Date of dream: Monday, May 21, 2007
Level of Lucidity: N/A
Level of Cohesiveness: 
Lucid Intent? No
This dream has been viewed 4034 times.
I had this dream a couple of days ago so now it's really hazy. I have to admit, I kind of hesitated on purpose, for while I like typing up Mackinac Island dreams, I haven't had much time lately!
Basically, what I remember...Ma, Dad, and I, and possibly my brother Eric, were going to the island (which is weird, as Dad would never go, and Ma just recently stopped going, and my brother lives halfway across the country with his wife and daughter). I guess we were going in the afternoon because that figures into the dream later. And it must have been a hasty decision to go just then because I was hardly prepared when we showed up on Main Street.
I suddenly realized that not only had I not come up with a personal itinerary for that year (I like to type up detailed instructions of where I'm going to go and what trails I'm going to take), I'd forgotten my MAP! This greatly upset me, because while there are maps a'plenty to be found on the island--just look in any gift shop or the tourism center--most of those maps aren't as detailed as the one I have. My map I saved from a PDF file online, and while the online version seems to have disappeared, I have it saved and I print out a new copy every year. It has all of the trails and landmarks and everything--it even tells you if a trail is a main road or an abandoned path. Most maps that they sell on the island are very basic and simply skip putting on all those minor trails.
Dad seemed very sympathetic toward me, but couldn't do anything to help. (Ma seemed either irked or uninvolved.) I was on the verge of tears, turning in helpless circles. I knew that not only had I forgotten the map but I hadn't brought most of the OTHER stuff I normally bring to the island with me--such as food and water! I likely had the camera, because that never became an issue, and if I had forgotten the camera that would have been a BIG issue.
I recalled that on ONE occasion, I had seen a copy of the map I possessed, in ONE gift shop on Main Street. I really did once, in real life. But I didn't know WHICH gift shop, and on Main Street, those things are a dime a dozen! I was just going to have to quickly dart in and out of EVERY gift shop until I found the map; hopefully they still sold it! Thing was, it was already late afternoon as I realized, and I exclaimed in despair, "Why did we leave so LATE?? I usually go early in the morning!!" I knew I'd never have time to do anything. -_- I actually considered just going home and trying again another time, but I remembered how much ferry tickets must have cost for all of us (I think they're $21 each this year) and that made me feel too guilty.
At one odd point, I recall turning to face where Marquette Park would have been (it seemed more open that way, less foresty) and thinking, "Sugar Loaf, here I come," with some determination/resignation. Sugar Loaf is easy to find with a simple map; you don't need the detailed one. Thing is, I've seen Sugar Loaf plenty of times and don't plan to visit it this year, and I can't think of why I was determined to go there when I hadn't even gotten my map and it was so late. That part didn't really seem to fit into the dream.
It was overcast, coming on evening. The dream switched in a weird way here though it was still the same dream and still supposed to be Main Street, Mackinac Island...except that now Main Street was apparently inside a mall. O_o There were still all the stores, but they were now like the different open-fronted stores inside a mall, and there were lots of neon lights and stuff, people walking around, and fast-food or confectionary places to get refreshments. Really weird. I was striding along very quickly, popping into and out of various stores. I think I was tempted by a place that sold drinks, or maybe I was seeking a bathroom...I know I got distracted somehow. I think when I reached the end of the "street," there was a gaming area, like for laser tag or something, only it was a different game; I almost walked into it but then turned back. Can't remember this part well, sorry. All I know is I never did locate the map I was looking for, though my desperation didn't seem quite as strong.
Ah, now I remember. There was a dream in which I was in a big, warmly lit store with Dad and possibly Ma and I was picking up various things I wanted, including some used books (one was in a series but I thought I'd try it, I think it was part two) which were for young adults or juvenile readers, and maybe glass figurines; I was going to figure out the price and pay for it myself since I had the money. Thing is, I don't know if this was even the same dream. But if it was, we at some point left this place and I thought, "I want to go to the Island Bookstore. But what if it's closing soon?"
We went back out into what was either the street or the mall and I saw a digital clock which read "7:15" or something like that. I believed that the bookstore closed at eight, so I figured that if I hurried, and didn't dawdle while browsing, I could get it done in time. I commenced walking quickly along and looking into the stores but I couldn't find the bookstore! Then I abruptly remembered that the Island Bookstore, in real life, is located in the same building as the Lilac Tree Hotel. I just had to find the Lilac Tree Hotel, which was kind of hard to miss, and then I'd find the bookstore.
I didn't like leaving my parents behind so abruptly, without even telling them that I was doing so, but I was in a hurry. I went walking briskly eastward on the left side of the street, keeping my eyes open for the hotel.
