Dreamin' with the Dr Love

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

Work yesterday was a little busy…but no biggie. I like it when it's busy. That means that money's being made (usually) and some of that will trickle down to me…in theory. Also, I was in charge of a presentation during our morning meeting…and we're trying to spice them up a bit, so in past ones this week, people have asked the table to mention ways they're saving money in these troubling economic times or ideas for more productivity or to save on energy costs by recycling and stuff like that. Well, I didn't have any new thing to bring to the conversation…so I said, "Okay, when we go around the table today, why don't we (frantically try to come up with something…and then noticing our list of New Year's Resolutions behind the crowd) being the last day of the first month of 2009, give a little update on our Resolutions…and…just to get to know each other, say what our dream job was when we were kids. For example, I have yet to begin my resolution to learn Spanish & Mandarin…but when I was a kid, I wanted to be a professional basketball player AND a paleontologist in the offseason…because I am (not was) a dinosaur geek."

Their dream jobs were everything from a few aspiring astronauts to dolphin trainers to chefs to doctors & lawyers to pro hockey players to FBI agents…and yet we all somehow came together to be working at a job that…a little sorry to say, has absolutely NOTHING to do with ANY of those jobs. What happened? How did they get from there to here? These are the kinds of things that fascinate me…all the time. Everybody has a cool story, whether they think it's interesting or not. Anyway, I just thought that I'd share that with you. What did you want to be when you were a kid? I may have asked this before…but I don't recall a lot of responses. Here's some news…speaking of dreams...

Dreams - According to a British researcher, when it comes to dreams, women have more nightmares than men…and men have more dreams about sex. Shocking!!! Psychologist Jennie Parker of the University of the West of England asked 100 women and 93 men (probably 100 men originally but she disregarded the 7 that made a bad Back to the Future joke, brownie points if you know why) between the ages of 18 and 25 to fill out dream diaries, priming participants before dreams occurred to record them. The research was part of her doctoral dissertation. "My most significant finding is that women in general do experience more nightmares than men. An early study into dreams led to my discovering that normative research procedures into dream research often considered the structure of dreams, but that there is a gaping hole in terms of academic study that investigates emotional significance in the analysis of dreams." Women's nightmares can be broadly divided into three categories: fearful dreams (being chased or life threatened), losing a loved one or confused dreams. Parker corroborated participants' dreams with actual life experiences and found that the anxieties about past occurrences reoccur many times as "emblem" dreams. "It is these emblem dreams that are particularly significant. If women are asked to report the most significant dream they ever had, they are more likely than men to report a very disturbing nightmare. Women reported more nightmares and their nightmares were more emotionally intense than men's."

Men's dreams contained more references to sexual activity, Parker said, and men reported more actual intercourse, while women reported more kissing and sexual fantasies about other dream characters. Women's dreams also were found to contain more family members, more negative emotion, more indoor settings and less physical aggression than men's dreams. Men made more references to attacks, or serious threat, but reported fewer verbally aggressive or covert acts of aggression. Men's and women's friendly behavior in dreams was the same; most often they reported helping other dream characters. A lecture by former UWE researcher Susan Blackmore gave Parker a moment of epiphany that inspired her to examine more closely the stuff that dreams are made of, she said. "My own nightmares had two reoccurring themes, one concerned standing on the beach at Weston Super Mare, my home town, when the tide suddenly goes out very fast and returns as a huge tidal wave that is about to engulf me. The other dream includes a dinosaur roaming the streets at night and looking in at my window. I wondered if my experience was common amongst women." My guess would be a lot of women in the Tsunami area…and anybody who has ever seen the Jurassic Park II: Lost World (horrible, horrible dinosaur movie…and it takes a lot for me to say that).

