empathy
today, i vacuumed my bedroom. the process was many-step: step one - move all the stuff to one side. step two - vacuum that side. step three - empty the vacuum bucket. step four - shift all the stuff to the newly-vacuumed side. and so on. yes, i did empty the vacuum's bucket twice for a single room, and yes, i did end up with two festus-sized lumps of fur. the amount of time that elapsed between vacuum sessions: 2 weeks. in 2 weeks, that cat sheds his weight in fur. i really don't know why i keep putting off his shave.
the new vacuum (the old one was smothered by fur to an extent at which new filters did not remove the fire hazard) is much smaller, much lighter, and much, much louder. the cats hate it. with the old vacuum, they ran to the other side of the apt and huddled either under the bed or under the futon. with this one, the futon is simply not good enough. each and every time, i look for the cats afterward and find them in creative places. charlotte is fond of crouching in the corner behind the lamp, though she's been known to hide in a kitchen cupboard. i've never been able to find festus before today, though. aparently, he hides in the teeny-tiny corner behind the tv. charlotte will get back there on occasion when she wants to be alone, but i've never before seen festus there. poor dear isn't about to come out, even though the vacuuming's been done for hours.
i'm truly empathetic for them this time around, and not simply amused at their antics. for the last several days ... well, nights, i guess, i've had this recurring set of dreams that are really unlike me. sometimes, i'm back at my undergrad school, and the place is all but abandoned for the summer or winter. usually, there's just the one other person around, and she's usually someone i vaguely remember but can't place a name or anything to. and she's working for the enemy.
in these dreams, the enemy is usually a singular dude who has infiltrated the campus (realistically speaking, a thing that is not at all hard to do) and is after any survivors. it's a game of cat and mouse where i seek out the safest, remotest, least accessible area on campus and hunker down as the fear that he'll find me builds and builds. sometimes the girl is absent. sometimes, she finds me and pretends to lead me to safety only to reveal herself as the enemy's cohort. sometimes she takes me directly to him, except that i figure it out in time to run. sometimes she offers me the key (figuratively speaking) to escape of some sort only to reveal that she's with the enemy and that what she just offered was false hope. each dream features a different final hiding place, but the end is the same. the alarm clock goes off, and i down my morning pills before taking a freezing cold shower.
the setting is not always the undergrad campus. sometimes it's the english building where i work and take classes. it is always night in these dreams, and the enemy is a singular dude whose motives are not necessarily to kill survivors. he's just in the building looking to hurt whoever he comes across. sometimes, i'm in the elevator carrying a lot of books from the library and he stops the elevator and tries to mug me. but i've got a lemon or mace, and after blinding the dude, i render his nether region incapable of recreational activities before starting the elevator and fleeing to the safest location in the building.
sometimes, it's the server room. there are three locked doors a person must go through to get in there, and two of the three aren't on the master key. the servers block any noise with their hum, so my breathing doesn't give me away. sometimes, it's the second floor office, whose lock is also not on the master key. for whatever reason, i seem to have the impression in these dreams that the enemy has got that key and could break in after me if i went anywhere else. but then there are the ceiling tiles, and i realize that anyone could get anywhere if they could get a tall enough ladder. so sometimes i end up calling the police, and sometimes someone from the area. sometimes i don't call anyone at all because i'm afraid my voice might carry. these dreams all end the same, too. there are footsteps, the enemy is calling for me, hoping i'll reveal myself somehow. polite knocking at various doors that becomes more insistant as it nears my hiding place. then the alarm, the pills, the cold shower.
very occassionally, i'm not on either campus. i could be in my apt somewhere, hoping the enemy doesn't try all the doors and cabinets. the enemy in this case is usually a corrupt police officer or a robber. sometimes, i'm in my car, and the exits are blocked, and the enemy has a crowbar for breaking open my car, and so it's all i can do to keep slowly circling the enclosure hoping i don't run out of gas soon, because he's right there. no, it never occurs to me that i ought to run the bastard over. these variations are rare, however, and they actually don't bother me as much as the others. you'd think the apt one would freak me out, but if there's an intruder in the apt, i really have no chance in hell, you know? there's nowhere to run except for busting out a window.
it's the creativity involved in locating these hideouts that does it, i think. i know the layout, i know what could possibly work, i have a chance, but it slowly slips away as the time runs out.
while i'll admit to procrastination, putting things off has never sparked dreams like this. i don't feel cornered or overwhelmed, or like i'm hiding from anything while i'm awake. in fact, i usually don't think about the dreams even a little after i've showered them away. the cats and their crazy hiding behavior is what brought the dreams to mind.
