Chapter 3
"Being Yourself"
1989
The first day of kindergarten I was scarred and sad. I didn’t want to leave my mom. I remember crying at the door of the kindergarten room (which was an outside mobile trailer.) Before my mom dropped me off I remember asking my mom how will I make friends. and she replied just be yourself and you will make friends.
As I got older I began to distance myself from some of the more childish things I enjoyed in an attempt to be more cool. I was hoping to rid of the nickname that I had enjoyed since the 3rd grade; “Snoopy” Public hand flapping was starting to become a problem. Sometimes other kids would see me flapping my hands and would either ask me what I was doing or would call me names.
I was very excited about playing drums and would tap my little drum parts with my hands and fingers almost everywhere I went. Pretty much every teacher I had in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade had to tell me to stop tapping in class. I had figured that it was better to get in a little trouble in class for tapping than to have a random outburst of hand flaps; so that became the plan.
1991
There was a storm drill at school; we had to calmly stand up from our desks and then slowly form a line and walk into the hallway. As the drill was finishing and we formed a new line to the water fountain. While waiting I said the word three for some reason and another kid asked me why I couldn’t say three. They tried to help me say the word correctly, but it didn’t click with me. They repeated the word to me like I was a baby. This is my earliest memory of someone repeating a word to me, trying to help me speak better. I had a really hard with some letter combinations and TH was one of them. I would say fwee instead. I remember being very confused about it, but it wasn’t any big deal.
1992
In third grade; the class would get into the two rows and have multiplication card contests. One row of kids vs. the other row. Simple math problems were one of my specialties so I would know the answer as soon I would see the card. For the first time (and only) I was the smartest kid in the room. On top of this, the winning team got to pick a prize from some random prize box my teacher had made. All of this was very exciting to me. I remember standing in line waiting for my turn, flapping my hands in class, and other kids asking me why I would shake my arms. I don’t remember it being mean, more so they were confused.
1995
1996
Mr. Mason brought in another percussion instructor from WVU. Mr. Haleem was from Africa, He wore penny loafer shoes and had an afro with a comb in it. He had an extra pep to his walk and was very nice and extremely talented at the marimba. He wowed me when he played.
1997
I started climbing into the ceiling of the school.
1998
Towards the end of 8th grade came there were only two kids left who hadn’t completed speech class. A kid named Dirk Smitley and myself. I would walk down to the speech classroom and spend almost a full class length there. One day I will never forget was when I showed up for speech class and the teacher said that Dirk was not coming because he had completed the class. I remember sitting at the table realizing I was the only kid in my grade who couldn’t speak correctly and maybe I was actually the dumbest kid in my grade.
May I went on the 8th grade field trip to Kennywood Park. Before we left, my band Green and White Fish performed for the 7th and 8th grade. This was a our first show and we played Smells Like Teen Spirit, Dammit, and Sex and Candy. Ryan Hampton our singer got nervous before the show and wanted to bail. I pressured him into continuing. josh played guitar sitting down.
1999
I had Ms. Boros for advanced algebra / Algebra II. Math got real weird. Every question was in the form of a short undeveloped story. There were word problems before, but now with the algebra variables. It should have been more of a philosophy class on why the society had such a trading dilemma. I remember wanting to ask if she knew where these example characters are from. Their location would be a huge factor in the equation. Most of the other kids were in their junior year of school.
July 20th I went to the Vans Warped Tour at the IC Light Amphitheatre
2002
April 13th Almost Cool performed in Joker Productions guitar center rock off at Club Laga. There were 15 bands. We got 5th place overall. 2nd in stage presence, 3rd in industry potential, musical content, and crowd response. It was this show where we met Pat and After Curfew.
2011
February 13th The Mondaze had our first show at Chatham University. I remember feeling a bit awkward, but it felt great. We did songs like Music and Hockey, Bring me Back to You, pleasure and pain, It wouldn’t be so bad, and check your clock.
April 9th The Mondaze hosted and played the Joe Forgione farewell party at Around the Corner Bar. We even wrote a song for him and he joined us on harmonica.
April 20th The Mondaze received our first batch of shirts. They were designed by me and had stick figures on them.
Towards the end of May I started my payment processing portfolio. I rode around with Jimi and we solicited small businesses for our service.
June 6th I got The Flower Market as my first client for my processing portfolio.
The Mondaze did a photo shoot with Andrew Greissman on an island on the Allegheny River. I convinced everyone to bring their gear and we set it up at the top of a wall. It was pretty funny.
I was cutting my grass when I got the urge to run. Like I was just given the ability to use my legs I wanted to run so badly. I just headed off to the cemetery next my house to run on the path. I didn’t lock my doors or put the mower away which was very unlike me. I made it into the cemetery and it wasn’t long until I saw an older man on the path waving for me to come there like something was wrong.
