Going public with this blog makes me nervous. Or at best, very anxious. I would describe it as being at the top of the first drop on a roller coaster, and your car is toward the back. The first car is already succumbing to gravity, and though you’re not falling yet, you’re already feeling the tug of inevitability.
I went live with thepointofthestory.com in late August, a promise I dumbly made in late July. In early August, I went with my family to the beach for a 3-night vacation. We couldn’t get the wi-fi for shit in our cottage, so despite bringing the laptop in hopes of making progress, I was unable to do jack squat. Due to the events and circumstances beyond my control, I suffered the unimaginable. I was forced to relax.
Of course, in the back of my mind, I knew that once vacation was over, I would really need to get on the ball and get my shit together if I wanted to have a decent and functioning website ready before September. The inevitable was coming. But was it fame or infamy that awaited me?
Right before I woke up the last morning we were there, my subconscious decided that it would try to deal with that which I had been avoiding dealing with consciously.
Yes, I had a dream.
In this dream, apparently stories from my childhood featured on thepointofthestory.com had been adapted into a Netflix show. And it was EXTREMELY popular. In fact, I’m pretty sure that that show was Stranger Things. Or at least a slightly modified version of it.1Rolla didn’t have any (non-hispanic) residents of color my age until the 90s, so at least that detail was modified.
I was extremely pumped about the situation, but also a bit on edge, as I had no idea how I was going to handle the fame that surely would accompany the success of the show–the show that was based on my life and the humorous and poignant recollections thereof.
I had found out about the success from one of my childhood friends who was a character in these stories–Kingofthe, as I will call him for now. Kingofthe calls me up and is like “Hey did you see our article in People2Or maybe it was US Weekly, or In Touch, or one of those guilty pleasure ‘bloid you pretend not to read the covers when waiting to check out at the grocery store. magazine? You got to check it out!”
A short interjection here: this wasn’t just the first I was learning about the success of the show. It was the first I was learning there was a show. Not to mention I had no idea that People Magazine was doing a piece on it. But I digress…
From this dream, I learned that, despite being shy-ish, I really did want the recognition and glory. I rushed to the grocery store (I presume), and flipped to the piece on the show. The show that was based on my life and the humorous and poignant recollections thereof. Did I mention that already? Oops. My bad.
There was a dramatic FAQ-type section, in which the fans’ most burning questions were pre-emptively answered, two of which I distinctly remember:
- Will there be a second season? Yes! It has already been renewed through Season 4.
- Will BJ continue writing the jokes for the show? Yes! You can also see his current project over at www.lid.com.
Okay. So, cool. People cared if I specifically will be the one writing. It was implied in my head that this meant that they loved my particular brand of humor. Though, I mean, c’mon, it’s my life, so I hope they care that I write more than just the jokes. Anyways, the best part was the national exposure my website was going to get. I was going to get all the clicks.
And…wait, go back. There was something odd about that last bit. Oh, yes. “www.lid.com”?!? Son of a ----- !
Who the ----- told them that was my website? And why didn’t they think to actually interview me? I mean after all it was [everybody together now] “the show that was based on my life and the humorous and poignant recollections thereof.” Even if I got them to issue a correction, the damage was already done, and I was never getting that rare opportunity for massive free publicity back.
Poop.
I was seriously hung up on that fact for the rest of the dream. But, as dreams often do, this dream continued in a somewhat disjointed yet still relevant fashion, so let me cover that as well.
Another odd detail about this version of reality was that the majority of the cast of the show were one of my particular aunt’s grandchildren. That was probably due to the fact that she and the oldest of them (who is in high school) had just visited one of my brothers in California, and I had been on the phone with him the night before hearing all about their visit. For what it’s worth, this kid was the one who was the main character in the show. This in itself is odd, since the real Stranger Things has many main characters, as it is an ensemble cast, but whatever. It was pretty cool that my kin were able to enjoy success and fame because of opportunities that clearly were made possible by being related to me. It always feels good to be the hook-up.3Hollah if ya hear me!
The final chapter of this dream found me at an airport, getting ready to check in for my flight. These other family members who were involved in the show were also traveling at the same time, albeit independently. All of a sudden a bunch of media type people show up and start setting up a press conference for the show, right there in the middle of the check-in area at the airport. The realism of this dream is insane, right?
