Speaking of futile, I love the most recent story arc of the only webcomic I read nowadays, Questionable Content. It takes place in my hometown of Northampton, and the cartoonization of Town Hall and the all-too-true “Smif” College jokes are probably major contributors as to why I still read it. But I also love feeling like I could be at Pearl Street one night and be standing right next to the author/artist unknowingly.
To catch you up: Marten likes Faye, Faye has issues because her dad blew his brains out in front of her, Marten dates Faye’s boss Dora, Dora’s brother Sven is a womanizer, Faye kicks Sven in the ass until he changes his ways. Good. Now, in a battle of karaoke wonder, Faye and Sven battle it out, Sven being not only the antagonist but also the inevitable winner. Faye goes home with Sven and her friend Hanners, but Hanners passes out drunk on the couch. Insert remark about barriers here, slide Flap A into Slot B, pop it out Gaff-origami-unicorn-style, and bang — an amazingly awkward, drunk, and lovely relationship comes flying out.
There’s a Death Cab song from Plans (the emo crap aside, I thought it was a pretty good addition to their repertoire) that says, “The chase is all you know, / But you stopped running months ago.” I love beginnings, but I can never figure out how to keep the magic of the first kiss or the tingle of the first touch continue on for months and years. It’s the key to a lasting relationship, I know it, but I can’t get it right in my head. I’m doing a pretty good job in my current relationship — six months and counting, and if you think that’s weak, look at my past excuses for a relationship — and so I think maybe I’m figuring it out, or at least muddling through.
But there’s something about other people’s beginnings that makes me smile and reminisce. They’re beautiful. They’re like physics: all that potential energy is stored up like a tennis ball teetering over the edge of a cliff, ready to fall and turn it all into this vast amount of kinetic energy that last and lasts. And the really well-written ones, they’re the best. From Sam’s crush on the violinist at Godspell rehearsals to Faye falling into Sven’s arms to the redhead getting a first-time kiss after an unromantic movie, they’re all beautiful at the beginning. One might ask how it would end, but the smarter one would ask, how will it continue to begin?
