Yah.
Well, I'm sure (in a not conceited way, mind you), that you've all been wondering about my disappearance from these boards, and, in short, while I don't want to draw great loads of attention to myself, I thought you should all know what's going on instead of wondering why I'm not here or (daresay I) resort to hearsay. But I know you all better than that, and I'm sure you won't resort to such drastic means, but I'll go for the egotistical, overdone essay instead.
First things first:I, as some of you may or may not know, am a diehard urbanist/enviromentalist (weird, I know), and I realized sometime years ago that a time like this would happen where either my appreciation for cars or my appreciation for nature and urbanity would cancel out. It has, several times, in fact, done so, in which I would lose almost all interest in cities in preference for auto stuff, and vice versa. And it seems, unfortunately, that my interest in automobiles is almost dead. Checking back at this forum sparked it back a little bit, but upon a lot of thought and research done, I declare myself 'anti-car,' if you will. I don't know if you all know, city+car=bad (look at Detroit). Cities must be designed around public transit, or else face an awful hell of poorly planned sprawl and a deteriorating core, bringing as well a death to the traditional neighbourhood and a disturbing growth to suburban sprawl (I could give you a ten page essay on how suburbia is killing America, but I'll spare you from that).
Now, don't get me wrong. I still love cars, and I still greatly enjoy seeing shows and beautiful automobiles, and races, nd tweaking and wotnot. But, to me, all it really eventually boils down to is its use. The romanticism of the car is lost to me, and I just can't find myself with enough interest to come onto a message board and talk about them daily anymore.
I think it might be interesting worth noting that my car chopping hobby has been turned into a buildings diagrams database hobby over at http://www.skyscraperpage.com [/shamelessplug].
Second, in late June I bought a 30 year old electric piano, the mighty Wurlitzer 200A. Most of my time (and all of my money) has been spent on rehabilitating it and playing with the band (and that's a kind of miniscule reason, I know).
But that's not all of it. What really seemed to kill my seduction to the automobile happened on Independence Day. My grandma was driving my aunt and uncle around the city that day (this is the uncle that collects cars;he owns the Bentley S2 and gave us the Jaguar XJS). When they were on their way back their car, a 2001 Buick Regal, was rear-ended at a stoplight by a 90's Dodge Dakota moving at about 30mph. The driver was arrested and was found to have been hopped up on a grocery list of medication. His court case is going on as you are reading this explanation. It left my grandma with a broken arm, and my aunt dead by morning. The following Tuesday I had a flight to San Antonio to catch (awesome town, sorry), and upon my return a week later I discovered my uncle, too had died. In short, the event turned the rest of my summer upside down, tangled in a web of legal issues, physical matters, taxation, and emotional dealings. I don't think I actually did much anything from July to early August.
On the bittersweet side, I ended up getting his 1990 Toyota Cressida and his 2002 Ford Thunderbird, which I can't say I'm exactly thrilled to be driving. The Bentley was sold or given (I can't remember) to the car club, but it's still at their house if anyone still has interest in some photographs.
In essence, it not only left me shaky about driving cars (think Radiohead's 'Airbag,'), but severed my real only direct connection to car collecting/tinkering/whatever. And honestly, I can't say I mourn it too much.
So, jah, that's about it. Thanks for bearing through that dense mass of text (don't worry, you're almost done). I'll still try to hang around here, but I can guarentee you all I'll be taking the train by the time I'm in college (Milwaukee's transit system is a joke, mind you).
Out.
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Originally Posted by Esperante
