How much my life has changed...
I always told my friend Eric (who I've known for like 11 years) that 27 was the perfect age. He was miserable at 26, and I reminded him that for years I'd been telling him, 27, perfect. He loved his 27 and frequently told me I was right.
My 27 is halfway over, and it has been the very best. I'd like to say I have everything I ever wanted, but I guess there are a few things I don't have (like a jetpack, and my SV650 dual sport), and, more importantly, I have something I could never have imagined.
1. What did you do in 2004 that you'd never done before?
Fell madly in love.
Got Road Rash.
Went to a tradeshow for work.
A couple of little wheelies
Get hit by a car, for real, like, go all the way down. (I’ve been winged before but never “Whack! Thunk! Crash!”)
Got a hangover from BEER.
Went to a Hell’s Angels party.
Fired guns.
Took a longish motorcycle road trip by myself.
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't believe in New Year's resolutions.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
No.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
No.
5. What countries did you visit?
None.
6. What would you like to have in 2005 that you lacked in 2004?
I didn’t lack in 2004. But I’m looking for more travel.
7. What date from 2004 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
July 11th. I crashed my SV650, hard, and that’s how I got Paul to spend some time with me. Messed my finger up good and destroyed all of my riding confidence. It was worth it.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Riding into Seattle by myself was awesome. The pass over Mt. Ranier was beautiful. Next time I hope to have company though. And conning that hot guy with the XR650 to hang out with me.
9. What was your biggest failure?
Crashing, not regaining my skills and confidence. Thousands of little temper flare failures.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Uhh, yeah. I will never be a hand model again. My finger doesn’t bend as well as it used to, and the nail grows in softer now. The scar is still shedding off hard skin constantly.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
I wish I could say my SV650, but... hmm, that’s a tough one. I really like my furry boots with chrome heels.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Paul’s, he treats me so well. My parents, for constantly working to make the world better.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Same as last year:
My own, at times.
George Bush's, at all times.
But, this year, also:
The voters, ugh. I’m glad to see that the po’ white trash contingent is selflessly giving their vote to those who would screw them over the worst. And “Christian” and “moral” are two words that we need to reclaim.
14. Where did most of your money go?
Rent?
Followed by my motorcycles.
And some paying down of debt, this is my goal to finish the bad debt thing early this year, and then start chipping away at the student loan.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
My motorcycle, the Sheetiron, the ride to Burning Man, Grand Theft Auto. Those are all the same as last year. Except, that where last year I also said “being single again,” now I will say the most exciting thing in the world to me is my incredibly hot boyfriend. I also got pretty excited about my trip to Seattle, and my brother’s engagement.
16. What songs/bands will always remind you of 2004?
I don’t listen to new music, really. So, anything that I had in my RIO when I rode to Seattle. That’s a lot of Snog, Rob Zombie, and Jimmy Luxury
17. Compared to this time last year, are you happier or sadder?
Happier. Omigod, am I ever happier.
ii. thinner or fatter?
Fatter.
iii. richer or poorer?
Richer. Since I paid down debt.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Riding, and I keep meaning to get back to sewing.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Crashing.
20. How will you be spending Christmas?
Oops. I spent it with family as always.
22. Did you fall in love in 2003?
Yeah, I think that’s a theme here.
23. How many one night stands?
None.
24. What were your favorite TV programs?
The Simpsons, still. I still don’t have cable, but I sure as hell wanted to catch the season of Surreal Life featuring Flavor Flav and Charo. I really really wish I could have seen that.
26. What was the best book you read?
“Your Disgusting Head,” and “Giraffes!”.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Um, I didn’t have one.
28. What did you want and get?
An SV650. Be careful what you wish for. I mean, I did want a red one, and I ended up with a blue one. Maybe a red one would not have crashed so easily, and had a better suspension?
Also, something that started with something like “what kind of tires are you running on your XR?”
29. What did you want and not get?
A good, rideable streetbike.
30. What was your favorite film(s) of this year?
I really enjoyed The Life Aquatic. Was that 2004? Faster was pretty great. HATED Napoleon Dynamite, and everything else is a blur.
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Had dinner with many friends at Don Ramon’s. Drank several yummy margaritas. Dropped my cupcake on the floor. Rode around on the back of Charles’ ST1100 like a drunken idiot. 27yrs.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
It’s honestly hard to ask for more. Crashing less, riding more, and more confidently would have been better.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2003?
I have a corporate job, and a corporate uniform. Other than that, I have a bulky snowsuit to wear every single day for riding. On the 2% days, when I get my own clothes and no riding, I’m all about the furry boots with chrome heels. And the very occasional latex.
34. What kept you sane?
My DRZ (it’s PERFECT) and Paul (he’s PERFECT). And, as the background to my entire life, my family. It’s a constant, in support, framework, and inspiration.
35. Which celebrity/public figure(s) did you fancy the most?
Still Rob Zombie and Tim Burton, though I can’t think of anything they did this year specifically. Politically, I have to say, I was impressed by Gavin Newsom’s stand.
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
Omigod. Don’t get me started. With the election behind us, I’m pretty fucking disturbed, politically, on a federal level. Right now, I’m just hanging on by upping my donations and interest in ACLU and Planned Parenthood. I talk now with my grandparents about the importance of Planned Parenthood. These organizations need our support now more than ever to get through the next four years with as little damage as possible. I have very little hope to make anything better in the immediate future, only to try desperately to hold on to the rights we have now. And wait for a better day. I hope it’s coming. I am doing a tiny part by boycotting a few companies that I know to support an administration that would put me back in place and then watch and limit what I do there. I am most disturbed to find that Victoria’s Secret/Express are big Bush supporters. As a company that makes its money off of women and their developing career-orientation, sexuality, and freedom, I cannot fathom why they should support a regime that would limit that and take away our freedoms and reverse the sexual revolution. This really doesn’t sit well with me. It’s just the tip of the iceberg.
And it’s all too much. What do I work on now? Sending emails and letters to my representatives to preserve my civil rights, and my interests as a motorcyclist. Showing up to meetings about land use to preserve my off-road riding rights. What the fuck is it with people who have no qualms about paving shit over, and then driving on it, but see something wrong with cutting a little trail and riding through?
Would putting a strip mall next to the single track, maybe a drive through Starbucks next to the dirt road, make it nobler, more acceptable? Seriously, go fuck yourself, cager.
37. Who did you miss?
Charles.
38. Who was the best new person you met?
Paul. Duh.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2004.
Miniscule pothole + streetbike= blood and guts, and lots of dollar signs and depression. Stick to Dualies. When people tell you that that’s how a bike is supposed to be, people need to be ignored.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
"Candlelight dinners, and just being with you
Feeling so romantic and so warm inside.
Yes I do, I really do
I start to thinky
Of just how stinky
That the things, they really are
I think of Chernobyl, and toxic waste dumps
And the hole in the ozone the size
Of the United States
I think of dead fish
And the dolphins that wash up
On our shores
I think of Condors, and Black Rhinos
And tens of thousands of animals
Facing extinction today.
I wanna forget, all this madness
And just think about the way
You make me feel
Yes you do, you really do
I see the pictures, of reindeer in Norway
Dying from being downwind from
Nuclear air
I think of children, in San Francisco
Dying of leukemia, and new terms
Like cancer clusters
It makes me feel so blue
It does
It makes me feel so blue"
(actually that’s a fucked up blenderized version, since I haven’t heard that song in a long time, and forget a lot)
Comments:
Charles:
don't miss me. I am right here.
Posted by Charles on Wednesday, February 16, 2005 at 8:56 PM2:20 PM - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove
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