnets and I keep asking them where the finished product comes out and as everyone I talk to points me in the wrong direction...I WAKE UP!

August 22

I was in church with my mom and a friend. I couldn't tell who but it was someone I was used to being around and was definitely not another family member. The minister was giving a speech about what had happened in the previous service- with the assistance of a power point. In this powerpoint, several members of the congregation were being accused of committing sins and being punished on the spot. It was pretty vivid with scenes of flogging and people actually being set on fire!

At the end of the power point, he announced that someone would be punished today for a murder they committed. At that point, an usher walks down the center aisle with a gun and approaches the son of a prominent member of the Diaconate Fellowship and shoots him! However, instead of dying, the accused was given a microphone and began singing a really beautiful love song to God.

As church ended, I exited to find my mother eating shellfish on the front steps of the church with another deacon. My mother is allergic to many forms of shellfish. But, she was unaffected in my dream. By this point, I, for reason, decided to strip down to my underwear and go back into the church a retrieve a musical theatre anthology I had forgotten under the pew I was sitting on. There was a church conference going on so I was exposed to the entire church but I didn't care. My cousin, Juanita (who I never keep in touch with) was in my seat in the church and handed me the anthology from under the pew while I kneeled down under the pew attempting to reach it. They were in a green bag.

So...I eventually get dressed and my mom and I, and my friend, and now a dog are walking towards my mom's car in the parking lot. My sister's friend Brittany White was also in the parking lot with her mom (who actually died several years ago) and 2 small dogs.

I ran into my friend Bethany Wherry and her father, who used to pastor the church I attend at home. They were upset with me because I never keep in touch with them.

I also saw my Aunt Linda on the sidewalk wearing Sally Jesse Raphael style glasses.

Anyway- I was walking to the car and I notice that the car is being attacked by a large stuffed lion. This lion was literally the size of the car. It was alive but cartoonish in nature, almost as if it had been drawn on a canvas and brought to life. As we approached the car, my dog, who was also a cartoon, began barking hysterically to try to scare the lion away. The lion replied, "only dogs that are real can scare me!" He said this several times. The dog kept barking and attacked the lion but then the lion came home with us.

That night, I decide to play with the lion before going to bed. The lion charges me everytime I play with him but is never able to finish saying the entire price. Everytime I played with him after, he depreciated in value.

The Beginning...

So I've decided to start a dream journal today. Mainly because I'm unemployed and bored but more so because I have been having really interesting dreams lately and I want to start chronicling them in the hopes of possibly compiling a narrative.