Hanging out at the Railway last night, before the Planks went on, Al Mader and I briefly chatted about dreams - the recurrent pattern, found across dreamers, of being somewhere (on stage, at school, at work - the place varies depending on what the dreamer does) - and being completely unprepared for what one is supposed to do. Perhaps cued by the conversation, I had a related dream last night. I'm presently considering going back to school, to UBC; in the dream, I am already a student, except UBC is strangely located at the site of Maple Ridge Secondary School, where I went to high school (class of '86), and I'm back living at my childhood home, at 216th and Dewdney, with both my parents still alive. I have signed up for several classes (and apparently, as in high school, have a mandatory P.E. class, but that's a bit foggy, now). I go to one class, have a bad experience, and react badly; suddenly I stop attending ALL of my classes. A local kid on a bike sees me on the street - he's taking a few classes too, and we chat a bit; he recognizes me 12 weeks later - still skipping out - and advises me that I'm in trouble. I don't know why I'm avoiding my classes - is it a fear of failure, or do I just not want to be back in school? I decide to receive a bit of counselling, and go to a sort of "Career Day" in the school gym, with all sorts of paperwork laid about on tables to help us get a grip on what we want to do with our lives; but instead of researching classes, I'm drawn to a "help wanted" ad soliciting helpers to go into the jungles of the Amazon and capture anacondas. I think, "screw university, THIS is what I want to do...". My desire to catch snakes is not entirely a non-sequitur, since it was in the fields of my elementary school, Glenwood, also in Maple Ridge, that I first took to said activity as a childhood pastime - though it was garter snakes, not anacondas...
Creaking Planks news: Rowan has shaved off his beard, and they've amended their version of NIN's "Closer" so the lyrics now seem to refer to the multiple crises of being a preschooler ("Help me - I think I've got a boo-boo" was one line I picked out; and of course, the chorus, "I want to hug you like a teddybear.") A fine night was had, even if I had to sneak out early to catch the last train home.
By the way, Petunia has a show with his band, The Vipers, at St. James Hall, February 18th!
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