Random Stories

I am getting too used to free time these days. But there is no doubt that the pace of things is accelerating, and it will continue to do so until right before I leave for Christmas break. A lot of things are bothering me now - a lot of things unacknowledged, a lot of things unsaid. Still, I know I'm getting better.

Last weekend I bought a bottle of 'green' lemon-flavored tea and out of curiosity I checked the writing on the side, and there it was: the notice that said, 'Shake well before drinking.' It seems that on every bottle of processed drink/refreshment, that statement is plastered somewhere. I find it rather strange, because in most cases there isn't enough space to give the contents a good shaking and really, how can you expect to quantify a statement like 'shake well'? It might be a way companies use to cover for themselves, like if your drink tastes a bit funny and you complain, they could say, 'Well, maybe you didn't shake it well enough. See here - it says so on the label. So it's not really our fault.'

For some days now I've consistently awoken remembering strangely vivid dreams. And at least once I remember feeling afraid to fall asleep and become transported to that dream world where anything can happen. I'm fairly sure that incident was brought about by some of the stuff I've been reading - most likely a book called A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami which I recently finished. I'm now on my third book by this particular author, having read two others earlier this month in immediate succession. Mr. Murakami appears to always write in the first-person male point of view, and his narrators, and other characters from different books, share many similarities. His books probably give an accurate portrait of contemporary Japan, which I find interesting.

I remember when I was a kid, I watched this movie called Twice Upon A Time. It was partly animated, and it was about these creatures that came alive at night when everyone was asleep. One was a group of cute, bouncy, teardrop-shaped creatures - these were the good guys, and when they inhabited a sleeping person at night they caused pleasant dreams. Another group was of vicious-looking black crows that caused terrifying nightmares. These two groups competed with each other every night and whoever got to a sleeping human first would inhabit him the entire night. I was always afraid when the crows would come - they were nasty and they pushed the little teardrop guys around. I'm not sure how the movie ended though. I just know that I liked it, and that I felt a real fear the way only a child experiences, whenever I saw that fictional portrayal of evil. It was the same with the movie, The Wizard of Oz, whenever the Wicked Witch of the West showed up. I didn't like the creepy munchkins and those flying monkeys either.

Since I started sleeping with all the lights off whenever I'm alone in my room, I've noticed the peculiar function my blanket serves. With the lights all off and without anyone around, I feel vulnerable. My blanket gives me a sense of security.

I've had a long, peculiar history with blankets. As a child I was never comfortable with them. I thought them stuffy, heavy, and confining. I never learned to use them until I was maybe fourteen. I don't know what triggered things, but once I learned to sleep covered with a blanket, or a comforter, I couldn't sleep without one. And I remember that it was extremely important to me that both my feet were covered completely - I don't know why. For a long while, I was like that. Now, though, I have a more normal, functional relationship with my blanket. I usually sleep without it because of the heat, but I still use it in cold weather. And when I'm alone with all the lights turned off. But now, I don't mind when my feet stick out from underneath.