A Short Story I wrote a while back. Based on a night I had in a Hospital in Upstate New York. All in fun. Not to be taken seriously.

     I don't know too many people who have an alarm clock nurse, but I have one!  I am having tests done in a Hospital in Upstate New York, and it requires that I stay  for about a week. Most of them  have a bright white smile, and are Always friendly, professional and caring.  Sort of like Charlize Theron in the Movie she was in with Jeff Daniels, where she was a waitress,  and he was a lawyer. Remembering the scene where he was hyperventilating, and she gave him the paper bag to breathe into. When he looks up he sees the face of an Angel smiling down.  Trial and error it was called.  An outstanding comedy.  Yeah? Well only in the movies. Unfortunately, not for this puppy.

     This is what actually happened. (well almost)

     I practice lucid dreaming.  That's where you are approaching Theta REM sleep from the initial Beta sleep pattern. Your mind is actually able to control those dreams as you wish. Very relaxing, and helps you overcome fears and things in the waking day. Like for example, you are afraid of heights.. you dream of flying, and after a while you will not fear flying anymore. When you wake up, you remember the entire dream. You can even plan the dream during the day with meditation. The whole dream only lasts a few minutes, and it requires a lot of practice, and patience. That's the theory Anyway. It does however, work for me, and I love it. But that's not what I want to talk to you about today. I mentioned it because it helps to achieve the proper perspective comparison for what happened here. Anyway, Back to my story. I was dreaming  I was in the middle of scuba diving in Florida, with no air tank or Goggles,  Looking for mermaids with my beautiful Scuba Instructor, Roxanne.

     Everything was perfect. I was gliding under the warm tropical water eating a cheeseburger, reading the headlines in the Newspaper of how I had just won the lottery, while sipping on a tall drink with one of those little umbrellas in it.   Hey, its a dream, OK?    I'm having a blast.  (until)


     I feel tugging on my arm, and a voice saying," Wake up! Wake up!  Oh No!  Your line is tangled!  I don't want another bleeder!"   So I think to myself, "Line?  what line?  I don't even have an air tank down here".
And  "Who is bleeding?  Roxanne Are you OK?   There may be some underwater vines or something surrounding that treasure chest, so stay behind me and you will be OK".  And then I opened my eyes and said.  OH!

     I see it's my Nurse. The real one, that I had not seen yet. (I guess Charlize  was busy).  What I see is a face with a big smile, which consisted of one tooth on the bottom, sticking out over the top lip.  This face was wearing glasses and a flashlight on it's forehead, being held  there with what looked like a shoelace.  The flashlight's bulb not being turned on yet,  Matched the round lens of the taped together glasses, which featured a delightful magnified pair of half crossed eyes, which were Wide and piercing.  (with a slight spin). This made the face look like it had 3 eyes. One in the middle!   It was also wearing some kind of plastic shower cap thing on its head, with little swirls on it, which was failing to cover the long  brownish green matted hair. The face reminded me of the  Stay puff  Marshmallow man in the movie Ghostbusters,  only with with one tooth in the Middle, And a third eye.

     In My present state of mind, it looked like Medusa coming in for the kill, carrying the eagle that would daily devour the liver of Prometheus on the rock, because he gave the world the knowledge of fire. My Medusa however, had 3 eyes, and one tooth, wearing a big evil Gerber Baby face smile.   She was  holding a needle, and leaving a trail of drool, as it began It's descent toward my face.

     And I said.    (Oh!).

     Now the face begins to speak. I think  it said, "How are you?" But it sounded to me like a gleeful  "Ahh Rooo".  As it was getting closer holding that big needle, and wearing the same smile.
Then I believe what was said was, "alright now your going to be OK,".  which sounded Very much like, "Alright,  now you are going to pay!  Which was spoken in an Elmer Fudd Accent, coming from that big Empty, one tooth mouth. The only thing missing yet was the Elmer Fudd  laugh. You know the one.  (So I guess it could have been worse).    
That is the best description I can think of for what I saw so far.
As you can tell by my description so far, I am slightly confused about what is going on here. Then I hear  "Can't have no more tissue damage,  So Howed till".    Well now I was beginning to understand what was going on here. 

     The last sentence was,  I was supposed to hold still to avoid tissue damage. The tissue damage being the area of my arm where the IV was put in. It seems that Florence Nightingale here, checks on sleeping patients status, by yanking on the plastic tube coming from the IV pump while the patient is asleep, to see if it leaks. I suppose if you yank too hard on these things, Oops  it will leak.  The rest will be left to imagination, as to the tissue damage part. (for now)

     So now I'm thinking , That's  what those little yelps I heard were earlier, Just before I fell asleep!   I heard a series of them, starting at the far end of the hall, and working their way down toward my room. Maybe one every 5 minutes or so.  Every once in a while, A slight scream or muffled yell and crash of a glass. Then the sound of bare feet shuffling quickly, followed by this Thump.  Followed by dragging sounds and low moans and whimpering.  Then shushing, mixed with the sound of the Elmer Fudd giggle, then sheets rustling, then just this low weeping sound.

