DREAM: I Don't Eat Squirrels and Kittens!

More bizarre symbolism in the realm of dreams continuing...

I dreamt I was at the grocery store and standing at the counter for, I think, a bakery section. Next to it was the butcher section. Somehow my order for whatever I was getting from the bakery got mixed up with the butcher and he started talking to me as he chopped something. I could see that it was the limp body of a squirrel. He chopped off the legs, the head, and the tail so that there was only left this horrible, gray, wet tube of a body. He started cutting up a second one. I started to intervene, but the butcher was so clueless and thinking he was being so nice to make it all wrapped up for me... so I just smiled and tried to be polite. (NOTE: that would never happen in waking life. I would have said something immediately.) I just kept thinking, Well, I will get my stuff from the bakery and take what this butcher gave me, but hand off what the butcher gave me to someone else who would want it. The butcher had struck up conversation with me and I was politely exchanging with him, wishing I could just hurry up and get out of there. He had said something about kittens and I took it as an opportunity to speak up about how much I love animals. The butcher said, "Well, let me see... I think we have some around here," and he started sliding open panels behind the butcher case. He smiled all big and said, "Oh. HERE!" and pulled out a limp kitten. Before I could even realize what he was doing and what he was holding, he had chopped off the head. The body kicked. It had still been alive! He then reached under for another and pulled out a second kitten! He said, "I'm really sorry, but this one is feral. It might be a bit tougher." My mind was having a hard time wrapping around what was happening, He struggled to hold the kitten as it spit and clawed and fought him. The butcher's rubber gloves gripped the kitten by the ears, pulled them back so that the eyes were all stretched out, and he maneuvered the kitten to be on its side on the butcher block. That's when I finally freaked out. I screamed. I wailed out. I could barely scream out my words intelligibly, but I was screaming, "Oh my god! WHY! Why do you do this! How can you people eat these animals and hurt them like this!! If you don't understand how insane this is, you ARE insane!!" and on and on and on... until I woke up.

It was really intense and upsetting in the dream, and so NOT how I would have handled it in waking life, but it was cathartic and disturbing.

Now, I know I have phases when I dream things that are graphic, horrific, and bizarre, but I have yet to really grasp WHY! I mean, these are so weird!!

NOTE: I had watched part of ZODIAC, the movie about the "Zodiac Killer" of California's past. When detectives got a warrant to investigate a suspect's trailer home, it was swarming with squirrels inside. The imagery was striking, so I think part of my dream was influenced by that.

Mostly, I think this dream plays out my undercurrent of frustration for being forced to be polite, kind, and enduring around people whom I love, but who do not grasp the true horror of what they do when they eat animals. I don't realize it, but I imagine this forces a difficult skew within me as I accommodate the majority of apathy and ignorance for the suffering of animals, while living in a constant tortured state of wishing I could abolish all forms of cruelty and exploitation. I suppose this dream was helping to release that which I cannot in my waking life.

DREAM: Watching You Watching Me

I seem to have continued this bizarre theme from LAST TUESDAY...

I dreamt that I had my laptop in my bed with me and had fallen asleep with it on my nightstand.  I had been using SEESMIC earlier and involved in various video conversations, so I had left the site up and the laptop had gone into its "sleep mode."

Suddenly the laptop burned back into life and lit up the room.  Because the room was so dark, I couldn't see beyond the array of light from the screen. Seesmic was still up in the browser and a new video had refreshed in to a conversation I had been in earlier and it started playing... one of my Seesmic friends was laughing and saying, "Okayyy, Troy, what was THAT about?" and from my half-sleep I thought, I don't know, what is she talking about. Then another video refreshed into the conversation and another Seesmic friend said, "Uhh, Troy, did you leave your camcorder running? Ha ha..."

So now I sat up a bit and pulled the laptop to me to see what they were talking about...  In the video thread of conversations I saw that there were two videos posted by me in the past 10 minutes, but I had been asleep!  I played the first one back:  it was just a 2 or 3 minute video of my empty chair at my office desk.  I thought, wow, DID I somehow leave the cam running? But then, how did it post?

I played the next video: Now the camera dismounted and it wobbled to show movement.  Still no one in the video, but the view was the camera being carried away from my desk and toward my bedroom door.  That's when I became slighly paralyzed with confusion and panic, but before I could really consider what I was seeing, another video refreshed into the timeline on Seesmic and it was another post from "me!" I clicked to play it: this time, I was IN the video... sitting in my bed, lit only by the light from my laptop screen. 

