This blog isn't about my dreams... honest!

But, I did dream about worms again this morning: My mom and dad and I were in a house, and there were worms and I had to get rid of them, and I had to do it, not somebody else, and I was grossed out by them, and they carried lots of germs, and I had to get rid of 'em by catching them and cooking them in the oven. I wondered why I couldn't just flush them, but the answer was they might get out into the environment.

Consciously, I love earthworms, but subconsciously, I hate them. I've been dreaming about them for years.

New Theory of Dreams

I've always considered myself pretty lucky in the dream department, because I have them and can remember them most every night. But recently I've noticed that yes, I have them, and remember them, and enjoy them, but objectively, they're all pretty bad. Occasionally something fun and elaborate will happen, and then there are the funny set pieces like the time Beavis and Butthead and I were riding that roller coaster singing "If you believed in miracles, baby, so would I," but typically it's more like this: something's gone wrong at work that I have to fix, or I am a dj and can't cue up my record in time, or I can't park my car, or I have to eat worms. It's just one damn thing after another -- like life, only much moreso.

Antti Revonsuo, a researcher at the University of Turku, in Finland, has a new theory that the purpose of dreams is to allow us (and animals) to practice facing threats. They are "a dojo for perfecting waking activities." Read about it here.

Worms!

Next question: Why do earthworms come out in the rain? Any ideas?