roadrunnertwice: Me looking up at the camera, wearing big headphones and a striped shirt. (Crow on signposts)
New year, huh? Sure, bring it on!

Like I said on Twitter: I had mixed feelings about 2009, but you know what, "mixed" is a hundred percent better than my feelings on the year before that. 2009 had some gnarly downs (hey August and September: eat a dick), but it also had some actual ups, and so I come to neither praise it nor bury it. Well, I guess it's technically buried anyhow. Whatever?

Anyway, onward. In the new year, I would like to do more of everything: I plan on writing more, exercising more, spending more time with my friends and with people I want to be friends with, making more stuff, exploring more of my city and my world, and hopefully having a lot more sex. The lot of that may take some cleverness, on account of working 40 hours a week and commuting another 10; I don't understand how the rest of you ninetofivers do it, much less folk like [livejournal.com profile] b_zedan who spend a helluva lot more time en route than me. I do have a couple ideas of my own, though:

  • Kathleen mentioned that her dad eats at his desk and spends his lunch working out, which reminded me that there's a Bally's Fitness literally next door to my job. I could extend my day to 5:40, take an hour lunch, and buy a gym membership, which sounds like a much nicer habit than getting home in the dark and trying to convince myself to go running in the rain. Not that I don't sometimes enjoy it, but Jesus it's hard to keep that up.
  • I'll keep writing on the train, but I also want to find a few two or three hour stretches a week where I can just sit in front of my computer and get some serious shit done. That pair of 40-minute bites every day are great for keeping me on-horse and the rough direction of things steady in my head, but sometimes you just need more focus than that.

Actually, I think that's all I got right now. Well, that's okay. It's winter, and life is slow 'til the weather improves, which is fine.



Also, I guess it's the end of a decade. I don't even know how to parse that; it's been ten years that felt like twenty, and most of the time I feel completely disconnected from who I was in, say, 2000.

This was the decade I grew up in; do I have anything more to say about that? No I do not. Happy New Year.
roadrunnertwice: Me looking up at the camera, wearing big headphones and a striped shirt. (Hagrid--Two Wheels Good)

my Honda Rebel, in garage

Gracious, what do we see over here?

me, and handlebars

Who knows, but I'll tell you what I see: speed, power, freedom, and joy, served up in a cute little 250cc package.

So yes, yea, behold, Operation Dalles was a success: we did not let the setbacks set us back. Huge and enduring thanks to [livejournal.com profile] robertcalvin for driving me down and riding the bike almost all the way back from Portland in the rain and dark; I owe him big-time. Someday soon, I will be comfortable doing shit like that, but this time I was so glad to cede the job to a more experienced rider. (If we had this to do over again, believe that we would re-work the timing, because god-damn.)

The bike purrs like a kitten and handles like a dream, and driving on the freeway is not nearly as intimidating as I thought it would be. When we left the dealership, Robert rode it about 45 miles on I-84, then I rode it along this cool curvy "Historical Highway" segment off on the side that passed through Multnomah Falls. And then I just cruised down that onramp and kept on accelerating. And I thought, "Huh. This is absolutely within my capabilities. I am not the least bit scared." She sure could use a windshield, though, so I'll be talking to the Oly Honda dealer about that.

Also, riding Yelm Highway in the rain and dark is surprisingly lovely. I'll want some more weatherproof gloves before I do it again, but I do want to do it again. (Hi-diddle-dee-dee, goddamn, the pirate's life for me!)

In conclusion: Vote 2009: The Year With the Motorcycle!


Oh, and while I'm doing the photographic thing, here's this riding jacket I bought the other day at Paulson's:

jacket on chair

Both it and my helmet are silver, about which I don't feel anything in particular; it's not really my color, but I guess I don't look bad in it. What I do feel strongly about is that they're both very functional and very cheap. The helmet was only $80 or so and it fits perfectly; the jacket was about $110 and is almost totally windproof and has honest-to-god armor on the elbows, forearms, and shoulders, plus a pad for the kidney area. Armor generally costs... well, more, and let us go into no further detail. Anyway, I got to road-test the jacket today, and it feels NICE.

Vote 2009

Oct. 11th, 2008 09:26 pm
roadrunnertwice: Me looking up at the camera, wearing big headphones and a striped shirt. (Ass increases with the square of T-ball.)
Oh, and if I haven't already mentioned this to you: I've unilaterally called an early end to 2008. It was a bullshit year, basically, and I see no good reason to wait another three months to see the back of it. Nope: much as they speak of the long 19th century, I am now inhabiting the long 2009, and I invite you to join me. (And [livejournal.com profile] benchilada, and [livejournal.com profile] binkuswinkus... [livejournal.com profile] shaneface, you in too?)

2009: How bad could it possibly be?

Vote 2009: The year with TWO Halloweens!
roadrunnertwice: Me looking up at the camera, wearing big headphones and a striped shirt. (Hagrid--Two Wheels Good)
Black Honda Rebel

MINE.



That's right: I put down a deposit on a bike.

This bike.

It's a 2007 Honda Rebel, gently (to the tune of 1300 miles) used. Will cost me $2500, which is the best price I've seen all year on a Rebel from this decade.* The only hitch is that she's down in The Dalles, Oregon, but I talked to [livejournal.com profile] robertcalvin tonight and I think we've got that covered.

I'm doin' this, peopleβ€”I'm gonna have wheels and a motor again, and for the first time ever, they'll be entirely mine. 2009 is looking GOOD.

(And now I get to start thinking about names. For now, I'm leaning toward Leslie or Lucca; anyone got any suggestions?)


_____
* Never mind the blue book: it's a seller's market these days, and everyone seems to know it. This price is more in tune with what a Rebel was going for two years ago, which is what I'd been hoping to pay when I started looking. (Shopping is hard, let's do math!)