Boys like you are overrated.

Here I am. In the city that was the first trip of my past, my immediate present, and perhaps my future. You never know what that crazy thing we call the future holds. The other day I was sitting in a meeting when someone was speaking to an artist that I work with. They were talking to them about some big decisions coming up in their career and how to choose which publishing company/record label/everything else is just right for them. They were speaking of a certain publishing company and the history of the building that this business is housed in. You could tell that this person was very passionate about music, the city's history and what she had known to happen in that building's past that likely defined much of what that genre of music is today. She eluded to the fact that when entering that building you feel a "presence." You can feel the "magic exude from the walls." She didn't directly ask the artist if they had felt this special sensation when visiting the building but insinuated that if they hadn't, it may not be the place for them. I stood with my back against the wall listening to this speech thinking some people are half crazy while others are in tune with things I could never imagine. I've been to places before that made me feel this way, but the feeling faded quickly. It was more about excitement and building up to expecting something than and actual overwhelming sensation that came over me. I contemplated, then let it flee from my mind and went on with my day.

Today I am sitting in the city that nurtured some of the best music I've ever fallen in love with. I don't fall in love with things because I'm told to, or because I think I'm supposed to. It just happens. A few years ago, my heart was healed after you let me down. I've never been the same. It began a snowball effect and I'm in so deep that I've learned how to cry again. There are two cities that make me feel like this. There are two bands that emerged from those places. Two bands that changed my point of view and made me feel alive again. Two bands that allow me to drown in them, without any permission, without any reciprocation. One way is fine. If it's only one way, you can never get hurt.

Tonight, even though we were lost, even though we didn't know if it was safe, we were sitting at a red light, just under and overpass and a familar building, that I had never seen before, felt like it smiled back at me as I let my teeth show. The music drowed out the sound of my heart beat and I didn't care that we had no idea where we were or what was going on. I felt safe. I felt like I was a part of something bigger than me. I felt like, even though you may have never crossed paths with this building in youf life, that your spirit radiates in this city. I'm connected with it and I feel it. If an entire city can make me feel like a cool breeze just calmed my fears, let me advise you that if a tiny building doesn't knock you off of your feet, perhaps it's not the place for you.

I've yet to see more than a few venues and bars but damnit, I love this city. It was the first runway that I ever landed on while it was someone else's last. This may just be a silly lullaby, but it's easier to heal broken hearts with music and it's easier to sleep when the person sleeping beside you isn't begging you to come out of your blogging block.

See you at Warped Tour, Chicago. A&K tomorrow night. You game?