Once upon a time.

The Aventuras Extraordinarias de Courtney.
As of today to forevermore.
By Courtney A. Potter.

Once upon a time there lived a girl named Courtney Ann Potter. She was neither a beauty nor a goddess; neither a genius nor an inventor. And though these realities bothered her, she tried hard to ignore them and be herself.

Courtney had an affair with Photography. In fact, she cheated on Writing in order to flirt with a dark, mysterious, and handsome Canon Digital Rebel XT. He took her on romantic dates: they dined at Caruburritos over a juicy black bean burrito, they built a house together at Habitat for Humanity, and they watched the sunset streak the Carolina blue sky with pale orange and rose strokes.

Courtney discovered new knacks and personal characteristics as she batted eyes with Photography. He helped her meet her cohort in crime in co-conspirator in sleep: Drea Krutulis. The two roommates slept, ate popcorn, and facebooked quite often.

Courtney went to Chicago over Spring Break and had a smashing time with her best friend Julianne. Together they wreaked havoc upon the Windy City, and Rebel Xt was there the whole time (but this story is no longer about him). Then Josef picked Courtney up and they traversed the frigid Illinois plains to Chambana. At the foot of the rainbow there was a chessboard, cinematic productions, classical music, and good red wine.

Courtney went back to UNC and made lots of new friends and played with a super-long telephoto lens. During the summer she got an internship with the Duke Center of Documentary Studies and got to speak spanish a lot. and play with cameras. and children.

then her family moved to North Carolina and she was happy. tuition went down like a billion dollars and she could do laundry for free. and spring started in february.

the next year courtney roomed with carolyn gray in the beautiful north campus dormitories. never again was she late to class on account of sheer laziness and dread of walking uphill for fifteen laborious, tedious, endless minutes. ccourtney and carolyn watched lots of grey's anatomy and foreign films. and they dined on popcorn and played with playdough.

in the spring courtney went on a big boat around the whole world for a semester. she went to brazil and south africa and india and taiwan. she learned about oceanography and black and white photography and world art. and she saw the great wall of china.

in the summer courtney came home and got an internship with a reknowned newspaper. she took lots of pictures and feel more deeply in love with Photography.

in the fall Courtney decided to be like the protaganist in the Motorcycle Diaries and went to Chile. she spoke lots of spanish and ate good tamales. and petted llamas. and she really liked south america and didn't want to return to UNC.

but she did.

many photographs, blogs, deep conversations, and frolicking passed. and courtney graduated. and then she fell in love with a south american beauty and they got married and traveled the world together. they evaded the white suburban dream and made a difference, telling compelling stories through poetry, writing, and photography.

courtney had lots of babies and lots of grandchildren. she died in africa at the ripe old age of 87. she was trampled by a giraffe.

the end.

well, i don't know about the ending, but those are my dreams for now.

i actually want more than that...and those sounded horribly self-centered. i want what everyone wants, really: love, passion, relationships, spontaneity, vitality, invigoration, innovation. i want to suck the marrow out of life.

Thank you, and goodnight.