Anyways, I’m getting giddy at this point, thinking to myself “Oh no! What if they recognize me? Please don’t recognize me–I’m too humble to accept your praise and gift of recognition. I couldn’t really. Wait…you’re seriously not recognizing me? ‘Tis I, BJ, the creative fount from which the entire show flows. The one who writes all the jokes. Please. Recognize me.”
I overhear them going through a checklist of which of the various cast/family members that are expected to show up and participate in the press conference. “So-and-so are both going to be here.” “But what about this other so-and-so?” “No, they probably won’t make it.” I patiently wait to hear them mention my name, then turn in surprise to find that I had been beside them all along.4See also: the very first tweet from @apointofastory.
But nope. They never mention me, so I decide to be proactive and help them out: “*Ahem.* I’m here for the press conference–which seat is mine?”
“Uh, and who are you?”
Goddammit.
“This whole ----- show is based on my life and the humorous and poignant recollections thereof. How the ----- do you not know who I am?”
The point of the story is: you never really know how you’re going to handle fame until you have a hilariously unrealistic dream in which you learn that you’re nowhere as famous as you had secretly thought and hoped you were.
And also: clearly my subconscious has big dreams for this blog. Don’t let it down.
Content created on: 13/14 September 2019 (Fri/Sat)
Footnotes & References:
Is nervous really better than anxious?? I’m also jealous of your ability to recall dreams.
Hmmm. Good point, Sonny-B. On further reflection, I don’t think it is objectively obvious which is better/worse between nervous and anxious.
I tried to dig deeper into my psyche to figure out why, as I believe I communicated it, it is that I view being anxious as an upgrade to feeling nervous.
I suppose I associate nervousness with the fear of something bad or negative happening. For example–and this is completely hypothetical (said sincerely)–if one were to smoke some weed and then happen to walk past the local police station because it was between one’s current location and the local convenience store, I envision one might experience feelings of nervousness that a cop will walk by and smell the weed on them and bust them. I’m fairly confident they wouldn’t be anxious, on account of them being high as ----- . Of course at this point we might be starting a secondary debate on the differences between “nervous” and “paranoid”…
On the other hand, I tend to describe myself as anxious when there is uncertainty. A prime example of this is the various times in my life when I have proposed that a girl join me in a romantic relationship. I wouldn’t say that I was ever nervous that she would say “no”. I don’t think I’m unique in that, in almost every case, I was almost more afraid they would say “yes”. Ughh…the responsibility. But I was definitely anxious every time. I wasn’t really afraid of a particular outcome, it was just the uncertainty of the situation and the inability to envision a future path with much confidence.
Likewise, with launching this blog, I don’t see the possibity that the world will outright reject me, and ergo, no need to be nervous. In fact, I believe that it’s just a matter of time before I get this in front of enough people with whom my writings resonate and I have a critical mass of eyeballs to make this a profitable endeavor. The uncertainty of what that path to critical mass looks like…yup, that makes me anxious. I somewhat touch on this idea in Going Chronic, which should be coming out in a week or two.
Thanks for making Dylan subconsciously famous 😘🤣
The pleasure ’twas all mine! …or was it my subconscious’s pleasure? I DON’T KNOW WHO GETS CREDIT!
Anyways, I was wondering if it was obvious enough to whom I was referring that you (or any other fam) would pick up on it. I hope you’re okay with self-DOXing, lol. It may be too soon in the game to be obvious, but I enjoy a good alias around here, so feel free to to comment, etc under a preferred humorous moniker. Since I haven’t referenced you directly yet, my first suggestion would be NumberOneCuz, lol.
Thanks for the Facebook review, too. I hate to admit that it almost made me cry.
I know this isn’t the forum for this, but I did hear about the situation in which our Stranger Dreams star has found himself, and both of you are in my thoughts and heart and thoughts of my heart.
I couldn’t figure out who you were talking about because I was thinking of when I was there for Alyssa’s thing & the relationships you said (aunt with grandson) didn’t fit in with anyone there at the time.
Aside from that, you used God’s name in vain again. PLEASE! Of all the words, that is the worst. And the s-o-“b” word.