1590 miles so far on the Iron 883

Hooray, I rode my motorcycle over 1,500 miles so far. Got it in August, then had a supposed broken toe and was off the bike... went on vacation for a week in September.... But generally, if it's nice out, and I've got no meetings or work to do in a day, and it's not going to rain, I ride, ride, ride! (Funny how when you have one whole day off a week, it rains on that day, whether it's Sunday or Tuesday, dammit.)

One day off I rode 180 miles nowhere in particular, just wanted to enjoy the October scenery down here in southern Maryland. (Well, that day I decided to try my first bridge crossing, so I went over the Harry Nice Bridge into Virginia and poked around in those parts a little.) The most challenging part of it was paying the toll right before the bridge... very old-fashioned feeling on a motorcycle.

Probably one of the coolest things that happened so far when I was on my bike was that I found myself chatting with a stranger in bumper-to-bumper traffic the other night. There I was in stop-and-go traffic on the GW Parkway (due to construction constriction), and a fella on a Harley Sportster 1200 pulled up alongside me to chat. Fun to meet another Sportster rider along the way. When traffic cleared, he was off like a shot without a goodbye. I wonder how many other riders I'll meet in my future years on the bike?

Heli ride over Myrtle Beach

Myrtle Beach Heli 1
Originally uploaded by beachhearted

Took a helicopter ride yesterday while on vacation at Myrtle Beach. Saw some schools of fish--awesome! Here's the downtown strip (pictured.)

Motorcycling is one of the best decisions I ever made

H-D Iron 883 peanut tank with skull gas cap
Originally uploaded by beachhearted

Convinced now, to be a motorcyclist is one of the best decisions I ever made. When people ask about my motorcycle and what it's like to ride I keep saying, "It's just so basic--so punk."

As my friend, Adam, once said, "...You're riding an engine down the road...."

Today I strapped my Mac Powerbook onto my back along with some other sundries (taco salad, bottle of water, an inhaler [just in case]) and commuted to work 80+ miles on my bike.

During the day, when I was running errands. flyering for my music school, I was sweating. On the way home from work at 8 p.m., I was chilly because it was 68 degrees F or so and the vents on my bike jacket were 1/4 open. I hugged the gas tank with my knees for warmth and realized for the first time that my saddle/seat was an automatic bun-warmer.

If I die on my motorcycle (or having been ejected off it) I will die happy, most likely. I don't recall having been so proud of myself since I took on the sport of downhill mountain biking. (This is less scary, from my end of things.)

My new motorcycle!

My new motorcycle!
Originally uploaded by beachhearted

Bought my first motorcycle today! Here's my new Harley Iron 883 in black denim in the showroom today. I've never seen a black Iron 883 because they are usually snatched up the second they hit the showroom floor. This time, my name was on the bike for at least a month prior to its delivery to the dealership yesterday... so I got first dibs. At least two other people wanted it, but it was too late for them... mine!!!!!

Can't wait for it to be delivered, but I'm waiting for a couple parts to come in that are on backorder....

I am giving up my beer belly in exchange for this bike.

Gravity is a tricky lady; so is the freakin' sun

I always knew it would come to this. It started with watching CHiPs as a kid, sticking a playing card into my bike's spokes, etc. I secretly always wanted to ride a motorcycle. I feel like I am coming out of the closet all over again. I don't dare tell my mom this time.

So 35 years into my life I am learning how to ride a motorcycle. At 30 I did an odd pre-cursor--I learned how to ride a downhill mountain bike. A little over five years later I've taken a Harley-Davidson Rider's Edge course (via Harley-Davidson of Annapolis, MD) and piloted a motorcycle myself. When I first took off with the engine pulling me across the bike range this weekend, it felt like learning to ride a bicycle for the first time. It was just like riding a bike for the first time without training wheels--the moment when it's confirmed that the bike wants to stay upright if it has enough momentum to do so.

Gravity is a tricky lady. I don't trust her because I don't necessarily know her that well. You hear in bicycling and motorcycling that "...the bike wants to stay upright," but it's a difficult idea to trust when you are pushing your handlebar to the ground in a turn and the only thing that separates you from the asphalt is a thin layer of cotton.

I "dropped" my motorcycle once in class. It was not as humiliating as I thought. I liked how the instructor insisted I let it go even though he saw me trying to prevent it from hitting the ground. Physics can be so zen. It's really okay. Gravity is really okay. There's no need to bust one's back out of alignment to prevent the world from seeing that gravity is still in play.

