2022 Another Year To Be Grateful For

Live life now, don't wait. Do it now

My 10 favorite moments of 2022

1. Staycation Compilation - LED Baltimore, listening party at Made in Baltimore, music showcase CD release at The Depot. Donating over 500+ to BCPS' music programming. 

2. Denver, the perfect day - Wake up in Buffalo Creek after a night of camping by the fire. Red Rocks morning hike. Exploring my old city, Illegal Pete's dinner, a show that all of my closest Mile High friends were at that I played! As well as two of my other best friend's bands played. Weird Touch dance party to end the night. Absolutely perfect.

3. Vermont 24hr race - Literally running up and down Mt. Sparta in Vermont. Pushing myself to the absolute limit to where I injured my body and had to stop 12hrs in. It was the 3 years anniversary of my adoptive mother Lisa's birthday. A very spiritual moment for me and a positive game changer in my running.

4. Petworth Porchfest - Featured in the Washington Post. Hanging out with Thom, Eric, and Tally then going to a very explicit party later that night was amazing and absolutely hilarious. 

5. The Strokes live - In Philly, going on an amazing date by bicycling to FTR skatepark while doing byob drinks, eating delicious food at Pennsport Beer Pub (my fav Philly bar), and going to see Thundercat, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and The Strokes at Citizens Bank Park together.

Continued at the end of this blog.

January 

1.1 Wondered around DC on a wet afternoon, after a night of drinking and karaoke with my Peace Corp pals! Walked around the monuments with my homie Zack and laughed about Fly Hudson over some drinks. 

Staycation Compilation V.1 was released 1.7.22! It was featured on a HUGE billboard called LED Baltimore across from Penn Station the day of its release. I hosted a listening party at the Made In Baltimore that day as well. All proceeds of this release were donated to BCPS' Baltimore International Academy. I hosted / played a SC release show 1.29.22 at The Depot. Unfortunately, I got Covid at the show probably during my performance which was the only time I wasn't wearing a mask. The place was packed after all! The next day, I was about 3.6 miles away from having a 100 mile month. So I put on a mask and ran those miles, stopped a few times to gasp for air, but I did it and quarantined till I tested negative.

Highlights -

- I interviewed Nada Surf and the interview aired on 89.9FM WKCR NYC radio. You probably at least know a couple of songs by them.

- I did a 36hr fast where all I had was water

- Spent an entire Sunday streaming football then Dexter in the BMA Sculpture Garden on their public wifi because it felt nice outside.

- The Music Discovery Podcast interviewed me about SC. It goes into details of curating the comp, working with the artist, and everything in between! Tune in by clicking the link of the podcast. A couple of weeks later, I went to Philly to check out apt's and went on a date with the cohost. 

- Had my track on SC featured on WNC Original Music podcast. Tune in by clicking the link of the podcast.

- SC was featured in the Station North community newsletter.

- A friend sent printed out photos of our trip from NOLA, how special is that! 

- Went to a holiday party at Believe in the Run HQ, got super drunk with Mac. Ran across the city back together to our neighborhood, drunk as fuck. Got to the door of my apt and collapsed right into it as soon as the door unlocked, my neighbor across the hall, Eric overheard the commotion and checked on me. I ate Chipotle, sobered up, went on a date later that night. Who am I?

- I was given a $1000 check my diseased grandfather left me, that my second cousin or something, gave me. Kewl! 

- Hiked Oregon Ridge Park with Thom in the freezing cold. 

- Walked around the National Aquarium during $1 Days, snapped a million photos that I would later use for a screen share music video I created. 

February 

2.26 I hosted / played a show at Peabody Heights Brewery featuring Thee Windows, Pelvis Presley, Shy Lust, and Crooked Plants. It felt like everyone I knew was there. Honestly, there was at least 50+ people watching our set. It was truly a special night to see literally dozens of friends from past and present. All the performers had great sets, Thom joined me on stage to reform The Shaky Experience. We absolutely delivered from our new songs to old songs to silly stage banter and more. It was such an unforgettable night of my life. Afterwards, we all went to an after party at Thee Windows house and had a hilarious time of drinking and overall wildness including reforming the g.a.y.w.a.d.s. The next morning, J headed out from my place and back to Philly. After she left, I ran a half marathon hungover because why not

A video from our set. 

Highlights -

- WLOY radio interviewed me about SC via Zoom while I had Covid

- Drove around Millers Island, hiked Harper's Ferry, played Egyptian Rat Screw w/ Thom and Eric

- Discovered Joe Sabia, super amazing content, highly recommend

- Emailed back and forth w/ Hypernatural (Cut Copy) for an on-air interview

- Watched Mad Men w/ H

- FINALLY recorded my new album "Lower Forty Eights" and was happy with the way it turned out. Thank you Chris (Crooked Plants, Strawberry Sleepover, Them Animals) for finding the sound I've been looking for.

- Went to Philly to look at apartments. Drank with Claire and Andy, stayed in an old German style house (very cool) rated Price Is Right models at their house party, went on a picnic at Fairmount Park w/ J 

The first single "Paradise" from my very long awaited album was released.

March 

3.17 I moved to Philly on St. Patrick's Day (temporarily). My friend Claire had a friend in need of someone to watch her dogs for a month while out of town and in return I would live rent free in massive church turned fancy apt in Brewery Town. I watched two very small dogs, walked them around town several of times a day, went on dates at Ry Brew, and went on group runs all around town. Actually, kicked off my first day living in Philly running in the pouring rain with Philly Runs running group. I joined quite a few groups, but most importantly ran with Point Breeze Runners and met a few people that would become friends. I biked around a ton while there, went to a show to see Dummy, and ended up discovering a band called Tagabow that are super, extremely good (check them out). Coming home every night to living in an old church felt odd, but very unique and euphoric in some ways too.

