2025: The Year I Became The Main Character

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It's we and us, not you and I

My top 10 moments of 2025

1. Performing Artscape 2025, two televised interviews, 4 other press features. Sharing the same lineup as Robin Thicke. Having all my friends and hometown community come out to support us / buy our shirts and wear our temporary tattoos.

2. Biking 27 miles from San Diego to Tijuana, Mexico. Going to Just Like Heaven music festival a few days later.

3. Road trip from Baltimore to Seattle. Camping in South Dakota and Montana. 

4. Attending the final The Underground Music Showcase Denver as press with 303 Magazine

5. Interviewing indie music icon, David Longstreth of Dirty Projectors on my podcast.

Continued at the end of this blog.

January 

1.1.25 New Year's Day, I woke up at Casa Santurce in Puerto Rico. The night before had been hipster dance floor vibes at Le Penultima, and now the first sunrise of the year was started with an open rooftop deck where I'd gone to check work email like a responsible adult (Spoiler: I wasn't). 

A girl from Turkey appeared, and asked what I was doing with my first day. I said "Beach day at Playa Ocean Park". She smiled and asked if she could join.

We hoped on a bus that immediately betrayed us by going in the wrong direction. Instead of waiting around, I spotted a Lime Scooter, she wrapped her arms around my waist, and we drove off through Santruce's colorful streets. Midway through, a fairly heavy pour of tropical rain snuck up on us. We were soaked within seconds, but laughed it off and rode out the storm to make it to our destination.  

Clothes abandoned under a palm tree, we ran into the ocean, making the first adventure of the new year a big one. Lots of banter and cheer ensued, vibed out in the sand for a bit, then she proposed I meet her friend Alex (a Baltimore resident - small world) to go snorkeling. The three of us had a blast exploring life underwater till the sunset. By dusk, Alex drove us back towards our place, but before that we grabbed dinner by the beach. Later, we wandered around barefoot in the sand, when I saw an outdoor hotel pool and hot tub glowing electric turquoise under the night sky. It practically begged us to come inside, so we went trespassing in paradise. Diving from cool deep blue water into the bubbling heat and back again was amazing and the perfect way to close out the first night of 2025.

Throughout my time in PR....

A Couchsurfing girl that was a local to the island took me on an adventure throughout the city during my second night in town. It was epic, we drove around the local hangs to touristy areas, had lots of drinks and travel based conversations with a nice side of banter. Stayed with another Couch Surfer in Santa Rita. Alvaro was an amazing host that showed me many local places within the area, a stand out was the Astronaut Monument by Kidnetick. This area has a massive vacant outdoor market filled with beautiful murals and a few aesthetically pleasing local businesses including Selena Pizzeria and Mucho Gusto Ice Cream. This is the best ice cream in the world, mark my words and book your flight.

A few days later, I went back to the main part of town and stayed at Villa Eshta, an Egyptian themed hostel. However, I found myself spending much more time at Dreamcatcher - Adults Only

This is my favorite place I visited while in Puerto Rico. It's a digital nomad, paradise in a boutique hotel. The interior and decor is next level and made for a cozy getaway. The hotel was pricey, so I technically stayed around the corner from it, but was welcomed by the very friendly front desk staff to keep coming back, which I did many times.They have an in-house vegan chef on staff, so I ate good while working remotely from their lavish couches. The downstairs shower has smooth stone walls, warm mood lighting, absurdly nice towels, and a window that overlooks a private garden. Legitimately, this is the nicest 4-5 showers I've taken in my life. Another highlight was their gift shop which is filled with many cool and unique things. One afternoon, I took a minute to inhale/exhale all the gratitude I had while being there and suddenly within that moment, the song "Gallipoli" by Beirut played at the perfect time (one of my personal favorites) and I truly felt ultimate fulfillment had been achieved. 

The power went out on the whole island! Fortunately, Dreamcatcher had a generator that kept us going.

My plane ride back to Baltimore got canceled a few times, due to bad weather in the mainland. So they let me stay at this euphoric paradise for free. It was surreal! I couldn't believe the nicest place I found in Puerto Rico was letting me stay, it was tranquility at its finest while there. I ended my nights by walking around the beach and watching kitesurfers, while drinking craft beers (Collective Arts designed) in the sand, and listened to ambient beats while watching the sunsets.

A few days later, I found a flight from PR back to the mainland, but it was to Philly. I hoped on Couchsurfing again and posted a public bulletin that I needed somewhere to stay for the night. A host reached out and offered to host me for a few nights. He provided me his door code to a huge house that he owned near center city, I went inside and had my own room with lots of natural lighting. I met him the next morning, we hit it off, and he offered me to join his hot yoga class which was so soothing. The whole experience was amazing and the perfect start to my year.

In total I stayed for almost an entire extra week, but was compensated with flight credits for my canceled flights. I made it back to Baltimore on January 10th, I was gone for over two weeks and it was pure magic.

Additional mini reviews of my favorite businesses in Puerto Rico - 

Upon first arriving to the island, I stopped in vegan restaurant-100% HP. This is very close to where I was staying, the inside has many artistic murals and the overall vibe was cool. La Isla restaurant is another one of the most aesthetically pleasing places I found,  I worked remotely from there a few times. Great lighting, incredible brunch, and a local gift shop inside. Super Duper bar gives patrons the option to pick out a can or 6-pack of beer from the cooler and drink it there. El Locale is easily the number one hipster, DIY bar. Very gritty, random decor, and a warehouse style stage where bands and DJs frequently play. La Botanica Hotel is 10/10 beautiful and it has an in-house vegan chef inside for their guests. Although, I didn't stay there, I walked inside and asked to see the gift shop. I met the chef while browsing around and it turns out he's super cool. We stayed in touch and he gave me many recommendations in PR. I loved it there and everyone that visits the island should find an excuse to go inside. Spent a night to myself playing arcade games at Distrito T-Mobile while watching the Ravens game on their big screen tv which reminded me of playing arcade games as a kid with my late Aunt Lisa. Explored the castles in Old San Juan while watching the ships come in was very special too.

Highlights:

Guest listed to Tycho & Night Moves at 9:30 Club in DC. This was my third time seeing Tycho within the past 3 months. I have so much gratitude to have interviewed him last year, while he was driving to Burning Man to play his annual set. Honestly, anytime seeing his set or listening to his music is such a treat. I was provided a whole row to myself, corner to the stage as part of being on the guest list, it was insanely nice of him.

January 17th, I celebrated the 5 year anniversary of releasing my first spoken word / poetry EP by releasing archives of all my poems centralized in one place.

Performed at The Hargrove Baltimore with my band, The Shaky Experience. I booked Los Fellas, Too Soon Jokes, and my favorite active Bmore band Outside Smoke to play too.

I started providing paid PR services to bands. This includes outreach to major press, Spotify playlists, college radio stations, building an EPK, lists of hundreds of resources, blogs, and music festivals to apply to perform. It's been a great side hustle I worked many years for to make this happen! 

I connected with David of Dirty Projectors agent again, it felt like the interview may finally be happening 

Locally: I messaged Phil Phest a production company from my hometown that hosted a music festival in 2005 that I attended. Somehow I saw they were still doing stuff 20 years later, so I reached out and talked to the founder on the phone for a few hours. Nacho Mamma's closed which is an iconic Baltimore business. I had drinks and dinner with the founders family for several hours, it was lovely. I saw Jackson Holiday of the Baltimore Orioles at Cat's Eye Pub and chatted with him for a bit. Watched football with a friend and he pointed out our old roommate in a Starbucks commercial. This roommate tried to blackmail me for the prizes I won on The Price Is Right. Got paid to be in a focus group, good money.

Several of blogs quoted my interview with AEW star Orange Cassidy. This includes - Fightful, Yahoo News, MSN, WrestleZone , TJR Wrestling, Wrestling Inc. 

303 - 

Metallica / Limp Bizkit are touring together and their agent asked if I was interested in being put on the guest list to review their show at the Broncos stadium. Nu-metal af. Did virtual 303 Magazine meetings with other writers to share ideas and creative feedback. Very much enjoyed these. An agent reached out about A Path Untold's new album. Funny enough, I know that artist, it's Dan Merrill. He's my best friend / bandmate's cousin. I hoped on a two hour phone call catching up with him, it was so random and cool.

