Author: qgq3

When I go to sleep, I have always had the weirdest dreams. During an average sleep week I have, I usually have dreams three to four times. I thought to myself what if I could control these dreams? It has occurred to me that if I could start to lucid dream. Lucid dreaming is when you can control a dream like it is reality. When most people dream, they are not in control of what they are dreaming about. I got into lucid dreaming when I would tell my friends about what I would dream about. People I would tell my dream about would always say that I have the coolest dreams. I would have crazy dreams that I didn’t even know I could think about. 

When it comes to lucid dreaming, I have never perfected it. I practice control of my dream reality. There are some things I have done to help control what is happening in my dreams. When I first started to try and dream lucidly, I would write down every dream I would have. I would try and recite the dreams in great detail to myself and on paper. I have a journal just for the dreams I have had. Some of these dreams are thrilling, calming, adventurous, and even scary. I will go through what it takes to lucid dream as I do. I still haven’t mastered it, but I am starting to gain more and more control when I dream. 

To start I need to go way back to when I was a kid. I would have dreams so many times a week, maybe even twice a night. I dreamed of the most random things, but some things that I would dream of wouldn’t be random. Things that I thought about, have also been in my dreams. The first dream I can remember having was an adventurous dream. I don’t remember the specifics, I just remember going somewhere. Right when I would get to where I needed to be in the dream, I would wake up.

When it comes to controlling my dreams, I only have been trying to do it for the past year or so. I have been in dreams where I would wake up and I would want to go back into those same dreams when I go back to sleep. I knew that it wouldn’t be easy to start having control over dreams. I still can’t even control my dreams most of the time. But, now and then I will be able to control having a lucid dream.

How To Dream Lucidly

I do not dream lucidly most of the time I go to sleep. But, if you want to try and practice lucid dreaming here are a few tips that have helped me:

• • Keep a dream journal: Writing down what you dreamed about every time you wake up will help you try and have the dream you want. Don’t just write down dreams you like, write down every dream you have. 
  • Read your journal: Every time you go to sleep read the dream two to three times you want to have and control. This will help you be in the state of mind of the dream you want to have. You will more likely to dream about it if it is already in your head.
  • Check reality: Before you think it is a dream, make sure. Some dreams I have had have felt so real. It happens to everyone, so try and change something in your dream reality.

Now that you have the steps, you are not going to immediately be able to dream lucidly. Keep practicing and I bet you will start to see results because I have. Below is a description of my last lucid dream.

My Last Lucid Dream

The last time that I controlled a dream, it was a cool experience I had. In the dream I had, I was in a mountain range at the top of the highest mountain. I remember it being absolutely beautiful. In the dream, I slowly started to figure out that this was a dream. I had to do a reality check. I held my hand in front of me and I started to move it in a side-to-side motion. But, I still didn’t think I was in a dream. So, I started to think about my surroundings. In the dream, I looked at another mountain to my left. I thought of color and I closed my eyes. The color I thought of in the dream was blue. I opened my eyes and the mountain I was looking at started to change to blue. 

When I realized that I could do things that I could never do in reality, I knew I was in a dream. So, standing on the mountain top I looked down. I remember seeing a pool of water at the very bottom. I jumped off the mountain to get to the pool of water. When I jumped, I started to feel powerless about the dream, and before I hit the ground next to the pool. I woke up.

In this day and age, everyone is collecting something; records, watches, comic books, even clothes. I have become a collector of many things, but the two things I am most proud of are my POPs and Records.

Funko POPs

My favorite collection is my Funko POPs. POPs are bobbleheads created by the toy company Funko. Funko is a toy company with over 26 thousand products. But, POPs are the most popular item they make. 

When I was a freshman in high school my mom got me my first POP. It was a comic book character called Scarlet Spider. It was a Spiderman character from the comic books. I didn’t know at the time that this little action figure would create the collection I own today. Below is a picture of the first POP I collected.

Since I started collecting, I have gotten 177 POPs. That sounds like a lot, but there are POP collectors who have over one-thousand items in their collection. The world record for most POPs collected is over 64 hundred, his name is Paul Scardino. I might not have that many, but my collection is still pretty valuable. My collection of 177 works is over 35 hundred dollars and I am pretty proud of it.

The photo above was taken at my old apartment. My old roommate let me put them in the living room. This isn’t an updated photo, so my collection has grown since then. It is kind of funny to think about now because when we had invited a guest over. The first question they would ask is, “Who’s collection is that?” I didn’t know that so many people knew what POPs were until guests saw my collection. 

Funko has created many POPS from different movies, television, comic books, and even history. I used to only collect Marvel POPS, being a big Marvel Cinematic Universe fan. Then, I noticed that they created pops from other things I enjoyed in the media of pop culture. Some of your favorite television shows and movies might even have characters that were made into POPs. It is funny to think that these little bobbleheads have really created this mass popularity. Since I have started collecting POPs other than just Marvel, I have noticed that Funko has so many licenses from all types of media.  

