Thursday, May 31, 2007
Please spread these vids around!
If you're reading this, you know at least one person who rides a motorcycle. With that in mind, please spread the below vids around as much as possible. Awareness is a motorcyclist's best friend!
This is a PSA by New York's DMV.
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFXlOKcu2wM
This is a direct link to a PSA from the United Kingdom with the same basic principle.
http://home1.gte.net/res0ak9f/mc-crash2.mpg
Riders, it never hurts to spread the word that we're out there. As a new rider, these two vids more or less sum up my worst nightmare scenario. Remind everyone to watch for motorcycles and ride safe. :)
Labels: vids
Celebrity addiction
I've been seeing/hearing a lot about Lindsay Lohan and her DUI. According to the interweb, she has entered a rehab facility in LA where she will surely sober up, rediscover the joys of a sober life, and turn her life around. As Britney Spears and a bevy of other celebrities, athletes, and infamous characters have proven, rehabilitation has an incredibly high success rate...or not so much.
According to a study by Liverpool John Moores University, "The proportion of drug users who successfully completed treatment decreased from 5.8% in 1998 to 3.5% in 2002, but the proportion of drug users who came back to start treatment again after dropping out of treatment increased from 22.9% in 1998 to 48.6% in 2002." Source Not so encouraging, is it? Only 3.5% of the people entering British rehabilitation programs in 2002 successfully completely the program. That means 96.5% failed, with less than half of those returning at some point after dropping out to give it another go.
There's no doubt that addicts should seek a means of breaking their addictions. Addicts not only damage their bodies and ruin their lives, but they tend to take loved ones, and sometimes friends, down with them. Then there is the crime factor, as well as the intangible, social decay that cannot be measured, but should be pretty obvious to anyone who is paying attention.
What I find hard to understand is the addict's drive and motivation. Even at my lowest point, when I used to wake up every day wishing that I hadn't, there wasn't a time where I sought refuge in substances or behaviors. I didn't want to drink or screw my way to an escape from the pain. There was no need to run, because running only delayed the inevitable, i.e. facing your demons, crushing them, and moving on. My decision to dig in, face the ghosts that were haunting me, and systematically cut them out like a cancer was nothing special, it simply made the most sense. There was no need for anyone to hold my hand, or remind me that I was a good person, or provide me pills to numb the depression I was experiencing. Granted, I probably had it easier than some, but people like Lindsay Lohan certainly have not had a hard existence.
So why are we so forgiving of her ilk? Why is the general public so fascinated by someone who is so incredibly stupid, weak, and irrelevant? I am at a loss. People like the drama, I suppose. It seems that a certain subset of people enjoy drama and actively seek it out in their lives and in the lives of others. Everything becomes a dramatic event. Rather than focusing on finding ways to tranquility, they prefer the stress and distraction of a life imagined. And that is what drama is, for the most part, a product of our imaginations. In some ways we all fall prey to this desire for drama, I suppose, but I am trying hard to completely discard it from my life, as there really is no purpose in it.
Life is simple, so simple that it makes our interpretation of it seem absolutely absurd. Simply put, life does not give a shit about any of us. Hard times befall us all, and life's only concern is with its own perpetuation. What force perpetuates life? Strength. The strong overcome their struggles, while the weak succumb. The strong set their own path, while the weak seek ways to be carried forward. Life does not care about our feelings, our fears, our hopes, our dreams, as none of those purely cerebral experiences have any significance in the natural order. The only thing that matters is strength and weakness, as the strong will find a way while the weak will falter.
Of course, there are those who believe strength is a purely tangible, physical, or sociological phenomena, meaning they will seek to intimidate, manipulate, or exploit the weak. We need only look at social institutions like crime, corruption, and violence to see how this mindset manifests itself in a generic societal construct. But there will also be those who realize that true strength is mastering one's own life in a way that makes the things like intimidation, exploitation, and the like utterly pointless. These people will realize that strength is about the ability to persevere, to carry on, and ultimately, to transcend the confines of physical existence. It is in all of us to be one of those people, but few of us will ever find our ways through to that sort of freedom.
