Tomorrow is today's dream.
October 15, 2009 9:47 AM   Subscribe

If it could be anywhere in the world, where would you wish to wake up tomorrow? This was the question asked to people on the streets of London and Brooklyn. Some of the answers are mundane, some are beautiful. What would yours be?

Previously, they asked a different question in New Orleans and New York.
posted by dnesan (93 comments total) 8 users marked this as a favorite
 
Toronto. That's why I moved here.
posted by setanor at 9:51 AM on October 15, 2009 [2 favorites]


Since tomorrow is Friday, I'd wish to wake up in Dublin, Ireland. 'Cause there's an awesome traditional singing session at the Teacher's Club in Parnell square on Friday nights called "An Goilin".
posted by LN at 9:52 AM on October 15, 2009


In my home, with my wife and my child near me.
posted by cavalier at 9:56 AM on October 15, 2009 [3 favorites]


Toronto, that's why we're moving there.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 9:58 AM on October 15, 2009


For me it would be "on a pile of cash in Fiji." I think I fit the boring or mundane category.

Lunch partner says, "Anywhere. Long as it's spooning Beth." Sap.
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 9:58 AM on October 15, 2009


At the point in Earth's rotation commensurate with it being several hours later than the time I usually have to get up for work.

My cat may have other ideas.
posted by Joe Beese at 9:59 AM on October 15, 2009 [3 favorites]


"In a pink bubble above the clouds filled with ping pong balls."

That, and these videos, are insanely charming. Thank you.
posted by jaduncan at 10:01 AM on October 15, 2009


I'd wake up on a remote island far from "civilization" -- various fantasies place me on St. Helena, the Faeroes, the Shetlands, Svalbard, Jan Mayen, or on a less remote note, Gotland ..... then again, I'd probably miss a lot of the conveniences and other things that make living in a city exciting, so if I had to pick one city off the top of my head, it'd be Berlin or Vienna, because I've never been to either.

On another note: setanor and Ruthless Bunny, I envy you!
posted by blucevalo at 10:02 AM on October 15, 2009


Anywhere where it's not gray and raining and cold.
posted by The Whelk at 10:02 AM on October 15, 2009


It would be much more interesting for them to ask these questions of people who live in parts of the world whose general population is trying to flee, such as the rust belt and rural midwest in the U.S., or the residents of Tuvalu.
posted by ardgedee at 10:03 AM on October 15, 2009 [1 favorite]


The thing is, if I woke up tomorrow in London or Brooklyn I'd be very happy about it. D.C. is just nasty this week. Maybe it's the same in NY and the UK - I don't know. But I do know that if I woke up in Brooklyn or London, I'd at least be in Brooklyn or London.
posted by Navelgazer at 10:13 AM on October 15, 2009


I guess it depends on the weather.
posted by localhuman at 10:14 AM on October 15, 2009


April, 1996.
posted by crush-onastick at 10:15 AM on October 15, 2009 [1 favorite]


I also envy setanor and Ruthless Bunny, as I had to move away from Toronto and my loved ones for grad school, and am now eagerly awaiting a chance to move back.

It would be much more interesting for them to ask these questions of people who live in parts of the world whose general population is trying to flee, such as the rust belt and rural midwest in the U.S., or the residents of Tuvalu.

I think it would be interesting, but it might well end up a bit distasteful unless done really well. I think I'd have a hard time going to places where people were struggling so much, armed with a video camera, just to ask them what they would do if they they could get out of this awful place.
posted by dnesan at 10:15 AM on October 15, 2009


In a literally randomized land-based geo-location, with no memory of the last few days, no wallet or cell phone, a geo-coordinate freshly tattoed on my arm, and a watch-timer counting down from 72 hours. No other available information.

Anyone who says they wouldn't think that was awesome is a filthy liar.
posted by TimeTravelSpeed at 10:16 AM on October 15, 2009 [22 favorites]


Toronto, apparently.
posted by cmoj at 10:20 AM on October 15, 2009 [5 favorites]


In some highly secure, high-profile place with lots of cameras, like some part of the White House where it's verifiably impossible to infiltrate but (and this is the key point) security would be likely to ask questions before shooting.

