November 15, 2018

I had volunteered to give a linguistics talk and it was my turn to present. My mind went blank as I walked up to the front of the room and pulled out my presentation for the projector. On the wall was the Google document I had prepared which had somehow reverted to its near-empty state from a few months ago. I froze - not knowing what to do.

Meanwhile my professor was playing up my capabilities and achievements to the guests in the room. He even told them that I had created my own language, which was not true. I felt a wave of shame wash over me as I stood at the front of the room, unable to begin.

My professor ended up speaking for me for the most part. By the end I felt like all I could do was crawl back to my seat.

–

Someone was selling an assortment of souvenirs by the sea. I bought a cheap recorder on a whim and carried it in my hand as I walked around the beach. It didn’t take long before someone took notice of it and offered to buy it off of me. I agreed to the transaction without much thought before walking inland to see what all the people next to me were lining up for. At the very front of the line was a collection of food carts, most of them seemingly unmanned. One of the carts was specialized in dried squid snacks.

I walked back towards the shore until I got an enclosed dock area. As I waded into the water, I heard someone playing the recorder. I looked up to see the person from before on the platforms along with a band of five or so other people. They soon broke out into a whole ensemble including a proper drum set before going into a recorder-flute duet.