In August I drove 24+ hours to New Brunswick with my mom and dad. The main goal was to see the Bay of Fundy and Hopewell Rocks. I remember being totally exhausted by the time we were close. I was almost positive I was going to see a moose. The area was rather remote, but the sight seeing was pretty unbelievable. I walked at night into the bay where the tides change over 50 feet twice a day. (highest tides on earth) When I was out it was really dark and I could feel the water creeping on my ankles. Deeply concerned I tried heading back to land as fast as possible, but it being dark made it harder than normal. For a little bit I thought that I might get swallowed up by the ever rising water. After Fifteen minutes of walking from the wetness I made it back and then went to the hotel where my parents were.
We went to Hopewell Rocks and go to walk around in low tide.
We stopped at Niagara Falls, Canada on the back and stayed at a Days Inn on the American side.
Shortly after I got back from my trip I was waiting tables and a table of Canadians were sitting at table 1.
September 7th I got Gamemasters as a client
September 11th The Mondaze went to Innovation Studios in Steubenville, Ohio to record 2 songs; “Love Bomb” and “Take Me Now”
October 28th The Mondaze had a halloween party at the Around the Corner Bar.
November 15th The Mondaze played with Ernie and the Berts and Locksley at The Smiling Moose
November 6th I drank so much water that I felt drunk
November 27th The Mondaze played at Shenanigans with 720
November 30th The Mondaze played at Arsenal Lanes
December 3rd on my birthday, The Mondaze played at Pizza Roma in Ross Township. Mandy was there and she was glaring at all of the other girls who were there as if they were all her enemies. It was awkward, but it was a great time.
December 20th my car, Big Red got towed away for good. It went to a scrap yard.
2012
January 6th The Mondaze played at the HMBFC in Pittsburgh. Mace Ballard, August Ruins, Anchors End, and Paper Politicians also shared the bill.
January 24th I got Hughey Automotive as a client
Got 3rd job at PNC Park as a suite attendant.
In May The Mondaze recorded “Go Get Your Boy” and “The Ride Must End” at Innovation Studios
The day after the studio The Mondaze played at Pizza Roma in Ross Township. They had our name spelled wrong on the flyer.
Started dating Ivy.
June 18th I got Medicap Pharmacy as a client
I was walking from Urban Transmissions to Kretzlers Tavern on Babcock Blvd. (RIP both businesses) a taller woman walked up to me and said she was going to kill herself.
July 18th I got Mane Attractions as a client
July 26th The Mondaze played at Lava Lounge with The Park View and Kid Durango.
Family road trip to Upper Peninsula of Michigan in August.
We went to Pictured Rocks National Park and took a cruise to see the rocks up close. We stayed at a hotel in Munising, Mi that was right on lake superior. The next day we went to Twelvemile Beach that was loaded with beautiful rocks and there wasn’t anyone else there. I walked up and down the beach and put swimming goggles on as I swam in the shallow edge.
We took the Chi Cheemaun Ferry from the Manitoulin Island to Tobermory, ON.
The Mondaze had our CD release show at Hardrock Cafe, this was the climax of The Mondaze.
September 10th I went into my garage so that I could go drive and get a sandwich and there is a golden retriever panting like a maniac. I didn’t know what it was at first because it was in front of my car.
September 29th The Mondaze played at Club Cafe
October 4th I was setting up an ethernet cable at Cole’s Cafe in Shaler. I had to run the line through the ceiling and when I was almost done up front, I was standing on the stainless steel counter not knowing it wasn’t screwed into base. The one end went up and I had to jump off and landed on the ladder / step stool and hit my junk. I was in so much pain and there was a lot of people around.
October 27th I got 4 Seasons Power as a client and The Mondaze had a Halloween party at Sieb’s Pub.
November 15th I cut my back yard grass to say hi facing up towards the sky. I was hoping that someone in a helicopter or airplane would see it.
November 23rd The Mondaze played with the Composure, Handguns, and Sparks the Rescue at The Smiling Moose
December 15th The Mondaze played at Sieb’s Pub.
2013
April 11th I gave some asian woman named, Jane a ride to her hotel from the Cheesecake Factory. She was a guest from out of town who had no luck with a taxi.
May 1st I saw a fireball flying through the sky through my living room window. It was confirmed that a metoerite landed in Kittanning, Pa that evening. It looked liked something that took out the dinosaurs.
June 9th Me, Brad, Wassell, and George attempted to kayak down the kiski river. Ivy came along and she was dressed like she was a movie star. We did not make it successfully down the river and most of us got hurt.
July 27th The Mondaze played at Sieb’s Pub.
Family Road trip around the great lakes in August.
We stopped to hike around Killarney Provincial Park. It was right on Lake Huron and was really neat. There were lots of little islands off the coast that I thought would be fun to kayak to.
I got pulled over by a Canadian police officer for speeding. He let me go without a ticket because I wasn’t going that much over and I told him the signs being in KM vs. mph was confusing.
We stopped at Lake Superior Provincial Park on the East side of Lake Superior. We hiked around and looked for rocks.
The road north of Lake Superior was amazing. You could tell further north was very unpopulated all the way to the north pole. True wilderness.
We stopped at an Amethyst Mine near Thunder Bay, Ontario. They had a gift shop where you could buy it or you could pay to walk around in that area to find it yourself, which we did and it was awesome. I found some purple and red amethyst.
