Manual Transmission

One of my high school friends -- really, only one, as far as I can recall -- drove a manual transmission car.  It was a green Kia Rio. Kat loved that car. She love tapped my also green Jeep Cherokee once, and I was pissed about it.  She’d probably have to be going 25 miles an hour to do any real damage to mine, but I loved my car, too. I made a trade with her that I would give her a copy of my Led Zeppelin cd collection if she’d teach me to drive it.  It was the first and only time I have driven a standard, and I remember thinking that it was pretty easy, except for first gear. I really want to get a standard transmission in my next car, but I cannot say how much faith I have in my memory from 20 years ago in her Kia Rio, especially since first gear comes up a lot.

She was a great sport about it.  We were, among other things, music friends, as my offering suggests.  I remember watching my Who concert dvd that day with her. We shared the bass solo in 5:15 melting our faces off.  It gets me everytime; I am not sure how many times I watched it.

She was coming off her first real breakup around that time.  We talked about that, how much she felt like it would be with her forever -- which is basically true of everyone’s first love.  I had gotten George Harrison’s Brainwashed for Christmas that year, and we listened to that, too.  There’s a song on it called Never Get Over You.  I remember her saying, “That’s how I feel about Ryan.”  She did, in fact, get over him.

I also remember her saying that she felt like would have a handful of very intense relationships like the one she had with him, but I would basically only have one, and that would be it.  I would find Her -- and I would just know.

Kat was one of my best friends, almost like extended family, but looking back, it is one of those things that still weirds me out to think that I project enough of whatever it is that I am for her to absorb it, synthesize it, analyze it, and return it to me in a way that I would not have sorted out on my own.  I still cannot say how she did it.

I had encounters with other girls before I met Her, of course, and sometimes I thought one of them might be Her.  But once I actually met Her, I knew Kat was right. When we first met, it took some effort for me to get her to realize what I had already realized, but honestly, in the scheme of things, it was nothing.  Not compared to what I got in return.

Our first date I asked Her out for coffee, and She said, “How about ice cream instead?”  Ice cream is way better than coffee!  That is how my life has been since.  We went to Dairy Queen and we sat outside.  We talked about ourselves and football. We are fans of semi-rival teams, so there is a natural conflict all the time on the subject.  We have been married for seven and a half years now and still talk about football and eat ice cream. The last time our teams met, they split the series.  It was not fun for either of us.

It became clear that both of us were thinking the same thing around Christmas time when we watched Step Up 2: The Streets at my place.  The thing is, it would not have mattered what it was that we watched.  You see, the gears just shifted right into place, like that is how they are supposed to fit.  Even the first one.

Can I wander in your garden

I have heard a few Led Zeppelin songs on the radio lately, and quite frankly, that pleases me. I wish there were a station in Augusta that played only Led Zeppelin. Actually, that doesn't seem all that practical, considering I do own their entire studio catalogue. Anyway, I just wish I could hear whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. I know what you are probably thinking, and it involves an mp3 player and I don't want to hear it. I am not going to buy an iPod and it is unlikely that you are going to convince me otherwise since I don't really have a good reason not to buy one other than I just want to resist the temptation of selling my soul to Steve Jobs for a little while longer. Also, I still kind of want an iPhone, although now my job would make it pretty much completely useless.

The drawback, though, to Led Zeppelin is that I can only sing along if I am alone in the car. You see, my singing voice is not what one would call "pleasant." I am a terrible singer, although I do enjoy singing on Rock Band. I don't a care who's around for that, because the computer generated AI fans love me. This also applies to other bands, like AC/DC, G'n'R and the Beach Boys, all of which are comically out of my range. When I try to be Robert Plant, I sound like an angry person screaming It's been a long lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely time sped up quickly, in the style of the Chipmunks. AC/DC is a little bit different, but my throat hurts after I listen to that cd for a while.

Listening to a lot of classic rock can get to you sometimes, though, because really, they don't really make a lot of it anymore. So I feel like I've pretty much heard all of the songs in the genre. And there are only so many times one can listen to Peaceful Easy Feeling without screaming and throwing rocks and other cars on the highway. Sometimes, though after going long enough without hearing a little Zep you can be reminded of how kickass they really are. I could listen to Gallows Pole like nine times in succession without any problem, especially if you throw in a little Custard Pie. I'm pretty sure that last song is dirty, though.