***

I tried to deny the sun's power this weekend, too. Tried to pretend like the burning power of the sun had no power over me, just because I hadn't tasted her fiery kiss in a couple years. Now my face is bright red from my sunglasses line down. Two days after sun exposure, my chin skin is flaking off in dry pieces. Ugh. It's laughable. For someone who has already had skin cancer, I sure am dumb when I want to be.

***

This blog is too goddamn long, I realize, if I have to use those triple-asterisk dealies. That generally means one ought to be writing a book for their friends to feel forced to purchase. ;)

Anyway, I am trying to decide whether or not I am a biker at heart. I am not sure I am. Riding in 1st and 2nd gear in a parking lot does not make that abundantly clear to someone who is questioning whether or not they are a motorcyclist at heart.

Guitar Instruction, Parrot-style

Guitar Instruction, Sun Conure-style
Originally uploaded by beachhearted

I can't believe I lived without a pet in the household for so long! Here's my new parrot helping me play the guitar. I thought she might be afraid of it, but instead she crawled down from my shoulder almost immediately and sat on the body of the guitar while I played. After watching for a few minutes, she decided to assist.

I was practicing two-hand fret-trapping (after all, it's an Eddie Van Halen signature model guitar--the Fender EVH Wolfgang) and she was curious as to why I had to touch the fretboard so much. She bit the strings and rung a few chords, making MFM and I howl with laughter.

I wasn't quite howling when MFM made me check the guitar to make sure the finish wasn't scratched. Parrot claws are tough. I didn't have the nerve to do it until the next day--didn't want to ruin the moment. There was one small scratch, and it does not buff out with wax. I feel bad a little bit, but not too much. Must be love.

Photo by Shannon Wang.
www.shannonwang.com

Doin' what babies do: suckin' her toes

Doin' what babies do: suckin' her toes
Originally uploaded by beachhearted

Day two of parrot ownership went well. Yesterday I trained her not to squawk to get me to come visit her, which came in handy since today we had a yard sale outside. When she squawks she's about as loud as a blue jay, and sounds like one, too. But she only cried out a few times.

She got extended play time at least five times today. This photo is from our evening play time, which turns into nap time for her, seems like. Tonight she fell asleep on her back laying on my chest. I covered her with a washcloth as a makeshift blanket. Couldn't have been cuter!

New pet parrot

Alert parrot, about to bite the cameraphone!
Originally uploaded by beachhearted

Haven't had a pet in a while because we wanted a bird but couldn't have one in our Silver Spring apartment. A couples weekends ago My Fair Maiden and I moved to southern Maryland... and can now have a pet. This sunburst conure "chose me" last weekend, and I brought her home yesterday.

Overall, we're loving being down here and away from the city for a change.

Hey, wait, there were only three of us

Three Plus One
Originally uploaded by beachhearted

Some friends and I shoot photos together whenever we can, which is not often at all. About a month ago we took this shot in the dark with the camera set on long exposure while on a tripod. We took turns shining the flashlight on ourselves from under our chins, Girl Scout ghost story-style. Of course, the spookiest part of the photo was the red "fourth face" that appeared in the shot.

The fourth face appears in one other shot, but not all of the shots taken with the same camera set-up. So we got freaked out and took some photos outside instead.

Feeling like the only loner at a Morrissey show

Imagine yourself at a concert full of loners, singing the same loner-music they've loved since their painful teens along with their Jesus-of-Loners, Morrissey. Now imagine yourself suddenly feeling out-of-place as you sang a song heartily while all around you stood still and silent because they didn't know it.

That was me last night at the Morrissey show at the Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C. Seems I was the only one fourteen rows back or closer that cared to sing along to Moz's cover of The Buzzcocks' "You Say You Don't Love Me." 

After the song was through my partner commented to me, " You're supposed to sing along to the songs by Morrissey, not the cover songs no one knows!" 

Well, guess what, I'm OK by myself. That's how people grow up--we listen to all kinds of music, and sometimes we know music that not everyone else knows.  I bought "Operators Manual: Buzzcocks Best," in '93 or so at the influence of the N.Y. legends, The Lunachicks. They once covered, "Noise Annoys/Promises," on an obscure Buzzcocks covers comp, and I had to see what the fuss was about. 15 years later I'm singing aloud, alone among hundreds and hundreds. 

Fender vs. Gibson

I always say I'm psychic enough to get myself in trouble. Case in point:

Yesterday I bought my first-ever Fender t-shirt to show my Fender pride at work at the music school. I was only in my office for a few minutes today, wearing my Fender shirt, before I got an email saying that the CEO of Gibson USA was coming in the afternoon to have a meeting at my school. Of all things! I zipped up my hoodie really fast and sweated it out for half the day. I also made sure our Les Paul PBS special DVD was on repeat all day. :)