Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Hitler dreams

Voyeurism! Anonymous, yesterday, accused me of voyeurism!

Because I went to the window and watched this couple fighting, after I couldn't work because they were screaming the "F" word two houses down. Imagine!

All other things being equal, I would just as soon my reveries about Leonard Pennario not be interrupted by people screaming the "F" word. Not only is it distracting but it reinforces my conviction that my neighborhood is slip-sliding into slumdom (to coin an appropriately sloppy word).

But when it happens, and I cannot concentrate, I am darned if I am going to turn my back, piously, and say that these people deserve their privacy. Forget that! When life gives you lemons, etc., etc. And these people are lemons. I have lemons for neighbors.

I also have lemons in my dreams.

It is hard to admit this, but twice, this week, I have had dreams about Adolf Hitler. I have no idea what Hitler is doing in my dreams. I wish he would leave.

Lastnight was my second dream about Hitler. It was the same as the first dream, a few nights ago -- Hitler was sitting around with my friends and me. He may have been drinking wine but I am not sure because in real life, Hitler did not drink. That he was not eating chicken wings in the dream makes sense, because Hitler was a vegetarian. Wow, I bet vegetarians hate hearing that. I always think of this sour quote from Jascha Heifetz: "No matter what side of an issue you are on, there are always people you wish were on the other side." Think about that quote. It is so true.

Anyway, back to Hitler. He was sitting around with us, and lastnight he was wearing a black suit, though not aggressive or ominous-looking. And he was nice, making small talk, gabbing about this or that. But he made me uneasy because, I mean, he was Hitler. And I remember thinking there was no telling what he might do.

Once, in my dream lastnight, I slipped away and made a phone call, I can't remember to whom. I said, "Isn't it weird that all these other big Nazis were executed, like Ribbentrop and what's-his-name, the head of the Hitler Youth, but Hitler got away and no one seems to care?" When I awoke I was proud of myself for having my facts straight. Ribbentrop was indeed executed, and so was the head of the Hitler Youth, whose name I cannot remember in waking life either. I took History of the Third Reich at UB. I know what I am talking about.

What does this dream mean? I wish Leonard Pennario were around so I could tell him about it. He was such a great audience for the serial dreams I had last winter about Jascha Heifetz. And I was a good audience for his dreams too.

I wonder if dreaming about Hitler means that someone in my life is acting like a Nazi.

That someone could be Anonymous, accusing me of voyeurism.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just to confuse dreams further, I've always liked a quote from director Billy Wilder, who was born in Vienna, Austria: "Never underestimate the Viennese; they're magicians. For years, they've had the world convinced that Hitler was German and that Beethoven was Viennese." For readers here who might not know, Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany, but lived his most prominent years in Vienna. Hitler was born in Braunau, Austria, but set himself up as the savior of Germany. Considering Austrian anti-semitism, I wonder how much of Hitler's hatred for Jews was influenced by its deeply Roman Catholic culture, along with Wagner and Nietsche??

Anonymous said...

Maintaining the erudite tone of prof. g, Ribbentrop may well have been executed--but not Ron Vibbentrop. He and Messrs. Hilter and Bimmler were sighted a few years back in North Minehead, U.K.
http://www.intriguing.com/mp/_scripts/minehead.asp

Anonymous said...

Carrying on the amusing tone of Ward, Mel Brooks (who was in the service in WW II), once did an impression of Winston Churchill, and pronounced Nazis as "Narzies", which Churchill once did in a speech. Then, the magnificent Mel said, "Why didn't he just say Nazis?? We wound up running all over Europe looking for Narzies!!"

Sarah Bear said...

Give me a ring. Perhaps I can help you with your dreams.
Mr. Idaho has enjoyed listening to Len play this afternoon.
Hugs

pythagoras said...

Anyone who has eaten as many pierogies as you did is bound to have a bad dream or two. You also have bad neighbors. Do you realize the symbolism here?

So, the interpretation of your dream is as follows:

Pierogies represent your happiness. Hitler represents your unhappiness -i.e. bad neighbors. As I recall, Hitler was the ultimate 'bad neighbor' - ask anyone of Polish descent...which brings me back to pierogies. The resolution of all this may be revealed in a future dream. Try offering him a pierogie and see if he disappears. Or tell Hitler what Heifetz said. If nothing else, it should get a rise out of him.

Anonymous said...

Story Teller,

Hi. The Wife has told me much about you, including that you happen to be involved in fiber arts.

Perhaps you can advise me on where to find horse hair and ox hair. I need a quantity so that I can restore 1800's plaster over at Big Blue. The hair is to be combined with lime and sand to create plaster walls and ceilings.

I checked Google and to my surprise I couldn't find a single source other than companies selling small quantities for paint brushes or crafts.

I can probably utilize the equivalent of several five-gallon-bucket sized containers of the chopped stuff sized from 1/4" ranging to perhaps several inches long.

We have a hippie living up the street and he is bound to cut his hair eventually, so that is always an option however it does not look as sturdy as ox hair.

Any ideas or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Howard

Sarah Bear said...

Hi Howard!
Your wife is a lovely woman. Looking forward in meeting the two of you.

You have an interesting request. At first I thought you were pulling my leg.

Put the word out for ox or horse hair to my fiber friends. Llama fiber is pretty sturdy but, its long compared to the others. What say you?

I've got long hair. Much prettier than your hippie neighbor. No I'm not cutting it for the walls of some stuffy joint in Buffalo. LOL. How much do you need.

Please tell the wife I said, "Hello."
Hugs, Cindy ;)

Anonymous said...

Not accusing you of voyeurism simply observing the voyeuristic nature of the spat as you described it. Also funny is that by the way you described them in rather condescending terms it's clear that their inarticulate nature would ever lead them to your blog where they could read how you played out their fight for your readers. I think a much funnier post would your description of them beating at your door to make you answer for your blogsnark featuring them as the pathetic bickering neighbors. Your childish envy of residents of Tillinghast is telling as is calling people whiners. We've crossed paths a few times and I prefer not to go there (thus the anonymous) but when I saw you had a blog I couldn't look away either, you know how that is.

Anonymous said...

Gosh, "Anonymous"........ you are awfully tough on a girl writing a blog for entertainment purposes........ for someone who won't say their name...

Anonymous said...

i made my point and I am certain i won't read this blog again so my identity is immaterial. sorry if i trampled any sensitive toes. criticism is part of writing as we all know and sometimes the truth doesn't really hurt anyway. you think nobody takes runs at bloggers for whatever reason ? come now... i take my share it's part of the deal. again please accept my apologies but that's how I saw it. a lot of other people said nice things why don't you write about them instead ?

Anonymous said...

I googled Hitler dreams because I had a really weird dream of NICE Hitler! He was at my old primary school and was just really lovely : ) weird huh. I've been known to have loads of weird ones and was telling my friend about them so decided to google them! x

Mary Kunz Goldman said...

Dear anonymous dreamer, thank you for confiding the details of your dream. How interesting, that I am not the only one having dreams of a "nice Hitler"! Did you ever have Ron Vibbentrop in your dream? That is the big question..