Stargazing in my Sleep

Last night I had my 82nd recorded “celebrity guest appearance” in a dream. That’s right—I’ve had dreams about at least 82 celebrities over the years. And that’s a low estimate, because not only do I usually count rock bands as just one entity, but I also took a six-year hiatus from keeping track of what superstars made a dream appearance. Furthermore, I don’t count dreams wherein I see a celebrity on TV or something—they must “really be there” just as if I were keeping a list of celebrity sightings in the real world.

For the record, I don’t know why I so often dream about celebrities. While I have a decent interest in pop culture, I’m not a celebrity hound. I don’t read the tabloids or watch shows like Entertainment Tonight. I don’t obsess over anyone famous. I wouldn’t even want to bother meeting most celebrities. I’ve seen a very unimpressive handful of them in real life, but not once did the experience thrill me. The most excited I’ve been is at a rock concert, and that was purely for the music. Seeing the band in-and-of itself didn’t do anything for me.

It wasn’t until the last year or so that I started recording details about what the celebrities were actually doing in my dreams. This means that, at this point, I don’t even remember dreaming about several of the people on my list. Nevertheless, they are there. Also, don’t assume I was dreaming anything wacky about any of these people, even when their personalities or reputations might prompt such ideas (Monica Lewinsky, for example). Plenty of the celebrities that have appeared in my dreams are not ones in which I have the slightest bit of interest. Why my brain chose to cast them in supporting roles is beyond me.

And so, for nothing more than pure curiosity’s sake, here is my most recent list of celebrity guest appearances—including one fictional character (Freddy Krueger)—but without the details of those dreams (which would simply prove too lengthy a post). They are listed in chronological order, with repeat visitors being listed according to their initial appearance. When I began my list about eight years ago, I did not include the dates of the dreams. This information appears only on the last 30 or so entries. Also, the earliest celebrities listed were taken from memory at the time I created the list, and thus occurred more than eight years ago. Enjoy!

1. The cast from Growing Pains
2. Freddy Krueger
3. Bill Murray
4. Eddie Van Halen (thrice)
5. Marilyn Manson
6. John Travolta (twice)
7. Jonathan Taylor Thomas
8. John Malkovich (twice)
9. George Clooney
10. Chris O’Donnell
11. Paul McCartney
12. Howard Stern
13. Anna Paquin
14. Hanson
15. Tom Hanks
16. The Rolling Stones
17. Kevin Spacey (twice)
18. Jim Carrey
19. Pamela Anderson Lee (apparently this occurred when she was still with Tommy)
20. Valerie Bertanelli
21. Tom Cruise (twice)
22. Bridget Fonda
23. Skeet Ulrich
24. Dave Matthews
25. Martin Scorsese
26. Roger Ebert
27. Jewel
28. Jeff Goldblum (twice)
29. French Stewart
30. David Arquette
31. Kevin Costner
32. Michael J. Fox (twice)
33. Jodie Foster
34. Martha Stewart
35. David Cassidy
36. Michael Jordan
37. Cast of The Real World: San Francisco
38. Jerry Seinfeld (thrice – ?, ?, 8/08/99)
39. Neve Campbell
40. Lacey Chabert
41. Debbie Gibson (twice)
42. Blues Traveler (twice)
43. David Duchovny
44. Billy Corgan
45. Drew Barrymore
46. John Cusack (twice – ?, 08/28/99)
47. Burt Reynolds
48. Billy Bob Thornton
49. Samuel L. Jackson
50. Rosie O’Donnell
51. David Schwimmer
52. Monica Lewinsky (twice)
53. Catherine Zeta-Jones
54. Howie Mandel – 10/21/98
55. David Letterman
56. Anne Heche – 12/05/98
57. Robert Plant – 12/05/98
58. Jimmy Page – 12/05/98
59. Sheryl Crow – 12/07/98
60. Drew Carey – 12/08/98
61. Barenaked Ladies (twice – 12/14/98, 08/29/99)
62. Mark Paul Gosselar – 2/1/99
63. James Van Der Beek – 2/1/99
64. Britney Spears – 5/14/99
65. John Flansburgh (of They Might Be Giants) – 6/06/99
66. Scott Foley – 7/7/99
67. Jordana Brewster – 7/10/99
68. Christopher Guest – 9/11/99
69. They Might Be Giants (twice – 9/20/99, 9/24/99; see also #65 above)
70. Dan Aykroyd – 9/20/99
71. James Cameron – 10/13/99
72. Chuck Berry – 10/13/99
73. Larry David – sometime in early 2005
74. Fred Willard 11/14/2005 (I wrote about this one here.)
75. Bruce Willis – 11/20/2005
76. John C. McGinley (from Scrubs) – 12/01/2005
77. Sarah Jessica Parker – 12/22/2005
78. Zach Braff – 02/12/2006
79. Jack Johnson – 03/03/2006
80. Mandy Moore – 03/03/2006
81. Katie Holmes – 03/26/2006
82. The White Stripes – 04/03/2006