Max Riffner

The Parlor

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New Car, New Tunes

I remember being in high school in the early 90s, when driving a car was pure joy. Gas was cheap. Gas was terribly cheap. My friends and I would drive everywhere, all over the city, having fun, cruising, blasting music. I miss those days terribly: the joy of driving a car.

I’ve given up on my dreams of getting a motorcycle. Well, not given up, but realizing I like to draw a lot more than I think I would riding a motorcycle. The thing with motorcycles is that you will dump it eventually. I hate the idea of not being able to draw so much that I don’t even want to risk it. The appeal of the motorcycle for me was that it would recapture the joy of driving while being easy on gas. And since about 2000, gas, and driving, has turned into a bit of a pain.

I just sold my old ’99 Saturn and put the plates on my new ’01 Honda Civic last night. I took the new car out on the road, gave it a wash, and picked up new supplies for my iPod to hook into the stereo. The iPod equipment was important. My FM transmitter died about 2 months ago, so I’ve been subject to the radio’s whims (ugh). Rolling out from the Apple Store and hurtling down Dodge Street, my Top Rated playlist booming from the stereo with the windows down, I recaptured some of that driving joy.

A younger friend at work who has a good amount of mechanical experience with cars is slowly talking me into tastefully tricking out the Honda a bit (I’m 30 for crying out loud; the last thing I need is a giant wing on my trunk). And I’m listening to him, getting more excited as he talks exhaustively about what we could do to it. And at a certain point, you have to stop fretting. You have to stop worrying. You’ll worry your life away. Why not get back to doing something fun?

Life is simple joys. Driving in a car you like with your favorite music is worth the stretch.

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