Recurring Dream

Listening to: Man of Colours - Icehouse. I admit its fully MOR late 80's soft rock, but it scratches a nostalgic itch, and you don't need a psychologist and a thesaurus to understand the lyrics.

Last night I dreamt I was in New York. It wasn't a very realistic New York as far as I can tell (I have never been there in real life), seeming to be a melange of bits of Wellington and perhaps Venice transplanted to a demonstrably exotic location, but I saw the Verrazano Narrows bridge off in the distance, plus I knew I was in New York. For some reason I had my old film camera instead of my digital one, in a decision that was initially dream logical but quickly turned out to be wrong. It was fun being a tourist, but frustrating, as I kept running into my friends who live overseas but wasn't able to catch up beyond a few pleasantries and a hug before they had other places to be. I woke up missing my distant friends. It was also a long dream, playing out in several hours in real time as evidenced by my waking up and seeing the time before returning to New York.

Despite the melancholic ending, it was an interesting dream, incorporating a couple of recurring elements of my nightly subconscious wanderings. I have enough of these to make a list.

1. The Camera Fail
At the moment this one seems to be most common. I'll be somewhere and there will be things crying out to be documented, or great photographs to be had (often at airshows). Except I have forgotten my camera, or I can't get it to work. Another way this happens is I will go to pick up my own camera, only to find it is someone elses and I cannot operate it. I once went through half a dozen cameras in this routine before finding my own, by which time the moment had long gone.

2. The Long Player Epic
The dream that lasts all night, which can be woken from and returned to. Sometimes this is good, and I don't want to wake up. Other times, like the time I dreamt the scenario in On the Beach had been transplanted to my home city its not so much fun. This happened once and the dream was so nasty I cannot remember anything about it, other than it was unpleasant.

3. The Crazy Netball Dream
I will be playing Indoor Netball, except it will be fundamentally nuts in some way. 50 players on the court, a six foot high hoop, using a tennis or squash ball instead of a netball etc. I almost never dream about indoor netball in a conventional sense.

4.The Elevation beyond my skills dream
I will find myself playing rugby for the all blacks, or playing drums at a Foo Fighters concert for example, despite having no demonstrable skills in either discipline.

5. The Study Fail
The standard 'The exam is tomorrow and I haven't studied or even attended lectures for the entire term' dream that a lot of people have I think. I have to wake up and remind myself that I graduated ten years ago.

6. The Bailout
I'll decide that I don't like the particular direction the dream is heading and wake myself up. I'm quite proud of this particular skill, even if I am not always capable of executing it.

In addition to the above, I am told I also sleep talk, sometimes walk and awake in very confused and agitated states on occasion. I can also remember dreams that were recurrent in my early childhood, but ceased as I got older. Tricksy things subconsciouses.