Regular Day At Home

Posted on March 27, 2020 by Decade Dream Journal

I find a letter from an old penpal in the mail box, the envelope is filled with stickers and washi tape. I’m very happy for the free stuff, but also I won’t reply because she’s too clingy and if she hears from me she won’t leave me alone ever again. I climb the stairs back to the apartment and pound on the bathroom door, since my sister has been locked in for ages. Her pet tiger roars at me.

Then I watch a Batman episode on TV, but I’m also living it. People in my living room are eating cake made by a group of young women, Emma Watson is among them but she’s not the leader. The frosting was poisoned and people start falling down, not me because I didn’t eat any. Batman won’t save us because he’s exploring the oceans, his submarine looks like a giant black pencil. He hears about the poisoning and the episode ends.

At Home Consuming Media And This Is The Result

Posted on March 25, 2020 by Decade Dream Journal

I sent a picture of Gran to Vanity Fair thinking it wouldn’t be noticed, but there it is in the latest issue on a full page, a beautiful profile portrait against a deep indigo background, head looking up, shiny waves of hair falling on her forehead. The photo was taken by my sister, and I duly sent her name and address along with it. Now her info is all over the magazine page and she’s mad at me for the invasion of privacy, but also kind of flattered.

Meanwhile I’m bored and I decide to rewatch Person Of Interest. Only I’ve traveled back in time and I’m the one creating the show: I cast Harold Finch but I don’t want to cast John Reese, he’s neither a good enough actor nor a compelling role, I explain the producer. I’ll just kill him off in the pilot episode, and yet… I’ve already watched the show so I know the character will live on. The series is now set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe but it’s aimed at an older public. I write Spider-Man in one scene.

In Which I Have Pandemia Anxiety and I’m Especially Worried About My Grandmother

Posted on March 22, 2020March 27, 2020 by Decade Dream Journal

Gran is in town, despite the quarantine, despite all. I’m following her, trying to make her see reason. My store is closed, but she finds a loose panel in the front window and sneaks in, while I beg her to come back. She says it’s alright, nobody is in here anyway. I see my boss’ coat on a chair and light coming from under her office’s door, realize we’re about to be discovered and drag Gran away.

Next she wants to go to the bank to get all her money back. She walks on the cold stone floor and sits on a bench, and I order her to at least put her mask on. She gets from her bag a diving mask that she patched up with some fabric, and I’m about to lose my mind with anger and worry.

I’m watching an old VHS tape, it’s a show that has Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles and Japanese boyband Arashi in it. My family is annoyed, they say the show is boring, and since I know the Queen is about to get into some lesbian shenanigans I take the tape out of the player and say we should go grocery shopping instead. But it’s late and we’re quarantined and the supermarket is closed, everything is closed and we’re about to starve.

Dinner And Show

Posted on March 11, 2020March 12, 2020 by Decade Dream Journal

I ignore the Coronavirus lockdown and walk to the store to see how my cousin and my friend S. are doing. She’s annoyed as usual, he’s very happy to see me: he hugs me, and I notice his hair is longer and dyed blonde.

They invite me to have dinner at my cousin’s place. Unlike IRL, she lives in a small studio in a beehive-like building, with apartment nestled within each other and connected by outdoor stairs. Helen Mirren lives there in the building, I see her going up the stairs.

They sit on the living room couch, I sit on a chair behind them. We eat dinner and watch a new Doctor Who episode on an old TV set, maybe thirty or forty years old. In the episode, Yaz acts so in love with the Doctor that I’m moved to tears.

It’s getting late. S. turns off the TV and gives me a big hug before leaving, apparently he lives upstairs. My cousin orders me to go to bed, but all I want is keep watching the show. I try to lower the volume so I won’t wake her up but the remote has so many buttons and it’s too complicated. The screen explodes and falls into my hands, it’s just a net made of metallic wire.

My cousin is really mad at me now. She calls me selfish, says she wishes she had what I have, a laptop to watch movies in bed instead of just one old crappy TV. I don’t get it, she’s so rich, why doesn’t she buy one?

Four More Snippets

Posted on March 4, 2020 by Decade Dream Journal

I remember this little scene: my coworker S. tells me to take 20 from the cash register and then he hugs me. It feels really nice.

