and while one can think of it as a fresh start, something else has been on my mind as well. I am getting to be old.

This is my thirty third new year, and that is a lot more than most of you. I remember cassette tapes, and remember when CD's came along and replaced them. Hell I remember going to Tower Records EVERY damn Tuesday to grab whatever CD's came out, or when 12 inch singles were still available everywhere (I remember waiting in line for the Ultramagnetic MC's Four Horsemen album even). I remember Brand Nubian with Puba, without, and when he returned. I remember Puba made it okay to wear Hilfiger. I remember when RunDMC was no longer cool, and I remember being really upset about EPMD breaking up. Now of course it won't be long before those are completely swallowed up by .mp3's (for many of us that is already the case). I remember having to explain to people that "that music where they just talk" was actually called rap. I remember the Christmas I got both The Beastie Boys "Licensed to Ill" and RunDMC's "Raising Hell" on tape. Hell my first CD was Public Enemy "Fear of a Black Planet" and I didn't even have a CD player yet. I remember corduroy Fila hats that we crowned by closing the crown in our drawers before we would ever consider wearing them out, I remember wearing leather African medallions purchased at the Pike Place Market, and fake dookie ropes. I was on top of creased Dickies, and creased 501's back in the day. I remember buying the Jordan 1's brand new at Nordstrom in the Hoyas colors for 45 bucks, and my mom telling me not to tell my dad the price "or he will fucking kill us both". I remember once on vacation, the kids pool side were so jealous of me for being from the city cause I had Guess overall shorts, and a sequined 49ers hat on and was bumping the U-Krew's "If you were mine" on my snazzy Realistic Walkman (we shopped at Radio Shack back then). I remember before anyone had a computer when we played Oregon trail on commodores at school, and my first computer was a 486 AND we were like the last damn family around to have one. I remember the first friends I had with an Atari (Frogger, Canyon Bomber, and Pong were the shit), or when the OG Nintendo came out with the robot on it, and then how the Sega Genesis buried it. I remember the Turbo Graphics 16, the Playstation, Nintendo 64, Super Nintendo, Playstation 2, and now I play Call of Duty on an Xbox 360. I remember Hammer pants (yes I had them) but hell I remember wearing jeans with the fake cow fur patches on them, and even the red leather Michael Jackson jackets. Parachute pants were the shit then too. I remember Nas' "Halftime" single was out like a year before Illmatic dropped, and "Biggies Party and Bullshit" on the "Who's the Man?" (Hell does anyone miss Dre and Ed Lover like I do? or Fab 5 on Yo! Mtv Raps on Sat mornings?) soundtrack like a year before he dropped Ready to die. I remember when I went to Peaches Record Store to buy Ice-T's Iceberg album I got sent away for not being old enough to buy it, then some dude in the hallway bought it for me cause he believed in freedom of speech (I was just pumped to get the tape, AND not have to pay for it) then I got home and the "Martial law" intro scared my ass so bad I didn't listen to the tape again for months. I remember rappers taught me it was okay to drink Moet (so I stole like 10 cases of the stuff) and the Beatnuts made me decide it was okay to try cocaine. Thanks a lot Phsyco Les, Juju and Al Tariq (course back then he was called Fashion). I remember Seattle Graffiti, when the only names you needed to know were Ron, Bruno, Verse, 2Sick, Biz and Keep. Hell I remember the crack downs in 1993 or so that landed my butt in jail along with many others, I remember the old RKCNDY night club that I wasn't old enough to go into but would take the bus to, just to see the art on it, tag my corny old tag on the dumpsters in back (anyone remember my O.G. name circa 1990?)and go across the street to the old International Motorsports Garage (one of the oldest graff spots I remember, along with The Paradiso yard, The Comet, the Freeway wall, The New City, and the Vogue). I can tell you about seeing Sir Mix-A-Lot at the Longacres Horse Track with like 15 people, ALL in fur coats and Gore Tex boots. I remember Darryl's Auto Sports Emporium where Sir Mix always left one car on display (guess his 40 car garage was not yet done). I remember when your posse might actually "floss" on Broadway, before that neighborhood changed up like it has. Mix was on a record label called Nastymix, owned by Ed Locke before he had a sex change. I remember KFox dances at the Center House, and Shockmaster Glen Boyd's radio show "Sh-sh-sh-sh-shockmaster Gleeeeeeeeeen Boyd". I wore bandannas tied around my knees, and the whole deal. Now I am old, I work a real job, I pay real rent, I hate most rap music, and my niece thinks I am an old man. I recently got active on Facebook, and it is funny to me to see some of the chicks I used to run with that were extremely active back in the day. One in particular spent a winter night locked on a friends roof naked, after his folks came home to three dudes playing a game of train with her. Now she is married with 3 kids. bet hubby has NO IDEA. It is funny how as we get older we become exactly who we laughed at when we were younger. I remember taking the bus home a few years ago and seeing some kids writing on the seats in the back of the bus, and the freaked out look on their faces when they saw I saw them. Little did they know. I know the sense of pride I still feel once in a GREAT while when someone remembers when i did write graff. Not more than a few years ago, when i met Shooter from WINNERS CIRCLE for the first time he remembered me as "Old School Fame One" and he knew what was up, I'm not exaggerating when i say I was really proud. When he told a friend who i was the kid clearly had no idea. I have always had a thing about respect, if I feel like you are not showing it I get extremely upset about it. This ridiculous trait has caused a number of fights and more than one gun to be drawn (but not since I was a dumb kid). I have always wanted to leave my mark, most likely that's what appealed to me about writing graff in the first place. It upsets me that all the work I put in has been forgotten, or that the antics I pulled in High School which were legendary at one time were long forgotten in like 5 years. Oh well, such is the plight of an old man, who is just no longer all that cool. Be easy folks, and have a wonderful 2009, anyone have any good old man stories to share?