DEFINING MOMENTS: QUITTING HIGH SCHOOL

                    Whats happening beautiful people? Hopefully your all kicking ass getting ready for the journey of heat that is called, the Summer! At this point, hot, cold, humid, I'm just happy to be alive. I went to the East Coast last week and I loved it but that humidity could still suck my dick. By the way if you came to any of the shows in Buffalo or in Long Island at Governors, thank you, from my heart, you guys were dynamite. I loved the people and the attitude at both places. I spoke and smoked reefer with a bunch of Savages. From my seeing my man, Steve Shiavone in Buffalo who I hadn't seen since 87', to my man McKenna, to the dude with the pink shirt and mascarra mustache in Long Island, I loved every minute and you know I'd tell you.......Thank you for coming out and making me feel special.

When I was a kid and my Mother would get a couple of cocktails in her, and she spoke of what she wanted and expected of me, as far as education and career were concered. Her ultimate dream was for me to be an attorney, to handle large criminal cases and to fight for peoples rights then with a wink she would say, and you could represent my friends half price, yes it was a joke but the attorney part wasn't. She spoke of me graduating high school and going into the service then she wanted me to go to college. My Mother was serious about the Armed Forces, it was like she was thanking the Country for letting her in by giving me up.

When I was a Sophmore, my Mother passed. Because my Mother didn't leave a will and because of other problems with her paperwork, I wasn't eligible to recieve Social Security payments for neither my father nor my Mother. I could live with my friends rent free but I still had to live. I had some money I got from my mother's friends and a few moves I had made, but the funds were starting to dry up and I was forced to work, I couldn't depend on them anymore. By July of 81', I had to make a decision, my friends Dad got me a job at Masback Sentry Warehouse as a laborer, it paid like 14$ an hour, it was 82", that was a lot of money, I could get on my feet and get my diploma later but at that moment, I couldn't pass it up. Even though it was a tough one, I chose to quit school. It was against everything I believed in but sometimes you have to roll up your sleeve and get dirty. I was devastated, I would snort and drink till I passed out then because of the pain I was bringing to myself and to the spirit of both my mother and my father, this is definately what they didn't want for me but they weren't here now so here I was.  
I had a plan so I wouldn't feel that bad, I would work there till I turned 18 then I would go work at a company called APA, which was another trucking company that paid a lot more but trained you to be a truck driver, that was the plan when I was 17, to be a truck driver, thank God for reefer! I enjoyed my job at Masback Sentry, I worked early morning hours, I'd get home, workout and I wasn't doing much, since I wasn't going to school, there was no reason to hang with my friends guys, I'd feel embarrassed, like I had let them down, I laid low. I got promoted to a night loader which paid an extra 2 dollars per hour, I was on the path to success, I could load trucks at night and either get another job or go back to school.  About a month into the job, I get sick one night on the dock and get sent home. When I didn't return with a Doctors note I was fired till I produced one pertaining to my ailment, whatever the fuck that meant. A Doctors note was easy in those days, but while I was getting one, I bumped into a teacher named, Fred Terranova, this guy was a fucking beauty, an ex junkie, athlete, who was now a football coach at the high school and a real solid guy to talk to. Anyway, he talked me into going back to. He got a friend of his to do unemployment paperwork since I had been fired now it would get me paid as much as the job I was working so I could go back to High School. I went back in early November so I really didn't miss anything. At the end of the academic year, I was a few credits short and was not alowed to graduate on stage with my friends, but it felt like I hadn't quit, and for me, thats all that mattered.

            I didn't remember quitting high school until a few weeks ago. I thought I would never recover from the pain that brought to my soul. I was numb when I had to make that decision but it was what I had to do at the time, and that was that! As bad as it made me feel it was the first time in my life I had to step up for me, after I did that, it changed my life and it showed me what I had to do, sometimes in life you have to roll up your sleeves! A Fucking defining moment.....I never knew.
          Thank you for reading and for taking this great ride with me. From the #1 CD on iTunes, to the live appearances, to the support on the documentary, now on Amazon.com, I thank you from the bottom of my heart! Don't forget tomorrow night @ 8:30PM IceHouse Stage 2 is proud to present..."Testacle Testaments".....Class of 82" Who took the money? 8:30PM 626 577 1894

TOUR DATES:

July 11th Cobb's SF
July 12TH-16th Punchline SacTown......The Diazbrothers!
August 15th Zanie's Nashville


More Dates to follow! T-Shirts....If its Not Bleu Cheese....Link on the way!