     Well, needless to say, it was now too late for me to worry about that. I had become the next in line. And I was gonna be, "OK".    The Flashlight comes on in the middle of the forehead, lighting up the area around the top of the bed.
And I said.   (Oh).  

     So now my brain starts sending signals. Run!  Run Now!   Huh? what was that?  I look up and see the Evil Gerber Baby Face with the 3 eyes and Medusa cap, flashing  that same  smile, standing next to me  holding   A great big Needle!  Now doing the Elmer Fudd Giggle too!   "Huh Huh Huh Huh Huh".  So of course the first impulse anyone would have, would be to    Leave of course!   So,  I immediately  jump out of the bed.   As I do this, The IV comes out.   

     "Oh!   Hey!   Ouch!"   (So that's the TISSUE damage!).    So I begin to claw my way away from the bed, running in my bare feet.   Got to be something her to help me  I think,  so I grab the water glass and  Smash it on the floor!   From somewhere in the back of my mind, I hear Short Round saying,  "Big mistake Indy!  Big Mistake!"   (Oh really, you think?)   OK there has to be something else here then!   I grab the phone and Crash!   Magazines, then a box of cookies. Nothing is working.   I can now feel my feet being grabbed.  I was slowly being dragged back across the floor to the bed.    All I can say is   No! No! No!   Please!    Next thing I know, I'm being lifted on the bed where I pull up the covers, moaning quietly, "No No No".   Then I realized,  This is Exactly the sound I just heard from the room next to me 5 minutes before.    Well, I had to do something here, or I was toast,  So,  I pointed toward the sky in the window, and yelled    "Look, an Elephant!"  She says, "Oh Weally?"   But the face just kept coming closer, and the head was shaking back and forth.  "Dah udder guy in dah udder  woom , just  twied dat my fwend!     Huh Huh Huh Huh Huh".   (Oh, give me a break already!). 
    
       So I prepared for the worst.     Just then my cell phone rings!   Yes! The Phone!  She picks it up, and says  "Not now!"  Then the Land line phone on the table rings.  She picks up.  "Yes".  I'm thinking.  I'm Saved!   just give me the phone.  (I felt this wave of relief fall over me).   She says to the phone,  "Hey, Wat is dis?  Party Central?  We In Dah middle of a vewy  vewy  sewios procedure!  not now!  Huh Huh Huh Huh Huh".  And she hangs Up!.  (great)
So naturally I said, "who was that?"   "Oh, justya tista".  (my sister).  " She sounded a wittle worried. Huh Huh Huh Huh Huh!"   Really?   So I said this,   " By now she is probably Locked, Loaded, and on her way over here"

And she said,  (Oh)

     Well, after the ordeal, She left before anybody got there.  On the way out, She said,  "Sweet Dweams"..
To which I replied,  "Oh you can bet on it!  Huh Huh Huh Huh Huh".

Short and Almost true story about a night in the Hospital a while back. I actually wrote this while I was still in the room the next day.    I actually never saw her again after that night.
Well that's my little story.  
G

Step By Step Lucid Dream

People have asked me lately about a short list of how to lucid dream  Here is mine.
1.  Keep a Dream Journal right by your bed and write down exactly what you can remember   Do this right away, Don't get up.  You will forget the dreams if you don't log them.

2.  Do Reality checks during the day.  Like glancing at your watch,  then looking away, and glancing back.  When you look back at the watch, The Time is the same. There will be of course, no change.   Do this during the day.  This may sound a little strange,  however, It prepares your mind for when you will do the same thing in your dream. This is very important.

3.  Think about the dream you had, or want to have during the day. Keep any image in your mind.

4.   Look at the dream Journal when you go to bed. Think on it when you go to sleep.

5.   Repeat  in your mind, as silently as you can, as to not stay awake. Something like,
  "The next time I have a dream, I will be aware that I am Dreaming. Am I dreaming? Is this a dream?  over and over till so it's the last thing you think of before you fall asleep.  

6.  When you are asleep, Do reality checks in your dream. How? Well you have trained your conscious mind on reality checks in the daytime already, so after some practice during the day, your mind will do it while you are asleep also. That's why  the practice of daytime reality checks is so important. It prepares your mind to do it when you achieve REM sleep. 

    In REM sleep, (sleep cycle stage of sleep),  in your dream, Do a reality check.    Look at your watch,  then look away, just as you did while awake. The Time or something will be different. You're  conscious  mind remembers the reality checks during the day, when nothing changed.  Now something  has changed. It know that this is not possible, So the conscious mind enters the dream. It will be aware that you are dreaming, because you practiced the Mantra, from step 5, before you went to sleep. You will now be dreaming with the conscious mind being aware that you are dreaming, and observing the dream.  For the first few times this happens, you will probably wake up at that point. I know I did. It's perfectly normal. The conscious mind gets surprised at it at first, and wakes you up. This will pass though. After a few times doing this, you will remain asleep, while your conscious mind observes and remembers the dream. The key here is to train your mind to remember the dream. That is why the dream Journal, when you wake up is important also. It helps you to remember your dreams.   With practice you can learn to control  these dreams, and that  is where the fun starts.

