When I was in middle school a girl who was a class above me with swept back blond hair and a pack of marlboro reds used to always say “What the fuck? Fuck the what?” while we rode the school bus through the rumbling countryside. I have never understood what she was talking about. No matter. I do remember her 80’s hair in all it’s glory. Glory, I say. Glory.
Lying dazed on a downtown street, I looked up at the moving clouds. As I began to focus, I saw a vast, empty road with vague figures in the distance.
I had been riding my bike to do interviews for a pilot radio show. The roads were dry and the wind was with me. But as I powered ahead, one question kept nagging me: What is this van doing so close to me?
Source: theglobeandmail.com
You just know anything that starts like that can’t end well.
The truck not only ran me over, it dragged me under it – for 100 metres or so – before finally coming to a stop.
I knew none of this as I lay there, disoriented. I was thinking, “Phew, I’m not sure what happened there, but I’m probably late now. I’d better find my bike and get a move on.”
But as I tried to get up, my head bobbed up and down uselessly as my body remained pasted to the pavement.
The initial shock gave way to the sick, dawning realization that something horrible had just happened. I tried to move my legs. Nothing. How about my feet? Not a twitch. Nothing moved. I slipped into a still and silent panic. Am I paralyzed?
Finally I tested my fingers and watched them type on an imaginary keyboard, as though they belonged to someone else. My life may be forever altered, but at least I could write.
So there I lay, in the middle of the street, on my back, typing in the air. Id.
Holy shit. That is brutal. And I’ve only manage to just read through it. And I say “just” read because I have not yet mustered up the courage to listen to the audio portion.
I think it would crack me in two.
Mr. Brown, I’m glad you made it through that. I truly am.
From: D
Hey Jonny,
Today, after reading DC, then posting my own opinion on all this, I was watching Countdown with Keith Olberman. Check this frameshot out. The dude is flipping off the senator and the camera caught it. People are really pissed.
You know, that photograph reminds me of the senior class photo in high school. There were quite a few birds flying in that too. Go figure.
Link dump:
Lord god in heaven: ivotedforsarah.com
She knew all about it the whole time: tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com
The Artist Formerly Known as Dissident: reason.com.
Gun-Toter At Obama Town Hall: talkingpointsmemo.com
Heath Ledger’s anti-whaling message from beyond the grave: entertainment.timesonline.co.uk
YO J,
Just want to state my support for putting “biker down” stories up.
They don’t make you feel all nice and cozy, but they are good for evaluating/checking one’s perspective.
Beyond that, it is the least a person can do to honor/respect a person you didn’t know, but shared a passion with.
-James
And yet, a google of “Don’t blame me, I voted for Biden” only gets three hits. Where do I get THAT sticker?
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2009/08/13/report-michael-vick-to-eagles/
When we come to the place where the road and the sky collide Throw me over the edge and let my spirit glide They told me I was going to have to work for a living But all I want to do is ride I don’t care where we’re going from here Honey, you decide —Jackson Browne, The Road And The Sky, 1974
Are you sure you want to be a lawyer?
“If convicted, the driver will face a $120 ticket.”
IN THIS LEGAL SYSTEM IT IS NOT ILLEGAL TO RUN OVER BICYCLISTS. DO YOU WANT TO SWEAR TO UPHOLD THIS LEGAL SYSTEM WHEN THE TIME COMES TO JOIN THE BAR?
HUH?
Fight the system, don’t be the system. People who hit cyclists need to pay big, big bucks, serve real, real time, or get hunted down and killed.
Current consequences are not a deterrent – there is a PROBLEM.
“Current consequences are not a deterrent – there is a PROBLEM.”
I must concur, Mr. bushine has a point here.