Soul Meets Body

I was within about two feet of being hit by a truck this morning. Seems like I’m always a heartbeat away from The Big Hit.

I was walking diagonally across Amsterdam Avenue. I was listening to Fastball’s “The Way” (“Where were they going without every knowing the way?”). The sky was impossibly blue. The air was deliciously fresh. I wasn’t paying any attention to the fact that I was in the middle of the street while the uptown light was green until “HONK! HONK!” I froze in position while an eighteen wheeler blew past me.

Ryan Gentles used to book me at Mercury Lounge. Now he manages The Strokes. Brandon Schmidt used to work with me at The MTV. Now he manages Interpol. Rishon Blumberg used to take my calls. Now he manages John Mayer.

Last year, my now-friend Derek Rose wrote an article on blogger relationships for The Daily News (this a few months after the whole New York Times hullabaloo). I missed his email query by a few hours, so he interviewed someone else. Today I find out that that someone else not only went on to be one of People Magazine’s 50 Hottest Bachelors, but now has a book deal with DK Publishing, plus a development deal with NBC and Dreamworks.

They say luck is where preparation and timing meet. I am either poorly prepared, or I have the worst timing in the world. Or both. Though there might be an upside. Maybe my Big Hit is coming. Or not. Either way, it could be worse. I could be lying in a bloody, pulpy heap on Amsterdam right now.