Wonderland Burlesque's Get Your Zzzz's Quiz

Wonderland Burlesque's 

Get Your Zzzz's Quiz

"To sleep, perchance to dream."

How do you get your Zzzz's on? 

Let's all share and dive deep into that goodly night, shall we?

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1/ Does your bed have a comforter? What color? What color/pattern are your favorite sheets?

It does. It's a midnight blue - tufted in a shabby chic way. Thick. I adore it. Cotton. So comfortable. The sheets match... same shade of blue (almost navy), and if you look closely you will see that they have a pinstripe pattern to them, all midnight blue.

In summer, I sleep on top of the comforter.

2/ How many pillows are on your bed (include decorative throw pillows). How many do you actually sleep with?

Four regular pillows and two throw pillows. The four regular: two are memory foam and go to the back, serving as sort of a headboard. They have midnight blue cases with pinstripes that match the sheets. Then I have two softer memory foams... it's like they are filled with sand. They have pillow cases that match the shabby chic tufted bedspread.

The two throw pillows have a wacky optic pattern to them on one side (not matching) - in blue/green/white with a solid textured backing on the other side. I use them when I read in bed, to support my head and neck. While I sleep they get tossed to the side, though rarely on the floor.

I sleep with the four bed pillows - the two firmer ones acting as a headboard, while I alternate on and off between the ones that feel like they are sand-filled

At the boyfriend's place, I have two pillows. One is broken up foam and the other is a hard memory foam. Oh, and his bed he has a white, lavender and neon pink comforter with a giant unicorn on it.

I also have a thin, cotton patchwork quilt my grandmother made that I keep at his house because it is frequently cold there.

3/ What do you typically wear to bed? What do you wear when you sleepover at someone's house? Do you ever wear socks to bed?

An aged white cotton crew neck tee (washed soft) and black or grey cotton boxer briefs. Comfort is everything.

At someone else's place? Nothing, if I'm lucky. Otherwise, the same thing I wear at home.

Those of you who sleep in the nude? Thumbs up! I'm just not wired that way.

Socks are a no, unless it is below zero and my feet refuse to warm up. They are always ice cold in winter.

4/ Do you have a night-time, before-bed regimen? Moisturize? Shower?

I brush my teeth and gargle. Then I splash really hot water on my face three times. Wash my hands. Drink half a glass of water. Then I read for twenty minutes or so.

I shower if I'm going to bed after having been out for the evening.

I moisturize in the morning and wear it all day.

5/ Do you fall asleep to music? The sound of crickets? A white-noise machine?

When I was in my teens, I would fall asleep to music, wearing a pair of giant headphones. Typically, David Bowie's Low album. I also had an early James Newton Howard album that I loved.

Now? No. I listen too intently and always want to hear the end.

I like quiet. But my gas fireplace/stove has a fan that goes on and off all night in winter. I find it comforting.

At the boyfriends... he can't fall asleep unless there is a box fan running. He uses it like a white noise machine. I'm used to it now.

6/ Do you dream? Scary? Sexy? Reoccurring themes? Do you talk in your sleep?

I am a vivid dreamer. They are frequently quite detailed and in color.

Reoccurring themes: I am employed as a stage manager/assistant for either Bette Midler or Janis Ian, while they are on tour.

Janis is a doll to work for. Very kind. Very human. Always smiling and quick to laugh.

Bette is not. Enough said.

I love the excitement of being on tour and standing in the wings. All the logistics are fun, too.

Another reoccurring theme - I am a movie actor. The dreams are very scene specific, very plot-oriented. Sometimes I get to see the dailies and sometimes a rough cut. Sometimes we are working our way through a single scene.

I have appeared in all kinds of movies. I rather like them all, although the action/suspense films are always terribly exciting.

Okay, here's one: a period piece, where I am a ballroom dance instructor/dandy in the early 1900's, hired by the elderly widow (Lauren Bacall) of this very wealthy landowner (represented by a large portrait and portrayed by Rip Torn in flashbacks). I travel out to the family estate, which is lovely, but very, very remote. She has brought me there to teach her adult daughters how to conduct themselves at society balls and such. Her daughters are played by Madonna, Holly Hunter, and Courtney Love. While alive, their father forbid them to learn to dance or to be courted. He has kept them locked away on the estate all their lives. The entire estate is maintained by a female staff, with the exception of the Stable Master.

