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Ever wake up early and you're not really tired, but decided to go back to sleep cause it's Sunday & it's okay. You let your eyes close and the next three hours go by instantly and the dream would not have been born if you'd gotten up.
[Dictated (thanks, Max) in a trance, lying face up, 10 am Sunday morning—]
You were driving us along a familiar freeway; I was babbling away about something like I usually do, with the passenger window open. You took a right exit and pulled into a diagonal parking place under a metal awning next to a huge low building. I stuck my head out the window and there was 'Hope' from Days of Our Lives walking towards me with a big smile on her face. I got out and said 'O my god! It's Kristian [Alfonso] and she pressed her cheek against my cheek and I followed her into the low building, where we were surrounded by displays of jewelry. I was told I get to choose whatever I would like and there were several women already there to wait on me. It was very exclusive…but not snooty. I had several favorites from different sections. For guidance I pointed out what I was wearing—I could see my ear flash by in a mirror, with long silver earrings—then I noticed a full sheet of paper with very dense graphics, but at the top it said 'CLO' and it had several dates on it which I apparently had missed. It was a present from my godmother, Odette: I was going to be there all day and was going to be turned into a Geisha.
I was led into a room which was like a huge stage set out of Topsy Turvy—a combination of Madama Butterfly and a Crafts Faire. The center was sunken down about four steps. Impossible to see everything, it was so elaborate. I was admonished that my behavior was going to be monitored, since I was an entry-level Geisha, which suffused me with this feeling of ceremony. I felt I had to do 'Namaste' and bow every time I had an exchange with anybody.
Everybody was taking care of me, showing me the next step, the next layer of costuming. It was like an giant equity show: they were nice because they were being professional, but I could still fuck up if I did the wrong things. Plus, I had to walk like I assumed Japanese women would have to walk, like they taught the singers in Topsy Turvy, so it took me forever to get across the room. Going to the bathroom involved somebody pointing and then me exploring a series of swinging doors, the room behind each of which had mysterious functions. I found what I thought was a place to squat and pee, but someone came in so I froze.
Then I progressed to being prepped for a photo shoot. I caught a glimpse of myself & I looked excited & I glittered. It was definitely stage lighting. The photographer gestured to some black zoris and they looked small. I said I was size 8 and he said 'Nah, they're size 5' that was all he had, I should try just to squeeze into them. I was thinking that this was like a giant improv and I would love to work here & be one of the staff doing all this for some person, when I noticed a guy with a big belly, way across the room up on the left, and for some reason I felt instantly threatened, like he was Tony Soprano or something. I started down an impossibly steep set of stairs to get away from him, the photographer holding my right hand and the last thing before I woke up: the top step began to rise up toward me, gleaming with some ancient bronze-like varnish.
Ever get this sense after a dream that if you stand up, everything will disappear: some of the earrings were like twisted abalone that we kept shining light through, the warmth of the big room and the lighting, the secret aura, rooms that led to unseen kitchen or props? Rock formations & koi ponds. Everything arranged for me as 'Queen for a Day' but on a level like a Japanese Nickolas Nickleby.
Ever wonder how you spend your time?
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