2009

Here we go with another year behind us, blah blah blah, and all that. We hung out at my friends Miserable and Lina's wonderful home in Keyport, NJ for New Year's Eve. It was a fun old time. I got to see a wide array of folks I haven't spent enough time with lately. (Pictured from L-R is Sean "The Rebel" Pendelton, Dan Santoro, and Yours Truly). It was a great night, picked up a guitar with some friends for a while and improvised on some bluegrass, shot the breeze with old friends, and played a game where someone would name any item and you would have to cite a memory to go along with it. We got pretty wild but I actually took it easier than usual this year and by chance I ate a cookie that was baked with almonds. I'm very allergic to nuts and needless to say, it was a scary situation. It didn't realize it until early the next day. I was up late with severe abdominal pain and the sweats. In the morning when I was on my way home I noticed my face was really, really pale. I got home, showered and started puking like a maniac. I realized then that my heart was being affected. This happened three times in the past for me. Once when I was eating swordfish at age 8. I got hives, irregular heartbeat, and the sweats. Ended up in the ER with adrenaline shots out the ying-yang. Another time I ate shrimp when I was 13 and found out the hard way that I can't really have any seafood. That was scary. Same deal- Emergency Room with all kinds of goodies being pumped into me. Then there was a time just a few years ago where I accidentally drank my friend's beer. He had a New Castle beer which is a nut brown ale. Well whatever nuts it had in it nearly killed me. I stayed up with this crazy irregular heartbeat for like an entire night and into the next night. Like and idiot, I didn't go to the hospital that time. Then there was yesterday. After realizing what was going on, I texted my roommates (who were sleeping at the time) and told them "Hey I'm having a reaction, can you make sure I am ok?" So I tried to sleep it off but it's hard to sleep when your heart is beating a thousand miles out of your chest and stopping periodically for a split second then rushing to catch up. Not to mention the fact that it is absolutely horrifying and makes you nauseous as all hell. So around 6:30 last night I woke up and hung out on the couch while my roomies watched TV and just waited. My heart was a little better, but still every time I got up it sped up and flipped and flopped and hurt. It was terrible. My roomies kept insisting that I go to the hospital or call my mom (the nurse) and I just waited it out. Pretty silly, but my new year's resolution includes a very serious diet adjustment. I decided this was the last time that this was ever going to happen. Stay tuned for some great music thoughts (including a new interview) in the next couple of days.