• I possessed a vial filled with water. In the water swam hundreds of cladocerans, small, aquatic invertebrates that look like pale, swimming dots. I was faced with some kind of crisis (I didn't write my dreams down this morning, the details are hazy) and received guidance that I should enter into the world of the cladocerans. Reducing myself to their rudimentary biological functions would strip me of my sense of identity, the thing that was impeding my ability to find a solution to my problem.

• I drove a car at breakneck speeds through nighttime streets, arriving at a dirt trail that led into the dark. I got out of the car and walked down the path, into a canyon and up onto a ridge overlooking the city. I sat on the ridge and watched fireworks being launched from a military base below as part of an experiment.

There were other people with me. We were in a kind of residence on the ridge, open on one side to the view and filled with various mismatched belongings that seemed like they were assembled from the backs of people's cupboards or the shelves of Goodwill. Sitting out on a counter was an open vial partially filled with a liquid that resembled egg nog. I realized it was alcohol, hesitated momentarily and decided to drink it. It tasted like egg nog. There was an assortment of different liquors placed around the residence and I drank as much as I could find, all of it sweet except for a glass of stinging vodka.