Just My Luck, Friday the 13th

I've never been really superstitious about Friday the 13th, I usually just think of it as another day. This is why I thought it would be a great idea to drive up to Chicago to see Crystal Castles this Friday, even though it fell on Friday the 13th. If this experience has taught me anything, it is to be a little more superstitious next time.

We, being Mark,Alex,Randy and I, left for Chicago at 9 in the morning on Friday. This would be our first road trip together as a "family", and we were very excited to get out on the road. We ended up sleeping in 2 hours past the time we wanted to leave, but we didn't think anything of it. Once we were out on the highway, the trip started with blaring music, constant videotaping, mixed with laughs. However I would soon find that this feeling of joy would be short lived as once we had traveled no farther than 5 miles into Illinois do we get pulled over. Now this has been a constant theme with this group of four, as the last time we all got together for Mark's birthday, we got pulled over for speeding and Alex got a $90 ticket. This time however, it wasn't Alex who was screwed, it was me. At the time when we got pulled over, I was filming and I left the camera on the whole time. When the officer came to window he asked for both Mark's and my licenses, even though Mark was the one driving. Then he asked why I wasn't wearing my seatbelt....crap. A little fun fact about Illinois, in Illinois it is legal to ride your motorcycle at breakneck speed without a helmet, however when driving in a car made of solid metal  with safety features abound, it is illegal not to wear a seatbelt. The kicker to this is that if pulled over, you are then issued a ticket for $60 fucking dollars!!! We were no more than an hour into our trip and I get slammed with this shit. I try to laugh it off and we continue on our trip.

After a while we switch drivers and I take over. We stop at a rest stop, and one of us has the brilliant idea that instead of parking in the city, we can just park in the next town over, Joliet, and then we will just take a train into the city. This seemed like a good idea at the time, but ended up screwing us over in the end. we switched drivers and I fell asleep in the back, when I woke up we were in Joliet. We got to the metro station and found out that it was $15 to park... already we took a hit because if we were to park in Chicago we would have paid probably about $20. To top it off we find out that the ticket counter is closed inside and we missed the train by 3 minutes and would have to wait an hour for the next train. After waiting and freezing our asses off on the train that stopped every 5 minutes, we finally made it to the city.

I've been to Chicago so many times that it has started feeling like home, I feel like I know my way around the city really well... however none of us had any idea how the hell to get to our venue. Thankfully Randy had GPS on his phone, but the farther we walked the more we started to think that something was wrong. We ran into two guys who liked my shirt and I told them about the concert. They told us that we were walking in the complete opposite direction and that now we would have to take the Blue Line to get there. This set us back about $5 and we finally arrived at the venue. We walk in, and it looks like someone gutted the Fox theater and paved the seating area.

We walk in and the first DJ's were playing.  The line up for the night was Proxy, Destructor?, The Twelves, Sinden, and then Crystal Castles. We had to sit through the other DJ's which ranged from decent to horribly repetitive. I would have probably liked the music a little more if I wasn't exhausted and was tripping on drugs. After 5 hours Crystal Castles finally came on, and I made my way up to the front. The show was exactly what I expected with people slamming into each other and smashing against the stage as Alice Glass jumped into the crowd. The music was blaring and the stink of hairy, sweaty, shirtless men permeated through the air. The bouncers didn't know what to do with all the people pounding into each other. It got so bad that they had to start pouring water in our mouthes like little baby birds and they pulled people out who looked like they were about to pass out. The girl next to me broke a rib and they had to pull her out of the mob. Overall, the show looked a little like this.

Yeah...I felt like I could have died... It was totally worth the whole trip.

