So, the result of all of this is that basically we have been moving her stuff into my apartment for most of the evening, and organizing it somewhat. Or in other words, we have been turning my apartment more into our apartment. It’s actually a pretty good feeling.

In between all the packing and stuff, we also played some board games, ate dinner while watching some TV, and so forth. When it came time to go, we got on my motorcycle, Jill, and headed back to her place. Right as I pulled onto the highway, I had a wonderful experience. One might call it an epiphany, but I will call it an inspired message.

Let me describe the situation. It was a cool night, about 70 degrees, but going down the road at 70 mph with my jacket partially open, the wind chill brought it down to about the upper 40s or lower 50s. It felt great. I was sitting atop my speedy little motorcycle, Jill. I wasn’t flying down the highway, giving her a real workout, but the feel of her warmth between my legs, the rumble of the pavement beneath, the movement as we swerve around the traffic is a wonderful feeling. And to top it all off, sitting behind me, is an amazing, beautiful, fantastic woman, whom I love with everything I have, and who will soon be my wife. My fiancée, Kali, is sitting there, and I can feel her legs against my thighs, and her hands resting lightly on my waist. I’m reminded of all that we’ve shared, and all that she means to me.

As this is happening, a feeling comes over me. But it wasn’t just a feeling, it was a message from my God. He said to me, “Daniel,” (He always calls me “Daniel,” never “Dan”) “I have put you here to have joy. The people I have placed in your life, and the experiences I have given you are for that purpose. Cherish them.”

I truly have a blessed life. My family (present and future), my friends, my good times, and my bad times make me a better person, and bring me more joy. I don’t know if I’ll ever understand why the Lord blesses me so, but I know that he does, and for that, I am truly grateful.

Anyway, I realize I’m coming in too fast, and that the door won’t be open enough for me when I reach it, so I slow down a little, and duck. Apparently, I didn’t slow down enough and/or duck low enough, because right as I pass the garage’s threshold, I slam into the garage door.

I’m not sure how I made it all the way in the garage without falling off my bike after that, but somehow I did. Now, I’m not hurt. Apparently motorcycle helmets are not only good against concrete, but also large metal doors. Anyway, it was a strange and interesting experience, but not one I would recommend to others.

P.S. My garage door no longer opens and closes, as of 3am this morning (14 December 2008). I don’t know if that’s related to my collision with it.

This morning, I was heading to work. I was on MoPac, in the far left lane. I decided to move to the center lane, so I carefully checked that it was clear, and then moved over. Shortly after I move over, I hear a loud honk rather close to me. I look to my right and see a big ‘ole SUV just behind me trying to push into my spot, or more accurately, trying to run me over. I speed up, and swerve slightly to the left to avoid being flattened by this behemoth.

So, how do I know it was his fault and not mine? Very simple. When I change lanes, after making sure the lane is clear, I move quickly into the nearest part of the lane: in this case, the left side of the lane. Then I slowly slide to the center of the lane. When the gas-guzzling maniac this morning honked at me, I was already in the center of the lane. I had been in the lane for a few seconds already. This dorkus barely had his front left wheel in the lane, although that was changing rapidly, as he barreled into my place. There was no way he started to change lanes before I did, and since I was in front of him, if he had pulled his face from the interior of his rectum for a moment, he would’ve clearly seen my bright yellow motorcycle in the very space he was attempting to enter.

Now, I’m sure it wasn’t maliciousness on his part, but rather carelessness. My vehicle, while bright, is small. Surely anyone with two eyes and half a brain cell would have seen that I was definitely in the center lane when he began to move into it, but perhaps he only has a quarter of a brain cell. In that case, I surely can’t hold him accountable.

Now, just in case that failure of a person is reading this right now, I have a suggestion for you. Before you get in your car again, I think you may want to see your doctor. It’s possible there’s a surgical procedure that can remove your head from your anus, which would definitely help when you’re on the road next time. Barring that, maybe you should become familiar with Capital Metro. They provide a great service, and would definitely help you avoid any more problems like the one we had this morning.

As I was leaving Taylor on the way up here, I was riding right along a train track. There was a train, about 30 cars long, going along the tracks, probably about 55 miles/hour. As I passed it, I saw a small road that went right over the tracks.

I had the best (or worst) idea. My idea was to take a sudden, sharp right turn, and drive right over the tracks, mere inches in front of the train. It would be just like in an action movie.

Maybe it’s a good thing that I didn’t do it. I would have had to wait for the train to pass to cross back to get onto the main road. Oh, and of course there was the risk of me killing myself. That would have been bad, too, I guess. But it could have been amazing.

On Saturday, we filmed the pilot episode for our new webshow: Joe Stryker.

Joe Stryker is an action hero of the old school. Imagine taking Chuck Norris, Knight Rider, the A-Team, and McGyver, putting them all in a blender, adding in an extra heaping spoonful of manliness, top it off with one awesome 80′s mullet, and serving that atop an awesome motorcycle. You would have a generous serving of Joe Stryker.

