So Andrew gets off his literary high horse

All right, all right. You want me to write, Andrew? I'll write. The man has questioned both my sexuality and, one too many times, my dedication as a writer. I would like to say that I have been writing- three short stories and, hopefully, a novel- so it's not a question of motivation. It's just been a question of priority (granted, no one reads my stories just like no one reads this blog) and a question of topicality: I haven't had any road trip things to add, and the one time I went off topic, Andrew chastised me. That said, I'll follow Andrew's lead and go slightly off topic here (with a little big of trip tid bits here and there).

First and foremost, as to the writing process, I can certainly understand Andrew's frustration. Obviously, I am a writing major, and aspire to someday be a writer myself. Really, writing is like any art: you have to be honest to yourself, and you have to realize that perfection isn't a legitimate possibility. It just isn't going to happen, so there's no use worrying about it. I know Andrew, and many writers, worry about choosing the right word, worry about sounding stupid or awkward, and because of this, either don't write or don't let people see their writing. I can vouch for myself, and I imagine Matt would agree: a majority of my writing sucks. That's how you get better as a writer- you write, and a lot of times it sucks, a lot of times you're convinced it's terrible, but that's how you improve: practice, trial and error, learning from your mistakes. The reason I write, other than my love for the written word, for creation, for hopefully illuminating what I think are the beauties of this world for other people, is for that moment when you write that sentence or paragraph of story where everything comes out exactly the way you imagined it would. Perfection, as I said earlier, isn't a sustainable goal in writing. It is possible in small doses, though, and those doses make it all so rewarding. Of course, the only way you reach that is by practice, practice, practice. So, Andrew- and anyone else who might stumble on this- don't get hung up, don't get discouraged. Writing isn't about perfection in the long term (hell, it's not even in the short term). It's about exploring yourself and the world around you. Just write, and keep writing.

As for Matthew. Yes, New Year's was pretty fucking incredible. Everyone was at the top of their game. Some moments of mine that were particular favorites:
-Andrew being Andrew. Namely, his stumbling and bumbling around the room, him putting up his dukes to fight Ben, and being an all around belligerent misanthrope for the latter half of the evening. Absolutely my favorite part of the night.
-Matthew's imaginary fight with Andrew.
-Everyone ganging up to tackle Ben. He certainly had it coming.
-Eric's four hot dogs.
-Above all, the rare occasion where we were able to get all six of us together in the same place.

Lastly, Ben and I took a kind of road trip (as Matt alluded to in his piece) to the beautiful United States Virgin Islands. While it was not a traditional road trip, we spent a lot of our time there in cars, although it was mostly hanging on for dear life while being flung around hair pin turns by sleazy, rip off cabbies. It was a wonderful trip- probably more eventful than I can recap here (and let's be honest, I've made sure you all heard the highlights already anyway...and if not, I'd be more than happy to enlighten you). I wanted to say that although it was not a tradtional road trip, it accomplished what I think any good trip hopes to accomplish- it brought people together who usually don't get to spend time together. It brought my entire extended family together for a week, and it brought Ben and Matt (Nate's friend) into the fold, too, and I know by the end of the week, they both felt like Pahls (for better or worse). Above all, it gave me, perhaps most pleasurably, a chance to grow closer with my brother. We've never been close, and I think everyone knows we aren't exactly similar beings, so to have a week where we spent a majority of our time together- and enjoyed that time- was a wonderful development. As I said, that is what I think any kind of trip is for: to bring people closer. So in that lens, both New York and the Virgin Islands were very successful trips.

Now Andrew can shut up, hopefully.