Hello and happy Monday y’all!
If you haven’t already read Human Resources, Martinis, and Other Bad Things, then guess what? Today is your lucky day. And so is tomorrow, and Wednesday, because now through the 22nd you can download your copy on Amazon for free. If you don’t have an e-reader, don’t worry, you can download this free app from Amazon to access books on your PC, phone, and etch-a-sketch.
Tomorrow we’ll discuss my new book, Kikki Killmé – Ixcotep, which is the first in a series.
Okay, that’s actually it for book talk, but I do have two other completely random bits…
First, do you guys have recurring dreams? I do, a whole series of them, as a matter of fact. One has to do with waiting tables/bartending. I haven’t done either in years, but I began waiting tables at the age of 17, and in my early twenties started bartending, which was my livelihood until my late 20s. Just over a decade is a long time to do anything, so I suppose that’s why I still frequently have dreams…well, nightmares is a more accurate description. They are never happy dreams, I’m always either slammed with too many customers, or I forgot the menu and/or how to make drinks, or I showed up to work with no pants, or whatever.
So last night I had one of those nightmares. Guess who my coworkers were? Several of you guys, and the cast of True Blood. Which is totally weird, because I don’t even know what most of you look like. Anyway, the restaurant was in an old theater, and every one of you (plus Sookie) thought I was a moron, because I couldn’t walk through the rows of seats without tripping…
Um, yeah.
And in other news, it finally happened. This is a Lil Stinko story, which I try to keep at a minimum so as not to be the crazy dog woman, but those of you with a juvenile sense of humor will find it funny (which includes me, my husband, and my dad). As you know, we’ve renamed her The Tooter, and if you’re new to the Cowardly Feminist, see this post.
The other evening, I was walking down the stairs carrying Stinky, and she let one fly. Loudly. So loud that it scared her (honestly, she should be used to it by now). And of course, when I got to the bottom of the stairwell, one of my neighbors was standing there with raised eyebrows and a HUGE grin on her face. What was I going to do, point to Lil Stinko say she did it? Who would believe that?
So I waved, said hello, and kept walking. And you just know my neighbor will forever think of me as The Girl Who Farted on the Stairs.
Thanks a lot Stinko.
Just downloaded it! YAY for new reading material. Now when my kid asks me what I am reading, I can say “A book about human resources and drinking” instead of with my usual “crime novel, people died, now they are investigating” answer. I am sure that is an improvement some how.
Have you read the book Walter the Farting Dog? We own it. You should too. When I suggested Coop could take it to school to read at circle time he looked at my with pity and said “Inappwopwiate.” Nice.
“Inappwopwiate”
Your little guy always knows what to say!
I completely forgot to respond about recurring dreams. I recurring themes, and the most persistent involves tornadoes. They are off in the distance usually, coming toward me. Every so often I am finding shelter from one as it passes by me. I always survive relatively unscathed. I
Was I in your dream?!?! *hope hope hope*
If I was in your dream and it took place in a bar, I’m guessing I was under the table.
I used to have serial dreams and nightmares until I was ten. From that point on, I’ve had neither. I think what happened was that I was monkeying around with lucid dreaming (I’d found an article on how you could learn to control your dreams and I decided to do it).
Part of being able to do it is to be able to reliably tell when you’re dreaming. I’ve only had fleeting success with controlling dreams, but no matter what kind of dream I’m in, I always know that it’s a dream, so instead of getting scared I become more of an interested bystander.
So during what should be a scary dream, I think things like “Huh, spiders are coming out of my nose. That’s interesting. Why would I dream of that?”
The only exception to that rule is that I will occasionally have a dream that I’ve started smoking again, and I’ll be mildly chagrined until I wake up.
I usually realize I’m dreaming at some point, and then I wake up.
You were totally under the table. Actually, you were in the cold storage doing whippets.
Downloaded. Thanks.
