Good god damn! We’ve made it! In the 1989 movie Back to the Future 2, we saw what 2015 was probably going to look like back in the late 80’s and early 90’s. I was only four years old when that movie came out in theaters. But that was also the same year I lost my grandfather and the beginning of the struggle that I would face most of my life.
After years of turmoil, false starts, rocking my rooster out and doing it for the gram. On November 15, 2015, I officially hit 30 years of age. Ten years before that, I was struggling with college to a point where I dropped out, didn’t have my shit together and was Emo as fuck! Plus George Dubya was fucking Murica up! Thanks to certain people at the time, I didn’t have a crew I can call these days the PLB Army. But ten years went by quick, and I must say it was the best of times and the worst of times. But I did do a lot when I was in my 20s. I got engaged when I was 24 years old to my previous girlfriend I met three years before that on my 21st birthday. We did have a son who died because of a miscarriage. Of course! I’v met my brother David “Knuckles Arceo and we been best friends since! Me and one of my acquaintances from high school by the name of Nadia, we became close friends too. And oh man, those all nighters with my Black brother from another mother Steven though in college! I eventually finished my general education at City College of San Francisco and was able to get a Bachelors Degree in Philosophy at CSU East Bay in mid 2011. Of course a lot of people came and went. For better or worse. Of course, I’ve spent the second half of my 20s in an abusive and emotionally manipulating relationship with my girlfriend for six years who I won’t acknowledge by name. I’ve met some great people in my 20s: Janny, Robin Silver, Erick (Neverfade drummer) and the list is so huge, I can’t even! So if I did not mention you, all apologies! I did reconnect with some old friends as well like Robin and Jeff from high school. But most importantly, my music career was what kept me creative. The first half of my 20s was fucking around and trying to be all hard and punk rock. But by 2011, I decided to become serious as a musician and artist. It wasn’t an easy road, but I managed to get somewhere with it in 2015.
But how was 2015 hands down? It was a mixed year. Good and bad. Lemme tell you why!
The year started off red hot! I was dating this one Mexican girl for about five months by that time and traveled to Mexico with her and kicked it with her family and her friends and traveled places like Puebla, which was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen in my life! But sadly, after David’s 28th birthday. The relationship spiraled downhill and I was just starting to go from liking her to loving her. She wouldn’t talk to me anymore, and wouldn’t oblige with me. The last time we talked didn’t even go well. It was all about how she was blaming me for why she was mad at me. Of course, I didn’t blame her if she was upset. But I was upset that she couldn’t understand or try to smooth things out. Then I went to WrestleMania at Levi’s Stadium! Now I can honestly say as a wrestling fan, my life is complete. But the day after, my girlfriend at the time for nine months just breaks up with me on Facebook without telling me. No reason. Just her changing the marital status and that’s all. And we didn’t even talk for three weeks period! So I was like fuck man, I really did like you and that was a huge bummer and loss for me.
I remember the end of my relationship with her affected me deeply. It changed my whole outlook on 2015. I’ve met some people to fill the void but none came quite to recapturing the spirit that me and that person once had. Plus by this time, a lot of people were getting under my skin on social-media. WELL FUCK YOU AND DIE MOTHERFUCKERS! It was not funny, it was not cool, and it was the most sickening thing people can do to someone who is just trying to get it back together. I wish them nothing but Karma and a car hitting them right in the face. Not to sound fucked up, but that’s just how I felt about them still deep down. I didn’t deserve that treatment or tactfulness. And I’m not gonna mention any names of course!
I lost my job at ASM which was actually my fault, of course. I worked at Whole Foods Market for 8 months. Met some great people of course. When that didn’t work out which I won’t get into, I found two new jobs. I got back with ActionLink doing computer assisted sales on the weekends at Best Buy and going back to my roots as a merchandiser on the weekdays at LMS traveling all across the Bay Area making that money by doing the merchandising thang.
I traveled to Boston, MA in July of this year. Which actually believe it or not, was the first time I went all across to the East Coast. The reasons for it is not going to be explain in detail, but there was this one person I met via online dating and everything was cool for awhile, but then suddenly by the end of August, everything went downhill fast like a 360. Lack of communication and I felt like I wasn’t being appreciated or included. By October before I left Whole Foods, she and I began talking again, but I found out it wasn’t about love but material gain and using someone dirty. She went on my personal banking accounts and took out so much money to a point where my debt got significantly higher than it was before. I had to file for Chapter 7 because of her actions, although a lot of it was my fault too. It turns out she was not genuine as a significant other. A lot of this was discussed on one of my vlogs on YouTube. She was a tactful shady bitch! She also blocked me on Facebook and also lied numerous amount of times what her intentions were. Also too many red flags as well, and the final straw was when she cheated on me (which I was able to tell via my intuition) and didn’t give me back anything in return from the money she stole from me. Not even a birthday card! It got so bad that I had to file charges against her through IC3.gov. But I got out of a potentially dangerous situation of course that would have costed me thousands.
But despite the downturn of 2015 for me, one thing that mattered most: Playing music again.
I just returned to playing music and getting back into the local music scene and social-media as an artist and a musician, because for about two or three years, my then-girlfriend of six years and other things kept me away from it. I was making music a lot in my own personal studio! I even played two shows this year! One at Cafe International in August, which is on YouTube of course. And a surprise acoustic set at a music store at the Tanforan Mall in San Bruno, CA in October. This was when I said to myself, “Fuck the haters and naysayers. Fuck what people think. I’m gonna do this whether people like it or not!” So I was recording more and more at home under the Patrick Lew Band name, began putting myself out there like hella on social-media and released like three albums this year which of course, you can buy on iTunes and hear on Spotify: To the Promised Land, Bubblegum Babylon and Fire in the Sky. I also formed a new band with my good friends Janny and David called TheVerse in October and we began practicing and recording demos in my home studio! We have three tracks to our name and we already shot to the top 10 on the Alternative music charts locally in San Francisco on ReverbNation! That was fucking rad, you know! I also began collaborating with Neverfade drummer Erick with the new solo project of mines: Patrick Lew & the Steel Lions (formerly Heavy Sigma) and we’re currently working on an album in the studio. So I returned to doing music, and regained a little bit of my momentum and credibility when I came back. So it was fucking awesome! I plan on playing shows and recording with TheVerse, do more mixed media such as music with Patrick Lew Band and finish the Steel Lions album with Erick!
So I’m really looking forward to what 2016 brings to the table. I want more money, more success with my music career, getting a better girlfriend and live happily and comfortably. That’s all I need yo!
What a crazy fucking year! 2015 was not my best, but I plan on making bank in 2016! Like Duff McKagan from Guns N Roses sang, “Believe in Me!”