Humanity's fascination with people like Lindsay Lohan serves as a telling testimonial of just how lost we truly are as a species. Give me the anonymous, hard working, honest man or woman doing what's right despite their life's adversities over these shallow, pointless celebrities any day. We should idolize the strength of integrity, courage, and dedication, not the weakness of dishonesty, cowardice, and infidelity. Somehow the worst of us have come to represent the rest of us, and we have subsequently become sympathetic where we would have once been disgusted. There is a place for compassion, but I prefer to save it for people following their conscience, doing what they can to contribute to what's good in this world, where so many only take.
Strength and weakness, it's simple, really.
Labels: life
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Moments in clarity
Simplicity is the key to greater understanding. Complexity only adds layers of distraction to an otherwise simple equation. Life is nothing more than a thread of moments strung together by the double-edged sword of memory. Our motivations, our dreams, our struggles, our transcendence would not equate to a speck of dust on the scale of geologic time. The greatest amongst us only live a few decades. Our greatest material creations have lasted but a few thousand years. How ironic is it that it is our modern waste materials that will likely last for eons?
In a universe billions of years old, only the ego of Man would make an argument that such short realities are of any significance. And this sort of thinking serves as the basis of my prime understanding, the root factor of my life's equation, if you will. These ideas also serve as the general basis of transcendental philosophies like Buddhism and Taoism, but are not totally unheard of in ancient, pagan traditions, nor in the more modern, monotheistic faiths. The creations of Man pale in comparison to the world in which Man exists. Does that mean that there is no hope and that there is no point to our various existences? Of course not. Our individual purpose is defined by our experience and perceptions, which serve as a guide to us as we travel from moment to moment. The point is living that purpose, rather than having it be just one more thing we talk about.
What we all need is more moments in clarity. We need to string more and more moments of clear, purposeful, directed living together. Otherwise, there is no point, there is no purpose, and you're just a clever monkey essentially flinging shit at the same world that provides you your existence. What could be more stupid and useless? Worse still, what could be more of a waste?
In other news, The Chancellor and I went to Tool's show at the Sundome tonight. We were assigned floor seats. I say assigned because buying them through Tool Army (Tool's street team/fan club) meant being put to the front of the line for "premium" seats. Unfortunately, being put at the head of the line meant having no say in deciding which premium seats you might acquire. It turned out that we purchased floor tickets, which meant that we would be standing for the entire show. No big deal, standing I can handle, though I knew that my lower back would eventually tighten up as the show went on. What was less than ideal was the fact that the floor is where the monkeys mosh.
The opening band was a punk act from Japan known as Melt-Banana. They were loud, and tiny, and off the stage in an hour. The crowd seemed politely supportive, but relieved to see them exit the stage area.
Tool went on at around 9:05pm. Inevitably, I found myself standing immediately next to the pit as a hole opened up in the mass of humanity we were standing within. It didn't take long for me to position myself safely away from the fray, and I found myself taking in the sights and sounds of moshing. It was interesting to watch human beings smash into each other in the name of fun. Like I said to Rory before the night began, pack the same number of chimpanzees in the same space, stimulate them, and inevitably you would get very similar behaviors. So it was, sweaty and drugged, that the mosh pit chimps smashed into each other for nearly the entire 2 hour set. They would occasionally pound on each other violently enough to push a piece of the crowd my way, but generally I was free to take in the show.
And it was an impressive show. This was my first time seeing a major/national band in concert, and the boys did not disappoint. Tool sounds big and heavy on disc, but they sound positively massive live. They played selections from AEnima, Lateralus, and 100,000 Days, with the focus being on 10,000 Days. You feel the music through the floor and under your skin, which probably means bad things for my ear drums, but the experience was worth the risk. They were on stage for roughly 2 hours, and in that time, they filled the dome with enough light, sound, and sinsemilla smoke to last me a good long time.
I'm glad I went, will not ever buy floor tickets again, and am thankful to have made it out of there without having gotten into a fight. All told, I think the idolatry and hero worship involved with these types of concerts really isn't my thing, but I would probably see Tool again, should they come back to town before retiring. My ears feel like they are full of cotton, but it was a definite good time.
