Baseball wishes but no playoff dreams

I'm in Chinatown with Leigh. I was trying to remember my way around, and I was supposed to meet the Gat up at north beach to play VB with him and his friends. I'm walking through the streets and sidewalks, and I remember being in a ginormous bookstore at one point, and one bookshelf was the height and length of the wall--and the wall was huge. I guess I found my way to an apt. in Chinatown--although I'm not sure if it was the Gat's or someone else's? I sit down to watch TV, and the Asian version of Good Times is on. (Basically, the same show with the same characters, but they were Asian instead of black.) As the show ended and the credits rolled, I see Tadahito Iguchi's name. I was like, huh. I guess he had an acting career before he was a ballplayer. He really is a star but doesn't act like one (#29).

I'm at the Naperville train station, which, in my dream, is in between parking lots of the Home Depot and Farm and Fleet, in Fox Valley. (No, there's no Farm and Fleet in Fox Valley in real life.) I walk in, and see, like, EVERYONE I know. I'm like oh hey ... Newark people! Wheaton people! Youth group people! City people! Hey guys! I know you all! At one point I walk around a corner and see Jason Thorwall, and he's surrounded by a bunch of family and friends. I would stop and talk, but he's too swarmed, so I kinda wave and pass by. As I pass, he says, "Hey I'll see you tonight." I say, "You will? Where?" He says, "At the wedding." (Referring to his and Jen's nuptials.) I say, "Um no, we already did that last weekend. Remember? We had the rehearsal dinner Saturday night, and then you got married on Sunday." He says, "Ohhh ... no, actually, the entire weekend was a rehearsal. The real thing is this weekend." I'm not sure if I said anything else, but I remember being confused, and also pretty T.O.ed cuz I already had plans that weekend and I wasn't anticipating a two-weekend wedding. Also, at one point I was going up the stairs, and I see Ozzie Guillen talking to Tom Ness like they're BFF--and, of course, they're talking baseball stats. (Note: this is way funnier if you know who Tom Ness is, but not really anyone who reads this does. A short introduction: He's a dude I went to school with from kindergarten through HS, and the only way I can think to describe him here is ... an intense, nervous, kinda-clueless jock, except smart in the jock-way to the point of ridiculousness, in that he knew stats from our HS basketball teams dating back to the 50s. Also, he really, really cared about the weather.)

I'm at Wrigley Field with my family, in the way-high upper deck that doesn't really exist. After eating whatever ballpark food, we all got sick, and decided all the food from Wrigley was poisoned. After that, we leave, and we have to exit through the underground tunnel/mall, which everyone has to use when they leave Wrigley. Apparently. Then we go all futuristic, and Dad is driving us around the city ... in the air. It's night now, and the skyline is beautiful, and it's even more pretty because we're seeing it from up high as we drive through it. But when we park/land in a parking garage, it gets really tricky trying to avoid all those pesky road-travelers and parkers. Dad has to drive around and maneuver in and out of spots for a long, long time before we're in.

Todd, as in "putting the odd in," and my college/RA friend Shawna are on a treasure hunt. (Not to be confused with a scavengar hunt.) They show up at this hair salon on Roosevelt Rd., where I happen to be, and they come in with a pizza box. There are clues on this pizza box, and they ask for help in solving the puzzle on the pizza box. I don't remember much after that, but I'm pretty sure I wasn't much help.

The White Sox have invited me to travel with them. We're in Arizona--not sure if it was spring training or if we were just "passing through." We make a stop at Brian Anderson's parents' house, where he grew up. His mom's making the team dinner in the kitchen, and everyone's just hanging out and chillin around the house. I'm in the dining room looking at old newspapers and pictures of BA. Amid the pics and clippings of BA and his fam, I see a paper from Chicago, and it's laid open. As I look closer, I discover that it's actually the Kendall County Record, which is the little weekly paper from my home. It's open to a page of softball and baseball team photos, and I see one of my dad's team. I'm like, Hey!! It's my dad's team!! But no one was around at that point, so I was sad I couldn't show anyone.

I keep flipping through the paper, looking at whatever other news was there, then some of the players come back to the dining room. BA comes over, and I say hey, my dad's in here! He's like, cool, lemme see! I'm like okay! And I start flipping back to find it. But ... I can't. Find it. Anywhere. I'm like no seriously, it's here. He's all nice and tries to help, and says, maybe a little further back? Toward the front? Middle? Sports section (duh)? I feel like an idiot, and I kinda keep going to one section because i remember it being there. But then I remember it was in a special "baseball through the years" section, which showed some old teams. I finally find it and it's all good.

*Remind me to post the Freddy Garcia dream sometime soon-ish. And by remind me, I mean Kibibi, since you're bored at work and may still have enough faith in me to check this.