Christmas and dream follow-up.

Merry Christmas & Happy Holiday Week! I assume some of you may not celebrate this holiday, but we celebrate Christmas in my family...that is whatever is left of the tradition of Magi bringing gifts to baby Jesus. I still don't understand what that has to do with us today. We Americans are such capitalists, but I am reminded by well-meaning friends WE set this scenario up and so goes our economy. Anyway, I believe the giving away part is at the heart of the tradition. Follow your own heart on that one. The receiving part isn't so bad either. Today I enjoy the less tangible substance of receiving.

For 2008, I am extremely grateful to have found this new release called blogging for what goes on In my head and what needs to come out of it. I am even more grateful for having followers, which I had not anticipated. So, THANK YOU people & Welcome to my brain. I'm enjoying your brains too, I might add.

Before I forget this, I am totally fascinated with the Magi both as concept and history. 2000 years ago they were highly regarded as astronomers and astrologists, with hardly any differnece in definition. There's all kinds of speculation about the so-called "star" they saw; specifically what astro-phenom took place to make them take off on a journey for a baby. Anyway, all they know is there were at least 3, probably more and they likely rode horses and not camels, likely being from Persia; modern-day Iran. So much for the Hallmark card moment. Hi-yo silver!

Dream follow up:

Last night I carefully crafted my sleep time to be something different. I guess I had already accepted the fact that my dreams are an alternate universe, so no changes. Note: I remembered something about where part of this concept may have had its beginnings and that would be through the DC Comics universe. I remember from my childhood phrases like Earth 1 and Earth 2 which somehow combined the existence of the old style characters to co-exist with the then modern versions. I'm not up to date on that, sorry.

That brings me to last night's dreams, both were art related and also related to my previous career as an animator. I had two waking dreams since I tend to do that just before I wake up. One was about a non-artist friend who had become an animator and was showing me a round the studio where he worked. His job entailed laying out simple drawings on colored paper which would not allow any visibility to other layers. Animators would get this. The other was about a young friend who was training to be an artist. Not much to exciting to give a way here. The dreams contained real people in unreal events and in places I had never seen, but all in color.

By the way, I had heard recently that when dreams were first analyzed back in the 20s and 30s, they used to say that people only dreamed in black and white. They have since speculated/concluded that the reason may have been how movies of the day were only in B&W and therefore must have some affect (effect?...I get those confused) on the dreamer's meta-physical reality. Other misnomers were about not being able to read words in dreams or signs always being in gibberish, also not accurate, but perhaps this was about a person's level of education.

How do you dream?

Anyway, part of the fun about my dreams is about the amazing likeness they are to watching a movie or TV, yet existing within the dreamworld. I seem to always be a participant/observer. Also, one of the major elements is that I often dream about real people and places, whom I have never met or visited, that is I can dream about seemingly REAL circumstances. This is the major thing that led me to believe that dreams are alternate multi-verses. I've also had dreams when I was paralyzed or stuck in one place or situations where I could only run in slow-motion....another film reality.