My Friends Are Incredible ~ Blog 49

Oh, we are a witty bunch. The guy on the left is not doing what
it looks like he's doing.

It's easy to take your friends for granted because you generally aren't doing groundbreaking things with them. Sure, you enjoy spending time together and call each other for advice. But how often do you take a step back and admire who they are?

Take The Bearded Beernut, for example. He's my partner in shenanigans and a hell of a writer. We've spent more time playing a board game called Pegs and Jokers (or Pegs and Aces) than we've spent doing anything else in the past two years. It would be easy for me to think that all The Beernut ever does is drink beer, watch baseball and play games.

He's also applying to Ph.D programs; He wants to be an English professor.

You'd never know that from what we do. Monday night, we went bowling, played cards, ate bacon fries poutine (!) and played video games.

I drove away from Portland yesterday thinking about not just The Beernut but how lucky I feel to know all my friends. To a one, I'm convinced they are all better people than I am. Well, maybe not Molly Lu. She's down on my level. I'm pretty sure she just raised her eyebrows, shrugged, and said to herself, "Yeah, that's about right."

These people are incredible. I'm friends with TV anchors and doctors. One of my besties, Rossmosis, quit his job as an NBA beat reporter to go to law school. He lives in Seattle, does ridiculous workout routines with his wife and will soon own half of the state of Washington. Our relationship involves sending beer through the mail and attending baseball games.

JimBob was my best friend in Utah. We went skiing/snowboarding a couple of times a week. He was a photo tech at The Salt Lake Tribune when I started as a copy editor. He's now a freelance photographer for Reuters and covers Burning Man every year.

I think of my friends often. There's a square a couple of blocks from our house named John Davis square; I worked with a guy in Salt Lake who took care of Dukakis, my first chocolate lab, whenever I had to leave town. He's also the best headline writer I have ever known.

SMurphy is a stay-at-home mom whom I have met in the flesh twice, in late December of 2002 and at our wedding in 2005. Thanks to the miracle of Facebook, we talk almost every day. She makes me laugh almost every day.

If you haven't been mentioned yet, rest easily knowing I could say something glowing about you, too. The only people that read this blog are friends and family members, so don't get jealous. We're all family here.

My friends are an extension of my family because I find everybody so fascinating. When I say, "I have a lot of friends who are doctors, lawyers and dentists," what I mean to say is, "Lowly ME, who is a big, dumb animal, has friends who are doing big things with their lives." I am impressed by all of you, with no exceptions.

If you're reading this, you can go ahead and give yourself a slap on the back. If we aren't physically close to each other, know that I'd like to see you soon. My friends are awesome.