303: I wrote New Colorado Music You Should Know - January Edition 

That's a wrap for January, it was a big month!

February

ShoutOut CO asked me to do a Q&A.They dove deep into everything from my podcast, music, 303 magazine writing, experimental marketing techniques, and my philosophy on life. Any space cadets out there interested in reading about my projects, this would be the place.


I interviewed CITIZENS! The band has performed Glastonbury, worked with Franz Ferdinand on their debut album, and were on Manson Kitsune record label. The interview originally premiered on 97.3FM WRIR. P.s 1 of the 2 guys in the band that I speak with is Neil Diamond's son.

I put in an order for the first ever The Shaky Experience "Here for a good time, not a long time" temporary tattoos and shortly after "1800-The Shaky Experience" temporary tattoos via Sticker Mule.

I'm a board member of LetsBMore - the Baltimore TimeBank. I spoke to a group of people in the area and provided insight on the value we provide to the community. 

Short side notes - I donated my NBA Baltimore Bullets shirt to Caring Transitions Baltimore after not wearing it since Guat. It felt time to let go and very full circle to give it away specifically there, grateful for the original intent from last year. I took a water taxi to my doctor's appointment, biked back, then went for a long run that felt quite healthy. Hiked North Point State Park with a friend. My best friend Thom hosted a huge birthday friends gathering for himself / Royal Rumble watch party, that was a blast. Discovered an indie film platform called Nowness - Girls Of Cario was magnificent and touched me in a special way being I bought tickets to Cario, Egypt last year with a girl. Went to Baltimore Rock Opera Society karaoke, BMA, St. Casimir's Church. This was mainly a stay local month.

March

I've been living in Canton Square, the nicest neighborhood in Baltimore City for the past 2.5yrs. My landlord was having some health issues and unfortunately, I felt it was time go. There were some licensing, environmental, and fraud I later discovered, but it's not even worth getting into. Living two blocks from Canton Waterfront Park was dreamy and having the luxury of being steps away from many great bars/restaurants was incredible. I can't emphasize enough how much of an awesome area I lived in, it's truly a special community. Fortunately, my friend Eric's Uncle has an extra three bedroom, spare house that he uses as his "man cave" to watch Orioles games when he feels like coming to Baltimore. He agreed to let us stay there for a few months rent free. It's one neighborhood over from my previous one, so it still felt close enough to home. 

My house was practically empty the last few weeks due to donating and selling almost everything I owned. It was kinda funny timing because I recently started dating someone that had just moved to Baltimore, so not having much inside my place probably seemed a little silly. However, we did many cool things from going to Ministry Of Brewing, Baltimore County Sailing Center, watched the moon from Port Covington's shore, and lots of internet banter. The last few days of living in my apartment, I received an email from my boss informing me that I was being let go. She notified me this was due to government lay offs and AI becoming more prevalent in the work world. She noted she also wanted someone that was closer to their office, being I had been remote with them for the past 5 years. This job allowed me to travel so much throughout those years, I went on countless trips for pleasure, it's kinda insane. I moved back and forth to Denver two different times while working here. It was great, but now my job and apartment were gone. The last night I lived in Canton Square, I received a request from a Couchsurfer. She explained she had just missed her flight back home to Iceland and that she needed somewhere to stay for the night. I told her my situation that my apartment was empty and all that was left was my mattress that I would be moving out tomorrow morning. She said it would work and even though I was a little hesitant, I said screw it - let's have fun. We went pretty hard that night with drinks and karaoke, it felt like we had known each other for years. She was awesome and the night was filled with spontaneous magic. The next morning we left and I blew a kiss goodbye to my life from the past few years and moved into my new home in Brewer's Hill.

Highlights:

This month, I applied to play Artscape, The Underground Music Showcase, and Petworth PorchFest. So I auditioned a few new drummers as backups in case I got selected. One of the drummers, Scott was a big standout. Him and I became instant friends and went out for drinks that night. Somehow he has ties with BTS - boy band which I thought was interesting and he's very experienced within the scene. More details coming next month with the festivals, but I also want to note I applied to be a featured character of my favorite show, FishTank.

A group of friends invited me to go see Of Montreal at 9:30 Club in DC. Tbh, I thought it was pretty mediocre, I think their songs are very meh. However, I did have a great time with Randy, Nick, Cait, and Bess that night anyway.

I listed to AJ Styles interview on CVV Podcast and MrBeasts interview on Diary Of A CEO, both were amazing and everyone should listen to them. 

Enzo Amore was at Jimmy's Famous Seafood on St. Patrick's Day. Thom and I went and it was open bar, so we got pretty drunk. There were contests for promo battle, best taunt / entrance moves, and more. The whole experience was hilarious, but unfortunately My bandmate got too drunk and started lifting up the table to show his macho side to a former WWE wrestler. Although, we found it funny, the staff kicked him out and I left too.


Alex from Puerto Rico invited me to their house party in Baltimore. This was my first time seeing them since we were there. It was cool catching up, we talked about effective altruism and philanthropy projects we both aspire to create. Note: being a Philanthropist is my dream profession.

I was introduced to a woman named Jenny that claimed she knew former presidential candidate Andrew Yang. I'm a huge fan of AY, so I connect with her to see what all this fuss was about. Very coincidentally, she had bought a building that is right next door to where the Baltimore Hostel was and that she planned to take this four story property and turn it into an office for Timebanking. Although, I was skeptical because there is no money exchange in that type of non-profit. I did tour this massively large vacant building and we did talk for a long time about economics and my involvement in LetsBMore - the Baltimore Timebank. 

April

America's largest free art festival, Artscape selected me to perform this year. 

Coincidentally, I received the email confirming this on what would've been my mom's 53rd birthday. My dream has come true, I have been chosen to play Baltimore's biggest annual event. I was ecstatic when I read the email and choked up a little bit too. This means so much to me because it's the largest event in my hometown, bands I deeply admire have played it, and now I will be part of the alumni of many great creatives to play this massive event. However... 

I wanted to make the most out of this temporary limelight by doing good for the world and raising awareness for a cause I believe in. I figured people would listen to my message while I had a brief blip of fame. So I decided to create a campaign to donate 100% of the money I made through my merch sales to BARCS Animal Shelter. New merch was in the works as the girl that I've been dating T designed an image of my bandmate Thom and I, that I would print on t-shirts and stickers. I put in another order of my "I Read Craigslist: Missed Connections stickers @TheShakyExperience" and I had all the temporary tattoos I ordered recently too. I gathered up old CDs, OG Shaky t-shirts, and other random leftover merch we sold over the years. 

WBAL News came to my apartment and did a sit-down interview with me about my upcoming set and fundraising campaign to give back. It was AMAZING! Truly one of the coolest moments of my life talking about my band's history, merch, and goal to give to BARCS. A few days before they came over, I found a big wooden cow that I thought would be funny to have on during my segment. The whole thing is kinda surreal and when it finally aired I jumped for joy and felt so lucky, grateful, and determined for more. 

David Longstreth of Dirty Projectors congratulated me that night. You read right... I found out the airing date of my WBAL News segment on the day of and that night Dave was available to finally do my podcast interview with him about his new album. This day was one of the biggest moments of my life. I was interviewing one of my all time musicians that followed me around in my headphones to EarPods since I was 19yrs old (in 2009). Let me reiterate, the local news station in Baltimore aired a segment on television of me talking about my band performing Baltimore's biggest annual event. That night, I hoped on a Zoom call and talked with one of my favorite musicians of all time for like an hour.  

That's not all...

Alter Eco Snacks sent me several of boxes of their delicious snacks for free. In return, I gave them a product review at the end of my interview with David. It was like the universe was saying yes to all my hopes and dreams. My interview with him exceeded all my expectations and has given me the realization that anything is truly possible. I can't thank him enough for giving me the opportunity to talk with him. If you're unfamiliar with Dirty Projectors, look them up, you're going to find something truly special. 