Living the rest of my life as a guinea pig would be small potatoes compared to radically redefining modern physics.
posted by gurple at 10:20 AM on October 15, 2009


Did I somehow stumble into a Facebook survey?
posted by JaredSeth at 10:22 AM on October 15, 2009 [1 favorite]


Everywhere. Given the choice, I'd like to experience what everyone is experiencing all at once everywhere[1]. Being one person blows.

[1]: Okay, given the choice I'd like to experience every potential thing that could possibly be experienced by anyone anywhere. So I guess the short answer is "I'd like to be inside a rilly good quantum computer."[a]

[a]: Failing that, Brooklyn. That's why I moved here.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 10:23 AM on October 15, 2009 [2 favorites]


I would wake up next to my sweetheart, who is in the military and stationed overseas, and whom I have not been able to see or talk to on a regular basis for the past two years. Except after he was injured in Afghanistan, and I went to Walter Reed and slept in hospital rooms and outpatient facilities and whatnot. Okay, now I'm sad.
posted by the littlest brussels sprout at 10:23 AM on October 15, 2009 [4 favorites]


Living the rest of my life as a guinea pig would be small potatoes compared to radically redefining modern physics.

The stars, my itinerary.
posted by The Whelk at 10:23 AM on October 15, 2009


eh... Toronto's OK, we're happy here, but tomorrow it would be kinda nice to wake up in Nice (France). Just for a week.

I can has vaykayshun, pleez?
posted by Artful Codger at 10:24 AM on October 15, 2009 [1 favorite]


Toronto, apparently.

We're currently accepting U.S. refugee claims.
posted by gman at 10:25 AM on October 15, 2009 [1 favorite]


I would also wake up next to my sweetheart. The rest is just details. I guess "the moon" doesn't count as "in the world" huh?
posted by jessamyn at 10:26 AM on October 15, 2009 [1 favorite]


... actually, no, wait. Toronto. Who am I to disagree?
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 10:26 AM on October 15, 2009


May, 1987. But only if I could keep all of my current knowledge about a) the choices I've made between then and now, and b) the ability to get that new-fangled Prozac prescribed for me, instead of someone finally figuring out that I needed it in 1995.
posted by tzikeh at 10:28 AM on October 15, 2009 [1 favorite]


anyplace except Toronto, it's going to be too damn crowded there....
posted by HuronBob at 10:28 AM on October 15, 2009 [7 favorites]


I guess "the moon" doesn't count as "in the world" huh?

Wait, I thought we blew that up last week.
posted by the littlest brussels sprout at 10:29 AM on October 15, 2009


Colorado, my parent's house. I haven't seen them since last year and I want to hug them more than anything.
posted by cristinacristinacristina at 10:32 AM on October 15, 2009


Jodhpur. Yep.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 10:35 AM on October 15, 2009


In a cozy log cabin surrounded by pine trees, somewhere in the Whitefish, Montana region.
posted by mr_crash_davis mark II: Jazz Odyssey at 10:38 AM on October 15, 2009 [2 favorites]


Barcelona, Spain.

I've never been there, but could use a vacation right now. Superlative food, mind-boggling architecture, fascinating history, rich art tradition. What more could you want?
posted by annsunny at 10:43 AM on October 15, 2009 [2 favorites]


In a fully modernized castle in Wales, with the deed to the place in my name next to me.

A castle in Scotland or Ireland would also be acceptable.

Failing that, Toronto would be okay.
posted by Caduceus at 10:44 AM on October 15, 2009 [1 favorite]


In my boyfriend's bed. But, in general, right here in New York, which is why I moved have lived here my entire life. I wouldn't mind Tokyo though, it's the one major place that interests me greatly that I haven't been to yet.
posted by cmgonzalez at 10:45 AM on October 15, 2009


The closest life-sustaining planet to Earth
posted by thewittyname at 10:47 AM on October 15, 2009 [2 favorites]


kalamazoo michigan duh
posted by Baby_Balrog at 10:48 AM on October 15, 2009


I'm fine where I am, but I would have no problem waking up in my own house on piles of $100 bills instead of my old futon. If Johnny Depp was asleep next to me, that would also be okay.
posted by mygothlaundry at 10:48 AM on October 15, 2009


