Saturday, August 9, 2008

On Breaking Up With My Seasonal Girl

Lately, I've been getting that feeling that milestones are coming to an end, excitement is in the air, and Dick Clark is just around the corner. So, I've prepared myself to give a New Years kiss goodbye to my seasonal girl.

Summer's way too hot for me anyway. And being so, I know she'd leave me soon. Actually, for once, I'd like to up and leave her. If you ask me, I think she's noticed too... Because she seems to stick around longer nowadays, like the half of certain relationships that wants to feel wanted, that needs to feel needed, and takes it too far to get some attention. So she stays a little longer and a little longer and it's suffocating.

As a man who loves cycles, it does happen to be this time of year that feels most like New Years with its confetti made of falling leaves and textbook receipts. Summer is fun, don't get me wrong. Even when we're doing nothing, I enjoy it but I need a change. I need a change for camp-side moods, coats with hoods, and turkey-pumpkin-winter foods. You know? A change for Starbucks runs, college fun, and Bama football run-and-guns. For things that Summer barely knows and places that she rarely goes... but how do I tell her that?

It's not you, it's me?

Friday, August 1, 2008

On Today's Decrease Of Manliness

So, today I decided to take my dad's motorcycle for a drive. I'm not unfamiliar with driving a motorcycle but his is bigger than I'm used to driving. I took it easy at first but, being adventurous, it didn't take long before I decided to hit the main streets of Evergreen, Alabama!

On second thought, maybe I shouldn't have.

I stalled numerous times in front of countless people, burnt my leg on the exhaust and almost laid down the bike in front of an older man cutting his grass. That's almost as embarrassing as when I had to push the bike out of the way of an oncoming truck. At one moment, as I approached a stop sign, I stalled out but played it super cool. A few young construction workers said "Hey!" and "What's up, dude?" and, to feign any problems I had, I quickly shifted gears, restarted, and drove off... feeling like it was smooth but deep down knowing that today was so unmanly.

Yeah, funny but so embarrassing.