Perfect From Now On (Part 1) (386 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 1.25 on 4 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Grownasskid (View user info) at 2007-05-09 10:21:09 EDT
In the groggy haze that is inevitable after a night of heavy, unhealthy drinking, there is an odd sort of clarity that sets in and effects part of the brain. For example, I never even noticed that the light was red, but I couldn't ignore the newfound subtle lyrical nuances in the song "Screenwriter's Blues" by Soul Coughing.
Of course, I'm sure my observations are no good to man with the smashed mini van across from me.
Perhaps is he were battling sleep deprivation, hangover, and heartbreak the hidden meanings of Mike Doughty's drug induced beat poetry would help ease the pain of a broken leg.
The story of how this all came to be is an old story; it's been told by thousands of lovesick stunted adult adolescents, and honestly, I'm bored of telling it. Suffice to say, she rejected me, I got angry, and then I drank. The details you can fill in for yourself, but since you're familiar with the story, you shouldn't have a problem. It's the same as everyone else's.
No, what's interesting about this story is what happened the morning after, when I left her apartment at 8:30 Wednesday morning to drive back to my friend Ed's house.
It may be a cliché, but car accidents happen unbelievably fast in real time. To the person observing a car accident, it takes maybe 2 seconds for two cars to go from normal to completely fucked. However, to the people involved in the accident, a car wreck takes approximately 15 minutes. In my particular exchange, I saw the car in the intersection 75 feet in front of me. In my head, I did some quick math and realized that there was not enough road between me and the mini van to avoid collision. I looked into the van's driver-side window, at the man looking to make his left turn, oblivious to my rocket car barreling at him with ramming speed.
"Poor guy," I thought to myself. "He isn't even going to see this coming."
I then took the time to notice that Soul Coughing was playing in my CD player. I have to admit, I'm glad it was Soul Coughing and not The Killers or Nas or Bela Fleck or Brian Wilson or any of the other CDs that were in rotation. Soul Coughing is good music to crash a car to and, since I was in a college town, I liked the idea of getting some indie cred from the locals as they ogled the soon-to-be pile of warped steel that was once a car (I should be ashamed to admit this, but I am not).
In the last moments before the union Chevrolet and Chrysler, it occurred to me that every accident, car crash or otherwise, follows the same basic three step pattern. Step one is that someone sees what is about to happen, and tries to stop it. Step two; either someone stops it and it's over, or they don't and we move to step three. Step three, of course, is acceptance of what is out of control.
I couldn't help but smile as the airbag exploded out of my steering column; this kind of clarity is usually reserved for recovering alcoholics.
User Reviews
Submitted by i_can_get_you_a_toe (user info) at 2007-05-09 18:01:16 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
i liked this
disregard anything perkman says. he's a fuckass.
Submitted by PerkMan (user info) at 2007-05-09 14:00:09 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Good stuff. I like you. You are actually not a fucking loser on this site.
Submitted by TheUniter (user info) at 2007-05-09 13:39:07 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by vyktoriah (user info) at 2007-05-09 10:52:56 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
This reminds me of the Barenaked Ladies song, "Tonight is the Night I Fell Asleep at the Wheel." Great song. Great imagery.