We crossed the border through Minnesota and all the hotels were booked up. I saw a wolf this night walking on the side of the road.
We stopped at Munising, Mi and stayed at the same hotel we did the year before. We also went back to Twelvemile Beach which was just as beautiful.
We took the Chi chi man ferry and walked around the Bruce Peninsula and took a speed boat to the flower pot island. We didn’t get a hotel this night and drove the whole way home.
September 10th I got a new client which was Sigmas Conference Center. It was neat because Sharon had a screen that welcomed me.
September 13th I rented a booth at the Ross Township Community Day and tried to get business, it was a complete loss.
October 7th I went to Lauren Becker’s wedding. Josh, Melissa Ballard, and Mauressa Spencer were also there. I got lost on the way there and was late. I pulled into a different party that was at a house and no one said anything.
Went to the Grand Canyon in October when the government shutdown occurred.
We took small plane from Phoenix to Flagstaff. It reminded me of a school bus that started flying. I hated it and was scared for my life.
We stayed in Flagstaff, Arizona for the entire week.
We went to the massive meteor crater in Arizona. It was very windy while we were there and everyone’s hair was pushed to the side. You could feel the pushing of the wind. Someone that worked there pointed out a tiny rock in the middle and said that it was a size of a house which gave us an understanding of how big it was.
We walked up to and climbed on some old volcano rock. It was black and really hard. A ranger came and said they we had to get off of it so we did.
We stop at Red Rocks State Park and hiked a trail. We saw coyotes when we were in the car almost there.
October 11th we went golfing in Sedona, which was beautiful. We were playing a scramble vs. my dad so that we would play faster. Basically the better of Jordan or my shot. The course guard came out and told us that we had to speed up twice, so we ended up not even playing. It was weird, but clear he didn’t want us playing so I went to their office and told them exactly what happened. They apologized and refunded me. I didn’t care since it was still beautiful, but so much for a fun, enjoyable game of golf.
We watched the pittsburgh pirates play in a playoff game on tv from our hotel room. It was the first playoff game they played in since I was a kid. They won the game although they were eliminated afterwards.
On the last full day of being there, the parks opened back up and we got to go to the Grand Canyon. We were one of the first people there super early in the morning. since it had been shutdown for a while it became a little more natural. We saw a herd of mule deer in the parking lot when we got there. They were running and it was pretty neat. We looked over the canyon and walked around the rim. It was insanely big. Me and Jordan quickly hiked into the canyon and went as far as we could go. I thought I would be able to get close to the bottom, but after a couple hours it seemed like we had gone no where. so we turned around and went back up before it got dark. When we were in the canyon everything seemed to have a green look to it at one point. Me and Jordan yelled and listened to the echoes, and we saw a deer. I commented to Jordan about how many we would find some grand canyon babes down there.
Stopped dating Ivy.
October 25th I went over to the Riegler’s and we carved pumpkins.
2014
Beginning of January True Merchant partnered with website company and I started selling mobile websites.
Me and Brad had started a little side project with Josh and Zach. No one wanted to play bass and it was fun, but a mess. We had a couple of originals that were both pop punk.
I bought a little Korg keyboard to record with from Pianos N Stuff in Blawnox
My granny passed away in March.
March 21st I got Kelley’s Dari Delite as a client
I always felt something strange in my Granny’s house and it was on my life goals to talk to my Granny alone and write things down. After my Granny had passed away I was devastated for many reasons, but one being i never got talk to her and write things down. The last time I visited my granny’s house before it sold I sat in the living room floor where I normally would have been sitting in a chair and I talked to the room. It felt weird, almost scary. Something was listening so I stood up and looked around the house and continued talking, but more of a prayer and negotiation now. I looked in every part of the house and then I went back to the living room and asked for whatever was listening to join me and leave the house. When I left the house I felt better than I had since my granny had passed.
I told Brad and Josh that I needed to stop jamming the new little band.
April 30th I went to Brillobox to see Badboxes play
When I went to pick up the Uhaul the one ready for us had the Bay of Fundy pictured on the side of it. It felt like a sign to go there so my parents, Jordan, and I went to the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia in August. As always I hoped to see a moose. Jordan had to leave halfway through the trip. On the last day of the trip before we started heading back we saw 3 moose (a bull moose, a mom, and a calf) while on the Skyline Trail on the Cabot Trail and then when we got back in the car I saw a 4th moose looking out of the woods at me. I know this is very weird to say, but I knew that moment that the moose was actually my granny saying hello and giving us a gift. Sometimes I wonder if those 4 moose were me, my mom and dad, and my granny in the moose world.
May 24th a jingle I wrote was played in a commercial for tv and radio that was broadcasted all over Pittsburgh region. It was for a business, Iron City Vapor lounge.
May 30th I went kayaking and fishing with Brad on some pond he thought was haunted. I did catch a small bass.
August I went to Nova Scotia with my parents and Jordan.
Our flight got delayed due to bad storms so we had to wait most of the day at the airport. We eventually flew to Toronto, Ontario, but had to wait until the morning for next flight to Halifax. The airlines covered our hotel and taxi ride. The driver had a nice car and drove us to our hotel where we stayed for less than a handful of hours until we had to head back to airport.
