Visiting Arizona

Dream

I’m going down to Arizona to see some family. Apparently, my route takes me through some caves. Someone has told me (possibly my Aunt Joni) that in these caves is a special type of rock that can add a nice flavor to chewing gum (huh?), so I stop to check this out. The mineral in question is a kind of marbled blue stone that makes up one wall of the cave. I clean off a section of wall (rub any loose dirt off anyway), and stick a piece of lightly chewed gum to it. The flavor takes a while to soak in so I'll have to come back for the gum later. I make my way through the rest of the cave and find an old truck parked at the exit. It is a two door junker, and has right hand drive. I get in and start heading down some country roads to get to meet up with my relatives. I’m having a real hard time driving the truck. Being on the wrong side is throwing me off, and I’m having a hard time hitting the pedals. They seem to be set up for use with the left foot, and even when I can find them the breaks are fairly worthless (bad breaks seem to be a common occurrence in my dreams). I hear the approaching sirens of an ambulance but struggle to pull over. I end up driving on the shoulder and just coast to slow down since I can’t get the breaks to work. A second ambulance passes me and the process is repeated. I eventually meet up with my cousin Harrison (a younger cousin) and my uncle Loose (his actual name is Roger, but Loose is much more fitting). I ditch my old truck and Loose drives us into Phoenix. He complains about the traffic and how long it takes to drive through town. He makes a comment that if you’re going to attempt the trip you should bring a change of clothes because it'll take more than a day. The 20 mile trip does end up taking us into the night so we eventually stop driving. We walk downtown and all of the sidewalks are packed with people. Loose tells Harrison to stay put while he and I continue, but Harrison doesn’t comply (I agree with him since it was so crowded that we would never be able to find him again). We end up going into a bar and Loose offer to get us both sodas (I don’t drink and Harrison is underage). He is given a receipt for the drinks and he puts it into his pocket with an exaggerated gesture and say “for my records” in a sarcastic manner.

Analysis

I do have family that lives in Arizona during the winter, so that’s a thing. I’ve never heard of rocks that could add flavor to gum (it would be hilariously stupendous if real), and have never had to pilot a right hand drive vehicle.

Bad breaks seem to show up in my dreams after I drive on snow, and are probably just symptoms of the anxiety that this can produce. Losing control of a fast moving vehicle is not something that outright terrifies me, but I don’t relish the thought either. Pulling over for ambulances is another driving related uneasiness of mine, since I always worry that I won’t get out of the way fast enough.

I live in a part of the country where traffic jams don’t really exist, so I’m not sure where that part of the dream comes from. It merged right into the busy sidewalks which are another thing I’ve never experienced. As a big fan of personal space, I can’t say that I ever want to.

The attempt to get Harrison to stop and wait for us is unfathomable to me, both in the dream and out. It may have been because he didn’t want to take him into the bar, but no one seemed to mind when we got there. The sodas seemed to imply that neither Harrison nor I were very good drinking partners, but I liked the joke about the receipt. I’m pretty sure that a purchase should have to be over $20 to involve a receipt, and even then I rarely see the point.

Auguries

Always carry a change of clothes. Also gum.

Driving with Dad

Date Dreamed: 2014-02-15

Dream

I’m riding in a car while my dad drives. By driving, I mean that he is doing some intense rallycross on dirt roads through forested hills, complete with plenty of power sliding and Scandinavian flicks. I’m reading a new Neal Stephenson novel. The characters work in L.A. and they are name dropping all the famous people they have worked with. An Iva is mentioned, and I get excited because I think it’s an Iva Davies reference. I’m super impressed that the book would mention one of my obscure interests. Dad is getting increasingly wild with his driving and we are sliding off the trail and bumping into a few trees. We are in a Ford Escape which I used to drive for work, and I hated it, so I don’t care that we are causing damage to the vehicle. I continue reading and find out that Iva is actually some woman who I’ve never hear of. All my happy feelings about obscure references relevant to my interests are shattered. At this point we start sliding out of control, spin around and crash into a tree backwards, and then somehow hit another tree going forwards. Black smoke can be seen billowing out of the hood and we are worried that we may have broken the car. The vehicle is pointed down an incline and we both get out to push it away from the tree. My dad has me get in and hold down the brakes so it won’t roll forward while he inspects the front end. The dream ends while I’m pressing the brake pedal to the floor with both feet, hoping they don’t give out.

Context Explanations

I’m currently reading Reamde by Neil Stephenson, and am a fan of Icehouse, whose lead singer is Iva Davies.

Plot Holes

I’m unsure how we were able to smash both the back and front ends of the vehicle in one crash. It is also impressive that I was able to read a book while engaging in motor sport.

Erection?

Wreckingly Yes

Analysis

I am practically obsessed with obscure references. I do things like watch movies, just so I can understand references from other movies. I dislike “popular at the moment” references. Celebrity worship or corporate aggrandizement are things I just can’t stand. In the book Reamde there are a lot of references to things like Google and World of Warcraft that I find kind of annoying. Sure they help establish the story in our current world, but I’m not sure if that is a good thing. For one, it really dates a piece of work so that it will be harder to understand outside of the time it was written. These references also carry a lot of context from experiences of my own life, which I feel can damage the story. I prefer books that exist in their own world. Building unique and interesting worlds is what I like so much about science fiction and fantasy, and if I want to hear stories based in the world I live in I can just read the news. All the rally driving stuff might be based on some of the reckless driving I used to do on dirt roads while working. I never got too crazy in the Escape, but I ended up in the ditch a couple times with our Impala (which was another vehicle I didn’t like that much).

Auguries

Letting someone else steer my path could lead to problems.