*Note* I am very sorry for the long post. I wanted to publish this as soon as possible. I will be adding images throughout the week to make the end result look good. But, if you don’t mind reading … go ahead!

So, I am sitting here on campus, trying to get an assignment done, and all I can think of is how 2009 was, by far, my best year ever. Many things happened this past year, that I don’t even know where to begin with writing this post. So, I guess I will start at the beginning.

2009 started off with my waking up in Denver, CO, at the home of a good Conference Associate friend of mine, and now my awesome boss at Ideomen, Liz. I had just spent New Year’s Eve driving all the way to Denver, through cold air and ice on the road (and more than 1000 miles driven in less than day … on about 3 hours of sleep). When I woke up, I was greeted to possibly one of the best mornings ever. There was no worry there. Nothing about money or things to do, it was just pure bliss. After spending what seemed to be the best week of my life there, I drove home, through New Mexico and Arizona. Seeing the beautiful sights there prompted me to have visions of road trips and traveling this great nation of ours.

Most of January, I did have a melancholy feeling. I felt like I didn’t belong in Southern California, and I wanted to find a way to get out. I did get reconnected with an old high school friend, Eric, and tried to start up a web development firm with him. Basically, he was looking for work and so was I. We started to get close again, which was nice, and I missed having the connection that I did have with Eric. Even through February, he was there to make me feel better, and I was there to help him through his tough times. My birthday was bittersweet, in that most of my friends and family were not around, and (possibly the only time you will hear me talk about this in any blog post … ever) I was told to stop contacting my ex-girlfriend. It was hard, but my grandmother saved my birthday for me by offering to provide 100% of my travel expenses to San Francisco for the 2009 Game Developers Conference, my fourth year attending as a Conference Associate, and my fifth as an attendee.

February was also noteworthy because of two things. First was the creation of Roadtrip Warriors Entertainment, a California partnership between myself and my really awesome co-host and best friend Aliro. She was the true first person I thought of when coming up with the idea for RTW, and she was even important to the naming (she and I were on a tangent, and she said something about warriors. I, in turn, said “We are like fucking road warriors … ROADTRIP WARRIORS!!!”, and thus, the name was born). She and I were had been out of contact for some time (we have our on and off moments), and when I offered her the chance, she took it. As a gift, I shared my birthday present with her, and had her join me in San Francisco and stay in the hostel where I was staying. The second thing noteworthy thing to happen in February is the two awesome, and new, friends I made in my math class I was attending at Palomar College. Jenn, who became an instant friend when I started to make jokes at the professor’s expense, has been just a super friend. She got married to her, now, husband during this class (not in February, but a lot sooner than her family knows … sorry to spill the beans Jenn), and I have been excited to call her a friend. She does keep things interesting and has no problem with just being super fucking cool. Then there was Britt. Britt, entranced by my awesomeness, started being kinda shy towards me in the beginning, but over the weeks, she opened up and became a quick, close, personal friend to me (a high regard that less than a handful of people can claim). She is quite possibly one of the awesome-est persons I have met this year, and I am happy that I have a great friendship with her.

March rolled around, and I was preparing to have a great GDC by starting a walking regiment that was kinda killer. Because my appetite has started to wain in December, 08, I had begun losing a little bit of weight (about twenty pounds to be exact), but the regiment I had started had me on my feet and walking on my treadmill for more than four miles a day. Because of this training, I started my crazy weight loss that happened this year, and I became more prepared for the walking that accompanies most GDCs. I also started Roadtrip Warriors Entertainment the first week in March. I bought the domain name, roadtripwarriors.net, and started the promotion that made me infamous at this year’s GDC. San Francisco was incredibly awesome. I missed being there, and it was great to see everything I had missed about it. I was also able to reconnect with my GDC family again. My great friends Adam, Josh, and the others, and my other new friends Jeremy, Jamie and Robert (the awesome photographer of the picture of me on the GDC podium on the right), my GDC family keeps getting bigger and friendlier.

