Thursday, February 3, 2022

Dream Diary: February 3, 2022

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 Last night I dreamed that I was at a party with a lot of my friends. We were just sitting around talking when Gardner Dozois appeared, large as life and twice as real, in one of the chairs. I just looked one way and then back and there he was. Everybody knew that he was dead but we were so happy to see him we didn't care. 

Gardner slid right into the conversation. He recommended a PBS series to me. "I think you'd really like it, Michael," he said, and the chit-chat didn't get any more serious than that. He made jokes. He was clearly enjoying our company. So nobody asked him any questions about the afterlife. We just reveled in his being there. He made everybody feel good.

So all I learned about life after death is that you can get PBS there.

Could be worse.

*

7 comments:

Sally Wiener Grotta said...

Thank you for the smile. The day just got better imagining Gardner returning simply to share in a conversation among friends.

Lawrence M. Schoen said...

But do they still make you sit through the pledge drive portion?

Michael Swanwick said...

No, this was just us conversing and being happy.

Unknown said...

So I take it you don't remember what PBS series Gardner recommended? (smile)

Because if Gardner recommends something, I'm going to pay attention.

(I just finished watching "I, Claudius", which was on PBS sometime in the mid-1970s. I was (mumble mumble) years old at the time and I'm sure my parents thought it was too mature for me. Now that I'm older, I quite enjoyed it.)

Unknown said...

It must be something in the atmosphere. A few days ago Ellen Datlow posted a photo of herself with her Hugo, and I immediately saw a hotel hallway and Gardner deploying the Gardner Twinkle to declaw Jerry Pournelle with one wicked in-passing comment. Carol Carr has the same beyond the grave magic for me, as does Sid Coleman: People who really should have come with built-in Boswells.

Michael Swanwick said...

Do you chance to remember that comment?

Sandy said...

Somehow I suspect that Gardner would have been a fan of MONTHY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS, especially the dead parrot sketch, if not THE RUTTLES: ALL YOU NEED IS CASH, and would have praised it highly to all that were present in the dream. So, whatdaya think? A good guess??