Labels: tool
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Love bugs
Is there a more enigmatic insect in the entire world than the love bug? A creature with a limited lifespan, whose single purpose is to reproduce at a pace which no rabbit or celebrity athlete could ever hope to replicate. In their way, they make a beautiful metaphor for most modern relationships; all is well, so long as all you do is the reproductive act. Anything else is liable to get one splattered on the windshield (or triple-tree light assembly, or tank, or fender, or visor, or jacket, or jeans) of life. And really, having the steamroller of existence erasing you from the material plane while in the act of screwing wouldn't be all bad, would it? I guess you'd have to ask the love bugs. But I digress...
Mom and dad were camping up in Bushnell, a small city about 25 miles East of Floral City (another small city a few miles North of Brooksville). I'd ridden out to that general area before, and it seemed like a fine opportunity to get out and do a long, solo trip, while simultaneously pushing past the 1000 mile mark. Rolled out around 9:00 and took the direct route - 54 to the Veterans to 50 to 75. Seemed like the best choice, as it's direct, relatively low traffic, and safer than other potential routes.
Alas, there's always a catch. As we all know, love bug season is in full swing, which means every motor vehicle on the road is facing an onslaught of semi-acidic bodily fluid, tiny, black body parts, and senseless attraction to our most heavily traveled roadways. At 55-60 mph, love bugs tend to plink sporadically off of the bike, my visor, and any exposed skin. At a sustained 75-80 mph, disemboweled carcasses form a layer of eggshell white and black crust covering the leading edge of every surface exposed to the wind. By the time I got to Bushnell this morning, the front of my bike looked like an abstract painting, my visor was more like a wall than a window, and my jacket looked as if a t-rex had sneezed on it. The world was less 1,000 love bugs, and no one could have cared less.
My visit with the parents was enjoyable, if uneventful. Pops and I took some time to clean the bike, I wiped off my gear, watched a little racing, and set off in a different direction for the trip home. Instead of going big slab and getting home in a hurry, I went the long way around, up 48 and down 41 (Northwest, then South). The trip probably took me 30 minutes out of my way, but it was worth it. Good weather made the ride a pleasure cruise. Crossed paths with a few riders, but generally stayed out on my own, so that I could set my own pace, and work traffic as I saw fit.
This was by far my longest solo ride. All told, another 200 miles went beneath the tires today and I couldn't be happier. Hanging on to that big beast at interstate speeds gets tiring...detachable windshield is now on the list of upgrades...but the bike was comfortable, stable, and easy to ride. I'll probably spend tomorrow finishing the clean and polish job I started today, but that's alright, the ride was worth it.
It seems this is becoming something of a bike blog lately. Maybe it's time to post a rant or something...we'll see. :)
Labels: motorcycles
Friday, May 25, 2007
Midnight ride
I wouldn't normally post this sort of thing, but last night's weather was so wonderful and the riding so peaceful, I felt inspired to try and capture the feeling before it was too far distant in the past. A fellow Harley owner(Fatboy) and I went for a ride down to Gator's in St Pete and back up the coast to Main Street in Dunedin last night. The air was cool, the wind was up, and traffic was light. Riding in those conditions is hard to describe and impossible to understand unless you saddle up yourself. Here's my attempt to relate the feeling...
Midnight ride
The wind's voice a soulful sermon;
churning gears, thumping pistons a chorus
praising life, an homage to time’s dispensation.
Petroleum propels the sacred word
and we listen with eager intensity,
sweet, harmonious, symphonic exultations.
Tenuous equilibrium in a midnight ride,
city streets quiet their daylight cacophony,
cleared of the sun’s unyielding oversight;
most have boxed their cages for the hour
and two wheels can be set to flying
over pavement, concrete, and troubles.
Air, crisp and cleansing, cools the sunlight sorrows,
polishing the soul’s burdensome oxidation
with angels’ hands - Mother’s comforting breezes.
The rider rides time and space together,
a temporary traveler on roads neverlasting
in a place long past its prime,
but She remains a beautiful enchantress –
when Her smile beckons the knowing
their spirits are helpless in acquiescence.
And the ride winds down through the darkness,
headlights, streetlights, machines, and Man
basking in midnight’s motherly affection.
Soon the rider sleeps, but the sun will shortly rise
with more promises of another midnight journey.