San Francisco was also a bit of an awakening for me. Aliro took me an Alt/Goth club, and it was actually really fun. I also realized how important I was to the gaming industry, by everyone that had even conversed with me. I also realized that I was important to many people, and that all of them cared about me. This is important because if you ask a good sub-sect of my friends if I care about other people, they will all agree. I am (mostly) selfless in my actions, and in return, I get the same selflessness from other people. It was around this time that I came up with the awesome philosophy. Basically, the idea is that I am awesome, and the people stay around me are awesome as well. This way of thinking has ultimately made me more successful this past year, and has helped other people feel even more special.

As March starts ending, I am jazzed. I have been promoting Roadtrip Warriors and thinking up game designs, and I even get an upgrade to my phone to the iPhone. I came up with game designs that would be perfect to put on the iPhone, and even a Twitter game that I have been working on for sometime. March also signals the time I start getting in touch with my friend Zach. He had stopped contacting me because of my ex-girlfriend, and when he found out that I had ended it with her, he started hanging out with me again. We went to go see a couple of movies, including Terminator: Salvation and Transformers 2. Zach has been, and always will be, an awesome guy to hang out with, even if he tends to make fun of me.

April rolled around, and my old buddy Preston came home from the Army, after being discharged. He had hurt himself while in Basic, and he crashed at my place for a couple of weeks. It was great to see him again, and hang out with him again. He gave me a delayed b-day gift of F.E.A.R. 2, to which I still haven’t played it . We hung out and did many crazy things, and I was glad to have the time with him. I sent him off on a bus ride to Illinois, where he still lives. He just announced that he is getting married to his girlfriend Megan, where he is also going to be expecting his first kid here soon! (Very proud of you man!) April also was the start of my epic concert “tour” that was this year. First in the year is the free show that was at the Key Club in Hollywood. The lineup was Aiden, Smile Empty Soul, The Briggs, Run Doris Run, and The Matches (yep, they played as opener). This was awesome because I got to see some great acts for free, and it reignited the love of concerts that I had missed. I even made my buddy Bryan jealous, because of wanting to see Smile Empty Soul.

In May, I went to go see Story of the Year at an all day music festival in Irvine, California. At this festival, I met new friends ALEVELA, an awesome band out of Brea that seriously rocks hard. I also got to see some bands that I have kinda heard of, but never took the time to check them out. Bands like Bullets and Octane, and Escape the Fate. The real surprise of the day was She Screams Remedy. While I was a little put off at first, I heard their music and was totally in love! I hope to see more about this band in the future, and I urge everyone to go and pick up their EP (which you can download from Amazon).

My Buddy Bryan also moved back from Vegas in May, starting off some of the best party times in my life. He moved in with his friends Chris, Ashley and their child Chloe, in Menfee, California. The place they lived in was awesome for many reasons. One, because we could be as loud as we wanted in one part of the house, and it would not be able to carry throughout the whole place. Two, because it was just so massive that you could have many people there, and not have a problem finding a place to hang out and chill if you needed a break (which, if anyone knows me, I am not a huge partier, so I would just hang out and have people visit me … it was kinda awesome when I am just wanting to be left alone, but not leave the party). I am so happy that I got back in touch with Bryan. He was another victim of my former relationship, and I was happy to go and visit him in his Vegas home on New Year’s Eve in 2008 (on my way to Denver). I think he has come a long way since then. He used to live in a garage in Vegas, with a couple of people that he met through Chris and Ashley, but I think that he needed to not be there, because he was kinda treated horribly, in my opinion.

Another big thing that occurred in May was my realization that I wanted to be a game designer. I had been thinking about what I wanted to do, and it kinda hit me hard, like an epiphany that a rock hurling for your head is going to hurt. I started to look at video games differently. See, I always knew that I wanted to do something with video games, but I didn’t know what exactly to do. I like programming, but it always seemed kinda boring to me. Even to this day, I can only program when I have the true desire to, but, when I think about things I would love to do when dealing with games, I always think that I would want to create them. So, it hit me when I was in the Game Design class at Palomar College. The class, taught by the very awesome Alexander Ehrath (Rockstar Games, Incinerator Studios), started revealing all the things I really liked about games, and dealt with the concepts that had always been in the front of my mind. Once I finished the class (in which I got an A in), I started thinking really hard about my future. Liz, my awesome boss, started suggesting the idea of going to Full Sail University pretty heavily once I started confiding in her about my thoughts. She was just finishing off her Master’s in Entertainment Business from Full Sail, so she was pretty much promoting the crap out of the school.