It's very obvious, to me, that all is not well in the house. There is an anger and disfunction that permeates the mortar, bubbles beneath the wallpaper. Madonna is a fierce, highly-skilled horse woman. She is short with people, brisk, brittle. Holly Hunter is a chemist and astronomer. Pinch-faced and disappointed by life, she asks nothing of it, except that it comply to the rules of science. And Courtney is a free-spirit and possibly mentally-ill. The father once permitted her to see Elenora Duse, on a trip to New York and she became somewhat obsessed. After her father's death, she ran away briefly to see Isadora Duncan perform and returned (under protest) enamored of her as well. This prompted the mother, who, we learn later, is gravely ill and worried that her daughters will never develop sensible lives for themselves (without a man), to hire me, a dandy, to instruct the daughters on how to behave and conduct themselves in high society.

There are tantrums and tears and physical fights. Intrigue, debauchery, revelations of incest, lesbianism and an unintentional ménage a trois color the proceedings. At one point, my character has had enough and is determined to leave, but I am blackmailed into remaining. That is also when the mother reveals her illness to me and her life story (Lauren Bacall received an academy award nomination for her role, but didn't win) and it changes my tune altogether. Which is odd, as she is the one who is blackmailing me into staying on. It all culminates with the ladies, accompanied by me, traveling to New York for their society debut; an evening fraught with drama, hijinks, humor and tragedy.

At the time of the films release, I do my best to smile and sell it. But I know then, and confess years later in an interview, that the film is terribly flawed, as the director's approach was schizophrenic, torn as he was between making a period drama, an homage to Ken Russell and/or a bit of a madcap comedy. It has its charms but was treated harshly by the critics.

And that's just one dream! There are tons of movies... in my dreams.

See? This is what happens when you spend your childhood alone, hiding in the basement, pretending. You develop an over-active imagination.

Truth is... I'm still trapped in the basement.

I also dream about houses, walking through their rooms, inhabiting them. I have retail dreams where I work for a chain of department stores. Sex dreams? On occasion I will find myself drawn into a scene where sex becomes something that is going to happen or something sexual, anyway. However, when it comes time to see the moneymaker in question? Poof. End of dream. So, yeah, no happy endings for this homo.

As for talking in my sleep. Yes. All the time. And when I was young I would sleep walk all the time. Tried to move our upright piano once. Mother sent me back to bed. I never woke up.

7/ What position do you typically sleep in? Side? Back? Stomach? Upside down?

I sleep on either side (telling!), curled-up in a semi-fetal position.

Safety.

8/ What time do you typically go to bed? For what reasons do you 'stay up' later than usual? How do you typically wake up? A gentle kiss? Alarm clock? Fire hose?

I never use an alarm clock. I always wake at 3:00 am and then 5:30 am.

Unless I am torn from sleep in the middle of the night by something.

Most recently, it is this four-foot tall boy-child with spikey hair who rushes up to the side of my bed and then stands there grinning, moving like he has slow-motion Parkinson's disease. He looks like he's been white-washed with a foamed-latte. He always makes me shriek and scream, "You, go away now!"

I start to try to go to bed a 9:00 pm. I always drop what I am doing and go to bed no later than 11:00 pm. If I am out on the town, which is rare, like once a year, I stay up late. On vacation? I still go to bed at my usual time - unless travelling alone. And then, eek... I am such a mess.

9/ Do you take naps during the day?

Not during the work week, but on weekends and holidays and vacation? Hell yeah!

I love them. I read until drowsy. And typically, I don't actually sleep, but skim, allowing my mind to wander where it will. All too frequently, that means dwelling on regrets and the like. Hate that. But, if I'm lucky, I turn on to some sexy thoughts. That keeps me entertained for the duration (typically 20-30 minutes).

Funny thing is, I am always out of sorts after a nap and it takes me a bit to pick up my day. That's why they are reserved for weekends and holidays.

10/ Oddest places you have fallen asleep? Pool-side? The movies? Work?

Work, for sure. Embarrassing, but it has happened. Just a moment of shutting my eyes and I am out. Fortunately, I am usually in one of those temp rooms with a door, so no one sees me with drool running down my face. Though, I wonder if I snore?

Otherwise, nothing comes to mind. Nothing inappropriate or fun.

I fell asleep on a trick once. He was kind and didn't wake me. I was embarrassed. It was after we'd done the deed, so he took it as a compliment.

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Well, that's enough of me.

Your turn! Leave your answers in the comments section or on your blog and post a link here. 

Until next time...

As, always... thanks for reading.

How Do You Sleep? - John Lennon

How Do You Sleep? - Sam Smith