Labels: motorcycles
Thursday, May 24, 2007
The coolest thing I saw today
Shatner+racecar+in-car camera=Superlicious cool terrific!
Labels: video
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Sometimes I offend
I think that I may have offended a woman at the gym yesterday. Been a while since I have said something someone found so distasteful that they literally got up and exited the area, but I managed to bother this particular woman that much without even trying on Thursday. The conversation wasn't about anything unusual, the modern social order, declining morality, that sort of thing, but at some point things veered off into a raucous discussion of open relationships. Naturally, I was loving it, as any opportunity to rail against the absurdity of banging two or more people and calling it a relationship always makes for good comedy, or at least a good laugh.
So I'm relating a story about a girl who assists my hairsytlist Starr(yes, I have a hairstylist and her name is Starr...fuck your judgment), who makes sure that I have neatly trimmed hair and a nicely scrubbed scalp every 4 to 5 weeks. One of Starr's assistants, whose name I can't recall, looks like a stripper/porn star stereotype; pencil thin, deeply tanned, beach ball boobs, etc. She also exhibits a lot of eyebrow raising behaviors; friendly in that "too friendly" sort of way, flirtatious body language, telling me "you're funny" fifteen times in a ten minute conversation in which I wasn't being particularly funny, etc. Oh, and she had a wedding ring on, which is a sure sign of insanity. ;) Let me just say that I am not judging the girl, I'm sure she's a wonderful, golden-hearted lady. I'm just making some observations and relaying my first impressions of the female in question, so the preceding paragraph probably says more about me than her.
Be that as it may, Starr and I get to talking and I make a comment about how "friendly" her new assistant seems to be. Come to find out, rumor has it that the girl is a swinger. Obviously, my first thought was, "makes sense". Then I start theorizing what it must be like to be a guy who's into watching other guys pump bodily fluids into your wife and can't help but laugh. Seriously, you're a guy, you're humping away at some other guy's wife while "other guy" is mercilessly doing the old "in and out" with your wife at the same time, and all of this seems normal and healthy to you. How does that even happen? lol What switch gets turned on, or more accurately, which wire gets crossed, that makes a guy think, "Hey, you know what would be hot? Some guy shoving his love stick satchel-sack-deep into my wife's baby baker!" The whole concept is so ridiculous to me that I find it utterly and endlessly amusing.
I'm going to digress from my digression for a second at this point. Thinking or talking about swingers always reminds me of a scene from Raising Arizona. If you haven't seen it, you're less of a person, but the scene goes something like this:
GLEN: Hear about the person of the Polish persuasion he walks into a bar holdin' a pfle of shit in his hands, says "Look what I almost stepped in."
GLEN bursts out laughing; Hi walks on in silence.
HI: ... Yeah, that's funny all right ...
GLEN: Ya damn right it's funny! Shit man, what's the matter?
HI: I dunno ... maybe it's wife, kids, family life ... I mean are you, uh, satisfied Glen? Don't y'ever feel suffocated? Like, like there's somethin' big pressin' down ...
GLEN (solemnly): Eeeeeyep ... I do know the feelin'.
HI: I dunno-
GLEN: And I told Dottie to lose some weight but she don't wanna listen!
He roars with laughter and slaps Hi heartily on the back. As he chuckles sympathetically:
... No man, I know what you mean. You got all kinds a responsibilities now. You're married, ya got a kid, looks like your whole fife's set down and where's the excitement?
HI: Yeah Glen, I guess that's it.
GLEN: Okay! That's the disease, but there is a cure.
HI: Yeah?
GLEN: Sure; Doctor Glen is tellin' ya you can heal thyself.
HI: What do I gotta do?
GLEN: Well you just gotta broaden your mind a little bit. I mean say I asked you, what do you think about Dot?
HI (puzzled): Fine woman you got there.
GLEN: Okay. Now it might not look like it, but lemme tell you something: She's a helicat.
HI: That right?
GLEN: T-I-G-E-R.
HI: But what's that got to do with-
GLEN: Don't rush me!
GLEN lays a companionable hand on his shoulder.
...Now the thing about Dot is, she thinks-and she's told me this-
He looks around as if to make sure they are not being overheard.
... she thinks ... you're cute.
HI: ... Yeah. . . ?
