The Daily Ping

FROM: Old Fezziwig
DATE: Wednesday February 7, 2001 -- 9:37:06AM

Britney Spears -- what the hell she's doing in my dreams, I have no clue.

I know what she's been doing in my dreams.
And it's damn good.
-Fezz

www.oldfezziwig.com

FROM: Pat
DATE: Wednesday February 7, 2001 -- 11:18:38AM

Ryan, it says to me you must be on drugs. Hell, look at the picture of you - all goofy eyed and crazy lookin'. LOL.

Seriously, I never knew there was a term for knowing you were dreaming while you were dreaming. I think I've done it before, with re-occuring dreams that I had when I was much younger. The most vivid I remember is of a pink rubber airplane (like one that could be the eraser on the back of a pencil) that I would fly around in and crash, well bounce all over the place. The first few dreams were downright scarry (I was 8), but then I learned to control the plane and began to have fun crashing into things.

FROM: Matt
DATE: Wednesday February 7, 2001 -- 11:22:52AM

I don't really control the outcome of my dreams, but I have some kickass ones when I can remember them.

I had one last week where a big group of random friends including people I haven't seen since high-school and pinger Robert and I went on a trip to New York city from Florida. Aaron and Ryan were both living there so we were all going up to visit them.

I also had one this summer that had Tommy Lasorda and David Faustini in it. He had no mullet though.

FROM: Ryan
DATE: Wednesday February 7, 2001 -- 11:54:22AM

Pat -- Yeah, lucid dreaming's some pretty unique stuff. It's been an interest of mine off-and-on since high school, though I haven't had all that many lucid dreams in my life. I really like cataloging dreams, because within a week I was remembering three or four times as many dreams as I did before.

Matt -- It's amazing that David Faustino isn't in more of your dreams... ;)

FROM: Robert
DATE: Wednesday February 7, 2001 -- 12:19:56PM

Matt--I bet we hit the strip clubs with Zupnik.

Ryan--I'm having some trouble understanding the ends one should hope to attain with lucid dreaming. Lately, I have been keeping a record of the dreams I can remember (usually once every week). In doing this I think I'm getting closer and closer to understanding what personal and symbolic signifigance they have. If I were to have some control over what I'm dreaming I think that would mow over all the bits and pieces of my subconscious that I should be working to the surface.
But if I'm totally missing the point, I think I could record "nudity" as a signpost. It's appalling how many naked people appear in my dreams, and not more than half of it is in any sexual scenario. Maybe I'm trying to recreate Caligula or something.

FROM: Tony
DATE: Wednesday February 7, 2001 -- 12:53:54PM

Mine either have a trailer of some sort, or the seat of a car, wether in the car or not.

FROM: Ryan
DATE: Wednesday February 7, 2001 -- 12:58:56PM

Robert -- The end goal of lucid dreaming can be whatever you want it to be... if you become aware that you're dreaming, you can choose to control your environment, experiment with different solutions to a problem, bring in different characters, etc... You can also choose to just let the dream play out. Lucid dreaming's not an easy thing -- the first few times you realize you're dreaming, you'll wake up. But with time and practice (if you're willing to put in the effort), lucid dreaming can be a good way to help you work through any issues you may be having.

A good book I'm reading right now on lucid dream is Stephen Laberge and Howard Rheingold's Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming.

FROM: Rob
DATE: Wednesday February 7, 2001 -- 1:57:26PM

I don't recall any major signposts in my dreams. The ones I remember tend to be bizarre and have little in common with another. Well, except for the ones with naked females in them. Though there was one where a naked woman's torso had been replaced with a fluffy blue pillow. But that only happened once, so it's not a signpost.

I had a really vivid dream when I was a kid that I still remember very vividly to this day. I don't remember if I had it more than once, but it was like a movie. Basically, a group of terrorists systematically killed my entire family, then Maxwell Smart (of TV's "Get Smart") showed up, killed the terrorists, and said he'd be my new dad.

