Aaron Wells

Copy Editor

Sagebrush 5-4-2001

(end of the year coda)

Here it is, the end of the year. I've always wanted to write a column, and I've always had people suggesting to me that I should write a column, so I'm glad I finally did. It's been a lot of fun, and an enormous pain in the ass, and it's taught me a lot about writing, as well as vastly increasing my ability to force out relatively good stuff. Writing a weekly column is the literary equivalent of doing improvisational comedy, except without as many jokes about man-love.

There was a big temptation to just write the kind of things in my column that I write in my journal ­ rambling, philosophical, logical, and personal. But my writing philosophy has always been that other people read this column too, and the ones who don't know me are the ones I should be writing for, because they're the only ones whose opinions would be unbiased. So, I've tried my best to make my columns funny. I reread all of the ones from the first semester, and I realized that they were funniest when I didn't bother writing my personal opinion at all. So, this semester, they've been nothing but my attempts at jokes, even when it means obscuring the real me.

However, I guess I watched way too much TV as a kid, because my sense of humor is extremely ironic. I find it funny to write the opposite of what I believe, and try to make it ludicrous enough that other people will also realize that I'm kidding. Unfortunately, people out there who don't hold such a highly developed sense of irony tend to take it at face value and think that I actually am proposing that, say, we have the Irish sell their babies for food.

So, I've offended a few people with my column through the year. I'm sorry I angered you, but I was probably only kidding. I'm also sorry you didn't think it was funny, because that doesn't bode well for my writing career.

Of course, another problem with writing at a college newspaper is that no one writes in unless they hate you, so my data may be skewed. I just remind myself that South Park makes a lot of people angry too, the ones who aren't witty enough to realize it's the most intelligent thing on TV today.

To anyone who was angered by anything I said when I wasn't kidding, your letters have often given me pause to reconsider my own views. Thanks.

And to those who couldn't tell whether I was kidding or not... go watch that Andy Kaufman movie.

Thanks to Alex, JR, Angie, Ellen, Dan, Elif, Dave, Brad, Gina, Todd, Pepper and everyone else out there who's helped me with my writing in any way.

And one more thing ­ don't do drugs.