Speaking of local DIY bands... A while ago I helped record a cover of Rancid’s “Roots Radicals” by another friend’s punk/ska band Seven Thirty Seven. My friend Mike from Accidentals and I did the chorus along with the “whoas” and “yeah, yeah, yeah”. So I guess now begins my new career of singing backing vocals for punk covers.

On The Cinder are a few of the many friends i’ve made since getting involved with the DIY music community here in Buffalo. A three-piece punk band hailing from “The Flower House” (where I stayed before moving in with (e:yesthatcasey)), they’ve been huge supporters of me and never hesitated when I needed help in any way. This is a music video that we shot on a weekend in early July. Included in it are cameos from local DIY artists and musicians (including me!) who keep our scene going strong. We might not have a lot of money or get much in terms of press, but we sure as hell put the most heart and soul into what we do.

A perk of being involved with the DIY music community in Buffalo is that I’ve had the opportunity to befriend a lot of musicians within the area. An even bigger perk is when they’re in local bands with a strong visibility in the media and a strong following of fans. A friend of mine’s band is playing a New Year’s Eve show at Nietzsche’s this year; one that will no doubt get some pretty big press leading up to it. The only downside with my line of work so far is that I haven’t gotten the exposure I need to make this take off and make a living off of it (believe me, I’ve tried repeatedly to get a local music blog to take notice of what we do to no avail even if they say that they dig what we do as DIY’ers). With that said, I love my friends within the punk scene; they’re the ones who’ve been my biggest supporters bar none and plug my work whenever they can. If anything, I’m really hoping that the finished product will have the various local outlets take me seriously as a DIY artist. I’m keeping the final details of the show secretive in a half-assed way only until the final poster is done, so until that enjoy these two sketches and their respective inked versions as “teasers” for what it might look like. Yes, that stegosaurus is wearing a pair of sunglasses. I’m pretty psyched.

It was over 13 years that I went without riding a bike, let alone owning one. A friend of mine had one sitting in his house he wanted to give me, but it just needed some work done. Summer got busy for both of us, so it took him roughly 3 months for him to get it into (mostly) rideable shape. I just needed to buy new inner tubes (which (e:yesthatcasey) and our other roommate Brad taught me how to replace) along with a new rear wheel and brakes. All that was needed was a bike lock which came in the mail a few weeks ago. It’s definitely towards the end of normal bike season, but with my car currently out of commission it provides an alternative to walking and public transit. For the past week or so I’d do small trips of a little over 5 miles just because I haven’t been in the swing of bike riding for over a decade. Yesterday (e:paul), (e:joe), Casey, and myself went on a bike ride on what promised to be the last nice day of the year to do so. All together I think we rode for about 2 hours and anywhere between 13-15 miles total. On the way home, Casey and I stopped at Lloyd’s Taco Truck for dinner and rode back the apartment. It was a good bonding experience and I’m happy I got a chance to enjoy the beautiful weather. I’m really proud of myself for being able to keep going the entire time, and my only complaint was that my seat is godawful and needs replacing. I probably wont get much use out of my bike until next spring/summer, but when that time comes I’m looking forward to taking advantage of it any moment I can.

Last Thursday was my birthday so I turned the big 27 on September 11th. A day made infamous 13 years ago and again chosen to be my sister’s wedding day in 2009, it’s not far off to say that I don’t have the chance to do much of anything on it when it comes around. My day started out with my mom treating me to lunch, an event that usually coincides with celebrating my sister’s wedding anniversary as well. It was originally planned to be just my mom and I, but my sister and youngest niece joined us as well. Lunch was filling and my mom presented me with both new towels and sheets for my new bed (which is on layaway and still waiting to get paid off).

My next stop was to the Book Arts Center, the non-profit I’ve been volunteering at for 2½ years. We have a tradition where we split gourmet cupcakes to celebrate everyone’s birthdays as a way of celebrating. Two of the staff wished me a happy birthday before-hand and when I arrived, while the last one did as an afterthought after we locked up and he rode off on his bike. They didn’t do anything for my birthday and I immediately felt super bummed. Maybe I was more hurt because it was something I was really looking forward to, but it just seemed like they didn’t care enough to even bother. (Side note: I went in the next day to finish up some projects and nothing was said by anyone about it.)

(e:yesthatcasey) had asked me earlier in the week to let him know how I wanted to celebrate, so I told him all I wanted was a nice, chill evening spent relaxing. Casey, our roommate Brad, and I began the evening playing Castle Risk with the aid of some quality vodka. (e:terry) stopped by shortly after to partake in our mellow night. Casey dominated in Castle Risk and (even with helpful advice from Terry) he wiped out my castle before overpowering Brad in any chance of retaliating from his attack. As our night continued someone mentioned playing frisbee; while I cannot remember how it came up we all decided it would be best to play out on Colonial Circle at around 1:30 AM with three frisbees in hand. It was a perfect night to be outside and even with our delayed reaction to catching or misguided accuracy at throwing, we had a good time. Terry headed home and the three of us crashed, not worrying about waking up any time soon.

I’m still a bit bummed that I didn’t get a chance to celebrate my special day with friends and family with a cake (or cupcake substitute) purely out of the symbolic thought behind it. Maybe it’s dumb because in retrospect it’s such a tiny tradition and not what birthdays are all about. Regardless, I didn’t let that ruin my day in any aspect. I had a great night bonding with my roommates and Terry, and it solidified the fact that I am now somewhere I belong living with some pretty great people.