that might explain why I dream a lot: I split my sleep up into
   two segments - about 3-3.5 hrs once I'm exhausted at sunrise,
   and then a little bit in late afternoon for the same period of
   time. It's a weird sleep schedule but I like it. I get my full
   time in each day. But likely a consequence of staying awake a
   lot (plus lots of coffee) is vivid dreams. I enjoy my dreams; I
   especially like when i wake up and I can lay there for a few
   seconds and try to both make sense of "what the dream was" and
   ALSO trying to tie the dream back into various things I
   saw/heard/experienced from the previous awake-period. They're
   metaphorical connections, but dreams speak in very personal
   metaphors.