During my time living there, I had already had plans to go back to Denver. So we found a dog sitter for the dog sitter (me). I flew to Denver to reconnect with friends, hike, nature, drinks, all the classic stuff. While there, I did drinks in the park with my two closest Denver friends James and Amos. I went camping the next night with Amos at Buffalo Creek in his super awesome orange Subaru Crosstrek. The next morning, was my big day! We hiked Red Rocks, went thrifting, drove around town reconnecting to my old roots, and played a big show. It featured my friends Gila Teen, Amos' band Fern Roberts, and myself as Pelvis Presley. All my friends came out, literally friends I haven't seen in forever. It was such a surreal, magical moment that I will always be grateful to have had. Later that night, Amos and I went to Weird Touch which is literally my absolute favorite thing in the entire state of Colorado. It's a freaky, cool dance occasional dance party where people are just their most natural self and it was amazing! 

The next few days I hiked 3 Sisters Park with Lars, biked around town with Jesse, then watched the sunset at Confluence Park together. My last day in Colorado, I hiked Lookout Mtn with Lars, then we went and saw Blunt Bangs which is one of my all time favorite bands, a truly remarkable set and remarkable trip. I absolutely loved my experience and am so grateful for everything that I experienced on it. My plan is to move back to Denver. However, till then, I flew back to Philly and continued exploring.

Highlights -

Thom and I went to Richmond to see Animal Collective. I LOVED their set, very into it! They put on such a great performance with all four members which made it feel extra special, oppose to rotating out members some years. We met up with our friend Joe and ate at Don't Look Back which is my favorite place to eat while in town, very exceptional tacos. Crashed at our friend Joe's house that night, and woke up next to a coffin. His roommates are oddity collectors so it was a pretty funny experience. Thom and I explored the neighborhoods, I went to Common House a hip co working space for a drink. It was a lovely experience, and we ended our time there by hiking Forest Hill which was quite a unique place as well. That evening, we drove back to Baltimore and I hosted a potluck, music video premiere party for my new music video for my track "Paradise". A lot of people came out and there was a lot of drinking and eating of deliciousness. Another very special moment this year. The video received over 1k views in the first week. 

Took the train from Baltimore to DC. I met up with my friend Zack and we biked to Caboose Brewing which RT was about 30+ miles. It was a very scenic, awesome ride, great beers. Solid hangout with my friend and lots of laughs and sing alongs of 90s one hit wonders. 

I hiked Gunpowder Park with my friend Alex

Had one of the most (fill in blank) dates of my life with L,J

Ran 8 miles and got surprised by a friendly stop by old neighbor Dan Deacon to say hello! 

I drank a bunch of laundry detergent by accident at a group run. Are you familiar with runners gels? No? Look it up... seriously, look it up. The package is very specific for this product. I went to this group run and they had detergent in the same type of packaging as gels, very similar looking, pretty much identical. So I ripped it open and drank laundry detergent. I had to go to the ER immediately afterwards. Fortunately, it didn't have anything lethal in it. However, I was puking up soap the next couple of days which in hindsight, all you can do is laugh at how ridiculous that truly is lol. 

April 

4.30 Petworth Porchfest featured in the Washington Post was a festival I performed at this year. It had a massive turnout of people coming to see live music of over 70+ porches as "stages" for the artists to play at. Eric, Thom, Tally, and I all geared up for the festivities. We arrived to the place, I setup and performed in front of dozens of people, it seemed like the crowd was very into my set. I had sing alongs, clapping to my guitar rhythm, and overall a fun, charismatic stage presents I was told. 

Afterwards, we went around exploring the other stages and ran into a girl that invited us to an orgy party. Yes, you read that right! I didn't have specific interest, but Thom was extremely persistent on us going, so we went just out of general curiosity. Wow, what a time! Unlimited free drinks, pad thai, silly string everywhere, and rooms designated for very specific activities (won't go into too much detail). My friends and I just sorta awkwardly observed which we found pretty silly, but fun, and the food was delicious. We played party assigned games together and laughed over drinks of the overall absurdity of the situation. After, many bowls of pad thai and unique conversations with party attendees, we made our way out of the silly string fiesta, and on our way home. 

Highlights -

This month, I was still dog watching in Philly most of the month. Eric came up to visit me, we biked around town, went thrifting, got a great fanny pack! Ate delicious food at Tattooed Mom's, and I played a show as the featured artist at The Dojo. Solid turnout of people, seemed like a lot of folks loved my spoken word and new guitar heavy tunes as well. I played DC's Public Option earlier this month with Thee Windows and The House You Grew Up In as well. 

I interviewed Aaron (Chairlift) and Keith C. (We Are Scientists) as the reformed project known as Rewards. I interviewed Reggie of Blunt Bangs and Black Kids. Both interviews aired on 89.9FM WKCR NYC radio. I'm a huge fan of both of these bands, check out the interviews in the hyperlinks! You probably know Chairlift - Bruises. We Are Scientists - After Hours. Black Kids - I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You. 

Went to an absurd bonfire party at my friend Randy's house. Catching up with all my friends, very random sentence here, but it felt quite special and worth noting. 

Hiked Lake Elkhorn Park, beautiful place, really loved it. Google it.

Went to Solace Brewery in DC with my friend Zack. Got annihilated drunk and goofed off around DC and Virginia all night. My Lyft driver and I were flirting and ended up exchanging numbers. Zack and I ended the night by riding a Lime scooter together up and down his apts community walk way, just two hooligans being ridiculous. 