FROM: Paul
DATE: Wednesday February 7, 2001 -- 2:25:59PM

Gee, there should be a whole website where people post their dreams and others interpre...

whoops

FROM: Matt
DATE: Wednesday February 7, 2001 -- 2:31:19PM

Scott Strapp of Creed fame wrote "Higher" about Euclid dreaming. He had been having the same nightmare over and over where the ending was him dying or something. He had read a book about how Buddhists, I believe, practice Euclid dreaming and decided to try it. Needless to say, we now have that masterpiece about how it worked and he was able to control the outcome of his dream/nightmare

I look at Euclid dreaming as another one of those beautiful things that God has given man in the World. Its really an incredibly beautiful thing when you think about it.

FROM: Robert
DATE: Wednesday February 7, 2001 -- 2:37:20PM

Sometimes, I dream about Pythagorus (sp?) :)

FROM: Monica
DATE: Wednesday February 7, 2001 -- 3:02:09PM

one night of my freshman year I went to bed VERY frustrated that I couldn't solve a Calc2 hw problem, and EVERY dream that night involved me solving it. That was a math dream. But at least I didn't wake up drooling! :)

FROM: Rob
DATE: Wednesday February 7, 2001 -- 4:36:18PM

I dream about Euclid, Pythagoras, and Newton all playing a game of poker. Except that they all look like the dogs in that painting...

FROM: Robert
DATE: Wednesday February 7, 2001 -- 4:50:20PM

Monica--To quote Bart Simpson: "Even your dreams are square." Nerd!

FROM: Ryan
DATE: Wednesday February 7, 2001 -- 5:57:27PM

My suitemate senior year was taking a computer class and was having trouble with a program he was working on. He woke up in the middle of the night realizing that he had the perfect solution to his program -- but he counted on his memory rather than writing it down. By morning he had forgotten it. :) I've had similar feelings of waking up and feeling like "Wow -- that explains SO many things!" only to forget what the heck I was thinking upon waking.

FROM: Maria
DATE: Wednesday February 7, 2001 -- 8:40:45PM

My journalism teacher swears that the best time to do your homework is right before you go to sleep because your unconscious mind will process it in ways your conscious mind can't--especially if it's a difficult concept. But then, she's also insane, so I don't know about that.

FROM: Robert
DATE: Wednesday February 7, 2001 -- 9:57:43PM

I can't believe this Ping's been up all day and there hasn't been one mention of Queensryche's "Silent Lucidity". Damn, I love that song.

When I was in 7th grade we went through a week of taking these awful standardized tests. By the middle of the week my dreams were filled with pages of questions that didn't make sense and answers that wouldn't fit. That was really crappy because nothing I did in high school was worth keeping me awake.

FROM: liz
DATE: Thursday February 8, 2001 -- 12:16:42AM

i love love love lucid dreams. the best one i ever had was where i was floating and i realized i was dreaming, so i made this girl's hair turn blue and then flare green. it was rad.

i think i've mentioned here before about my lucid dream inside a lucid dream. that was rad too.

FROM: Matt
DATE: Thursday February 8, 2001 -- 6:10:59PM

A mention on Queensryche by Robert can be in my Euclid dream anysay.

FROM: Cat
DATE: Thursday February 8, 2001 -- 6:45:30PM

I applied the effort to learn lucid dreaming in high school some time. Luckily, it's one of those skills you don't lose. Or maybe I just use it a lot.

Having long ago become bored with the psychoanalytical aspect of dreaming, I don't use it to solve problems. I use it to have more fun when I'm having fun (like those great flying dreams) and to get out and/or wake up when I'm having a nightmare.

Lame, but useful.

Finally, don't let those darned books convince you it's difficult. It really depends on the person. I learned it very easily without much guidance--I only had to know it was possible. Remember, this is your subconscious, and if you believe it will be difficult...