I suspect the Golden Compass has driven into my subconscious -

Not saying that's a bad thing, I'm just saying ... I picked stones out of the dish on a friend's table tonight and started examining them closely. I decided that I would look for symbols and read them, which makes me think of Lyra and the alethiometer, except I sort of felt like I was reading my past and not what's to come. Then, the symbols became difficult to interpret, meaning couched in subterfuge. Here is what I thought I saw and how I chose to interpret it ...

An hourglass (Tm) - seagulls (a voyage ... overseas) [...] a beach (land)
something small giving way to something much bigger (into the unknown?) -
caught between 2 spheres of existence (somehow familiar, oh yes) -/-
follow the horizon ...
a period of darkness (doubt and despair?)
* an opening *
a head with mane of fire (enlightenment, realization)
- a bear & an arrow's head -

And I stopped there. It's good to know how to keep your mind busy, even if it doesn't seem to have an obvious purpose. Thinking for thinking's sake can be a good thing. Maybe?

But sleep is also important.

Mmmmmm, sleep ...