Also, in May, I attended my first show at Chain Reaction in Anahiem. This was a really small venue with an enormous sound system, and the only place to leave me with the ringing for more than a week. The show was for Aiden, and they were pretty awesome. Even though I had just gotten into them, I was decidedly trying to go to more shows for the year. I had the bug, only because I had missed out on some awesome shows in the past few years. There wasn’t really anything of note here, only that the show was fun.

At the end of May, I started to plan on my fantastic trip for Roadtrip Warriors, but there was one thing unanswered. I had planned to use Roadtrip Warriors as a way to finally meet my father, someone who I have never met (consciously), nor had any memory of. To me, the idea of my father was just someone who gave me his genes, and I never knew him. I know that he did send off money to help support me to my mother (through the government), but that was about it. So, the second week in June, I had my mom do a background check on my dad. The next day, I had a fifteen page break down on every last little public thing my mom could dig up on my dad. It was pretty exhilarating. Seeing all this information, just made me feel that there was this person who I could actually know. I even found out that my grandfather, the man who is my namesake, had passed away on my fourteenth birthday. There was one thing that the report didn’t have, and that was my dad’s phone number. I felt a little defeated, but not really out.

Going over the report, there was a number for my grandmother, Norene. I contemplated calling her, as I didn’t know if the number was her actual number. My mom and my friend Eric both told me to get it over with and if it wasn’t her number, then just move on. So, one gloomy day, I called her up. I was greeted on the phone with one of the nicest and sweetest voices on the other end. She told me that my father had been trying hard to get a hold of me and that he really wanted to talk to me. She gave me his number and told me to call him. This was one of the most scariest times in my life. This man, whom I had never known, wanted to know me and have a relationship with me. But, I was kinda afraid to call him. I didn’t know how to talk to him, or even if he would like me after all these years. I decided I would wait to call him, but he had another idea.

I had just gotten home from a run to the pharmacy with Eric, the same day I had talked to Grandma Norene. Next thing I know, I get a call from a number from Nebraska. It was my Father, and he wanted to talk. I almost started to cry, but I nearly spent about two hours on the phone with him. The man on the other end of the line was funny, sincere and genuine. He knew he messed up in his life, but he wanted to make it right with me. We started to trade information about each other, we learned so much about one another in the couple of days leading up to Aliro coming to Southern California, and he even expressed his pride in me, because of all that I had accomplished. Finding out about my father has been one of the more enlightening experiences in my life. I feel, now, like I matter to this world. To this day, I am happy that I now have a relationship with him, and I love him. There was some concern from my Mom that I might have him take precedence over her, but that hasn’t been the case. She has been the only person in this world that has been my biggest advocate. When I was in pain, she was there. When I was happy, she was there. She knows me so well, and I am completely grateful for her. I am just happy to have another person who can share the responsibility to being a big advocate for me.