Just Play A Record

Ever since I could remember, I have loved music. This might be a broad statement, because who hasn’t listened to music. But this year alone I have listened to over one hundred hours of music on my phone. My fascination with music goes to other ranges as well, including records. I started getting into records last year. It is a newer collection so I don’t have as many as I want, but I hope it will grow as the years go by. Sadly, do not have a picture of my records.

Right now, I have 30 records of some of my favorite bands and artist. The first record I got was an Eminem record. The album was The Marshall Mathers LP. I got this one because Eminem has been one of my favorite artists ever since I started listening to hip-hop and rap music. But, I don’ just collect hip-hop records, I collect all types.

My favorite record I own is one I got the most recently. Rex Orange County is one of my favorite artists. I was in a record shop and I saw the album, Apricot Princess. As soon as I saw it, I knew instantly I needed it for the collection. It was the first Rex album I got, and I plan to secure them all. 

Records are also very popular among young people as well. Many people I know also collect records, and some of those people are the ones who got me into collecting records. The biggest record collection I have scene was one of my friends who have over one-hundred records. He has collected for the past four years and I have always been so jealous. 

I have always been into more vintage or retro items like records because music is generational. I don’t only collect new artists, but an old artists as well. It is so cool to me that I can listen to a record with my mom or dad of a band that was popular in their time. It gives me a sense of joy to watch older people remember a time when records were so popular.

Everyone Collects

The two main items I collect are POPs and records, but I collect other things as well. Today, collecting is a hobby for a lot of people. Collectors are proud of what they own and love to show it off. I have met so many people with many different collections and it makes me happy that they are so proud of their collections. 

 

 

The entertainment industry has something for everyone when it comes to music, television, and movies. But comedy has been a genre for these mediums for as long as I can remember. Every time I watch or listen to something that is put in the group comedy, I know I am going to laugh and make myself happy. Although, some things that are put in the comedy genre can also make me feel a wave of other emotions. Three specific things come into my mind when I think of a comedy that hasn’t made me feel joy. But has made feel things like sadness, fear, or anger. There is a musician, a television show, and a movie that are considered comedies that have made me feel something other than happiness.

Many people do not think of comedy as a genre of music, but there are musical comedians. Bo Burnham is a musician who performs comedic songs that I laugh at. But there are some songs that he has performed that have made me burst into tears. Bo Burnham has been performing musical comedy for years. but I didn’t know who he was until I heard him on Apple Music. A friend told me to listen to him, and I instantly loved what he had to say and sing about. The first few songs I listened to made me laugh hard, then I kept listening. In 2021 Burnham, put out a musical comedy show that he wrote, filmed, and edited 2020. I was expecting some joyfulness in the hard times most of us had during the COVID-19 pandemic. He did perform songs that made me laugh, but he also did some songs that hit a hard emotional core. This comedy was called INSIDE. The song that put me into tears was called All Eyes On Me. At its core, this song showed how the pandemic had a hard impact on Bo’s life and it’s okay to go through that. Below is that song (Explicit Warning).

Television has been a medium for many people who love entertainment. Comedy has been on the silver screen for many decades, and it will continue to dominate in the industry for years to come. A tv show that I have always loved in the comedy genre is Scrubs. This show ran for nine seasons, with the lead role as the talented Zach Braff. After season seven the show got canceled by NBC but was picked up for another season by ABC. Scrubs was a comedic look at doctors working in a hospital. It was kind of like a less serious version of Grey’s Anatomy. In my personal opinion, Scrubs is better than Grey’s Anatomy because it has a light-hearted take on what doctors go through as they work in a hospital and it wasn’t life-changing in every episode. Most people who have seen Scrubs usually laugh at what the characters go through, but there are some serious moments that the series tackles.

The episode of Scrubs I watched that made me feel something other than joy was called My Old Lady. It was the fourth episode of season one, so it was early on in the series. The episode had the realization that not everyone survives going to the hospital. It showed the three main characters go through the loss of their patients that they were residing over that episode. When I first watched this episode, I realized that life isn’t always going to work out in your favor. Some people die and sometimes it is hard to understand, as long as you know you tried to do everything you can to help. I never thought that a sitcom would make me feel these types of fear and loss.

In my opinion, music and television are fantastic, but movies are my favorite medium in the entertainment industry. Movies have always been my go-to activity when I have some free time on my hands. I have seen hundreds of movies and I have collected every movie ticket I have gone to go see since 2015. A comedy movie is something people usually watch with friends because laughing together makes it better. But, in my case, I will watch a comedy by myself. One movie that was put in the comedy genre that made me feel all types of other emotions is The Truman Show. The Truman Show is a movie that shows the main character staring at a tv show that was built around his whole life, but he doesn’t know it. Everyone around the world watches this show in the movie, and the man in the show thinks that his life is perfectly normal. Who else but Jim Carry could star in a movie that has this premise. No spoilers for this movie of course. But this movie made me feel like you can get out of something that you have been stuck in your whole life without even knowing you’re stuck. Below is the trailer for The Truman Show.

Now every time I watch or listen to something that is considered a comedy, I try to notice things that would have other emotions. Not everything is as it seems, including genres of music, television, and movies.