What did they say?

“The first draft of anything is s**t.” Ernest Hemingway

            This is the story of anything I have ever tried to sit down and seriously write. I tend to process things verbally so my writing comes out as choppy and unorganized, which doesn’t sound very good to read. So taking advice from good ol’ Ernest, I always have to re-read or have someone else read an essay that I write. From experience I have learned that I need to take writing step by step, or to break it up into sections. In my junior year English class my teacher focused on our writing a lot. We would write each essay paragraph by paragraph and then put it all together in the end. This gave me more chances to look at my previous writing and realize, like the quote states so eloquently, that my first drafts are always……bad.

“I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.” Douglas Adams

            Procrastination is a terrible thing, a terrible thing that has haunted me for years. It is way too easy for me to say “Oh! This and that aren’t due until next week; I’ll just do them then.” Procrastination becomes a way of life, and the more you do it, the easier it is to procrastinate. Even now as I approach my 12:00 posting deadline I realize how much I put things off until the end. Sometimes people put out their best work under pressure, but for me that’s not always true. If we look at both quotes together, they actually are related. The first draft of anything won’t be very good, especially if you procrastinate. Also if you wait to do something you might only have time for one draft, leaving it at the Hemingway quote suggests, sub-par. 

Losing Your Mancard

To preface this story you’re going to have to know a little bit about me. I have three sister and NO brothers, meaning I didn’t have too many male influences in my life. Not only that, but as a triplet, two of my sisters are my age. Sure I had my Dad to look up to but he spent a large amount of his time at work while I was little. Taking into account my Mom and the fact that I shared a room with my sisters until I was 8, I was left surrounded by all girls all the time. Throughout my life I was subjected to the amazing law of “Majority Rules” which left me with far too much knowledge of High School Musical and the Disney channel. Needless to say, I tried hard to fit in with my sisters, and in some instances I took it too far. This was one of those instances.

Raising triplets is no easy task. You need to know where each of them is at all times so no one gets left out or even left behind. My mom was an expert at this and she knew how to handle most situations. Whether it was a cut, bruise, or hurt feelings Super-Mom knew how to deal with it. That being said, even super heroes need a break sometimes. As the mischievous little kids that we were, the three of us knew how to take advantage of mommy’s breaks. We were probably around the age of six or seven at the time so while Mom was downstairs we decided to play dress-up. “Let’s make Matt look like a girl!” exclaimed Teen (our affectionate name for my sister Christine). “YES! That would be so funny” agreed Kathryn. Not wanting to be left out, my young little voice shrugged “Sure, Why not?” They went to town on me almost immediately. Makeup, dresses, hairbands, nothing was held back. After the dust cloud of femininity settled, Matthew James Doherty was no longer, there stood a pimped out princess version of myself. Noticing that it had been quite for far too long my Mom went upstairs and saw the aftermath of a makeup war, and I was the only casualty. She got a huge kick out of it. My Dad on the other hand (who had just arrived home) was not as entertained. Looking like his fourth daughter kept me thoroughly embarrassed in front of my Dad. Through this I learned to avoid playing dress up, and to be okay being left out of certain games and situations when it came to my sisters.