In the immortal words of Socrates, "...I drank what?"

So. I am flying back to Iowa City (via Moline), and the flight going into Moline is delayed by two hours. We've also had two gate changes. Mom is NOT going to be pleased. Poor mom, she has work in the morning! I will drive home, so that she can rest, at least, in the car. Dammit, I wish there were public transportation. Or that I had the money for a taxi. Or that I had the money for my own private jet. Ooo, and a license to fly it. That would rock.

But, I have been entertaining myself with a little writing, and:



And, because I have nothing else I really want to be doing at the moment, except sleeping in my bed which can't happen yet, I bring you:

Niggling Thought of the Week
I’ve always loved driving. In Iowa, we start early, with the option to obtain a permit at 14 years of age, a school license at 15, a license at 16, and a graduated license at 17. By now, I have driven nearly every inch of Interstate 80 from California to Pennsylvania alone. (I should do the rest all the way to the end in New Jersey, just on principle.) I’ve driven quite a few different makes and models, manual and automatic, all different shapes and sizes, and three cars made for left-hand driving in New Zealand (fun, despite mix-ups with the turn signal and windshield wipers). I like cars, and wish I knew more about their inner workings. (I have a secret passion for Car Talk, or, perhaps not so secret to anyone happening to browse my iTunes Podcast library.)

Manual transmissions are at least ten times as fun as automatics, and driving fast on highways and freeways I find myself itching to try tricks, especially when I appear to be the only soul on the road. Driving around Iowa City in the winter, if a road or parking lot was icy and empty, I would speed up and hit the breaks to make my car fishtail. While watching a car ad the other night (though I think the thought was set up previously by watching the Italian Job), I realized that there are stunt drivers, that there are people who make their living pulling stunts in cars for movies, television, whatever, and I thought, ‘I wish I had realized that when I was younger.’

I am on a career path at the moment, and Linguistics Grad Student and eventual Professor/Researcher is about the furthest possible thing from stunt driving. I love what I do, and I am excited about it, but wouldn’t stunt driving make an amazing side job/hobby? How many female stunt drivers do you think there are? What kinds of things could I legally do that, if I tried them now, would get me pulled over and/or arrested? How does one even go about getting into stunt driving? Would I even be any good at it?

My my. Idle thoughts, but still, I wish I could do this somehow! Adrenaline… *shivers*