the cadence of destiny

thanks to a huge co-sign from cliff skighwalker, i figured i might as well return the favor & shine some light on a few people who have had an instrumental role in me getting over the stigma of blogging. for as long as i can remember, i've been a writer. with my parents moving out of the house we grew up in, i've had the opportunity to rediscover long lost notebooks from my grade school days, filled with a young buck's longings, hopes & desires. anyway, here are a few of the people who have influenced/inspired me to actually write for an audience outside of me, myself & i & to make my words public. a 'thank you' doesn't even begin to suffice, so here goes, in no particular order...

1. brother

even if i hadn't taught him most of the things he knows, i still would be in awe of his attention to detail & knack for spotting/hearing/calling out everything you wish you knew about 6 months ago. a consummate forward thinker, the title says it all: style/truth/soul

2. skighwalker

entering my second year of the ELife, i had seen cliff around campus a few times. it's impossible not to notice the kid. always wearing at least one thing to make your head do the double-take & give you serious neck whiplash, cliff exudes style, confidence & an openness that has you wondering why you don't know him already.

it's funny how certain people enter your life. i tend to keep my circle close & consider myself to be more of an introvert/private person. in typical dorm fashion, i was playing the "who has the loudest speakers on the floor" game with the new (at the time) jay z song, blue magic. after playing it for about the third time in a row, my door gets kicked the fuck in & i hear: "OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I KNOW YOU'RE NOT PLAYING THIS RIGHT NOW!"

with an introduction like that, how could the kid not be one of my best friends/favorite people from the ELife?

cliff obviously never listened to his mom when she told him to keep his hands off the stove....if it's not hot, he doesn't touch it & has the blisters for proof.  "OHHHH LORRRRRD!"

3. cope

the only appropriate way to convey to all four of my readers how i view cope would be as a second brother. one of my oldest and closest friends, i'd be pressed to think of a situation we haven't gotten ourselves into (and if we were lucky enough...out of) over the years. having relocated to chicago for school, it's been an honor & pleasure to see some little shit i used to have to open bags of chips for (actually, i still do) develop a voice that is both independent & confident. currently interning for author/blogger/commentator giselle zado wasfie, jamie d's about to make big moves in the blogosphere & beyond. now if only i could convince him to keep updating his own blog....don't sleep.

4. m. bast

it's probably appropriate that chuck bast is batting clean-up on this post. quite possibly the tipping point in my getting serious about anything but a, ms. bast's encouragement & praise finally pried off the shell that had been surrounding my thoughts & words. plus the girl has more character/personality/style than she knows what to do with. follow her creativity here.

alright, enough with the feelings...you get the point. and if you don't, it's your loss.