. . .were all learned with workers' blood.

I'm here to discover if my blogging reticence is related to the format.  I spend my time reading many blogs, some funny, some to-do lists, some heartfelt and some just stupid (Mark). 

I, however have many thoughts that never see the light of day, partly because of self editing, partly because of my sense of privacy, but mostly because I'm lazy.  I once took a creative writing class in college and all the stories I wrote were just actual stories from my life.  The professor always said, "wow, your dialogue is terrific!"  Yay memory.  So I will see if telling stories can get me started.  Maybe I'll continue to tell stories, maybe I won't.  Find out with me, won't you?

When I was 15 years old, I was spending my time drinking with my sister's boyfriend (he was in his 20's) or doing theatre.  I had an old friend who I'd hung out with off and on since kindergarten who I would occasionally go play video games with.  He was a video game fanatic, which was more rare in 1989 than it is now.  He had made friends with the proprietors of the local computer store and would go there after school and play games like Battle Chess and Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards. (yay puberty) One day I went with him and then after a few visits, his other friends started showing up.  There was a guy named Bob, who I sort of knew because we both played cello in grade school. (I stuck with it, he's a big quitter)  There was another guy named Travis. Every group of friends has that center.  The nougaty bit that holds everyone in.  Travis immediately became that guy.  They always seem to be Scorpio's.  I know that's dumb, but they do. Travis would later become the only person I would plan to murder.  I stood outside the door to his apartment with a french gothic mace trying to decide how to beat him to death without waking up his girlfriends' baby.  Babies fuck everything up.  Back to being 15.  Those 3 guys, Travis, Bob and Tyler (the video game afficionado) became my entire life until the end of High School.  If we went to a party, one of us drove.  If we didn't sleep at home, we slept at Travis' house.  If one of us got a buyer, we all got liquor. (except Tyler, he already had a vice) When we talked of forming a band, it was just us.  Tyler on lead guitar, Bob on bass, me on rhythm and Travis would get the chicks.  I'm not sure if he played drums or not, the chicks were more important, and he had a gift for that.  We all listened to the same music and wore the same clothes.  About the time I turned 16 the group of friends had been cemented. There were hangers on of course, but the four of us were always together.  We drank together, got in trouble with the law together, broke into cars together, saw Metallica together, got stuck in Sioux City together and yes, played D&D together.  Then Travis ruined everything, Tyler met a girl, Bob squirted out a million kids and I. . . kept playing D&D.  Man I miss Leisure Suit Larry.