A young man with red hair and glasses knocks at my door. He’s carrying orange flyers and I can tell he’s from a rival phone company. I smile, cross my arms and lean against the door. “Ok, convince me,” I say.

I have a baby with me! Not mine technically, but a sibling’s. I think it’s a boy at first but it’s actually a black-haired girl named Logan. Then I’m sitting at a trial where they’re deciding who’s gonna take care of the baby, and I realize I’m inside an actual TV soap opera.

I watch an old Star Wars movie set in the 1970s. The characters are high school students, they form a band to join in a musical contest, Luke Skywalker is playing the electric guitar and Princess Leia is the drummer. They lose against two white kids rapping, but it’s amazing to see them dancing on stage. I feel so lucky to have new footage after all these years, especially of Carrie Fisher.

Last Episode Again

Posted on February 23, 2020 by Decade Dream Journal

I’m watching the last episode ever of The Good Place, the plot is so complicated I’m not even gonna try to write it down.

Last Episode

Posted on February 22, 2020 by Decade Dream Journal

We are watching on TV the last episode ever of Steven Universe, it’s 70 minutes long. The plot is about Steven splitting in two: one is a scary evil giant, the other is just a little child.

There are people hiding in a basement (or possibly a warehouse), all huddled in brown blankets. They are playing a game where they have to improv songs. A guy is called on stage, his song’s subject is “Pension”. He sings

Pension! I want my pension!

In that moment, giant scary Steven appears at the window. Everybody screams.

Brief TV Misfortunes

Posted on February 16, 2020March 28, 2020 by Decade Dream Journal

I’m watching some sort of TV reality contest, but I can’t tell if it’s a cooking show or a talent show. Maybe both.

There’s a young singer/dancer/cook with bleached hair, stuff keeps happening to him. He has to have brain surgery because there’s a child in there: yes, he gives birth from his skull. Then there is an insect in his crotch, they need X-rays to locate it. It’s a silverfish.

In the end, he doesn’t win the contest.

A detail

Posted on February 8, 2020 by Decade Dream Journal

This is all I remember from tonight. I find an old VHS tape, something out of my childhood. I turn the tape in my hands, examining it: the label says “Disney’s Fire Truck”. I know I taped over it though, if I still had a player I would find Robocop and Home Alone 2. I reflect with nostalgia about a simpler time when I could just tape every movie I wanted directly from my TV.

Space and Cooking

Posted on February 6, 2020February 7, 2020 by Decade Dream Journal

I’m traveling on a cruise spaceship. A woman asks me why I’m not wearing a jacket – I think she’s supposed to be my grandmother, but she isn’t really. I tell her I’m not cold. It’s really cold in the ship and I’m clearly lying.

We arrive to a planet, start orbiting around it. An alien robot knocks on our glass door: he looks like something out of Futurama, tall and metallic, with a goatee that make him look like the devil, and four arms. The first thing he does inside our spaceship is turning the AC off, because it’s so cold. He tells me he used to pretend to be human, but has learned to accept himself. Then he goes back home, sits at his pipe organ and plays an evil song, which I think sounds very familiar.

Steven Universe exits the spaceship, and now my sister and I are watching him on TV. The planet’s ground is reddish brown, and the sky is purple. He buries some seeds: we know they are supposed to show his true love. A ghost-like projection of Connie Maheswaran emerges from the ground, and the real Connie looks at it confused. Steven blushes and runs away.

My dad is driving me to school. From the car window I see three people walking near the local park, two old classmates, both short with glasses, followed by Nicole Maines. I tell dad Nicole is a new student at my school.

I need to pass an entrance exam to start the new year: it’s a cooking exam, the teachers/judges are two Asian women. One is very nice, the other is extremely mean and keeps telling us we’re gonna fail.

I prepare two sandwiches, I put eggs, salad, shrimp and tomatoes inside. I find a shrimp oil bottle; it tastes rather strong, but just a few drops should be enough to give my sandwiches the right kick. The mean teacher notices this and tells me I’ve made the wrong choice and already sealed my fate. The girl sitting next to me smiles sympathetically; she is steaming something in a pressure pot and looks very flushed.

I bring my sandwiches to the judges, making sure to put the best looking one on the mean lady’s side. She immediately swaps it and takes the ugly sandwich. As she eats it, I realize with horror I forgot to put eggs in it, and indeed she gleefully tells me how bad it tastes. At least the other teacher seems to really like hers.

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