Listen to my interview with David Longstreth of Dirty Projectors. It originally aired on 97.3FM WRIR radio.

Watch my sit-down interview with WBAL News about my upcoming set at Artscape and fundraiser to giveback to BARCS. 


Highlights:

The biggest event in my hometown, Dundalk, MD is the Dundalk Heritage Fair. This year they were celebrating their 50th anniversary, and the founder himself called to ask if The Shaky Experience would play it. I thought about it hard for a few days, but in the end I had to pass respectfully. They were asking us to do two hours, half our set to be covers, and zero pay. Although, the stage is quite literally very big and it would have been a few streets over from my childhood home, I had to pass. DC's Petworth PorchFest selected us to play their festival this month too, but it got rained out. Thom and I did a super awesome band practice a few days before that sounded amazing tho.

PR for another artist, providing them lots of solid marketing advise and resources for their latest album release. Thnx Cip, glad to have worked with you. Cooked for Eric, Randy, and Don at my new home and the two cats. It was a delightful night of food, drinks, and Shark Tank with the boys. Watched season one of the Righteous Gemstones. Danny McBride is one of the greatest minds in the business. This deserves a watch by all. Led my Canton running group and chose the route for a night. I picked a new challenge for us to take the ferry from Canton Waterfront Park to Locust Point and run back to where we started. In total, I ended with 8.5 miles. It was a great group of runners, everyone loved it. Worked as a BA at the Ravens Draft Party. I got paid to eat unlimited gourmet food and drinks at an open bar, easiest job ever. I don't know why more people don't do this.


AEW was back in town! My friend MW asked if I could get us guest passes as press. I emailed them and not only did I get us passes, but I scored an interview with ROH legend / AEW Star: Mark Briscoe. The show was a blast, it was cool to see all the talents in person again. My favorite moment was watching Samoa Joe vs Platinum Max Caster, two of my all time favorites going head to head. The interview Mark and I did together was so fun and everyone that listens will be entertained. Issei Mochi Gummies sent me a bunch of their very delicious treats in the mail and a big gold bag for free. In return, I gave them a great ad read and product review. Speaking of AEW interviews, I listened to Samoa Joe's interview on CCV podcast. Another incredible listen for fans of the business.

Dirty Projectors and Beirut both released a new album this month. I'll go deeper into music reviews at the end of this blog, but I will say both are unforgettable. If you really can't wait, "Gimme Bread" by DP and "Forest Encyclopedia" by B are the top tracks from each album. Both of these artists are two of my top all time favorites. Ps I tuned in live for the Bandcamp listening party, like it was 2010,  watching David (DP) pop into the comments in real time, answering questions while the songs premiered. 

San Diego tickets purchased and trip planning has started. Frontier split my flight credit in half to use on two different trips, instead of the typical one. This helped me out a ton later this year, stay tuned to find out how.

May

The Shaky Experience performed Artscape 2025.

I wanted to continue to make the most out of being selected to perform this year's Artscape. So, I gathered my temporary tattoos, put in orders for band t-shirts / new stickers that T designed, and did lots of press outreach. This led to more features including my televised interview with ABC2 News, a Q&A with Baltimore Fishbowl and The Dundalk Eagle. I also did an interview with BOPA's Where Artists Thrive Podcast.

Watch my televised interview with ABC2 News.

After auditioning a few drummers, I selected Matt Zorzi to drum for me for our set at Artscape. He previously played the festival 10yrs prior with his band Bloomer. We practiced at his studio in Philly, sounded great and were ready for the big event. Two honorable mentions: Matt & I met back in 2010, The Shaky Experience somehow got booked to play his dorm room at Towson University, so it felt like a full circle moment 15yrs later. While we were in Philly we went to RyBrew (very cool spot) which he showed me a few years ago, before I moved there for a summer back in 2022. 

The day had come, The Shaky Experience plays Artscape 2025. It was one of the most fulfilling and validating moments of my life. Highlights included: playing all the "hits" from over the years,  jumping off stage to fist bump / high 5 attendees while singing a song during Matt's extensive drum solo, 98 Rock Radio introducing us and snapping photos of our set, and of course all the people that came out to watch us play. Another thing worth noting was seeing many iconic Baltimore innovators come out including band members that played Artscape in previous years. 

Once our set ended, tons of fans put on the temporary tattoos and shared our stickers. I sold some t-shirts to donate to BARCS, and had drinks with my friends and grandmother. She said she was so proud of me and that my mom and aunt were looking down on us. It was all such a beautiful moment that I'm so very grateful for. We walked around and checked out all the art and other performances including Big Brother and Robin Thicke 's set.  The whole festival was terrific and I will always cherish the memories I have being apart of it. I am officially an alumni of Baltimore's biggest annual weekend Artscape. I earned this, I deserved this - to be the hometown hero for just one day.

Ps Baltimore Fishbowl featured me in their publication twice this month. The first time was a Q&A about our upcoming set at Artscape. The second time was about my time running the Baltimore Hostel.
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Baltimore to San Diego to Tijuana, MX to Just Like Heaven

Frontier airlines gave me so many vouchers within the past few years. However, this trip was my last 1/2 vouchers I requested to be split in half. I used it to fly to San Diego to meet up with some friends. As I was waiting for my flight at DCA a girl approached me that I met at Couch Crash: Baltimore. She lived in Denver and was heading back home, she asked to take a selfie with me because she recognized my work with 303 Magazine, it was flattering. While we were flying to Denver (a quick layover before SD), the captain notified us of an unexpected landing in Cincinnati. It was due to needing to do a crew change, that messed up many layovers including mine. We flew to Denver, but due to the unexpected landing, I missed my flight to San Diego. I got on the WhatsApp chat with Frontier, but instead of catching the next flight, I decided to hangout with my friends in the Mile High for a couple of nights. My pal in Gila Teen (band) hosted me night one, he comped us Illegal Pete's for dinner, caught up, good vibes. Night two, my gal pal Lynz hosted me which was a bunch of dancing, drinks, ice cream, and chilling with her cat. Both nights were fun and made me miss living in my former city. 


Went to DIA and caught my flight to San Diego. I met my friend Zack that I hadn't seen in 12 years since our days at MICA. Z showed me around Old Town, Ocean Beach, and Terra Bella Nursery. We checked out the eels on the pier by La Jolla, dipped in the water, and wandered around downtown. My Denver friend Joey that is temporarily living in LA as a travel nurse, met us at a rave in SD. We went so hard and had the best night ever. It was an amazing time with two friends I would never expect to meet in a million years, but it turned out great. 



The next morning, Joey and I biked 27 miles in 3 hours to Tijuana, Mexico from San Diego. 

This was AWESOME! Seriously... one of the coolest things I've ever done in my life. We briefly stopped at Trident Cafe in Imperial Beach by the Coronado Railroad sign which was an incredibly beautiful sight to see. Some more miles later, we made it to the boarder of Mexico by bike. This felt pretty crazy, I sorta can't believe we just did this. We entered and no one checked our IDs, literally nobody spoke to us, we just walked into another country with our backpacks and bikes. Rode to Hotel Ticuan, checked in, and got to the main strip of Zona Centro. We were told by multiple people to not leave the main strip because it is heavily dangerous, so we stayed on it mostly. Container Coffee Roasters, Museo Del Taco, and Teorema Brewing are where we ate and drank at. We met a very cool, hipster girl that was a local to the area, she worked at the brewery and gave us solid details on the city. Our legs were done for and it was 2am, just about ready to go to sleep, Joey suggests going to Hong Kong strip club. I'm not the type of person that would ever do this, but it's one with one of my best friends. We're in another country, and I felt like I kinda had to do it for the memories. Caught an Uber, headed over, and it was insane. This place was massive, the vibes were wild, and we saw a guy with an MS13 tattoo on his head that was surrounded by tons of women. We hung out in there for a bit, but finally called it quits at like 430am. We walked across the street to a convince store and the MS13 member went inside too. We freaked the fuck out, this was truly nuts, but nothing happened. We got another Uber back to our hotel, went to sleep, and laughed our asses off the next morning. 

