064 - A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes

Imagineers, listen up! I had a crazy dream about Disneyworld just now about an awesome attraction. It was either an Earth-through-the-ages themed building, or an extreme-climates-of-the-Earth theme. I started off in the entrance room, and there layers of mats, that hung at the bottom of a huge spherical system. Each mat represented a different period or climate. When you changed the mat you were on, it transformed the room's look, walls, window views, humidity, and temperature to match. We went from a prehistoric-looking jungle to a lava theme.

The lava theme had OC-Transpo-style heaters (kinda like this but you can see the tip on one here) that heated the room quickly. I stood up on the semi-spherical mat and tried to charge my watch faster.... see when the watch interacted with certain elements, a special button caused the watch to display all kinds of things. In this case, I was going to become a lavaman or fire superhero of some kind. It was really fascinating.

Also form the windows, which somehow the views changed. I stuck my arm out to make sure it wasn't just a screen. Initially there was a view of a big Disneyland-style resort (not Disneyworld), then there was the sun setting over a body of water with icebergs floating around. Icebergs at disney!

The drag? I was with my cousin who had brought all of MY DS games with him, around Disneyworld. I had to carry them all in my red lunch bag. The whole family had gone, but it was just me and him for some reason. Also, we had Super Ex-style bracelets (you know, the fibery papery plasticy ones that you need to cut off to remove) instead of card passes for parks. Also, Kate and Kat from work were there, because they were in an elevator and I ran to ask them questions about the park. Poor Costa!! Cat was MIA... probably coming by smart car. Or taxi. How much would a cross country taxi trip cost, anyway?

Unfortunately, my alarm kept waking me up, so I didn't get to explore this place more. But it was spectacular. I'm just under 64 days away, and already I'm having crazy vivid (and perhaps unrealistic) dreams! And I will not bring my DS to that parks.

050 - Day Two

The benefit of not having buses is that I won't hear the early morning bus go by if I'm up at 4AM and 5AM. I haven't been up that late in a long time.

I had to go to school for a meeting, so I walked. I brought along my newly-acquired snowshoes so that I could take the bike path that cuts through the Centrepointe area. This path is faster than taking any major roads from my house. After the recent blizzard, I figured the path would be travelled, but difficult (hence the snowshoes), but to be surprise, it was completely ploughed! On my way home, I donned the snowshoes and walked around Centrepointe park - at least until the battery in my camera died.

Is walking a realistic alternative to public transit? It is in some cases. For instance, the walk to school was a pleasant one, given that the weather was nice. And to be honest, it isn't something I've ever done. The only time I had not taken the bus to get to school was the one time I biked along that same path earlier this fall. The 40-50 minutes it takes might get old over time though, especially if it got really cold.

I do, however, really like the idea of showshoeing. I hated it back in elementary school when we would use the big, heavy wooden ones. Not too long ago, I got the idea that I would like to try it again, with a more modern, aluminum set. I figured since I love winter so much, I should go and do more outdoorsy activities, beyond skating on the canal (which I hate and only do once a year). Perhaps I'll actually try snowboarding this year. It looks so easy in 1080 and SSX, after all!

Day two wasn't much of an issue, even less so than yesterday was. As I ponder how I'll get to and from work over the weekend, I'm hoping that the City and the transit union stop acting like fourth graders and start actually trying to resolve their issues. At least the union leader isn't doing interviews anymore. A 10-year old could give better interviews - 10-year olds are in the 4th grade, after all.

Speaking of which, I did see Dan in Real Life last night. It was a surprisingly good movie, with actors in roles in which you don't often seem them. It also makes me not want to wait to have children. That movie might have caused a strange dream in which I was introducing to my family two women (one slightly younger and one significantly older, though neither are people I actually know) who were pregnant by me. However, it was all elaborate, like a reality show, with all kinds ot twists and turns and "you'll find out... when we come back!"-esque moments. I guess that would be the best way to go about such a situation.

020 - Once Upon a Dream

I wish I hadn't needed to go to class so early this morning - ground level fog rolled in the fields and the sun shone through the breaking clouds onto the colourful, fall trees. And all I had was a quick second to snap a photo with my cell phone camera from an open bus window. Hardly does justice to the fall scenes. Ironically, if I didn't have to go to school, I would have never seen it!

Last night, I had a really strange and vivid dream. There had been a huge sandstorm across the city, covering it with a foot of sand. The place was deserted with the exception of me in my house. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. A woman with long, blond hair and aviator sunglasses, accompanied by two children, were standing outside. "FBI!" she said. I asked for her ID; she presented me with a small, fake-looking badge and her information. She then asked me if we could exchange video cameras. Supposedly, she wanted my video cam despite the fact that it was old compared to her state of the art model.

After taking my camera, she and her kids turned around and headed toward a green minivan. Thinking that she wouldn't give me her camera, I ran and jumped into the minivan. As she drove away, she told her daughter to give me the camera. I inspected it and then she dropped me off a few streets away. She and her daughter got out and started walking on the other side of the street as the boy joined me as I walked a bike through the sand. The boy circled around and ran up in front of me, and I knew he was going to knock me out somehow. I jerked and tried to run away, but he quickly pulled a little spray bottle our of his little pouch and sprayed half my face.

Instinctually, I dove my face in the sand, thinking that he couldn't then spray me again, plus the sand would scrape away whatever he sprayed. I jumped back up, and yelled in a scientifically sound explanation that rat poison wouldn't knock me out. Then, he poured some sort of gel all over my legs! I then decided to run home. But that gel, which was numbing my legs, combined with the deep sand made it increasingly difficult to get away. Struggling with each step, thinking I'll make it home...

But then my alarm woke me up.