I can't believe it happened again this year.

This post is coming a little later than I hoped, but the issue, at least to me is still important and is worth mentioning.

2 Thursdays ago, I got out of work at around 2AM and I don't know why, but I felt like going to a bar. I have never been too fond of bars, I'd much rather drink at home or a friends house, but at 2AM I guess I decided it would be easier to just sack up and go to a bar. I went to Benchwarmers, it is right around the block from my house and it is frequented by kids I used to be considerably close with, so I figured what the hell. As I walked in, I wasn't surprised to see some old faces from my past and I was rather pleased upon entry to see these people. I was greeted with a big cheer from my friend Rich, who actually texted me earlier in the week to catch up. We hugged and we both were visibly happy to be with one another. Unfortunately this first sentence that was spoken to me afterwards was "Joey Ryan died today."

Since I have graduated high school, I have lost 3 friends. Joey was the most recent. I was never too close with any of them, but I was close enough that when ever I ran into anyone of the 3, we would have a rather long and in depth conversation. We all got a long and we all had a mutual respect and appreciation for one another. So each one of their deaths has impacted me on some level.

Much to my dismay, I was away both dates of the services for Joey. I send my absolute utmost respects to his family.

Last Thursday, I once again returned to Benchwarmers and was pleased to see even more familiar faces. This time the bar was raising money for Joey's family, so a lot of people I haven't seen in a long, long time were all there. People I once considered at one point close friends, but haven't really kept in touch with.

After speaking to a few people for sometime I decided that I am going to try to come to this bar every Thursday. Not because I want to get drunk, but because I am sick of telling people that "It has been too long." I hope I never have to utter that phrase again. The truth is, there are plenty of people I care about, that I haven't really kept up with since we all started going to college, and I don't want the next time I see them to be when they are in a casket.

We all live in an age where human interaction has been reduced to saying "happy birthday" on someone's facebook wall when they pop up in your feed. That sucks. That is the fucking worst. For me, there are too many people I can't imagine loosing, and I am going to let my actions show that. Sometimes you have to go the extra mile, you can't always be waiting for people to enter your life, because sometimes it's too late. So take some time out of your life and visit the people that you care about, even if you haven't seen each other in awhile. Get the fuck off facebook! Stop staring at pictures of people you once knew and go out and get to know them over again. Lets all start acting more like people. The world will become a better place if we all try a little harder to be more personable and to maintain friendships.

Much love and respect to Brian Cerdelli, D.J. Villegas and Joey Ryan. Forever cherished and missed. All 3 gone too soon.

Nobody else can tell us how to live our lives, we're not running anymore.

I am going to try my hardest to make this short and to the point. My entire life I have been able to overcome every obstacle thrown my way except my parents. For years now they have fought me on pursuing music instead of conforming to the regular conventions of life. Tonight, my parents and I had a fight not to unlike the ones in the past. The bottom line is that they don't get it, and they never will unless they see for themselves.

I don't ask for too much from anyone, but this weekend is my 21st birthday and I am asking anyone who cares enough to read this to do me this one favor. Please come to the show this Sunday at Broadway and go ape shit. I am going to try my hardest to get my parents to come out to the show, because they haven't been to a show of mine in years. I want to show my parents why I am as passionate about music as I am, and why I wont settle for anything else. And I can't do that without your help. Some people may never understand why we do what we do. The least we can do is attempt to explain ourselves.