The Motivation for this Journal

My name is Matt and I play in West Virginia. Actually, I'm addicted to the state.

Living inside or within a few hours of a WV state border for all of my life, I've had plenty of "West Virginia Moments," a characterization that could range from WV stereotype reinforcements of the cultural (could be bad) to the natural persuasion. Fortunately, the number of the latter is far greater than the number of former.

I wish to document with this blog these "West Virginia Moments." If you're reading this, then you are a friend or family member, or have stumbled upon this blog, and I thank you for reading and hope you'll get a laugh, discover a new natural place in WV, or gasp at the thought of it. However, the real reason for this blog is personal. I will consider this blog an archive of these moments for a man with a poor memory.

Enjoy!

31 January, 2008

Bloodline

At the request of somebody very dear to me, I am publicly admitting that after a year and a half, I now have WV running through my veins. In case anybody reading this is not convinced, here is some support of this admission:
  1. I drive the state's other official vehicle (not a pickup). It's a Subaru and it's very dirty. Always.
  2. My bookmark is a twig.
  3. The beard, which stores my bookmark while reading.
  4. Local parlance such as the following sometimes finds its way into my vocabulary: reckon (v.), holler (n.), yeller (adj.), and git 'r dun (v.).
  5. I just bought a dehydrator so that I can make my own jerky.
  6. I frequently describe things as being wild or wonderful.
  7. One of my current projects is a quilt.
Am I missing anything?

While hiking recently, my friend Andrew commented that nobody his age (early-mid-20's) does anything like this (this being a very soggy hike down Big Sandy Creek after a big rain) and it got me thinking that either Andrew is somehow avoiding the people in WV who actually get out, or he is right.

Git 'r Dun.
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