Girls And Boys

Gather 'round, it's story time. As Mrs. Barinoff of the Casis School would put it, scoot your scooters forward!. It's been such a while since my last post, there's a lot of ground to cover. The why of my not posting I'll spare you. The wi-fi of how I might better in the future I'll save for a separate snippet. What I'll try here is a summary of some of the things I've been thinking about over the past few weeks. It's the stuff that blogs are made of. It includes scooters. It's also about ontology and technogeny, sex and politics.

Something has happened and I don't think it was deliberate. I think the plan was simply to have two blogs: one about "urban mobility" and one about "life's journeys." The former would relate to the Vespa as sensible solution in the same category with palmtop computers, Fandango, and Gore-tex. The latter would relate to the Vespa as sensible solution in the same category with marriage, a subscription to National Geographic, and a weather scanner. That is to say, while the former might be about navigating city life, the latter might go beyond city limits.   The thing that has happened is a modern spin on the classic dichotomy between, you guessed it, the masculine and the feminine. If, when I mentioned, "sex and politics," you thought I was going to discuss the erotic or the topical, I must apologize for the tease. We're talking more Platonic forms and their contemporary morphs. As far as I know, it was not planned that Vespaway would be penned by men and Vespaquest by women. In fact, way on down the road, this could change. What we have for now, though, is me spouting about space ships, comic books and video games, and Justene relaying family vacation anecdotes.

Thank god for Neil and Crystal keeping the rubber side down. Yes, this is about the Vespa and its many applications. The Vespa is what brings me here, literally and figuratively. What's just as interesting to me, though (and to a number of you, judging from your cards and letters), is the way the particular personalities are unfolding. I mentioned Vespaquest having a conversational nature. Even as she stays on the subject of scootering, Justene reveals who she is as a human being, both cautious and wild; both ruminative and impulsive. Crystal hilariously contradicts the implicit hipness of her role with, in the interest of reporting Vespa news, admitting her addiction to the reality show Big Brother. As for Neil, I don't know whether it is due to having had the pleasure of meeting him F2F recently or what, but I get the sensation he's warming up from nerdhood like a garden gnome coming to life and dancing a jig. And, speaking of conversation, I'll take this opportunity to say, hey, Neil, thanks for being a pal and holding the fort by yourself while I was offline and, for that matter, I must apologize for never making it to the weekly Wednesday night as I had hoped to while I was in NY.

And that's the thing, I think it's worth a moment of examination when, for example, my recognition of a friendly dialogue between two women bares a contrast with what heretofore may have amounted to reticence between two men. Is it just me or is it a typical case of gender distinction? When the call went out for Vespa bloggers, I was intrigued by the Vespaquest theme because I'm given to open roads, nottomention Philosophy, but I was drawn to Vespaway because I go in for geeking out downtown stylee and because I also like to present information cut and dried. Even my announcement of my baby is somewhat matter-of-fact. On the other hand, Justene, rather than ramble about her feelings, connects them to a biofeedback device which is in turn connected to a computer game. Maybe it is just me. Maybe there is no story and I am the one who is rambling. Okay. The End.

I haven't covered half the ground I wanted to; only went in circles. Tune in tomorrow for the next in our Destinations series. Then we'll be getting somewhere.