Penelope in Wonderland

This weekend I drove up to Raleigh for a Halloween party where I dressed up as Alice in Wonderland, with K.Lo as the White Rabbit. And in light of my recent foray into the uncomfortable world of speeding tickets, I, in true penelope fashion, have been engaged in a little bit of self-punishment for my crimes. So, the real Wonderland was on the road to and from, where I discovered the alternate reality of going the speed limit. It's an interesting universe with its own set of rules and, surprisingly, relief from certain tensions. For instance, BEFORE, getting stuck behind a Buick would really, really enrage me, because it is a law both of nature and car mechanics that Buicks cannot maintain a speed higher than 5 below the speed limit. But now, AFTER, I realize that should you be so lucky to get "stuck" behind a Buick, you will also never get in trouble with the law, at least not for speeding. Also, should you choose, as I did, to drive back from RDU to ILM with cruise control set exactly at the speed limit, rather than 6 mph over, the trip is only a mere 10 minutes longer, and you use approximately one-quarter tank of gas as opposed to nearly a half a tank. Mysterious, but true.

When driving in Wonderland, one must also accept that pretty much every driver on the Interstate will pass you. But in accepting this truth, you are also able to let go of the aggravation in having some drivers pass you, but not others, and then you have to pass a car, and then someone else is riding your tail, and so forth. You can easily free yourself of all this nonsense. When driving the speed limit, there you are, just S L O W. Occasionally, you will find yourself behind a car traveling well below the speed limit, in which case it is no problem to cruise right on ahead with the same speed setting. For the most part, however, there you are in your meandering little world, deaf to the bewildered/cursing drivers shooshing past, singing along to track 5 of John Mayer's Continuum on indefinite repeat until you feel like you might cry. Out of happiness, of course. Ahem. It's the Heart of Life, man.

And in other news, I should report that I have something like a cold, a card that I'm playing to excuse my recent lack of posting, commenting, and emailing. And dusting, cooking, snarking, and basically doing anything other than eating chocolate and watching Season 1 of Big Love. Because other than that I appear to be useless.

Oh, and I think I hate October. More soon on that? Possibly.

pen-over-and-out