Something a little different this time. Soon I will tell about my new job and the job I had last weekend and the people I had to put up with and the snow and ice which was seemingly calculated to prevent me from acquiring my new motorcycle and how my car handles (doesn't handle) on ice and a UT update and the end of the Florida recount and a site with some awesome bike sounds I found and a partial list of all the maintenance, adjustment, cleaning, and tuneup jobs I'm doing on my bike when I get it... After that I'll post digital camera pics of my new bike (I'm getting it on Saturday, two days) and finally there'll be a third post about mental anguish with some emotional wounding and stuff of that nature.

But for now, song lyrics and bike pictures. They go together so well, no? Each of these means something to me.

All these words are by Scott Miller.
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I'd not be such a disgrace to
everything that I've been through
if I had it to do
dripping with looks like you

More pictures of the 454, my future bike. Smooth. Crisp. I love it. Words are kind of self-evident. Literal translation: had I the self-confidence engendered by your comeliness, you'd see me shine like the sun... but I'm held back by the way I look and nothing ever helps me shine...

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I don't lose a lot of sleep and I'm not sure what this means
but at some point I stopped remembering last night's dreams

This is a highly customized and turbo-charged V-Max. This street legal (except in CA) bike makes over 200 horsepower. The acceleration, I'm sure, is extraordinary. When I was growing up, my best friend Andy's father had a stock V-Max. Mr. Max it was called. A torque monster V-4 with "V-Boost" that sounded like a Chevy V-8 except it could rev to 9000 and it had more power than virtually every car on the road at the time (but less than a quarter of the weight, with a rider). The words I think concern the learned complacency of maturity. I'm implying that remembering dreams is a youthful phenomenon, but when I first heard this in 1994 it was poignant, because, well, I had had some pretty wild dreams having just moved to Denton and gone through some of the biggest changes of my life, dreams which I had by my first comprehending of these lyrics ceased to regularly remember. So it was particularly thought-provoking at the time.

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we sensed a scare but there's no scare there
look out and good there are no lions in the street
we sensed a change but the change came strange
all things get painted the right colors when we meet
short and sweet

A friend of mine who lives in Irving just bought an old '85 Ninja 900. He was ecstatic about it. This picture is of a mid '80s Ninja 750, but he says his looks almost identical. This is how Ninjas looked when I was a kid, and there's something so right about them to me. The colors, the little pointy bits around the headlight, the way it looks screaming down a twisty road. Anyway, when I get my bike all ready and he gets his bike all ready and the weather gets better, we plan to go riding. I can't wait!! The words... they don't mean that much, but I like the turn of phrase and the song is very playful and the "all things get painted" line is sharp.

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leave room to fall
once in your life go home worth unproved
and the earth unmoved

This is a Ducati 996. I love the rear part of this bike. High seat/tail section, under-seat pipes, single-sided swingarm, no fender, no hugger, integrated turn signals; very clean rear. It really has the "big engine with a steering mechanism, seat, and massive drive wheel attached" concept down. The words are beautiful. The song from whence they come is gorgeous. What a sentiment. What an admonishment. I guess you had to be there.

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there are ways if they'd asked
I'd have told the world to treat you
at each stage you could take what they'd throw at you

I don't want to believe
that this time they really beat you
see you there looking not meant to make it through

but don't you find it's on your mind
with friends all going places?
and even though they told you so
was that sufficient basis?
and when you lose across the board
is trying still its own reward?

This is a 1985 Honda VF500 Interceptor. If I find one for sale in the area I will drop everything and FIND the money to buy it. In my opinion, this is what a small-displacement sportbike is supposed to look like, and besides that, it's one of the best handling bikes ever made. I love it. My father was close to buying the 1000cc model but got the FJ1100 instead. The words, which don't at first seem to fit the music they're presented with, in the end become more powerful once the moody/cheerful music is examined more closely and carefully. It becomes remorseful and desperate. The song is a test and almost a call to action.

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