Hi, hater!

So yesterday I was trying to avoid doing anything at work and I get an unexpected text message.

Maria Thorbourne: My next blog is dedicated to you
Brett Bowers: Oh wow, I’m nervous
Maria Thorbourne: Don’t be nervous. It’s gonna be hilarious

So the said blog never came (nevermind that this text message was sent yesterday afternoon) and my insatiable cusriousity has been running rampant for the past day. So to counter attack counteract I decided to dedicate this one to you Ms. Maria Thorbourne.

I’ve known Maria Thorbourne since I was a sophomore in high school and it’s been one hell of a ride ever since. I would describe our friendship as a very love/hate relationship. If I had to put a tagline on my friendship with Maria it would be: “She loves to hate and I hate to love her.” Some would look at that and be offended or take that negatively but that is the furthest thing from the truth. I say that with the utmost respect and love for ol’ girl. You know how at the end of the year Barbara Walters has a list of the most intriguing people…well if I had to make a list Maria would be on it. (Real talk)

Maria is a hater. Plain and simple. I’m not the only one who comments or feels this way. She describes it as being opinionated or even stating the obvious that the proverbial “we” are too afraid to say. As much as I’d hate to admit it, she is absolutely right. Maria is very quick to give her opinion about any situation and has no qualms about it…sometimes it’s borderline judgemental BUT she always does it in the most clever and thought provoking way. That is the thing that makes Maria special is her sense of wit and her ability to convey that wit in any form of communication (Conversation, text, blog…you name it) I often find myself comparing Maria to someone like Oprah. As annoying as Oprah can be, people listen to what she has to say from books to cooking utensils…if Oprah backs it people will try it. I notice that Maria has that same effect on people. When Maria “endorses” something or tell you to check something out, you feel compelled to investigate because you don’t want to be missing out…or you just want to know what the hell she is talking about.

Remeber earlier when I said I have a love hate relationship with Maria? Well here is why….Maria is honest with me. There are very few times if ever when I could have said that Maria has been fake. I’ll admit sometimes I get on my cocky shit…(hubris…shout out to Jenny-Keith Devries) but Maria is always there to keep my simple ass grounded. I partially think that Maria is only that honest with me because it feeds into her constant need to hate on somebody (ha!). But the thing about Maria is that she has earned my respect as a person over the years and I have always valued her views. Sure most of the times that she is being bluntly honest is when I don’t want to hear it but when have ou ever wanted to hear that you aren’t as cool as you think you are?

I’m gonna keep this short because well…I want to. So here is to you Ms. Thorbourne. If you are drinking something while reading this please put your glass in the air for my long-time friend.

imDOPERthanyou