A Very Square Building and a Japanese Lady

 This isn't the most exciting or craziest dream I've had, but I want to write this down because it's kind of cool in its own way. My husband I were visiting a city somwhere, and we wandered into a wide midrise building. I don't know if was an office building, a hotel or even a dormitory. But, its interiror was certainly unique -- it turned out to be a series of atriums, wall-to-wall skylights and walls of dusty-yellow brick walls with square windows. In fact, each wall looked the same with several rows of evenly spaced windows and passageways at the bottom. In fact, just about every aspect of the building was square -- the entire walls were square, the perimeters of the atriums were square, and the skylights each had 9 perfect square of glass, and so on. It made you feel as if you were in a building made with big lego bricks.

It was early evening, so the skylights glowed violet-blue in each atrium we visited. The atriums were basically indoor courtyards with not much except for concrete benches and large planters of fake plants, like at a shopping mall. In other words, bland.

But, we did encountered something interesting at the next atrium we walked into. A woman, who looked Japanese with her black hair pinned up in an elaborate up-do, had set out a section of the courtyard as a sort of studio space. It featured bolts of fabrics in rich jewel colors, a cluster of chairs and stools, and various kinds of tools. It looked like she specialized in upholstery, and currently, she worked on applying a beautiful striped fabric of vibrant purple, black and hold to the seat of a dark wood dining chair. She had a white string of many knots, each tied at an equal interval, wich she stretched across the seat at various angles, as if taking measurements. I asked her what it was for. She smiled and explained it's a measuring string, like the kind that seamstresses used in old times. Why not a measuring tape, I asked.

She answered, "Well, it's true that measuring tapes are more precise, but this string is more organic."

I didn't understand what she meant, but the chair did look like it was done professionally and not sloppy, so I guess I can't argue with the results.

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Secret Smiles on TV

 Last night, I dreamed I was in the kitchen of an apartment I'd never seen in real life, though it did seem upscale with graninte counters and expensive-looking white cabinets. I was preparing a dish for dinner. I was cutting up an endive and trying to remember what the recipe was supposed to be. Soy sauce, sesmale oil, what else? Maybe I should look it up in a cookbook that I'd left in my bedroom. So, I padded down a hallway painted dove graywith white trims and plush carpet in matching shade of gray, to the bedroom.

I entered the bedroom and realized with disdain that I'd left the TV in the room on by accident. Right now, the TV was showing two college-age women, one White woman with wavy brown hair and freckles, and a Black woman with a gyspy-style scarf tied over her hair. The White woman leaned close to the Black woman as if about to share a secret, and asked, "Are you...?"

The Black woman nodded her head with a shy smile.

Both the women hunched up their shoulders, grinning at each other. clearly sharing the secret, whatever it was.

I have no idea what that was all about, but that part on the TV stuck in my head for some reason. Mabye the White woman wasking the other if she's seeing someone or if she's pregnant, or if she is LGTbQ. Or from another dimension. Feel free to speculate. (And in case you're asking I don't know if I found that cookbook or finished the dish.)