Waited in line with our bikes at boarder patrol back into America. Caught the train to SD, met up with Z in Mid City / Rolando. Joey and I drove from SD to LA that night and he dropped me off at my other Denver friend Vic's apt, that also is a traveling nurse that just moved to the area. Introducing two traveling nurses from Denver that both now live in the LA area was pretty cool. That night, Vic and I went out to a goth bar, had drinks / danced, awesome time. The next day, we searched all over the internet for last minute tickets to Just Like Heaven music festival. We almost got scammed, but somehow in the craziest turn of events we got tickets for cheap and made it in. 

Just Like Heaven was THE BEST !

Vic and I met up with my friend Courtney (that used to live in Denver that I knew years ago, that now lives outside of LA), and a group of her friends. We saw Wild Nothing, Panda Bear, Peter Bjorn and John, Beach Fossils, Tv On The Radio, The Drums, and Bloc Party. The festival closed out with Vampire Weekend playing an incredible set list of so many of my favorite songs and an encore with several of covers that were requested by the audience. It was truly a special time, that I have so much love and gratitude towards. I can't emphasize enough how amazing it was to see so many of my favorite bands with a couple of my best friends. The rest of my time in LA consisted of Vic and I exploring Silver Lake, getting drinks at Gold Bar, having a picnic by the Leaf Erickson state in Griffith Park, and enjoying the beach. Although, I biked 27 miles, it felt like I already lived 27 lives this year.

Throughout the rest of this month,  Puerto Rico Alex organized a community sunset hang at Patterson Park Went to the Kinetic Sculpture race with T. Spent my Memorial Day with my Dad. 

June

One last time - A road trip from Baltimore to Seattle

MW, a friend I've known since 2007. He's extremely spontaneous, ultra charismatic, and depressed af. I personally never have met someone so interesting. He's persuaded me to go on some of the craziest adventures throughout different chapters of our lives. I wrote a big piece about him in the Q&A I did with Shoutout CO earlier this year. In short, he influenced a lot of my adventurous, spontaneous, press, media, and unconventional side. He's very private and it's unlikely for many people to meet him. However, we're best buds so I try to hype him up in any way I can. He pitched this trip as our last shot, stressing to me that we're getting older, times are changing, and we probably won't have another chance like this again. He had just gotten rid of everything he owns except his dog and Honda Fit that he was planning on sleeping in for the foreseeable future. This trek felt like it was going to be an escape from reality to try to find an infinite source of hedonism. The day had come and we hit the road, a few hours into our journey, he had doubts and wanted to turn around and call everything quits. However, we talked things through and made our way to Indiana. We got vegan food at 10th Street Diner and camped out at Ouabache State Park. It was cozy and nice, there's a cool stream steps away from the tent. 


Next big stop was Sioux Falls, SD and I loved it there. I could see myself living there for a summer, it's a small town with a lot of character. Did a big walk around the downtown and saw the amphitheater at Falls Park, a pink limousine parked beside it. Climbed up some boulders in the city at Big Sioux Falls River which was epic. Walked along the bike trail and the sun was massively huge, it felt remarkably close to the city. The whole time there was fascinating and felt unique to any city I've ever visited. Later, we drove to Badlands National Park and camped out. It was so windy that night, it was kinda scary because we were on the side of a cliff in the pitch black dark. Although, it was breathtaking, especially to wake up to. The scenery felt like being on Mars, but with very sparkly rocks surrounding us. There was also wild buffalo wandering around that was truly mesmerizing to see in person as well. We toured the park a little bit, then made our way to Wall Drug. This is a ginormous tourist trip "that has everything", it's kitschy, but fun. My ex gf and I came here almost a decade ago and they still sell the glow in the dark shirt I bought of Mt Rushmore being protected by a group of wolves, hilarious.

Drove to Mt Rushmore, did a big tour of the monuments. This was another pinch me moment, I must be dreaming because I grew up poor and never thought I would make it out of my town, let alone to a place like this twice. The carvings were cool, the walk around the monuments into the woods was great, everything about it felt special to see. Made our way to Billings, Montana. Ate at Spitz Billings, it was delicious with cool interior, I highly recommend it. Camped out in Itch-Kep-Pe-Park, it rained all night, it was cold, my tent flooded, and I couldn't sleep. I dried my clothes in the park's bathroom in the middle of the night and laid under the roof on the outside to get some rest. Although, it sounds bad, I still felt lucky and grateful to be there. In the morning, my clothes were dry and everything felt better. The views of the surrounding area were amazing and I was feeling good again. Headed over to Bozeman, Montana which is beautiful, 10/10 small town. I stayed at Treasure State Hostel, cleaned up, and explored the town. Got tea and bought a super cool shirt from Steep Mountain Tea House, ate at Blackbird for lunch, got ice cream from Sweet Peaks ice cream, and stopped at several thrift stores. Spent the rest of the day wandering around through the neighborhoods and hiked to the top of Peets Hill / Burke Park and the views were astonishing. Side note, earlier in the day MW wanted to try and find John Mayor house and dragged me along, but ended up giving up. He would've been great to work at TMZ in another life. 

Missoula, Montana ! I emailed Shady Spruce hostel asking if they would consider providing a discounted stay for all the work I did for HIUSA. The owner agreed and generously gave us half off a private room that had it's own bathroom and kitchenette. It was one of the nicest rooms I've ever stayed in, truly on another level for hospitality. Chris (the owner) provided incredible recommendations of places to see while in town and offered to meetup later for a beer. MW and I hiked to Waterworks Hill that overlooked the whole city. While walking on the trail, I saw two pretty ladies and ran up to them to say hi. We had chatted for awhile, both of them turned out to be flight attendants with a short layover, got their contact info to reconnect later. MW & I went to explore downtown, I later would get a bike from the hostel and ride all over the city. I met the owner for drinks and had the best time sharing stories of hosteling and general life stuff. He told me a guy unicycled across country during the winter that stayed at the hostel. He mentioned wanting to create a hostel guest exclusive tour bus from Missoula to Glacier to Yellowstone. Most interestingly, he told me about his nonprofit where he gets his students from Missoula University to work in the Solomon Islands to help create electricity in impoverished areas. It was a super fascinating conversation that I'm glad to have had. The next morning, MW and I explored more of the downtown. I absolutely love this place, the river is gorgeous, the bars/restaurants are nice, the art distract is neat, and they have an annual music festival called Zootown Music Festival that I hope to attend next year. It was all great, but it was time to hit the road again. 

Coeur d'Alene, Idaho was the next destination. We stopped to chill out along the lake, it was beautiful. Hiking up in the woods was otherworldly how great the views were. Wandering around this massively large lake, then walking around a posh strip of boutiques felt so good. It was a great stop, but MW wanted to make our way to Seattle next. I do have to confess here now that unfortunately, throughout the trip MW had several of meltdowns and outbursts. Fortunately, none of it was specifically geared towards me. It was more internal battle and tbh, it was pretty challenging to be around at times. Once we arrived to Seattle, he had a very dark moment and it was super confusing what the next steps would be. He sorta excused himself for most of the trip and definitely was internally checked out when we made it to Seattle. I was at a loss of what to do, so I posted a public bulletin on CS. A guy named Bennet in Bellevue offered to host me and I took him up on it. MW dropped me off, but before he did I repeated myself multiple times offering him support in anyway that he needs. Again, he sorta was so checked out, so I gave him space. I met Bennet and he had a huge house with a big spare room that I stayed in upstairs and everything was great. He's a nice guy that is semi retired from his work with both Amazon and Microsoft. He has a convertible that he drove me around in to show me some of the neighborhoods. 