I cannot express to you the terror that coursed through me as I realized what I was seeing! I looked up from the laptop and toward my bedroom doorway... my eyes had to adjust, but as I strained through my panic to see what was there, I finally made out... a blinking red light from my camcorder, being held there, recording me... and I could only barely make out the silhouette of someone just standing there... holding it. 

Before I could react, the video timeline refreshed and several videos began playing, each person saying, Oh My GOD Troy, GET OUT OF THERE!  GET OUT OF THERE!!  I had no idea where to go, how to run, or what to do...

And I woke up.

YIKES!!

DREAM: I'm Only Here To Love You

For some of you who actually read my blog, you know I have wild dreams and often they are bizarre and even apocolyptic and dark.  Such a contrast to my daily life, which is like a mix of high-comedy skits and cartoon antics laced with I Love Lucy moments.

Well, last night I had one of the strangest dreams I've ever had and I have a feeling it was prophetic in some way, so I am archiving it here.  I've discovered over the years that peppered throughout my journal are near-LITERAL dreams that I find only years later had some serious relevance to my daily life.  The most recent being, of course, my dream about wandering around in a foreign country, looking for my heart/love, and feeling a state of anxiety I likened to suffocation/drowning... fast-forward 4 years into the future and I am living in The Netherlands because I followed my heart for love and I am dying in a hospital bed from Pnuemonia!

So my dream last night may have some significance, though I have a feeling it might be more symbolic in the end... but you never know, so here goes:

I dreamt I was living in a home from my past, during High School, back in Indiana.  I woke up in the middle of the night and the experience was desperately-vivid, lucid.  I was awakened by the realization that SOMEONE was in the room with me.  I was still for a moment as I tried to figure out what to do.  The panic was controlled, but it was like a terrifying short-circuiting and it was blinding.  I had no idea what to do... so I suddenly LEAPT from my bed, throwing back the covers and grabbing a netting I had been working on from the floor. 

(In the dream, this netting was some kind of project I had been working on and it was made from recycled materials; sort of like the plastic circles used to hold six-packs together, woven into a large net). 

I grabbed up the netting and just started swinging it hysterically and screaming out for my mom.  I ran from my bedroom, through the living room, and into the kitchen just outside of my parents bedroom, screaming for help.  My mom casually stepped out into the dim glow from the windows and asked what the hell was wrong with me.  I know I was speaking, but having a hard time expressing that I knew someone was in my room.  She said, hold on, calm down, let me help... and she grabbed a pair of scissors from the kitchen counter; meat scissors. 

At first I thought she was going to go with me back to my room and help me confront this intruder, but then I felt a tug on the netting I was carrying and I glanced down to find she was holding parts of it and CUTTING IT APART! I remember feeling completely lost and abandoned by her not taking me seriously and only using the opportunity to do something hurtful (which is clearly a fragment of memory from the abuse I did endure from her).  I tugged the netting from her and, shaking, stepped back toward the living room toward my bedroom, trying to ignore my mom's laughing at me and dismissing my terror. 

As I stepped into the living room, lightning flashed from outside and cast shadows for several seconds... long enough for me to see the silhouette of a man cast onto the wall outside of my bedroom!  The shadow of the man was holding a shovel.  For some reason, I lashed out again hysterically, swinging the net and rushing toward my bedroom doorway, entering, and slamming in to the guy standing there.  I just kept swinging this net and hitting and banging in to this guy.  He grabbed my shoulders and said, "Calm down, CALM down..." he said this in severe whispers, pressing his mouth close to my ear.  He shook me and said to LOOK at him... I calmed down enough for him to say, "I LOVE YOU. I've always loved you.  I've been following you and I finally found you. I just wanted us to be together and tell you I love you." 

I stayed calm long enough for him to say all of this... and then he kissed me.  The kiss was soft, electric, and melted into me.  He stood for a second and looked at me while I tried to make sense of what was happening.  He smiled as if he knew I would understand... and then I freaked out on him again and started screaming and flailing and hitting him and swinging the net at him, so he dashed to my window, straddled the window sill, and smiled back at me, disappearing out into the darkness. 

I ran over to my window and slid it shut, pressing my face up against the glass to see if I could see where he had run off into the rain...

Then I sat on my bed and realized the shocking mix of deep recognition of this person and the absolute, soothing effects from his whispers and his kiss, with the terrifying idea of someone finding his way into my personal space just to prove something to me.  I sat for a long time, completely at a loss as to what to do or what to feel, but kept playing that kiss and his trying to calm me down, over and over in my mind... until I fell asleep again. 

The sun was shining into my room when I awoke and for a brief moment I realized that I must have been dreaming the experience from the night before... until I saw my cut-up netting lying sprawled across my floor.... and then realized that I had an arm holding me from around my waist from behind, with a body spooning warmly against me. 