Ran 100 miles this month, celebrated finishing up my last mile of the month by attending Bike Party Baltimore's 10 year anniversary party

The Shaky Experience 10 year anniversary of our debut album "Greatest Hits" was 4.20. We performed at The Depot the night before, and did a livestream day of at Wyman Park Dell. A decade old!! Our track "Fossils" becomes more and more about us every year. 

During my time in Philly this month, I went to the second Phillies game of the season! I biked from Brewery Town to the stadium and back. It was over 15+ miles and I loved it. It really gave me an opportunity to see different parts of the city I hadn't seen before. When I moved back to Bmore, I went to an Orioles game with my pals Mac and Forrest. We ran down to the stadium from Charles Village, got drunk, and ran back. Man, I really do love baseball, drinking, and running as a combo.

May 

Dating in modern time is so strange. I was chatting with a girl through text, the conversation fizzled out after awhile, and we stopped talking the rest of the day. Late in the same evening, I received a text from an unknown number stating it was her which I found very odd. I can't remember the response she had for having two phones. She asked if I wanted to meet up now, I agreed for the thrill of spontaneity, again because why not? We met at a local bar, flirting heated up, she invited me back to her place, it was a fun evening. The next day, I went to a friend's house party. I told my friend about the experience, showed a picture of the person I met up with as most do and his jaw dropped. He told me an absurd story, that this girl had been cheating on her husband and that was a burner phone. I had no idea.... it blew me away, honestly. Anyway, dating 2022. Am I right?

Highlights -

Pelvis Presley - Dare You To music video came out and it aired on WLOY radio

I performed as Pelvis Presley at The Depot as the featured artist that evening. I played my entire album in full a month before it's actual release date.

Attended Baltimore Homecoming, met a lot of investors and entrepreneurs. Mayor Scott spoke, it was solid. Lots of gourmet meals and drinks for the attendees. Shortly after the event, I pitched Seawall Development of a project I've had in mind involving installations of QR codes throughout the city in vacant retail spaces. I was offered property, but was requested to submit a case study of evidence that it actually works. I was also offered $10,000 from a nonprofit to support this program. However, I requested to put it on hold because I knew I was moving to Philly this summer and would love to do it when I came back.

The Shaky Experience played Havre De Grace State Theatre which is one of the biggest stages we've ever played. 

Hiked around Baltimore County Sailing Center, very much love this place. Good time.

Thom met a couple that is gay and told him they were interested in him. However, he was only interested in being friends and they said that's fine. They invited Thom and told him to bring any friends he wanted to their pool party, bbq. Of course, Thom invited me and we got wild! The backyard was massive and filled with antiques to where it was almost like a hoarders maze. Diving in and out of pool and drinking drinks on pool floaties was very delightful and quite a memorable experience for me.

I interviewed my friend Coleman Zurkowski interview. He's a professional music composer, that has worked with very big names. Check out the interview! 

Bounced back and forth to DC frequently to go out with my friend Zack. During this time, I familiarized myself with more venues and promoters which helped me out a lot later this year with bookings. We also went to the Nationals baseball game, for my first ever Nats game.

I started seeing a girl named Stephanie in DC that looks identical to Miranda Cosgrove. 

Got into a car accident in Salisbury, MD while on my way to a beach camping trip with Thom and Caro. The car got totaled. Fortunately, we were all okay. The next day I ran a handful of miles to get me to 100 miles for the month.

June 

6.3 I booked and hosted an album release show / party for my album "Lower Forty Eights" at the Y Not Lot. Benign Impact, Souper Drugs, The Dead Ringers, Pelvis Presley. Thee Windows, and an encore set by The Shaky Experience was the lineup. First and foremost, I started writing L48s in the end of summer 2018 and it finally got released basically 4 years later. Secondly, it has been a dream of mine to play Y Not forever. I grew up watching bands play Y Not lot and this felt very surreal to me to have it happen. Lastly, WHAT A SHOW! All the bands were great, people came out, and it was a fun time from start to finish. The biggest moment of the evening was when Thom and I reunited as TSE and played "Chesapeake Body". A little boy jumped on stage and started dancing with a drunk woman, tackled her, and started shuffling to our song. Afterwards, I unplugged my guitar while Thom was still drumming and threw it into the crowd as seen in this video. 

Highlights -

Caro, Thom, and I drove to Deep Creek Lake where we camped and hiked in New Germany, Sleepy Hollow campground, and the actual lake of Deep Creek. It was beautiful, absolutely astonishing scenic views. We linked up with our friend Vano, drank beers, listened to music in a huge house, and watched the sunset on his balcony. It was a great trip, lots of fond memories from it. 

Continued seeing Steph in an open relationship. Hung out at her pool, went to the best brewery ever aka Ministry of Brewing together, and ate the best pizza ever - Matthews Pizza in Patterson Park. 

Went on a date with a girl T, had a great time, went back to my place, and the water pipes to my apartment exploded and destroyed my neighbors apartments as well as mine. My landlord's assistant and I had a war at 1:30am, this had been brewing between us for months and felt so good to let it out after so much bs thrown at everyone that lived in that apt. 

Attended a bunch of great shows including WTMD First Thursdays, Hon Fest which I saw The Lushpockets, F City, and more. As well as the great, Paul McCartney at Camden Yards. Getting to sing along to The Beatles songs made me tear up a few times in memory of my adoptive mom, Lisa.

The Shaky Experience played Dear Globe art gallery which was a part of the Bromo Seltzers art walk which was featured in Baltimore Magazine, WJZ, WBAL, and many other publications. We had a large turnout, it was a solid time of drinking and fun. We ended the night with our friends at Current Space art galley backyard bar.