Toronto. That's why I have turned my apartment into a scale model of Toronto, to tide me over while I develop my virtual-reality eyewear system that enables me to pretend that I'm in Toronto, no matter where I really am.
posted by game warden to the events rhino at 10:49 AM on October 15, 2009 [3 favorites]


orbiting a small planet in the vicinity of Betelgeuse.
posted by DreamerFi at 10:49 AM on October 15, 2009


I will wake up in heaven, but it will be a heaven tailor-made for me, in which I have a. absolute power over space and time and b. a pocket full of regenerating joints. I will travel through space and time, getting ripped and watching history.
posted by Darth Fedor at 10:50 AM on October 15, 2009


I'd like to wak up in a chatty MeFi FPP.
posted by fixedgear at 10:51 AM on October 15, 2009 [1 favorite]


I'd like to "wake up" safe in my bed with my sweetie.

But I'd like to "come to" in a penthouse suite overlooking Central Park surrounded by piles
of hookers and blow.

You gotta have dreams.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 10:52 AM on October 15, 2009 [7 favorites]


On a scale from 1 to awesome, Toronto is awesome.
posted by chunking express at 10:53 AM on October 15, 2009 [1 favorite]


Everyone's missing the point. The question is not "where on the world," rather, it's "where in the world."

I choose the lower mantle.
posted by not_on_display at 10:53 AM on October 15, 2009 [2 favorites]


Then I change my answer to Hawaii.
posted by jessamyn at 10:56 AM on October 15, 2009 [2 favorites]


Everyone's missing the point.

Everyone indeed.
posted by gman at 11:01 AM on October 15, 2009


When I read this question I immediately thought Kabul, Afghanistan. I have no clue as to why. That kid in NY who gave the graveyard got me in the heart with that one.
posted by Rubbstone at 11:07 AM on October 15, 2009


1985, with my parents, in the bed I was conceived in. I used to sometimes sleep naked with them as a child, and I never appreciated their bodies, that context, and myself as a product of their relationship. I can get all the sex, drugs, and tropical islands I want in this life, if I try, but 1985 must always remain beyond reach. I'm probably taking this too seriously, however.
posted by Sova at 11:19 AM on October 15, 2009


We're expecting a high of 6ºC (43ºF) tomorrow. Chance of rain or snow in the morning.
So maybe wait till spring.
posted by Kabanos at 11:20 AM on October 15, 2009


Chicago, although I'd want to drive back to Peoria regularly for my RPG groups.
posted by Halloween Jack at 11:22 AM on October 15, 2009 [1 favorite]


South Island NZ, with the means to live modestly but without major hardship.. and yeah, no internet.
posted by edgeways at 11:25 AM on October 15, 2009


Took me a long looong time to get to LondonTown, and I am not going anywhere. No siree.
Cold, dirty and crowded? Could be - it works for me. Happy where I am - although you guys are really making me curious about Toronto.
posted by MessageInABottle at 11:30 AM on October 15, 2009


We're currently accepting U.S. refugee claims.

If only that were true.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 11:41 AM on October 15, 2009 [1 favorite]


In my home, with my wife and my child near me.

I don't even need my home. As long as my wife and daughter are there, everything is good.

If we all get to go together, yeah, I'd say Maui. Woody Harrelson's commune would be great.

Woody, are you there? Can we come?
posted by mrgrimm at 11:43 AM on October 15, 2009


Is waking up optional?
posted by Thorzdad at 11:49 AM on October 15, 2009


I would wake up in a bower of tender ivy shoots, located in the middle of a large English estate's neatly kept woody parkland.
posted by cowbellemoo at 11:52 AM on October 15, 2009


Two bites into a bacon egg hash and cheese on a kaiser roll, somewhere in lower Manhattan, remarkably clear-headed for 6 AM and looking forward to a long weekend.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 12:08 PM on October 15, 2009 [2 favorites]


Alternately: deep in the grasp of frozen pines
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 12:11 PM on October 15, 2009


I would want to wake up just in front of the dark throne of the arch enemy I never had. He would be a bit surprised and say, "oh, how did you come to appear so suddenly in the heights of my dark spire with your pajamas on?" And I'd be all like, "Well, I don't really know, arch enemy, but I suppose now we can have that fight we've always wanted." Then we'd fight. And it would be glorious.
posted by Mister Cheese at 12:31 PM on October 15, 2009 [5 favorites]


Anywhere, as long as I can go back to sleep afterward.
posted by punchdrunkhistory at 12:52 PM on October 15, 2009


At the Ritz Paris in the Coco Chanel Suite. With bags of money.
posted by Go Banana at 12:53 PM on October 15, 2009


in the gutter somewhere with the back of my head missing

well, look, someone's got to keep that meme going
posted by pyramid termite at 12:59 PM on October 15, 2009


Then we'd fight. And it would be glorious.