When the show was over and I got out of the pit, I was soaked from head to toe with sweat. We decided to skip out on the last act, Rusko, and headed outside to cool off. I rung out my shirt and  I could have filled a water bottle with my sweat. We went to Walgreens and I picked up some water and a new shirt, I threw my ruined clothes in a plastic bag. Next we had to hit the subway and get to the train station. We had a bit of  a dilemma because our train wouldn't be able to take us home until 7 in the morning, however at the time it was only 1 a.m. To pass the time we went to Millennium park to wait. I got to play homeless for the night and I slept on the park bench for a good 3 hours. After we got kicked out of the park we went to the train station where I slept some more. Apparently while I was asleep, a homeless man came up to us and asked us for money. I gave him a dime and told him to fuck off, but I did this all in my sleep. I have no memory of this ever happening. I slept for an hour or so and when I woke up, everyone was gone. It felt like the opening scene to 28 days later and I was stranded in a train station. I started to freak out because they had my wallet and my train ticket, and the train left in twenty minutes. I called Mark and there was no answer, then I called Alex and the same thing. After 5 minutes of panicking, Mark texted me "we went to Duncan Doughnuts". I was pissed that hey would leave me like that, but I let it go because we had to catch our train. From then out it was smooth sailing all the way back home.

Even with all the speed bumps and getting screwed out of nearly $100 bucks, I left with some pretty funny stories. However now I think I'm going to take some time to chill out, I'm done with crazy excursions for a little while.

We're with the band

Last year around this time Josh Ritter and his band came to town and Brittany, Baily and I drove the band to the City Museum and went to their show afterward.

 That day was one of the most memorable days of my life, and when we heard that Josh wouldn't be coming to St.Louis this year we were really bummed. However, we didn't give up that easily and decided that if he wouldn't come to us, we would go see him.

On Wednesday I drove down to Cincinnati for the first time with Brittany and Bailey. We went to see Josh Ritter because Baily got us on the guest list and this was the closest show they were playing near St.Louis this year. So after a 6 hour drive we finally arrived in Cincinnati and checked into our hotel. After we savored the feeling of being able to smoke in a hotel room, we got ready and headed out to the show. 

When we got to the doors we saw that the show was sold out, but there was still a huge line of people waiting for tickets. We got to skip right to the front and walk right in. Inside the venue was a small room that looked like someone merged a high school gym and theater together.

We made our way to the front of the crowd and watched the opener which was a girl named Tift Merritt, who I had never heard of, but she captured the audience with her beautiful singing. She was surprised at how much the audience cheered for her and she even played a song without using the speaker system.

After she left the stage, Josh and the band came on and put on a spectacular energetic show that blew the crowd away. What I love about Josh is that when you talk to him in person, he acts very mature and humble, but when he is up on stage he is like a little kid, bouncing all over the stage and laughing along. You can tell that he is having just as much fun as you are at his show. Josh is not only one of my favorite artists, but he is also one of the most genuine people I have ever met. He is extremely gifted and talented, and yet he refers to himself in a humbling way and is always eager to talk to his fans and thank them all individually. this guy's got class! 

After the bands set, the crowd cleared out as the euphoric vibes in the air began to dissipate. We waited around to see if the band was going to hang around and meet the fans, but they never did. We thought we wouldn't get to see the band, but then Bailey spotted the tour manager and went up to talk to him. He told us to wait over by a group of people in the corner and he would escort us up to the lounge. When we got upstairs we hung around by the bar with about 8 other fans. Then Josh came up and greeted and thanked us all personally. We talked for a while and he had to leave as the rest of the band came up. The best thing about Josh Ritter is that not only is he the coolest guy to hang around, but the guys in his band are the most friendly people to be around, especially the pianist Sam. He was the first to recognize us, and we talked about the trip to the City Museum last year. We sat around for a while and watched them play pool and had a few beers. We would have stayed longer, but the band had to hit the road, so we got a picture and said goodbye. They told us they would come to St.Louis next year.

 That night we drove home feeling euphoric as we sang along and talked about that night and the amazing friends we were thankful to have made. That night truly was a reunion, not just with Josh and us, but with me and Baily and Brittany. If it weren't for them, my life would be a whole lot less interesting! 

I would have never pictured

       Recently I have been doing a lot of stuff with my new group of friends whom I helped film the Last Nights Vice video. My friend A.J. invited me to shoot for him a while ago, and through him, I met Scott Hutcheson. Recently I have been a part of Scott and A.J.'s podcast, Pixel Slayers, which they shoot for Scott's website VeryAware.com. Meeting these guys has given me a great opportunity to get out there and start shooting, but I would have never guessed they would have led me to such an amazing opportunity.