And uh, yeah, sorry about that. But in our defense, how could you possibly keep tripping on all those seats? Pfft. ((moron))
And you damn well know you can’t drop a bomb like “I had a dream and some of you were in it” and not tell us WHO. Spill with the names already.
I have recurring dreams, but with people from my past and not settings or occurences. Usually people that I never had closure with. Childhood girlfriend, college boyfriend, etc.
Oh no, uh-uh. I refuse to name names. Because the next thing I know I’d have to describe what people looked like.
Is Ixcotep a dictionary-recognized word, because I’m sure that would come in handy in words with friends?
Dictionary of Vesta, does that count?
I shall argue that next time.
Okay, it might not work with WWF, but maybe live, in-person scrabble. 
I have recurring travel nightmares. I miss my flight. I forget to pack something. I get lost. On and on. While they can happen randomly (I had one recently with no travel plans on the books), they usually happen when I have some travel coming up.
I used to have recurring nightmares about being chased. Those dreams were SOOOOO weird. There was no good reason for them.
Finally, I have recurrent sleep paralysis. Have you ever had one of those dreams where you swore you were awake, but couldn’t move? Believe it or not, you’re actually in a semi-conscious state when those happen (this happens to most people at some point in their life), and some people have that all the time. I am one of those people for whom this happens all the time (once a month or so under normal circumstances up to a few times a week if I’m stressed out). I usually dream that someone is breaking into my house and I can’t get away from them. It’s incredibly freaky. HOWEVER, my symptoms are better if there’s someone/thing else in bed with me, so between the dog and the DH, I’ve had far fewer occurrences in the last few years. Sweet, sweet relief (I can’t get back to sleep after one of these, sometimes for DAYS afterwards, unless I change sleeping locations…yeah, my college roommates thought I was super-weird when they’d find me crashed out on the couch randomly – comforter and pillow in tow, so I clearly went to bed in my bed – sometimes for days on end). DH still finds it weird when I drag a blanket out of the closet and move to the couch at 3 AM, but at least he *seems* to understand that it’s a condition I can’t control, and is thankful that I’m not sleeping on the floor. See, when I was a child dealing with this issue, my parents got very upset that I would sleep on the couch or in the recliners in the living room, and yelled at me because they thought I was trying to sneak out and watch TV late at night, so I would drag my blanket and pillow out into the doorway to my bedroom or the hallway and pass out on the floor so as not to get yelled at, creating a tripping hazard for the rest of the family (fortunately, they finally found a doctor who explained it to them, and then were sympathetic when they found me on a safe, comfortable surface in the living room). Once I told him about this, he forgave my getting out of bed at the wee small hours once in a while.
Also, most experts agree that those who claim to have been abducted by aliens were actually suffering sleep paralysis. Thankfully, my love for the X-Files has NOT caused those dreams. 
Ugh! Travel nightmares suck. I have those periodically too…I can’t find my gate, lost my suitcase, forgot my boarding pass, something like that.
Ugh, I had a “chase” nightmare last night. I only have faint whisps of it now, but I was going to be killed. I know I woke up before it was over, me cowering in the attic with a kid who was apparently related to me but I didn’t know IRL, with the police on their way to get the bad guys. And then of course, you’re all freaked out, and have to debate whether to try to go back to sleep and finish the dream, or just get up groggy and terrified. I never did get back to sleep…
Yuck! I hate those. I always force myself to stay awake, because if it’s a nightmare, then without fail I will pick up right where I left off. Funny how it never works that way when it’s a good dream.
I had recurring dreams (nightmares) as a child, but don’t really get them anymore.
Downloaded your book last night. Looking forward to it.
You know what recurring dreams I love? The ones where I can fly. I don’t know why, but they usually start off with me bouncing on either a diving board or a trampoline, and the next thing you know I’m sailing through the air.
This seems very interesting. thanks for the share.
Downloading it now.
Cool, hope you enjoy it!