Dreamways

"The Return of the Sweet Dreamer.“ These poignant words headline an article about pop singer Annie Lennox (Jon Pareles, The New York Times, 30 Sep 07). The article was prompted by the release of Ms Lennox‘s new album and its promotional concert tour. Appropriately enough, the article touches upon aspects of Dreamfulness.

In anticipating Halloween, a newspaper headline announces: "Navy to Mask Swastika Look of Barracks in California“ (Carolyn Marshall, The New York Times, 27 Sep 07). It does seem a bit spooky, that the U.S. Navy would be involved in the business of covering up swastikas. It turns out that this is not just about swastika graffiti. The winged cross concerned is enormous, larger than life.  read more »

"Fake acupuncture works nearly as well as the real thing for low back pain, and either kind performs much better than usual care, German researchers have found.“ (Carla K. Johnson, "Even fake acupuncture beats usual care for back pain, study finds, “ The Denver Post, 25 Sep 07) Even the thought of acupuncture makes many a Westerner suspicious. Fake acupuncture? Even more dubious! That these procedures are more efficient in pain relief that standard Western medicine?  read more »

"The King Memorial: Dreams at Odds.“ So reads the headline of a news article by Patricia Cohen in The New York Times (24 Sep 07). Cohen explains that "none of the stars at Radio City Music Hall last week to raise money for the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial mentioned the quarrel that has been bubbling up over plans for the towering three-story monument in Washington.“ A quarrel regarding a tribute to a modern day Prince of Peace? Absolutely!

Photo courtesy of Jusben & MorgueFile

"Pass the Dream Act,“ demands the headline for a recent New York Times editorial (20 Sep 07). Politics, it seems, is now trafficking in dreams. In this case, it has to do with the American Dream, an ideal that has played an enormous role in shaping the American myth.

"A reader related this story: While driving to work one day, she heard her Aunt Clara, who’d been dead for twenty-five years, tell her to hit the brakes. A moment later, a truck ran a stoplight and barreled through the intersection she’d been approaching. She pulled over to the side of the road, shaken and amazed. To her aunt, she said, 'Talk to me.‘ Her aunt replied, 'I’m not here for your distraction.‘“ (The Sun magazine, Oct 07, pg. 47)

"WE ARE ELLIS ISLAND“. This bold proclamation is put forth in an ad appearting in The New York Times Style Magazine (16 Sep 07). It is a 2-page, color ad. On the page to the left are two rows of 5 small photos each, all males (with the exception of one female) of various ages, sitting stylishly in what seem to be abandoned rooms – at Ellis Island?  read more »

The all-too-seductive allure of lucid dreaming is discussed in an article by Stephanie Rosenbloom, "Living Your Dreams, In a Manner of Speaking“ (The New York Times, 16 Sep 07). Rosenbloom offers the following definition: "Lucid dreaming is a state in which a sleeping person becomes aware he or she is dreaming and may even be able to direct the action.  read more »

"It was one of Israel’s dirty little secrets. In the early 1960s, as Israelis were being exposed for the first time to the shocking testimonies of Holocaust survivors at the trial of Adolf Eichmann, a series of pornographic pocket book called Stalags, based on Nazi themes, became best sellers throughout the land. So begins an article by Isabel Kershner in The New York Times (06 Sep 07).  read more »

"Pursuing a dream can be the quickest way to find a nightmare." So begins an article about ultimate hazardous risk takers. (William Yardley, "When Limits Push Back,“ The New York Times, 16 Sep 07)
The article frequently talks about dreams, about risk-takers striving to fulfill goals & aspirations or to realize ideals.  Risks being risks, their outcome is not always successful. Extreme risk takers „stir controversy and fascination for pushing the limits, sometimes fatally, and to prompt the inevitable question, 'What were they thinking?‘“  read more »