Explored downtown Seattle the next day. It wasn't anything too new being I ran the half marathon with Joey here in 2024 and when I came to town to visit my ex gf's family with her in 2021. Accidentally stumbled upon KEXP which was a huge win. I can't believe I never thought to visit here, but glad for this time that I randomly walked past it. I introduced myself to the front desk as a writer/podcaster/ex radio host and fortunately I met the perfect person, "G". She was super cool, we talked for hours, she gave a tour of the whole building while sharing stories of our time in the industry. She said she saw Nirvana a few times when she was in high school and that she knew Sunny Day Real Estate. Funny enough, I've interviewed the drummer William (SDRE / ex Foo Fighters) and she said she used to party with him all the time. She invited me to a live in studio session featuring Crumb that was happening tomorrow, I went while wearing my The Shaky Experience band t-shirt and it was awesome, I got a few compliments on it. We sat next to each other and nerd out about music and life for so long. Afterwards, I walked outside and did a Food Porno. This is a livestream series I did on The Shaky Experience FB page to cover exciting moments and to recap with cool news. However, FB was deleting all previous archives of users livestreams, so I did one last one outside of the legendary KEXP. It felt full circle in the best way possible. The Green Tortoise Hostel offered to host me for a few nights. They were directly across the street from Pikes Place, so it was super generous for them to give me a comped stay. 

That night, I walked into a Trader Joe's and saw a beautiful girl named C. I started talking with her and we hit it off over our love for TJs. I asked her if she was spontaneous and wanted to go on an adventure, at first it seemed like there was uncertainty because I was a stranger. The store was closing, I got her phone number, and she left. About 5 minutes later, she called me to hop in her car and we had the best night imaginable. Walked along the pier in downtown Seattle, then she took us to Gasworks Park that overlooked the water. At the top of the hill we started talking about spontaneity and being on the water. She said she had a kayak and tested out my spontaneous side now by inviting me to go out on Lake Union. I agreed, we got out the inflatable kayak from her car, set it up, and floated in the water. It was 11pm at night and we were paddling out to the middle of the lake. This was one of the most cinematic moments I had this year, I sorta couldn't believe it. We were out in the water till almost 1am. She dropped me off, but we swore to meet up one more time before I left Seattle to continue my road trip. Throughout the next few days, I went to Bainbridge Island with a friend from last time. Explored Capital Hill and visited the UPS Waterfall, it was all great. The last night I was in town, C and I met up to go on one more adventure to Golden Gardens Park. We vibed out at a beach, starring at the mountains while the sunset was setting. We copiloted the playlist, Tyco's song "Hours" and "Coastal Break" hit so hard in that moment. We were the last ones on the beach, everyone left, and we had the most amazing time. We got up after a while and realized we were locked in, it was romantic absurdity that felt like the final scenes of a rom-com. Somehow we ended up convincing a guard last minute to let us out and that concluded my time in Seattle for now.

MW scooped me, he was so grumpy, it was annoying and I was getting fed up that he didn't want to do anything except lay in his car in the suburbs while looking at his phone. Quick disclaimer, I invited him to literally every single thing I did, but I would get replies like "not interested" and "maybe another day". Although, we did get back on track and made our way to Portland, Oregon on June 30th. I mapped out a plan for us to go through the Red Woods and to be in San Francisco by 4th of July. He disapproved because he was worried about his dog which I understood, but his solution was to be far away from everyone and everything during that time. It was honestly a tough pill to swallow for me. I did agree to it, but was getting restless at how frequent of internal meltdowns he was having and how salty he was getting. I've offered my help to him countless times, but continued to get rejected. I stayed at the Portland Hostel which was amazing. Walked around downtown, bought MW's dog a dog toy and dog snacks, and got Voodoo Donuts for him and I. The owner of the hostel offered to cut my rate and half for the work I did for HIUSA which again was so very generous. The hostel was big, it had a nice cafe connected to it, and there was an open mic to close out my night and the month. Stay tuned for next month for the rest of the road trip.

Throughout this month, I ran 10 miles for the Global Running Day festival in Patterson Park. A girl came up to me during the event and asked "Are you the Pete Davidson Guy?". This will never end and I f'ing love it. I designed a new logo for The Shaky Experience Podcast. Made $250 in an online focus group. Had a few calls for upcoming articles and projects writing with 303 Magazine. A big one was building a relationship with the director of Sofar Sounds Denver (note, I've interviewed the founder of Sofar Sounds on my podcast). It was a great month.

July

Portland to Baltimore to Denver 

Portland, Oregon day two. MW and I hiked Washington Park to Hoyt Arboretum with his dog. While walking around, he said: "you can go back to Seattle if you want", I replied: "I could fly down to wherever you are once you're down to meet up again". 

That night, I linked up with my friend Patrick (one of my original Denver friends that now lives in Portland). Him and I had such a rad time night of catching up while biking around town and bar hoping. We biked 20 miles throughout different parts of the city, a few memorable spots were drinks across from Clinton Theater and Sugar Hill (Sunny Side neighborhood), biking through Lone Fir Cemetery, and wandering around Reed College campus. It was truly a special ride with an old friend that I have a lot of gratitude to have done. The next morning, I felt done with MW's saltiness, it was too much. The hot and cold, the endless silence, and the aggression was much more than I could take. I particularly wasn't enthused by our future plans. He mentioned going to LA to maybe get back with his ex gf and I didn't want to be involved in that mess. It wouldn't be easy, but I had to say goodbye. I was sitting in the hostel, ready to check out to meetup with him. It was really difficult to end the journey with a friend I've known the past 18yrs, but he had changed into a very dark and cold person all of the time and it was giving me anxiety twitches just being around him. We met up, I tried explaining the issues and that I'm still down to fly to wherever he was to meetup later. He had a complete meltdown and threw my things in the middle of the road, drove off, and sent me some very intense messages. I text him again, letting him know if he ever needed me or wanted to comeback to talk I was here for him. That's it, this was the last time we ever spoke. The day was July 2nd, 2025 which also is the 6 year anniversary of my adoptive mom Lisa's passing. 

I quickly went back to the hostel, asked to store my things and donated them my tent. I sat at Couch Park a few blocks away, called friends and family. They were concerned for him, but felt there was nothing left to do. I debriefed, got myself back together and reached out to my friend Patrick. I stayed with him for a night in the Reed neighborhood. Again, we biked around and explored, it was what I needed. The next day, I caught a train from Portland to Seattle and stayed with Bennet again. C, the girl I met at TJs invited me to her friend's 4th of July pool party that overlooked Lake Union. I shotgun beers with her friends and watched fireworks on a very nice pool deck, it was epic. On our way back, got caught in traffic, so I pulled up daring intimate questions to get to know someone thanks to Grok AI, it was fun getting to hear the deep stuff of each other while driving back to her place. That night, we stayed awake till 5am and it was a vibe. We were so exhausted the next day, but were running on fumes of adrenaline and decided to take a trip to Mt. Rainier. 

This was another level of amazingness, the most beautiful scenic hike of all time with a beautiful stranger. We did a long hike that went out to Mount Fremont Lookout Tower that overlooked a massive part of the park. I could go on and on, but the idea is it was basically the most beautiful views in the world. Driving back that night, we stopped in Enumclaw, a town I know too well. My ex gf family is from, that I visited with her in 2021. C told me some hilarious lore of the town and we couldn't stop horsing around with laughter about it. Again, it was another full circle moment that I was excited to close that chapter forever. After finally being rested, we hiked St. Edwards State Park and got in the water for a bit. Later, we got in C's hot tub and everything was so perfect. It was the most ideal way to close out a month of road tripping. Throughout the rest of my time, I walked around Microsoft offices, went to Amazon Go (pay with the palm of your hand), walked around Kinnear Park, hung out at some of the bars and restaurants in Seattle. One day, while I was sitting at KEXP Cafe, my friend Kyle Hartman messaged me to invite me to a secret block party UMS weekend in Denver hosted by his record label. I was ecstatic and knew I needed to get back to Denver now. I used my last Frontier voucher and booked my way out of Seattle and onto new horizons. I was exhausted, but always inspired to do more. Most people don't get to travel this much in a lifetime, let alone in a year. 2025 was at full velocity and I loved it.

The Underground Music Showcase 's last ride.

The UMS' final year was this year, 25 years of hosting thousands of artists to perform an annual festival. I played in 2018, faking a Real World: Denver cast reunion to get people to come out to my set. That was the same year Alvvays, Deer Hunter, White Denim, Frankie Cosmos, two ex members of Panic! At The Disco, and more performed too. I also played the 2020 Covid livestream on their social media which was one of the biggest highlights of that year for me. I've attended the festival every year since 2017 as press, other than the two times I played it. That said, UMS holds a very special place in my heart and I was sad to see it go. 

