Why Would I Write

  • dreamingtosleep

    I enjoy dreaming. It’s a hobby though it’s not something I can control. If I had my way, I’d dream every night. It’s like combining two of my favorite pastimes into one – watching movies and sleeping. The best part is, I don’t miss anything (unlike falling asleep in the cinema),

    I’ve always been curious about the significance of dreams. Most of the time they don’t mean anything. But there have been times where I have acted on my dreams for no good reason. I mean, they’re just dreams right? No need to kick up a fuss about them. That’s what I did anyway. I remember I had a dream that (after looking it up online) signified I was looking for a change in my life, and I decided to take it to heart – so I quit my job. Granted, I was already thinking about it before the dream, but the dream somehow prompted me to finalize my decision.

    But looking back, it was confirmation bias – I was looking out for some sort of sign to justify the idea. I mean, it wasn’t like I quit my job to start the next Facebook or go on to be a successful entrepreneur. I didn’t have to act on it immediately, but I did it anyway. I did the same thing in my first relationship too. I asked god to give me a sign, and when she asked to end the relationship, I agreed because I thought that was a sign from god. Again, I was young and dumb (now older, still dumb) and it makes no sense to me now. But that’s just how life goes.

    So anyway, I’ve had some pretty vivid dreams over the past few weeks, some outrageous (like meeting a person who turned out to be a ghost), and some realistic (ever dreamed about going to work before? I have). Last night, I dreamed that someone I knew was a mechanical keyboard fan (that person probably has no idea what a mechanical keyboard even is) and showed me their collection of keyboards. It sounds stupid, I know – dreams usually do, but I find it fascinating that your brain can stitch together your thoughts into a somewhat cohesive (at the time of dreaming) story line.

    Sometimes you have no idea if it’s a dream, sometimes you do. Sometimes you’re in control, sometimes you’re not. It’s like going to the movies without knowing the title or genre of the film. You’re in for a treat every time (I’ve probably had some boring dreams before, I just don’t remember them since they were unmemorable). One thing I’ve noticed from all my years dreaming – if you don’t record down what you dreamed about the moment you wake up, details become increasingly harder to recall with each passing second.

    I’m still looking forward to the day where we have the tools to record our dreams. I wonder if they’ll be as interesting as we seem to think they are, or just random nonsense. Which reminds me of those apps that record your speech in your sleep. I’ve always been curious to know if I’m a sleep talker. However, I’m also afraid that I might record some shit I don’t want to hear (i.e. me saying creepy shit, or voices other than mine in the room in the middle of the night).

    “Dreams should just stay fading away” – Jason Chan, 2017.

  • The Morning Show

    “It’s time.”

    I nodded and stood up from my chair. I looked one more time in the mirror and found my made up face with perfect hair looking back at me.

    “It’s for the cameras,” the stylist had told me. “We don’t want you to have a shiny face on TV. There are going to be a lot of lights on you.”

    My hair looked terrible. Maybe I just wasn’t used to how I looked. After all, I hardly did my hair when I went out. It was only for formal occasions. Other than that, I usually had it in place with a headband or under a beanie. Fortunately they didn’t change my clothes. I liked my worn out Thursday tee. I had to represent the bands I admired after all.

    I picked up my guitar by its neck carefully, so I wouldn’t displace the wireless pickup they had installed for me. It was looking pretty shiny, they must have cleaned it up for me as well. I made a mental note that I should clean my guitar more frequently in the future. I put the guitar strap on my shoulder and followed one of the crew. I took a few deep breaths.

    I had never performed in front of a camera before – at least not cameras in a studio. Besides random videos that people would record of me on their cellphones, and me playing for my webcam in my room, this would be the first time I performed in front of a professional setup. It was kinda exciting and nerve-wrecking at the same time.

    I had won the opportunity to perform a set of songs for a morning live broadcast. Never mind the fact that nobody was going to be up at this hour to watch me, TV exposure was better than no exposure. It was my shot at gaining publicity. Maybe some big-shot producer would tune in, and I’d be signed in no time!

    I reached the waiting area. “You’ll be on in one minute,” the stage crew man told me.

    I wiped my sweaty palms on my jeans. Fuck, I hope the pick won’t slip later. I looked around nervously. Besides the brightly lit stage where the announcer was talking, it was hard to see anything else. It wasn’t long until I heard him talk about me and call my name. I was nudged forward to take my position.

    It was time.

    Writing Prompt from Reddit: You get your fifteen minutes of fame.

  • Erase Me

    Remember the days when internet marketing wasn’t so prevalent? Marketing campaigns made use of word of mouth or print and television to spread the word. I remember when The Sixth Sense was showing in the cinemas. Everywhere I saw advertisements for the movie with the message plastered “Don’t tell anybody the ending.” I thought that was a pretty cool way to market the movie. Unfortunately for me, I didn’t manage to catch it in the cinema. I only saw it many years later when it was showing on Astro. By then I had already known about the ending so it wasn’t impactful to me. However I appreciated what it did.

    Other movies that received similar buzz with its marketing tactics were far and few in between. The most prominent ones I can remember – Blair Witch Project, Cloverfield, and Paranormal Activity. I never got sucked into the hype that these movies generated, but for the latter two, I enjoyed seeing how people reacted to all the marketing campaign activities thanks to the internet. It was a lot harder to keep track of those things pre-social media. These days, everything gets hyped up on social media, and it’s hard to tell whether something is worth your time or not *cough*Black Panther*cough*. Anyway, thanks to the internet, it’s easier than ever to spread the news to everybody you know.

    Recently I noticed it being used in music (it might have been done a long time ago, but not for bands I cared about). Brand New did something crazy by just pushing their album out online, ahead of their release dates. Fans and critics lapped it up. They debuted at number 1 on the Billboard charts. Today, I saw on Reddit, a thread where a Redditor received a mysterious CD in the mail. The CD contained a sample of a song and written on it was a URL for a website, where a countdown is going on right now. Based on the font on the website and the font on Underoath’s Twitter banner, people have come to the conclusion that it was a teaser for the band’s next record.

    As of this time of writing, the countdown still has 1 day and 7 hours to go. It’s been a while since the last Underoath record, so I’d be stoked if they announced their next one. Here’s to hoping they pull off a Brand New and push it out on the same day instead of just announcing it. It’s been too long! Also, I guess this is me playing my part in putting the word out about a possible new Underoath record. Funny how nobody asked me to do it, yet here I am typing away. Woot.