The dream shifts somewhat here, and I'm not even sure if it's the same one, but I was still on Mackinac Island so I'll continue. I remember this part even more poorly, sorry. I was powerwalking along when I came to an intersection where a street ran left and right in front of me and here there was a group of younger kids dallying around, maybe skating or something. They seemed like early teens or preteens at first. I think I interrupted them in their play by walking straight through, and this irritated them, so they began to follow me. The dream changed again in that now I think I was one of my characters, probably Puck Benteen, and the people chasing me were members of an Asian gang (?!) who were into some kind of sport--inline skating or skateboarding, I believe--and I was on their turf so they were after me.
I quickly walked to what was supposed to be the East Bluff only it looked a LOT different in my dream. There was this narrow paved path, and the bluff side rose steeply on the left, while on the right there was a wooden railing, and I think it went downward somewhat from there, right to the lake. It seemed to be autumn or late evening now as there was a sort of golden glow in the air and I don't recall the color green. I kept walking northeast, knowing I was being followed but pretending not to notice.
I'm not quite sure what I did to confront the gang members, or maybe I was just trying to escape or just to impress them (probably both), but I did something...I think I got out a skateboard or skates and did a trick on the wooden railing, then somehow got past them or something. I think I went down to the lake and they were impressed by my trick but still followed me; maybe I was going to go right into the water to evade them. I wasn't scared; I was just determined, and rather neutral feeling. The whole earlier part of the dream about the map and such seemed to have been forgotten--as I said, maybe this was in fact two dreams.
That's about all I remember. Sorry!
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Date of dream: Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Level of Lucidity: N/A
Level of Cohesiveness:
Lucid Intent? No
This dream has been viewed 4042 times.
In real life there's a website known as Encyclopedia Dramatica. Its basic premise is to post articles about various things, a la Wikipedia, only in a much snarkier fashion. They aren't just sarcastic though; they openly advocate trolling and harassing others online. The sarcasm on the site is so thick that much of the "information" to be found there is blatantly false, but they do have screen captures of some things which show that a lot of the people they feature on their site do have the ego problems and such that ED professes they do. In short, many of the people on ED are there only because they brought it on themselves.
I was introduced to this site shortly before trying to befriend a girl from the DeviantArt community--let's call her SS. She's one of the most popular members there and her artwork--even the stupidest, cheesiest scribbles (including one of a man picking his nose--I kid you not)--regularly gets hundreds of comments and faves within hours of posting--and if they don't, she gets upset. Even she seems to be getting sick of the "Aw, cute!!" comments as she asks people to leave longer ones--though she's REALLY averse to criticism of any sort. [Note added later--e. g., one person commented on a picture of hers to say that practice helps, and they liked the picture, to which she had only to say, "Yes, somebody told me that already, no need to repeat it," along with an angry face--she had no response to anything friendly.] Well, I first became acquainted with this girl through her original art and there was this storyline she kept saying she was going to do a manga (comic book) on. I was so intrigued that I wanted to befriend her and get to know more. Long story short, I tried, it failed, and I quickly discovered how self-centered and unstable this girl really is. She actually told me to "Keep your e-mails shorter, please" after saying she looked forward to getting to know me as a friend--this in response to a 7kb e-mail giving her advice against stalkers! For you see, her whiny attitude toward criticism, as well as her multitude of gushing fans, has earned her quite a number of online harassers--as well as a nice long page at Encyclopedia Dramatica. [Note added later--yet another later example of her activities--she once posted a journal article moaning about how she needs an art mentor, then when her multitude of friends comforted her, she posted another entry bitching at people to STOP REPLYING! Then she deleted both entries when even her friends complained. She very often deletes her whiny journal entries in an attempt to hide her outbursts.]
