Ride of a Lifetime
“So, see: clutch, front brake, your back brake is down there, and here is where you shift.” He demonstrated with each punctuation, squeezing handles and pointing to various pedals. The bike stood silently, a lime-green beast that looked as if it had chewed and spit out riders far more experienced than I. Nodding, the giant helmet forced my head to swing a comically wide arc. “Do you want to try and start it?” he asked. “Okay,” I said. I was along for the ride, an empty shell. I would do whatever he asked. “It’s not just a push start, you have to kick-start it, here,” he said, sliding out the…
Guess Where
Just so you know, this is a stand-in post. It’s not a real post. I miss you and this blog like crazy right now, but I wouldn’t want to lie to you guys and let you believe this is my best work, because it’s not. I’m a little (no, a lot) distracted right now. Why? Oh, because I’m in Las Vegas this very minute. No, that’s not entirely accurate. I’m not in cheesy Vegas, so don’t think about Circus Circus, the Mirage or even the Dunes. I’m in Las Vegas at the most upscale, coolest hotel ever. And when I say “coolest,” I don’t mean that loosely. I mean it…
Good in a Crisis
With another subtle glance over my shoulder, I nudged my sister. “They’re still there?” she whispered, without moving her lips. I nodded slightly. Walking back to our hotel from the café, we had just finished watching Les Bleus win yet another game in the world cup. The metro had closed for the night, and like typical twenty-somethings we had carelessly missed the last bus by about 20 minutes. “What should we do?” she asked under her breath. She had clearly deferred all judgement to me, the Francophile of the trip. Either that, or she thought my two years on her had prepared me for late-night muggings. “Just keep walking like nothing’s happening. If we…