So Long and Thanks for All the Fish

Hey all. Wow! What can I say about my time spent with music reporting. It's something I've done for ten years. Although there is no fortune involved, I can honestly say I have a lot of glory.

I have been apart of Planet Verge since the "Fan 'zine"-style days ('02). Joelle and I worked on the Beacon (one of William Paterson University's newspapers) together. One day, she asked if I wanted to write for her music mag. I said sure. The rest is history.

Besides writing, I also raised funds for printing, since it was coming from out-of-Joelle's-pocket. Everyone was super supportive, even our professors. It's nice to see how it was coming a long. But like everything that's in print nowadays, moving to blog-style was the best move. Now PV is reached globally with an instant touch of a mouse.

I did take a hiatus from PV after my mom died and while I lived/worked in Korea. Mourning after my best friend/mother and trying to move-on like "all is normal" is not an easy task. Everyone functions with loss differently. Living and working in Korea truly changed me and my life for the better. I now have goals and dreams that I plan to conquer.

I will always be a huge music lover, or as my friends Jason S. and Thomas dub me, a "Music Goddess." Right now, all of my energy is focused on landing a full-time teaching job. Good news on that front-I had part one of an interview in Paterson last week, I have an interview in D.C., an interview in NYC, and if all does not go well with landing a job here, I'm back overseas again. Where? Either Korea or Japan. I love being in the classroom and engaging in learning with my students. I have learned so much from them. I even find ways to incorporate music in my lessons. For instance, I like to use the song, "What a Wonderful World" in my basic ESL classes because of the use of colors and visuals.

As I finish up here, I do want to say that Joelle, it has been a pleasure. It was an honor being apart for the ride. I will always be around if you need advice, ideas, or vent. So I want to leave here with some fond memories of PV from behind the scenes that some/most/all of you might not even know but hopefully can appreciate:

*When I tried interviewing a certain performer, his PR person was a total bitch. The interview was lined up and everything and then they snubbed me. Now-where is this artist? Let's just say karma got the best of him, and he's filed under "Where are they now?"

*Watching "Almost Famous" before and after taking music reporting seriously is like watching a how-to guide on music reporting all thanks to the words of music writer genius Lester Bangs. Rule #1-"Never make friends with the rock stars." Rule #2-"Be honest and unmerciful."

*After a show, a few staff members were invited for the after party. Where was the after party? A high class strip club in Tribeca (not our choice but then again not like we had a say). :) We left when things were getting too crazy.

*Joelle finally allowed politics to be mentioned on here. Woah! :)

*Joelle helped give me some good advice while my late great dog Rebel and my mom were in their last weeks.

*After a Fixer show at CBGB's (I miss that sweat hole), a friend, who I will keep nameless because I don't want her to get in trouble, and I danced on top of a bar (not topless/clothes completely on) at Bar 2 x 4 in the East Village. Our bar tunes were, "Pour some Sugar on Me"(classic Def Leopard) and "Closer (NIN)." I can't speak for my friend but I can speak for myself, I was completely sober and carefree for that fun-filled evening. After our dancing numbers, the bartenders offered us shots and to put our bras on the ceiling with the others. We took the shots, but kept our bras on (it was my fav. bra).

*I gave Matt Groening (creator/Simpsons genius) a copy of PV at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival in Long Beach, CA back in '03. I strongly believe he read it. God only knows if he kept it, but he is a huge music fan; hence why so many musicians/artists have been guest voices for the past 20+ years on the show.

*One thing is for certain, the music/entertainment industry lends for some eccentric people. Some real and some fake. A piece of advice to any future music writers: stay true to yourself and don't get lost in a crowd.

*All of the knowledge I learned on creating a home-grown business, its freakin' tough. But I give the future of PV credit. Moving on to internet TV might be the best thing handed to them since internet TV is the new wave of technology.

*The hidden secret behind my Concert Junkie name. Concert-because I'm an addict. I can barely afford to go to them anymore. Junkie-I took it from the late great Hunter S. Thompson's book, Better than Sex: Confessions of a Political Junkie.

*Blood, sweat and tears went into making each issue of PV and now its a bag of Cheetos for each blog-post. :)

I leave this with a quote from one of my favorite albums of all time, "And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make."

By Lori who can attest, "There is no darkside of the moon really. As a matter of a fact, its all dark."