So 20 minutes after last night's last post I was feeling way better. I ended up calling my best friend, Will, who is serving in the Peace Corps in Mongolia. I have lived on various continents, but it is still surprising to me that I can use my cell phone, a $20 phone card, and call this guy in the most remote part of the planet on his cell. Pretty amazing to think about.
I remember first meeting Will in a horrible Journalism class we ended up together. We all wondered for a very short time if he was gay (he's not) and he and I ended up hanging out for a while, and being an essential member of my 21st birthday crew. We became fast friends over my junior year, and when I went to Spain, I seemed to call him a ton, just cause he had a way of balancing me out with his sense of humor. Making even the most extreme situations seem like just another day (important on days that feel like catastrophe has hit: ie. the Madrid bombings). He is also one of those friends that I can share everything with without fear of judgment, but also knowing that he will call me out on my shit if I stray too far from the ethical values he knows I try to live by.
One of Will's best qualities is his rather crude sense of humor. There is a very small circle of people who actually "get" Will and his style of humor, but once you do, it is deadly. We laughed throughout our conversation last night, about things both trivial and important to us both. It felt good. Laughing at one's own life can have an incredibly healing power.
About half of the music I currently listen to comes from Will's music library. In fact the song I am listening to right now. I remember him trying to "expose" one of my other dear friends, D, to Tool's particularly hard music during our roadtrip down to Florida. Turns out she was perfectly familiar, and it became just one more thing they ended up bickering about. That road trip was one of the only things I remember clearly from that trip: we at least refrained from drinking while we drove...
Will's also wicked smart. Loves challenging you on your views, and we had some of the best conversations of my life about politics, love, philosophy, whatever... I remember wanting to bust his head open on his views on hate-crime legislation and feeling completely daunted by his views on affirmative action. Through our debates, I have been able to craft my own views from "naively liberal," to "debatingly moderate, with liberal tendencies." What a gift to get from a friend: wisdom and understanding.
My grandfather often said to me when I was a lonely youngster (I was *shockingly* not very popular before I hit highschool) that one good friend is far better than 10 decent ones. I dont know that I believed him until I met Will.
No Gobi, No Gobi, No Gobi, No Gobi, No Gobi
Musical Fodder for my Writing:"Disconnected (Out of Touch)" Trapt,
Someone in Control
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