Thecab's Journals

From Alex DeLeon's blog: play=work

Though we went to Cancun for many reasonsâ�¦ the main one was to write music. After 2+ years of touring, it was time to start writing material. Writing isnâ�™t as easy as it looks. For example, I canâ�™t write at anytime I please. There is no on and off switch. No easy button. No â�œpull my fingerâ� and see what happens. Writing is about being inspired. I could sit in my apartment for weeks and write songs. They might turn out okayâ�¦ but sometimes you just need to get out of your element. You need to leave the nest and explore something unknown yet familiar. We packed our computers, our speakers, our instruments, and our minds and threw them over our shoulder as we prepared for the trip of a lifetime. Donâ�™t get me wrong, we still got into some trouble, snorkeled, went to the spa, etcâ�¦ but we did spend a huge chunk of our time digging into some songs. This record is all about pushing our boundaries. We feel like we have so much to prove as artists and we are working extra hard to create something not only good, but unique and special. We might be crossing a few lines and throwing a few rule books away, but at least in the end I know weâ�™re going to have an album that weâ�™re proud of. What is life if you donâ�™t take a few risks. Art comes from under your skin. This album is going to be US. US recorded onto tracks to be released to the world. Whether it was writing songs at 3 am on the beach, sketching out lyrics on a hammock, or recording piano parts in our makeshift studio, we were writing with our hearts. There were no music videos playing around us, no knobs around us adjusting the volume of the radio, and no one telling us what to do or what to write. It was just us. 3 artists. 1 family. Cancun, Mexico. Hope you all enjoy the photos that were shot of us as the writing process was going down. Iâ�™ll be posting more soon, and there is a surprise coming very, very soon. Video updates coming soon!

-Alexander Michael

From Alex DeLeon's blog: POOL PARTYYY!!

ahhhhh!

We recently went to Cancun recently to relax, breathe, and write music. While there our good friend James Parker video taped and took pictures of pretty much every single move that we made. For the next week or so I am going to be posting pictures of our trip. Unfortunately, most of them will be of meâ�¦or me and a friend or two, because I donâ�™t want to post pictures of the other guys and them get mad at me for posting the wrong ones etc. Hope you enjoy them!! While we were there we wrote some really fun and neat songs and we are counting down the days until you can hear them. Todayâ�™s theme is pool party..haha (clever name i know) where Iâ�™m posting pictures of us hanging out at the swimming pool at the ME Cancun Hotel. Talk to you guys soon!!!

-Alexander Michael

*All photos by James Parker*

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesparkerphotography/

From Alex DeLeon's blog: dazed and...

dazed and confused.

http://www.youtube.com/v/UfWODWgOfKg&hl=en&fs=1&

From Alex DeLeon's blog: Meet Frank Sinatra DeLeon. Ladies and gentlemenâ�¦I am now...

Meet Frank Sinatra DeLeon.

Ladies and gentlemenâ�¦I am now a daddy.

I told myself i wouldnâ�™t do it. I think we all tell ourselves we wonâ�™t do itâ�¦and then we see them. We see our best friend. the cutest face weâ�™d ever seen. We meet someone that will love us unconditionally. Who will love you in the morning when you wake up and your hair looks like Albert Einsteinâ�™s. Who will love you whether your band sells 2 records or 2 million records. He is my world.

Frankie is a Boston Terrier. I chose the name FrankÂ Sinatra for many reasons. One is because he is a little gentlemen. Bostonâ�™s colorings look like they have on a tuxedo, and my handsome little guy is no exception. Frank Sinatra was the ultimate gentlemen. He was the ladies man, the man with the golden voice, and Las Vegasâ�™ number one hero. (He was also known to get into a little bit of trouble) The cutest part about him might be is one white paw. All the rest are black. Most Boston Terrierâ�™s have two white front pawsâ�¦my guy is special.

I have only had him for a day and I already am in love.Â He loves rope. He loves nibbling on my scruffy chin. He plays in front of the mirror for hours thinking that the puppy looking back at him is a new friend. He sleeps and snores, which might be the most adorable part of him. His favorite place to sleep is on my chest and tucked between a bunch of pillows. We are a like in many many ways. This is the happiest I have been in a long time and I couldnâ�™t be more excited. My new best friend is amazing and I canâ�™t wait to bring him on tour one day when we get a bus so you can all meet him.Â

Love him. I dare you.

