CJ and I just arrived home from an epic sixteen hour journey. We left Canberra when it was sunless and shrouded in mist, and returned when it was. . . sunless and shrouded in mist.
First, the dress-up dress report: The Dress started conversation, reignited flagging conversation, made friends for me (kudos to Sarah for realising it was based on a Lord of the Rings outfit), kept me warm, announced my fantasy leanings, and made me memorable (a lady called Wendy talked to CJ about his “tall wife in the beautiful dress”). It also played an important role in causing an innocent woman to ask if I was pregnant.
Go ahead, laugh. I did.
*abrupt change of subject*
I hallucinate, sometimes.
A friend with sleep apnoea told me that at a certain stage the brain starts processing visual data as if it’s dreaming. My hallucinations last between one and ten seconds, and are always based on real objects. Since my brain is hard-wired to the absurd, it’s generally easy to tell what’s real and what’s not, even in a split second (although I do slow down for hallucinations, just in case). When I’m not driving, hallucinating is fun.
And so it was that CJ and I found ourselves driving the last leg of our journey in the following fashion: With Maccers slowly disintegrating in our bellies, Barenaked Ladies on the CD player, my face peeling off due to too much artifical heating for too long, and a strange array of night creatures reaching out for us – a balloon man with hooves for hands; an alien foot the size of a car; a shy elephant; and one of the nightmares from the “Where the Wild Things Are” movie.
The conference itself was fabulous. I’ll tell you ALL about it tomorrow.
Actually, what the lady said was “oh, so your wife is the tall, beautiful woman in the lovely red dress.”
If that doesn’t stroke your ego nothing will Fel!!!…. Although its less flattering for CJ is it was said with surprise!