I arrived to Denver the day before UMS, I crashed with my friend Lyndsay and got us guest passes to see Vinyl Williams (John Williams grandson). Unfortunately, she got sick, so I invited my traveling nurse bud Joey, that happened to be in town. Kyle was there and he was hyping up the Secret Gardens Block Party, all of us catching up was great. VW was amazing live as always, we all hung out after the show and had lots of drinks haha. The next day was UMS weekend, Vinyl Williams co-headlined Kyle's block party the next night which Joey and I watched again. I shared Trader Joe's snack with VW's bandmate Spooky and we talked about DIY touring. Afterwards, we went all up and down South Broadway to see several of the bands that played during the weekend including Pleasure Prince, The Photo Atlas, MF Ruckus, Nico Tobin, and more. I befriended New Constellations and had a super crazy night of drinks and banter with them. My photographer friend Allyson and I did shots together and saw moonpool, it was such a blast. Visiting my good friend Fancy Matthew while he was DJing at his FM Boutique while he was pouring us glasses of Mezcal for us was wonderful too. Frankie & The Witch Fingers by far had the best performance of the weekend, they are punk rock af and I enjoyed every moment of their show, highly recommend checking them out. The main headliner this year was Fidlar (they did a song on Green Days new album) and I got to stand on the main stage while they were performing which was literally just a few feet away from me. Went to a silent disco which was badass. My boss at 303 Magazine invited me to the top of Neon Local that overlooked the main stage from the rooftop for drinks and more music chills. This was my favorite UMS weekend other than the time I played in 2018, it was the greatest memories I had since first attending the festival.

Throughout the rest of my time in Denver, I stayed with different friends and CouchSurfed a bit too. I met an awesome host that bought a truck, renovated it, and turned it into a famous mobile home that was very spacious and nice. I met up with my original Denver friends Hunter, Amos, and James which was nice. Last year, I won a photoshoot via a raffle I signed up for, I finally got to use it and got some really good headshots out of it. I went on a few epic bikes rides and closed out a day with a sunset at Cheeseman Park while hearing Fitz & The Tantrums performing live from Denver Botanical Gardens. Lastly, while working with 303 Magazine, I emailed all the independent music festival directors in Colorado to setup phone calls to help hype up other festivals for artists to perform now that UMS has ended (passing the torch y'all). 


Highlights:

We Are Scientists released their new album Qualifying Miles and are coming to Baltimore in the first time in 15 years. The last time they came to town I got heavily intoxicated with the singer Keith and had one of the funnest nights of my early 20s. I emailed Ottobar and their agent to Kat to see if I could open for them when they come to town especially since I just played Baltimore biggest annual festival this year. More on that later.

Content I enjoyed - Dexter Resurrection aired, loved it. I particularly enjoyed the rapid-split second previous of different cuts of the episode. The series was great! Deftones talked about their new album in an interview w Zane Lowe. Very solid, highly recommend. MDE's Fisktank aired season 4. Damn, I love this show! Extreme, chaotic comedy in an underground web type of way. 

Miscellaneous - I fasted for 44hrs, nothing but water. Trying to detox anything bad out of my body from being away from home for so long. Mailed out postcards of Mt Rushmore and Montana to my closest friends. 

August

Pleasantly still in Denver for a part of this month. Went to Santa Fe art walk, my pal Fancy Matthew DJ'd ESP Hi-Fi's lot next store. There was also girls twirling from ropes as part of an acrobatic performance. The festivities ranged through a huge part of the block. My friends at 700k had a massive abstract showcase that included a projector that presented lots of trippy imagery on a big wall while bands were playing in front of it. Amos and I did local craft BYOB while explored the art walk of oddities of showcases happening all night including a very abstract showing at Aztlan Theater. Sometimes it feels like I'm living a life filled with stories that people would screenshot and send to their friends.

I fasted for 24hrs as soon as I got back from Denver. A few days later, I made my way to Harper's Ferry for a week or so. My friend Brandt that is the GM of Cross Trails invited me up for his girlfriend's music festival, Tomato Jam. This was at their farm which was outside of HF. They had a nice stage, great lighting, and lots of vendors. I hung out with their family friend Dan Hayes that was the former Mayor of Bridgewater, NJ. He was awesome and gave me tons of life advice and had many interesting stories the share. The day after the fest, I drove around on the farm's ATV, then went to the quarry with a girl. We were deep in the water and it started raining. this was a super cool moment. Later in the week, Brandt, his gf, and my other friend went to the Jefferson County Fair Grounds to go on rollercoasters, play carnival games, pet farm animals, and watch a demolition derby. This was truly an experience like no other, it was awesome to see the car crashing madness with my pals. Another memorable part of my time in HF was Brandt gifting me the Potomac Area Council book. This book showcases all the employees, volunteers, and buildings that the organization had from 1954 - 2004. It was awesome to see this because PAC founded the Baltimore Hostel, Cross Trails, Richmond, and more. All of these places played a big role in my development in my twenties. Brandt put me in touch with the organization, so I could share my time in hosteling and offer my skills to see how I could potentially support them. All together, my time in Harper's Ferry was amazing, but it was time for me to come back to Baltimore for the first time in what felt like months. 

Highlights:

I discovered a new alternative community currency called Breadcoin. I led The Baltimore BNote Green Currency and LetsBMore - The Baltimore Timebank, so this very much interested me. I met with the founder / CEO. We spoke at great length on working together to support the growth on his vastly expanding organization. Update: I've since have had several of phone calls with him and we've made major progress since meeting. Stay tuned for more.

Got a new Mac Air 2020 M1 this month. Finally, a new laptop to work on especially with upcoming podcast episodes in 2026.

Guest listed to Thursday at Ottobar, Chevelle at The Anthem DC, Nine Inch Nails at CFG Arena, and watched Taking Back Sunday across from Pier 6. NIN was awesome live, it felt like being in a scene of a 90's goth club in the movie The Matrix. That experience was truly wild and so rad. Boy Noize opened the show and that was fantastic as well. TBS live was particularly great because Fred is back in the band, so that carried a lot of nostalgia for all attendees. Saw Chevelle and stayed with a CS host at The Garrett in DC which is an extremely fancy building. I chilled out in the rooftop hot tub and sipped on drinks while working from my laptop the next day. Thursday (band) was good as per usual. 


Ordered new stickers "S.E.X - Shaky. Experience. xXx ... everyone enjoys it". They were stolen by some porch pirates, but Sticker Mule was so awesome and printed new ones and sent them to me for free. It's honestly kinda hilarious someone stole the package thinking it would be valuable, but instead found those stickers. 

I submitted "Bird Lady" a short film Thom made during The Shaky Experience's More Famous Than Food era. It premiered at Current Space to a sold out crowd which was awesome. Thanks to all my friends that came out too. 

Went to my first and only Orioles game this season w Jeff & his gf, went on a super amazing date with a girl named Emily after that.

Did a marketing job with Stand With Crypto then saw Grammy award winning artist Logic perform after that. Made another $250 in focus group money, keeping the side hustles alive.

303 Magazine Music IG has 15.7k followers that I now manage that too. On the phone, I spoke with Lafayette Music Festival, Cowapalooza, and Psychs Peak about setting up Q&As to help hype up their independent music festivals. 

September

We Are Scientists returned to Baltimore for the first time since 2010. As I was mentioning earlier, I got super drunk with the band in Metro Gallery's parking lot the last time they were here. 15yrs later, I interviewed WAS a few days before and released the episode on the day of their show. They put me on the guest list with a +1. They were phenomenal and played all my favorite songs. After the show, I caught up with the whole band and reminisced about their last time here. I gave them BNotes, my I Read Craigslist: Missed Connections stickers, and The Shaky Experience temporary tattoos. We all hugged and said goodbye as they hit the road to continue their tour. Frankie & The Witch Fingers put me on the guest list to their show at Ottobar. I saw them in Denver in the summer, so it was cool to catch them again in my other home, Baltimore. They are so high energy, bad ass, that deserve a listen from anyone reading this. After their set, the band expressed interest in doing an interview in the near future. Lightning Bolt played Union Craft Collective. I've seen them several times, but they never get old. Raw, chaotic energy, loud, unapologetic fun. A drummer with an absurd mask covering his face that holds a microphone in it to also do vocals. Caught up with him and Dan Deacon after the show, it's always nice to be recognized and remembered by DIY legends. Deftones @ CFG Arena were so, so, so good! I think they may be my favorite band of all time, if not one of my top 3. Chino fuses metal, intensity, and sexy so seamlessly into the band's lyricism. I could ramble forever on how good they are, but the overall note is that everyone should see them live and listen to their music because they are the true modern day GOAT.

