Subject: Dreams.

I had a dream the other night that the Titanic came to the San Diego harbor for its 100th anniversary.  I was seated at an outdoor cafe with Heather, Todd and Meghine, and Sam.  We were looking at the parking lot at 2nd and J where a very long line had formed of people ready to board the legendary vessel for a cruise around the Bay.  We were waiting to hear the ruling on a proposed Trade Agreement that would benefit the entire working class of America, and in particular, San Diego County.  The men, women, and children in line held helium-filled ballons, all red and blue, and waited patiently.  As news came that the Trade Agreement had been derailed, people let their balloon tethers slip through their fingers in defeat and left the line to go back home.  Balloons filled the sky with beauty, a scene juxtaposed against the sad dejected throngs marching slowly back to their banal existences.  Now that the line was cut by over half its original population, Sam decided we should go check out the famed vessel.  So I picked her up and carried her, hero-stlye, across the parking lot and up the ramp into the ship.  We walked through the bridge to a side rail, then down the the ship’s common area, which was a large dining patio that spiralled down into the bowels of the boat.  As we passed diners who pretended to be in awe of the elegance, we noticed that no effort had been made to restore the ship.  It had been hauled up from the deep, had its hull patched, and dropped rudely on the surface of the water.  The surfaces were corroded and stained, the ground littered with kelp and coral and rocks that had never seen the sun.  And worse yet, water was slowly pooling on the floor, coming from somewhere underneath.  The ocean was coming up to reclaim what was once its treasure.  Sam and I walked around the dining room and down short ramps to descending floors, watching the people eat.  One guest asked me for salt, so I grabbed a shaker from a nearby table and gave it to her, and when another saw me do that, she called out to me also, but I ignored her and quickened my step.  Sam expressed concern, that we would get in trouble, but I told her they had built a franchise store of our restaurant aboard the ship, somewhere in one of the lower levels.  If anyone asked us what we were doing there, we could say we were headed to work.  If we learned that there was no franchise built there, we would apologize for the misinformation and leave right away.  The water had risen past my ankles when I woke up.

It is actually the 100th anniversary of the Titanic, and an artifact exhibit is at the Natural History Museum in town, so that’s where that came from.  And I’m pretty sure the trade agreement is from re-watching Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace this past Friday.  I don’t know where the balloons came from.