Friday, June 08, 2007

Doughnuts, of the rubber variety

I have had three flat tires, on three different vehicles, in the past 3 years. Yesterday I was driving back from visiting my mom, my dog in tow. I was about 20 minutes from home, turning onto a major road from a secondary road. I heard a loud hum, and hoped as I closed my windows that it was some sort of exterior noise from another vehicle. Sadly, I was wrong. I pulled over, put my hazards on and walked back to a little garage I saw. Outside of the shop I saw a boy leading a goat with an old rope. I told the mechanic that I had a flat, and could someone help me put the doughnut on. "Doughnut," he scoffed. "Dunkin' doughnut?" I laughed, although what I was seeing was pretty typical of rural Maine. I'm a native, but still feel at times like I viewing a perverse Diane Arbus photograph when I visit places that seem to be more influenced by Wal-Mart than any other worldliness. I got into the mechanic's son's car who drove me back to my car and changed the tire. The dash of the car (which he said was his wife's) was littered with empty cigarette packs, a disposable camera, and bits of things like Pepsi caps and wrappers. I should be able to change my own tire, but can't.

Last night I watched The Devil and Daniel Johnston. It struck me that Conor Oberst must have been influenced by Daniel Johnston. Then I realized that I had heard Daniel Johnston on the Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks album, singing "Unpack Your Adjectives."

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