[my ny]

friday - brooklyn

after a brief pitstop at good burger near union square, danny and i headed to his place near the marcy avenue stop in brooklyn. danny's planning on moving to tokyo, and he wanted me to take a few books off his hands.

out of all the books i borrowed, i've been eating up seth godin's tribes. i've been reading it religiously on the morning commute to work. godin's writing is clever and very straight-forward. other titles i borrowed were blink by malcolm gladwell and how to win friends and influence people by dale carnegie. i'll get to them i swear.

saturday - studio day #1

i took the train to manhattan and headed to one east studios, home to acts such as earl greyhound, the beastie boys and david lee roth. we punched in the final piano-driven tracks.

jay's new song easy was, well.. epic to say the least, while the retake of you're not enough for my friend has remained an earworm in my head for days. we're definitely growing as artists. i can't wait until we drop this album to the masses.

we ate at pacquitos (28th st between lexington and 3rd) for dinner. scarfed down a maria burrito and called it a night.

sunday - studio day #2

the agenda for sunday was the guitar-driven tracks. friendzone has grown a cult-youtube following. the band has been shooting ideas with hydroponikz for a potential music video (*crosses fingers*). picture perfect, which will be uploaded this week, is shaping up to be the next big hit in my opinion. yup, i'm totally calling that right now.

we grabbed lunch at rickshaws dumplings (off 23rd between 5th and 6th) and ended the night new york burger co.

a weekend in the studio has become my junk food haven. bring on the calories and creativity.

monday - alexa chung

flash was able to score tickets to see it's on with alexa chung live monday morning. more than anything, it was the first time i ever took the staten island ferry into manhattan (see casey, i give credit where credit is due.)

the guests were diddy (formerly known as p.diddy, puff daddy, puff diddy?) and jamie lynn seigler of sopranos fame. both were about 5 feet away from us. both were about 5 feet away from the only asians in the entire room.

afterwards, we caught a quick bite at gray's papaya, discovered soho, and finally headed to royal crown back at the island for dinner.

music and food are essential for the diet of life, and i'm a glutton for good times.

[soldiering on]

We came, we saw, we conquered...

...and the end has never tasted so…bitter.

Weeks of blogTV, rehearsals, and songwriting was well worth the wait. It was our first show as a full-band in over a year, and I'll admit it was more nostalgia than anything. I've been playing with John and Jay ever since I was 17, and I felt I've grown so much since then. I still have a lot more to go. A lot more to deliver.

A packed house off Bleecker St can really put things in perspective.

Other than that, I've also come to the realization that I want to live near a body of water. The sea preferably, although this kiddie pool we still have at the apartment could suffice..

..I kid.

I spent the 4th of July at Baltimore's Inner Harbor. Despite a few rough edges around the city, the Inner Harbor is probably one of the most underrated cities the country. From Philipps seafood, seeing an old man in a barong, eating Baltimore calamari (yes, I'm a sell-out), to even riding a duck tour (yes, I'm a tourist to boot), the family vacation was very rewarding.

I also got the chance to visit NY's South Street Seaport with FLASH Eboard. It's been awhile since I've seen that part of Manhattan at night.

I wish they knew how humbled I am to work with all of them. We're not only working, but bonding. It's almost as if Casey and I became the surrogate FLASH mom and dad this summer.

I got my blessings, and I'll count them well.

To end this ridiculously massive entry, here's a clip from the jam session at Christine's bonfire from Sunday. My life needs more spontaneity like this.

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