GLEN: I'm crappin' you negative! And I could say the same about Ed!
HI: What're you talkin' about, Glen?
GLEN: What'm I talkin' about?! I'm talkin' about sex, boy! What the hell're you talkin' about?! You know, "L'amour"?! I'm talkin' me'n Dot are Swingers! As in "to Swing"! Wife-swappin'! What they call nowadays Open Marriage!
Beaming, he takes his hand off Hi's shoulder and spreads his arms.
GLEN: I'm talkin' about the Sex Revolution! I'm talkin' about-
Hi's fist swings into frame to connect solidly with GLEN'S jaw. GLEN'S feet leave the ground. He flies back and lands in a heap.
HI: Keep your goddamned hands off my wife!
GLEN: Shit man! ... I was only tryin' to help!
After seeing that movie, all swingers are GLEN and DOT to me. :) Anyway...
So I'm just starting to express my bemusement with the whole concept, using public-space safe language, mind you, and apparently this middle-aged woman had heard enough. Now keep in mind, I had only JUST gotten to the part about the girl possibly being a swinger, hadn't even had a chance to break down the psychology, or make any commentary on the matter whatsoever. In Offended Lady's defense, she probably sensed what was coming, but she could have at least let me get to the punchline! Instead, she says something inaudible, jumps up from the ab machine she had been using (at an incredibly pedestrian pace, I might add), and storms out in a huff. The remainder of the crowd seemed to be enjoying the monologue as much as I was, so I carried on and finished up...I'm a pro, I know. Naturally, my operating assumption is that Offended Lady is, or had been, either a stripper, or a swinger, or probably both. :)
Labels: swingers
Sunday, May 20, 2007
The one thing I am most afraid of
Edit: I'm afraid of growing old and dying alone in a society where love is cheap, many of the women are cheaper, and hardly anyone has any sense of purpose. Had a conversation with a pretty girl and it sent my mind rumbling, bumbling, and stumbling down a pointless road.
Ahh....that's better. The original version of this post was just to formless and emotionally retarded. It was BORING and its presence was bothering me.
Mom and I went for lunch at Casa Tina's and had a great time. The food there rocks, even if something in the squash does kick the hell out of my stomach. Got quite a bit of riding in this weekend, though it was all traffic. Saturday was all over the place, from Tampa Harley-Davidson to helping Paula with a video promoting libraries, to Quaker Steak and Lube. Nearly got blown off the Bayside riding into high winds on the way to Largo. Spent nearly my entire Sunday detailing and polishing Audrey and Scooby. All that f-ing chrome is a chore to clean and the car was a couple weeks overdue for a good waxing. The things we own end up owning us. :)
Labels: life
Some more twins pics
Thought these were funny. Ava had a little trouble with cereal the first time out, but eventually worked it through. Evelyn overcame her initial trepidation and embraced the goodness of delicious cereal. The last pic just made me grin. :)
Friday, May 18, 2007
Photoshop fun
So, what do you think? Thanks to the lovely Kristen, I've now completed the journey back in time! :)
Labels: motorcycles
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Transformers the Movie and a random question
Yes, I am stoked about the idea of a CGI, live action, Transformers movie. Apparently, I am not the only one. :) In case you missed it, a ton of material is now available online, including this huge Quicktime trailer.
This v2 trailer is very nice as well
All told, this is good stuff and I definitely look forward to catching this one in theaters.
On a totally unrelated note, anyone know of a nice 40s/50s era picture I could work an image like this into? I can't find anything on the web, but I would like to photoshop myself into a B&W photo of a diner, malt shop, or better yet, a Harley dealership. Has anyone crossed paths with something that might be of use? If so, please leave a comment and post a URL. Muchos gracias! :)
Labels: transformers
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
It's a small world, after all
I found out that a guy I had met a couple of times was intentionally run over on Tampa Road this past weekend. What really makes the situation unusual is that both of the parites involved in the incident were known entities on a forum I used to post to, www.tampaforums.com. Slade posted an entry about it on her blog as well. As far as anyone seems to know, neither party knew the other prior to the attempted slaying.