At the beginning of June, I was jazzed for my pending roadtrip with Aliro. She was driving with her grandfather down from Eureka, and she was getting super excited to see me. This year hasn’t treated her well, and I was hoping that I can try and cheer her up. We made the arrangement that she would sleep on my couch for a couple of weeks, and the weekends, she would go to her aunt’s place. This worked out well in the beginning, but then she needed to stay at my house for the rest of her stay in Southern California. We started our a “summer concert tour” of awesome shows that we wanted to go and see. The first was the Julien-K show at the Glasshouse in Pomona. This is one of Aliro’s favorite bands, and when she learned that they were going to be playing, she immediately got tickets to see them. She had been getting me to listen to them, and quite frankly, I liked it. She even scored the chance to meet the band at their merchandise table. We got there and lined up pretty early, but this was so we could get our wristbands. Once we got in, we just sat and waited by their merch table, and hung out with the fans. The first band was on, but we didn’t care, and I don’t think I even caught what the opening act was. We were way to jazzed to be meeting Julien-K. When they emerged, they were super nice and very awesome. Some fans were a bit off-putting, but Aliro was cool with them, and by proxy, they were cool with me. We promoted Roadtrip Warriors to them, even asked them if they wanted to be interviewed on the show. Once the meet-and-greet was over, We settled in the venue to see Julien-K perform. However, what we were greeted to was the awesome sounds of Aesthetic Perfection. These guys were crazy! Being an industrial music fan, I was immediately enjoyed by their sounds. They were an awesome show, and I even took some killer pics of it. Julien-K was up next and they killed it! Their live show was great. Aliro went off to the bar after Julien-K left the stage, but I stayed around to listen to the headlining band, Combichrist. Not too glad I did, but once I was done with listening to them, I joined Aliro in the bar next to the Glasshouse. Here is where we had drinks with Julien-K’s drummer and capped off an awesome night.

A couple of days later, we went to go see the Finch show at the Troubadour in West Hollywood. This show was awesome! The new Finch line up (which is just a new drummer and bassist) totally know how to kick ass. The opening bands were kinda ok. American Fangs kicked ass, but the others were just random artists that I couldn’t care about. When Finch took the stage, I was feeling pretty epic. Even though this was my first time at the Troubadour, I felt it was kinda the right size for a this show, especially given the little amount of time that they announced the show. I even met the manager for After Midnight Project, which was exciting! He was getting me ramped up for their show that was going to happen a week later at the Key Club. Another big thing of note happened at this show. While I was sitting in the bar, I let Dad know about my half-sister, his daughter, Jasmine. I had found her on Myspace over a year ago, but, I didn’t really know if it was her or not. I e-mailed my dad the link, and next thing I know, he was over-joyed because I had found her.

The next week, we saw After Midnight Project at the Key Club. Before the show, Aliro and I camped out at the Rainbow Bar and Grill, where we got to meet the band The Morakestra. Literally, the lead singer and his girlfriend just tapped me on the shoulder and was really cool to me. We exchanged stories and phone numbers, but, I still haven’t heard much from them to this day. The After Midnight Project show was freakin’ cool. I had learned from their manager the week before that they were going to record the show for an upcoming DVD, and I was front row center. They played all the songs from their new CD and even some older ones that I knew. Aliro wasn’t too into them, but she just had fun drinking at the bar. My favorite highlight of the night? Singing along with Jason, the lead singer of After Midnight Project, during the song “Through the Night”. My hope is that they will include that part on the DVD … whenever it is released.

Another week went by, and there was the cKy show at the beginning of July, which was Aliro’s choice for a show. Seeing as I had gone to a couple of shows I wanted to see, she was craving for a show that she wanted. The only thing of note from this night would be the fact that she got to meet Bam Margera. I wasn’t too into the show, but I just enjoyed myself. She ended up spending the Fourth of July holiday at her Aunt’s house. Aliro and I did go to the Zoo as well, but nothing huge happened. There were a few parties at Bryan’s place, and just plain fun, but nothing going on with Roadtrip Warriors. It was around this time that we kinda figured that we may not be able to go on the trip. We had no funding, no money, and basically, no real motivation. It was also in July that I made my final decision to go to Full Sail. I was sold pretty hard by Liz, but every moment I thought about it, the idea seemed like a better one. It would also mean that I would have to move out on my own, which was something that I had desired to do since I had moved back from San Francisco. Every day I continued on, I had more desire to finish school and get a job in the game industry. Aliro started to get upset because of my sudden change of heart, but she understood that I had my own direction.

Around this time was the time I officially met Elora, Zach’s (now ex-) girlfriend. She had been some sort of mystery girl that Zach would talk about, and I would never believe existed. She is very much real, and she started being close friends with me, because of being Zach’s friend. She was pretty cool, but she lived far away that all she had was Facebook to keep in touch, whenever she wasn’t in Southern California. This was kinda interesting because we started having a friendship independent of Zach.