Based on my own limited research into the subject, I have to concur. Granted, I've slept with a limited number of women in my time…but they both (stop laughing) suffered from nightmares…and usually interrupted pretty good dreams that I was having at the time and wanted to show them in the morning…but yeah, I think Ms. Parker's right on with her hypothesis. Now, to find out why that is the case. First off, most guys wouldn't admit to having nightmares. Ever. So that may be a flaw in the study statistics a little bit…but as far as the background behind the reasons why, I blame gender roles and conditioning. Guys are taught that whenever something bad happens, you basically fix it or push it away…or out of mind. Focus on the good. Girls, from what I understand, not so much. They're much more emotional…and have great memories…and that can be a problem when you have horrible experiences in your life…or perceived horrible experiences…like watching scary movies as a kid or something like that…and it tends to stick with ya and hit you at your most vulnerable…when you're sleeping. (Sorry if that creeps you out a little bit…but it's true for all of us). That's when Freddy Kruger strikes…or your phobias & concerns for the future are racing around in your head…and you don't have that filter of Logic so it's all just a whirlwind of fear and reliving horrible moments in our life and it's just horrible. We've all been there…and what bugs me the most about these ladies having the nightmares…is there's really not much I can do to help them other than give her a hug and a kiss and let her know that I'm there for her…to protect her, talk about it if she wants, get her a glass of water, try to replace her fear with physical pleasure, whatever it takes…but what do I know of the mysteries of the mind? What do any of us really know? It's weird and fantastic. Anyway, just thought that this was an interesting article…and wondering if you guys & gals had any input into it. What do you dreams consist of? Here's some more examples of mine if you're not comfortable in letting me know. I'm a pretty open book. For God's sake, I talked about Hannah Montana!!!

Mardi Gras Update - Less than three weeks until I'll be in New Orleans celebrating the Mardi Gras weekend up until Fat Tuesday…and they've decided on the king of the festivities. "Batman Forever" star Val Kilmer will reign as celebrity king when the Krewe of Bacchus parade rolls through New Orleans on Sunday, February 22nd. Kilmer will be decked out in royal apparel as he rides through the city on a float in the annual parade. "He's very excited," said Bacchus captain Owen "Pip" Brennan, who has been in contact with Kilmer about the event. Kilmer will visit Children's Hospital, a tradition every reigning Bacchus has participated in for the past three decades. "He loves coming to New Orleans. He said this has always been a favorite destination of his." Kilmer's other screen credits also include "Top Gun," "The Doors", "The Saint", "Thunderheart" and 2006's "Deja Vu" with Denzel Washington, which was filmed in New Orleans. Last year, wrestler and reality TV star Hulk Hogan was the krewe's celebrity king. Danny Kaye was the first Bacchus in 1969. Past Bacchus kings also include William Shatner, Billy Crystal, James Gandolfini, Bob Hope, Nicolas Cage (Bubbles), Kirk Douglas, Charlton Heston and Ron Howard. Bacchus organizers on Friday also unveiled the doubloon that will bear Kilmer's likeness. A doubloon is a souvenir coin thrown to spectators during the parade. That's right, ladies. I will be collecting Val Kilmer doubloons during the craziness of Mardi Gras. I'd better bring my catcher's mitt. It's gonna be awesome!!!

Rourke the Wrassler - Listen up wrestlin' fans!!! Actor Mickey Rourke ("Sin City" & possibly the worst movie ever made "Angel Heart") said last week that he's ready to rumble with WWE superstar Chris Jericho at Wrestlemania 25 in Reliant Stadium on April 5th. Rourke portrays professional wrestler Randy the Ram in the acclaimed movie "The Wrestler." He even signed up to wrestle Jericho, for real. He made a surprise announcement Sunday night on the red carpet before the Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles. He said he was pleased by the acceptance of the movie by all the WWE wrestlers — except Jericho. Then Rourke said he was going to toss Jericho "around the ring like tossed salad." (Wow, prison wrestling) Meanwhile, Jericho, appearing on WWE television, said, Rourke was out of line and that he was offended by Rourke's comments. He said Rourke made "a mistake." It was all on and ready to go…and $teve was even getting a little intrigued by wrestling again (oh yeah, watched a little when I was a kid…but that was back in the Ultimate Warrior, Sting & Macho Man days). Then, Rourke's representative released the statement, "Mickey was very honored to be asked as he has the greatest respect for WWE however he will not be participating in Wrestlemania. He is focusing entirely on his acting career." Lame…but I'm gonna twist it to a positive…because if he's focusing entirely on his acting career…then that may mean that Sin City 2 is in the works. Doubtful…but you gotta get something positive out of this. Actually really wanna see that new "Wrestler" movie though. It looks like a good one…even though it has guys crying in the previews, so it's apparently a chick flick…but with wrestling.

Anyway, that'll do it for today. I wish you all sweet dreams this weekend...and remember, I'd like to hear what your dream job was as a kid...and what your dreams nowadays consist of? Have a great weekend everybody!!!