Did more PR for artists, making that side hustle money. I revised my PR package to include 200 PorchFests across the country that any band can apply to play (this took me several days to put together). This is very solid for bands on tour that want a big drawl in other cities. The porch fest organizers promote and do the press in advance. The Shaky Experience played Ema's Corner Baltimore, a new music venue in town. I try to only book shows at venues we haven't played before and this hit the spots. Friends came out, drinks were had, and our merch was sold. Thom & I played a few old TSE songs that we haven't played since 2013 as a special treat to our fans.

"Star Pupil" a new music video I released this month. Premise: I took a bath for the first time in 20 years, so I filmed it. That's it, watch now.

Random - I emailed my favorite AEW star Platinum Max Caster about setting up an interview. He replied, so something may be in the works soon. I watched Million Dollar Extreme documentary, it was very inspiring. I'm a big fan of Sam and Nick, so I emailed them my EPK to give them an overview in the chance they need new people on their team. Speaking of, I watched more of their show FishTank by MDE which is so wild in the most humorous ways. Grateful they put me on the guest list to see them live last year. Been wanting to try AG1 for a while and finally saw an ad that it was available at Bluestone in DC, very delicious. I biked around DC the rest of the day including the White House and a pit stop in Trader Joe's. I saw a beautiful girl inside that I briefly spoke with that I later would write a Craigslist: Missed Connections about it. Note, I also put up one of my stickers outside to encourage other people to do the same at that TJ's. Finished the new season of Dexter, his brother Brian made a return that I've been wanting for many years, so that was fulfilling. On my late, adoptive mom's birthday, Jeff and I went to Tio G's Empanadas for dinner and used Breadcoin to pay for the whole meal. This felt like a great celebration of her life because she deeply supported my work with The Baltimore BNote which Jeff & I led. Now that there is a new currency in town, this felt like the right thing to do with the right person on the right day.

Dating someone new - J has a history with a famous NHL player, was interviewed on WYPR News for a project she led, and her family worked for a big news station in the Middle East. This month we snuck into an infinity pool @ Mill No. 1 for 2.5hrs till we finally got kicked out. Did a date night at Clavel while a mariachi band played live in the background. Went to a psychic reading in Philly and later had drinks in old bumper cars at Tattooed Mom's. Sailed on boats at the Baltimore Peninsula / closed out the night by joining a caner memorial lantern parade. 

One of my best friends, James Merrill sent me an absolute insane video he made with a OP-1 Field Portable Synthesizer. It's a weird string of texts he received that he later turned into a hilariously funny song (maybe, I'll upload it later). James also likes to prank me, so he finally updated a website that has our art on it called https://www.tinylittlegrandma.com . Ps his ridiculous music he sent me inspired my to make weird sounds on Google Chrome Music Lab. 

303: Psychs Peak Music Festival Q&A. I did another interview with a CO independent music festival's founders to help raise awareness especially now in the upcoming absence of their biggest annual festival, The UMS.

October

October 1st was my first official day at the Potomac Council. After 6 months without consistent work, I finally have a remote job again. I've been fully remote since March 2020 and hybrid since May 2018, so it would take a lot for me to not be in this exclusive club anymore. On this day, it was also my 19 year anniversary of being vegetarian. I celebrated these two milestones by registering for a race outside of Harper's Ferry. The girl I've been seeing J and I went to HF that weekend to explore the town and do the race. We stayed at Cross Trails and enjoyed a campfire out back of the hostel that night. Next morning, I ran a half marathon at the Freedom Run Race in Shepherdstown, WV. I finished with a time of 1:44:23 and checked off another state off my bucket list. Throughout the rest of our time there, I met up with my employer at Harper's Ferry Brewing. Went with one of my superiors for a long hike in the George Washington forest to the Paul Gerhart Shelter, it was epic. Earlier that day, we stopped at Wardensville Garden Market which has a super, extremely cool selection of unique food items and gifts (seriously). On my way back to Baltimore with my superior, we stopped at the building where the Baltimore Hostel was. He reveled that he cofounded the Baltimore Hostel and was there when Mayor Donald Schafer declared July 8th, 1983 as Baltimore Hostel Day. It was surreal being with one of the cofounders, as I was one of the last people to work for what he created. Somehow, the door was unlocked to the building. We sneaked in and wandered around the building we both had lots of memories in. I found a map that the hostel had that I always secretly wanted and since it was left in this abandoned building for the last 5 years, I finally took it and it felt like an indie archaeologist heist being in there. That moment with him and I exploring the building together for the first and last person to see it together was special. 

The Baltimore BNote, a physical community currency I led for many years has been sitting around inactive for a while. The founder Jeff is a very close friend / mentor of mine. After a lot of thought, he assigned me as the treasure to the backing fund and assign me back to The BNote Facebook page. This felt very right being I was one and still am the most enthusiastic person about the project. Truly, I may still be the only person to talk about it regularly. Throughout this month, I continued to have many conversations the founder of Breadcoin (currency) about working together. Speaking of currencies...

I attended former United States Presidential candidate, Andrew Yang's no phone party in Philly. I connected with Andrew multiple times throughout the night - giving him a ton of BNotes, a few of my stickers, and swapping ideas for the future. AY is my number one candidate, he represents me in everything that I believe in. UBI, Data Dividend, Rank Choice Voting, and community currencies are a few major projects I would like to see our country have. Him and I nerded out about both interviewing members of The Strokes (him - Julian, me - AHJ), our favorite AEW stars, and favorite band's including both liking We Are Scientists. Andrew is truly the coolest guy and his team that were there was amazing. They had an open bar tab for all attendees, random people were socializing together since phone's weren't allowed, there were tons of disposable camera photos taken, it was awesome. Ps he introduced me to the cofounders of Dumb Wireless, both very cool people. That night, I stayed in a private room at Apply Hostel, that was comped by the owner. He remembered all the word I did for the Baltimore Hostel and admired what I'm presently doing with the Potomac Council. Worked from Cherry Street Pier and got food from Pennsport Beer Boutique. That night, I went to a pal's Halloween party in Ridley's Delight. I was pretty hyped up on myself and felt like I am the real deal after. I did a little bit of self mythology on my way back. Never felt too baggy, but did hype myself up as the real deal throughout these experiences.

Did a BA job for Google and Verizon. Making great money to do so little, I'll take it. While at the latter, I met former Raven / Super Bowl winner Duane Starks. We talked for a while about entrepreneurial projects and swapped contact info. I may be doing marketing and helping with branding for a project he's launching in the future.

Random - Halloween, (dressed up as Mick Foley's) I went to ATP Fest at Current Space. I met the founder of the festival while there which was super cool. Coincidentally, he performed the first year of the fest with a band called The Skunks that did The Monks covers while dressed as skunks. I was there for that in 2014 and it was so cool. Chris Schafier Clothier is a business in Baltimore that makes fancy suits for celebrities. The owner is a DIY, art punk at the core, but dresses spiffy now in modern time. He hosted a rad party with unlimited free drinks, food, DJs, and a magician. I gave the magic man some BNotes and he looked like he was at a loss for words,  he absolutely loved it to say the least. I started taking enzymes and probiotics this month to start helping with my GI issues, its been helping. Beach Fossils came to Baltimore - my friend that is the drummer in the band, put me on the guest list, so I got to catch up with them which was nice. I hung out with them last year when they headlined The UMS Denver - both times were great. Played a lot of open mics, hammering out new solo songs live. Attended Open Doors Baltimore and got to explore a bunch of very cool old buildings in the city, that night I went to the Halloween lantern parade. Spent a lot of time with my Grandmother this month being her birthday and she is my last living immediate family member.