I shot out of the bed and slammed my back against the door to look back at my bed and see this man had come back through my window in the night and had crawled into bed with me, holding me.  Again, I felt the rush of pure satisfaction and recognition, mixed with the horror of this happening at all! 

Before I got a chance to scream or freak out any further, he got out of my bed, straddled the window sill again, and was smiling patiently at me, looking back at me and saying, "You shouldn't be scared. I'm only here to love you." He played whimsically with a flap in the screen where he had apparently sliced it, and said, "Sorry about the screen. You should just leave your window open next time."  And he slipped away...

And I woke up in my "real" room and sat up, looking around at my windows, walls, doorway, listening, and adjusting to the dark and shadows and sounds... and feeling that same mix of horror and the warm remembering of a love I almost forgot, but that hadn't forgotten me, and had found me again.

The symbolism in this dream is rich, but there's something prophetic about it, too... I can feel it.

We'll see...

VLOG: What I Saw Tonight (parts one & two)

Tonight, my friends Priscilla and Nick and I went to le Poisson Rouge for a last-stop performance from MY BRIGHTEST DIAMOND and CLARE & THE REASONS. I was only a peripheral fan, but I was moved by the flawless ebbs and flow between playful dances and dark pleasantness. I fell in love with both bands and am now a permanent fan.

This is what New York is all about... I am so happy to be able to swim in the aural bliss of such creative people from our world.

VLOG: What I Saw Tonight (part one) from CocteauBoy on Vimeo.


VLOG: What I Saw Tonight (part two) from CocteauBoy on Vimeo.

VLOG: 120108

VLOG: 120108 from CocteauBoy on Vimeo.
Just an update about my MRI and XRAY results; my new PONCHO!! and an encouragement toward more video exchanges. The end credits cut off a letter, so they should read "share" and "cocteauboy."

http://seesmic.com and http://tokbox.com

Search for CocteauBoy on each and add me!

CocteauBoyTV: Special Edition

I hope the video says it all...

CocteauBoyTV: Special Edition from CocteauBoy on Vimeo.

NATIONAL DAY OF PROTEST against H8

As a citizen of the United States and as someone who feels the importance of standing for equality and rights for all people, I invite each of you to take part in THE NATIONAL DAY OF PROTESTS across America against Prop 8.


This is not just a Gay Rights issue, but a CIVIL RIGHTS issue.

FOUR States have written in to Constitutional Law the identification and categorizing of a specific group of people having less rights than other groups. Even if it might not affect you directly, it is still important to stand in support because your group could be next. This removal of the rights for minorities cannot be tolerated.

We fought this kind of crap in the '60s when Blacks were LEGALLY identified as sub-human, and had no rights to marry, or to marry outside of their race, even suffering the wrath of religious condemnation as "Immoral." Now that seems absurd and archaic. Yet it's happening again. THIS is no different.

And just because this is not as public as a fight for the right to vote, does not mean this is a matter to dismiss. In fact, this is more insidious because these laws are reaching into the private lives of individuals and taking their rights away and exercising control over the most intimate levels of life.

PLEASE come out and stand for equality, Saturday, November 15th across the United States.



JOIN THE IMPACT/Transform the H8

If you have a cam and a mic, PLEASE join the conversation at SEESMIC:

National Day of Protest against H8http://jointheimpact.wetpaint.com

CocteauBoyTV: Racism vs Prejudice

Whoops! I almost forgot to post this to my blogs!

Episode Six: Racism vs Prejudice from CocteauBoy on Vimeo.

VLOG: 103008

Today's Vlog! I talk about Mayhem, Medicine, and MURDER! And my new reading glasses!

Vlog: 103008 from CocteauBoy on Vimeo.

Assassination Plots

Several weeks ago, before the DNC, I had a huge influx of psychic static that led me to be very concerned about a potential assassination of Obama. In addition to my psychic static, I suddenly found that a fellow MySpacer had been privy to a band of people on their way to DNC to do just that. So I was very worried. During the DNC, a handful of fools were arrested for plotting the assassination. I was convinced that this was not what I had sense was on the horizon and that these were just some doofus middle-american ass-wipes with guns. The sense I had was of a fairly elaborate network planning this, not these dorks.

But who knows... these could have been the planned patsies who bumbled the whole plan and ruined the more elaborate plan?

