First Post

Greetings all---

Andrew Lang, i.e. ho mathetes (handle = Greek for 'the student,') bidding my greetings and gratitude for being here.

I'm here because of my unabashed delectation of the automobile. Call me kitschy, I've got a '69 mustang I'm head over heels for (but my wallet isn't...which seems right). Her condition is derelict presently, but the spirited part of me knows it will not stay that way.

There's a long (and frankly tedious--save for the most devoted gearhead) road which got me here as a matter of historical accuracy.

But the automotive experience (and the friendship...again for another day) is the thing that is my fix and what I'd like my first post to touch on.

My particular satisfaction with the automobile is one of sensation. The sight of a car with striking lines, with stance, with presence. It purrs. It growls. These cars driven are visceral and captivating--there is an awareness of everything. Working on them gets your whole body on the ground, covers you with the work of your hands...there is something extraordinary soothing about this little combustion-driven world that seems apart the burden of everyday life (and yet it is so close to this life--I find this interesting).

It is something experienced and relished and much later (if at all) reflected on (nostalgia?). Driving the ubiquitous vanilla transporters which are today's car (perhaps not all of today's cars...once more for another day) pales afterward, such as do most women after a great lover (CB: "...you have worked on it, hated it, burst with pride over it, slept in it, cursed at it, caressed it, and ignored it...)...if you know what I mean.

So, yeah, I am a fan. Of bikes too--used to work at a Schwinn shop--and so I'm excited to see the recent posts up. I'm contemplating building a fixie after having a hoot riding crashbox's trek 520. We'll see where it goes...the ideal phrase to say on the right road on a Sunday afternoon...