Caro and Thom came over my apartment and we day drank and Care cut my hair. We blasted 90's musicians like Lenny Kravitz, Disturbed, Linkin Park, Dance Hall Days band, and much more. It was a wild, carefree time! Two guys from Verizon knocked on my apt door which was very strange, so we invited them in for drinks. They told us they couldn't because they had to keep selling internet packages. Eric got home and we continued the party on his balcony. The best of times. Eric and I hiked North Point State Park a few days before. 

I ran with a group of runners across town to participate in a group 5k at Mobtown Brewery hosted by Believe In The Run. Afterwards, there was free beer, food, and swag for the runners. I ended up running 10 miles, got drunk, ended my evening at a friend's birthday party. 

I went back to Philly to check out apts. Jacky Ceres (semi famous Meme'r) aka the girl I kinda sublet from by watching her dogs was already moved out of the church turned fancy apts, but she said the door was unlocked and I was welcome to stay there till the lease was up. I stayed for over a week and went to see as many apts as possible. It was kind of wild, nostalgic time. I definitely had butterflies being there especially after the memories I had made living there for a month earlier this year.

$21,838.56 is the amounted I owed Social Security for my adoptive mother Lisa not being able to pay it anymore because she's dead. I was first notified of this bill November 8th, 2019 the day before I ran my first trail half marathon in LA. I submitted an appeal January 8th, 2020 and didn't receive a decision till June 29th, 2022. My appeal was considered favorable and I no longer owe money that I never touched in the first place. It was truly a moment of joy for me. The day I received the letter was actually my last day in my apt I had been living in since October 2nd, 2020. The building had been bought by a developer and the tenants had to move out. My apartment was empty, I saved the letter, and cried tears of joy.

Flew to Vermont the next day, took a shuttle from Burlington - Middlebury met up with my friend Mac and his gf. Got dinner and drinks, went to Bread Loaf college where she was going and partied with a bunch of nerds in the middle of nowhere VT. It was a great time, lots of silly, ridiculous chatter and fun. 

July 

7.2 The 24 hour death race. Mac and I signed up to run up and down Mt Sparta in Pittsfield, VT to see how many miles we could crush in one day. This was absolutely insane, like legitimately I saw some of the craziest things of my life here. We arrived at the starting line, basically a barn in the middle of nowhere at 7am. We setup our tents nearby in the chance we needed to take short naps within the 24hrs. As we were setting up, we saw a different type of runners already on the field. We had no idea what was going on till the race directors told us. Those runners had signed up for death race premium where they started two days before us and were being tortured while participating within the race and weren't allowed to sleep AND had to do extreme challenges. What this means is these runners had been awake for over 50hrs of running up and down a mountain while getting beaten up. This is all voluntary, we volunteered to do this, everyone did, and had to sign release forms in the event we got injured or died. Below is a list of things I heard or witnessed firsthand during this race....

- Army crawl across the field with 70 pound weights after running up and down a mountain in the rain

- Carry huge buckets of water up and down the mountain 

- "I’m an aerodynamic milkshake, help me"

- Rollie Polly death racers legitimately look dead

- Interrogating runners that haven't slept in days by yelling at them "What planet are you on?"

- "Hallucinate or else suffer the pain"

- "We've buried people alive in their sleeping bags. Two people one coffin"

- "Nice AC, pillows, very cozy, relax time with blindfolds on. Catch is you have to stay awake because there is a quiz afterwards. You can’t fall asleep so they scream to stay awake"

- Rollie pollies have fish guts dumped on them while rolling around in the grass

- Intimidate the others by threatening your teammates that you will seriously hurt them, if they try to dropout because you will be eliminated too

- Dump $100 + worth of a 10 pound bag of pennies, If you collect enough money, we'll help you escape with origami frog 

- Betting with casino chips will help you sleep, but seriously do not do it, you will regret iit

- Spicy beans, captain America, Mohawk, Florida girl - "Sign a 3 page waiver, now get your coffin bitch"

I ended up only running for 12hrs due to falling down a part of the mountain and very seriously bruising my body. The day of this race, July 2nd is the same day Lisa passed away, but in 2019. It was a very special day for me and I'm glad I got to experience this day with her in spirit. The day before this race we hiked Green Mountain with Sarah's Bread Loaf pals. We swam in a lake close by and a group of the people made a witch type circle in the water, it was weird lol. The day after the run, we hiked a local watering hole close by jumping in and out of the water. Posed by a Dog Bless America graffiti art and played rummy till very late at night. 7.4 Mac flew back to Baltimore and I attempted to sleep under a bridge in Middlebury, but was bothered by fireworks so I booked a $200 hotel, fell asleep, and caught a shuttle back to Burlington the next day, and plane back home after that. As soon I got back, I had an interview to be a marketing director for a nonprofit in Dundalk. After my interview, I went to a park Lisa and I fed ducks and sat there and cried the anniversary of her passing.

Highlights -

We Are Scientists, my favorite band of all time! I've seen them like 15 times or something crazy like that because they always deliver with such a stellar show every single time. They were playing in DC this month and I reached out to Keith C. their drummer and he put me and a +1 on their guest list. Meanwhile, I'm literally on a yacht, just waking up, after partying with on Caro's dad's yacht with Thom. I head back to Bmore from Annapolis then catch the train to DC, meet up with Steph, we get wild! Drinks, laugh, goofing off was filled within the agenda. The band came out and played such a GREAT set, ahh they are truly the best, and their comedy banter hits so hard, 10/10. They even gave me a mini shout out and played my song request of "Return The Favor" which was so dreamy. Afterwards, I drank shot with the band and it was just the BEST! 