By the way, the reason I call this "psychic static" is because it wasn't like a clear sense or some kind of distinct information; it was more like... static. Like an electrical charge with tons of bits of information that hadn't taken form. It was really unnerving and I didn't really know what to do with it, so I wrote about it. After the fact, I suspect this energy was some kind of charge created from among a lot of people who are consciously or unconsciously anxious about this possibility. It would be devestating. Another suspicion, of course, is that it was just my own static and anxiousness, but I've had years and years of self-exploration regarding these types of experiences, so I was recognizing this as something far more than just my concerns. But I'm not above it having just been my over-active imagination.

So the reason I'm writing about this again is because yet another assassination plan was unraveled in the past day or so. This one was pretty elaborately-planned and is closer to what I had sensed was in the works, but... I'm reporting in that I'm pretty sure this is STILL not what I had sensed.

I'm beginning to wonder if the "static" was less about conscious or unconscious anxiety and more about the fact that there is an electrical storm of tiny, idiotic, puffed up plans coming in from all over the country, churning up from small groups and tiny minds everywhere. I am beginning to see this option as being pretty fair to consider.

I'm also wondering if these busts will lull American public into a false sense of trust in the forces that will make sure this doesn't happen... I don't know. But I'm still uneasy.

I haven't had any experiences again like I did in that week before the DNC. No static. No swarms of disembodied presences... I'm back to the normal, random sightings, nothing unusual (for me).

I just thought I'd chime in about this recent bust. From what I understand, there isn't even any evidence to support the boasts of these goons. Just a lot of talk...

That's another issue I wonder about: as much as I despise these people with violent plans and hateful talk, are we now imprisoning people based only on speech? This could be a big problem for our future, if that's the case.

VLOG: 102308

Sharing my menagerie of the day, and talking about how LuLu got steamed, the upcoming YouTube Gathering at Bryant Park (details below), and asking you about your feelings about the saturation of the Social Network/Presence wave...

CocteauBoy VLOG: 102308 from CocteauBoy on Vimeo.
YOUTUBE GATHERING DETAILS

Saturday, October 25, 2008
2:00 - Bryant Park. On 6th Ave. (Ave. of the Americas) between 40th and 42nd St)

7:00 - Blaggards Restaurant and Pub. 8 W. 38th St. (between 5th & 6th Ave.)

VLOG: 101808

I woke up to a wonderful morning and I wanted to share! I also wonder how you deal with doctors who treat you like shit.

NOTE: Sorry about the mic rattling. I had it sitting on my laptop and it picked up the vibes.


VLOG: 101808 from CocteauBoy on Vimeo.

VLOG: 101508

I'm BAaaack! And Bigger Than EVER... (literally)

VLOG: 101508 from CocteauBoy on Vimeo.

Oprah Episode: My Response

Okay, I just finished watching the Oprah episode and I am embarrassed I even considered that she might actually try to make a difference and even more embarrassed that I encouraged people to watch it. The entire episode dismissed the concept of anti-slavery (veganism/vegetarianism) as some sort of personal, religious preference and not a no-brainer step in evolution and as a solution to the suffering of animals. Big DUH on that one, people. This must be what the abolitionists of the past must have felt like while watching morons discuss more efficient forms of enslaving Blacks. The solution is compassion and freedom. NOT a few more inches of chain or cage. Some bitch even went so far as to showcase how "humanely" she raises VEAL! And described it as doing so "the way mother nature intended." WHAT!!! These are monsters. Who in their right mind could possibly think that depriving a baby of nutrients, forcing them into anemic states to keep their muscles from forming, is some part of "mother nature's" intention!

People really suck sometimes. Really suck.

Oprah = FAIL!

Hang On To Your Hats

Let's not be too quick to assume our country, government, and our people are immune to the situation similar to that which erupted in Argentina. I mean, Bush has ordered an active unit of combat troops to be stationed inside the US to serve as an "'on call' federal response in times of emergency," specifically for use in case of "civil unrest" and for "crowd control."

This is a first in American history.

The unit chosen for this task is the Army's Third Infantry Division's First Brigade Combat Team which has spent thirty-five of the last sixty month in Iraq.

They're here now and training for "domestic operations."



Hang on to your hats...

Troy

WATCH OPRAH TODAY!

Check your local listings for OPRAH and record it and/or watch it today, October 14th.

The reality of cruelty and suffering in farm animal production has finally made it to about as mainstream as it can get. It's going to be showcased on OPRAH. This means it will be white-washed, cleaned up, and easy to explore without having to face the horrors that help put those dead bodies on the table.

This OPRAH is in light of the current Proposition 2 in California up for debate and vote, which would stand to AT LEAST alleviate a great amount of suffering and create protections for these animals, along with increasing support for family farmers who have been affected by the powerful movement of Factory Farming.

