-- What am I reading right now? The Secret History of the IRA, by Ed Moloney
-- What's the song I'm obsessing about right now? "Holiday" by Green Day. I find that I can't get enough. I just can't. When the fever passes, and other music is allowed into my life again, I'll let you know.
-- Is it baseball season yet?
-- Last night I had a dream about tidal waves. It was a montage of tidal waves. But the dream wasn't a scary dream, somehow. It was exciting. There were shots of houses and buildings engulfed in the foam of a massive crashing wave. There were shots of the chaos in the middle of the ocean. And then - there was this little postcard from a small remote island - The postcard showed a clapboard house standing there, and the windows reflected an enormous tidal wave approaching. Kind of a scary image, right? But the message on the postcard was something like: "From the island of Narwah - we welcome you!" Only, the dream made it clear that the postcard was welcoming the tidal wave. It wasn't a "Miss you, wish you were here" message, it was a "Greetings, tidal wave!!"message. I have tidal wave dreams once a decade, and I always perk up and pay attention when I have them. They seem to be harbingers of big things. Change, growth, getting into the subconscious, whatever. Hm. Maybe it has something to do with Harmony and Patience? Whatever it "has to do with", it was a pretty damn cool dream.
-- Christmas shopping? What? When? After my experience last year, ("the nightmare commute") I know I cannot have a repeat of THAT nonsense. Must figure something out ... It sucks when Christmas is on a Saturday, frankly.
-- I have not finished Underworld yet - but I found (Linus, you were right!) that it is perfectly all right to put the book down for a bit, read something else, and then pick it up again. It doesn't have a driving narrative, not at all, but it's well-written and compelling enough that when I pick it up again, I find myself launched right back into that world.
-- I put up my nativity scene this morning. My mom sent me the. Most. Adorable terra-cotta nativity set. Well, it's kind of a mini-set, actually. I've got Mary, I've got Joseph, and I've got the weeest terra cotta Baby Jesus you have ever seen in your life. They're abstract - terra cotta figures - but I find them so soothing, so beautiful. I set them up in my window, and I love looking at them.
-- I need to see Something's Gotta Give again, and so that's what I'm doing tonight. Cannot get enough of that movie. CANNOT. I will be writing a post on it ... but right now, I'm too busy enjoying every stinking minute of it.
"Last night I had a dream about tidal waves. It was a montage of tidal waves."
Geekish tangent, but this is me so I must: as you may know, Tolkien recurrently dreamt of tidal waves. The dream was part of the inspiration for the Akallabeth--the downfall of Numenor, the "older, more complete" story of what remained in myth and memory as the destruction of Atlantis.
Posted by: Dave J at December 12, 2004 3:53 PMI have these tidal wave dreams, as I mentioned, very rarely - but they seem very very important when I do have them, and probably for some of the same reasons as Tolkien. They seem mythic, they seem important ... and they seem to be trying to tell me something BIG.
Posted by: red at December 12, 2004 4:56 PMI'm with you on Green Day and Christmas shopping.
The other day I was visiting friends and had one of my recurrent "lost something big" dreams. In this case it was several automobiles. I told my friend Yvonne with whom I was staying, who commented "have issues much?".
I don't know that the tidal waves represent "issues" like my misplaced cars, but they probably represent something. Dreams usually do. Big change maybe?
Posted by: CW at December 12, 2004 10:37 PMCW: I think I like Yvonne. That's pretty funny. "Uhm ... I had 5 automobiles ... where the hell did I put them?"
Another recurring dream I have is of having a baby (only usually it's of the immaculate conception kind ... and also - it's not like I went through the pregnancy - it's just that I woke up one day and suddenly - I have a baby. Uhm ... a bit of stress perhaps??)
But anyway, the "baby' dreams are always nuts, because the baby just shows up, needs to be cared for, and my life is not set up at the moment to have a baby - and so the whole dream involves me racing around, bringing the baby to auditions, bringing it to work, having no diapers, having no idea what to do ... And occasionally (and these are the worst dreams) I "misplace" the baby. Oh, the horror ... the horror ...
My tidal wave dreams typically seem to mean that enormous changes are coming, and I should go with the wave, and not be scared. To me (and I have no idea what Freud or Jung or whoever would say about dream symbolism) - any "water" dream seems to be about my subconscious SCREAMING at me to pay attention. It's about submerging myself in the unknown, of letting go ... being fearless ... let the waves crash.
I love the dreams. But a lot of times they are terrifying (unlike the one I just had). Waves as tall as 30 story buildings approaching ... and I know that death is at hand.
Posted by: red at December 13, 2004 8:59 AM"What am I reading right now? The Secret History of the IRA, by Ed Moloney"
Any good? I've read a fair amount om that subject, but not that particular book.
"-- Is it baseball season yet?"
Soo my friend. Soon.
Dan -
It's very good. And I cleared it with a friend in Northern Ireland, in terms of whether or not it is propaganda. She said it was quite a good book, and a pretty accurate description of the inner workings of all the different IRAs.
Ed Moloney has been a journalist in NI for many years, and he's quite a good writer - I can't put the book down. It's about the creation of the modern-day IRA, yes, but it's sort of turning into a mini-bio about the rise of Gerry Adams.
I highly recommend it.
Posted by: red at December 13, 2004 10:44 AMSounds like a good one; I'll add it to my list.
Posted by: Dan at December 13, 2004 11:10 AMThat dern never-ending list. I will go into my grave with books unread, books still on "the list".
This thought haunts me.
Posted by: red at December 13, 2004 11:11 AMI actually threw my copy of Maloney's book across the room more than once while I was reading it. How's that for a review? :)
Posted by: Emily at December 13, 2004 11:18 AMI remember your post about that, Emily. heh
Posted by: red at December 13, 2004 11:19 AM"Holiday" is one of my favorite songs on that album, too! I really hope George W. is listening long and hard to both Green Day's American Idiot album and Eminem's Encore. I really really do.
Posted by: siobhan at December 13, 2004 5:04 PMHoliday is definitely my favorite song on the album - although I also LOVE Extraordinary Girl. I think that's a great song, too.
I'm not wacky about the sentiment of American Idiot - I disagree with him - but it still is a rocking song.
Posted by: red at December 13, 2004 5:09 PMBy the way, Siobhan - you can comment now? Where are you? How are you?
Thursday?? I still have to tell you about Ireland!
Posted by: red at December 13, 2004 5:13 PM