Had the best date night this year by going to Locust Point to walk around and watch the sunset. Had dinner at the best pizza place in Baltimore, Matthew's Pizza. Ate it on the patio at a boutique style liquor store called On The Rox, went to a psychic in Highland Town afterwards where I had my palms read. Closed out the night by watching The Disaster Artist, perfect night.

"Desirable Locations". A new music video I released this month. Premise: rapid-split second photos I took throughout the years of locations that are desirable. Lyrically, I love this song.

November

A holiday came up, so there was an extra chunk of free time this month. Went to Harper's Ferry for the Hostel Hoedown, that was an incredible time. One of the artists sang an ironic gospel like song to "like & share" as the main chorus which I found funny. While here, we enjoyed a campfire, went to a skull cave, explored Gathland State Park (very beautiful, check it out). Left HF and drove down south west to explore Luray Caverns. This was incredible and sorta eire, but in the best way possible. Nature's natural beauty in a gigantic cave was thriller to see. J helped me film a music video in it which was very sweet and helpful. Afterwards, I drove us around Shenandoah National Park which was truly stunning. I can't say enough good things about this, so think of any adjective to describe the word amazing. The views were top notch and the experience to hike and explore there was incredible. Got back to Baltimore, fasted for 72 hours, only eating 1 very small meal each day. Got back in the car and drove to Richmond, VA to run the half marathon. The night we got to town, we ate a GWAR Bar and walked around Carry Town, the next morning I ran the race. The support from people coming out to watch was on point, hearing all the cheers and reading the signs definitely helped. The experience was fantastic and I enjoyed the heck out of being a part of it. According to Strava, my finishing time was 1:51:07, I'll take it. The rest of the day, we thrifted, got delicious food from Don't Look Back, and explored more of the town. Highlights were Devil's Lettuce, Cobra Cabana, and Monroe Park. We closed out our 7 days + in Virginia by going to Libby Park and watching the football games over dinner at Station 2 Richmond which was amazing, super good staff. That was an incredible week of VA!

Attended ADMO PorchFest with my J and my friend Zach. We wandered around the festival I previously had played on a nice Fall day. Byob drinks in hand, live music, and cool outfits. We met Matt Lesko (look him up) at his porch where he was hosting bands and it was awesome! Earlier that day, I listened to JRE's interview with Elon on AI, it fascinating to learn about.


303 Magazine let go of all of their writers. Unfortunately, the publication is switching out all their content to AI articles and paid ads. Fortunately, I'm still managing their Instagram account. I gathered up several of contacts over the years via email and informed them of this and that I still do independent reporting with my podcast and 97.3FM WRIR. Always keep your options open!

Celebrated my grandmother's 82nd birthday by taking her out to dinner at Papi's. We ended the night by watching live music at Cat's Eye Pub which was a real treat for her. It felt special being she is the only immediate family I have.

Donated J's clothes to Healthcare For The Homeless and tons of protein bars to St. Luke's Church. I'm mentioning this because giving back is important. I'm hoping to encourage others to do the same. 


"Weekend Boyfriend". A new music video by yours truly! Premiers: me being silly in the caves of Luray Caverns.

"Club Risk" my latest album was released on LimeWire 11/28/25. I performed at The Baltimore BNote house, holiday party. Lyrically this albums hit so hard with songs like "Star Pupil", "Desirable Locations", "Weekend Boyfriend", and "Personal Taboos". Enjoy!

I've ran 600 miles in 89 runs in 2025.

December


12/05/1989 my birthday

My top 10 moments of 2025 (continued)


6. Spending the first week of the New Year in Puerto Rico in a boutique hotel steps away from the beach

7. 7 days of Virginia - Harper's Ferry Hoedown, Driving through Shenandoah, Luray Caverns, running Richmond Half Marathon.

8. Career - managing 303 Magazine's IG, getting hired remotely by Potomac Council, becoming the treasurer of The Baltimore BNote. 

9. Andrew Yang, no phone allowed party in Philly. Hanging out with my hero, the former presidential candidate of the United States was insane. 

10. Tons of blogs quoting my interview with AEW star Orange Cassidy. afterwards, being comped tickets to their televised show. 

Beach Day in PR

Pocket Sized Life Hacks

It's We and Us, not You and I - vocabulary makes a difference. We've found using we and us, instead of you and I has made our conversations flow better and has given an inclusive way of communicating to others. It almost feels like it hacks the brain into feeling like "we" did that thing together or between "us"that moment was special.

Enzymes and Probiotics and Fasting - Gut health is so underrated and responsible for how we feel on most days. Enzymes to help with digestion, probiotics to heal the gut, and fasting to detox the body. All three assisting in reducing inflammation and boosting longevity. I fasted a few times this year for 24hrs + and felt great doing it.

Daily Gratitude List - I started my daily gratitude list on July 2nd, 2019, the day my adoptive mom, Lisa passed away. Updating this everyday has changed my life and given perspective on how lucky I am to be alive. Instead of updating it with arbitrary words like "love" or "good weather", I write 7 to 8 specific words from the day. I.e "Writing 2025 Blog, hangout w X, run 7 miles". I am grateful for all those things, they're relevant to my day, and it feels like it has more meaning.

Live life like a documentary crew was filming you 24/7. I have a list of mantras below my daily gratitude list that I read every night before I go to sleep. One of them asks "Am I being the person I want to be right now, why or why not?", this positions me for self inflicted interrogation. It's been a great mental exercise to stay in check, not because I have to, but because I want to. Demonstrating a level of leadership to set for others, as if I was being filmed is one of the ways I aspire to live life like and to be described by others.

Mortality - we are all going to die, so live like it. Most things are unlikely without risk, so take risk often. Be uncomfortable and stop at nothing to accomplish goals and milestones within our lives. Visualize your aspirations and make notes of it for our future self. Ask why you want and need the things you aspire to have and once you have an answer, go get it.

A few sides - reusable water bottle, yoga before runs, updating phone's notes often, mirroring others with a good vibes aura, and prayer

Aspirations - More time in Santa Fe, NM. Back to Denver again. Extensive visit to Seattle. Podcast into short form videos. Interviewing polarizing figures. Play a new independent music festival. Fix gut health for good.


Sioux Falls, SD sunset

My top favorite songs released in 2025

3 words to describe each song

1. Deftones - private music (Locked Club, Infinite Source, Cut Hands) - loud, intense, sexy
2. Dirty Projectors - Gimme Bread - cinematic, orchestral, narrative
3. Beirut - Forest Encyclopedia - magical, ghostly, intimate
4. We Are Scientists - The Big One - OG indie pop 
5. All American Rejects - Easy Come, Easy Go - nostalgia, madness, throwback
6. Frankie & The Witch Fingers - Fucksake - high energy punk
7. Chevelle - Wolves - heavy - thrilling, purposeful, precise
8. Slim Guerilla - In The Game Like Wayne - smooth, word play
9. Buscabulla - Te Fuiste - Latin, curious, pop 
10. moon pool - Autumn - 90s, alternative goth

Honorary songs that didn't come out this year that I played on repeat an embarrassingly amount of times - 

Empire Of The Sun - I'll Be Around
Pictureplane - Sex Trigger
Tycho - Dye
Deftones - Entombed
No Doubt - Hella Good
Adore - Did I Tell You That I Miss You
Pleasure Prince - Dynasty Rich
Charli XCX - Ha Ha Ha
t1mbus - Dream
DJ Sacred - Execute Me Gospel

My Top 5 podcasts of 2025

Pardon My Take
Huberman Lab
Diary Of A CEO
Insight With Chris Van Vilet 
JRE

James, who did you interview this year on your podcast?


            CITIZENS!, Mark Briscoe, David Longstreth of Dirty Projectors, We Are Scientists

                                                                     Listen here.

Issei Mochi Gummies and Alter Eco were my show sponsors this year.

                                I wrote several of articles with 303 Magazine, that can be read here.

Music









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


Thnx for reading,
- James Richard Lane 

Photo of the year: Mt Rainier July 5th, 2025

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