Life Update

The following is a Facebook post but copied and pasted here because why not? My blog's been neglected. And I know, not a very inspiring title.

After a year of increased wishing, saving, endeavoring minorly in cryptocurrency to increase those savings, a couple months researching and looking and it all ending with a very nervous nine hour round trip with a weak and only somewhat reliable V6 in the rain towing a trailer in mountainous twisties and using sketchy straps to tie it down with, here she finally is, months in the making. A 2007 second-generation Suzuki SV650, arguably one of the best bang-for-the-buck sportbikes you can buy with forgiving handling, reliable V-twin and just enough speed to get you in trouble if you desire by doing 0-60 in 3.2 seconds. It's also generally regarded as a very competitive track bike with great flickability at a competitive price and good low-end to pull you out of the corners should one want to test their skills. It's been a while in my life that I've wanted something for so long and with such consistency and she's finally here.

You see, I don't socialize, like unless I have to when it was through school or work and usually when I do it's through machinery, be it computers via networking or bikes by just being out and about. One thing motorized bicycles reminded me of is the freedom I felt and friends I made through it, its community and once I got a taste of that again, I knew I needed another motorcycle to resuscitate my soul. Granted, the bike could use a new chain, sprocket and new tire within a few hundred miles but while I was waiting on the order to come in, I couldn't help but ride lightly around the block and it was just as freedom-inspiring and awe-inducing riding a motorcycle as I remembered and I'll certainly enjoy it more once maintenance is done. 

But don't worry about me racing around on it like some energy drink-fueled young squid. I've got riding gear and these days I drive like a grandma, actually most grandmas probably drive faster than me, and I tend to want to just enjoy the scenery more than racing around anymore. Besides that, I try to take care of my riding toys partly because I tend to anthropomorphize them, see human qualities in them regardless if they're dumb machines and want to take care of them and also because abusing your machinery gets expensive. As for the future, yes, the time will come when I'll probably get tired of her, she'll become too much work and money to maintain, life will get busier and I'll get older where the inverse-square law will inevitably rear its ugly head. The negatives start to outweigh the positives when it comes to maintaining anything other than yourself and so you desire to deal with less while having to increasingly deal with keeping your own ship afloat. 

For the time being, I can start to see past the prison bars and experience what freedom I really do have but for one reason or another, I'd myopically stay zoomed in to the freedoms I lack or what I think I'm not capable of. Now I'm reaching out and taking hold of what goodness life can offer me while I have the chance. I know this is all kind of a hyperbolic and cheesy ode to two-wheelers but I think many people feel the same way. FortNine on youtube is just one of many examples of what passion people can have over these machines and can wax poetically about them as if riding is a spiritual experience and a cleansing of the soul. And to segue into another related Audioslave song, as said, to be yourself is all that you can do.