I have a tendency to learn things the hard way. I just remembered a prime example of this while I was cleaning the house this morning:

Back when I was about 8 or 9, I still had yet to master the ability to ride a ten speed bike without falling over before even touching it (think Calvin and Hobbes and you'll have a good idea of what I'm talking about).

One day my mom took my brother and me to visit some friends of hers. Remember, we lived in West Virginia - everything was country...and if it wasn't a mountain, it was a really big hill.

The son of my mother's friend asks if I can ride the bike. Of course I can, I replied because I would be damned if I would be outshone by a boy.

So we grab two ten speeds that belong to his older siblings and walk them to the top of the biggest hill near his house. We look at each other and, at this point, it's too late to back down.

So on the bike I go and so does he. We push off and rocket down this huge gravel hill - screaming hysterically, both of us.

"Save me!" I screamed as I caromed closer and closer to a really nasty ditch next to the road.

"I can't! Save me!" He yelled back.

Amazingly, we both made it down the hill without falling over. It turned out neither one of us had known how to ride a ten speed and were just bluffing each other.

Of course, after that trip, we did and rode constantly together after that. The hill became one of our favorite spots.



As for impatience, I've been waiting to hear back from some publishers on some stories I sent out for anthologies. I really, really hope that I get a story published from some of the work I sent over the past few weeks and months.

I hate waiting for those emails, however. And you can always tell which one is a rejection just by looking at it as it sits in your inbox, glowering (and snickering in some cases).