       Today I got a call from a number I didn't recognize and when I answered it was Scott. He asked if I had any plans for this Thursday. I told him that I actually had to work, and that was also the day I would be coming home from Cincinnati so I pretty much booked for the day. He told me that was a shame because he wanted me to do some photography work for him. I thought ok, I could ask off work for this. However at the time I had no idea what kind of shooting he wanted me to do. Turns out that the new movie, The Other Guys, starring Mark Wahlburg and Will Ferrell, picked Saint Louis to show its premier screening. I come to find out that Scott scored an interview with Mark and Will, and he wanted ME to go with him and shoot for his interview!!! I couldn't believe it! How did I ever get this opportunity!?! I immediately told him that I would do it, and after about 20 calls, I was finally able to get off work. So now I am going to go to the premier of The Other Guys on Thursday and actually get to sit down with these guys and take some shots of them. I'm telling you, falling in with A.J. and Scott was the best thing I have ever done, just knowing them has given me so many opportunities.

        Also in the middle of that, I am leaving for Cincinnati tomorrow to see Josh Ritter and the band, and we are on the guest list. If you would have told me that I would be doing this shit now two years ago, I would have never believed you. If this is the kind of shit I'm doing at 20, who knows where I'll end up. The one thing I can count on is that I'm always going to keep moving forward and see how much I can keep surprising myself like this!

        Lets hope I don't pass out when I meet these guys!

Up to speed

How do I sum up an entire year of my life? Especially one that has challenged and taught me so much. This last year has been one of the hardest and yet most fulfilling years of my life. Last year started the period of my life which will come to define me, and looking back I can already see how much I have changed. Last year, I was a kid with no direction ( for the most part), I had no idea where I was going in life and that thought wore on me every single day. Although I still don't have all the answers and I definitely am still unsure about my future, I now have a new sense of confidence that I am at least pointed in the right direction. Last year revolutionized me and made really start to understand myself. So now that I have begun to understand myself, I want to be able to remember myself and all the events in my life that have made me who I am.

Last August was the last time I sat down and wrote on this blog, and while I have been journaling in my own time in bits an pieces throughout this year, I have missed out on a lot that I will now have to rely on simply through memory. So here is me doing my best to define the period from August 2009 - August 2010....here goes nothing.

After thinking about it, I realize that there is no genuine way to sum up last year. I can sit down and type out all the things that happened, but they will only be a generalized view of my memories. I am not able to convey the same emotions and thoughts that I was feeling at that time, and those are the things I am worried about the most... so i wont write about them, it simply would not do them justice. Instead I will tell you that over the last year I went to England and traveled Europe, I got accepted to Columbia College in Chicago, I have started filming and shooting my own photography with a group of friends who have thrown me into a new field, I have started to go to church and I have completely changed my point of view and mindset along the way. While these are only the big things that stick out right now, there is a lot that I am missing, there is one thing that should be known and thats that now I am a completely new person and I have a lot in store for me in my future, and while I have no idea where this crazy life of mine will take me, I will have this blog to follow my crazy escapades where ever I go! Here's looking forward to the rest of my life!

Back from a short...break

After almost an entire year, I've decided to get back to writing in this blog. I took a bit of a hiatus from writing, but my life has changed so immensely this past year, that I feel I need to start documenting it. My life has become so crazy that I find it hard to keep up with everyday, and most of the time I feel myself barely able to catch up to myself before I'm thrown into a new endeavor. So that's why I feel I need to get back to writing this blog. I need to start documenting my life as often as possible, because I know that at this point, I am in such a transitional phase in my life and I am going to want to look back at all that has happened, not through pictures or videos, but through writing. Hell, I take too many pictures as is. So thats that, I don't care if anyone even reads this because I'm more doing this for myself and not so that I can tell everyone my life story and have them notice me. I just want to be able to remember me.