Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Dream ...

I dreamt that I was applying for a job at Waterloo Records in Austin. There was a huge poster behind the register, among tons of other media, of my friend Helen in a movie called "School Days." It pictured her lying lengthwise on her side across the bottom of the poster, looking at the camera, her head propped on her hand, and in the background behind her, a lot of young men in prep school ties and jackets. I told a woman working there that I wanted to apply for a job and we started chatting. I mentioned that I knew Helen and remembered that she had actually worked at Waterloo before moving to New York City. The woman seemed weathered and resentful because she'd had aspirations of being an actress too. Eventually she took me to another room in the store and I was introduced to another employee who would take me through the application process. All the rooms in the store were huge and cavernous and highly decorated with posters, album covers, etc. All the employees (as is sort of true of the real Waterloo) kind of seemed to treat me with disdain, though I wasn't sure (and am never sure) if it was disdain about me being "free" and them being "at work," or me being a music dilettante while they were all so clearly aficionados. This new employee beckoned me behind the counter and disappeared. At least I thought he did. So I followed. I had to get down on my hands and knees to scoot through a door that had a small space at the bottom. I guessed everyone had just gotten used to it. Then I was outside behind the store with this young man, the employee (senior manager? co-owner?). It was a lovely park-like area, grass and sidewalks and big trees and people all around. We talked about me for a while, my plans. I wasn't sure what I was going to do. That part was very realistic. I blathered on for a while and he listened patiently. He was nice enough, though there was an air of that disdain to him that I mentioned earlier. At one point he went away and I noticed that ants were crawling on my leg. The more I tried to swipe them off, the more there were. Soon they were on my hand too. I thought, "These ants are trying to eat me!" And for the rest of the dream I was brushing ants off my leg, my arm, my back. At the end of the dream, another young man joined us. He was a little guy with short hair and glasses and the man who was interviewing me knew him. The new applicant came to our table and didn't say anything. The man interviewing me said, "Oh, hi, Lou." The new applicant held up his already completed application. His name was Lou Maria. I said "Hi, Lou." Lou didn't say anything. He sat down on the ground next to our table as if to have something to eat, picnic-style. He was obviously introverted and had applied for this job several times before. Then I heard him making a terrible sound. I looked down and saw that Lou had stretched himself out on the ground in such a way that he had hurt his back and was making grunting and gasping noises, unable to move or correct his position. After a second of taking this in, I asked him if he needed help, and as he was lifting his arms up toward me, I awoke.