When You Believe More

Note: After just 7 years of having this blog, I finally figured out how to reply directly to a comment. So if you leave one, I'll reply. Promise! (How you get those replies, I don't know, you'll have to figure that out.)

Several months ago I saw an ad in a metro station that said "When you believe more, you sleep less."
I couldn't remember what the ad was for, but when googling for this post, I came across this picture:

Apparently it's for Verizon. Since I have so much trouble sleeping, I began pondering this.

I think A LOT. My brain doesn't stop. I believe (see!) I've talked about this before. It's not like I'm thinking of theorems or medical cures, most of the time it's really mundane stuff. Because of the hamster-stuck-on-a-wheel brain of mine, I examine my feelings and thoughts on a variety of subjects a lot. I definitely lose sleep often because of over-thinking things. Or, maybe, I lose sleep because I believe? That's a sad thought. I think I'll take belief over sleep any day.

Now, in no particular order, a few things I believe in:

• God 
• Feminism 
• Hard work 
• Everything happens for a reason 
• Not everyone is meant to be with someone else 
• Marriage equality 
• Racial equality 
• Gender equality 
• Redistribution of wealth 
• Democracy 
• Socialism in theory not practice 
• America isn't the best country in the world just the loudest
• Ross and Rachel were on a break
• Saturday Night Live will never be cancelled
• Baseball should only be 5 innings
• There's no way paper beats rock
• Holding grudges
• Friendship
• Words 
• Imagination
• Creativity 
• Logic 
• Intelligence making you beautiful 
• UNC basketball 
• Heaven will be a lot like Chapel Hill
• That in the end those who are fair and just and dedicated will come out on top

Photo source

Indiana Jones and the Crazy Dream

I’ve always been a very vivid dreamer. I have many dreams every night, in color, and most of the time I can interact in them. For example, if I’m having a nightmare – which I still have quite often – I can realize it’s a dream and wake myself up. I have recurring dreams, some of them for years, and dreams that feature the same fake places and people. When I take melatonin to sleep I dream real things I need to do, like paying a bill or making a list, and the next day I think I’ve done it. I even kept a dream journal in high school so I could look for consistent themes and meaning. (I actually really believe in dreams revealing latent thoughts and feelings. It’s the only new age-y thing about me.)

I say that as a precursor so you know I could blog about a crazy dream every day. I don’t, obviously, but the one I had last night is just too hilarious and crazy not to share.

I found myself in a re-creation of the third (and my favorite) Indiana Jones movie, “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.” (I haven’t seen this in several months so I’m not sure why it was in my head.)

My brother, Joey, was in the Indy role. I was the sidekick. Not sure if that meant I was the requisite female character or if I was his rotund friend, Sallah.

For the first part of the dream we were in a church with lots of hallways and people. (Including a few people from my real life.) I assume we were in a church because the last time I saw Joey was for his wedding, in a church with many hallways. This church was very bright and open though. We were told by several people that we were going to go meet a knight.

As I dreamt this I was also picturing scenes from the movie, which really made it interesting.

Joey and I began walking down a hallway, knowing we were going to have to choose the Holy Grail. As we walked I told him, “This time, when you take the holy water to Sean Connery to heal him, don’t leave me. I get lost so easily and it’s really confusing around here.”

We got to where the Holy Grail should have been, but instead there was a dish full of bracelets. Some fancy, some simple. In my head I knew that in the movie you would die if you picked the wrong one, but in this scenario there was just a mini earthquake. The more you got wrong, though, the stronger it got.

As we looked at the various bracelets, Jennifer Lopez appeared and picked a very silver and gaudy charm bracelet. I knew this was wrong and said, “Early Jews didn’t like ornamentation.” The ground shook and then J. Lo. was gone.

I then chose a simpler bracelet, and the scene kept flashing between the bracelet and the Grail from the movie. At this point the knight appeared to congratulate us for making the right choice. (He wasn’t there the whole time like in the movie.)

Then my alarm went off so I have no idea how we got holy water back to Sean Connery. Or why, in my own dream, I was the sidekick and not the star.

Things I Learned This Weekend

Updated because I forgot one.


Nothing ruins a Friday like the death of a Beastie Boy.
I'm honestly still in shock that MCA is dead. Beastie Boys don't die--they rhyme and steal, they fight for the right. They were the first rap group I ever listened to and the first CD I ever owned with a "parental advisory." He will be missed.

There's always something new to see at the National Cathedral.
For the third time I went to the National Cathedral Flower Mart. I'll write more about it later this week (and the Cape Party I mentioned I last week) but it was so nice to be on the Cathedral grounds. This year I walked through the gardens and a wooded trail, which I didn't know existed, and just smiled the whole time. I love the city but I'm still a country girl at heart.

Eli Manning + Saturday Night Live = Hilarious

As much as I love Eli, I was worried about him hosting this week since he's so quiet and shy. However, he blew me away and I laughed until my face was numb. Highlight: The portion of the Madden motion capture sketch where they ask him to fake throw a grenade. Also, everything else.

Dressing for The Kentucky Derby is fun. (And the race is ok, too.)

One of my friends has a Derby party every year and this year I went. It was a double party, a Derby Fiesta if you will, since it was also Cinco de Mayo. The occasion required a fascinator, of course, which I put together with some flowers from a cheap Forever 21 headband and another headpiece I already had.

 
What the occasion didn't require, but that I purchased anyway, was a very Donna Reed but also very Derby dress for $24 from Forever 21. I'm in love.

Mint Juleps are gross.

And very strong. I probably only had the equivalent of 4 tablespoons and could still feel it starting to take hold. This is why I don’t drink liquor.

Betting is fun when you only lose $3.

Everyone bet $1 per horse. I placed my money on Creative Cause, Rousing Sermon, and Sabercat. I didn't win.

A room full of intelligent, educated adults can't handle even the thought of the death scene in "The Lion King."
After the Derby, my friend channel surfed for something to watch. We all agreed that "The Lion King" would be good, as long as we didn't see the Mufasa death and Simba tugging on his ear scenes. She kept checking back every few minutes, and at one point it was right on the stampede scene, and every adult in the room gasped or screamed as my friend scrambled to change the channel. Crisis averted.


Even screaming can't ruin a good night's sleep. 
I slept for about 12 hours on Saturday night. I also had dream after dream after dream. None were nightmares, per se, but two resulted in me yelling and waking myself up as a result. (I know the first time I yelled "Help!" and the second time I just yelled.) Luckily, I didn't wake up the roommate or neighbors. Or if I did, they didn't say anything, so I'd rather not know. 

I can never buy another little black dress. 
I finally finished switching out my summer and winter clothes, sorting through clothes, reorganizing scarves and belts, and hanging up skirts and dresses even though they'll end up in a pile for most of the summer. I can't really buy any more clothing of any kind, but especially black dresses as I have…several. 

Having your kitchen in your living room is a real pain.
That's right, the contents of our kitchen are still in our living room. We're still seeing bugs and our complex told us if we still see them after a week, they'll come out and re-spray. So to avoid putting everything away and then taking it back out again, we're just leaving everything in the living room. You can imagine how much fun it is to try and put together a meal.

Day 295: Tossing and turning

Despite being monumentally tired when I get in bed, I have not been sleeping well lately. It may be the cup of tea I had that I thought didn't have caffeine but clearly did. Or the fact that I have started writing and checking email in bed, which you aren't supposed to do. Or maybe it's the front and back somersault I did tonite in my queen bed as a new thing, that is keeping me from getting the rest I need. Who knows? (If you are wondering how many bones I broke in this endeavor: none. But I did come dangerously close to flipping in between the mattress and the footboard.)