Like the Skelator / Dolph Lundgren fight at the end of Masters of the Universe? (It still trips me out that dude has a masters in Chem Eng and gave up a Fulbright Scholarship to make shitty action films.)
posted by chunking express at 1:04 PM on October 15, 2009


I've changed my vote again: here.
posted by jessamyn at 1:10 PM on October 15, 2009 [2 favorites]


Somewhere cold and dark, just like my heart.
posted by Rangeboy at 1:30 PM on October 15, 2009


***Looks out window***

I'm in luck!
posted by Rangeboy at 1:30 PM on October 15, 2009


Same as this morning...Brighton, UK.

I get to finish negotiations on a flat in a great building on the seafront where I will live with my girlfriend. Then we're out in town with some of my favourite people for a friend's birthday. I'm happy...
posted by i_cola at 1:43 PM on October 15, 2009


Sometime in my early 20s, which was about 20 years ago now--long enough for me to suspect, or realize, that that's as good as it's gonna get for me. Alternatively, I wish I could erase the last 2-3 years and be back in my old house in my old town. (I was an idiot to leave.) Realistically, I want to wake up in a cute little bungalow in Denver, which is where I'm moving next if I can ever sell this damn house and leave this shitass town.

This answer is not funny or clever. Sorry.
posted by scratch at 1:45 PM on October 15, 2009


In a car, on a highway, driving into the dark warm narcotic American night with my one true love asleep in the passenger seat.

I've lived in Toronto.
posted by stuck on an island at 2:19 PM on October 15, 2009 [2 favorites]


Rome, Italy.
posted by SuzB at 2:39 PM on October 15, 2009


Let me be the first to mention Toronto...
posted by HuronBob at 2:45 PM on October 15, 2009


In a cabin in the redwoods, with a hot tub on the deck outside, a 10 minute walk from the beach, far enough away that a motorcycle ride into town is fun, but close enough that it's not a chore.

With my (non-existant) sweetie and a couple of cats.
posted by mollymayhem at 3:14 PM on October 15, 2009


As someone who is living in Toronto right now, are you guys crazy? It's colder outside than inside my fridge.

HK for me.
posted by tksh at 3:19 PM on October 15, 2009


Invercargill, because I have to fly there in November and although I can't wait to see the beauty of NZ, I am dreading the flight.
posted by Mental Wimp at 3:39 PM on October 15, 2009


Next to my wife is good. In Brighton is also good (that's where I live).

Tomorrow I will actually be waking up in a nice hotel room in Bristol, alone. But on Saturday, I will be waking up in the same place, with my wife next to me and with the kids back in Brighton with my sister for the weekend.
posted by athenian at 4:02 PM on October 15, 2009


In an experimental hot air-balloon. Failing that, the attic.

Too soon?
posted by honeydew at 4:21 PM on October 15, 2009 [2 favorites]


Let me be the first to mention Toronto...

Yeah, I was going to say Venice, but I thought it might be too pedestrian.

/rimshot
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 4:32 PM on October 15, 2009


Then we'd fight. And it would be glorious.

Like the Skelator / Dolph Lundgren fight at the end of Masters of the Universe? (It still trips me out that dude has a masters in Chem Eng and gave up a Fulbright Scholarship to make shitty action films.)


I can't really say, chunking express,. I've never seen Masters of the Universe. But if you're willing to help me out and become my arch enemy maybe I can understand what you mean when you force me to watch in your evil lair.

As for Mr. Lundgren and his forsaken Fulbright Scholarship... well, I guess all I can really speculate is that he'd rather wake up to making shitty actions films because he enjoyed it. Maybe he realized it doesn't matter the status of what you do so much as whether or not you enjoy it. To bring it back on topic: that's ultimately what my waking up desire is about. I could wake up one day as some super rich CEO or famed researcher or President but what's the use if I don't enjoy it? I've got a comfortable job, health insurance, and some other nice job benefits. But it's not the same as having an arch enemy to strive against. Doesn't that sound super fulfilling? Maybe acting in shitty movies is the most fulfilling thing in the world for Dolphy.

