i have met quite a number of people in my life, some have made short-lived impressions, while others have left their mark on me such that i can and could never repay them for their input in my life. There is always one person in someone's life that touches them forever, no matter how short the encounter may have been. Sometimes, that person can be a friends, girlfriend, boyfriend, acquaintance, teacher, or even a mentor. I had a mentor, wait, let me rephrase that. I have a mentor. A man that i would never thought could have such an impact on my decisions in life in such a short period of time. His wisdom, his uncritical ear, and knack for saying just the right things when the moments called for a word of inspiration, were just a few of the many attributes and talents of one Charlie Riecker. Though i had only known Charlie 2 1/2 years, his impact was astounding.....my mentor, my friend, my source of insight and strength and drive, he exemplified the greatest attributes of humanity. I will miss you everyday and there will always be a seat for you front row of every performance i do, and there will be a special tribute i make for you when i debut at the Met my friend. I wish you could be there when i do my recital.....i know you would have been so proud, but i will sing my heart out and maybe just maybe you can hear me up there......I love you Charlie.......

You never can truly understand the fragility of life until it smacks you right in the face. Within a year's time, ive lost my puppy, Shadow, my dad was days away from a massive possibly fatal heart attack and needed quadruple-bypass surgery to save his life and last night my mother was rushed to the hospital with a minor stroke. For someone who is 21, an only child, and relies on his parents for many things, not just monetary, but support, understanding and infinite advice, the idea of losing my parents this soon is way too much for me to try to comprehend and scarier than being thrown into a pit of poisonous snakes. If i were to lose one or both of my parents at this stage of my life, i dont know what i would do and certainly my world would crumble into nothing and id be left with a pile of rubble i dont know that i would be able to dig myself out of. The experience has been earth-shattering...a catalyst and further emphasis for me to want to get the fuck out of school even sooner. I want to establish my career, settle down and start my family so that my parents can enjoy their later years in peace and spend time with their grandkids.....i just know what i want, know how to get there, the only thing left is completing all this mindless bullshit called school...



Erin i love you, thank you for all your support and love through this......i hope you feel better soon

Well another new year has arrived and things have been going pretty smoothly so far. January was full of rehearsals and such for Carmen and we just performed the show to 3 nearly sold out houses this past Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The two weeks prior to the show i was very very stressed out due to several factors, namely our director's incompetence, lack of help from certain people. and certain members of the cast who need to be removed from the planet. In other words.....they say Mars is open....so why not load'em up and crash their fuckin rocket into the surface. New Years was great....Paulie, Bobby and I hosted a party at Leo's in Garden City, and cause we didnt have to drive, we drank until our brains gave up on us and shut down......it was fun. Now that a new semester has started, getting back into the swing of school has been an adventure. But ive got a great woman behind me who is really supportive and has been working with me to make sure i do well in class, and we've both been trying to push each other to do well and to succeed and get through school. I like my English and Bio professors a lot, and actually find classes exciting and interesting, and would feel like i was missing out if i didnt go to class. The work ill be doing is still a lot, but i wont be doin Chamber Singers, for reasons that i wont delve into because they are between myself, Dr. Fryling and a few other people.