LeFou, I'm afraid I've been thinking . . .

I've been thinking about the world as myths and dreams this weekend along with a bunch of other stuff. I'm really glad this is my group's theme, because I think dreams can be powerful and sometimes, often times true to some degree. I was thinking about Joseph, the dream interpreter, and how dreams can be bridges to God or enlightenment or a life beyond the one we're living. My mom has pretty powerful dreams- they have a strong emotional impact for her. Mine are pretty much just trips; I can't usually derive much meaning out of them- like the one I had last weekend was like a Beatles song. It was crazy. Sometimes though, I'll have a dream and a few days later I have it again, or I'll live it. A very déjà vu kind of thing. I was in 6th grade, and I had mutated chicken pox (not as bad the real deal, but still lame) and I had a weird dream about this woman with short hair and blond highlights. That week, I saw the same woman at the doctor's office, and she knew my name. Being a cool-minded, rational person, I remember hiding behind my mom; and the lady turned out to be my first grade teacher who had moved to a different school when I was 7. She wasn't offended or anything- I had always been a shy kid in elementary school- but my mom thought I was being stupid and made fun of me.
Moving onwards, looking at the world of myth and dreams also made me think of religion. I read this semester that religion of any sort is kind of a myth, because it explains how the world came into being. My mom hates this definition, but I see the point, and I kind of like it. I think myths have a connotation of being unreliable or fairy tale-like, but I think myths have more power than that. They are stories, but they stir more in the soul than just happiness or moral satisfaction. They make you wonder and dream; and dreams take you where they please. The subconsciousness stuff.
Which brings me to FW among other things. I have really enjoyed listening to Prof. Leubner read out loud. It really makes it come alive. So, my boyfriend and I started reading bits of it aloud. Sometimes we read the page I plan to pick apart, and sometimes we just pick random pages, because it's more fun that way. The other day, we opened a page, and it sounded dirty. I realize that the other day we just talked about how dirty this book truly is, but it was just funny. It kind of reminded me of that game, "Dirty Minds." I've never really played it before, but the gist seems to be riddles and puns that sound dirty but have innocent solutions. For example: "The more you play with me the harder I get" is "Rubik's Cube." Funny, yes?
That reminds me about the pun thing we were supposed to do- Prof. Sexson is right about saying them in your head rather than out loud. I came out with some the other night while hanging out with friends. After five or ten minutes, I got a sarcastic, "Wow Bizz, really?" and a half sincere smile. I don't recommend it.
Anyway, back to subconscious desires, I thought about tons of things from my childhood actually. Disney's emphasis on dreams, for example. "A Dream is a wish your heart makes." It's all unconscious desires and lives you wished you had. "Once Upon a Dream" is about a life or a day this girl's lived in a dream, and it actually comes true, or happens again. There is a book called, "Awake and Dreaming." It's about a little girl who has a terrible home life but dreams herself into a family she sees riding the bus. It becomes real for her, and from what I remember of the book, sense of "real" time gets lost, because we're in this life she's created until one day, she wakes up and she's back the way she was. I think she tries to go back, but it's lost. I'd have to read it again; I might have butchered it. "Fight Club" reminds me of this in a way. He created an alter ego of who he wanted to be, but lost where reality was. It's interesting how our desires can twist perceptions around. I once heard of a pregnant man, who wasn't pregnant, but was so torn up by the death of his partner, his mind caused his body to make a false pregnancy. His belly swelled out and his breasts lactated, which baffled doctors since the guy wasn't wired to do that.
Anyway, I think I poured out most of the thoughts I was thinking for this class. Even the title- I was in the mood for some "Beauty and the Beast," if you couldn't guess. I just wanted to get it all out before I forgot.