The Shaky Experienced played Thom's new apartment in Greenmount neighborhood and everyone came out! The house was filled with friends, drinks, getting absolutely carried away! We played a very good set and even brought cardboard cut out of Bill Clinton playing the saxophone which was crowd surfed. I bought plain white t-shirts and we had a The Shaky Experience t-shirt design contest where party attendees could design a few of our shirts and they actually came out very cool. We loved them! Check them out on our Facebook page. 

Went to the Orioles game with Rejie and Jamie, we won! Orioles slay, I love baseball, and the O's forever.

I moved to Philly in Pennsport neighborhood, after being without a place to live half of the month. I was staying on the yacht, friends floors, my Tinder date's apts, a hostel one night. It was crazy and fun, but time for it to come to an end. Caro, Eric, and Thom helped me move all my things up and they stayed the night a couple of extra nights within my new place. During my first month in Philly, I ran with South Philly Striders, Point Breeze Runners, and did my own independent running where I got to explore lots of new places. I printed out QR codes on sheets of paper with text explaining my skills and hobbies and hung them up all over the city. I worked remote from Cherry Street Pier and ate blueberries and drank kombucha. I was the first in line to Pressed Juice store opening in Philly and won a $50 gift card and a bunch of swag. I biked all over the city, including FKA skatepark which is a place I'd been dying to visit ever since I was barely just a teenager, growing up wanting to be a pro skater, and watching Viva La Bam.

I dated a few ladies here S, A, and K. All 3 were wonderful and I have a lot of respect for them. S - I got pulled over by the police with her because she had expired tags, that was kind of a scary situation. Even worse, she was being booted out by her greedy landlord that was previously in the band Marcy Playground, There is a whole other story to that, I won't go into further detail. A and I biked around town, she was very feisty on a bicycle with cars, but it was fun. We had byob wine under the Ben Franklin bridge, it was dope. And K, my favorite person I met while in Philly. I had developed feelings for her immediately, we had the best date probably of my life on our first date. I can't think of a more perfect scenario and built a very solid connection within the first 24hrs of knowing each other. We hung out a few more times, but ultimately life happens. 

I interviewed Slim Guerilla and it aired on 89.9FM WKCR NYC! SG is my favorite rapper of all time, I am a mega fan of his work. 

The Shaky Experience played a crazy packed house show! The apt building Eric and I had been living in had come a close, everyone was moving out, and we wanted one last bang. So we co hosted a house show in Eric's apt and soooooooo many came out! It was very packed for a house show in a one bedroom apt, but a lot of fun. ChalkBoardAstro, Benign Impact, The Shaky Experience, and Insatiable High played and it was a night of mischief. Highlights of this evening including destroying the shower doors and making the entire bathroom dirty with Shelby and Michael. Over 20+ people lighting sparklers during our set, and drinking shots out of an Italian spice bottle.

August 

After some back and forth conflict over some band drama, Thom and I resolved. I ended up flying out to Orlando, FL to meet up with Caro and Thom that were already on a road trip that I initially was to join, but came in a little later. We hung out at Caro's relatives fancy home, in a nice pool, had dinner, it was a solid time. The next day, we drove down to Miami, hung out with our friend Tyler on the beach. Explored Wynnwood, the art deco area, and more. We hung out at Key Largo beach with some very large lizard, and swam. We went to Sanibel Islands and camped out in a ladies backyard that had over a dozen cats. We met up with our friend Sam more north and camped out in a beautiful state park and swam some more. We stayed in a very cute Airbnb in Pensacola. The day after that, we ate breakfast in Mobile, AL, got gas in Mississippi, and parted ways when we made it to NOLA. 

I invited A to meet up in NOLA with me. Her and I got an Airbnb and explored the city via renting bikes and had the best time ever together! We packed so very much into a few days, it's kinda crazy to look back on. Some of the places we went to include Saturn Bar, Aunt Tiki's, Crescent Park, a space themed costume party, Turkey and the Wolf, had Po Boys, and on our last day two girls randomly stopped us while bicycling and gave us champagne and seltzers because they were catching an Uber to the airport and couldn't drink it there obviously, so they stopped the first people they saw which was us. We drank it in City Paper and got very drunk, exploring the sculpture garden. NOLA trip was a huge success, that I will always be grateful to have had.

I sent out NOLA postcards to my closest pals, when I got home.

Highlights -

This month I focused on hobbies including thrifting and I actually started selling some nice thrift finds including a very expensive pair of lululemon shorts I found. Running with the group runs like PBR and doing 9 mile runs every Monday, explored the Delaware running trail, and a lot of Fairmount Park. Lastly, learning how to play and record music on Garage Band. 

I covered Adult Swim as press with WKCR which included seeing live music, giving my thoughts about it on-air, and drinking free beer. This review aired after my interview with drum n' bass legends Bachelors of Science interview. 

I bused back down to Baltimore to attend Eric's surprise birthday party. The next day, Jamie and I went to the Orioles game. 

Dated K, a little bit more. I savored every minute with puns we co created "Spooky Weirdo" and "Spicy Electrolyte Life". It felt special to me.

