Detoxifying the Soul

There are many reasons that I came to California. Some of those were premeditated like the weather, the Sun, the beach, and the culture. California is the most Asian-friendly state in America. And of course there's the main reason I came, to uncover my personal legend which for now will remain my personal mystery. But other reasons existed that were less tangible. They were things I could feel but could not yet put into words. This weekend I found a way to describe one of those reasons: I am here to detoxify my soul.

Friday after work I had a few beers with a bunch of people from work to celebrate my favorite co-worker's birthday. I had three over the course of two and a half hours. Afterwards I went to have dinner with my dad. Another hour later I was back on the road to rejoin my new friends. It was a 45-minute drive that I decided to try and make 30. Sometimes I hate my car for being so damn fast! Don't get me wrong, everyone who knows me knows I love horses, but 300 of em? Completely inappropriate for anywhere other than the Autobahn in my opinion!

So try this: stand up straight with your feet together and hands by your side. Lift one foot six inches off the ground and count one-one-thousand, two-one-thousand, three-one-thousand, four-one-thousand, all the way up to thirty-one-thousand. I can barely do that shit when I'm completely sober! The officer who pulled me over claimed to smell alcohol on my breath and subjected me to sobriety tests. So the above plus three other tests and a Breathalyzer left me fairly shaken. I blew a .029 which is way below the legal limit, but the truth is that I could still feel the slight effects of the alcohol. I escaped with a mere ticket for speeding and changing lanes without signaling.

I admit I was driving like an ass, so I spent the rest of the weekend trying to pull together why I did it. Thank God I didn't end up in jail or worse yet, get into an accident. I do feel badly if I endangered anyone else.

I've concluded that I actually wanted to get caught. I wanted to test my limits. I wanted to see how hard the cops of LALa-Land really are (and yes, he was a hard-ass). I was strangely tired of speeding around DC in my G for two years without ever getting caught. But most importantly, I wanted to get caught for something less serious than a DUI or worse yet, an accident. I needed a good slap on the wrist to save me from shackles! Twisted? Yes. Foolish? Yes. Reckless? Yes. But I do feel detoxified of this one small toxin. And I'm ready to move on. There are a few other more serious toxins that I need to get rid of.