Nightmare

I had a nightmare the other night. Right as I was about to defend my dissertation proposal, my advisor in my dream (hereafter "dream advisor"--though, as you will see, he was not dreamy) informed me that he was expecting to see a handwritten draft of my dissertation before I submitted it for final approval.

"You're joking," I replied, laughing. "No, of course not." I turned to the person to my right--my real-life advisor--who nodded in consent. Apparently, it was common knowledge that my dream advisor required this of all of his advisees. He probably saw it as a useful strategy for keeping his advising workload down, though I'm sure he would tell his students that it was a test of their commitment to the project.

I got extremely indignant as I looked around the room and everyone seemed unfazed by the demand. I managed to wake myself up, but I've been thinking about it for a couple of days. Of all of the disturbing aspects of this dream, perhaps the most disturbing is this: I could see it happening.