what do dreams mean?

There have been books written about dreams, what they mean, their symbology, how to interpret them, etc. I find that they tend to come in cycles for me, at least when it comes to my recalling them the next morning. I'll go several days where they are fresh in my mind, and then longer periods in between when I have no memory of them whatsoever. If I weren't so lazy, it'd probably be worthwhile noting them down every time I can remember them.

I wonder if they have the same significance for everybody, or if their meaning is as individual as the people that have them. Most of mine are so nonsensical, I can't even begin to describe them even to myself. Others I can describe, although I don't understand what or wherefore, so to speak.

One particular dream that stands out in my memory involves a woman (she worked at a music store) I was crazy about years ago. I never wrote it down - until now that is. Unfortunately, waiting so long has cost me some of the details. I never so much as dated this woman, so it never got beyond the stage of an intense infatuation... it's a long, pathetic story. In any case, this dream remains a favorite:

She and I were together as I was driving my brother's old Nissan 260Z through the Sacramento foothills. The road was two-lane, a country feel as opposed to the freeway. We were the only ones riding around the golden hills until the source of conflict in this dream - a villain! I know it sounds a little bit lame to have a villain, especially this villain, but that's what happened. We drove around trying to get away, as we were being chased and harassed by this guy who was driving a semi-trailer. I can't even visualize if he was pulling anything or was just in the cab; all I remember is somehow being able to see who he was. Now this is a dream, so although our car was much, much lower to the ground than him, I was still able to get a good look at him: he was the villain from the movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, aka the Child Catcher! Don't ask me where I got the idea for this - believe me, I don't think about this guy much at all. Terrifying to be sure, but I don't recall thinking about him much after seeing the movie when I was a child until he appeared in this dream.

There was another part (after the villain had disappeared) where my girlfriend (yup, in this dream, she was my girlfriend) and I were standing in some large wood building observing an enterprise of some sort. It wasn't high industry, but more in keeping with being out in the country. Here's where I wish I had jotted it down sooner; I can't remember anything more than standing there with her and making some sort of comment about how pretty she was as we talked with somebody.

There was another dream that involved this girl and racing around in a car, but this one featured the stock car driver Bobby Labonte. I can't remember any details, but Bobby was not a villain or anything!

As much time as I spent thinking about this girl, there were just a handful of dreams of mine that she was in. I suppose she was such a part of my daydreams, there was no reason for her to be a part of my nighttime dreams too.