-Alexander Michael DeLeon

P.S. I will posting tons of pictures and updates of Frankie on Twitter (@symphnysldr) so you guys can watch him grow with me! He is a stud.

From Alex DeLeon's blog: goodbye dear friend

First off I canâ�™t thank our fans enough for making the What Happens In Vegas tour a success beyond our wildest dreams. I donâ�™t think anybody quite realizes how much this means to us but it absolutely means the world. It was our first nationwide headlining tour and you guys were loving, welcoming, and absolutely incredible! Â Iâ�™m sad to say the day has come where Cash has decided to leave the band and to move on from touring to pursue his other interests and dreams and to do whatâ�™s right for him in Las Vegas. Â If you follow Cash on twitter Iâ�™m sure youâ�™ve seen everything he has on his plate and that heâ�™s been working on at home. Â We wish him the best and Iâ�™m sure heâ�™ll be no stranger at a Cab show or anytime weâ�™re back in town. Thank you again to everyone for your unending support, youâ�™ve made the tour and this summer one weâ�™ll never forget. We hope to see everybody again soon. We are happier than ever and have so many songs we are dying to show you guys! Get readyâ�¦ the best is yet to come!

-alexander michael

From Alex DeLeon's blog: in case you guys have been wonderingâ�¦ iâ�™m sorry that...

in case you guys have been wonderingâ�¦

iâ�™m sorry that iâ�™ve been so quiet on twitter and on my blogâ�¦ i have been letting the whole â�œbeing homeâ� thing sink in. iâ�™ve also been working very hard on this blog. i spent a few hours on this and i hope i didnâ�™t disappoint. i always keep my promises and i promised that i would read EVERY single letter i received. well here goes a few responsesâ�¦ there will be more to come, i promise. i keep every single one. i love you guys with all my heart and i hope this shows how much i truly appreciate youâ�¦.

samantha leonard- thank you so much for taking the time to write me. you wrote that you were worried that i have forgotten about you guys, because i hadnâ�™t posted on here for awhile. that couldnâ�™t be farther from the truth. i was going through a rough time and just needed to take a bit to pull myself together. i will never forget about you and i promise you that until the day that i breathe my last breathe i will be here for you guys.

adriane M.- thank you for calling me mr. batman. it gave me a pretty big smile. i also want to say thank you for reminding me that strength can always be found. even if itâ�™s like a needle in a haystack. i would love to check out that beachâ�¦ i love nothing more than to explore and experience places iâ�™ve never been or seen before!

jessica anne- you are a very good writer. i was very impressed! you have a bright future ahead of you. you also must be very strongâ�¦ i cannot imagine going through what you go through especially with everything you told me about. iâ�™m glad you found that music can give you strength when you feel like there is nothing left. as long as you believe in yourself..i promise you will get through everything. try talking to them. sit them down. you are a beautiful person, and they need to see that. if they donâ�™t make an effort to love you and if they donâ�™t see how amazing you are, then they donâ�™t deserve to know you or to feel the love you have to offer. chin up, okay?Â

p.s. tell michael i said hi

grace novacek- your songs were amazing! keep up the good work. iâ�™m actually working on some lyrics right now. itâ�™s not easy to put words together to form a story or a beautiful songâ�¦but you managed to do a great job! iâ�™m rootinâ�™ for youâ�¦

alyx reimer- i canâ�™t believe â�œiâ�™m a wonderâ� is your favorite song. i didnâ�™t think many people had even heard that one! itâ�™s one of my favorites too. i am really sorry about your friend. sometimes people get scared and they feel like the only option is to run. keep supporting her and being their for her. i am sure she will come around. promise me that youâ�™ll never give up hopeâ�¦even if those around you do.iâ�™ll always be here to catch you before you hit the ground.

holly pulgarin- hahaha i laughed out loud when you wrote about how you tie your shoes like me. weâ�™re such dorks. also, i assure you that my handwriting is much more crooked than yours. i really hope you enjoyed the show in albuquerqueâ�¦we had a blast. if this whole band thing doesnâ�™t work out, maybe iâ�™ll take your advice and submit my resume to hallmark. :)

jessica devoss- it was great meeting you! how crazy is it that our parents are friends? how do you like reno? i think youâ�™ll like vegas a lot. at first, itâ�™s a bit intimidating..but i promise you that after a while youâ�™ll feel right at home. hopefully we can hang out soon!Â

sabrina meleo- US magazine!? thatâ�™s where you found us!? INSANE. thank you so much for caring enough to come to multiple shows. our band would be nothing without people like you and i hope you realize how much we appreciate everything. itâ�™s pretty cool that â�œlightsâ� is your favorite song on our new Lady Lucky EP, because it almost didnâ�™t make it. i fought really hard for it. at first the label said no, but the video of us playing it acoustic did so well on youtube and people requested it so much that i made sure it made it. did you know â�œlightsâ� was one of the few songs i played for pete solo, just me and a guitar, the night he signed us? guess we did something right :P see you soon!

