The Frozen Popsicle and The Bitch Seat

Blog No. 4: Jason Visits

My friend Jason from high school came by to visit us here in Santa Cruz. He came all the way from Sacramento on his motorcycle, which freaked Kaylah out a little bit. When he got here, he was as cold as an ice cube and he could barely even move. Kaylah and I had to take off his gloves for him. I'm always amazed of how people can drive long distances in a motorcycle, let alone drive one period. He had to drive two hours straight on a freeway and go up and down a hilly highway to get here.

Jason is a pretty cool guy. In high school, I generally hung out with him when we had music classes. I would put him under the category of "class clown," which only makes sense after you take into account that he emulated Jim Carey for his American Artist Project. Now, he does some programming for the Blackberry which he makes quite a substantial living off of.

He has a thing for red heads… and Hayley Williams. Apparently he would do anything to see and perhaps fondle the lead singer off of Paramore. We must've watched the "Brick by Boring Brick" music video at least a dozen times.

We also watched a lot Mythbusters when I slept over at Kaylah's with him. We pretty much went through the fifth season in that entire week. I already saw most of these episodes already, so it was that much more satisfying when I got Jason to see myths, like Fainting Goats, where Kari Byron, redhead, did something surprising, i.e. strip naked for science, and got to see his reaction.

 

We all went to see Sherlock Holmes one night. I was running late to go to the movie theater and he ended up buying my ticket for me. In exchange, despite his objections, I bought him a large soda, which I sipped a few drinks off of, and a box of sour patch kids. The girl at the counter seemed familiar, so I asked if I knew her from somewhere. Joline is a student, like me and about 70% of the town, at UCSC. What I hadn't realized was that I saw her just earlier that day, working at the Kresge College mailroom. She helped me finally get my mailbox open. XD;

The movie was great. It does have a lot of fist punching and action stuff, but somehow they kept it real, even though Sherlock Holmes tends to be this perfect-in-every-way character. As Sherlock does his recap of "how they did it" we see actual flashbacks of what he saw, not anything new, which was neat because the movie makes it as if we are totally engrossed in his crazy mind. It also introduces some modern aspects of the story, like it includes the crime scene analysis as one would see on an episode of CSI, as well as a "bromance" kind of relationship between Homes and Watson. It kept the spirit of mystery alive, as well as told the story from a different angle instead of trying to please the die-hards.

Overall, I'd give 4 Out of 5 Thumbs UpàGreat to see if you want to yell out "JUST KISS ALREADY!" like I wanted to do…

Also, Terry would most definitely have a fling with Rachel MacAdams.

 

Jason had mentioned that he brought a second helmet to see if any of us wanted to ride along with him. Terry sounded interested, but he didn't want the ride. Kaylah denied it the chance on the spot. I, however, was curious as to how riding a motorcycle would feel, so I took him up on his offer. Kaylah joked about being on the "Bitch Seat," but I didn't care. I wanted to ride the motorcycle with him!

The helmet was tight around the neck, so it took a little push to get the helmet to fit on my big head. I could hear Kaylah chuckle in the background, but again I shrugged it off. When I put it on, we found out that part of the visor was missing. The helmet was hanging near the tailpipe during the ride down, so that must've been the culprit.

Anyway, I hopped on, straddling the bike and grasping my arms around Jason's waist. He gave me one bit of instruction, "Whichever way I turn, lean along with me! I know it'll be scary to do, but trust me you'll be fine!"

In my head, I was thinking, well I wasn't worried until you mentioned that! All it made me do was hold on to Jason tighter.

The engine rumbled as he turned the motorcycle on. I curled up my legs into the bike while Jason prepared for launch. Once Kaylah drove Grace out of the parking lot, we followed. Being on the motorcycle felt like being on the water. It felt very free form and, surprisingly, freeing.

"The engine makes my crotch vibrate!"

Jason shrugged. He was probably used to it.

When we came upon our first turn, I tried following his directions, but I could feel myself hesitate. As the bike leaned, I wondered how the heck a motorcycle can keep its balance in the first place. It was very scary because we leaned to the point where I could have easily just pushed my hand against the pavement, which my hand started to do out of reflex. Once I realized it, I jolted in my seat and then leaned into Jason's back. Once the turn was over, we made a stop behind Grace. After that initial moment of fear, I felt like I could just as easily drive a motorcycle if I wanted to. XD

We rode from Kaylah's place to Gigi's, following Grace along the way. I had gotten the hang of leaning in close to Jason as he turned the motorcycle left or right. The ride was wonderful. It felt very natural, yet unsettling. I'm used to the comfortable and safe shell of a car's frame. It's definitely a weird feeling when you don't have the barrier of a car between you and the other cars.

I tried to sit myself up so that I wasn't totally leaning against Jason the entire ride. I could feel half of my face becoming frozen because of the broken visor. Being paranoid as I was, I fumbled through my pockets every once in awhile, like I'd normally do, one hand at a time to make sure I had everything, just in case nothing slipped out. I noticed that Jason was wondering what the heck I was doing as he turned his head behind him. I think from our entire ride, we must've topped at least 50 mph.

The House—(Motorcycle)àGigi's

Once we pulled into the parking lot and parked, I felt a huge rush of energy run through my body. I instantly regretted not raising my hands above my head during the trip like a roller coaster ride.

I definitely need to learn how to ride a motorcycle one of these days. XD