Money and murder

I had this dream the night after Christmas.

I was going to NYC with two of my good friends.  Somehow we decided we were going to take a helicopter to get there.  (Rich folks sometimes take helicopters just to cross the Hudson without needing to take the bridge or tunnels, but I don't think many folks take them up from where I live.)

As we were flying in, I could see the skyscraper we were going to, on the south side of Manhatten.  It was a towering skyscraper sorta by itself.  The top floor was just a glass box giving you a view around you in 360 degrees.  The sorta place that would give you vertigo if you were there, looking out and seeing how high up you were.

Then we started maneuvering between buildings as we approached, like a video game, swerving right and left to avoid obstacles.

Then the helicopter landed on the close side of the river, unexpectedly.  We had to get out, and were going to take a limo the rest of the way.  But we were stopped in a dirty, industrial area, and I remember thinking that we were going to get scammed or kidnapped or something bad.

At this point things get fuzzy.  A driver showed up, but he was sketchy, and we didn't want to get into the car with him.  Somehow or another we witnessed, or just realized, that he had just killed someone and stolen $100,000.

He tries to get us into the car, and we keep refusing.  Now we're walking around this nice, grassy area, and then some walkways surrounding some beautiful pools, like you might find at resorts or high end hotels.  He's chasing us, but it's at a walking pace, maybe because there were other people around and he's trying not to get their attention.  He tells us he is going to call the police on us (maybe we were refusing to pay him?), and we tell him sure, go for it, and then we'll rat him out for the murder.

Somehow we manage to steal his keychain and keys, which somehow we knew were used to lock up the stolen money.  He notices, and demands them back.  I somehow slip the important key off and palm it when i return his keyring. 

Then we sneak off to a dirty garage and steal the money back.  Then the dream ended.

Water ride NYC

I was driving in with a couple people into New York City, and I decided to ditch them for the train at the last minute before going into the tunnel, so that I could go on this underground water ride. From the subway, you could ride on an innertube over rapids, while people tickled your feet and butt from below. It was a little odd having strangers touch you, but I was assured that all the volunteer ticklers had a strict ethos of non-groping -- it was a community and everyone looked out for everyone else. At the end of the ride, you exited out into a nice cafe with free snacks and beverages and mingling.

Lost in Penn Station

I was supposed to go to New York for work with a couple of work colleagues, and I was walking through Penn Station with them. We were in a hurry - in my head, I was thinking that we were going to miss the train from Princeton to New York (even though we already were in New York). Even though I was a daily commuter through Penn Station for 5 years, things looked familiar but confusing to me now. I took them down a set of stairs to what I thought would be the lower level, only it went down directly to the tracks, and instead of being full of other train riders waiting for the train, it was full of homeless people, people just loitering, drinking, and doing drugs. Instead of walking back up the stairs to back track, we thought we could cut through to a staircase we saw down the line that lead out to the street. However, in order to do so, we had to step over homeless people, squeeze past scary looking men hanging out on the steps, etc. Nobody really harassed us that bad, though some dodgy people tried to talk to us. When we got outside, I saw it had put us out on 37th Street, about 4 blocks north of the main Penn Station entrance. Again, the city streets there looked completely different than what I was expecting.

Sliding and ripping my purse

I was at a New York City museum with a set a very tall, very steep steps. I'm talking scary, almost vertical steep (I think this stems from watching the Top Gear Bolivia episode in which the TG guys drive down an almost vertical incline of sand to reach the coast).

I started going down the steps on my butt step by step, only this was even getting difficult as the steps themselves started getting smaller and narrower. I saw a handrail, so I thought my best option was to move over to the handrail and slide down it like a fireman's pole.

As I started sliding, my handbag got caught on the railing. I tugged at it, and it ripped (though none of the contents came out), and I went on my way sliding down. When I reached the sidewalk, I surveyed the damage. It was a patent vinyl black sack, and one of the handles had ripped completely. Inside I had been carrying around (who knows why), this vintage fur headband that a friend's mom had passed on to me -- and that was ruined too.

Lady Gaga and mistaken pregnancy

Redneckhunter and I were at a Lady Gaga concert. It was a seated concert in a grand old theater. There were lots of dancers and she seemed to be performing David Copperfield-style spectacle magic while singing and dancing - lots of smoke and mirrors type stuff. In one number she appeared to grow taller and taller with larger and larger boxes appearing to grow out of her legs - it was very Alice in Wonderland.

Then I was in NYC at a shop and saw a woman who redneckhunter coaches in rowing. It took me a while to place her. I also ran into a woman from work, and I thought how strange that they'd all be shopping at the same store in New York.

The rower said hi to me while I was looking at some stretchy camisoles. As I examined the camisoles, I saw that the tags had labels like "For 4-6 months" or "6-9 months" and it took me a while to realize that they were maternity clothes and the recommendations were for when to wear them in your pregnancy. I thought, oh no, now she will go back to the team and tell them all that we are expecting! She seemed to be shopping for a dress to wear to her wedding (though to the best of my knowledge she is not engaged in real life...)

Assorted mini dreams

It was a rainy day and I was on my way with redneckhunter to a family gathering. We walked past a house with a porch where there were Princeton alumni wearing their Reunions jackets all going to a party.

Later, I was running in race with Debbie. It was a big event, but it was like the race was an afterthought. There was only a narrow roped off area for the course - the width of a hallway. And it was winding through people drinking and partying. At one point, we ran past a concert stage, and it was Paul Weller performing, so I shouted "I love you, Paul Weller" and waved as I ran past.

Then I was on a New York city street corner with Clinton Kelley of "What Not to Wear." He had an Eastern European accent. I was telling him how the latest episode of "How I Met Your Mother" had made me feel old because Barney is upset that a girl he slept with lied about her age when she was actually 31.

Then I was with my family on a family vacation and we were calculating expenses where everyone had to document every cup of coffee and pay for his or her share.

Antibiotic-fueled dreams

I've been sick for the past few weeks, and sleeping A LOT. I believe that there was a 48-hour period in which I was asleep for all but 4 hours of that time. One would think that cough syrup, Nyquil, and so on would have led to some fine and vivid dreams, but I didn't remember a thing after a solid 40 hours of sleeping (jeez, that's like a work week of sleeping!)

Until I start my antibiotics last night...