pamela (san francisco)- first off, my brain is much faster than my hand too! you are a great writer. this has to be one of the best and well written letters i have ever gotten.Â the amazing thing about music, is that it is unique to everyone. that..we donâ�™t have to necessarily be able to put how we feel into words, because music can be our little secret. our escape. it doesnâ�™t matter what it means to anyone else. all the matters is what it means to YOU. i canâ�™t believe you said iâ�™m â�œ40 different kinds of amazing.â� that is not true! iâ�™m just a regular guy. a big goofball, to be honest. you can interview me anytime you want, okay? thank you for calling me a beautiful person..though iâ�™m sure you are even more amazing than youâ�™d ever give yourself credit for. youâ�™ve got a light about you. itâ�™s very refreshing. go inspire those around you. you have it in you.

kara elizabeth- 8 is my favorite number, so the fact that youâ�™ve seen us 8 times is rad. you can say thank you for me signing and hanging in the Boston heat, but I want to thank YOU for waiting around in that heat to meet us and share your amazing presence with us. thanks for the tigger..i am looking at him right now. heâ�™s such a handsome little guy. just as youâ�™ll always be there supporting us, weâ�™ll always be here supporting you.

lexi moreland- why in the heck are you up at 2:33 am!? i thought i was the only crazy one!Â i canâ�™t wait to read your tumblr. iâ�™m sure itâ�™s incredible! you are so strong to have gotten through what you have gotten through. people like you are MY heroes. you CAN reach your goals. your dreams CAN come true. we all forget that sometimes. and WOW! your dog is so cute!

miranda ashley nunez- you are one hundred percent right. our imperfections are what make us beautiful. how boring would the world be if we all looked the same!? thank you for driving 6 hours to come see us. that seriously makes my heart drop. i try to be as honest as i can in my blogs. i donâ�™t look as you guys as strangersâ�¦you are my family. when iâ�™m down, you pick me up. if i donâ�™t have you guysâ�¦who do i have? iâ�™ll always be honest. haha aww youâ�™ll find your edward! have you met our merch guy sonny? JUST KIDDING! sorry..that was a lame joke. your letter wasnâ�™t cheesy or weird. your letter was beautiful and heartfeltâ�¦and that means so much to me. the pink ink started getting to my eyes a bit after a while, but i think theyâ�™ll be just fine :) canâ�™t wait to meet you again! take careâ�¦and donâ�™t be afraid to smileâ�¦.even if itâ�™s at a stranger.

mandi ontis- first off..i am so sorry about the ridiculous face i made in the picture of us! i can be pretty shy so the only way to cover it up is by making the most obnoxious facial expressions possible. i think itâ�™s great that you want to work in this industry..it can be such a fun place! very dramatic and cliquey at timesâ�¦but overall itâ�™s a blast. itâ�™s tough to break into but i have faith in you. always be a whisper warrior!! never change!!! thank you so much for all of the kind words. youâ�™re a doll.

kc and the stickamers- haha iâ�™ll definitely have to join your room sometime and chat! iâ�™m crossing my fingers that emma watson will be there. you guys sound crazy! jonas brothers sing alongs? you think iâ�™m crazy????â�¦â�¦â�¦..ah what the hell! letâ�™s do it!

shannon marie spellman- did you every get to meet me? i hope so because you seem like a great person. william and travis are some of my people in the world too. looks like we have a lot in common. looking back on our show at natick is amazing. how crazy was that show? so hectic but it turned out to be such a memorable experience for everyone involved. weâ�™ve truly never done anything like that. â�œhigh hopesâ� is one of my favorites too. itâ�™s extremely fun to sing. sorry it took me so long to write back. forgive me? i took your dare. i love you :) did your face hurt? mine does if i smile for that long!