 September

9.3 I saw The Strokes, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Thunder Cat at Citizens Bank Park with a date, I had just met earlier that day, A. It was a very spontaneous decision to have done it, but also a blast! I'm a mega fan of The Strokes, very inspired by all of their albums and general persona. Thunder Cat hit home with me so hard seeing him perform Dragonball Durag  live, LJ and I use to sing that song together all of them time last year. RHCP were okay, I enjoyed singing along to the hits. We spent the day before the show doing byob drinks at FDR Park and bicycling back to my favorite dive (Pennsport Beer Boutique) for food. Afterwards, we went to the show and it was the best day I think I could. All 3 bands delivered with songs I love, A and I had a great singing and dancing, and having drinks in a baseball stadium while watching my favorite band felt extra cool for some reason.

Unfortunately, my time in Philly came to an extremely abrupt ending due to some housing issues primarily due to the landlord. I won't go into too much detail here, but a lot had happened that was very much out of my control. It was pretty bad at home towards the end, so much so that I unexpectedly had to stay at Apple Hostel for a night, after just running 9 miles with PRB running, this was for my own safety. However, everything turned out okay. I moved my things out my apt and safely moved back to Baltimore, particularly Canton Square neighborhood. During this time living back in Bmore, I caught up with friends instantly, re joined old running groups, and had another 100 mile month. Success! 

Highlights -

I played Hampden Fest after party at Sidedoor Baltimore and had the opportunity to debut new spoken words tracks. Friends came out, fun time! 

Really Late Night Sketch Fest asked me to bring back my past podcast Composing a Confession. I asked my friend Mike to do it with me and it's hilarious. Check out the video here! 

Did spontaneous byob drinks in the park with a girl named Julia that use to live in Denver and we worked in the same building without actually meeting till our time in Philly.   

Xpotential Fest had their annual outdoor fest on the water in Camden, NJ. A British fashion designer, F and I took our bikes on a ferry across the water and did byob drinks right outside the fence. We very easily saw the stage, heard the music, and had an amazing waterfront view. We even saw Houndmouth perform "Sedona" live which was actually kinda really cool being I've heard that song on the radio many times before. Afterwards, we went took the ferry back to Pennsport and biking to Laser Wolf for a very expensive yet delicious dinner. Highly recommend this place for a good date night

I went to get my guitar fixed on South Street in Philly and as the owner was fixed my guitar, Echo and The Bunnymen walked in. They were in town killing time before their show at Union Transfer that night. I snapped a photo with one of the band's founding members and he put me on the guest list. Lips like sugar, sugar kisses!! 

October 

10.15 ADMO Porchfest featured in the Washington Post in the Adams Morgan neighborhood is where I performed at live as one of the featured artists. I was given a super good location and probably the best set time as well. There was over 200+ people that were there at the start of my set. I have to partially give credit to the shout out by influencer Clockout DC gave me on their Instagram. It was a very amazing time in my life, performing in front of that many people. I used both my RAT pedal and Looper pedal which is something I use for very rare occasions, but this was definitely a good time to do it. I printed out witty flyers that featured QR codes to my music which received literally hundreds of scans. I played my hits from my latest album L48s, old songs, and of course new spoken word material that was set to be released next month. I released NFT's of my music on OpenSea thanks to the help of my good friend Tally. After my set, Eric and I biked around the festival, got food, and celebrated with beers. We made our way back to the stage that hosted my set and enjoyed free cookies and more beer. AMAZING TIME! Truly one of the best moments this year for me. 

Highlights -

10.1.22 I celebrated being vegetarian for half of my life. I started when I was 16, initially because my high school girlfriend, Crystal asked me to do it with her. I think she was planning on doing it long term and I did it to support her out of solidarity for a month. She quit a couple of weeks in and I continued for the next 16 years of my life.  

Celebrated my best friend Mike's 33rd birthday by doing improv via Zoom with The Radical Agreement project. Terry formerly of BIG hosts a daily free improv jam and it was a blast to be a part of it with my best bud.

My friend / mentor Jeff and I attended Baltimore Innovation Week all 5 evenings in different location. Jeff founded The BNote and I led it from about 2014 - 2017, we were there as reps for the former Baltimore currency. A lot of people had interest with it including former deputy attorney general of Maryland Thiruvendran Vignarajah. We chatted with him about it for over 10 minutes and gave him a series of BNotes and all posed for a selfie together. The last day of BIA Jeff and I pitched The BNote to investors at their innovation pitch night. There was easily over 100 people watching us as we gave it our best shot. A lot of people clapped and came up to us afterwards to talk about it. This was a major highlight this for me being I LOVE The BNote and it was my life for many years.

I interviewed Oko Tygra about their recent release of their new EP "FADE". OT are so good, like legitimately I VERY highly recommend listening to their music.... seriously, that good. Start off with Plasticine. 

Cards Against Humanity is one of my favorite major companies. They always do silly ridiculous, crazy, stunt marketing every year, especially during Black Friday. They recently put out Clamonsaise which is REAL food in a jar, that holds a deck of 30 cards inside plastic rap, inside of the Clamonaise. I messaged them to let them know how much of a mega fan I am and that I wanted to interview them. They were flattered and sent me a bunch of free shirts, hoodie, hat, and other swag. Check it out in the link above, there's even recipes on the website. I gave them a big shout on WKCR this month! 

Uber Eats sent me nearly $100 in UE credits for playing a Halloween game they emailed me. I spent it mostly on Hims hair regrowth products as most 30 something year old's would do lol. 

I hiked 7+ miles on the Seneca Greenway Trail with a girl I'd been seeing this month, K. We went back to my place afterwards, she gave me a DIY haircut, We did drinks afterwards and had a super good time the weekend before Halloween just hanging out together.

Pelvis Presley - Sensory Experiences music video came out this month as mentioned all the way back from January. I'd be saving this content for awhile.

