Hello!

When I was in my senior year of high school, my peers chose me to give our graduation speech. I didn’t understand why. I didn’t have the best grades and I wasn’t a great athlete either (the two defining qualities of a high schooler). Part of me suspected that it was out of pity, another that it was all part of a joke. I went along with it though and never questioned it.

Fifteen years later, I met up with one of my old friends from high school. Late at night, after a few drinks, I finally asked him. Why me? There were at least twenty other kids with much stronger credentials than me.

“We chose you because we knew you would be sincere.”

…

I was not expecting profound wisdom from my half-drunk childhood friend. I was, again, expecting a joke or maybe an “eh, who knows?” and a shrug of the shoulders.

All I could manage was a quiet thank you. I changed the subject, but I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

If sincerity mattered then, it matters now (especially in the age of slop). I’m a journeyman. Not the best, not the most qualified, just someone who keeps showing up. I write essays and make things that are unmistakably, sometimes embarrassingly, mine. I’m more interested in being honest about what it feels like to discover a subject, to be baffled by it, and to follow curiosity wherever it leads.

I’d genuinely like to hear from you, whether you want to argue with my conclusions, share your own rabbit holes, or just say hello. Email me at mail@thelinesandloops.com or find me on Bluesky.

- Javier