rachael polansky- isnâ�™t inspire a beautiful word? i canâ�™t think of a better one to be printed on my shoulder for life, or for you to wear around your neck. i think it us beautiful that you want to help kids that have been bullied. being bullied is such a terrible feeling. i know first hand. it is the lowest feeling. some people just donâ�™t care about other peopleâ�™s feelings. IF YOU ARE READING THIS AND HAVE BEEN OR ARE BEING BULLIED PLEASE PAY ATTENTION. do NOT let them talk down to you. you are just as much of a person as they are. people that bully are insecure and are hurting on the inside. if anything we should be sorry for THEM. i know it hurts but you have to continue to be strong. tell your parents, tell your principleâ�¦whatever you doâ�¦do NOT let them get away with it. people need to realize that it takes more energy to be rude and cruel to someone than it does to be kind and loving. we are all one. we are all people. we all have families. we all have beating hearts. and we all have smiles wrapped in little boxes just waiting to be opened. love with everything youâ�™ve got. spread the word. donâ�™t let anyoneâ�¦and i mean ANYONE slow you down. you have a life to live and you are going to do it right.Â you CAN make a difference, rachael. you can, will, and probably already have a lot more than you know.

michelle warsing- your â�œhâ� does not look like a diseased cow haha it looks like a polka dotted flamingo. thanks for the drawing. i love you guys too.

paige nicole kerschan-Â i know how you feel about not being a teenager. i was seriously bummin out when i turned twenty. it feels like the best days and times of your life are slowly disappearing in the rearview mirror. iâ�™ve come to learn though, the life is truly what you make of it. i read stories of 90 year olds skydiving..of 75 year old couples sailing the world. age truly is just a number, and though some great times may be behind you..the best is yet to come. you were at that kansas city show? i was in so much pain that night. iâ�™d never been in crutches before but we didnâ�™t want to disappoint you guys. i hope we did okay. i am glad you are pushing forward with your dreams even though some people are putting them down. life is too short to live your life for someone else. your life is in your hands..it always will be. let your heart take the wheel.Â

phoebe svoboda- the fact that you went to TWELVE different stores to find a copy of our record is truly so kind of you. are you an 1989 baby too!? thatâ�™s awesome. itâ�™s an honor to say i was born in the wonderful decade called the 80â�™s. iâ�™m glad i bring happy tears to your eyes and not sad ones. your words truly have touched meâ�¦.you are much to nice to me. you are way more cool than me already, i promise you. i read your whole letter and noâ�¦iâ�™m not bored or pyscho. well, actually..i may be a little crazy..but who isnâ�™t!? i hope youâ�™re doing well. and LMAO! best closing line to a letter EVERâ�¦

â�œTHANK YOU FOR NOT BEING DEAD/DYING <3â� hahahahahahahah!!!!

lauren polanksy- are you and rachael related!? haha i was having deja vu for a moment. thanks for the gorgeous letter. it was short, but very sweet. and if you really want to know what happens in vegasâ�¦.youâ�™ll just have to come and see for yourself!

paloma de oliveira- your letter made me smile from ear to ear. the lyrics around the whole letter definitely was a fun and caring touch! you really DO have an opinion..i promise you it matters. you really CAN help people. iâ�™m glad you realize that. it is crazy to me to hear that you think that i have saved you..because you saved me. i have felt lost so many times and i can get really lonely and homesick..but your letter really came in at a great time. donâ�™t apologize for being a sapâ�¦iâ�™m a big sap too! you seemed perfect until you wrote that pooh is better than tiggerâ�¦ now iâ�™m not so sureâ�¦haha! just kidding. i love you just the same..but tigger will always own pooh. ALWAYS. if there is one thing iâ�™m sure about, itâ�™s that tigger is the coolest, most lovable character in the world. get over it :P

madeline berg- honeyâ�¦i can see and feel how down you are. i can tell by reading your letter that you have so much to offer this world. youâ�™re smart, funny, and a genuine person. all of those clouds in your sky are only going to make the sun seem brighter when it finally peeks itâ�™s head out. it must be so hard to move around so much. as a boy, i went to 7 different schools. i know how hard and stressful it can be. all i can say is that good things happen to good people. i know that you are a good person. find something that calms you down. whether it be writing, reading, paintingâ�¦anything. funnel all of the negativity and bad energy and transform it into something beautiful. if e*** doesnâ�™t think youâ�™re pretty, than he is blind and doesnâ�™t realize how great of a girl you are. someone wonderful one day will, and you will live the life you have always dreamed of. iâ�™ll never stop being me if you promise to never stop being you. deal? i have faith in you.

please donâ�™t be upset if i didnâ�™t respond to your letter in this blog. maybe i will on the next one. i do the best that i canâ�¦ i really do. even if i donâ�™t respond.. i still read them. take care. i love and miss you all a lot and iâ�™ll be posting very frequently! you guys mean the world to me. be strong. iâ�™ll ALWAYS be here for you as long as you give me the chance to be.

