Hey, First Anniversary of the Highest-Ever Dow!

That’s right, it was on October 9, 2007, exactly one year ago, that the Dow reached 14,164 — and since then, real horror.

But if it’s any consolation, in the year 1896, the Dow lost 30% of its value over the summer and was at one point at a mere 28.48, so let us not forget we’re still lucky to live in the twenty-first century.

But you know, this being the Month of Horror and all, maybe instead of offering reassuring thoughts, I should be trying to scare you witless (despite the day job). Toward that end, I’m tempted once again to push my idea (or incipient film treatment?) of a “nightmare club” — people who deliberately try to induce in themselves the worst dreams possible and then compare notes.

As noted in a prior entry, my capacity for nightmares diminishes with age, but it wasn’t so long ago I knew that just by thinking about the potential for nightmares as I fell asleep I increased the odds of them occurring. Now, my subconscious is normally so complacent, I think I’d really have to work at it.

I don’t have all that much control over my dreams normally, but one pattern I have noticed is this: My dreams become more complicated when my day is less complicated, which is a bit counterintuitive — less like sorting the events of the day, more like compensating for boredom and keeping me mentally active or something, which is nice.

The real formula for weirdness, though, seems to be anxiety + boredom + cold medication + sleeping in midday. Thus the bureaucracy and Gingrich dreams noted a few days ago, for example.

UPDATE: On a brighter note, here’s an example of technology helping us cope with the size of the federal government’s obscene debt.