We went to Peggy’s Cove where the one famous lighthouse was. It was really neat and probably the most people we saw at any of the destinations for the trip.
We went down to Brier Island and went whale watching in the morning. I was wearing sandals and my feet were freezing. I kept going into the little bathroom to warm them up. If anyone was watching they probably thought I had to use the bathroom a lot. It was the closest I ever was to humpback whales while doing any tours. We saw a lot of whales that trip.
We stayed at a bed and breakfast which was really creepy. jordan and I stayed in a bedroom with 2 small beds with heart pillows and little teddy bears.
We went sea kayaking with Coastal Adventures. Anthony, who was one of the owners took us out. Jordan and my mom were in one kayak and my dad and me were in another. Anthony was by himself. We saw the sister rocks and made it to a rocky beach for some lunch that he had prepared. On the way back a big fin popped out of the water and Anthony said ” It’s a shark”, but he did not seem scared as he crept closer to get some pictures. It ended up being a porpoise. My heart was beating out of my chest.
We dropped Jordan off in Halifax and headed to the northern region of Nova Scotia.
I remember my eyes almost hurting from staring out the window in the car for moose.
We made it to the very top of Nova Scotia and looked out into the ocean. It was a really neat little fishing town with little houses. It felt like you were back in time looking to edge of the world.
August I saw 4 moose while hiking skyline trail off the cabot trail. Cape Brenton Highlands Park.
October 11th I discovered my oven stopped working so I put a baking sheet on the top of the oven and covered a pizza with a pot to cook it.
October 16th Me and Jordan took my grandma to the meadows casino in Washington, Pa.
December 3rd on my birthday I went to visit my granny’s grave and I wrote and played a song for her. Afterwards I met up with Missy at Kretzler’s Tavern for some drinks.
December 3rd on my birthday I went to visit my granny’s grave and I wrote and played a song for her. Afterwards I met up with Missy at Kretzler’s Tavern for some drinks.
2015
Moved my Bed into the Kitchen
People came over for Wassell’s bachelor parry and my bed was in my kitchen, which was the first time that it felt weird to me.
Wassell got married
I printed off some paper from the pos system and wrote my two weeks notice to quit working at The Cheesecake Factory and then handed it to Chuck, the general manager who didn’t want my paper and said it didn’t have to be an actual notice.
May 7th I went to see the pirates play with Donald. We ended up getting front seat along first base. The best seats I ever had.
June my left arm was in a lot of pain so I asked Dr Roger Stewart if he could help and he started rubbing my arm and made it feel better immediately.
July 28th I did a freeze pop and beverage run to most of my clients for customer appreciation day.
August 3rd I signed up Churn as a client
Early August I flew to Calgary, Alberta, Canada with my parents, we then rented a car and drove to Banff National Parc. We walked around Lake Louise and hiked a couple nearby trails. We stayed one night and then drove up the icefields parkway. It was the most beautiful road I ever drove. We stayed at Sunwapta Falls, which had some beautiful nearby water falls.
We drove back to Calgary to pickup Jordan and then we went back to Banff National Parc. We walked around Lake Louise again, but this time all the way around. There was some people riding horses on the way back. We stopped at a few other beautiful lakes on the way back up the Icefields parkway. We stopped a couple times for some short hikes to break up the drive.
We stayed at a hotel over looking the Athabasca Glacier. It was one of the nicest hotels I ever stayed in.
We hiked around Jasper National Parc. A ranger told us that a wolf was hit by a car that day on a nearby road. That evening we could hear wolves crying out in the mountains. It was chilling. We walked around the town and got some food. We stayed at a hotel right outside the town. I went on a hike and went very far in front of everyone and then decided to see if I could finish the trail. That I did, but by the time I got to the end it was starting to get later and I had to jog a good bit of the way back to make it in time. I remember thinking that jogging was probably a bad idea near a river with grizzly bears and mountain lions around. That was a run with a lot of anxiety, but it worked out fine.
On the way back down to Banff we went white water rafting on the Athabasca River. Lenny was our guide and he was surprised I had white water rafted in West Virginia. We stayed at Sunwapta Falls again that evening.
We hiked Sulfur Mountain which was part of or right outside of Banff National Parc. It took most of the day and my mom who was 60 and my dad both hiked the whole thing. We took a Gondola on the way back down which I thought was terrifying.
When I got home I was so excited. I wrote and recorded “God Says Hey” and learned how to build websites from watching YouTube videos.
August 22nd I went to Club Cafe to see Wicked Chief and Cold Roses.
September 3rd I got A Head of The times Hair Design as a client
Derek, RJ Wigton, and myself started a band called “Blue Jay and the Bats” We had 2 songs, Anstronaut and Closer to the Sun. Some point before Halloween went all went to Monesson, PA and hung out with Brittney Williams and Kat Hansen.
In October I went to Hop House with Sheena Mundie and she landed a small kiss on the lips which was pretty cool.