-alexander michael

From Cash Colligan's blog: hmm, here's a story.

ah, good morning to a day of life that ends in glory.

hereâ�™s his story.

a morning cigarette rolls down the wet pavement stone as

he stares down into a puddle and see a reflection that will take generations to recover from

he sees wars lost, kids tossed

personal battles battled in vein and

emotional upsets that drove them insane

this is a lifeâ�™s work, take it for what itâ�™s worth

this is who heâ�™s become.

now fenced up parks shut down the dreams of young heartsÂ

who end up living on the streets one day at that same park

the mind hunts a soul and his lifeâ�™s clock ticks time slow

time to begin walking with no place to go

but for him, this is called home.

time to think

time to inspire

time to prove to a cold-hearted town

you were meant to spark a fucking fire

time to roam with no where to go

so you can prove to a face, you can do it alone.

the times now turn and now a fire begins to burn,

this is something heâ�™s earned?

steamed flesh melts away as the world looks down on him and smiles.

he pulls happiness from his pocket and while glancing at it says â�˜itâ�™s been awhile.â�™

for every heart alone thereâ�™s one unlocked.

until limbs whither and the bed splinters, the feeling never stops.

hello mr. â�œlove,â� you look great today

soft spoken lips tempt hormones to explore places theyâ�™ve never been before.

hit the lights and shake the sheets because nothing else matters anymore.

for every heart alone thereâ�™s one unlocked.

more burning desires that spark flirtatious fires.

looks like an all nighter.Â

he made it.

goodnight.

-cash money 443.

From Cash Colligan's blog: THIS WILL BE MY LAST THIRTIZZLE.COM BLOG. i will be changing...

THIS WILL BE MY LAST THIRTIZZLE.COM BLOG.

i will be changing the URL, but donâ�™t worry when i do youâ�™ll know and for any and all updates with me at all times is @cashstwit.

so this is a good blog topic i feel, what the cab really means to me.Â

i donâ�™t think anyone in this world knows me personally enough to know my thoughts and feelings towards an idea that turned into a dream for meâ�¦ so i will try my best to describe it.

it was the summer before junior when i message alex deleon on myspace to jamâ�¦ i sucked at guitar and so did he so you know whatâ�¦ we knew we would be a good match together with no â�œhey man iâ�™m better than you.â�

october 15, 2005 would be the day we launched a myspace for the band with a horrible off key demo as me on vocals/piano and alex on guitarâ�¦ he soon became â�œsingerâ� when i called him out singing ironically â�˜music or the miseryâ�™ by the one and only fall out boy. after a few more â�˜demosâ�™ popped out of alexâ�™s sound recoding program on his laptop we said f*ck this and made music/ attempted to.Â

i fell in love. i fell in love with something i felt i was meant to be apart of and belonged. so much that the day i turned 18, no talk of labels.. nothing, i made my first tattoo the name of a band that changed my life. if we were never signed, would never have the opportunities we do todayâ�¦ it wouldnâ�™t of matteredâ�¦ to me the first tattoo i wanted to put on my body was what meant most to me in my life. â�œthe cab.â�

iâ�™m a big believer in positive energy and you can accomplish any thing you want in lifeâ�¦ signing day made me realize that hard work had paid off and a dream would begin.

after recording the first record i went all out with my tattoos. my forearm piece says â�œscream out love songs, whisper war,â� on my upper arm is a tattoo which says â�œyou are now leaving fabulous las vegasâ� on a vegas sign to help me on tour and realize i will always have my home to come back to. my band is my day to day motive and reminder of why i do what i do and why i love it so much.

this band is my life, its members and crew are my blood. i breathe, sweat and am in love with my situation. i really canâ�™t express my feelings towards every member of this band. all i can say is theyâ�™re my â�œbrothas from anotha motha.â�

so i hope that semi can explain my love for life and my co-workers/best of friends. they keep me excited for the future.

with love, cash money.

