I had a really disturbing dream last night. Somehow I (and a whole bunch of people I know) had been transported to another planet by some unknown means. It was a very Earth-like place, except it was strange because we’d arrived in autumn and the ground was brown and wet and trees were leafless, but over to the right in the distance it was lush and green so I knew they were experiencing summer there. Anyhow, this group and I started exploring the area (there were probably 50 0f us) and we eventually came upon this building that looked sort of like a cabin. We looked in the windows and saw a bunch of figures in hooded robes around some central area. We watched them for awhile, and it seemed like they were doing some sort of ritual or ceremony. One of them heard us and turned around to face us. He looked completely human, except I knew right away he wasn’t from Earth. I could tell he wouldn’t be able to understand us or what we were doing there. He hissed and alerted the rest of his group, of which there appeared to be maybe 175 or 200, all dressed in the same robes as he. They lunged for the exits much in the way the guys in Resident Evil 4 do, sort of blindly and in an unrefined, primative way. They started after us but seemed too “possessed” or distracted by what they’d been doing to be able to organize a strategy. Some of my companions began talking about tactics and the guy who’d seen us first started repeating what he said so I whispered fiercely “They can figure out English! Don’t speak!” One guy in our group started making hand motions which I eventually figured out meant “mine” and he pulled a mine out of his bag and tossed it into a group of the robed guys. After a few seconds it exploded, leaving the hooded figures in great confusion. My companions and I made a break for it and rushed away in every direction. One guy who I didn’t know stuck with me and we ran off towards this area that looked like a dried up salt plain/desert. There was a line of trees between this salt plain and the cabin, and we could see some of the robed figures meandering about confusedly outside, so we crept along carefully as not to alert them. I started talking to this guy a bit since I knew nothing about him and he seemed like something of a pansy and he wanted me to protect him somehow even though he was big, chubby, and about 3 times my size. Just then one of the guys noticed us through the trees and hissed/growled and alerted his buddies so the chubby guy and I ran off as quickly as possible.

The next thing I remember is being back on Earth in my middle school. I was in painting class and the assignment was to take a historical painting and do a to-scale reproduction of it. I’d gotten stuck with a portrait of some guy who looked like a thin Winston Churchill in a library. It was sort of a panoramic view of the library, resulting in an extremely long canvas. Behind and to the figure’s right was a man on a ladder, climbing to reach a book on the top shelf. When you looked at it from afar, it looked like this guy was looking directly at you in a menacing way but when you studied the detail, his eyes were on the book. That really creeped me out. Also, there was a window in between the shelves and there was a blonde man with a big bushy beard looking in. The painting was detailed enough that you could read the titles of all the books, and a few were a bit more prominent than others, so I decided I’d research those and see what this guy was all about. That’s when I noticed that the layout of the library was identical to that of the school library. Hmm. The colors in the painting were very dark and drab (it was mostly darkness or near-darkness,) and that upset me a lot so I tried reasoning with my professor about changing the color scheme but leaving the size and composition. He wouldn’t hear of it. I was quite upset by that, given the painting was about 15 feet long and 8 feet high. (Massive!) I started complaining to my friends about it, (including one friend I hadn’t seen in years) while we were on a bus, and somehow the professor was in the seat behind me and told me to stop my whining.

The next thing I knew, I was being told to collect my things because it was time to move away. The aliens from the planet we’d been on were now invading our world, but doing it in a sort of peaceful and non-agressive way. They were simply moving into our homes and sleeping on the floors in groups, wearing our clothes, just making themselves comfortable. I was really worried I wouldn’t be able to take my things with me, and I realized that the things I’d left behind already were things I wasn’t totally attached to (I had already moved my important things home for the summer) so I grabbed a few things and went to find my brother. The aliens had already taken over his room and when I told him that, he shrugged and said “Nothing we can do anyhow.” I was completely distressed over the fact that no one else really seemed bothered by the fact that aliens were invading our homes. Everyone seemed to think they were lazy and passive since all they did was take our clothes and blankets and sleep on the floor, but I knew better. They were recovering their health and they were just biding their time.

I spent the last two nights hanging out with Jon, and it’s been great. Thursday night we went shopping in Appleton and then watched most of the first season of Scrubs while drinking a bottle of wine and eating what Will calls a “Medieval Meal” (ie, cheese, crackers, summer sausage etc.) Jon really got into the show and made me take it home with me so he wouldn’t keep watching instead of sleeping.

I spent most of the afternoon watching the first half of Haibane-Renmei, looking for similarities between that and Murakami’s Hard-Boiled Wonderland, which Jules told me was one of the works that inspired the series’ creator. There are some very obvious nods to that book, which made me smile a lot. I love the subdued earthy color scheme to the show.

Tonight after he was done with work, Jon came to get me and we met up with Russ, then went out to dinner. The first three places we chose were either closed or too busy but we ended up at Callahan’s which is a nice place anyhow. I had grilled salmon, cajun style (YUM) with rice pilaf and a couple glasses of Leinie’s Honey Weiss (which I can’t get in Seattle.)

We went to the only “real” coffeeshop in Oshkosh, The New Moon, to see Russ’s photography show and have some coffee. By happenstance a folk singer from Milwaukee was performing live music in the front. He had a very strong Midwest accent. I don’t know if I can stress this enough, but I really don’t like the Midwest accent at all and I really wish I didn’t have one. I guess mine is a lot more subtle than most, but still. Since I’ve been away and returned I’ve noticed the accent so much more than ever before.

There was a lot of really wet, slippery snow on the ground and still falling tonight which made driving really frightening. I think Jon is a little bolder than he should be in that car but he still handled it well anyhow. I hate driving in snow. Oh, Seattle, how I miss you so.

Afterwards we went to Russ’s place to watch the Dr. Who Christmas special and Jon and I had a good time playing with Russ’s kitty. That thing likes to lick…a lot. We putzed around a bit then went back to Jon’s where we played some We Love Katamari. Jon had left his memory cards in California so we had to start over again. I’m sure by the end of tomorrow night we’ll have opened up the rose level. XD

Speaking of which, it looks to be a really great time. I’m really excited to see people again since it’s been ages. I miss Peter and Melissa a lot.

I forgot to mention that I went to see King Kong with Dave last Friday and I quite enjoyed it. Sure, it was long, but that didn’t really bother me. There was double the Andy Serkis action, which pleased me a great deal. Jack Black did a remarkable job in his role. It was much better than I expected.

I shouldn’t have taken a nap this afternoon because I’m not tired now. I don’t suppose that coffee helped me any either. Oh well.