At the end of July, We saw Trapt at the Troubadour, but this show wasn’t anything of note because of the mediocrity of it. Honestly, I had more fun at their show in 2003 than this show. A few more days past, and a tweet on the Roxy’s twitter account clued me into one of the coolest and best shows this year. They announced that My Chemical Romance, a band that I had seen many times previously and have a deep seated admiration for was going to be playing a free show at the Roxy. The only hitch was that you needed to get on the guest list. Aliro, who also loves the band, worked her butt off to get us in to the event, and she prevailed. This show was an awesome one! Not only did we get to see My Chemical Romance, but we were up front and rocking hard to the band. Gerard, the lead singer, would come over to us every few beats and wave or give us high-fives, which was also pretty cool. It was at this show that I met Tammie, the super-awesome lady who had way too much fun with me. We danced a bit, and we chatted up some, and at the end of the night, I gave her my phone number, because she asked for it. This show was ultimately the highlight of the summer with Aliro, because this was the last show and possibly the best one that we both liked. I will contend that the After Midnight Project shows that I attended this year were by far the best, but this show was an awesome highlight.

Aliro went to her aunt’s place shortly after the My Chemical Romance show. She couldn’t stay on our couch anymore and my mom and I couldn’t afford to keep her around. She was very dismayed, and I hated to do that to her. I still, to this day, wish that it was a bit different. That we went on the road trip and had an awesome time, but it didn’t seem to be in the cards for that. Everything that did happen though was a great experience to learn where I went wrong. I even learned a bit more about business that I didn’t know before. I know that soon, I will be able to do the show with Aliro, and that we will have fun. It just might take some time to do it.

Because of my failure with Roadtrip Warriors, I started to push Aliro away. I was upset at myself for failing and upset that I brought her into it. She does contend that her summer was by far one of the best, but her year still wasn’t as awesome. I feel really bad about it, but I know that she doesn’t fault me for it. Into August, I started to think more about going to school at Full Sail, and getting ready to go. However, there were some issues with my buddy Eric. See, we wanted to start a web development firm together, but I think that he needed to his stuff together. He is married and expecting a kid, so he needed to think about getting some money together for himself, so because of that, he would place me in situations that were not profitable for me. While I did say that I would help him to an extent, he started to cause problems that I was not happy about. It was around this time that I actually learned what cyberstalking is, because he wouldn’t leave me alone in my certain places online. I had to use a clause in my contract with Ideomen to stop him from trying to get me to work for him. I told Eric about my plans to move to Florida, and he wasn’t too particularly happy about it. Of my friends, he is the one that I do hope learned something valuable this year. He taught me to learn where my boundaries are and how not to push them, for the sake of helping a friend.

I did take Eric to The Matches final show at the Troubadour in West Hollywood. He spent most of the night somber and didn’t really try to enjoy himself. Meanwhile, I took advantage of the situation and rocked out. This show was particularly special because I got to see a headlining show from The Matches, and I got to hear them play all my favorite songs, even the ones that I didn’t think they would play. It was awesome. This was to be my last show in Hollywood (for a while), and I am glad that it was with The Matches.

August was also a time for epic CD releases. First off, After Midnight Project’s Let’s Build Something To Break was released. This is their first signed CD release, and showed a nice polished version of music from a band I really love. The next week was The Used’s Artwork, which was released at an perfect time. See, with each purchase of the CD from a website, there included a free ticket to their CD release show at Chain Reaction in Anaheim. So, another free show, and my first time seeing The Used. This show was insane! There was no opening band, and the place was a perfect setting for getting up close to the band and just rocking out. They played a couple of my favorite songs, including the new track “Best of Me”, which seemed like a great metaphor for my former relationship, and just a great song. After the show, I got to meet the band at a signing they did next door. The line was really long, but totally worth it. I can’t wait to see The Used again.

Also in August was my first date with Tammie. I went to her place and we just talked for a couple of hours. It was nice to have a night out and someone really enjoyable to spend it with. I would only have a couple of dates with her before I moved, but it was all good nonetheless.

