firsts

the advent of my Miata, Betsey Ross, has made a lot of typical car things exciting again. I bought the car—not knowing how to drive stick—at the urging of my dad (savvy car shopper), our mechanic (fan of Miatas), and my own annoyingly plucky, I-can-do-it spirit. With the difficult period of sobbing and cursing manual transmissions out of the way, I can now appreciate driving as I never have.

First solo drive: Nothing's more exciting than taking the training wheels off and hitting the road. The hardest part is choosing the music. Ended up being "See You" by the Foo Fighters on my "For a singing day" playlist.

First late night drive: Had delicious girl talk with Susannah and made my way home at midnight. The temperature was perfect, there was hardly anyone on the road, and if I had a friend to visit somewhere more than 20 miles away with last-minute, midnight notice, I would have gone.

First fast food drive-through: I think this photo by Brody Stevens says it best. Didn't stall once! I am a master of the "biting point."

First unapologetic pop song belt-out: "You're My Number One" by S Club 7. Blogs don't get more honest than this, dig?

First race: Red light with a red sports car next to me. I refused to make eye contact, but it was clearly still a race. I lost, of course. (Didn't help that I was a little embarrassed by my apparently mis-named "unapologetic" belt-out.)

First drive in flip flops: Not a success. Ended up segueing nicely into "First drive barefoot," which was unremarkable.

First favorite gear: Fourth! Smoooooth.

First road rage: Some lady dick got a little annoyed that I have a longer reaction time to green lights than negative two seconds, tailgated me, and changed lanes (as I had my left turn signal on to go into that lane). She eventually went back into her original lane, thus making her previous lane change a total dick move. I was about to yell at her until I realized, "Aww, my first road rage in Betsey Ross!", and fell in love with my sexy wheels all over again.

First full album: Dismemberment Plan - Emergency & I. Christ, this is good. Also, hello there, 1999!

Looking forward to "first animal passenger," "first makeout sesh," and "first road trip." Hopefully I can defer "first parking ticket," "first speeding ticket," and "first accident" indefintely.

*Photo of me and Heather Thomson on a girl trip! All the single ladies (x7), now put your hands up! Whoops, back on the wheel. There ya go.