Ryan tells me, "Don't fly today." I wasn't planning too, and the weather is abysmal, but he's referring to a spectacular dream that he had. Unfortunately, I can relate it to my final project which is not going as planned - not flying at all. Yesterday I couldn't make the keyframes stick and today they're sticking but there is no playback. Alloisius' position never changes. Nick is presently on his way to my house in order to try to help me figure out what the hell is the matter. I have two days to make Alloisius dance and it's not looking good. I think, if we figure out how to make the animation work, I'll probably have to do some creative corner-cutting.

Anyway, returning to Ryan's dream, this is a slightly edited version of an icq conversation we had only minutes ago.

RYAN: I had this series of bizarre dreams. First I was at the wedding of my friend Maria in this elaborate tower miles above the earth. Then you & I left to start our new jobs in the airforce.

RYAN: They let us fly a sortie when we first got there and we were attacked by two bad guys in green jets. We were given orders to back off and I hit the deck but you went supersonic to get away.

ME: oh. Trust me not to do what I'm told.

RYAN: Then I watched as two more baddies cut you off and then I lost sight of you in a cloud. Then there was an explosion and I was sure you had been destroyed. Later, the enemy released footage of your rolling to avoid their fire but we were too inexperienced and you got blown up by like four missiles. Then I went into the woods to see if you had parachuted out.

ME: Wow. That's the coolest dream anyone's had about me (and told me about) in months !
Mind if I publish that in my weblog?

RYAN: All yours. Although it was quite a bit more detailed than that. This is what I get when I allow myself to wake up without the alarm clock for the first time in months.

RYAN: The images looking down from the tower were quite fantastic. Lots of weird gadgets not unlike my dungeon.

ME: cool.
I want a big tower.
Except heights scare me.

RYAN: This was big. Like looking down from space big. Lots of dark blue, shadow, and white hues. The air combat was really intense. Flying dreams are some of the most intense you can have.

RYAN: It definitely took a lot from our conversation on the phone last night plus this program on jets I watched. Oh - there was also a part where I had to go and tell your mom that you had been shot down and I couldn't do it.

ME: Oh. Wow. That's really frightening.


I don't know what it means, if anything, but that last bit about not being able to tell my mother is distressing. Anyway, I'm not flying today, but hopefully Nick will be able to get my animation off the ground.

As for people who are flying, David and Jeannie have left for Africa, or will be at some point today. They are, of course, the couple that were wed on Friday in a lovely, simple, secular ceremony. The affair was held at Enoch Turner Schoolhouse and it was wonderful. Seeing all the old friends of the family was great fun, especially seeing David's friend Rob for the first time in a very long time. The service was written by the couple and it was beautiful, stressing that they are both a pair and individuals. The justice of the peace beamed through the whole thing, as did I. Then there was food (good food, almost amazingly since wedding food isn't often delicious), and much drinking and toasting. The DJ was very good, though a disc nazi not allowing me to look through her music, and she played it really loud so that it chased all the over-40s out of the room. But she played Hindi music too, and taught us all how to dance to it, which was a bit of a cultural experiment that didn't entirely work, but it was fun.

It was wonderful. I'm so very pleased that David found the perfect person in Jeannie, and she really is perfect for him. I wish them luck and love for the rest of their lives.