I remember ...

... seeing PETE for the first time at the Purple Onion in SF, the purple and pink lights glittering off my white mod warmup jacket and Dave's shiny Charvelle guitar alike, Bill W smoking a cigarette that looked like it was six inches long, heading to a party at Veronica's place on 33rd Ave. afterward having not spoken to her in a year ...

... going to the Edinburgh Castle nearly six months later to have fish 'n' chips, Guinness, and to see PETE again, sitting in bleachers with Michael and Jessica in the small room in the back, gradually realizing that these were the best songs I'd heard all year, asking Michael if they needed any help managing the band or running Shameless Promotions, agreeing to design their web site ...

... walking into the Stork Club for the first time and being amazed at how the Christmas lights, cowboy decor, Miller High Life, and PETE blended together so seamlessly, hearing how perfectly the opening song "Iron On" trailed into "Some Summer Someone" ...

... spending nights coding the Shameless web site, being giddy with excitement when I got my hands on a new PETE demo, seeing the band practice in their space in Hunter's Point, watching them play at a house in Oakland on Halloween while I was dressed as Clyde after the final shootout with the cops, Michael was Fresno (a concept costume), hooking up with Dave, Bill W, and the infamous Pete for soccer in Golden Gate Park on Saturdays ...

... having Michael tell me that a guy interested in local music (a big Brian Jonestown Massacre fan, as it turned out) was so impressed with PETE that he wanted to give them $30,000 to record an album and do a small tour, coming to see the guys in the studio mixing the album and witnessing a big argument over whether Bo could rerecord the improv guitar parts to "The Big Swell" ...

... heading to the Starry Plough to see PETE for the god-knows-how-many times, but never getting tired of it, seeing Bill W get up from behind his drum kit screaming and lunging at Dave, wondering if the band had just imploded in front of my eyes, finding out from Michael that Bill and Dave had agreed to stage a fight to liven up the quiet Sunday night crowd and thinking it was really funny, but secretly wondering how long before that scene was acted out for real ...

... watching Michael grow increasingly frustrated as the $30,000 got smaller and smaller with nothing to show for it, hearing that Bill W had left the band, sympathizing with Michael as he finally gave up on managing, feeling incredibly helpless that such talent and resources could fall through ...

... hearing "Some Summer Someone" and remembering what was one of the best times in my life ...

meet me under cover, i've been laid out cold for days the forecast is a nightmare and i've heard it's here to stay i'm living on a steady diet of booze and sleeping pills 'cause i've got a hole the size of california i can't fill send a sign 'cause i'll sleep through one more year if you don't get here soon some summer someone will swim smiling at my side with pelicans and popsicles, water wings and water slides fireworks and fireflies from her fingertips and eyes will keep me warm all night sitting on the beach alone i sift through years of sand looking for the hope i'd buried in a million washed-up plans out on the horizon watch the seaplanes sketch your shape i jump up but i sit back down, the vision quickly fades