Dream - Underground Molester

I had a really disturbing dream last night. It started with me visiting a very grand hotel. The owner of this hotel has several other hotels around the world, all just as grand as this. I met up with a young friend, and he started telling me the owner isn't who he seems to be. On the outside, he is a respected and well-liked philanthropist and businessman, but underneath this facade, he is a sadistic child molester. My friend is one of his victims. He led me through a series of hallways and stairways, and finally arrived at an underground chamber lined with two short rows of stone beds. Against one wall is an elegant chair and a small altar with incense. My friend showed me a menu of items the man will make them do, in addition to being sexually assaulted. I read through the list and some of the things weren't too bad compared to being raped. One was having bugs crawl all over you. Lying on the beds were little boys. My friend told me these are his victims. He has many others, here as well as at his other hotel locations. My heart went out to all of them. They all looked so young and innocent. How can a monster do this to them?!

I started asking how they are feeling, but the man was in the room all of a sudden. I sat there not knowing what to do. He lit several sticks of incense, one stick for each of his present victims, and when he started addressing the boys, I got up to leave. He asked me where I was going. "I'm leaving." "No, you're not." He got up with a handful of incense in flames. "You cannot leave until your incense has burned out." He has claimed me as one of his victims. I started towards the door, but he threatened me by shoving the burning incense within an inch from my eye. I felt like I didn't have any choice but to sit down.

A couple of minutes later, I told him I was thirsty, so he allowed me to leave the room to get some water. I ran up and out of the hotel and bought a bottle of water. I thought, "How stupid of him. I can just run away right now. He can't find me." But I thought of the little boys waiting for their punishment. If I didn't go back, I knew he would hurt them even more, maybe even kill them.

As I made my way back to the hotel, I knew I was walking towards my death. Going down one of the escalators, I saw two friends I haven't seen in more than a year, since my wedding, and I hugged them and told them that I love them, something I've never done. They both gave me puzzled looks. A few feet away, I saw someone I really don't care for too much, but I gave that person a hug anyway to say hello. Continuing on, thoughts were racing through my head. Should I make a scene so that if people don't see me for a while, they may start to wonder where that girl who made a scene had gone? Deciding it wouldn't make a difference, I headed back to the room. I slowly crept down the stairs leading down to the stone door, taking a deep breath with every step, afraid what I would see inside. I reached to push the door open, and I woke up.

I think all of this happened because of 1) I watched "Kick-Ass" last night, and 2) I've been thinking of a couple of my friends lately. Weird how dreams will warp and bend your thoughts into something so strange.

World Champions

I've never been a sports fan, let alone a baseball fan, but during the past couple of years, my husband has been trying to introduce to me the world of organized sports. It will probably be a very rare occasion that you find me watching baseball by myself (which I've actually done!), but I have come to "like" the sport, especially when experiencing it at AT&T Park in SF. The atmosphere is always incredible. I don't go just for the game, but for the food, the fans, and when we're lucky, the fireworks! This past year, I've learned a little about our team, the Giants, through my husband and Gary Radnich in the morning. I've come to like the players, like Aubrey Huff and Buster Posey and good ol' Tim Lincecum, something I never would have been able to say last year. As a matter of fact, if you asked me to name ten baseball players that ever played in the MLB, I probably wouldn't be able to do it back then. I knew of Barry Bonds, but who didnt'? But I can now! So as a friend of mine labeled me, I would consider myself to be a "casual fan" of baseball.

Anyway, I don't know what called for the long intro that has barely anything to do with the post, but the San Francisco Giants are the champions in the 2010 World Series! I've never been excited about a sporting event before, but now that I am armed with a little bit of knowledge, I actually am very excited! I definitely do not have the history many of the real fans have, but just hearing their stories, seeing their reactions, reading about their history, and feeling their emotions, brings out the little hidden fan in me too. It's contagious!! My favorite scene was seeing all the players overwhelmed with joy, jumping on each other and embracing with so much emotion. Brings a tear to my eye... and to many others too, I'm sure. It is such a wonderful thing to see something like this bring so many people together.

Well, just wanted to say congratulations to the San Francisco Giants, the underdogs, the misfits! They've been waiting a long time for this moment, and boy, they certainly deserve it. Their performance throughout the post season games has been spectacular, and none of this would be possible without Bruce Bochy. I do feel bad for the Rangers and Pat Burrell though... :(

Go Giants!!!

Photo: AP Photo (http://www.mlive.com/sports/index.ssf/2010/11/san_francisco_giants_win_first.html)

P.S. Now, I just hope tickets to next year's games won't be too expensive...