October 30th Churn opened in gibsonia. I played acoustic guitar
Early in November, Jimi, Pat, and Ben came over for a Victory Lane reunion jam session. It was rough, but fun. It didn’t last too long until Ben and Jimi left. Me and Pat hung out for a little afterwards.
December 3rd I celebrated my 100th birthday on my 32nd birthday. I went to Kretzler’s tavern to people watch by myself.
December 13th I went to the Four Chord Music Festival with Yellowcard and Anti Flag.
2016
February 24th I went Where’s the band? concert at Mr Smalls Theatre with Jake.
March 14th I went to a Bernie Sanders rally in Youngtown, Ohio with Kolt.
In May I was laying some mulch, the next morning I had a bullseye on my thigh. I went to med express and he drew a line and said if the red goes outside go to hospital. Then the red did go outside, but I didn’t want to go to hospital so I went back to med express where he told me to go to er, kinda annoyed. I ended up getting bit by a spider. I spent a few nights in the hospital before it started to get better. I watched screen savers with peaceful music most of the time which was confusing to the nurses and dr’s. My roommate was an older man that snored very loud. The pens were in the playoffs and I watched and continuously asked a staff member for help so he could watch the game with me. Ivy also brought me a buffalo chicken pizza, which was one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me. They ended up giving me something through the IV that helped the wound.
May, The Mondaze had our first practice in years. We were very rusty and a lot of the songs had been forgotten, but we picked some of our favorites and started jamming again.
June I went with Jaime Lee Ballas to Ocean City, MD. We drove all night and slept on the beach. I got sunburned from sleeping in. We watched the pens win the cup at a bar and met a guy name steve martin who was pretty cool. Somehow a handful of strangers ended up partying with us in our hotel room. One day when I was walking to a public restroom I saw a trail of human feces leading to restroom. Someone didn’t make it. I never seen anything like it!
June 29th I went golfing with my family for my dad’s birthday at Rohanna’s golf course.
July 29th I went to see Bush and Chevelle at Stage AE with Spurks. Gavin got off the stage and walked right up to us while singing Little Things.
July 30th was Brad and Katie’s wedding.
Early August I flew into Seattle with my parents and Jordan and then drove to Vancouver and then Vancouver Island. We had to take a ferry across which we had to wait, but ate some food at a market that was at the parking lot.
We drove to Tofino, BC which is where we stayed a couple nights also. There were girls hitchhiking around which I had never seen before.
We then drove down to Victoria, BC. It was a beautiful, clean city that had a European feel to it. We went on a whale watching trip where we saw seals, sea lions, humpback whales, and orcas. We saw lots of orcas and the marine biologist put a microphone in the water so we could hear them. They sounded like birds, it was really neat. I had never seen so many whales. One of the top experiences of my life. There was a viral video of humpback whales from around where we were at the same day which was weird.
We stayed at the Hilton hotel in Victoria. Then next morning we watching a rowing competition in the bay. It was really neat.
We drove up Mount Rainier. The road did not have a guard rail on it and cars could easily fall off. It was a scary road to drive. The outside lane more so than the inside lane.
September 25th we had my grandma’s birthday party at her house.
October 16th Friend the cat moved in with me. I kept her upstairs separated from Tony for the first day.
December 7th Friend and Tony got along well enough to have a family photo shoot.
The Buried Toilet Treasure Map
Hiding in house while people looked at it to buy it.
2017
January there was the cheesecake Factory holiday party and although I didn’t work there I went and won an award for ghost of cheesecake past. Angel Sipe gave me a trophy with a tissue that looked like a ghost. It was really nice to see everyone.
January 10th I went to West Green high school to see my dad’s team play against Jefferson Morgan. They won.
April 25th I went to my first meeting with the international dark sky association. The meeting was at the Allegheny Observatory. Dianne Thurscheck gave a tour after the meeting.
May 11th I went to see The Red Hot Chili Peppers with Spurks at PPG Arena.
May 13th was the first annual Millvale Music Festival. The Mondaze performed at the Double L Bar and it was our first show back.
May 15th I went to see Jimmy Eat World at The Main Stage in Morgantown, WV. Beach Slang was the opener. I bought an extra ticket and Jimi came with me. It was awesome!
May 22nd I played solo at Club Cafe. I played Like Jenny and Maladaptive Daydreamer. Rishi, Paul, and Derek also played.
August 3rd I finished my goal to 100 recorded songs in my studio. Feel Good Forever was song 100
Road trip to Acadia National Park in August.
We went to Bar Harbor to go whale watching
September 24th we had a my Grandma’s birthday party at her house. She wore her Almost Cool shirt to surprise me.
October 31st I handed out candy from the stoop of the Millvale Office. I wore an army helmet and had a wizard cape on. I also got Kinniburgh Graphics as a client in the day.
November 3rd I got Brenckle’s Greenhouse as a client
November The Mondaze went to Innovation Studios to record Spider, Feel Good Forever, and Wonderful.
November 26th I heard and then saw a black and red rooster outside my house.
November 28th The Mondaze played the Millvale Christmas tree lighting
December 13th a bird got in my house.