I criticized the ED article when I was trying to befriend her, even though it was obvious some of its info was true and I knew ahead of time that she really did have some ego and self-confidence issues. Still, I wished to give her the benefit of the doubt. When this fell through, I quickly grew critical of her as well. I noticed she has a pattern of not finishing what she starts, and she even finally posted a response to one of the NUMEROUS people begging to know when she was going to start her manga, saying that she probably wouldn't start it after all as she was focusing on ANOTHER story (which, as of this writing, isn't going anywhere itself--she's got at least five or six projects out there that stalled pretty quickly). I admit I succumbed to my own snarkery, and whenever people asked about the manga, I would post a link to that response of hers until she got upset and asked if I had a problem with her--like she didn't even remember who I was. I found that quite amusing, refreshed her memory, and said I was just trying to help her deal with the fans that she has no time to deal with (she's known to respond only to negative comments to defend herself, and to ignore the positive ones--she even claims that she "overlooks" them sometimes, which is hard to believe seeing how quickly she picks up on the negative ones!). I did this a few more times until she noted me personally, then she banned me from her page (I can still view it but can't post), though I'm still sorely tempted to reply every time an ignorant fan asks where they can find this nonexistent manga. I notice that now whenever people ask about the status of the manga, she replies with "It's not out YET" and a smiley face, indicating that she still plans to do it, directly contradicting her own comments earlier. *rolling eyes* (She also never used to reply to this question PERIOD.) [Note added later--she's since stopped bothering to reply to this question, yet again.] None of this would bother me if her legions of fans would eventually see through her inability to get around to finishing anything other than single works of art, since she spends hours a day online drawing on oekaki boards and in chatrooms and stuff, and not actually getting any real work done; she has no job and literally seems to be online all the time. [Note added later--she opened up commissions claiming she really needed money for Internet bills and such, but seems to be doing fine financially, buying expensive Harry Potter-themed items. No clue on whether she's actually finished any of the commissions yet.] There's even a reliable-looking chat log out there posted by one of the people who trolled her in which they previously commissioned her for work, she said sure, they reminded her later on, she said she'd forgotten but she'd get right on it, they reminded her again, she said they shouldn't rely on her because she was busy, they got irritated, then she got all bitchy and said that's why she didn't deal with commissions in the first place because people were always so mean to her. Yikes.
So now you can see how unreliable this person is, and why it bugs me no end that people just keep flocking to her even as she ignores them yet whines and moans for positive feedback (i. e., mindless flattery) and complains that she has no friends (!!). As reprehensible as certain aspects of Encyclopedia Dramatica may be, if anybody deserves a page there it's her.
In real life yesterday or so I went to her page at DeviantArt to see if anyone had flamed her and somebody had posted a comment much like, "According to my calculations, you are the second most-viewed person here, after Bleedman (another popular user)!" Somebody replied to that to say, "Half her hits are just from people who hate her," a comment that could very well be true because she attracts LOTS of trolls. I checked her page again today as she has a habit of hiding comments she dislikes, but that reply didn't seem to be there AT ALL anymore, which is odd, as comments can't be deleted on that site, only hidden (you can see where a comment is hidden but can't read it). So I'm not sure what happened. :/
Well, this incident seemed to prompt a dream. In the dream, I think I had just topped 6000 pageviews on DA, just like I did in real life, and I guess somebody commented on my page about that--and somebody replied to that comment in much the same fashion as the comment SS got, saying that some of the hits were due only to the fact that I had a page on Encyclopedia Dramatica. This comment made me want to laugh and huff at the same time. For you see, I've even kept checking, and I don't HAVE a page there. Maybe if I were more outspoken, I would, as I'm certainly a dramatic type, but I'm not visible enough online to warrant such a page! Though I must admit--in a sick sort of way I sometimes kind of wish I did have a page there, if only for the extra attention it might bring. Like I said, people do get some pagehits, and likely some fans, from their nasty articles on ED. [Note added later--SS's article at ED is now one of their top 100 most-viewed articles.]
Well, I started typing up a response to this person to say, "Um, sorry, but I don't HAVE a page on Encyclopedia Dramatica," with the emoticon for a person rolling their eyes. This seemed to be taking me a while for some reason. Then as I posted this, I thought, I haven't checked for my name there in a while...what if I do have a page now? So I went to ED to look--and sure enough--there was now a page dedicated to "Tehuti." :O ! It was barely more than what Wikipedia would call a "stub," though--just like one paragraph and a picture, I can't recall of what. And it wasn't terribly insulting, I think it just said something like I was a nobody who whined on the Internet or something. *shrug* I've seen worse--I've even SAID worse about myself!
I went back to the note I'd just posted on DA and replied to my own comment with, "Oops, I just checked and I DO have a page on ED. How insulting though, there's barely anything to it. It doesn't even have links to my sites!"
I got a few comments in response from other DA users--they had avatars next to their names and seemed to be regular members, not plain trolls, but it was obvious they wrote for ED from the way they responded to me. (That was kind of odd, as most ED writers like to remain anonymous, for good reason!) They started posting things like, "Going to edit it now," and "More info there, it's fixed," in a rather polite manner for talking about a trolling website! This actually intrigued me and I was getting ready to go back and see what new insulting stuff they'd posted about me, but I never got to because I was busy still looking at the comments.
In real life after this dream, when I went online, I tried accessing Encyclopedia Dramatica, just to see if there still isn't an article about me, or if the one about SS has been updated, only to get a Cannot Find Server. ED's been having money troubles, so perhaps they've gone offline for good. [Note added later--they're now back, and SS's article has been much extended.] Ah well. I probably wouldn't get any attention that way either!
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