Jarris McGhee WILTBY Essay 25 November 2012

[Insert profound yet witty title here] A great mind once said, To truly know a man, go through his text messages. The last text message that I sent says: What if I use the vodka instead of water before I bake them? So, in light of that, Im not going to use that completely avoid that method while describing what its like to be me. I will do my best to explain Jarris, but seeing that I'm still trying to figure him out, I cannot make any promises. Before I start though, let me just sayIm pretty sure that quote I used at the beginning doesnt belong to anyone. I just made it up, because it sounded really (really) good. Didnt it? I hope so, as I just tweeted it. Yes, the assignment is supposed to be completed without the use of electronics, and Im not using any. I SWEAR! Technology is a becoming a crutch and an ever looming hindrance among our society. To those of you reading this while you should be working on a project of your own, to you I say SHAMEand follow me on Twitter, @Id0My0wnStunts. The Os are zeros. I hate math. Its stupid. Im going to entitle this paper, The absolute value of -MEor just write |-Me|or just Me. Because in math, having in three different answers that say the same thing is totally okay. Im not for that at all. Im a straight-shooter, no mixed signals, no gray area, face value type of guy. Im pretty sure that why mathematics and I never completely meshed well. I try to only see things (people) for what they show me. Are there layers? Yes. Do I care to peel them back to expose something much greater? No, not really. I dont even like onions. I treasure truth, but, if someone feels the need to hide it from the rest of us, cool. Im not Sherlock Holmes or Inspector Gadget. Im not going searching for the truth. I dont judge them, but I will keep my distance. I, however, take pride in the fact that my friends define me by my truthful and honest nature. When they want an opinion on something, its understood that if they

ask me just be prepared for whatever comes next. I cant help but call everything down the middle. Thats just the way that we do. We being Libras, of course. Libras tend to be extremely unbiased and will never tip the scales in favor of one over the other. It was on the internet so it must be true. Everyone who can stand talking to me for more than five minutes has probably heard my little theory on truth. Its your turn, I suppose. If everyone would just practice being 100% honest with each other, it would trigger worldwide peace, after the inevitable civil wars between spouses, coworkers, best friends, and such. The second part only exists because we are all in too deep with facades that cascade in and out of our relationships these days. Liars run the world (literally), but it takes too much effort for me. If you get some time though, try it out. Uncensored . Unfiltered. Real.
"Now this is the Law of the Jungleas old and as true as the sky; And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall break it must die. As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk, the Law runneth forward and back; For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack."

With my whole complete surrender of truth thing comes an insane loyalty which has proven to be both a blessing and a curse. Taking care of and supporting those who mean even the least bit to me is a huge part of who I am. As much as Id love to remain in an almost-but-notquite-permanent state of indifference towards a lot of family, friends, and organizationsI cant help but to care about all of themugh. Quick story. Im a legitimate, full-fledged arts kid. Theatre, film & television, music are all home for me. I cant really get into art art paintbrushes, canvases, chalk (?), and all that. It goes back that blatant truth thing. I am not starting at an apple turned upside down for an hour attempting to find metaphor. Either attach a sticky note that tells me what Im looking for in the photo or prepare to be ignoredbut yeah music. Recently, Ive started assisting with a Charlotte high school band program. While Ive only been there a little over a month they already receive the majority of my attention outside of school. As a matter of fact, Im e-mailing sheet music and listening to songs to arrange for them

while I write this. Reading this you would think that they dont frustrate the living hell out of me, but they do. Honestly, it would be difficult to convince them I dont hate them or sometimes dream of assaulting most of them with NERF baseball bats. For the record, I dont. If you have ever been in a situation with someone or something that has all the potential in the world to do great thingsexcept the actual desire to do great things, then you understand my struggle. I want to throw up both middle fingers at them and walk away almost every day. Actually, I think thats happenedbut once again that damn sense of commitment came over me and I could not turn my back on them just yet. That has been a reoccurring scene throughout most of my life, and I dont think its going anywhere. Loyalty and commitment are probably two of the best character traits to possess, but they sucks and Im still learning to deal with them. I know for a fact they were instrumental in my decision to choose the Marine Corps over the other military branches. The motto, Semper Fidelis, Latin for Always Faithful defines out lifestyle in and out of uniform and served as my personal motto years before I first wore that uniform. The passion, the loyalty and the commitment is what attracted me to the U.S.M.C. and kept there (through hell & high water) for more than six years. Ahhhpassion, commitment, loyaltywhat is life without it?

Bad sex. That wasnt rhetorical. Without it, life is bad sexdaily. I bet it just seems like Im rambling at this point. I probably should have stopped a while ago, I dont think Im complex or interesting enough for anything past 4-5 pages. Alas, we are already on the third page. Fortunately, this chapter (or paragraph) of my life is unfolding and still unwritten. I'm a college student now, the very thing I used to despise. We used to completely thrash the idea of college students while we were sitting in the desert being miserable, and now

look at me. To make it worse, I signed a modeling and acting contract with the oldest and largest talent agency in the state. This is what a 180-degree turn looks like. This time last year I was sitting in the middle of Afghanistan, talking trash about college kids with my platoon. The platoon never bashed models, though...at least not around me (especially not after they all asked me for fashion advice). I was always one of those new-age rugged, pretty-boy, Marine hybrids, so I guess me being on a runway came a surprise to no one. I'm like a Prius with a V-8 engine. Okay, maybe not a Prius, but the simile was way too awesome pass up. Outside of that, Im pretty simple. I'm taking it one day at time, and don't mistake that for lack of focus or vision. It's just me appreciating every day, even the sucky ones. Somewhere, somebody is having a much suck...er one. I love Cinnabon, I hate liars. I wish I were a 1 inch taller, I wish my feet were 1 size smaller. I dont stress it though. Thanks to mommy, I learned at an early that there arent many things to stress over, especially things that you cant change. I think that sometimes my acceptance of those things comes off as indifference, it isnt. Thanks to my time in the military, Ive learned that Americans dont lead a lifestyle that allows us to walk around angry & disgruntled the way most of us tend to do. There are places where people half our age work twice as hard with a smile on their face. We take the smallest problem and turn it into a reality show trailer. The phone service was cut off, he looked at me weird, gas is high, winter is too cold and summer heatis too hot. I think that sometimes my acceptance of those things comes off as indifference, it is. Im just here to live life. Its short, too short to be upset and pouting in a corner throughout most of it. Shut up and enjoy it. A great mind once said, If youre not living, youre dying. I don't know who said it, so I'll just claim it until the rightful owner contacts me.