Wedding Bell Snooze

I had an interesting dream this past weekend.

It's my wedding day, and I'm going to be married to my real-life college girlfriend, Lauren. I'm dressed in a tuxedo. I find myself alone, walking down a corridor of the college dorm, which is strewn with garbage and has stained carpeting.

I go into my dorm room, which I share with my real-life ex-housemate, Noel. It, too, is unkempt, with clothes strewn everywhere. This bothers me because I keep a neat bedroom in real life, whereas Noel's real-life bedroom had clothing tossed everywhere. I go into the adjoining bathroom to wash my oily face, but I can't find a washcloth.

The actual wedding will take place in an auditorium on the same floor as my dorm room. Throughout the dream, my fiancee Lauren is locked in an anteroom of the auditorium, practicing musical numbers from Bye Bye Birdie, which she's going to perform sometime during the reception.

Ho-kay, here's what I make of all this:

I'm marrying Lauren because she's my ideal type of woman, tomboyish but still feminine. Her practicing show tunes from Bye Bye Birdie, one of my favorite musicals, is very telling. It's a story about Albert Peterson and his best gal/fiancee, Rose. Eight years earlier, Albert had the opportunity to go to college, get a Master's Degree and become an English teacher. Instead, he got into the music business and has been stringing Rose along until he gets "a few bucks ahead." In the end, of course, everything's worked out and the two plan to get married.

I, however, probably won't be as lucky. I am Albert, but I'm also his opposite because I did go to college and get an English degree. However, unlike Albert, I wouldn't have strung Lauren along. I'd've married her right out of school if things had worked out.

Here's where the tuxedo, the garbage-strewn hallways and the messy dorm room all come into play. You see, on the outside (the tux), I'm pretty much set to get married, but my inability to wash my face means I won't feel completely ready. I'll feel dirty, like the hallway garbage — it represents the clutter and disarray of my personal life, which appears to be stuck in the past with Noel and his private messiness. I'm all dressed up, but with no place to go.

Gee, than sucks.