The Dream Journal of Lisa Marie Bowman
Last night, I had another one of my dreams where I was trying to clean the house but I just kept seeing more and more things that needed to be cleaned.
This is becoming a recurring theme in my dreams, which is weird because my house is very clean. I’m going to guess it’s just because I’ve been busy lately and it always seems like there’s something new that I have to take care of.
Last night, I dreamt that I was at a store and I was trying pay with a credit card. But every card that I took out of my purse would break in half as soon as I started to insert it into the machine. I broke at least three credit cards over the course of the dream. It was weird and I woke up feeling very annoyed.
Last night’s dream was long and weird and fragmented and I only remember bits and pieces. I’ll do my best to recount it.
I was driving in a torrential downpour. As I approached my house, I saw that the street had been roped off. Apparently, someone had been doing roadwork before the storm started but now the bulldozers had been abandoned and the street was all torn up and flooded. So, I had to park on a side street and then walk to my house. It was raining, I didn’t have an umbrella, and I was wearing high heels. I was soaked and not in a good mood by the time I reached my house.
I went in the house, wet and shivering. As soon as I stepped into my living room, I stripped down to my underwear so that I could dry my clothes. Of course, as soon as I did that, I heard people walking around in the house and I realized that I was not alone. So, I decided to duck into the backyard — and yes, it was still raining — and wait for them to leave.
(Dream logic, I can’t explain it.)
So, I’m in the backyard, in my underwear, getting even more soaked. I remembered that I had my kimono in the little building that I use as my home office so I ran over to the building. Unfortunately, it was locked and I realized that the keys were back in my car. So, I walked back around to the front yard and, carrying my clothes with me, I walked through the rain to my car. And, fortunately, the keys to the little building were sitting in the glove compartment. I then ran back to my house, ducked into the back yard, unlocked my little building, and grabbed my dragon kimono.
Putting on the kimono, I ducked into the garage and I put my soaked clothes into a dryer. Then, I reentered the house and I saw that my father’s new wife (who I guess is technically my stepmother, though I don’t think of her like that) was in the den and she was rearranging all of my movies. I ran into the den and I yelled at her to stop.
“I don’t like these,” she said, motioning at a shelf of horror movies.
“They’re mine!” I said, “I paid money for these!”
My Dad came into the den to see what all the yelling was about. I got upset because he wouldn’t tell his wife to stop moving around my stuff. Finally I said, “Fine, but you’ll never see me again!” And then I went back outside, in the rain.
My Dad and his wife came outside and said that they couldn’t believe I was getting so upset. “Why was she moving my stuff!?” I demanded.
“I didn’t,” she said, “Other people must have done that.”
Annoyed, I turned back to the house and stepped through the front door.
Suddenly, I was in a convention hall. It was very crowded. I was still wearing my kimono but my hair was now dry. I saw my former Congressman giving a speech at the front of the hall and I realized that I was at a Republican Convention. I was excited to see all of the politicians and minor celebrities but it wasn’t easy because the place was so crowded and my asthma was acting up.
Finally, I decided to head to the back of the convention hall, which was a bit less crowded. While I could breathe easier in the back of the hall, I also couldn’t hear any of the speakers, though I could still see them. An old woman in a wheelchair thanked me for coming to the back of the hall and supporting the older delegates. I realized that everyone around me was elderly and using either a wheel chair or a cane. I told them that I was happy to support them because I had injured my ankle so many times that I was probably just a few years away from being crippled by arthritis. An old man asked me if I was a dancer and said, “Look at those fantastic gams!” while staring at my legs.
Stepping out of the convention hall, I discovered that it was night and I was in a European city that had a canal. I walked around a bit. It was cold and, as pretty as the city was, I started to worry because I really wasn’t sure where I was. Suddenly, my sister Megan and her husband walked up to me and said, “Where have you been!? We’ve been looking everywhere!” I started to argue with Megan and my brother-in-law tried to ease the tension by talking about playing college football.
I went with my sister and her husband to a hotel. There was a film festival in town and I suddenly understood that was why I was in the city. As I stepped into the hotel, I saw a woman sitting in the lobby. I immediately recognized her as someone who had starred in several Italian horror films. I told her that I was a huge fan. She suddenly started talking about how she had been born to gypsies in Romania and that, while growing up, her closest friend had been a fortune teller who become the lover of the crown prince of Luxembourg. I told her that she should turn the story into a movie and that I would write the script and serve as her agent. I also said that the story should be set during the French Revolution and I realized that there was a television in the lobby that was already showing scenes of the actress in a film about the French Revolution that I had previously written.
“My friend could read the cards….” the actress started.
Suddenly, a thin blonde woman wearing a black dress ran up and yelled, “That’s a lie! My mother told the future with the weather!”
And then I woke up.
Last night, I dreamt that I was working at some sort of trade show. At my booth, I was selling hourglasses with a group of guys who kept telling me, “You have an hourglass figure so you should be good at this.”
Boooo!
Last night, I dreamt that I had been invited to judge at a Speech and Debate tournament in Arkansas. I drove up to Arkansas and I remember, in the dream, I didn’t bother to tell anyone that I was leaving or when I would be coming back. In my dream, I figured that I would only be gone for a day so no one notice that I was missing.
During the tournament, I got annoyed because there was this tall blonde who looked like Taylor Swift and she was entered into every event that I judged. I thought she was mediocre but my fellow judges kept giving her high scores. When I finally demanded to know why, they said that her family was rich and everyone knew she was the best.
At the awards ceremony, she won every trophy. Later, I saw her talking to her coach so I approached them and told them that they didn’t actually earn any of the trophies that they won. They were both really offended but I felt proud of myself for having called them out.
I was ready to go back home but, when I walked out to my car, I discovered that I had a flat tire and I didn’t have a spare. I would have to buy a new tire but, for some reason, I didn’t have my purse or my phone with me and I didn’t know how I would be able to pay for a new one.
I walked down to a tire shop, where they sold not only tires but also TV sets. I explained my situation to the store’s manager. I said that I’d be willing to send them the money when I got back home. The manager said that if I could find someone to pay half of the bill, he would give me a tire and a new TV.
As I wondered who I could convince to pay for me, the rich girl who I had just finished denouncing stepped into the store. I told her about my situation and I apologized if I went too far. She said she would never help me and then left the store.
Realizing that I was stuck in Arkansas, I decided to find a motel so I could call my sister and have her come get me.
That’s when I woke up.
Last night, I dreamt that I received a screener of Richard Linklater’s upcoming film, Hit Man. I was really excited but then, when the movie started, it turned out to be different from what I was expecting and I was a little bit upset. I can’t remember the specific issue but I think, in my dream, Glen Powell wasn’t actually in the movie and I kept wondering why everyone had said that he was.
Bleh!
Last night, I dreamt that I was in my living room and listening to the song “One of These Mornings” by Moby.
Not much of a dream, I know. They can’t all be winners!
No dreams that I remember from last night.
I’m very disappointed and a little surprised as I’m usually a very active dreamer. I did take some cough syrup last night and I get the feeling that knocked me out so effectively that it took out my dreams as well.
Oh well! Here’s hoping for better dreams ahead!
Lisa Marie's Dream Journal 