2018
I went onto match.com and went on a couple dates with a nice girl, named Kelly.
March 31st I went to see Punchline play at Mr Smalls Theatre with The Morning Light. I went by myself and got pretty drunk. I saw lots of friends and had a really good time. I even held the door for a bunch of strangers.
April 4th was Almost Cool Reunion show with Scenes From a Movie, Time and Distance, and Mace Ballard. This was held at The Smiling Moose in the south side of Pittsburgh.
April 28th I went on my first date with Robin which lead to me writing “Carmella’s”
April 29th I went to the Look Out Loretta EP release show The Smiling Moose.
May 6th I went to see Jimmy Eat World at Mr Smalls Theatre.
I went to the millvale music festival with Robin. It was our third date and I picked her up. It started great, but she left me mid date for a combo of about 3 other people. I was drunk and didn’t even know what happened. She said I didn’t seem interested. I had her mom’s mother day gift in my car so she called me later on to get it back. This was when I should have stopped dating her. I wrote the song “Grant Avenue” about this day.
May 25th I went to see New Found Glory and The Movie Life at Stage AE. I had a lot of friends going so I went by myself. Robin also went and we hung out for a little. I also ran into DLY
May 28th I went kayaking on the Allegheny river with brad who was fishing.
May I was going kayaking and ended up in the Sharpsburg Memorial Day Parade
May 30th I went to see the Pittsburgh Pirates play the Chicago Cubs with my parents.
June 2nd I went kayaking on the Allegheny river.
June 5th I went to see Real Estate play with Ryan. It was at Mr Smalls Theatre and Habibi was the opener.
June 9th I went to see Hall & Oates and Train at PPG Arena with Robin.
June 16th The Mondaze played Mr Smalls Theatre with All in Uniform, Dash City Skyline, Vantage. and AMC dreaming.
June 29th we went golfing for my dad’s birthday at Rohanna’s golf course.
July 1st me, Brad, and George attempted to make a music video for Wonderful. It was a lot of fun, but it did not work out.
July 6th I went to see Lit play at Jergels with Robin.
I went to the last Warped Tour with Robin. I watched Simple Plan, Eternal Boy, Reel Big Fish, and Bowling for Soup.
July 20th I went to see the Gin Blossoms, Tonic, and Punchlne play at Stage AE with Brad.
July 22th I went to see Taking Back Sunday and Coheed and Cambria at Stage AE with Robin.
July 28th I went to see Chicago and REO Speedwagonwith my parents at the Key Bank Pavilion.
August 3rd I played solo at Double L Bar un Millvale with Matt Austin. The Mondaze crew came out.
August 5th I went to see Punchline play with The Spill Canvas at The Rex Theatre in the south side. After this show Robin asked me out and I said yes.
August 7th I flew to Montana with my parents and Jordan.
August 8th we hiked throughout Glacier National Park. We saw lots of waterfalls throughout the mountains.
August 9th we hiked more through Glacier National Park. We were at some lake that was stunning and getting ready to take a family photo when a streaker who did not see us came out of the woods and as soon as he saw us ran back away.
August 10th we hiked more of Glacier National Park.
August 11th we went hiking and then white water rafting at Glacier National Park.
August 12th we decided to go to Yellowstone National Park because there was a forest fire the day before on the other side of the park, but it was all shutdown.
August 13th we hiked and drove around Yellowstone National Park. There was a beautiful sunset on our way out.
August 14th we flew back to Pittsburgh.
I went to the Westmoreland Fair with Robin. We didn’t ride anything, but did eat funnel cakes and lemonade. I wrote the song “Ferris Wheel” about this evening.
August 26th I went to the 5th annual Four Chord Music Festival with Robin.
August 29th The Mondaze played Club Cafe for a band house fundraiser. Ivy came and said goodbye, I was so nervous that I was going to be in for it from Robin that I didn’t say anything back. It was rude on my part. Robin was very mad that i spoke to her and she left early.
August 31st The Mondaze played a playr production show at Cattivo with Tiny Stills, Get Married, A Week in July, and Young Lungs.
September 4th The Mondaze opened for June Divided and Shane Henderson of Valencia at The Smiling Moose
September 3rd I went kayaking with Robin on the Kiski – Allegheny river. We did a rental with River’s Edge Kayak and Canoe.
September 5th I went to see Fallout Boy and Machine Gun Kelly at PPG arena with Robin. We had floor tickets up near stage in front Pete.
September 18th I went to see Guided By Voices with Ryan at Spirit Lounge.
Sept 26th I flew to Nashville, TN with Robin. We listened to a lot of bands and ate a lot of food. We took a tour of the Grand Ole Opry went sight seeing. We rode little scooters which was fun.
September 27th we went to the Grand Ole Opry for a tour.
September 28th We walked around Nashville
September 29th I flew back to Pittsburgh with Robin.
September 30th we celebrated my grandma’s birthday at her house.
October 12th I went to Hartwood Acres Halloween light show with Robin and her friends. We ate at Eat N Park afterwards.
October 20th I visited my grandma in the Uniontown Hospital. My aunt Paulette was crying and thought she was going to die.