maybe since i've blogged about them, they'll go away? hmmm.
in the meantime, i have dishes to wash and a second green potholder to whip up. and siince festus has come out of hiding, it's time to feed the babies.
love and peace
the new vacuum (the old one was smothered by fur to an extent at which new filters did not remove the fire hazard) is much smaller, much lighter, and much, much louder. the cats hate it. with the old vacuum, they ran to the other side of the apt and huddled either under the bed or under the futon. with this one, the futon is simply not good enough. each and every time, i look for the cats afterward and find them in creative places. charlotte is fond of crouching in the corner behind the lamp, though she's been known to hide in a kitchen cupboard. i've never been able to find festus before today, though. aparently, he hides in the teeny-tiny corner behind the tv. charlotte will get back there on occasion when she wants to be alone, but i've never before seen festus there. poor dear isn't about to come out, even though the vacuuming's been done for hours.
i'm truly empathetic for them this time around, and not simply amused at their antics. for the last several days ... well, nights, i guess, i've had this recurring set of dreams that are really unlike me. sometimes, i'm back at my undergrad school, and the place is all but abandoned for the summer or winter. usually, there's just the one other person around, and she's usually someone i vaguely remember but can't place a name or anything to. and she's working for the enemy.
in these dreams, the enemy is usually a singular dude who has infiltrated the campus (realistically speaking, a thing that is not at all hard to do) and is after any survivors. it's a game of cat and mouse where i seek out the safest, remotest, least accessible area on campus and hunker down as the fear that he'll find me builds and builds. sometimes the girl is absent. sometimes, she finds me and pretends to lead me to safety only to reveal herself as the enemy's cohort. sometimes she takes me directly to him, except that i figure it out in time to run. sometimes she offers me the key (figuratively speaking) to escape of some sort only to reveal that she's with the enemy and that what she just offered was false hope. each dream features a different final hiding place, but the end is the same. the alarm clock goes off, and i down my morning pills before taking a freezing cold shower.
the setting is not always the undergrad campus. sometimes it's the english building where i work and take classes. it is always night in these dreams, and the enemy is a singular dude whose motives are not necessarily to kill survivors. he's just in the building looking to hurt whoever he comes across. sometimes, i'm in the elevator carrying a lot of books from the library and he stops the elevator and tries to mug me. but i've got a lemon or mace, and after blinding the dude, i render his nether region incapable of recreational activities before starting the elevator and fleeing to the safest location in the building.
sometimes, it's the server room. there are three locked doors a person must go through to get in there, and two of the three aren't on the master key. the servers block any noise with their hum, so my breathing doesn't give me away. sometimes, it's the second floor office, whose lock is also not on the master key. for whatever reason, i seem to have the impression in these dreams that the enemy has got that key and could break in after me if i went anywhere else. but then there are the ceiling tiles, and i realize that anyone could get anywhere if they could get a tall enough ladder. so sometimes i end up calling the police, and sometimes someone from the area. sometimes i don't call anyone at all because i'm afraid my voice might carry. these dreams all end the same, too. there are footsteps, the enemy is calling for me, hoping i'll reveal myself somehow. polite knocking at various doors that becomes more insistant as it nears my hiding place. then the alarm, the pills, the cold shower.
very occassionally, i'm not on either campus. i could be in my apt somewhere, hoping the enemy doesn't try all the doors and cabinets. the enemy in this case is usually a corrupt police officer or a robber. sometimes, i'm in my car, and the exits are blocked, and the enemy has a crowbar for breaking open my car, and so it's all i can do to keep slowly circling the enclosure hoping i don't run out of gas soon, because he's right there. no, it never occurs to me that i ought to run the bastard over. these variations are rare, however, and they actually don't bother me as much as the others. you'd think the apt one would freak me out, but if there's an intruder in the apt, i really have no chance in hell, you know? there's nowhere to run except for busting out a window.
it's the creativity involved in locating these hideouts that does it, i think. i know the layout, i know what could possibly work, i have a chance, but it slowly slips away as the time runs out.
while i'll admit to procrastination, putting things off has never sparked dreams like this. i don't feel cornered or overwhelmed, or like i'm hiding from anything while i'm awake. in fact, i usually don't think about the dreams even a little after i've showered them away. the cats and their crazy hiding behavior is what brought the dreams to mind.
maybe since i've blogged about them, they'll go away? hmmm.
in the meantime, i have dishes to wash and a second green potholder to whip up. and siince festus has come out of hiding, it's time to feed the babies.
love and peace
posted by Rehkmira @ 18:59
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