blueswede

it's all in the subconscious anyway

For once I'm not listening to WinAMP as I type in this. No,
tonight I am listening to a collection of pieces by Niccolo
Paganini. I am enjoying, though it's considerably different
from most classical composers. At least I think he's of the
classical era. Definitely not baroque, I can tell you that
much. At any rate, I'm going to have to listen to it a few
more times to decide how it rates with me.

So the Dave Improvement Plan was back on the road to success
this morning, as I weighed in at a new low. So far I'm very
pleased with the way my diet and exercise regimen has worked
out, and it's making me wonder why I didn't make a go of it
sooner. Despite the claims people make, losing weight isn't
really all that hard. Though I admit it can be difficult to
stick with a plan, but this is the sort of thing you have to
commit to and see through to the end. Good luck to all the
dieters out there.

It looks like I won't be going to my cousin's wedding after
all. My father's class at MIT was cancelled, and that means
the company isn't covering his ticket. So, we can't afford
to go now. It's going to be a pain sorting out everything,
and cancelling arrangements, but c'est la vie.

I discussed the social aspects of the Dave Improvement Plan
with a friend from college, and while he didn't have much in
terms of specific advice, he did say that the exercise plan
was probably the best approach for now. He thinks it should
help with self-image, which I admit, probably plays a rather
substantial role in social interactions. And I suppose that
it's working so far, because I do feel better. In fact, my
mother said I was looking thinner, so I guess it isn't just
my imagination. We'll see how things pan out.

I started playing my guitar again today after something of a
hiatus, and surprisingly, I didn't sound of out practice. I
was in top form, which was pretty unbelievable, considering
that I haven't practiced in about two weeks. I can't figure
out where the sudden burst of greatness came from; maybe all
I really needed was a break. At any rate, I'm feeling good
about it again, and I think I'll go out and try to find the
book that my instructor recommended.

In more personal news, the strange feeling of well-being and
contentment that's been over me for the past couple of days
has stuck around, and shows no signs of weakening. It's odd
that I should suddenly be feeling just fine. But it's great
to not be depressed; I can actually fall asleep at night.

It's funny, because all of this started the morning after I
had that dream about the John Carpenter film festival. Why
would a dream, however pleasant and reassuring, have such a
strong positive effect on me? This has never happened to me
before; once I realize that dreams are just dreams, they no
longer mean much of anything (though some of the cooler ones
leave me entertained). But for some reason, ever since that
dream, I've felt a lot better.

I'll recap the dream briefly: I was at a John Carpenter film
festival being held at someone's house, and I met a girl who
was really cool and very attractive. And we started talking
and really hit it off, and ended up falling asleep next to
each other on somebody's couch.

Now why this would have triggered anything is beyond me. I
have heard of people being haunted by their dreams, and I've
heard of recurring nightmares, but I've never heard anything
about dreams being curative. Still, it seems as though this
particular dream had something to it that lifted the burden
from my mind and cured my depressive funk

The only other thing I can think of is that my body is going
through some physiological response to my changes of habit,
and the dream just happened to coincide with that. Which I
suppose makes a lot more sense than my theory of "curative
dreams," but you have to admit the theory is a bit more fun
to believe in.

After all, if dreams can hurt, why can't they heal?

This is Dave, signing off.