From Alex DeLeon's blog: when i grow upâ�¦ thereâ�™s the big handâ�¦ and...

when i grow upâ�¦

thereâ�™s the big handâ�¦ and thereâ�™s the little handâ�¦ both intoxicating to the heart and soul of everything we hold dear to us. time may be the biggest and most infamous serial killer of them all, and a part of me has a strange feeling that father time will never be putting in a request for his last meal on death row. as horrible and suffocating as it is, this world revolves around time. we hear it everyday: â�œtime is money, blah, blah, blah.â� as humans we put our time into little demons that used to never exist. instead of walks to the park, we have walks to the copy machine. instead of time with the kids, we have time to get our Mercedes Benz cleaned after dropping our kids off to a plastic lifeless day care centerâ�¦ where our poor children will probably have the aâ�™s, bâ�™s, and maybe câ�™s thrown down their throats until they can spell â�œcarâ� and â�œskyâ� without hesitation or the will to ask for a capri sun. for once i wish we could live life dreaming, and not thinking.

you see, the truth isâ�¦ when i grow upâ�¦ i want to be exactly like who i was when i wasnâ�™t grown up at all.

letâ�™s go back to the glory days. i am not old by any means, but i have had my share of ups and downs. we were all dreamers once. we were all children who had ambitions, dreams, heroes, and love for the world around us. can we all take one minute and go back to those days? iâ�™m seriousâ�¦ think back to what you used to want to be. it will tell you a lot about yourself. the more i have been thinking about it, the more i realize that understanding and believing in your childhood will ultimately help push you in the direction you belong in life.

as a little boy i wanted to be quite a few thingsâ�¦. we all go through stages. i wanted to be batman, an archaeologist, a rock collector, a basketball player, and a teacher. watch thisâ�¦ watch me take everything i wanted to do when i was little, and apply it to my life now. watch the leaves around me turn over, and the pages of my life slowly start to shuffle a bit to the movement of the wind around me.

at 6 years old, i climbed the tallest tree in my backyard. i had on my batman mask, my dadâ�™s black kitchen towel taped to my shoulders as a cape, and a horribly drawn batman logo that i had attempted to draw on with a crayola marker 10 minutes before in the mirror above my bathroom sink. i got a rope, tied it to one of the thickest tree branches, and then tied the other end around my stomach. the last thing i remember was looking up towards the clouds, taking a deep breath, and then pushing my feet off of that old tree. from what my dad tells me, that is when he saw me dangling nearly unconscious from the tree, spinning and hanging by the rope around my stomach. my dad quickly untied me and ran me to the doctor to see if i was okayâ�¦ crayola batman logo and all. my first attempt at flight had failed. that day i learned that some animals were born with wings to flyâ�¦ some were not. though this was pretty cut and dry, looking backâ�¦ there are many other things that i learned, and am learning now, years later, from what i wanted to do when i was a little boy. iâ�™m realizing what it all meant.

an archaeologist is all about adventure, discovery, and self gratification. i used to want to be indiana jones. i wanted to search for treasure, mummies, shrunken headsâ�¦ anything I could get my dirty little 7 year old hands on. i was innocent, and will never get it back. back then i knew nothing about the stresses of everyday lifeâ�¦ nothing about heartbreak, economic downfalls, or anything serious for that matter. if i could apply that knack for adventure and those open eyes to my life now, it could really help. weâ�™re always so worried about coloring in the lines, and staying in the 4 walls that have been put up around us. maybe now iâ�™m sometimes scared to try new things. iâ�™m scared to search for answers when they arenâ�™t clear as day. maybe i worry about what others think and say a little too much. if someone would have told me when i was 7 that digging in my backyard for dinosaur bones was a stupid idea and that iâ�™d never find anythingâ�¦ i probably would have laughed and dug deeper. i could use a little bit of that me now. i could use a little faith and innocence. we all could.

