Sept. 22 (2025)
Betty and Dreaming
Hi Friends,
I have been reading this book called Wild Minds about the early days of animation in the 1900’s. The book mentions the rise of censorship in the 1930’s and how it affected Betty Boop. The author points out that after the Hay’s Code, her character changed beyond just her appearance. As the sexuality of her cartoons became more restrained she also stopped dreaming as big and attempting to do what others thought impossible. In this early cartoon Betty runs for president and in her later years she would more often be depicted as a secretary or schoolteacher. Girls want to have big personalities, be themselves, and be loved for it! like everyone. KEEP DREAMING
Be able to dream big, please. Indulge! Dreams are a force against guilt and shame. People come to a place that serves milkshakes and joke about how they really shouldn’t. It takes one person to order a milkshake for everyone else to as well. You dream big, everyone dream big. In a dream I had recently I made my ex kiss a wall in front of me. Here is a drowsy account of one of my dreams from Friday:
My family and I starred in our own movie like Monsters Vs Aliens. We fit together like Tetris pieces on a magic carpet. A sea monster attacked Coney Island. The dream was striking. We built a circus tent/inflatable playhouse in our backyard. Some of the poles we used resembled large white crosses. The bright red color of the tent glowed. I wept because we were making the tent for bodies smaller than our own. We couldn’t go on the rides and it was like rollercoaster tycoon. More and more giggling unsupervised kids flooded into our red tent. And in this dream humanity invented a new butterfly that never had to go into its cocoon to transform. Its wings formed a ruffled collar around its caterpillar face and it would gradually molt into a sort of caterpillar/butterfly centaur before its upper half would eventually split off leaving behind its old skin. It was invented in Sweden and within 30 days made its way to England before crossing the Atlantic to the United States. In the dream I sobbed about not being a kid anymore. I hid behind a slide that wouldn’t fit me. I was loud enough my Mom came over to check on me. A storm came and my family leapt into action to keep the tent from getting swept up in the wind. The image of the big red tent from birds eye view. Everything became choppy and grainy like in the ending of Baby Blue. July by jonatan leandoer96 started playing. I watched credits to my own dream play. My family and I, little floating figures in a field of black circling the red tent like moths around a lantern. Little circus fairies with jet packs. The dream played. We moved a large boulder onto a corner of the tent. A boulder we climbed as children to keep it all together. Fade to black. The dream was a movie I watched starring myself and I stayed for the credits.
It is strange how dreams recall things from the past. I haven’t seen Baby Blue in years. The song that played in my dream was about summer ending but never being over. I love endings. A lot of my ideas start at the ending. I am continuing with my August. Someone told me this whole year could be my August. I forgot what it feels like to allow myself to want. I got a burger because of a billboard. I’ve been fantasizing about putting my hand on this guy’s ass. Nothing more.
Love,
Claire