October 25th I went to the Riegler’s with Robin to carve pumpkins. I did a moose. Robin go mad that Riegler played “go get your boy” and caused a fit.
December for my birthday, I had a split party with Robin’s graduation. It was at Industry in Lawrenceville. A bunch of our friends came out.
December 7th I went to a Holiday party with Robin at Nova Place in the North side. I saw Jeff, who use to attend Victory Lane shows and was from Sewickley there. He was a bartender. We went to some holiday pop up bar and to the William Penn speakeasy afterwards.
December 8th me and Robin went to Pittsburgh’s light up night. It was freezing so I bought a hat from a store downtown.
December 21st I went to West Greene high school to see my dad’s team play against Avella. They won.
December 31st for new years eve me and Robin went to Wendy’s for dinner than went to her friend’s house for some drinks. I drove and stayed sober. Afterwards we went to Wassell’s for the ball to drop. We took an uber from my house. Robin got really mad and then Wassell kicked her out and it was a shit show.
2019
February 14th I went with Robin to see Jeff Goldbloom play with his jazz band at the Carniege Music Hall. They were really good and he talked with the audience which was really neat.
February 15th I went to see my dad’s team play in the playoffs. They lost.
February 25th a large pine tree fell on the house across the street knocking out the power for a week.
March 2nd I went to Bicycle Heaven with Robin. We later went out to eat at Nakama for her birthday with some of her friends. We ended the night at Belvedre’s Ultra Dive for some dancing and drinks.
May 11th was the 3rd annual Millvale Music Festival. I performed solo at Bar 3 and The Mondaze performed at Happy Day Lounge
May 25th I was on the WPXI news yelling “fix that pothole, yea!” as I drove by a news team on the corner of Seavey Road and evergreen Road in Millvale.
May 31st my dad gave a speech at the graduation for West Greene School District. He was retiring and I was so proud of my dad. As soon as he was done talking Robin insisted we leave so we could go drive 4 hours to stay in a cabin with her friends. She was miserable the whole time.
June 1st I went Kinzua Bridge State Park with Robin and her friends. It looked like it was going to rain so we didn’t go to cherry springs that night. Instead we stayed in and played board games as it stormed.
June 16th The Mondaze opened for VISTA
June 28th we played golf for my dad’s birthday at Rohanna’s golf course.
June 30th The Mondaze played the open streets festival in Lawrenceville.
July 3rd I visited the new office for work downtown. It was in the KeyBank building overlooking the rivers and the point. You could see Heinz Field.
July 4th I went downtown to see the fireworks with Robin. She was in a very bad mood and told me I ruined the holiday. She wasn’t feeling well so she didn’t run in her race.
July 6th I went to see Blink 182 with Lil Wayne at Pavilion in Burgettstown. I went with Robin, brad, Katie, Wass, and Sham. Robin was in a horrible mood and pushed me at one point so we left. I remember thinking this is not going to work if you can’t have fun at a blink concert.
By July 13th I broke up with Robin. I did it over the phone and just asked for a break which was the end.
July 28th I gutted my basement. I took down all of the walls and some of the floor.
July 30th I went golfing with Riegler at Mars Bethel Golf
August 3-4th I went up to Brad’s camp to hang out with him and Katie. I got to go kayaking which was nice. I was very sad about the whole situation with Robin, but they gave me much encouragement.
August 10th I helped my parents clean stuff at my grandma’s house.
August 16th I went to see The Doobie Brothers with my family and Brad.
August 18th me, Jimi, and Jordan moved stuff out of my grandma’s house. We drove a U haul.
August 21st I went to Wassell’s for an end of summer get together. Riegler, Sham, Jordan, Wass, Brad, and George were all there.
September 13th I went with Ryan to Andrew Bird at the Roxian Theatre. We ran into Steve and Pat.
September 17th I went with Ryan to see Built to Spill. Spurks came along. This was at Mr Smalls Theatre.
September 21st The Mondaze performed at Drinks in West View
September 22nd I played solo acoustic at a church on Mt Rotal Blvd in Etna. Afterwards I left on a journey up north. I made it to Cherry Springs State Park and camped under the stars. It was beautiful and super dark. I could see the milky way with my eyes.
September 23rd I woke up in my tent, packed up, and headed north. I went through New York into Vermont. I stopped briefly in Burlington. I then drove into Quebec. I was listening to the Harry Potter audio book Rielger gave to me to listen to. It was creepy how it started raining in real life and thousands of little toads or frogs were jumping on the road to go to higher ground and were getting ran over by all the cars. The road signs were in French. I kept driving and made it to the Atlantic coast.
September 24th I woke up from my very briefly sleep outside to purple skies over the ocean. Everything around me was in a purple and pink haze. It was one of the most magical mornings of my life. I drove down the Atlantic coast following the glow and eventually made it to Forillon National Parc. I rented a campsite and setup my tent. I then went on a hike along the ocean up to a lighthouse. That night I had a fire and camped in my tent.
