Last night I had a very involved, incredibly realistic dream that involved Amanda Palmer, Milwaukee Road rail yard in Milwaukee and music classes. I was listening to the John Williams soundtrack from the movie Minority Report while I fell asleep.

The dream started out with me sitting in a university class, something having to do with the music business, social media and tour management. Amanda Palmer was an obvious choice for teaching this sort of class. Just look at how effective she is at wrangling a fan base and keeping track of the many projects she’s always involved in.

I was sitting in this classroom with about a dozen other musicians and these are all people I’ve played in various bands with at different times of my life. It’s essentially a different take on my repeating dream of being back in high school or college on the first day of class, can’t find my way around, etc. But this twist included one of my favorite musicians. After class Amanda and I went for a walk around campus and eventually ended up at what today is the old rail yard of The Milwaukee Road in Milwaukee, where I live.

But the yard had been rebuilt for today’s locomotives and trains but was also running steam engines. We snuck in through an unguarded gate and walked around. At this point Amanda climbs on my back so I’m carrying her around but she doesn’t weigh anything. We’re chatting about her reunion and tour with Dresden Dolls and the project she just finished recording a high school student’s compositions.

It turns out though that Amanda is really very ill, she won’t talk about it and just wants to keep riding on my back as I walk through the Milwaukee Road yard talking music. Eventually a guard stops us and Amanda sweet-talks our way out a gate. We keep walking and begin to discuss projects we could work on together.

So does this mean I have a music crush on Amanda Palmer? Is it a prophecy of working together with her? Or did John Williams’ dark film score simply let my mind wander?