Downtown Dreams

This week I have been going downtown for this work-related seminar that I will not discuss on this blog. What I will discuss is our city's center which to many in Los Angeles is still as foreign as a former Soviet republic.
Having grown up in Los Angeles and close to the city's center I have always fancied myself a true downtown connoisseur. Since 1980, I have seen and been witness to the many changes going around.
Many of us go downtown to go to MOCA maybe, or to grab a bite to eat in Little Tokyo or Chinatown. In the past few years, downtown has "been put in the map" by the Standard Hotel on Flower and 6th, and by the once run-down hotels and warehouses that have been turned into lofts or gallery spaces. The creation of the Metro subway lines, (which sadly don't go anywhere near Echo Park), has also added to an increase in visits to Downtown L.A.
Well, experiencing downtown L.A. on a weekday is also wonderful. I miss it! When I lived closer downtown and during a year in the mid-90s when I used to work there, I used to do so much more downtown than just go grab sushi ocassionally and go to MOCA. I kind of am wishing I worked there during the week again. Even though our downtown is tiny when you view our skyline from a distance, it is still large and vivrant. Working and living in the Silverlake/Echo Park/Atwater area, which is only a 5-10 minute drive from downtown, I often forget that I am in the city. It is so strange when you drive (ride in my case) by the intersection of Figueroa and 7th streets at 8 in the morning and you see many people at a crosswalk, crossing the street, walking in suits and carrying briefcases. It's also strange to me to see rows and rows of cabs waiting at a curb. Real city traffic jams downtown seem more romantic and appropraite than the traffic jams on Glendale Blvd near the 2 Freeway or traffic jams where the 101 and 405 freeways meet. One way streets, when you are alert of them and are riding in the right direction in them, seem also fun because you expect them in big city centers. So Manhattan, I think...well not really, but kind of...
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About twice a month, I keep dreaming that I am either walking around completely naked or in my briefs and run into people I know at the wierdest places like parking lots, school, or a non-descript building. In these dreams I run into and encounter friends or colleagues, family or former lovers, and even my students. In these dreams I am aware of of my vulnerable state and often do my best to avoid being seen. But I am always found and I must face them and interact with them. I am aware of these people being aware of my nakedness, and I am completely uncomfortable and embarrassed at first. But then I forget about my state, I become completely comfortable. Perhaps, I am still aware that I "naked" but don't care. It is not an issue to me, and it is not an issue to the subjects I encounter either.
Anyway, I have been told that these dreams mean that I am not afraid to be vulnerable around others. I guess!?!?