In May, according to the US Boring Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of unemployed persons living in the land known as the USA increased by 787,000 to 14.5 million, and the unemployment rate rose to 9.4 percent. Since the start of “the recession” in December 2007, the number of unemployed persons has risen by 7.0 million, and the unemployment rate has grown by 4.5 percent-age points.

“There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” – Mark Twain

As the out-of-work scenario bombards the landscape, the miseries of job hunting, resume writing, and searching for employment threaten to drag even the most cheerful among us down into the gutters of miserablism, where we are expected to become even more compliant boot-licking wage-slaves. It would be nice to not have to work for these meager wages; unfortunately, for those of us that are not involved in banking crimes, wageslavery is really the only game in town. Without it, when we are unable to rent ourselves out, we can easily fall face down into a nasty gutter. So in response to all these hideous economic downturns, I invite artists to create alternative dream resumes or CVs.The Dream CV is not a resume or curriculum vitae for your dream job (although I do wish all of you and myself the best of luck finding that); rather, it is a visual statement showing the marvelous accomplishments that you have made while dreaming. These fantastic Dream Deeds are vital to our individual wellbeing and imaginary wealth. Rather than just being an escape mechanism, the Dream CV is our most important survival tool. Sleepless nights can rob us of some of our most amazing feats. While the sleepless person may try to collect dream compensation from the US Bureau of Insomnia, there is no waking equivalent to a good night’s rest. A dream can take you to a world where you slink through an underwater maze of neon jellyfish in love, only to suddenly and magically escape through a secret trap door to a picnic with raccoons in the hospital of wounded stars. If, while sleeping, you grow giant wings and soar over the tops of foothills equipped with giant razor-sharp teeth— escaping the clutches of a 12-headed bloody teratoma or simply as a tiny, one-celled animal winding through a maze of squiggly lines—this is quite an accomplishment, completely deserving of a visual mention on your Dream Cur-Ridiculum. These dream accomplishments can help to show us not only the cracks in the system, but also various tunnels leading out of wage-slavery. A warning: Make sure that you are not just part of someone else's dream. Such is the case with wage-slavery. You get a job, begin to identify with your job and your company, and then suddenly you are your job. Your own dreams have vanished into thin air. In no time, They have you believing that their dream/nightmare is really your own dream. Such dream-conformity is highly rewarded by the company – until they toss you out with a pink slip. Now that the economy and the job market are completely ruined, it is the perfect time to reclaim our own dreams. That wonderful, playful world that you knew as a child – before the classroomprison or company-prison robbed you of your imagination – well, it only seems to be gone. You may have substituted the conformist, company dream/nightmare for your own true desires, but your authentic dreamscape can be found again and reclaimed, if you think back to the earliest times in your life. It is still there. Perhaps it’s a little battered and bruised and covered with corporate crap, but it is still there, deep down inside of you. Feel free to write, paint, glue or draw; to use any crazy dream material that you wish! And if you are one of those unfortunate people who cannot seem to remember their dreams, I would recommend stopping at the moment that you awake to take down some notes or scribble some shapes. Also, feel free to make your dreams up, because who can ever really know what you dream, except yourself ? Recommended reading while preparing your Dream CV: I first encountered the dastardly Bureau of Insomnia while reading the book (An Open Entrance To The Shut Palace Of) Wrong Numbers (2003) by the late Franklin Rosemont, 1943-2009: Surrealist poet, labor historian. RIP. by Renay Kerkman