7.    Don't get discouraged.  This takes a little time.  The entire key is to remember your Dreams.  As I was explaining yesterday,  It's like say,  you had an accident, were knocked out for a week, Woke up with amnesia.  Doesn't mean it didn't happen, cause it did.   You just don't remember.  When you do finally remember, It's as clear as a bell. Same kind of thing here.  Except without the accident of course.
As I said, Remembering is the key! It's very important!.

I will be on line later Till then My friends.
Peace   G

SOME DREAMS CAN'T COMPARE TO THE REAL THING

     My band did a show one time at the Bitter End in Greenwich village in New York, a year after the attacks in 2001. I had the privilege of being able to dedicate one of our new songs to FDNY, and NYPD, who responded that day.   A friend of mine's husband was injured there as well.
Well, I sometimes get a little emotional about that, and I knew I had to do it, so all day I prepared myself for it.
As it turned out, we were running late. We got to Bleeker St maybe 10 minutes before the show, and ran inside.

     The place was packed with people. Just wall to wall.  Made our way past all that, and ran into the dressing room and got ready. Of course everybody had to stop and sign the wall, as is the tradition. I found a spot and wrote my name there. The only spot I could really find, was on the ceiling in the middle. Let me tell you, There was every name you could imagine there. I managed to get it right between a world famous singer from New York,  and A Female lead singer from the 60s and 70s.   (sorry can't mention their names here),   I could not believe how many  Famous people had been there over the years. Every name, Every singer, every comedian. There were what seemed like, thousands. Only had a minute or two to actually do it, but I remember it to this day.  That is quite a room. If you ever get to the Bitter End, you should check it out.

     Anyway, we tuned up for about 30 seconds, and ran onstage.  The stage lights were really bright, so I could only see the first row of tables, but I could  hear the rest.
Now the band is announced. everybody yells and claps, most  had never heard us before, so It was pretty much all good I guess.
I was OK with that, Not nervous. Not really at all. Until It's my turn to actually speak.  So the boss announces I will do a dedication. Still OK.   A lot of people there did know us and were cheering. and the show was being taped.  So it took a few seconds for that to sink in, and I'm thinking now, "open your mouth, and try not to say,   ahh homina homina I'm the chef of the Future!" You know like Ralph Kramden did? I guess I had about a fifty fifty chance of actually saying that. I was pretty nervous.

     Now my sister had told me something  about putting up a wall between you and everybody else there. The Idea is to look and speak, be friendly,  personal, make some eye contact, Just don't let emotions seep out if you can. Pretty much a rule of thumb. I don't really get stage fright, but this was different. This needed to be professional.  So I took a deep breath,  opened my mouth, and heard a voice from the audience, in a speaking tone, not yelling, but I heard it all the same.  I'm not gonna say who it was, but I knew the voice.
The voice said "This is one of  the high points of his life!"  You can actually hear that on one of the Videos that   were made that night. Not on the Studio video one though.

     Anyway,  I heard it, and I realized it was true, So I just said what I had to say. I managed to get through it OK I guess.     I Used to work in the 78th floor of  the WTC, running stock reports to People a while back, so I needed to do this correctly.  The song was  "Nighttime Skies"  an original from the Band. (the track is on the link here for listening to our band in case you're interested.)   The Boss was kind enough to let me introduce that song, which is my Favorite.  (I will be forever grateful Jack,Thank you).   I get to play the bass and some slide stuff on this song, on the CD but only Bass that night.  I worked out Bass runs for months.  Well it all went OK.  I didn't stutter (too much),   and we finished the set.   45 Minutes later, outside the front door, We are told that some of the songs could actually be hits.  One could actually be number one.  That was possibly the greatest compliment in my entire life. If you happen to be reading this, I'm not going to mention your name either, cause I would not do that without telling you. You know who you are,  so Thank You!  ( I don't remember the song he said though).

     It was a good night. We did OK.  After the show, we hung out a little. Got a lot of compliments from people.
But the thing I remember the most was Walking down Bleeker Street  with another Musician I knew, carrying my bass. The streets were packed with people.  People in Cafes and in tables on the sidewalk, Or sightseeing or waiting in line for shows and other stuff.  Watching us walk past.  I remember the feeling of walking down that Street,  and  My feet felt like they were off the ground, and I was just floating.  Indescribable feeling I will never forget it.   That was in 2002 and a long time ago now, and a lot of shows later.  But It really was one of the high points of my life.  I watched one of the videos not long ago, and I can distinctly hear that voice speaking that night, about the High Point, and It was exactly that too.

     It seems like a dream.  But it wasn't.  It actually happened.   A great night. I am so thankful for the chance to have done that.
 
     As good as that night was, I have tried to copy it in dreams for a while. Couple of times now. I always seem to wake up when the Lights come up on stage in the dream versions.   I guess maybe some experiences are better left as they are.  This is one of them.   

     Man, I just realized I was off the subject and going on again. sorry bout' that.  Just felt like writing tonight. I'll get back to my posts in a few hrs.

G