then thereâ�™s the rock collector meâ�¦ collecting every kind of unique rock, stone, gem, and fossil i could find. my favorites were hematite, amethyst, and tigerâ�™s eyes. i loved the unique ones. the ones with the craziest spots, the most interesting shape, or the one that just seemed a little odd. it didnâ�™t matter if they were big, small, dirty, clean, worth a lot, or worth nothingâ�¦ they were all the same to me. maybe i could use that now. people come in all shapes and sizes, and they should all be looked at through the eyes of someone who sees them all as human beingsâ�¦ not as people with labels or statuses. the other day, i had a 30 minute conversation with a homeless man in a subway in new york city. we laughed, sang along to the black eyed peas together, and talked about life. it was the most i had smiled in awhile. i was laughing out loud. underneath his dirt covered, wrinkled eye lids, i saw a friendly, caring, unique individual who had lost his way on the road of life. if i were 8 years oldâ�¦ he would have been a dirtier, but unique stone, yet he still would have been one of my favorites. he would have been in my box next to the shiny stones that were worth much more than he wasâ�¦ but none of that matters. who cares what people do for a living, what they look like, or what they seem to be from a distance. everyone is unique and has something about them that someone, somewhere can look up to or relate to. every person should be collected in their heart and be seen for all of the qualities that make them who they are, whether they appear to shine or not.

ahhhâ�¦ the basketball player. can you believe that i once actually thought i had a shot at being the next Michael Jordan!? i idolized kobe bryant. he was my hero. at 11 years old, all i wanted to do was play basketball. i slept with my basketball and took it everywhere. you can learn a lot at 11 years old when you play basketball. when youâ�™re that young and playing, you focus on your team and having a good time. at that age, no one is worried about multi-million dollar gatorade deals, how new your shoes are, or how much tv time youâ�™re going to get on sportscenter. youâ�™re focused on playing hard, giving it your all, and making your teammates better around you. you, your family, and your friends are all a big team. thinking back to the days of laughing and having a good time while creating a stronger bond between them is only going to make you a better, more aware person.

last but not least, i wanted to be a teacher. ever since i was younger iâ�™ve enjoyed helping people. iâ�™ve always been the one that people know they can come talk to about anything and everything. i was fascinated with the idea of the transferring and sharing of knowledge between one person and another. i genuinely just wanted to help other peopleâ�¦ i wanted to see people grow and wanted to see them rise to their full potential. i was never the absolute smartest kid at my school, but i knew that i had the patience and courage to try to lead others in finding their strengths, believing in themselves and learning. sometimes now i doubt myselfâ�¦ but putting myself into those shoes that i wore as a child really makes me realize what i have the power to do and how much power a mind and a willing heart really have. we can all be teachers. it doesnâ�™t mean we have to go to college for 6 years and get a degree in education. we can teach by our actionsâ�¦ by doing the right thing. by being good examples and by being there for those in need around us.

what i have grown to understand is that i can be all of those things that i wanted to be back then. i can be a teacherâ�¦ a mini indiana jonesâ�¦ a geologistâ�¦ a basketball playerâ�¦and yes, maybe even batman. take all of those little lessons youâ�™ve learned and plant them. stand back and watch them grow. we can all learn something from ourselves, from our innocenceâ�¦ from the days when we didnâ�™t have set schedules, due dates, or stress. our hearts donâ�™t change when we get older, they just gain a different sensibility of priorities and lists. if we can find the few seconds everyday to think about what our hearts really adore and miss, we can find the true key to happiness. happiness isnâ�™t doing what you are good at, or what you have to doâ�¦ itâ�™s doing what you want to do and LOVE to do. canâ�™t we just turn our clocks back and breathe for a minute? love isnâ�™t time. love is a smile. i beg youâ�¦ go backâ�¦ way backâ�¦ to when you were younger and didnâ�™t have a care in the world. donâ�™t be afraid to hop into the sandbox, to spill a little juice on your shirt, or to get thrown in time out for a minute or two. thatâ�™s all part of the fun. we can all learn from who we used to beâ�¦ because who we used to be will always be a part of who we are,Â and who we will always want to be.

when i grow upâ�¦ i want to be exactly like who i was when i wasnâ�™t grown up at all.

-alexander michael

ps -iâ�™ve missed you guys.Â iâ�™m back.

From Cash Colligan's blog: this was a great memory. thank you fall out boy. as a kid i...

this was a great memory. thank you fall out boy.

as a kid i dreamed of meeting these men, now i feel apart of the dream. never have i ever met a band able to care respect groups of people, bands, fansâ�¦ anybody.

when you grow up you hope to one day to meet idols and you feel as if it will fill a gap in your heart to help push yourself to get better and succeedâ�¦ they did that to me.

thank you pat, pete, joe and andy. youâ�™ll never know the half of what youâ�™ve done for me.

with love,

cash money.