I discovered an online 24/7 radio station called Metaverse Radio. It streams in Voxels metaverse, you can call the number on their website to tune in as well. My new EP streamed on Metaverse Radio before it's release. I had a Zoom call with the founders. We shared tips for one another, being we both have extensive backgrounds in radio. 

Running things - 

My goal to run a half marathon in all 50 states continues! I took a bus to Philly and met up with my friend Claire's mom. She drove us to Atlantic City which I would be running the AC half the next day. Her and I got drinks, explored AC's boardwalk, and just had a very fun time. I stayed at her home and hung out with her and her bird that night, that kept sitting on my head lol. The next morning, I got up and ran my ass off in the rain to PR my best time of 1.41.37 for the Atlantic City Half Marathon. I came in 89/1098 runners, I feel good about that, but still have a long way to go to get where I want to be. When I got back to Philly, I put up a bunch of my flyers with QR codes on them to hopefully network with other creatives and of course, you already know.... I went thrifting after that.

Under Armor gave me a runner's hat, a pack of UA socks, and a gift card for coming and I came in the top runners for their fun run the weekend before the Baltimore Marathon.

I ran with A Tribe Called Run on Halloween day as part of their zombie run. Afterwards, I got drinks with a bunch of the runners and received lots of compliments for my Clamonaise shirt

During this month I also just enjoyed my new neighborhood as well, Canton Square. Being close to Canton Waterfront Park and Patterson Park has been very nice. I absolutely love the location I'm at now, very good vibes here. I even went to church solo and cried my eyes out thinking of Lisa the whole time.

November

11.5 Charm City Helicopters flew me around Baltimore, exactly one month before my 33rd birthday. I gave them a big shout on-air and in return they took me around my home town via the sky. It is truly hard to explain the feelings and emotions I felt being in the clouds while my feet were on glass overlooking everywhere I am so very familiar with. I was up front, next to the pilot, seeing everything from its tippy top below me. Everything about it felt so special and surreal and just feels like such a pinnacle of my life. I will always cherish the moment of my first ever helicopter ride especially flying around Charm City. 

Hours before the helicopter ride, I linked up with friends at Fells Point Fest. It felt so perfectly placed for a day particularly one month before my birthday. That morning, I actually went to the store opening of Patagonia Baltimore and got some cool free swag as well. A few days after that, I did a long walk around the city reflecting on my year. While on my walk, I walked on the water taxi and floated around Bmore.

Highlights -

I released a new spoken word EP called :"Heartthrob Collection V.1". It's primarily storytelling in poems about my experiences living in NYC last summer while being in a relationship. The background sounds were all made by yours truly via Garage Band.. I love this EP and love that I have the platform to release my feelings into words into music. 

Mic1 Podcast interviewed me about my new EP and my mission to donate half of its proceeds to animals impacted by Hurricane Ian via ASPCA. Tune in by clicking the hyperlink.

I'm still a board members of LetsBMore - The Baltimore Timebank. I almost didn't mention the timebank within this blog and it would be a shame to not do so. I'm passionate about TB'ing and have been a part of quite a few of the meetings this year. Learn more about time banking here. 

Celebrated my grandmother's birthday by giving her a jar of Clamonaise. She opened the jar, inside was a deck of cards, one of the cards had a QR code on them. I scanned it for her and it led to her winning a real power. CAH emailed to notify me the pearl is on its way and promised to a shirt as well as a gift for her birthday. 

Dreams Aren't That Good sent me a bunch of chips and salsa in the mail, like 15 bags and 15 jars. I gave them a big shout on-air! It's delicious if you're wondering...

Did a big night of partying with Zack and Tally at Hook Hall in DC and played PS5 in Virginia at Zack's place. Always a good time seeing those guys and probably my last till my birthday. 

Ran with Riot Squad this month and hit over 900+ miles this year, this month as well. 1000 miles for the year is my goal.

This month I had C over for dinner and we went to see BROS perform in an old court house a few days later. I love Baltimore Rock Opera Society. Check them out, very worth your time (reader). 

Drove around the neighborhood I grew in with K. Stayed up till 3:30am that morning, exploring.

Celebrated my Thanksgiving by seeing my Dad the first time in 4 years, that was a very special moment for me. The next day, I went to my friend / mentor Jeff's annual Thanksgiving Day After party and it was epic! We stayed up till 4am playing guitar and shouting

Parexel - a place I spent some very memorable moments in my early twenties. My best friend Mike told me about clinical trials when we were 21 I think. We use to screen kinda often, till I eventually got disqualified from all future studies due to allergies and my shaky hands. I brought in a Dr. note for both, it was accepted, but we had since moved to LA and I kinda forgot about the trials. Mike sent me a trial this month and I screened for it. Everything looked good, but one of the people that worked there insisted I needed a new Dr's note for my hands since it had been so long. It was ridiculous and very annoying, being I could have walked away with over $6000, but instead was given $150 for just showing up. It was nostalgic from times from over a decade ago.  

December

My 33rd birthday, December 5th.

The day before my birthday my cousin Leo gave me two tickets to the Ravens game, which were playing my former home team the Denver Broncos. I brought my friend Jamie and coincidentally our good friend Chris was there as well. We partied when the ravens took the lead in the last 30ish seconds and kept the night going. After lots of beers and a veggie burger, I made my way to Sidedoor Baltimore to see Thom play a set as his solo project. I hoped on for the last song and it was a super solid time / day to end out 32.

Highlights -

12.5 - I celebrated my 33rd birthday with lots of friends by going to Ulysses Hotel Bar which is legitimately my favorite spot in the city now. We continued celebrating by going to Royal Blue and ended the night with karaoke at our friend Jesse's house, amazing night. 

