Time with Friends

No matter how long it has been it is always good to see your true friends. You feel like you pick up right where you left off. No time has been lost, nothing has changed. You just go. Tonight I had some of my closest friends back over for the first time since summer and it was great to see everyone. I can tell I have great friends because they are all doing great, and going on to do admirable things with their lives. Its just amazing to see people I met in Kindergarden and see what they are becoming. My closest friends I didn't meet till high school are turning out to be just as successful. I just enjoy the fact I have surrounded myself with such great people. Having 30 of them around me at once can be a bit overwhelming, all of them and their big fucking personalities, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

The Hardest Goodbye...

A handful of experiences in my life have taught me that you should say every goodbye like it could be your last. This is a logical way to approach the situation considering it is a an actual possibility, but it is also just a more fulfulling way to approach life.

But doing so doesn't make it any easier to say that last goodbye. I have had a handful of very close friends have their parents pass away. The most recent is one of the hardest. It's not because I was any closer to this friend or his parents, but because he puts up such a hardened shield. He has to be the tough guy. I want to be there for him, but I don't know how. I told him I was, and he genuinely seemed thankful, but no matter what I do I feel like it isn't enough. I just hope that it is...

The Schaefers are in my prayers.

Could I really get paid to do this?

Anyone who knows me relatively well at all, knows that music is a big part of my life. They also know that I have a strong desire to enter the field of Music Journalism as a career later in life. This semester opportunity struck in the form of an English teacher. I wrote a paper describing the evolution of my passion for music, leading to the ultimate decision to become a music journalist. She herself had a similar passion in college, and  wrote the music columns for the Kentucky Kernel (The University of Kentucky's daily paper). She would go on to do road production for bands such as Motley Crue and Pearl Jam, ultimately leading into a larger career in movie production (The bound journals in Will Smith's upcoming film "Seven Pounds" and the desert explosion scene in Termanator:Salvation, both her work). 

Anyway, she had enough faith in what she read that she personally escorted me to the Kernel's headquarters in the basement of the UK Journalism building and told them to consider adding me to their staff. I'll never forget her no matter how successful or unsuccessful of a journalist I become. Just having a teacher who cares enough about students to take time out of their day is a rarity these days, and it did not go unnoticed. 

I am now the Rock Columnist for the Kentucky Kernel, and in the 2 months I have been on staff I have already been fortunate enough to have written over 10 articles. In addition to writing my own pieces, the position has put me in a position to interview bands who just months ago I saw on stage at places as epic as Bonnaroo. 

To date, these are the columns I have written in chronological order:

Guitar Hero Gives Rock a Pulse in Generation of New Music

Review of Jack's Mannequin's "The Glass Passenger"

Bands to Tear Up Dame's New Location

Review of Noah and the Whale's "Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down"

Review of Mates of State's "Re-Arrange Us"

Review of AC/DC's "Black Ice"

Review of Rise Againt's "Appeal to Reason"

Review of Oasis' "Dig Out Your Soul"

Students Empowered by Woodie Awards (Includes interview with Ross Martin of mtvU)

Review of Ray LaMontagne's "Gossip in the Grain"

Q&A With Artists of the mtvU Woodie Awards (Includes interviews with Vampire Weekend, All Time Low, Santogold, She & Him) (I'm proud of this one, I got to talk to bands I love)

I think it'll be entertaining to keep all of my works logged to see if there is a growth as they progress. I certainly hope there will be. It would be fun to see. Regardless I hope this is the beginning of something great. Time will tell...