Day 24 Take a song or poem and run it through a translator

10/24/23 8:36 AM

Day 24

Take a song or poem (either written by you or someone else) and run it through a translator for a different language. Translate the result from the new language back to the old language (for example, English to French then from French back to English). Do this a few times until the result is vastly different in meaning from the original creation. Turn it into new song lyrics.

**As fun as this sounds, I tried it, and the results were not different enough to make the original unrecognizable. The outcome of many different back and forth translations still produced pretty much the same verse, with only barely discernible differences. I'm going to take a pass on this one. Maybe I'll come back to it later, I don't know.

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Meanwhile, in my dreams...

I was sitting on a wooden bench in the waiting area of a courthouse with a bunch of other people. Next to me was a pretty brunette, who I sensed might be flirting with me. Perhaps it was not that she was flirting with me, rather, she was silently asking me to flirt with her. I'm not sure how that's done exactly, but I suspect it was something in her eyes, enticing and inviting me.

I couldn't quite bring myself to act on this, however, as this was a rather solemn assembly, and talking was not permitted. Time dragged on, but I knew the time would come when I would have to address the issue. I was kind of afraid to do this, not because I feared rejection, as that was the norm for me, and there was no need to fear such a common occurrence. 

No, I was afraid that she might respond favorably. Although this prospect excited me, it also terrified me. She was extremely attractive, and I knew she was out of my league. How could I ever measure up to whatever expectations she might have? I was a bumbler, a fumbler, and not practiced in whatever gamesmanship makes guys confident in this arena.

She kept up her eye batting and furtive glances. She was exuding a playful sexuality, somehow communicating that she would like to take me home with her. Despite my fears, I had an overwhelming desire to explore the possibilities presented by this opportunity which had been placed in my path. 

Soon we were dismissed, and she got up to exit the building. She glanced back at me, and with a less than subtle nod, she invited me to follow. I did so. We left the courthouse together and walked down the city streets in the direction of her apartment. We talked, with me expressing reservations, stalling and her just laughing at my insecurities.

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Throughout the dream, there was this persistent sense that what we were doing was somehow wrong. I felt like what I was desiring, what we might wind up doing, would be a betrayal, taboo or somehow conflict with my own internal moral compass. 

I had to remind myself that my compass has been unreliable, and like my iPhone's GPS, it will fail me or give faulty directions at critical moments. Plenty of times, I opt out of things, claiming some kind of moral high ground, when in actuality, it is just fear of stepping out of my comfort zone.

That's about it. Nothing of actual substance happened, just this preliminary flirtation, and my reluctant/petrified acquiescence. I will not comment further on what, if anything, this might signify.