September rolled around, and I was getting ready to move. I started to go hang out with the Math Crew friends, Britt and Jenn, and we had some enjoyable times. We made plans to try and go see The Killers in concert at UCSD, but Jenn ended up not going. So, Britt and I made plans. First off, however, was Tammie inviting me to see Def Leopard and Poison in concert. First time to see both for me, but it was completely serendipitous how lucky we were. See, Tammie got vouchers for the show from an old friend, and we could upgrade them on the night of the show for better seats. We ended up getting orchestra level seating right next to the stage, and in effect, getting close to some really awesome rock, all for about twenty-two dollars a ticket. Needless to say, it was freakin’ awesome!

Near the end of September, I took Britt to see The Killers in concert. This show was kinda important because it was the first show I went to where I had nose-bleed seats, yet still had an enjoyable time, and because it was Britt’s first concert ever. She really enjoyed herself and I was glad to have a companion who would enjoy it. This ended up being the last show in Southern California for me, before I moved.

October rolled around and Mom had an awesome plan. We had just seen an advertisement for Cheap Trick performing Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in Vegas, and Mom really wanted to go and see it. We planned it out over the final weekend in September and decided to do a road trip to Vegas, where we would spend the night and drive back. I was excited. This was going to be the last show before I moved, and my last time in Vegas. I am happy that I got to go with my mom, because, I never had a chance to do something like this with her.

In my final weeks in October, and Southern California, I started to get myself packed and I helped my buddy Bryan move into his own apartment in Hemet. The place a nice studio apartment and he really worked hard to get it. There was also Oktoberfest with Tammie, and my last time hanging out with Britt. I ended up making Britt cry because she didn’t want me to leave. It was hard, because we were very close, but I needed to move on and do something with my life. My biggest hope is that I can still be friends with her and hopefully, she will still be around when I move back to California.

So, in the third week of October, I packed up my car started my move to Florida. This was going to be an epic journey across the country, and I was totally ready for it. The first day, I drove from Murrieta, where I said goodbye to my mom, and drove to El Paso, TX. This drive was pretty gnarly, because I made a stop in Phoenix to see some friends, which threw my timing off for the rest of my trip. I was supposed to make El Paso before night fall, so I could get a nice place to stay and enjoy the night. This didn’t happen. Because of spending about four hours in Phoenix, I ended up getting into El Paso around 2 am, and in a really dive motel room. The place was priced ok, but the problem was with the people in the place. Across the parking lot, there was a couple who left their blinds open while doing some pretty nefarious acts, and my next door “neighbors” decided to be loud when entering the complex and slam their doors every time they entered or left. That occurred a couple of times through the night, and I didn’t end up getting much sleep.

The next day in El Paso, I awoke pretty late in the day, started out the day trying to get across Texas. I would need to cover about one thousand miles to get to New Orleans so I can make my scheduled arrival in Orlando. Most of Texas was barren, but once I got close to a city, it would become a massive hive of activity. I decided to stop, after a suggestion from Bryan, to see The Alamo in San Antonio. This was a great idea, because I got to see history and enjoy the surroundings in San Antonio. I even learned about the river that goes through the middle of the city underground. The moment I left San Antonio, I felt good, but also tired. I had to try and make New Orleans, and my GPS was saying that I wouldn’t make New Orleans until four in the morning, when leaving San Antonio at dusk. I spent the trip from San Antonio to New Orleans on the phone with my Dad, just talking and going over the things that we had missed. I pushed myself to try and make New Orleans in time. Around one a.m., I got into New Orleans and in my hotel. I had travelled across Texas in one day. Needless to say, My Dad was impressed.

The next day, I decided to check out New Orleans. This was cool because I had never been and I had always wanted to. I was greeted with a very beautiful sight and a colorful thoroughfare. Aliro messaged me and suggested that I go have a drink at Cafe Du Monde, and taste their cafe au laute. Since I am not much of a coffee drinker, I decided to get that and some Hot Chocolate and their world famous Beignets for breakfast. I enjoyed the Hot Chocolate and the Beignets, the Cafe Au Laute wasn’t for me, but at least I tried it. I left New Orleans at around 11 am to head to Orlando. The drive was enjoyable, and relaxing. I stopped off at the U.S.S. Alabama to visit that for my Dad, and see the type of boat he served on. This was awesome to see all the history in the boat, as well as the type of living conditions that were there. Because of the late start in New Orleans and the stop to see the U.S.S. Alabama, It was late when I got half way in to Florida. Dad told me about Steak and Shake, the East Coast equivalent to Jack in the Box (in my opinion), and I found one on the way to my new home. The only reason why this is getting a mention is because it was extremely good, but it was also the first dinner in Florida. I made it to my home in Orlando at 2am. The next day, I woke up happy and alive.

