I don't remember exactly how I came upon PIC. I know I was in grad school cruising the Internet for porn, something funny, or both. But I landed on this website and saw a few things that made me laugh, so I'd check it every once in a while. Now I'm not just a reader, but a writer. Big effing dee.
Anywho, Court Sullivan (the editor of this glorious website) asked me to write a few words for Points in Case's 10th Anniversary. I know, how crazy is that? Who would have figured? I mean, PIC has a fucking editor?
And back to my PIC origins. During the time I should have been studying for my master's degree, I instead familiarized myself with some great names and writing on PIC.
David Nelson was the cool, funny, and intelligent Canadian older brother I always wanted.
Over the past decade, PIC touched a lot of people. Mostly people wanting to leave hateful comments about black, white, British, and American people, but you get my point.J. Rebello's “Casual Misanthropy” informed me all I wanted to know about Boston and not getting laid.
Nate DeGraaf writes exactly how I want to live. Booze, babes, boobs, blackouts, bongs, and whatever else is awesome that starts with a “B.” Besides the boring Ben Bernanke business bullshit.
Gaudio's “The Lady's Shave” made me wonder what Dr. Hunter S. Thompson would write if he ridiculed women and read more poetry.
Ali Wisch will always hold a special place in my heart as the funny femme fatale (who never answers my drunken Facebook swoonings).
Call me a crazy person, but the writings of young Paul Frank always bring me both laughter and a feeling of “what the fuck?”
When Court writes, he's absolutely brilliant and funny. Except with the puns. I hate those things. I'd rather read Gavin Pitt's porn history than Court's wordplay.
Then after seeing a lot of these folks come and go and come again, I showed up. Then PIC really started to get good. Or go downhill. It depends on who you talk to I guess.
I've been a part of the PIC writing staff for nearly three years, so about a third of its existence. I'm pretty happy about that. I've written a whole bunch of stuff and had some great experiences. A lot of my favorite things I've ever written are on this site for your very eyes—for free. And that makes me happy that I get to make you laugh without seeing a red cent of advertising revenue. That's payment enough I guess.
Every so often a fan sends me a t-shirt, postcard, stolen office supplies, even a baseball signed by the 2008 Minnesota Twins. These gifts warm my heart, and you can always send goodies to me in Korea—as long as they're not narcotics or weapons. Those will get both of us in the clink. But maybe “My Organs and I Go to Jail” will come out of some prison time. Who knows?
Xavier Holland, Paul Frank and KC at a bar in NYC.After ten years, there's a lot of great stuff on PIC. I'm not saying that because I'm the most famous and popular and good looking and cool and talented and awesome and totally available writer. I'm saying PIC is great because it is.
Over the past decade, PIC touched a lot of people. And over the past 3,650 days or so PIC changed. A lot of my favorite old faces are gone, and a lot of new ones showed up.
Yaro Shepherd carries a lot of wacky shit in that Ukrainian or Serbian or Vulcan mind of his.
Gavin writes about bugs, which is cool if you're into it. In reality, he mostly writes lewd comments on my Facebook photos.
Bill Dixon pumps out stuff that actually looks like he took time to write and insert jokes in.
When Michael Winston takes time off from playing World of No-Chick-Craft, crying himself to sleep, drinking Mountain Dew Code Red, mouthbreathing, and living in his mom's basement, he writes for bigger nerds than my fanbase. Forty-year-old virgins across the globe read his stuff and say, “Wow. That guy is a total dweeb. Pwn.” I'm waiting for his next article, “Reasons Why Pooping in Your Sock to Avoid Going to the Crapper is Better Than Sexual Intercourse with Living or Plastic Girlfriends.”
Another new (yet really old) guy is Martin Stanley, who pens articles for those who watch Fox News, drink a lot of beer, and apparently crap a lot. I don't know if Marty has been living in a cave or whatever, but even Jay Leno is laying off pink shirts for boys, Twilight, and Jersey Shore jokes. Maybe he'll grace us with some input on this newfangled compact disc craze.
Then there's Andrei Trostel. This long-haired “Loon with a View” could concoct a story about robot alien ninjas forming a sex cult… and still manage to make it boring and 650 words too long. But hey, the guy responds to just about every comment on his work and includes me in his Twitter Friday thing, so he can't be all that bad.
Ashley Garmany is a lot like Andrei Trostel, except male.
Even though I've only been here about a third of the time, I've changed a lot. I evolved from being a big-time New York City magazine editor to a nearly-paralyzed person, to a bouncer in Colorado, to an English teacher in South Korea. I'm so glad PIC and readers like you followed along and listened (read: read) to my cheesy, sophomoric, and often too-personal stories, gags, and so on.
Honestly, I truly enjoy writing, working, and promoting this site, but this is really Court Sullivan's lovechild. The guy can't answer emails promptly, but he's brought some of the greatest comedy writers onto one website. He deserves a trophy for that. And for putting up with my constant nonsense.
So happy TENTH birthday PIC! I hope your next ten are just as wonderful. Just think, in eight years you'll be almost too old for Nathan DeGraaf to bang.
You're the best!
KC
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