Ten Years.

Let me share with you what this moment is like. I am sitting at my dining room table listening to The Colour and the Shape (my favorite album OF ALL TIME, it is on HEY JP right now) with a glass of chardonnay, stomach comfortably satisfied with pasta, and a HEART OVERFLOWING WITH GRATITUDE. So much that I have no choice but to sit here and write about it. There are all kinds of things I need to do to prepare for tomorrow, there is more work on my website I could do, there are books I want to read, there was a phone call I would have loved to stay on for just ten more minutes.... but there is nothing else I can do but write about the significance of TODAY, October 25, 2010.

Today is the TEN YEAR anniversary of my first FOO FIGHTERS show. Ten years ago AT THIS VERY MOMENT I was falling in love. Hard. I swear, it changed something in me. Ever since that night I have held them to be my favorite band in LIFE. I still stand by that 100%. I'm not saying they are better than bands like the Beatles or Zeppelin, I know musically they are not, but I still connect with their music more, and nobody can argue with that.

So, October 25, 2000. I was in my last year in college. I liked the song Everlong and that was enough reason for me to see this band. My friend Mark and I got tickets to the show at Universal Amphitheater. I had an exam the next day so I asked Mark to drive so I could study in the car but I was so excited I could not concentrate. I was in such awe of their performance that I don't remember much. What sticks with me most was the feeling I came home with. I truly believed I experienced something extraordinary, and I came home and wrote this in my journal:

"Today was one of the best days of my life. I hope I will always remember how amazing it was. It's something about seeing real people onstage and hearing what they are playing at that moment that gives me this feeling. The best part was that they played Everlong last and it was so beautiful, I felt like I didn't have the capacity to enjoy it completely. I cannot imagine my life without music and people to enjoy it with."

I went back for that feeling 30 times more since then, and they delivered each time. A year after that I got to meet Dave Grohl and that event lead me to meet one of my best friends and that lead me to really experiencing my appreciation for music at it's full potential and having what I said I wanted- a life of music with people to enjoy it with. And this life I have right now..... this is it, this is all of that.

Time is a strange concept to ponder. On that day in 2000 Dave Grohl was the age I am now. I was just 20 and hadn't a clue about life, and I'll probably say the same thing about my present self ten years from now. But in these past ten years so much has happened, and I gotta say that I am pretty proud of sticking with my love for Foo. Of all the changes I went through, the struggles of trying to figure out my path in life through my 20's, the failed relationships, the hard work, the moving around, the mountain I climbed to become a musician myself..... I stuck with this love and it served me well. With all the rollercoasters and restlessness I experienced, it's nice to know I am able to feel the same way I did ten years ago. Even if they did disappoint me on a couple albums or when other people thought they weren't cool anymore or when their setlists stayed the same. It never faded. I can close my eyes, imagine being at that show, and I can still feel the butterflies.

Now that "music and people to enjoy it with" is the normal for me, I put out a new hope that this lasting of feeling of love and happiness, for the things that matter most to me, translates into all areas of my life.

Kudos to Dave, Taylor, Chris, and Nate. Your music opened so many doors for me. A million times, thank you.