Why you shouldn't blog about dreams with your sister

One of the most confusing and interesting areas in the human mind is the part we have no control over. It is our unconscious state. Our dreams, in fact.

Dreams are one of the few things we have little knowledge of. All we really know is that they exist, and that they may be trying to tell us something. They are widely thought of as part of our minds' problem solving process when we sleep, so normally we can work out what they could mean. In some rare cases, people can manipulate their dreams, this is called lucid dreaming, for all you fact fans.

Some people believe that dreams tell you the future, others have whole books on the meanings of dreams. My sister and I believe that only the dreamer will understand what their dream is truly about, as it originated from their own mind. Some peoples dreams are only ever in black and white, whereas others' are in colour. Some people dream in both. Some people never remember their dreams, though everyone has them.

Nightmares, I think, are a whole other kettle of fish. I remember having a nightmare when I was about 7 or 8 of being chased by the dog from Tom and Jerry, and Casper the friendly ghost was trying to save me. To this day I still don't know what it means. Nightmares are most often associated with women. It is either that most men simply don't have nightmares, or that they don't remember them.

We can sometimes get some sort of meaning from a nightmare, though it is mostly mosre confusing than dreams, probably due to the scary aspect. Sometimes you simply don't know what scared you. It can be something that wouldn't scare you in reality. but in dreamworld, it's the scariest thing since the boogeyman.

My sister and I have collaborated to tell you about our dreams, and I think we'll start with our top 5 nightmares:

(WARNING, GROSS/ SCARY CONTENT)

1. I think that my scariest nightmares have been film like. In one, I was in a house in the middle of a huge marshland, with a group of friends. Each one of us was dying one by one by traps set in the house. When we tried to escape the land outside was foggy and our car sank into the marshland. The worst death was when a friend was against the wall and suddenly spikes came out of it. My dreams are quite graphic.

2. In another quite similar to this one, I was gain in a house with lots of people in it, only this time there was a murderer on the loose. We tried to group together to be safer, as the killer only killed people who were alone. The people around me went crazy and started to turn on eachother. When one turned on me, my friend killed them by plunging a spoon into their chest (weird, I know).

3. (This is my sister's dream). I was running away from a bunch of criminals who had invaded my nan's house (which wasn't actually my nans house, if you get my jist.) They chased me all over town. I did manage to trick one into the river, just about. I think the scariest part was when a woman came up to me, with massive rusty blades in each hand and swiped at me. Needless to say she did manage to hurt me pretty badly in the dream. I could still vaguely feel a pain in my leg when I woke up.

4. We both had nightmares involving black panthers when we were younger. In my one, it came through the window and prowled around my sister's bed. In my sister's one it came through the garden, into the kitchen and bit of her leg. Afterwards our dad chased it away with a gun.

5. In another of my nightmares, I was being chased by a vampire girl who was also a werewolf. She was trying to either kill me or turn me into a vampire/werewolf. This time, unlike my Casper dream, there was nobody to help me or save me. I still managed to fend her off by the time I woke up.

It seems that most of these mightmares are about other people or animals trying to kill or hurt us in some way. However, my sister's scariest dream was nothing like that. Her dream should have been a good one, but instead she had been scared of something she couldn't quite put her finger on.

Since I can't really remember any weird dreams, I shall hand it over to my sister to tell you about her's:

I can only remember a few. But I do remember that most of my dreams are pretty weird. I'll just tell you the few that I can remember. (They may not be particularly odd, but I shall explain.)

1. My pregnant dream.
This one was mostly weird because I was wandering around being pregnant yet thinking:'how can I possibly be pregnant? I haven't even had sex yet!' and other such things. Yet I could feel the baby and my bump. Weird.

2. My man dream.
Yes. I've been a man a few times in my dreams. They were really very weird. In one I was gay. And in the other one I was more of a woman in a man's body. (Although, I have to say, I was a pretty good looking man).

3. Befriending celebrity dream.
I've had my fair share of them. Mostly about the Jonas Brothers. (Yes, I know. But so what? I like their music, and they're hot.)So one time I was at a concert (it wasn't even theirs) and they came and sat next to me and we all got on like a house on fire. I'm not even sure whose concert we were at. I vaguely remember giving Joe Jonas a Nuggie (you know.. one of those things where you grab someone under your arm and rub their head..?) Also rather odd.

Back over to the other twin. (With a salute).

And before I sign off I would like to add my very own Jonas dream (which was obviously courtesy of my sister's fanaticalness).

I was in my primary school (which was actually a secondary school in my dream), and the Jonas brothers were coming as exchange students. Joe Jonas didn't actually have a face, but I knew it was him, as you do. Nick Jonas got talking to me and I said he played guitar really well, and we were instantly friends. Because I was now 'best friends' with a Jonas brother, I suddenly got really popular, started wearing high heels and shorter skirts which made it impossible to sit down for assembly (the detail is incredible). At the end of my dream I went a bit mad and screamed down the hall that I didn't want to be popular any more. Of course, this didn't work.

So, there you have it. A blog all about dreams, just for you guys. Feel free to comment about weird, scary or interesting dreams that you have had and tell us your thoughts on dreaming in general. We would love to hear anything you have to say.

Happy dreaming

Why housing at Uni is a nightmare

University is meant to be really fun, right? Right! There's the legal drinking (and smoking if you succumb to nicotine like a cat on catnip), the clubbing, the great new friends and the absolute independance that comes from leaving the parents safely tucked away at home.

What they forget to tell you about are the bad bits. Trying to get up for 9am lectures, the sheer mountain of extra work (ok, sometimes it's a mountain, especially if you leave it to the last minute)and the housing.

My housing, in particular has indeed been a nightmare. When I first went to uni, I decided it would be much more cost effective if I stayed (with my sister) in my mum's friend's house. This was possibly the worst decision I have ever made. Not only was the woman a control freak who liked her house to look like it hadn't been lived in and us to do all the hard work, but it was at least a 20 minute bus journey away from the town centre, where the Uni (and any glimpse of a social life) is.

Next were the halls. They at least were a step up from the constricting world of the suburbs. However, sharing your kitchen with nine other (mostly) disgusting human beings who don't bother to wash up made me almost want to move back. And the noise. If I had a driving lesson in the morning, you could guarantee I would be knackered for it.

The guy next door playing his music till 11, sometimes 12. The drunken people loudly echoing the most annoying sound in existence (the traffic lights right outside my window). Oh, and not forgetting the girl down the corridor with the HUGEST mouth I have ever heard coming in after a night out. Thank god that year is over.

This coming year I am sharing a house with a truly great girl, her male friend and her boyfriend. Believe me, it will be so, so good. The only thing is sorting out the house in the first place!

I never knew true independance would be so hard, not only on your mind but on your money as well. In one meeting, I gave over £300, which seriously dented my finances. I won't even be in the place though the summer and yet I will be paying the monthly rent (with much remorse on the waste of good money). And then there are the meetings, luckily not too hard on my poor brain, where I get confused over how to split the bills and how much money I'll be needing.

So yes, housing at Uni is a nightmare, but hopefully there's a light at the end of the tunnel. At least next time I try for a house, I'll know exactly what I'm doing.