Apparently party A, also known as "Skittle", had some sort of confrontation with another male at KD's, a dive bar on the corner of Race Track Rd and Tampa Rd near the Pinellas/Hillsbourough County line. Later that night, he sees party B, also known as "Goopster", crossing Tampa Road on his way out of The Round Up, a popular bar that ranks just above dive, which is situated in a strip mall across the street from KD's.
Skittle mistakes Goopster for the unknown party he had strife with earlier in the evening and proceeds to run him over with his GMC Yukon. The damage done puts Goopster into critical condition at a local hospital, where his situation is reportedly improving after a surgery to remove sections of his colon and reconnect the blood supply to his liver. This Skittle character is out on $7,500 bail and allegedly following the relevant thread as it develops on Tampaforums(TF).
While it was a coincidence that both of the involved parties in this tragic incident were TF members, reading the threads developing there and on www.tamparacing.com, a car-related forum that spawned TF a couple of years ago, has reminded me of the "why" I ceased posting to either site with any regularity.
I originally discovered TampaRacing(TR) through some friends in the Subaru scene back in 2003. A couple of them were founding members of the site and at the time, it was all about cars. Things developed and continued to grow, the site got bigger and bigger, and eventually the founders decided that there was a need for an off-topic, "social networking" site. Tampaforums was born. I have to admit that I got sucked in for a while. A few members I knew before the board existed started organizing gatherings and for a while, things were fun. It didn't last forever, but for a year or so, it was good times.
The elections of 2004 rolled around and I became one of the louder/more persistent voices on TF's political debate threads. The amount of time wasted on the interweb arguing my various political positions was ultimately nothing more than pointless, and I regret not finding something better to do with my time.
And that more or less sums up the forum experience for me. Today, TF still appears to be more or less the same environment with the same personalities posting the same material. Some users use the site as a place to find people with which to exchange STDs, others as a place to pretend they are something they're not, while others simply enjoy the opportunity to be anonymously obnoxious. There are some interesting people on the site, but most of them are older users who rarely post these days. After being on that type of forum for any period of time, you come to realize how utterly useless most of the time you spend there becomes. Needless to say, I am not feeling the itch to start posting again. I'll stick to HDForums, where I avoid anything resembling social networking, politics, and hooking up. :)
What does any of that have to do with the two members mentioned above? Not much, though both had reputations on the board. I only crossed paths with 'Goopster' a couple of times and do not remember talking with him much, if at all. Can't recall ever meeting the assailant, but it sounds like he is probably not the kind of guy I'd like to associate with. Hopefully 'Goopster' recovers and 'Skittle' is punished fairly for what he's done. The fact that he is not up on attempted murder charges is amazing to me, but I'm sure those charges are coming. One does not typically run over another human being with a 5,000 pound vehicle without murderous intent. Two lives changed forever, with a coincidental connection across the internets. Interesting stuff...it's an increasingly small world.
Labels: general
Monday, May 14, 2007
Busy weekend
Time fills us with experience, even as it slowly eliminates our opportunities to partake in those experiences. It erodes our bodies, even as it expands our minds. Some will break down as their time goes on, while others will delight in every moment they travel through. And it has been noted before that traveling through time is really a journey through space. Every second of every day we are collectively traveling through space, whether or not we are aware of the journey.
Saturday I spent most of the day sorting, loading, and unloading food for the annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive. A coworker's husband is heavily involved with the Palm Harbor Food Pantry and they receive a massive amount of food from the Oldsmar and Palm Harbor post offices. The number of volunteers varies, but at one point we probably had 30 people sorting through donated food. Most of the first day (Saturday) is spent getting food out of the post offices and into the small church they use as a sorting and storage facility for the Pantry, which means Saturday is when most of the heavy lifting happens. After 7 hours there, I called it a day and headed home for the night.
Sunday, dad and I went for another tour of the Brooksville and Floral City areas. The temps were nice, but the sky was hazy when we departed in the AM, so the weather could have been better. Traffic wasn't bad and we made good time to the area sport bike riders refer to as "The North Run". We putted around 54, 41, Bellamy Road, 52, eventually ending up at a friend of my dad's property in Floral City. Pop's buddy Gene is an old school rider with many a mile in the saddle who is building a log home on five acres of land in Northern Florida. Seeing an actual log cabin in the middle of the construction process is pretty impressive. The fact that Gene is building the house himself is downright amazing to me. He has been involved with construction work his entire life, but that does not diminish the significance of actually building his own house with his own hands. Such an endeavor is a rare, rare thing these days.
