Network

Everyone at work is talking about all their plans fo New Year's Eve, but really I'm just looking forward to a quiet night in. I think that officially makes me Old.

So my dream self has brought this orphaned child to live with the wolves, but can't seem to part from him. There's something oddly charming about the situation - a boy being raised by wolves, but being taught how to be a wolf by a panther.

I also think that dreaming of being a nocturnal animal has made me a bit more nocturnal.

I think I've had one of those dreams that everyone talks about since um, yeah, I was a rabbit. It started off when I was young, I'd say around first or second grade age, and we were having a talent show at the Carrot Days Festival. Myself and some classmates did a little play about how anyone could be anything they wanted, and of course I wanted to be a police officer. My parents weren't too happy about it after the fact, and they tried to talk to me about not setting such big goals for myself in life. I honestly don't know what they were going on about since I saw this fox named Gideon Gray pushing around a couple of other kids and I went to help them out.

He bullied them out of their tickets, and I confronted him about it. I landed a decent kick to his face, then he got me back by scratching my face with his claws. Still, in the end I managed to get the others their tickets back, and my little bunny self is even more dedicated to becoming a police officer now.

Well whaddya know. In these dream things of mine, it looks like I'm a bear. I mean I am a bear, big fuzzy guy like me with certain leanings, but an actual honest to goodness bear. A sloth bear, apparently. Me and my better half (who is a beautiful panther, suits him) live in the jungles of India.

Sounds like a pretty great deal, to me.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art apparently has an obelisk which we were going to use to open a portal. Or, well, Sadie and Carter were going to. The carriers showed up. The cats did a pretty good job...and cars. Oh, but my combat avatar is beautiful and terrifying. But then Serqet showed up. So I don't know what's going to happen, but I told Sadie and Carter to leave and find the pyramid and that I'd take Serqet.

Our son takes after me.

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It seems at last I've joined the dream club. And wouldn't you know, of all things I dreamt of being a panther in the Indian jungle.

I've returned home from a trip to India, and was graciously "surprised" by the new addition to the family. What a sweet little cat he is. Orson thinks I ought to rename him, but there's something endearing in the name Shadow. But I am a firm believer in names holding meaning, and this seems no different. The little thing seems to always be at my heel.

So there's an obvious connection between this and the dreams.

How long does it usually take for people to start dreaming once they join this network?

With the free time I've had with a steadier schedule, I decided to start doing pilates.

( Today I Finally Managed This )

If I were to hypothetically start looking into a furry companion for myself and my husband, would you vote cat or dog? I'm still debating.

And haven't consulted my husband on this but we're still talking hypothetically. Mostly.

Whoo! My darling niece took me out for my first real run in ages. Though "run" might be a generous term for it. Midna ran while I tried keeping up.

She's got this whole routine planned out to get me back into some kind of shape.

(Though round is technically a shape, thank you)

She swears up and down she could sign me up for one of those pole dancing exercise classes but I don't think anyone needs to see all of this me trying to make his way around a pole, much less a whole group of people.

No, we'll stick with some running and some yoga, see where that gets us.

Well, we've been here a month now and we're all settled. I think it's safe to say that living in Orange County will be the most interesting chapter of my life, and, judging by all the posts, I'll soon become fairly acclimatized to this.

I've yet to decide if I'm looking forward to that moment or not.

So thanks to a new dog owner that I know, not naming names, I paid a visit to a shelter today fully expecting to walk out with a dog without a fuss. How little I know about the adoption process. Did you know there's paperwork involved? It's all quite intimidating. There were a lot of questions. I took the forms home with me. Do I own or rent my home? Do I have a yard? Have I owned dogs in the past? Am I able to provide daily exercise for a new dog? I'm feeling quite insecure at the moment. I think I'd be able to provide for a dog in all of the vital ways, but I don't have a yard and I've never owned a dog before. Are those deal breakers?

Some colleagues of mine have been sharing an influx of videos and photos of Eduardo Serio and his feline friends. It's reminded me that you don't need always need to fly half way around the world to do any good, but that opportunity exists very close to home. I think that this is one of my favourite organizations which exist out there. Maybe now that I'm based here in California, I'll reach out to them. Or at least go pay them a visit.

And, since it seems an appropriate time to make a PSA, if saving big cats seems overwhelming to you, rescuing an animal from a local shelter does just as much good in the world.

There is a tree just outside my bedroom window that currently holds a bird's nest and every morning around three the birds start chirping and wake me up. It's times like these that I wish I could talk to animals like in the dreams. I'd tell them to shut up and let me sleep. Why do birds need to wake up so early?

Brexit has my parents arguing. My mum is firmly on the stay side and my dad wants Britain to leave. I've claimed to have no opinion whatsoever so neither of them think I'm taking sides. It's amazing watching the tallies, though. I never thought so many people would vote to leave.

You'd think that these dreams would tell me more about myself, but no. All they've revealed is that I'm a blue rock, and I can fly for some reason.

I mean flying would be pretty cool!

I suppose between Orson and Midna, joining this was inevitable. It seems to be interesting for lack of a better term. In the spirit of introduction, hello, my name is Rama. I work in wildlife conservation, we've just opened up offices here in Orange County. I'm very much looking forward to getting to know it here.