I'm not sure if this is advice to myself or to someone else. Probably both.

So after 18 years living in this town (give or take two or four, depending on how you want to look at it), I finally made it out to the track to catch a race. In this case, it was the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard.

What have I learned?

1. Bringing in a cooler full of PBR and Pizza Hut is a good start but also bring enough cash to buy lemonade, chicken fingers, French fries, a corndog and a strawberry freeze if you are looking to really enjoy the complete experience.

2. Honestly, the race is kind of boring. So try to nap for about a 100 laps in a shaded field.
3. Do not wear a bandanna.

Mid-air pics and video to come later.

So as if I am not already overwhelmed with fear about personally plummeting 8,000 feet at 120 MPH (and then leisurely floating for another 5,000) in less than two days, Maryann writes in a few hours before my next fencing class to tell me about a PanAm Games fencer who accidentally stabbed his brother in the lung. This, after my instructor asked my neophyte fencing partner Miller-X to not attempt to "poke" me as my helmet does not offer adequate protection for my neck.

What can I say? I like to live dangerously.

So I am jumping out of a plane on Saturday. I don't mind telling you this terrifies me. Especially since my friend Los, who organized the trip and has been skydiving before told me it is scary. "The worst part," he says, "is that you get up to the edge and you look down and you see how far the person who just jumped is and you think they shouldn't be that far."