Saturday, May 29, 2010

Dreams and False Alarms

The other night I dreamt that I met a garbageman who was also a virtuosic singer of early music, a tenor who sang according to all the authoritative research into authentic seventeenth-century performance practices.  I was floored when I heard him, and wondered why he worked as a garbageman.  "It's great, man," he asserted, explaining that, as a garbageman, he was free to sing what and when he wanted, and didn't run the risk of becoming a dessicated "professional," hustling to make his living as a singer and  losing all joy in singing in the process.

The next night, I dreamt that I was eligible for a gigantic grant which was, however, contingent upon the recipient's agreeing to live a more corrupt lifestyle.  So I signed on to become the second wife of a friend who was already married, and kept waiting for the money.  But somehow the weariness that sprang up in my soul nullified the benefits of the cash I was poised to receive.

10 comments:

Sally Thomas said...

I just blogged about this, but my older son cracked us up at the dinner table tonight by relating a dream he had had when he was nine or so, in which he had asked his younger brother for a glass of water. The brother kept bringing him glasses, but no water, which made him angrier and angrier as the dream progressed. Finally he was so angry that he woke up. Then he was still angry, so he woke his brother up and told him it was Christmas.

I haven't had any kind of memorable dream in ages, but maybe he'll let me borrow his.

Enbrethiliel said...

+JMJ+

The first dream reminds me of Mike Rowe! =P Well, he did sing professionally in the past.

You have better dreams than I do!

Rodak said...

Your dreams are too much like real life. Maybe you should modify your diet or something?

[word verification: "alsin"]

Rodak said...

Pentimento--
This post has prompted me to write one that I have been putting off ever since launching my blog. I give you credit for that prompting here.

Pentimento said...

I left you a comment on your blog, Rodak.

Sally, that is *hilarious*!

Enbrethiliel, am I revealing my complete squareness by asking who Mike Howe is?

Enbrethiliel said...

+JMJ+

Mike is the host of Discovery Channel's Dirty Jobs. =P

This is his bio on the Discovery Channel Web site:

http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/dirtyjobs/bio/bio.html

And here's a decent clip from the show:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRkCQH02AxE

Here he is talking a bit about his opera career (LOL!) and singing the Dirty Jobs theme:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qOCs9EW8Xk

Here he is singing the US national anthem:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xhSBniwGbM

And here's his younger self hamming it up on QVC, probably the dirtiest job he ever had:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUJWpIj_4ps

More singing!!! He's not doing lead vocals, but I'm fantarding anyway:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trLgbSpA-4g

(I'm, uh, kind of a huge fan . . . Did I just embarrass myself? =P)

Pentimento said...

Ha! I can see why you're a huge fan, E.

berenike said...

:reallylaughingoutloud:

:D

Teresa said...

Your dreams do seem like they actually happened in real life. They could also be trying to convey a message to you? Now, figuring out what that message is, is whole other story.

Pentimento said...

Probably something about selling out. :)