Dream

Three dreams today, with a wide spread on how much I remember. I believe this may be thanks to advice in A Field Guide to Lucid Dreaming.

Magic Train

I was on some sort of incredibly long train. I had a deck of cards that was a simplified version of Monopoly. These cards were dangerous and/or deadly somehow. The person who gave me the cards sat down next to me.

"Going to need you to give those cards to that person sitting over there." The train car was a bunch of seats against the walls of the train with various tiny tables at point. I was sitting behind my own table, and this other person was the next table down (though there were a lot of empty space as it was the area you came in from the stairs).

"So I'm not going to die then?" I asked.

"Person who needed to die already died. Go play a game with him."

So, I went over and sat down at the same table. I'm pretty sure a chair materialized under me. I just sat there, being awkward. Not knowing how to start. "I know why you're here," he said, smirking. "A person doesn't sit down at a stranger's table unless... you want to play a game!" and he started taking out a deck of cards I recognized as some sort of MTG-like, though it was a made-up MTG-like that doesn't exist. He may have even said League of Legends (though that's a MOBA, not a card game).

Suddenly, two other people showed up, each with their own deck, at each end. "Yep, people just materialize to play this game," the target said.

"Actually, I was interested in playing Monopoly," I said, pulling out the cards. He looked disappointed at the word Monopoly, and then confused at the cards. I tried to explain it, "It's condensed into the good parts into a card game. You also get to be a character from the Simpsons or Futurama." I showed a Homer Simpson card. They smiled. I don't remember what happened after that.

There was also a bit of exploring of the train at one point. I passed by a pizza box two times. One time it was normal, and the other time it was upside-down. Both times open. The second time various pieces of pizza were suspended in the air somehow. It was some kind of crumbly sausage pizza. Don't think I took a bite, but I had considered. Didn't even wonder if it was vegan.

Metal Body

My body turned metallic. Like in T2. That's all I really remember.

Quakecon and Gas Station

Filled up a car at a gas station, going to Quakecon with some friends. There was a riddle involved in paying the fee. Had to do with 256 gallons and 2 days of driving. My friend Justin looked at me like it was an easy question to answer. "Doesn't something jump out to you about 256?"

"Square of 12?" dream-logic is hard.

But Justin nodded, seeming to agree, "And the 2 days is how long it'll last...." and then I don't remember anything else.

Meditation (Day 79)

Another prime number day!

Decided against pre-meditation writing, as I don't have anything new to add. Have reminder to add some stuff post-meditation.

Post-Meditation

So, I used some ideas in A Field Guide to Lucid Dreaming during my prep today. Worked on setting more specific intentions:

• Label the distractions, do it over and over so that it becomes automatic
• Anything I have control over, try to do anticipate it mindfully
  • E.g. swallowing, introspective check-ins, even
• Guide myself back to breath quickly
• Trace distractions to source, see how much wandering happened
• Try to note where the breath was when you label a distraction (attention, awareness, or forgotten)
• Only adjust posture mindfully, microadjustments due to relaxation too (though just "relax" as a mindful cue is good)

I maybe did too many things, but it helped a lot! I even knew when the hard part was coming and set my intention to weather it. Still had some gross distractions, but today may have been the best day yet.

Extracurricular Stuff

Friend is officially out on extracurricular stuff. Meaning I need to fill that space. Or, rather, I want to. I s'pose I could continue doing programming questions and just work on the meta of that.

Maybe I'll share it here, even?

I could also see if other friends are interested in a similar setup.

Something to ruminate on.