I like the way you think... I also like the way your Firebird is set up...
Butch
----- Original Message -----
From: "Talley, Brooks" <brooks@frnk.com>
To: <ba-autox@autox.team.net>
Cc: "Kelly, Katie" <kkelly@spss.com>
Sent: Saturday, February 02, 2002 4:12 PM
Subject: RE: I THINK ITS BACKWARDS
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Kelly, Katie [mailto:kkelly@spss.com]
> > Sent: Friday, February 01, 2002 10:50 AM
> > To: ba-autox@autox.team.net
> > Subject: I THINK ITS BACKWARDS
> >
> > So, aside from looking ahead, I'd like to know how others
> > handle good days and bad days. Surely, not ALL of your events
> > meet your expectations.
>
> Well, I have a lot of experience being bad at things. More than I do at
> being *good* at things, that's for sure. I'm one of those people who
> has to try everything (except seafood), and between work and play I
> probably practice a huge number of disciplines in an average week.
> Knowing that, I really don't expect to be particularly good at any of
> them.
>
> At an autocross, or on a track, I try to look at driving the way I look
> at, well, driving. During a run/session, I have a rule that I will not
> think about the past. If I run over 6 cones, DNF in the slalom, and run
> over two course workers, I am absolutely not going to notice or care
> about it until the finish line. At that point, I'll try to figure out
> what went wrong and fix it.
>
> When I have a disappointing, odds are it's because I didn't follow that
> simple rule: I got sideways before the start lights, and couldn't let go
> of it through the entire run. And then, on my second run, I was
> focusing on doing better than the first one, rather than just driving.
> After bad runs, I couldn't drive on the third because I was too
> conscious of how badly the first two runs went.
>
> My mom, I'm a bit embarrassed to say, is one of those crystal-wielding
> astrology new-age fluffy types. I pretty much discount all of that, but
> I am constantly reminded of something she once told me: "whatever you
> focus on, increases." She sees it as a principle that the universe
> operates on; I see it as a principle of psychology. Either way, though,
> I think it's an absolute truth (it's a generalization of the "don't look
> where you don't want to drive" law).
>
> I think that same principle applies to driving: if you say to yourself
> "goddam it, I took an early apex in that last corner," or, worse "this
> is a terrible run," well, it's not going to turn out well, is it?
>
> I disagree with the drug analogy. If you have a fantastic day and
> trounce your class and the PAX index, absolutely, congratulate yourself
> and feel euphoric. But if you have a terrible day and DNF every single
> run, you still have every reason to feel euphoric: it's the experience,
> not the results, that matter. And I, at least, really only do well when
> I feel that way.
>
> Sorry if this is a somewhat rambling note; I guess what I'm trying to
> say is that there is *no such thing* as a bad autocross day, unless you
> want to have one.
>
> Becca, however, feels differently:
>
> "Feel free to forward a message from me that says how
> much I recommend pouting and being a general pain in
> the ass for a few hours after having a bad autocross
> day... you could go on to explain that, as my companion,
> you find it not only really effective in getting me through
> my post-autocross emotions, but that you also find it
> wonderfully appealing and enjoyable to be around me on
> such occasions!"
>
> Cheers
> -b
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