Strange dreams and other nonsense

• Last night I had the oddest, most rambling dream I've had in a while. At this point in the day I remember only scraps, but boy, what scraps they are. I was in a large building that was some odd combination of the Kalita Humphreys Theater, my friend Lane's first home in Mineola (the one on Lake Brenda, for those of you in the know), and my high school. Apparently, I was staying with Lane's family in what was supposed to be Lane's childhood room. It was a huge room with at least four sets of bunk beds, plus a recessed sitting area with a full sized couch. The furniture reminded me of the stuff in the lobby of one of the dorms at my college. Anyway, the event necessitating my stay was a paddleball tournament, in which not only was I a willing participant, but apparently some sort of nationals level finalist (in reality, I suck at paddleball). And I wasn't the only one. My brother, also a finalist, showed up dressed as though he was about to go on a covert ops mission. Well, there are some gaps in my dream memory at that point, but the next thing I can remember was being back in Lane's room, and being panicked because I was going to be late for my first round in the national competition. Fortunately, Lane knew a shortcut from the room to the performance area (why Lane's house was attached to a performance center, I have no idea) that utilized a few secret passages. So I started running fast as I could down this secret corridor, when I stopped because I heard some voices. I looked around a bit, and found a doorway to a hidden room. And what should I behold when I opened the door? Well, naturally, the members of ska-esque group Smash Mouth, along with a goofy guy I went to college with who now works at the church I occasionally attend. In addition to Smash Mouth's undeserved pomposity, the room was filled with what appeared to be WWII era radio/shortwave equipment. We spoke (I think I asked for directions), but I don't remember the details. What I DO remember is knowing, without a doubt, that Smash Mouth was being held in that room by MTV, for the network's own nefarious purposes. I continued running through the passage until I found myself in the theatre area. And that's the last thing I remember before my alarm woke me. Seriously, the hell?

• This morning on my way to work, I got stuck behind this old lady driving about 15 miles an hour. That in and of itself is unremarkable, except for the fact that, in addition to the back of her head, the only thing I had to look at while she meandered down the road was about 15-20 brown and white Pound Puppies. Not the full sized ones we all remember from the 80s, but the tiny crappy ones McDonald's used to give away in Happy Meals. Apparently, this lady was fond of Pound Puppies. And driving badly.

• Speaking of driving badly, does it seem to anyone besides me that the quality of traffic, in Dallas specifically but also in general, has really gotten terrible lately? In the past two weeks, I've somehow wound up behind at least three different vehicles that drove down the road straddling two lanes. Not to mention all the people driving 5-10 miles below the speed limit (and when you're in a 30MPH zone, those few miles make all the difference). Are they just handing out licenses like candy at the DMV now? Should they just start running those ads that always start "Bad credit? No collateral? Do you have $100 dollars? Then you're in!"?

• Two movies that I've seen recently that I would recommend: Brick, a modern day detective noir mystery, starring that kid from Third Rock from the Sun, and that cute chick from Everwood. Oh, and Lukas Haas, finally looking older than 13. It's dark, funny, and exists in a little microcosm of its own, replete with shady characters and witty specialized dialogue. It's excellent. See it. Also, Friends with Money. Special thanks to Nate, Dish, and MAV for inviting me to this one, as I would've never seen it otherwise. It was funny and depressing, and as usual Catherine Keener, Frances McDormand, and Joan Cusack were excellent. Jennifer Aniston was good as well, though she was a little outmatched by her fellow actresses.

So yeah, that's it for now. Go outside and get some sun. You're looking pale.