Sunday, Dec. 07, 2003 - 5:55 p.m.

On Kittens and French Fries

A few nights ago, I heated up some frozen Ore-Ida Zesty Fries. They were really good.

The following morning I awoke from a horrible nightmare. In the dream, I was heating up the french fries just as I did the night before, only this time several orange kittens jumped into the oven before I closed the door. I guess they were attracted by the warmth and the smell of food. For some reason, I let them stay in there, at 425 degrees Fahrenheit, till the fries were done.

When I opened the oven to remove the hot fries, to my surprise, THE KITTENS WERE DEAD! I don’t know why this was surprising to me. You must understand that I adore kittens, and have no wish to bake them in ovens. Upon seeing the motionless little cats, I was horrified and overwhelmed with regret. After a few minutes of cooling, however, one by one, the kittens got up and jumped out of the oven, happy as can be. What a relief! I guess the heat had just lulled them to sleep. There was one, though, that looked more cooked than the others, and looked definitely dead. But even that one started breathing after a while, but I was doubtful he’d make it.

When I awoke, I knew this dreadful dream contained some very important information for me. I used Joan Mazza’s dream interpretation technique: figuring out each symbol’s personal meaning to me. After an hour of pondering, I had my answer. The kittens symbolized life, love, and exuberance. Since they were kittens, and not adult cats, they could also symbolize hope. The kittens could be my life’s goals, and/or my relationship to other people, including my self. The kittens might even symbolize the cats in my life. French fries have in common with the kittens that they’re fun to have in my kitchen, and they bring enjoyment to my life, but they’re not alive. French fries should not be put in the same category as kittens. At best, fries contribute to life (by nourishing me, and tasting delicious.) Fries are objects, and I’d do well to treat them as such. Kittens are their own autopoietic subjects, and I’d do well to treat them accordingly.

I think this dream was a warning about means and ends. I think my subconscious was telling me that I have perhaps been devoting too much emotional energy to the means I’m employing to enrich my life and the lives of others (such as making money on the Internet) to the neglect of my desired end, the enrichment of life itself. If I’m lucky, the dreams I have for my life will go dormant while I do other things, but if I wait too long, they may die.

I also discovered that Ore-Ida must be an abbreviation for the states of Oregon and Idaho, where the potatoes are grown. I may never have picked up on that if I hadn’t been living in Oregon.

So from now on, I’m going to make clear distinctions between the metaphorical french fries and kittens in my life, and hopefully that will lead to me focusing more on what’s most important to me. I’ll be using these terms in future entries, so get used to them now. What follows is an incomplete list of some of the “french fries” and “kittens” in my life:

french fries	kittens
money	friends
my shed	wisdom
my computer	Nonviolent Communication
doing healthy things	feeling healthy
the Internet	learning
anarchism	anarchy
	singing/rapping
	writing
	thinking

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