In "It's All Part of My Rock and Roll Dream," Tim Lemire writes:

"Determining what dreams mean is an inexact science, but not one bereft of logic and sense. If, like me, you consistently dream of celebrities -- in my case, mostly musicians and actors -- chances are good you are an ambitious person, driven to aspire, and the celebrities who appear in your dreams are people with whom you identify. Either you see yourself as being like them, or you desire to become like them.

"I don't know how many people dream of celebrities (evidently, not enough to keep Gary Socol’s 1997 collection, Julia Roberts on Mars: And Other Dreams About Celebrities, in print), but I would suspect it would be hard not to dream about them, given how our entertainment culture pushes celebrities on us at every turn, heralding Bono as an international statesman, Ethan Hawke as a novelist, and Arnold Schwarzenegger as a politician.

"We wear J. Lo's clothing, we eat from George Foreman's grill or at Dick Clark's restaurants, we read Oprah-certified books, we apply Michael Jordan's cologne, and we sleep on Martha Stewart's sheets.

"Ah, to sleep. Perchance to dream. About Martha Stewart.

"Or Sting, or Yoko."

Click here to read the full article or reply to this post to discuss celebrity dreams.

I used to dream about the Clintons (everyone -- including Socks!) -- but back to that in a minute.

I truly appreciated Tim Lemire's piece. Our celebrity fantasies have a great deal to tell about us. I would only add that no only do our dreams have personal meaning but they have a larger, social-historical meaning as well. They tell about the dominant values and influences of a particular place and time. Of course, that's even more difficult to figure out than the personal stuff -- but it's still there.

So back to the Clintons. I read an article that a large number of people frequently report dreaming about the First Family -- whoever they are. In my case, I saw their manifestation, especially a warm and fuzzy Bill, not only as representative of my personal longing for sensitive parents and siblings but also as representative of our national mythology of the president -- as a father figure who guides us all. Little did I know that all the time Bill was dreaming about other things ...

I'm really envious of Tom Lemire. He has these exciting dreams involving cultural icons while all my dreams involve one of the following:failing the final exam for a class I never attended;going to work without wearing any clothes;or driving the wrong way on a four lane highway. For writing such a funny and clever piece he deserves to be able to get on the stage with Aerosmith or argue with Martha.

I don't know about that. The pressure to do good on the scale of the most talented people you admire must be difficult to withstand.

I'd agree with Anonymous's post, and I'd add that such pressure may be impossible to withstand. Personally, my goals aren't to replicate or rival the success of the celebrities I dream about -- see my comment vis the Aerosmith dream that the size of the stage may not matter. I believe what's important about experience, to quote David Mamet's character Don in "American Buffalo," is: "Can you deal with it, and can you learn from it?" I suggest there is more to learn from fanciful dreams than meets the eye.