Bad Dream 233 -- I'm Warren's Brother

In my dream, I'm attending a "Peewee Football" game, where all the players are around 8 to 12 years old.  They are all dressed in complete American football gear -- so this is not just a pick-up game.  It's a very "formal" event.  Deb (I'm pretty sure it's Deb) and I are sitting on the sideline, on what appears much more to be church benches than sports spectator chairs.  

The first part of the dream -- and the major one -- has Deb and me trying to sit in the right place to see the game.  Since there are no risers, anyone not in the front row will likely have a partially blocked view of the action.  And I really want to see everything.  I guess Deb didn't understand that, as she took a seat 3 or 4 benches back.  (Since the benches are very close to the action on the field, her decision makes sense.  She won't get clobbered by some small kid running at full speed.)  I go to her and explain my interest to her and she and I go the front bench, where some folks are already seated.  I find myself sitting next to a large, very powerfully built black man.  There's enough room for me to sit there, but not by much.  I feel I should start a conversation with him, but he doesn't appear to want to engage in chit chat.  

There are several segments of Deb and me sitting here or there, but finally we're sitting side by side on the front bench with a perfect view of the players.  (I'm no longer sitting next to the big guy.)  The players seem to be running through some warm-up drills prior to the game actually starting.  

One of the players walks over to us -- just a little bit hesitant as he's walking.  He stands in front of me and says something like:

"Excuse me, but I was noticing your face and how much it looked like Warren.  Are you related to him?"  (Warren being my youngest brother -- and currently the only brother who's still living...) 

I'm lightly stunned, as I never thought I looked that much like Warren, But I'm also impressed with this young man's overall demeanor and his perspicacity.  I acknowledge that I am his brother, and the young man walks back to his teammates.   

As he walks away, my mind is swimming with thoughts as to how to consider what's just happened.  I'm very fond of Warren, but recognize that he's lived his life into several severe problems (marriage, finances, career).

Is this a sign of something I should be doing or stop doing?

Bd Dream 232 -- What? Another One?

 I have a recurring theme to my dreams: and that is being in a classroom with a test being given.  And, for reasons that are occasionally mine -- but not always -- I am unprepared to do well.  On one occasion the instructor (who's often female in my dreams) spoke in a language that I was totally ignorant of.  And all the rest of the students understood her perfectly well.  She was giving instructions as to how to complete the test...  In others I was simply unprepared.  But in both cases, the rest of the class was ready to complete the test with few if any problems.  

In this case, the instructor had handed out a paper with a set of challenging but interesting questions several weeks ago.  I thought the questions would be fun to work on.  Someday.  But had just filed the paper away to work on other projects.  In fact, we were to have a test -- today!! -- on all those questions.  And, of course, all the other students in the class had understood this and had spent time away from class working on the questions.  

I felt I had a chance to give correct answers to some of the questions -- possibly enough of them to get a passing grade -- but certainly some of the questions would require significant time and preparation to answer.  

I picked a question that required the student (me) to fill in numbers in a Sudoku-style matrix.  And the matrix was to be drawn as part of the test.  I tried several times to draw a proper matrix, but sometimes the squares were too big and sometimes too small and other times drawn with the wrong writing instrument (e.g. a pen vs a pencil).  

I went through several sheets of paper trying to get the right size and shape of a matrix.  When I ripped off one particular piece of paper, I found that it had been the last one in the pack.  Fortunately, (?) I had another pack of paper, but it was a different size and color from the one piece of paper that had some partial responses to some of the other questions.  

As is often the case in these dreams, the teacher called "Time's up!  Please hand in your paper." when I was still essentially trying to get started.  The class ended and the students filed out, some of them handing in their paper at the last possible moment, suggesting that they weren't done.  Whereas I had barely started.  

After everybody -- including the teacher -- had left, I realized that I had answered a couple of questions and might at least get a "D" instead of an "F."  A friend magically appeared and offered to help me track down the lady (not the teacher) who had collected the papers so that I could submit my meager effort.  

The chase after the lady went to a terminal for trains or busses or something.  It was quite crowded.  My friend and I called out the lady's name -- and finally got a shouted-out response from the lady we'd been chasing.  We looked around feverishly to find her so I could submit my paper, but the crowd was tightly packed and we didn't have a fixed idea as to exactly where she was.  But we knew that the lady had every right to ignore us and get on her transportation and leave.  

I think I was awakened by the alarm at this point.