The nice thing is we get all sorts of chances to wake up where we want to. Until our dying day, there is another tomorrow to wake up in. It's the decisions you make today that will determine where in this world you'll watch the sun rise.
posted by Mister Cheese at 4:33 PM on October 15, 2009


Failing that, Dali, in Yunnan Province. Wake up, go down the street to get some of the best hash browns I've ever had in my life. Or maybe the french toast. At that little cafe where they let me choose the music because I was the only foreigner with a backpack who actually woke up early enough for breakfast.

Seriously, the french toast was perfect.
posted by Ghidorah at 5:51 PM on October 15, 2009


D'oh. Disregard the failing that. Editing skills poor. Just woke up in Chiba. Again.
posted by Ghidorah at 5:52 PM on October 15, 2009


17°30'57.67"S 149°49'20.45"W
posted by kitchenrat at 6:10 PM on October 15, 2009


I don't understand why Toronto is so envied.

I would love to wake up somewhere on a deserted Hawaiian beach with friends.
posted by mind2body at 6:30 PM on October 15, 2009


Invercargill, because I have to fly there in November and although I can't wait to see the beauty of NZ, I am dreading the flight.

The beauty of NZ is not to be found in Invercargill. It has that Innsmouth look.
posted by arruns at 6:58 PM on October 15, 2009


South Island NZ, with the means to live modestly but without major hardship.. and yeah, no internet.

Hah, I'm there already, but I have internet...

Invercargill, because I have to fly there in November and although I can't wait to see the beauty of NZ, I am dreading the flight.

Hmmm, Invercargill??? That's the armpit of NZ man.

As for me, I want to wake up in Prague tomorrow. Take the metro to Staromestske Namesti [OK, I know there's no metro there, get off at Namesti Republiky and walk], grab some breakfast in a cafe, then wander over the Vltava to Mala Strana, and gaze out over the city from Prazsky Hrad.

Whenever I'm there I think about how lucky the people who live there are, and then I remind myself that most of the people around me probably think the same about me.
posted by HiroProtagonist at 7:12 PM on October 15, 2009


I’d like to wake up in the future where humanity has grown and our differences are something to be celebrated and explored without fear. Somewhere where I can be in peace in my heart.

Barring that, on a Ducati Desmosedici with a racing gearbox and exhaust, doing 200 mph down Lake Shore Drive with the Chicago police chasing me. All of them.
If you can’t have peace, balls out speed can be a nice consolation.
posted by Smedleyman at 7:18 PM on October 15, 2009 [1 favorite]


club world, on approach to jfk.
posted by fightorflight at 7:27 PM on October 15, 2009


Minna no Tea Room, Tariki no Hongan Temple, Nekomi, Chiba, Japan.
posted by SPrintF at 7:47 PM on October 15, 2009


Gently rocking, on a well-stocked sailboat, at anchor in a harbour I can't identify and have no knowledge of.
posted by Kickstart70 at 8:30 PM on October 15, 2009 [1 favorite]


Just woke up in Chiba. Again.

You have my deepest condolences.

Minna no Tea Room, Tariki no Hongan Temple, Nekomi, Chiba, Japan.

Is that you, Keiichi?
posted by armage at 10:22 PM on October 15, 2009


Failing this--in bed with David Tennant.

Mmmmmm. He's so... Tennanty.
posted by tzikeh at 10:43 PM on October 15, 2009 [1 favorite]


In the middle of the Empty Quarter, watching the sun come up.
posted by ambient2 at 1:23 AM on October 16, 2009


Hmmm, Invercargill??? That's the armpit of NZ man.

But a great jumping off place for the Milford Track & Milford Sound, Mt. Aspiring, Franz Joseph Glacier the wine country, and more. So I got that going for me.
posted by Mental Wimp at 11:34 AM on October 16, 2009


Now that I've actually seen the video... Does everyone in London have that insane overabundance or freckles or was that just a really bizarre sample.
posted by kittyprecious at 2:28 PM on October 16, 2009


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