12/4/06

Ode to going for it.

I've just seen two acts that make me question the typical "courageous" things I normally hear about people doing. These two gentlemen rolled the dice in the grandest style- There is nothing PC or watered-down about either of these two things. Don't sit back and relax- figure out what adventure you've been dancing around, and go take a chance.

The first is an article about the co-founder of DC-Shoes somehow working up the guts to FLOOR a souped-up scooby at a jump Evil Kneivel himself might have some reservations about. He's got a vapor-trail!



The second bit of news is slightly more somber- It is a clip of a young German gentleman who went balls-to-the-wall on the back of a German TGV. Nothing screams GAMETIME like suction-cupping yourself to the back of one of these demons. Sadly, our hero died a year later of leukemia. Happily, he lived the dream, if only until his 22nd year.




I found it on Jalopnik, where commenter Spence captured the feel quite well-

Seriously, this made me cry. No kidding. I'm sitting at my desk at the t-shirt factory wiping tears from my eyes.

What I don't think you get Kracer is that most human beings don't ever deal with the reality of their limited humanity. We trudge to work and put in our time and refuse to think about the fact that death comes in the blink of an eye. Sometimes people under a death sentence are able to face up to their fears in a way most of us don't ever. They can't pretend that the elephant is in the room any longer, so they say "fuck it" to the calculated risk that passes as wisdom in this life. They do the things that they want to do with the tiny piece of time they have. This is how we should all live our lives. Yeah, it's a tragedy when time is cut short, but it's a far greater tragedy when time is wasted on the pettiness of life. This video made me want to quit my job and walk away from my lease and do all the crazy things I want to do with my life. I may not be courageous enough to do it, but damn, don't blame this fool for doing it.

Indeed, being a fool may be the only sane reaction to the meaningless random momentary spark of existence we call life.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I toast Spence's commentary. Life IS short. Be compassionate. Love your family. Be kind to your friends. Listen. Live well.

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