The Bostonian Abroad

I'm not really that old, but I feel it sometimes. I feel it when I don't work out for a couple of days and my joints begin to ache and crack. I feel it when I work out and I have stiffness and pain for a few days afterwards. It is especially evident in the lines on my face - though these are still subtle. The grey hairs I am beginning to notice are the final calling card, letting me know that I have passed a milestone. You read all the time about this kind of thing. Movies are made about it. It's a tired, old story about realizing that you are getting older and that youth is going or gone. My rephrasing it is most likely only of interest to me - a sort of middle-aged self-indulgence, but I feel my view on it is worth putting down. In my case, getting older means realizing that the endless wellspring of energy I once had is now not endless. I used to feel that I could go on forever if I wanted to. That whole concept of ferever has changed too. Forever, back when I was younge...

February 1st, and the snow was flying! Well, at least, for a few hours. Then it turned to rain, and by the end of the day, my face-down snowman was all that remained of a "winter wonderland." Truth be told, I actually miss getting snow in the winter. To only have cold days, without the beauty brought by the occasional snowfall, makes winter just a grim, sad time, with little to see that makes one feel good inside. Snow, for all its cold, has the effect of making you feel all warm and cosy in your house, curled up in a blanket in front of the fire, drinking cocoa. In North Carolina, everythintg closes, pretty much, because there is nothing substantial to clear away the snow and ice. People are not used to driving in icy conditions, so accidents abound. Northerners complain about the "pussies" down here, but they are too short-sighted. Why spend the mega-bucks required to prepare for a serious winter storm when you only see one every three to five years? It...

Assing into a turn- I only started riding in March of 2006. As of now, that is about 9 months. I can hardly consider myself an authority on anything to do with motorcycling, but I I can say that I have noticed something about how I ride. I was taught that when cornering, the mantra is Slow-Look-Press-Roll (Slipper). I have used this, and sometimes find myself saying this aloud when I am trying to be careful. But I've noticed too that I tended to over-press, then had to compensate. My turns were not graceful at all, but slightly wobbly, meandering affairs that might get me pulled over for drunk driving, even though I'm stone-cold sober. Then, in those moments when there is no one up my ass or trying to outright pass me on the small 2-lane backroads I frequent, I notice that I tend not to press so much with my hands or arms, but lean into the curve with, for lack of a better word, my ass. I call it "assing into the turn". Whenever I let my ass do the leaning, and...

Being that I've put 3,000 miles on my new Harley since June, I thought it wise to check with the dealer to make sure what all had been done on my bike before they sold it to me. I called the dealership in Rocky Mount, and - lo and behold, nothing at all had ever been done! They sold me a motorcycle without ever having changed the oil or even inspecting it! When this oversight was discovered, the service man immediately offered to do it for free. I was very satisfied by this offer, and I immediately took him up on it. Today, after a long and boring drive home from Lillington in my VW Golf, I hopped on my Road King and quickly set off for Rocky Mount. What a great ride! The temperature was barely 66 degrees, the sun was shining, the sky was clearing out after yesterday's rain, and the leaves were in the midst of their yearly color-dance. It was magnificent! Mindfull of the cooler weather, and of the fact that I'd be doing 70 mph or more up route 64, I dressed in layers,...

I'm tired of being embarrassed, ashamed and confused by my country. Each day it seems to get even worse, too. And this obsession we have in this country of labelling people as conservative or liberal, republican or democrat - it's utterly absurd, and ultimately, hurtful to the entire nation. There seems to be no room in the national discussion for people who don't identify entirely with one side or the other. Actually, it isn't even a discussion anymore, it is a constant, nerve-wracking, mud-slinging, evil debate, with only one goal in mind - power. We've lost the purpose of government. We've lost the ideal of participation. We've lost our sense of belonging to a greater whole. Nowadays, we all feel like we are entirely divorced from the forces which dominate our lives. We don't really even care anymore, unless we are terrified into making knee-jerk reactions. Where did America go? I want to live in a country I can be proud of again, a place I fee...

I had the best ride of my life yesterday afternoon, and this afternoon beckons with equal promise! The air is cool, but not cold, the wind is gentle and the fragrances of the season mix together, intoxicatingly beautiful. I had forgotten just how powerful an impact this season has on me! Having lived in the tropics for so long, I increasingly relied on ever-fading memory of just what it was like to go through Autumn. One thing that has come back to me quite powerfully is the quality of light at this time of year. It seems to me almost too bright - as if I've been suddenly awakened in the brightness of day, eyes squinting, trying to adjust. It's a stark kind of light that brings out the colors in everything especially clearly. And the air has so many different perfumes! I remember the wood-burning stove smell, but the other smells of Fall have been a pleasant surprise. There are the smells of the leaves in all their variety, and then the scents of fall seasonings, the orig...

When I first came up to North Carolina from my Hellish existence in Honolulu, land of the retard anti-haole,I had no idea where the good and bad places were. In looking for a house, I asked as many people as possible where to go, and where to avoid. Almost unanimously, everyone said that I should live in Cary. Apparently, Cary is very popular among people from up North. It is filled to the brim with them, in fact. I called a friend of mine who had lived there years ago, and he could not sing Cary's praises enough. Of all the possible places to move in the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill (the Triangle) area, Cary was deemed the best. In fact, Cary has consistently ranked among the top 10 places in the country to live. I looked in Cary, drove around its confusing, circular streets, and I marvelled at how many people live there! It's like a city up North! The houses are pretty much all within 15 to 20 feet of each other, and everywhere you look there are cars, cars and more ...