Merry and I met up with her friends at a little local theater, where there were only a dozen or so seats right up against a tiny stage. I think they were dancing, but I don't remember much about it. We were actually in a hurry to get to Dubai for vacation, and Merry went on ahead first in the taxi, while I bumped into my cousin Justin (who I had bumped into in real life while in San Fran). We strolled through some odd enclosed cave-like areas while we talked, and came across a very long, thin hallway in the caves. The ground was covered in a rainbow metallic corrugated steel running parallel the whole length, and there were a lot of similarly multicolored steel balls rolling up and down the path. It turned out that the locals there were playing a game, and Justin explained that it was the new fad and that the was really into it back home in Wisconsin. When the ball hits an object, it would send up a splash of numbers indicating how much damage it did, like in a video game. I asked him how you knew how many "hit points" an object has, but Justin just smiled and shrugged his shoulders. That was the point of the game, you just don't know and have fun smashing things, I guess.

When I came out the other side of the caves, I was alone and already in Dubai. I walked through the local square, which had an open-air market with lots of stuff just lying on the ground. Some looked like ancient artifacts, which I guess the locals had probably just dug up over the years. Some of the jewelry was still attached to mummified hands and legs. I jumped past these, and grabbed up a couple of heavy branches to use as protection, because the place started looking a little bleak. There was a vast expanse of desert just ahead, and I started to run/hover through it as fast as I could. It was really cold, and I was bundled up really tight. But I couldn't see well peripherally and had to take off my hood, just in case someone was sneaking up on me. I saw only a few scattered people, and some even had camels, but I just kept running. I tried to use the GPS on my phone, but the map was restricted to a crude schematic, as the government apparently didn't allow satellite imaging. Finally, I saw a huge walled-in city and I knew that's where I had to go.

Once inside, it was a just a small dingy little waiting area with tiny rooms off to either side of a wide, curving hallway. There was a small booth with a line of people, but I didn't want to wait in line. I just left through a huge door at the end, and found myself back in the desert. I didn't see another city for miles in any direction. I took a few steps, but decided to head back inside and look for help. Then I noticed that the comedian Richard Lewis was at the front of the line. I said hello and had a little small talk, while I pretended that I thought he was just another tourist. He entered a room to the side to wait for entrance, and I asked him if that was all I had to do, show an ID and then they would help me? He laughed and asked, "Do you know who I am?" Dejected, I said, yeah, you're "Richard..." I actually forgot his last name at the time, but he just ignored me. He shouted, "I'm from comedy and fucking rock and roll!" I just turned around and ignored him. It was then that I saw some other people pushing through a new door that had just appeared to the left of the one I had used before. It led to a touristy-looking area, so I hastily followed them in.

Outside, it had been a cold night, but in here it was sunny and warm. I figured that it must be like that city in the Truman Show, where everything was artificial. You could see the sky, but there might have been a dome. In any case, it was pretty cramped, but luxurious. Straight ahead of me was a high wall, on top of which were costumed dancers on artificial grass. Long hallways stretched out on either side, so long that I couldn't see the end of them. Attendants walked around with trays of food, and Americans were running around everywhere. I was extremely disappointed, and actually started to think about going back out to the desert, where at least it was new and exciting. But then I remembered that Merry was here already, and I decided to find her. A woman was handing out "crumplets," which were balls of fried dough in plastic packets. They tasted pretty good. I noticed one of them was stamped with "Chen 112," so I guessed that that was our hotel room number. Luckily, there were signs.

As I got closer to 112, I saw an adjoining hallway with a shop to the side selling guns and ammunition. Eddie walked out with a huge grin on his face and gave me a high five. I guess he was a gun nut. 112 turned out to be right next door, which I knew was going to be noisy so I sighed and pushed on the door bar/handle. It was unlocked. Once inside, I saw that the room was very plain, with concrete walls and old furniture... just the way I like it! Not as artificial as the luxury crap outside. Anyway, I still wasn't totally sure this was my room, so I looked around and finally saw one of Merry's sweatshirts on one of the beds. I smiled. Then, Merry yawned and rose out of bed! I hadn't seen her there. We talked for a bit, but she wanted to go back to sleep.

I started to explore on my own, and saw a wedding procession. The groom was a very swarthy Italian and the bride was a very pasty American. Both were quite young. The groom's parents and sister were following him very closely and yelling at him in Italian, apparently protesting the marriage as betraying their heritage. Even as they entered a tiny room and sat down in front of the priest, the yelling continued. As the priest talked, the sister banged her fists on the table and screamed "No, no, no, no, no!" I shook my head. But right at that moment, a very young Brent Spiner, who had been following us, suddenly leaned out of the shadows behind me and dramatically said "Love!" Immediately, a woman leaned out the other way and they started alternating a romantic poem. He was doing it in a very traditional style, almost Shakespearian. I guessed he didn't have much chance to do this sort of thing after being typecast as Data (note: I'm not a Star Trek fan, I don't know why he's in my dream). At the very least, the Italian family had quieted down, though the vows still hadn't been done yet. I smiled wanly.

posted by Larry at 9:09 AM