Please set your Tivo's, DVR's, VCR's, or plop your booty down in front of Oprah tomorrow, Tuesday, October 14th (check your local listings). Though this is a vote that is up in California, it affects everything about us as a people. It's a first (very tiny, but important) step toward opening up to our humanity and compassion to other species, AS WELL as toward each other and the Earth. Can you imagine what kind of world we might live in if we cared enough about the quality of life for a Chicken or a Pig... it would be very hard not to care about each other or about others who are so different from what we find familiar.

Please... just tune in and see what you think and feel. I have no idea if she is going to derail the proposition, or push for it, but at least it's being discussed.







PROP 2 FACTSHEET

Below are some key facts of the proposition:

This November 4, Californians should vote YES! on Prop 2 – a modest measure that stops cruel and inhumane treatment of animals, ending the practice of cramming farm animals into cages so small the animals can't even turn around, lie down or extend their limbs.

Voting YES! on Prop 2...

• Prevents cruelty to animals.

  It's simply wrong to confine veal calves, breeding pigs, and egg-laying hens in tiny cages barely larger than their bodies. Calves are tethered by the neck and can barely move, pigs in severe confinement bite the metal bars of their crates, and hens get trapped and even impaled in their wire cages. We wouldn't force our pets to live in filthy, cramped cages for their whole lives, and we shouldn't force farm animals to endure such misery. All animals, including those raised for food, deserve humane treatment.
  
  
  

• Improves our health and food safety.

  We all witnessed the cruel treatment of sick and crippled cows exposed by a Southern California slaughter plant investigation this year, prompting authorities to pull meat off school menus and initiate a nationwide recall. Factory farms put our health at risk—cramming tens of thousands of animals into tiny cages, fostering the spread of diseases that may affect people. YES! on Prop 2 is better for animals—and for us.
  
  
  

• Supports family farmers.

  California family farmers support YES! on Prop 2 because they know that better farming practices enhance food quality and safety. Increasingly, they're supplying major retailers like Safeway and Burger King. Factory farms cut corners and drive family farmers out of business when they put profits ahead of animal welfare and our health.
  
  
  

• Protects air and water and safeguards the environment.

  The American Public Health Association has called for a moratorium on new factory farms because of the devastating effects these operations can have on surrounding communities, spreading untreated waste on the ground and contaminating our waterways, lakes, groundwater, soil, and air. Prop 2 helps stop some of the worst abuses and protects our precious natural resources. That's why California Clean Water Action and Sierra Club-California support YES! on Prop 2.
  
  
  

• Is a reasonable and common-sense reform.

  Prop 2 provides ample time—until 2015—for factory farms using these severe confinement methods to shift to more humane practices. Arizona, Colorado, Florida, and Oregon have passed similar laws. The Humane Society of the United States, the ASPCA, hundreds of California veterinarians, including the California Veterinary Medical Association; California family farmers; the Center for Food Safety, the Consumer Federation of America, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the United Farm Workers, and the Cesar Chavez Foundation; Republican and Democratic elected officials; California religious leaders; and many others.
  
  
  

We Have To Start Thinking

I really feel uncomfortable to feel it necessary to promote this, but unless there is evidence against the claims and information shared in these interviews and movies, we really need to wake up, be prepared, and brace ourselves for a huge revolution that seems to be more and more inevitable.

Take your time and really make a concerted effort to understand just what is being presented in these videos. It is terrifying and upsetting, but if we don't wake up, we are in big trouble. Burying our heads in the sand (or in our iPods and iPhones) will not make our lives better.

If you can counter the claims presented here, please do so. This is some tough stuff to contemplate. Take your time. But please... DO take the time.


25 minute interview with Naomi Wolf


the most important 2 hours you will have spent in your recent years

What to do?
We have to reach critical mass in our understanding and efforts together. Please. Please make the time to learn, to think, and to do. Our future, our humanity, and peace on earth are depending on us.

ZEITGEIST MOVEMENT: Critical Mass
THE VENUS PROJECT

I'm Feeling LOW tonight

It's not what you think... heh heh...

I'm excited to be seeing LOW again tonight! There are several bands I see EVERY time they pass through NYC and this is one of them. LOW is a husband/wife team whose harmonies just send me... along with the dark, political, and deeply emotional, poetic and lyrical melodyscapes, this is one of my favorite bands.

HAND SO SMALL

MURDERER (live)

BREAKER (live)

OVER THE OCEAN (classic!)

I Saw STARS!

Thanks to my wonderful pal, "Blainewad," we have a bit of footage from the concert last night:

ELEVATOR LOVE LETTER

I'm Seeing STARS

I am very excited to see STARS again tomorrow night... a precious, lyrical, happy-sad band who can capture the importance of the bittersweet and political.