Since the 2000's were such a pivotal time in my life, I deem it necessary to look back and relive a decade of rollercoaster ups and downs. You may not like it. I may not like it. Does that really matter? The decade gave every person a different adventure, and this just happens to be the one I went on. Not to mention I hit more than one milestone birthday in these years. Since so much happened to me, I will try to highlight two major points from each year. 2006 might be a bit longer. So, lets begin.
2000: In the year 2000, I was finishing up 8th grade, and starting high school. At the time, all the people surrounding me were already talking about dropping out, starting to do drugs, and other teenage mistakes. I began separating myself from many of my middle school friends when I heard that a kid we hung out with slept with his brother's 400 pound, bedridden wife. Not sure if this is true, but I will carry that story with me.
At the start of my freshman year of high school, one of my best friends from middle school died. He saved a little girl from drowning, and gave his life to do so. Rashaad Worship is still missed.
2001: This is the end of my freshman year. I have been going to shows for the entire year now, and no matter the bands, I was there. So spring music fest comes around, and I meet a girl. This is my first real girlfriend, and I get excited. We date for 8 short months, and my heart is broken. First love. Blegh. This same year, this ex takes my virginity behind an abandoned movie theatre turned music venue after a show my first band (Dead End Dreams) plays with countless other bands, in my good friends 84 mustang. It was a good night.
This year was the year that I got my first bass guitar. A dark blue Ibanez GSR200. I still have this bass. I learned too many Linkin Park songs on it.
I also met Mike Andrews and Mikey Hawkins this year. Mikey hated me because he thought I called his girlfriend fat. What he missed was that I actually said "Mikey has fat eyebrows. Tweeze that shit." In high school, things get misconstrued. Now we're good friends. I wish Mike Andrews still had teal hair.
2002: This year, I meet my second serious girlfriend. This is where I later find out that she cheats on me with my first girlfriend. And my bad luck with women truly begins.
At this point, Dead End Dreams has disbanded, ridding the world of shitty Misfits ripoffs and songs about fucking dead pets. The world rejoices in peace. I then join a band that sounded like what I imagined Underoath to sound like at it's first practice sessions, sans keyboards. Virginia is for Lovers is born, and spreads "I Close My Eyes" and the XOXO EP throughout Central Florida.
At the later end of the year, I join A Game Of You, which began with strange car rides with a man I barely knew to a town I'd never been in to practice. This band was fun and loud. This band broke up in 2006.
2003: This is the beginning of my senior year. I meet my third serious girlfriend (who I am still good friends with). A car is stolen. My friends skate in Planet Smoothie. I believe that Brand New's Deja Entendu came out this year as well. This summer is the first of endless shitty b-movies rented from blockbuster. With titles like Nail Gun Massacre, Texas Chainsaw Hookers, Demonwarp, and Unmasked 25, the summer was certainly well spent.
This was also the first year of This Is For You Fest in Daytona Beach. There was no better way to end a year with acts like Good Clean Fun (covering Bohemian Rhapsody in a room full of mongoloids), Darkest Hour, Black Cross, Sex Positions, and countless other bands. This became a yearly trend until the last few years, but no amount of fun could be compared to the ridiculousness those three days would always bring.
2004: I graduate and start college. Of course, my list of friends is cut in half as people move away, stop talking, communicate through myspace, etc. It's kind of a bummer? But I always looked at it as trimming the fat.
This is another summer of stealing, poolhopping, random vandalism, amazing horror films, and genuine fun with friends. Party pizzas were had. I believe Austin almost killed himself jumping off the highest point of the Capri into a pool. This may have also been the year that we laid waste to Daytona Beach, screaming "BLOW JOBS" at random people walking on the beach, all while running as if following Sir William Wallace into battle.
Whats most important for me this year is that my brother and I actually stop fighting about stupid shit and start hanging out. He ended up surpassing me in coolness, as I take myself too seriously.
2005: For a long time, I marked this year as the peak and decline of the decade. Here is the series of events that explain this. Tara and I break up. I seek rebound. I get rebound pregnant, and spend the next year and a half wanting to smash my skull with another, much more solid and heavier skull. I spent hours figuring out how much better it would be pouring acid into open wounds than it would be to continue on the path I was on. It got "better."
This same year, A Game of You breaks up. Bummer, because we actually started writing good music and shared a storage unit with A Flock of Seagulls. At the same time, Years From Now starts, and it is fair to say that I have not had that much fun in a band. At one point, my dad found our CD in a Virgin Mega Store in New York. Pretty awesome if you ask me.
2006: This year is easily defined as the best and worst year for me, as it involves an intricate series of events that put me in the position I am in today. Here it is; I turn 21. Riley is born. I get married against my better judgement. Fight fight fight. Smash apartment. Hate life. Don't sleep. Quit job. Find a new job. Riley's mom leaves. There is some spillover into 2007 which includes the Department of Children and Families, Divorce Court, and custody battle, which is to say that 2007 actually began looking up.
Most of this year was a blur, caused by intense rage and depression. The only thing I can really remember from that year is Riley. I remember the day I saw her. I remember waking up with her every night. I remember being Mom and Dad, and loving every minute of it. And hating everything else.
2007: Despite shitty circumstances, things started to turn around for me this year. I met a girl who was pretty cool (who eventually cheated on me. My luck with women kicked in). I actually got a promotion that October, which helped my life balance out significantly. There was still some baby mama drama, but I began to see that I had the power to let that go, which made my life that much better.
I have also started back to school. I decided that after all the drama that I was going to better myself and my life, and understand where all that nonsense comes from. So be prepared for Dr. Spiker.
Keypoints for 2007: I meet a nice girl who I eventually marry. I was told she was gay, so I stopped pursuing her until she proposed to me. She is the yin to my yang. The peas to my carrots. The black to my white. (Thank you, Callista Berrios).I also begin to reconnect with my friends, who I had lost during 2006 due to control freak issues. I also meet new friends (John Park, Jessica Workinginger, Milissa Taube). What is most important is that I am able to smile at life, not just at Riley.
2008: I spend this year in a new place, with a new life. There is less drama. There is less worry. I have everything I need but more money, but I can care less because I am happy. There are some frustrations, but that is all part of life, and I have stopped sweating the small stuff. And I got married to a spicy latina/AZN lady.
Riley has gotten to a point where her personality is really starting to show. She dances, enjoys music, and has an odd sense of humor, but it is really great to see someone you've been taking care of their whole life begin to develop into a completely different person.
This same year, Years From Now comes to a close. We had a good run, but for the most part, there wasn't much more we could do. We had a final show where everyone wore white t-shirts. It was one of those years where someone either tears up from being so happy or from knowing that things aren't always so bad. That is how I felt that year.
2009: This last year has been normal. I have now begun a number of musical projects (Futures, Hero City, Rumors, and Limiter), and have finally been able to start collecting comic books. I'm reading every day, and I am less than a year away from completing my Bachelors degree. I will begin my Master's program in (10 in) 2010. And our wedding is going to be spectacular. Prepare yourselves, because I have a feeling that this is just the beginning.
There you have it. Sorry it wasn't shorter, but it could have been much longer. I can't even think of anything else I could get into after all that, other than details details details. I will say this; this next decade is gonna be a doozy. I have a feeling the future is ours.
Here's to everything that lies ahead.