Jamie and I went to a boat light parade on the docks that had unlimited free beer and snacks. 

I saw Lightning Bolt perform live at the Ottobar, went to another bar afterwards and met up with some friends. Stayed up till 4am, drinking with my friend Chris and playing guitar. We saw a 10 car, attempted hit and run while getting food in Canton Square, crazy night. 

My neighbor below my apartment apparently died from a heart attack recently. I had to go into his apt to get the modem for the internet we share which felt super creepy. 

Got paid $200 in a focus group to give my opinion for an hour, it was sweet!

On a random week day, played ping pong and had a mini dance party with my friend Jamie. Went on one of my most recent best dates afterwards and hung out till 1am. It was special 

Interviewed Tor Miller and it aired on 89.9FM WKCR NYC

My friend Mike and I did a improv jam together with The Radical Agreement Project via Zoom, followed by recording a new episode of Composing a Confession.

I ran in the icy cold rain to get more miles in on time to get me closer to running 1000 miles in one year. This was one of the coldest, if not the coldest run of my life. Ice literally started to freeze on my leg while I was running. A truck splashed a big puddle of water on my face as I was waiting for the light to change to get across the street. I'm committed to change, this is for future me.

Spent a long weekend in Charleston, SC visiting my employer. I've been working remote for a company for a year + and my company paid for me to fly down to meet them in person during a holiday party. It was very delightful, glad I got to go. I stayed at Not So Hostel and had a great time biking around town, exploring the French Quarter, and trying some very amazing food. 

Southwest Airlines gave me $800 in airline credits to change my flight to a direct flight to Charleston.  It was due to overbooking their flight to Chicago which I had a layover at and I got to my destination sooner than my original flight. It was absolutely absurd, but now I'm planning a trip to Central America with my flight credits, woo! 

I went up to Philly for a long weekend to go my friend Claire's holiday party which was a blast. Met a bunch of people, had good drinks and food. I stayed the night and the next day biked around Philly and decided to stay at Apple Hostel which is somewhere I had stayed for free many times when I worked for Hosteling International. They hooked me up with a private room this time at a very discounted rate, remembering my service I had done for the organization years ago. I watched the TB football game at Pennsport Beer Boutique and explored my home city of this past summer. It was really nice being back and made me miss it in someways. 

1002 miles in 155 runs was my end of year. Thanks Riot Squad for hosting my last run in 2022.

2023 Plans

- Pursue a QR code startup via grants

- Staycation Compilation V2 Denver

- Move back to Denver temporarily

- Visit Europe and Africa

- Run a couple of half marathons next year in other states

- Releases: The Shaky Experience - Esoteric. Pelvis Presley - Heartthrob Collection V2

- Apply to grants to be a funded artist / entrepreneur 

- Interview more amazing guests on my podcast / radio program

My 10 favorite moments of 2022 (continued)

6. Helicopter tour - 89.9FM WKCR giving me the benefits of being kind of an influencer and trying many things to review it on-air including flying around Baltimore in a helicopter. Floating around the sky was truly one of the coolest things I've ever done, especially in Charm City. 

7. We Are Scientists live. Being on the guest list, having a song I requested played live, drinking shots with my all time favorite band afterwards. How is this real? P.s this day started with me literally, like actually waking up on a huge yacht after partying with my best friends the night before, like seriously this actually happened. 

8. NOLA trip - Renting bikes and riding throughout the city, we fit in so much! Like a lot, a lot of things were fit in and it was such an amazing time. I'm very grateful for all the exploring we got to do.

9. Peabody Heights show - An unbelievable amount of people were there. What blew me away was how many people came out to support the show from people I've known from past and present. Truly a surreal time, everyone sounded amazing. Thee Windows, Pelvis Presley / The Shaky Experience, Shy Lust, Crooked Plants.

10. Atlantic City Half Marathon - Just something very magical about completing another half marathon, but this time PR'ing to 1:41. Running in the ran at my top speed, flying around all the other runners felt great.

My Life Hacks - 

Foam roll. I was able to run all of those miles by foam rolling. Buy a foam roller, it's been super helpful with the 900+ miles I've ran this year.

Drink electrolytes. I've felt more energized and physically ready since drinking them.

Journal. I've found mental clarity physically writing my thoughts, feelings, emotions down in a private journal.

Go for walks. Again, mental clarity and it's feels rewarding being outside in any temperature. Trust me, I went for a lot of walks while I lived in Philly and it helped me find focus within my day to day life.

Be creative. I guess it's a little strange, but I made flyers with silly yet witty banter on them that featured a QR that led to all of my content. The codes have literally received hundreds of scans and I've had people reach out to me about projects I've worked on because of it.

As always, a daily gratitude list. I've updated it every day since Lisa's passing. 

Favorite music released this year!

Arctic Monkeys - Jet Ski's On The Moat. "Showstoppers anonymous, come over here and give your buddy hug", this line though! This song is one of my all favorites of theirs, everything about it. A must listen!

That's it. Just listen to that, enough said.

James, who did you interview this year? 

Nada Surf, Aaron (Chairlift) and Keith (We Are Scientists), Reggie (Blunt Bangs/Black Kids), Coleman Zurkowski, Slim Guerilla, Bachelors Of Science, Oko Tygra, Tor Miller. 

All interviews aired on 89.9FM WKCR NYC radio. All interviews can be listened to here.

Music -

The Shaky Experience

Pelvis Presley

My NFTs

My bedroom window in Philly.

Thank you for reading! 

If you have any questions, feedback, or just want to say hi! Reach out to me:

Instagram: @jamesrichardlane

Twitter: @jameslanee