Walking away with it all

Sitting in a luxury box watching Billy Joe Armstrong run around the large, black stage set up… Sitting in a luxury box watching Billy Joe Armstrong run around the large, black stage set up on the floor of the Mellon Arena Saturday night, I remembered something that my editor in chief, Greg Heller-LaBelle, said to me the night before at our end-of-the-year banquet. In speaking about this being the end of our respective terms as editors, he said that he thinks that I got everything I could out of The Pitt News, and that it’s good that I’m cool with moving on.

I’m not so sure about whether or not I’ve gotten everything I can out of The Pitt News for the simple reason that I will still be a student and I still need to write while I am here. It’s my creative outlet that makes my college career worth attending. However, sitting at the Green Day show, for which I got tickets via The Pitt News, I think that I have gotten all I can from The Pitt News. It’s been a year since I got my own desk in an office of people whom I consider friends as much as co-workers.

In that year, I have written what has been a weekly column that constantly gets feedback, both bad and good, which makes me feel like I’m doing a hell of a job, especially when people hate what I said that particular week. I have worked with a staff of incredible writers and have enjoyed working with all of my fellow editors.

In this year, I have also done several interviews that I will always remember. I interviewed Dave Attell, Antigone Rising, Marc Broussard, Moments in Grace, Breaking Benjamin and Howie Day, and each had its own memorable moment. I got to do these interviews because I was in an editor position, but just because I’m no longer the editor of the A’E section doesn’t mean I want to stop doing interviews. This is what I dream of doing for the rest of my life. I want more interviews; I want to do more reviews of albums and films, and that’s what I plan on doing.

Thankfully, though, I will be doing these things while not having the stress and pressure of having to run the section at the same time, because even though I’ve loved every minute of my job, all threats of quitting included, I’m actually glad that it’s over. I can’t wait until I’m just a writer again, picking assignments because I want to write them, not because I have to fill space in the section. I look forward to trying to actually attend class on a regular basis and not have to worry about skipping a recitation because I have to write a quick review because a writer missed a deadline.

A few months ago, I was upset that I wasn’t re-hired for my position. I wanted to do this again, but now I’m happy that I’m not doing it again. It’s been a hell of a year and, like I said, I have enjoyed every minute of it, with maybe the exception of the encore to the Green Day concert. Even though you will not see my beautiful face in this space every Thursday like you have for the past year, you will still be reading my work and hearing my voice and, on occasion, seeing my beautiful face when something disturbing in the entertainment industry needs to have my two cents dished in.

Like they say, “all good things come to an end,” and you have to love throwing in a cliche to wrap up a final column, but it has been fun and a great experience, but thank god it’s all over.

Brian Palmer bids farewell to all of his faithful “Large in the Margin” readers and would like to thank 311 for inspiring the title of this column. And if you ever want to ride in the back of his minivan perched upon a camping chair — oh, it’s been done before — just drop him a line at bkp8@pitt.edu.