i fell off the bike for the first time today. totally my fault. a refreshing rain started around the time i got over the hump on the bridge, while i was rubbernecking at the beautiful ginoromous eliasson waterfall over on the manhattan side of the east river. it's this perfect wide misty cascade falling over a tinkertoy metal scaffolding. it doesn't look anything like the natural fall we saw in north carolina with my father, the ones he used to play in as a child. that was mountainous and rumbling and ice-cold. this one was like a hothouse waterfall, groomed and airy. it flexed in the breeze, curling back behind the scaffolding. anyway, i enjoyed the sight of it and made a mental note that the pavement was getting slippery. not that i put that knowledge into practice while barreling down prince st, passing by the slowpokes, bold and confident. and when a big truck came across the intersection in front of me i pulled my classic screeching sideways stop on a dime. and slipped. corrected. slipped some more, till i finally spilled all over the street just in time for the slowpokes i'd passed to pull up and ask if i was okay. i was remarkably and undeservedly okay. couple scrapes, weak leg, but fine. so i took a quick breather and rode the rest of the way to work, where the sting from the scrapes wore off and my knee began to gradually but inexorably really fucking ache. i went to the reading in w-burg with my brother anyway and dulled the pain with belgian beer at spuyten dyvil, and now i sit on the futon with the bright pink little kid's icepack on my knee, over the pirate band-aid. bike's still at work. i'm hoping against hope to be able to ride it home tomorrow, but seeing as the most dramatic injury so far was to my pride, it's not worth doing real damage to myself. we'll see how it feels.