Last night I had a dream involving Petula Clark. I encountered her on a street in London and someone was there to take our picture together â one of those fatuous, grinning selfies meant to imply that Petula and I were great friends. She pretended to kiss me on the cheek.
Two things struck me about this dream. First: Petula Clark. Really? If I’m going to dream about a celebrity, why not someone on the A List? Meryl Streep, maybe, or Jennifer Lawrence? Second: I’m the sort of person who would walk a few extra blocks to avoid any celebrity, no matter how great or small. Under no circumstances would I consider it a good idea to accost one for an autograph or a picture. That’s just how I roll. It’s about dignity, and avoiding traffic.
But who knows where dreams come from? It’s not like I carry Petula’s picture in my wallet or anything. I’m sure I haven’t thought of her since the last one of those PBS infomercials about big hits from the ’60s.
If I were forced to analyze this dream, my first reaction would be that it doesn’t mean a damned thing, beyond a random firing of synapses in the old noggin. If I were really forced to analyze it, I’d probably say that my subconscious misses the ’60s, when I was young and all things pertained â even sappy hits like “Downtown” and “Don’t Sleep in the Subway.” But if that’s so, you’d think my subconscious could come up with something a little more meaningful.
Two nails in Cain’s coffin
Wall Street and Willa Cather
Ah, the Halloweens of old
Curse the dictators and dilettantes
A few small annoyances
I’ve now got “Downtown” stuck in my head.
So, in your dream, you got to meet Petula Clark, and she was friendly. And there was nothing about realizing you have an exam for a class you’ve forgotten to attend, or realizing that you’re not wearing any clothes? Sounds good to me.
By the way, Dave, I was just reading the John Harvey novel Good Bait, and he mentioned Petula Clark. He’s mentioned her in a few of his other novels as well, with pretty much the same sentiments you have here. So maybe you’re tuned into some UK mystery writers’ ESP channel.
That’s interesting! Maybe there is something to this business about universal consciousness.
David,
I just finished reading Blinded (italics don’t take for some reason) by Stephen White. He didn’t mention Pet Clark, but if you haven’t done so in the past, you may find White to be a very fine genre read.
M
Thanks for the head’s up. As it happens, I’m between books so I picked it up on the Kindle. I’ll let you know what I think.
So, I bought Blinded for the Kindle, got four pages into it and realized I’d read it a couple of years ago. Arrgh! That’s like the third time I’ve done something like that in the past couple of years.