By now I'm starting to recognize as dreams these frustration sessions where I'm looking for a place I left but can't find it because the whole geography has melted and changed. I haven't gotten it quite right yet, though.

Last night I had it to the point that I could recognize that SOME of it was a dream, but not all of it. I was struggling to stay awake, all in a dream, and the other characters in the dream were trying to keep me awake too- my real self sound asleep the whole time.

At one point I met my old friend Athelind. He showed me a storefront where he and his two partners were setting up their new business. The place was spotless and tastefully decorated, like some sort of art gallery, but it was still empty. Given the prints on the wall I thought it was going to be a comic book store for rare editions. This would not be entirely unlikely, all things considered.

I told him I was glad to see him, but unfortunately this was only a dream. He wasn't real.

"Of course I'm real."

"Prove it."

"OK. New joke. How could the band Jefferson Starship go downhill so fast? Because their lead vocalist was Slick!"

I shook my head. "That's horrible. But you're right. I've never heard that before. You're real."

But he wasn't.

I think.