shadow stabbing
Somewhere along the way, I lost my old collection of CDs. Now, they weren't particularly valuable and once downloading music and mp3s came along, I didn't use them too much. But when you move 10 times in 4 years (I counted), these things are bound to happen. So I've been listening to more music and rebuilding my digital library, and it amazes me how much I've forgotten about my past lives. Even though I occasionally bust into the Cake cover of "I Will Survive" (the one that drops F bombs) mid-shower, I had completely forgotten until now that I liked Cake, or that they even existed.
This makes me very happy since I have to travel a little bit for my job. Aside from multi-day trainings or conferences, these are mostly day trips. And by day trips, I mean I spend 15-20 minutes max in an office I drive 2-4 hours to get to and then turn around and go home. If I'm lucky, I can stack several little visits so that the day doesn't feel totally wasted. I am beginning to know the landscape of northern Arizona like the back of my hand. But despite its beauty, 6-8 hours alone in the car puts me out faster than a big pasta dinner and a glass of cheap red wine. My iPod rises to the occasion to save my sanity, and listening to full albums rather than mixes works much better to pass the time.
So I have Comfort Eagle playing right now, and it feels like home. Not how home actually makes me feel, but like home should make you feel.
On the topic of past lives making a reappearance, I also started running again. When I started running in high school, I didn't bother with that "conditioning" thing where you ease into running 5 miles a day. I just showed up the first day and started running. I was in wicked good shape by the end of the season, but my knees were not. So this time around I've decided to do it the right way, easing in. It's working well so far, and Crash seems to be enjoying it too ... as do the neighborhood kids who flag me down so they can pet him. My new mantra, if I were to have one, has become do shit right the first timearound if at all possible. So here's to that - and my knees.
Also, and this important: if you ride a bicycle, wear a helmet. Even if it makes you look dumber than you normally look. A few weeks ago I came about six inches from what would have been a serious accident with a van. The scariest part was that after I got to work that morning, I realized that I wasn't wearing my helmet when I left the house and (thankfully) decided to go back and get it. Last week a good friend of mine wasn't so lucky. You see, the typical student at the local university isn't as sharp as my friend is, and one of these knuckleheads caused a head-on bike v. bike collision that ended with my friend going to the hospital in an ambulance. Her helmet was cracked down the middle and she still doesn't have results of a head scan to see if the residual symptoms from a concussion are, well, bad or not. So if you ride your bike, wear a helmet. If you have friends that ride a bike, make sure they wear helmets. If you see someone on a bike and they aren't wearing a helmet, tell them to wear a helmet. For realz.