courtneyrenea

tonight i borrowed my roomate’s car. i’ve ridden and driven this car a total of maybe 20 times. i walk past it every morning and every night to and from work. she has had the same car since driving out here 4 or 5 months ago from Ohio. tonight, after driving it to my brother and sister-in-law’s, i walked outside to leave and noticed for the first time the car is black with a red racing stripe. not that i didn’t think it was black; i had just never noticed. if i had had to guess, i think i would have said dark maroon. i also deliberately noticed for the first time it is a Ford. i still couldn’t tell you what the model of the car actually is. it’s so bizarre. i could have recited to you all window decals, bumperstickers, and the vanity plate… but the color, make and model completely outwitted me for 4 months.

i’m generally very perceptive with visuals and aesthetics, but cars are something that so comically elude me. for all the times that friends have picked me up, i couldn’t tell you what a single one of you drives. Greg&Carolyn, Matt&Arielle, Corrie, Dave, my brother Nate. i just dun know. most of the time i either go by other distinguishing characteristics my brain does notice, like rust or window decals, or maybe by where i know the car is parked.

anyways, for some reason everytime i experience this phenomenon, i think of Dr. Raleigh St. Clair’s patient in the Royal Tenenbaums, Dudley. Remember Dudley? i think of that scene when the doctor instructs Dudley to put together the blocks as he has arranged them on his side, and Dudley does not have the spacial or visual recognition to do so.

well, that’s me with automobiles, i reckon. my brain does not compute.