you know you been dreamin; I been dreamin too

I have a really hard time keeping track of my dream life versus my real actual life as shared by other people. It's pretty entertaining, when it's not confusing and obstructive.

Nothin wrong with dreamin; sometimes they come true.

In high school I would regularly dream a day. I mean: while I was asleep, I would have a dream in which I woke up, got dressed, went to school, went to my classes, took notes, etc, did whatever after-school activity I had for the day, went home, made small talk with my family, did my homework and went to bed.

Then I would wake up. I would have no idea what day it was, because if I dreamed that last day I experienced then it's Wednesday (again), but if that was real, then Wednesday is over and now it's Thursday.

I never knew, really; I'd have to find a newspaper or ask my mom.

if the bad guys tie you to the railroad track, I will rescue you

In college the routine became slightly different and far more intrusive: my freshman year it happened over and over and over again that I would dream that I woke up. In the dream, I would get out of my bed and get dressed and then notice that I could barely keep my eyes open until finally I would be all "oh my GOD Cecily you're STILL aSLEEP wake UP already" so I would try really hard to wake up. And then I would wake up again and this time would make it further in the getting-ready morning process, like this time I'd get dressed and then head to the bathroom and brush my teeth and put my contacts in before I realized I was still asleep and dreaming. Usually I could force myself awake at this point, but there were a number of times when it didn't matter how hard I tried to actually wake up, the only thing that ever happened was that I dreamt that I had woken up.

The end result of that was usually that I would just give up and sleep through the lecture.

I said, nothin wrong with dreaming! Sometimes they come true!

Lately I've been dreaming (as I wake up) that I look at the clock and/or at my pager. So I read imaginary dream-world emails from people and look at the (completely dreamt) time on my clock. And sometimes get out of bed to get dressed only to realize it's way too early (in my dream world) so I don't actually have to get up yet. Or I send text messages to people and get responses in which my classes or meetings are cancelled for the day.

Of course in normal real actual time, not the time in my head, I am already late and should have been dressed and ready to leave the house fifteen minutes ago.

Everybody workin on the great big life machine, everybody bound to have a story

The best part though is when I insist to people that I already told them something in great detail. I have a clear memory of this! You were wearing a yellow shirt and we were sitting in the lobby of a hotel in downtown washington and I explained all about it! Come on you have to remember that!

Except, that, on reflection, when would I have been in that hotel? And actually, you do not own a yellow shirt. So. Apparently that was a dream. My apologies. Ahem.

Whatever. My story ran out.

I have been wasting a lot of time lately, and that's pretty much it. Crossword puzzles: check. Looking at things on the internet: check. Coffee: check. Beer: check. Wine: check. Complaining: check. Reading murder mysteries: check. Staring out the window: check, check, check.

Now that I've exhausted all my procrastinatory devices, I'll probably start accomplishing great accomplishments any minute. Stay tuned for further, more exciting, developments!

Notoriety

I'm very into spreading joy and happiness wherever I go, so I usually let people borrow my truck if they ask me nicely.

So, so far this summer, there've been a lot of opportunities for truck-borrowing. Besides the normal opportunities of a chore that requires a truck (like needing to take your motorcycle to the mechanic, or needing to pick up a couch in Baltimore), or just laziness and whimsy, I've also gone away for a number of extended periods and left the truck to the tender care of others. First I went to Africa, then I went to Minnesota, then I went to Connecticut, and then last week I was babysitting for friends in Maryland all week. Soon I'm going to New York, and then Montana, so opportunities continue. Send in your application now!

My favorite part about lending out my truck is that I inevitably get a lot of emails and text messages, regarding its whereabouts, from people who have seen it around town in places they did not expect me to be. "Hey Cecily! Are you back from Rwanda? I saw your truck on 13th and Florida yesterday!" and "hey I thought you were out of town but I just saw your truck parked on 14th, do you want to get a beer tonight?"

Last weekend, while I was asleep, exhausted by a bunch of cranky children, I got a series of text messages from Sean. He was walking along and he saw my truck! It was parked near a house with an obvious party! I must be there! He went inside to see what I was up to! But he couldn't find me! Okay he was giving up and going home!

A different friend had borrowed the truck and someone on their block had a party that night. I like the idea that I am encouraging new social connections, and that people are wandering in to parties off the street cause they think I'm in there somewhere, wandering in and wandering around and meeting lots of fun new friends. Plus also this proves that my truck can never be successfully stolen: I would get hourly reports about its location and be able to track it down in no time.

On the other hand, as Alyssa pointed out, it also means I can never have any secret affair or shady business dealings. That's probably okay though because I really am not subtle enough for that kind of thing anyway.

Form over function!

Jog Vlog!!!!!

So, after much ado.. and reminding from my most awesome friend Cecily, I finally got my act together and finished our final vlog from Rwanda. It's about the fun times we had with the Hash Harriers of Kigali. Enjoy.



UPDATE: P. S. from Cecily: Shockingly, we weren't paying attention and our tape ran out right as we got to the conclusion and coda parts of our narrative (HI KRISTIN!!!!) so the end kinda cuts off all sudden-like, there. We are very sorry and promise to do better next time we are making a vlog about going on a Hash run in Kigali.

(also added by Cecily: exclamation points!)

"O-o-h-h," said one uncle. "Um-m-m-m," said the other three uncles.

Really only two of my four uncles are currently around. But anyway I had dinner with them tonight, and it is always nice to have uncles around, to buy me dinner and say Ooh and Umm as though I have interesting things to say. And it is nice to listen to all the interesting things they really do have to say. And maybe make fun of members of our family who happen not to be present.

We ate pizza and were surprised by a flash flood on the rooftop of the pizza joint. Some Tom Swifties were exchanged. A good time was had by all. Hooray for uncles!

***

In other news, the BIG BEAR BIRTHDAY OF AMERICA was good. There were explosions, and a lot of meat being cooked in a lot of complicated ways by a lot of people (but mainly by Kriston, who is from Texas, and so scorns other people's misinformed ideas about what one should do with meat) and a lot of beers in coolers and refrigerators and also in my hands.

My favorite part of the night was when one of the neighborhood Officers Of The Peace showed up. It was really not night at all, it was midafternoon, but the cafe was already closed, and there were many neighbors in varying degrees and displays of intoxication rambling around. Plus all the aforementioned meat-cooking devices, cooking their respective meats. And many, many bottles of beer.

We all got nervous that the policeman would be upset (because of the open containers) and that Lana would yell at us (because of the policeman being upset) and our party would be ruined (because of Lana yelling at us).

But instead, the policeman just wanted to know when the brisket was gonna be ready. So he could come back and eat some.

So Kriston told him, and he went off to protect the District from the various forces of evil. And then he came back and we gave him some meat.

The end!

Get me out of town is what fireball said

Yeah yeah I'm back in DC. Too too much of coming and going, these days. I'm more or less back for good now. Back for most of the next month anyway. I think.

Connecticut was fine. The conference was fine. And I learned all about a brand new way to make terrible puns, this time in ASL, so people who are likely to have classes with me in the fall should start preparing themselves now. Stay tuned for more exciting discussion of THAT awesome topic.

Anyway I have lots of relatives to visit and Lindsays to bid farewell to and crossword puzzles to stare at and beverages to drink. See you!