What a crazy couple of years it has been! I'm not even sure why I
stopped posting here. I guess
life happened. But, that's okay because I'm back now! So, what have I been doing?
Well, it's kind of a long story but I'll give you the most important
details.
When I last posted, I was still living in
California. Not a whole lot was going on in my life. A long-term relationship
had recently ended, I had just moved to North Hollywood because of it and I was
only working a few days a week. The guys in my band--the reason I moved to LA in the first
place--had all moved back to Ohio, I had dropped out of college and I was just
breathing. (**I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the "just breathing"
mentality; it's just that I was being very unproductive.**) I wasn't even
writing or playing much music anymore. I was really just wasting time I
suppose--comfortably numb. But, that would all change and, in
retrospect, I'm thankful that it did.
I was surfing craigslist one day and
decided to respond to an ad for a job in a kitchen at a hotel in West
Hollywood. Fortunately, I got the job! For the first 4 months, I was working at
the hotel in the morning from 7:30-4:00, and then I would go to my other job
from 5:00-close. Needless to say, I didn't sleep much. It got irritating so I
eventually quit the first job to work exclusively at the hotel. It was there
where my life would take another interesting turn.
I met a girl at work and it was actually Halloween
of 2011 that we started dating. A little over a month later, we moved in
together--crazy, I know. In January of 2012, I was offered a
position at another establishment that I couldn't pass up. So, I quit the hotel
to take on a role with more responsibility. Unfortunately, it lasted less than
a month and then, for the first time in my life, I was fired. This was kind of
devastating to me. In fact, I guess you could say that it was the catalyst for
me moving back to Ohio. And, in June, I did just that.
So there I was: Back where it all began. I didn't think I would ever
move back. I knew that, although Ohio is beautiful, it just isn't the place
for me. But, there was nothing I could do. You see, there were a lot of things
going on with people that were close to me that I couldn't ignore. And, I'm
sorry for being so vague about it--I don't exactly want to advertise it to the
world. The thought of it
nauseated me and I had no choice but to move back to try and remedy the
situation.
My girlfriend actually quit her job and
moved with me last minute. But, she didn't really enjoy the whole living on a
dead end road in the country thing, so that didn't last very long. She moved to
Pittsburgh and began working at restaurant as a sous chef. The funny thing is
that the restaurant she was working at happened to be the same one that Matt,
the bass player in the band, was also a sous chef at. Small world, huh? But,
our relationship wouldn't last much longer and in the fall, she moved back to
Los Angeles. And through all this, while I thought that the problems for
which I moved back for were being fixed, they were actually getting worse.
I took a good, long look at my life and how I had arrived at the
place I was. I was happy, yes. There were a lot of things I learned in
California about life and the one thing that stands out constantly is that life
is beautiful. It’s just that I felt there was so much more in life that I had
the potential to do. I had to do something. So, I decided to enroll in school
again. This time, I was all in. “No games. No bullshit. I’m doing this,” I told
myself. And, in January of 2013, classes began.
A few months later, near the end of the first semester, another
crazy thing happened. Matt and I had talked about getting back together to jam
but it wasn't until I saw Nate, the lead guitarist, at a gas station in
Smithfield, Ohio that we actually made the move. The band had, at this point,
had a crazy but interesting past. We had formed 8 years earlier and gelled so
damn well as musicians together, we knew we couldn't let this opportunity pass
us by. So, we practiced.
It was unbelievable! It was as if we hadn’t even taken a break. We immediately booked
a reunion show and gave ourselves a month to really perfect the set. My first
semester was ending and it turns out that I earned a 4.00 GPA. What an awesome
feeling everything that was happening in my life gave me! When the show came
around, we rocked it to a packed house. I had missed that feeling—the feeling
of being on stage. There’s nothing like
it.
Over the course of 2013, we played a couple shows and I continued
attending school. At this point, I had been hired by the school to tutor
chemistry and calculus. Things were really accelerating in my life. Another two
semesters down and the 4.00 remained. Going into 2014, I knew I had to make a
decision as to where I wanted to continue my education. I had come this far; there was no
way I was giving up again. So, I started looking at schools.
I remembered when I was younger, I always told myself I wanted to
go to UC Berkeley for aerospace engineering. But, having lived in LA, Caltech
was also a very intriguing prospect. I did my research and realized exactly
where I wanted to be: Colorado. I decided to apply to just one school. (This
isn’t necessarily a smart way to go about applying for college and I don’t
exactly condone it, but it worked for me.) I applied to the University of
Colorado at Boulder. The funny thing is: I got in!
When I found out, the band—known up to this point as Fusion—was in
the recording studio. It was kind of bittersweet because we all knew that it
meant I would be moving in August. But, we poured our hearts into it and are
very proud of what we’ve accomplished. (A HUGE thank you to Mike Ofca of
Innovation Studios. You are the MAN!) Going into the studio, we decided to
change our name to reflect an evolution of our style (although the songs we
recorded were between 4 and 7 years old.) After much deliberation, we settled
on the name For What It’s Worth and
you can listen to our music here: http://www.soundcloud.com/4-what-its-worth/
I finished my last semester in Ohio with a cumulative 4.00 GPA and
I enjoyed my last summer in Ohio by working as a server at a restaurant in
Robinson, PA (Hahaha). Of course, we played a few more shows before I left and
I hung out with my band mates and close friends a lot before making the move.
Throughout all of it, everyone remained very supportive and I thank you all for
that.
August rolled around and it was time to move. My brother and I
packed my stuff in a van and started the 22 hour drive. But, no
nearly-cross-country trip could be complete without breaking down in the middle
of Kansas. After waiting for a tow truck, ripping out most of the dash and
changing the necessary part, we were back on the road 5 hours later. What a
great experience.
We finally made it to Boulder around midnight. It was too late to
get the keys to my apartment so we had to stay in a hotel the first night. The
next day, we moved everything into the apartment. After about a week of getting
settled in, my brother was headed back to Ohio and I had a few days before
classes began. I enjoyed them by biking around the city.
Boulder is one of those cities that you just have to see and
experience to believe. Almost everyone here owns a bike and rides regularly.
Most of the roads are designed with bike lanes and there are a ridiculous
number of bike paths. It’s truly a biker's dream.
So, now I’m here enjoying life in one of the most amazing places I
can think of. I have the honor of calling Boulder, Colorado my home and I
wouldn’t change it for the world. I’m in one of the top physics programs in the
country at one of the most beautiful campuses I’ve ever seen. This place makes
me feel good simply by being here. I even quit smoking cigarettes and I feel
better than I’ve ever felt in my life! I can’t wait to see what the next 4
years have in store for me. I’ll do my best to routinely post updates along
with new essays.
There is so much more I wish I could say. But, I’ll save that for
my autobiography (Hahaha!). Until then, I will leave you with a motto I came up
with around the time I began writing this blog: Live. Learn. Love…
No comments:
Post a Comment