The following weeks, I went to Full Sail to work out some issues with getting me enrolled. Because I couldn’t get the funding I wanted for the Game Development degree, I had to rethink my degree options. There was something that I qualified for, and seemed more interesting to me, which is the Game Design Bachelor’s program that I am currently enrolled in. This was a better option because it let me do things cheaper AND be able to do something that interested me more. I have been burned out with programming since I got my first web programming job. I am happy with the decision, and hopefully, I will get what I want in the future.

My first concert in Florida was Brand New with Thrice at the House of Blues. This show was awesome, and one I had wanted to see for sometime. Not much I can say, just that it was a well needed show to kick start my time in Florida. I spent the first couple of weeks starting school and trying to get out. I was to really happy that I was in Florida and doing something different.

Then there was the week in November that was quite possibly the best thing to happen to me. I had learned that After Midnight Project was going to be performing at a show in Jacksonville, and the only way to see them was to win tickets. I signed up at the website for the radio station that was running the promotion. A couple of days later, I got a phone call telling me I had won tickets to see them. This was extreme serendipity, because I would never have guessed that I would win.

Now, for some background. I have been a HUGE After Midnight Project fan for sometime. The lead singer has messaged me on Myspace and kept in touch with me through various means, and he always notices me whenever I am at a show. I would say that they know me, but only to an extent that I am a fan. However, whenever they had a show, I would always try to go see them, no matter what. Even my ex-girlfriend would get kinda tired of seeing them over and over again, but I didn’t care. I was supporting a group that I think has massive star power.

So, with my roommate Liz, I headed on up to Jacksonville and entered the bar that the show was in. This place was small. I have only been to one place this small, and that was to see Rock ‘n Roll Soldiers play in San Marcos, CA. But, that is besides the point. I made my way up to the front of the stage, when everyone else was hanging back. And placed myself there waiting for After Midnight Project to take the stage.

I have to admit. When I go to see After Midnight Project in concert, I tend to rock out, enough to give me “gig-neck” for the majority of the week afterwards. In this crowd of about 100 people, it is pretty obvious that I am a fan, because I was the only one moving. I didn’t care. I was seeing my band play songs I love. In the middle of the song “Digital Crush”, Jason, the lead singer looked over at me and recognized me. At first, he was thrown back. He didn’t know that I had moved to Florida, and he was surprised to see me in the crowd. This led to this concert being one of the best of the year. Because I was the only one singing along and rocking out, Jason, and the rest of the band would come over to me and give me high-fives or just to play in front of my energy. I honestly think that I was the person to make that show for them.

A couple of things stand out in my mind from the show. First, when Jason forgot the opening lyrics to “The Real Thing”, he came over to me and had me get him started (The resulting tweet about it is here: @ampla). Then, when talking about the song “Through the Night”, I yelled out “I love that song!”, Jason replied “I know, you tweeted it!”. Throughout the whole show, he would come over to me and just rock out with me. It quite literally made my whole night, week and sealed the fate that it was a fantastic year.

For the final couple of months of the year, I have been dealing with school, and working my ass off. I am maintaining a 4.0 GPA, having achieved an A+ in both English Comp. and Game History, and I have some wonderful friends. I learned many things this past year, and I am happy for every lesson. I have learned that even through failure, there is never defeat. And what we think is bad, doesn’t usually happen to be. I have also learned that every action is an opportunity in disguise, and not to be dissuaded for something that might not go your way.

Now that I am in 2010, I am looking forward to making this year another great one. Wish me luck. I am gonna need it!