This was a concept I came up with my friend Geoff Yano (of oogaFilms). Although, it was really mostly his idea. Of course, yours truly is playing the man himself. Geoff and I enlisted the help of other friends to fill in our production team of writers, composers, directors, and crew. Each webisode will be about 5 minutes long, and we’ll probably release a new one about once a month.

Our pilot episode seemed to turn out really well. In addition to myself, it features the acting stylings of Bryant Moscon, William Moyes, Mark Sanderson (who is also one of our main production crew members), and Kurstin Raposa.

Once the episode is done being edited, and our theme song is composed (being done by a great composer and friend: Ryan Gee), we’ll release it into the wild (on YouTube).

Joe Stryker does not yet have a home on the web, but I will be heading up the website effort, and hope to have it up in a couple months.

I’m really excited about this project, and hope you all enjoy it. Stay tuned for our pilot episode in the coming weeks.

The guy asked me if I was okay. I felt alright and told him so. He then told me he couldn’t believe that guy cut out in front of me, and what an idiot he was, and so on. I asked if the guy was still here. “No, he just kept going.” I choose to assume that he for some reason, his mind was very occupied at the time, and he never even knew I was there. I have to assume that, because the other option is that he’s a horrible careless person, and I prefer to think the best of people until I have evidence to the contrary.

So the guy that was helping me then asks if my bike is okay, so I try to turn her on. She doesn’t start right away, but after a couple tries, she turns right on. “Thank goodness she still works!,” I thought. I begin to inspect the damage and see some scratches along the right side of the bike, but nothing serious. As I’m looking at the damage, a fire truck pulls up, followed by the police. I’m guessing someone looked out their window and saw someone sliding across the road and decided to call 911. If that person is reading this, thank you very much.

The guy in the firetruck gets out and starts asking about how I’m feeling. Does my neck hurt. “No, I’ve got a couple scrapes, but nothing serious.” Did I lose consciousness? “Not at all.” Do I want to be taken to the hospital? “No, I don’t think that’s necessary.” And so on. The cop that gets out asks me about what happened. When the other cop gets out he tells him I “fell avoiding a collision.” In a little while the ambulance shows up. The EMT wants to take my blood pressure and pulse. We step into the ambulance so she can. She asks me all the same questions as the fireman, and writes my answers down. She asks me two more times if I want to be taken to the hospital, and I have to sign a form confirming that I refused transport. When I get out of the ambulance, the cop gives me a card with my case number on it for the insurance company. He asks if I’m okay to get home. “Yeah, it’s no problem.”

So the emergency vehicles all start to head off. I put my helmet and jacket back on, and see some more damage. My jacket has quite a few rips in it. My helmet is scratched along the right side so badly that it completely impairs my right peripheral vision. I imagine how it would be if that had been my face instead of my helmet. As I pull away, at the next intersection I realize another problem with my bike. The front brake lever has become bent backwards. I could only grab it with two fingers instead of all four. But it still works, so I’m fine.

All in all, the experience was more reassuring than anything, in many ways. Emergency services were incredibly responsive, so if it had been worse than it was, at least I know I would have been in good hands. Also, it’s reassuring how well my gear protected me from injury. Other people on the road have a nice steel cage to protect them, but I have to rely on my helmet, jacket, and jeans. And when they were put to the test on Friday, they passed with flying colors. In a few days, I intend to post to flickr pictures of some of the damage, so keep an eye on it.

I had another interesting experience on my motorcycle the next day (one that didn’t involve endangering my safety). I was heading west on Highway 71 (aka Ben White Blvd), and I was pulling up to the light at Riverside Dr. There were about five cars stopped at the light directly in front of me, and as I’m pulling up behind the line, I noticed something float to the ground a couple feet in front of me. It caught my eye, so I stopped to look at it. I’m about one car-length behind the car in front of me, but the light’s red, so I don’t think it’s a big deal to stop where I was. As I look down, I see that it was a butterfly that had floated down to the ground. I thought, This butterfly doesn’t realize what a bad situation into which it’s put itself. There are cars all around, and it decides to sit in the middle of the road. I was really starting to worry. “This butterfly will get squashed by this SUV behind me if I don’t do something to help it.” As I was trying to think of what I could do to ameliorate its situation, the light turned green, and I had no choice but to go. As I pulled away, a wave of guilt passed over me as I realized what I should have done. I could have put Jenny in neutral, bent over and picked up the butterfly. Maybe coaxed it to rest on my shirt inside my jacket, and then as soon as I could, pull over to the side and let it off in the grass. I felt really sad that this poor butterfly was probably now squashed under someone’s tires, making this not a very Goodyear for the butterfly. (I apologize for that last pun when discussing morbidity. Bad taste, I know.)

I don’t know what it says about me when I worry about a single, little butterfly, but thinking about still makes me a little sad.