RAWK!

riddle me this, emperor. why is it that punk rock always makes me think of california? last time i checked new york was the US center of punk...but i listen to rufio, to yellowcard, to any of those underage skate-punk bands, and suddenly i'm seventeen again, driving under the freeway on my way to my friend's house, bright spring day when it's just starting to get certifiably hot and even though it's evening the sun hurts my eyes. i've got the windows rolled down, cigarette in one hand, sunglasses on, immortality complex firmly in place, hair damp, combat boots unlaced music cranked. nameless bands who i can't recall now but i know the way they felt, the way the sunshine felt on my fingertips that day when i was so safe and so free and so ready to plummet towards my grand adventure. i was underage, i was free, i was going places that have only now started allowing themselves out of the ether enough to take shape in my consciousness, the world was my oyster and i was going to rule it all. and i don't think i'll ever feel that way again.

except for the ruling the world thing. i still think i'm going to do that, in my own special way.

and now, i'm in my grand adventure, and while it's nothing i could ever have expected it to be, and it will never replace the feeling of california light on my skin and the breeze off the 101 in my hair...it's exactly what i need it to be. even when it's hard. even when it hurts. i'm in love with it.

at least i will always have skatepunk music to bring me home when it gets to be too much.