September 25th I woke up in my tent and went out hiking. It started raining and didn’t stop all day. When it got heavier I didn’t see anyone else out anywhere. I made it to the top of the Mt Saint Alban and went up the lookout tower while it was really windy which was an experience. I hiked down to a beach and looked at rocks and the waves. I saw another lighthouse. That night my fire didn’t work because of the rain and it was a wet mess everywhere so I drove to a bar and had some general tso’s but it wasn’t the same. I talked to some guys at the bar who made fun of me for being american and how we don’t use the metric system. The guy said your measurements are based on someone’s foot. Besides the food it was a really good time.I stayed at a motel on the ocean next to a lighthouse. It was beautiful.
September 26th was dry and did more hiking. I started the morning hiking a rocky beach and then I headed into the park. I finished all the trails I wanted to. I also filmed my coyote video. I met some french girls who were hiking and they had me take a picture of them. That night I made a fire and stayed in my tent. I made the coyote music video that night.
September 27th I did one last hike at Forillon and then headed south. I made it Perce’ rock and got on a boat to take me around the bay. Afterwards I headed south again to the cabin I had rented. I stopped at a small food place on the ocean where I woman owned and ran it by herself. We talked for a little bit. When I got to my cabin there was a note that lead me to where it was and there was a key. It was on the river and I was able to record music with my computer and generator. I could hear howling in the night. A little cat came and hung out with me.
September 28th I woke up, packed my stuff and went to the lodge where my note said to go. There was a native girl there waiting for me and she gave me some wet gear and told me to go outside when i’m ready. When I got out there some guy who spoke better English told me what to expect for my kayak trip. I then got in a van with some guy and another few people and he drove us to the river. They were all speaking French and I just sat there. I one point someone called me out for not understanding them and someone said something in French and then they all laughed. The driver dropped me off, gave me a radio, and I was on my way. I kayaked down the Bon Adventure River the entire day. I made it to the stopping point that evening and then headed south. That nightI stopped at a native american Casino and met a native who told me how much he hated the government. He told me I couldn’t be on both sides and I should join him. He was inspiring. I crossed the border from New Brunswick into Maine. New Brunswick was very foggy. I drove slow to avoid hitting a moose. I made it to Portland Maine by 6am where I convinced the clerk at a hotel to rent me a room for a few hours so I could shower and sleep for a minute.
September 29th I woke up from my very brief sleep and headed to Salem, NH to North American Stonehenge. When I got there there were a few police officers as someone had vandalized some of the property the previous night. I watched a little video and then took the walk through the stone henge. It was really interesting. I stopped at the gift shop on the way out and then headed to Nashua to see Jenny. I remember being nervous and I got some gum from a gas station just in case. When I got to her place I went to the wrong place and it was confusing. When I saw her it was pretty magical and we talked all night. Hearing her voice was what struck me the most. I had my first white claw beverage.
September 30th I left Nashua, NH and drove back home.
Beginning of October we celebrated my grandma’s 90th birthday. I performed a song I wrote and it was super awkward.
October 11th I got a set of congo drums for my studio.
October 13th I went to Lake Erie with my parents. We went to Pres Isle State Park and stayed at Geneva on the lake.
October 15th we headed back home, We stopped at Denny’s in Meadville.
October 18th I went to Mira Riegler’s birthday party that Mike invited me to. It was in their community building that was really nice.
One late night in October I was on my computer in my studio when I received a phone call from a restricted number that I answered to hear a voice I couldn’t remember, but also knew I knew. It was Robin. She broke in through the basement door and was charging up the stairs. I thought she might fight or kill me. I held the door from my side at the top of the stairs and told her to leave. She didn’t and was pushing very hard using her body weight. I called 911 and she was screaming. She could hear the 911 agent and still didn’t leave. Eventually before the police showed up she ran out and speeded off, getting tire noises. One police officer told me I should press charges while the other said I would be fine either way. I didn’t, but took the officer up on his offer to call Robin and say to not come back.
November 9th I went to see Pitt mens basketball play at the Peterson Event Center
November 15th I flew up to Boston to meet Jenny for a long weekend.
November 16th I went to Boston with Jenny and saw “The Office music parody” which was performed live and was really good.
November 18th I went with Jenny and Cam to see where club drifters use to be.
November 18th I went with Jenny and Cam to see where club drifters use to be.
November 19th I flew back to Pittsburgh.
December 7th I painted my kitchen.
December 13th I went to Bishop Canevin high school to see my dad’s team play. They lost
December 16th I got a new shower installed by Bathfitters. I remember being worried I wouldn’t have a shower when Jenny came to town.
December 18th Jenny flew to Pittsburgh.
December 19th I hosted a holiday special performance for Jenny in my living room.
December 20th me and Jenny went to the Duquesne Incline, Primanti Brothers, and Phipp’s Conservatory for their holiday show.
December 21st me and Jenny went to dave and Busters. We met with Brad, Katie, Wass, Sham, and Riegler.
December 22nd me and Jenny went to market square in downtown Pittsburgh. We went to the different shops and to the gingerbread house competition.
December 25th was the first Christmas not at my grandma and pap’s house. It was at my aunt paulete’s house where my grandma moved.