hmm… sleepy, but diddling just a bit with my homepage. I’m sort of at a crossroads… deciding on sizes and images, and placement of things.

maybe I’m too tired… but it is fun.

It was lightning out this morn, so instead of walking I just watched an interesting movie, Waking Life, an animated film written and directed by Richard Linklater (“Slacker,” “Dazed and Confused”), while puttering a little bit with paint shop pro. I pretty quickly got caught up in the film, only about one icon into it before stopping to pay closer attention to what was happening on-screen.

The plot summary in the IMDB gives you an idea of the quirkiness of the film:

“Dreams. What are they? An escape from reality or reality itself? Waking Life follows the dream(s) of one man and his attempt to find and discern the absolute difference between waking life and the dreamworld. While trying to figure out a way to wake up, he runs into many people on his way; some of which offer one sentence asides on life, others delving deeply into existential questions and life’s mysteries. We become the main character. It becomes our dream and our questions being asked and answered. Can we control our dreams? What are they telling us about life? About death? About ourselves and where we come from and where we are going? The film does not answer all these for us. Instead, it inspires us to ask the questions and find the answers ourselves.”

Somehow, the beautiful rotoscoped animation makes a scene of two talking heads discussing existentialism or the nature of dreams interesting for the eyes as well as the ears. It presents a lot to think about for anyone interested in dreamlands.

A lengthy anecdote concerning Philip K. Dick and “Flow My Tears The Policeman Said.” Speculations about what happens in those minutes between the death of the body and brain death. Some excellent rants. A few good tips on how to tell if you are dreaming.

Digital readouts; particularly watches, are usually garbled when dreaming.

Small print is usually gibberish. In fact, most text is an impression rather than actual words unless you pay careful attention.

Light levels don’t usually change in dreams, unless, of course, the light levels are the whole point to the particular dream. Which is rare. If you suspect you are dreaming, flip a light switch to see if anything happens.

Nifty stuff… I’m going to have to remember to try a few of those hints. I had peaceful dreams last night, but not memorable ones. I just awoke refreshed and calm.

Off to pick up 10 tickets for star wars… looks like we’ll be catching the 7:15 show tomorrow, so I’ll get to duck out early, but the 9-to-5ers can stay the whole day. Hee hee!

Until later, dear journal.