We caught rain during our break in Floral City, which meant waiting out the worst of the storm, and getting wet on the way home. We eventually got back underway and decided to take 41 all the way back to Little Road/East Lake Road. Luckily, the only rain we hit along the way was light, but the wet roads definitely turned up my anxiety's volume. This was my first ride in the rain on a bike the Deluxe's size. Thankfully, it was uneventful. We linked up with a pack of riders and had a fairly relaxing ride home. Unfortunately, we were a couple of hours later than expected, which meant that Mother's Day was more or less blown. Mom and I are going to have a "rain delayed" lunch next weekend, but I get the feeling she is disappointed I have been spending so much time riding with dad.
In other news, I managed to keep my 4.0 alive, despite struggling with accounting in the beginning. To get an A, I had to earn 96 points or more on my final. I'm not sure what my final score was, but it must have been enough. I'm only taking one class this Summer, an advanced drawing class in St Pete, so I'll get a short breather before the Fall push kicks in. Aside from that, it's work, workout (when I can), try to find time for the bike, and maybe squeeze in a social engagement once in a while. How someone as boring as I am can be so busy is beyond me, but it happens. I try to remember what it was like to have spare time, but the concept itself seems entirely foreign to me now. Good times... :)
Stumbled across a quote on one of the motorcycle forums I frequent that I thought I'd share. It has no real relevance to my post, but it did give me a laugh. "If you go around chasing down every stupid asshole that does something idiotic in your presence, you are gonna spend a lot of time trying to fix the unfixable." - "dgator66", HDForums.com
Labels: life, motorcycles
Monday, May 07, 2007
One week (or so) in the saddle
So I've been a motorcycle owner for a little more than one week now, and I have to say that riding is probably the most existential thing I have ever done. When you're riding a motorcycle, things come into focus in ways that are hard to explain. Obviously, there are far fewer distractions. No radio, no cellphone, no A, B, and C pillars blocking your vision. The wind noise becomes white noise in your ears and the sound emanating from the motorcycle's mechanicals becomes a sort of music unto itself. Riding with a full face helmet cuts down on much of the howl, so you can tune into the noises coming from the bike, as well as traffic as it flows around you.
Traffic is obviously the aspect of riding that causes the greatest concern. I've ridden a few minutes in peak rush hour on Tampa Road and I have to admit, there is nothing enjoyable about it. Couldn't get out of that lane changing, start-stopping, riding into the sun, mess fast enough. I've ridden some night traffic going to and coming from Quaker Steak and Lube in Largo, which wasn't so bad. But most of my riding has been on the weekends, so traffic has been reasonable most of the time. If you're running the speed limit and not doing any passing, weaving, etc, people seem to see you and respect your space. If someone in a car (or fucking-idiot-cager, as most riders refer to them) seem to be in a hurry, I move over and get out of their way, or hold my line and let them pass. I'm not out to break any speed records and when I'm riding, I am in anything but a hurry, so I do my best to let the cagers do their thing, while I cruise along and enjoy the ride.
And enjoying the ride is really what it's all about. The funny part is, I could be on just about any motorcycle and enjoy things all the same. For me, the thrill really is about being in the wind. The physical experience of riding a motorcycle is freeing in some intangible way that can't really be described, it has to be experienced. Whether you are on a Harley, a Honda, or a Vespa, the sensation of movement through space is the same. Some prefer to go faster, some slower, but ultimately, when it is just you, the bike, and the road, a sort of cerebral cleansing takes place. You're focused on what you're doing, what others are doing around you, but the entire time you are subconsciously aware of the visceral experience and your mind is freed of the trivial worries that would otherwise occupy it.
I imagine what it must be like to meander through the Black Hills near Sturgis or take a ride out to the Grand Canyon from Vegas and I long for more vacation time and more of the gorgeous weather we have been getting. In a very real way, the old saying that "four wheels move the body, two wheels move the soul" makes sense after a few hundred miles of riding. Honestly, I can't wait to saddle up and explore some more.
Labels: life, motorcycles