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Final Fantasy VII Fanfare by Nobuo Uematsu
Birth
When the curtain first rose on my life it almost came crashing down again, for I was born over two months premature and at the time my survival was by no means certain. So I find it quite fitting to use the jingle that I hear every time I complete a battle in my favorite video game. This is because I triumphed over death just as Cloud and Tifa have triumphed over Master Tonberries and countless other enemies.

In the Court of the Crimson King, by King Crimson, preformed by 21st Century Schizoid Band
My Early Childhood
More of my childhood days were spent running through the landscape of my imagination than anything else. From adventures with elves to excursions to the future, my fantasies ran ramped. Now that my heart is settled a bit more within reality I find it sometimes desirable to whisk myself back to those days of delight and freedom of thought. Every time I hear “The rusted chains of prison moons” I am transported once more to that land of make-believe. I feel this song will never loose its ability to inspire me and invoke the curious traveler for just one more adventure.

What’s Left of the Flag, written and performed by Flogging Molly
Later Childhood
When I was in 7th grade I was a complete musical neophyte, I couldn’t tell you who was who in modern music and I was too afraid to admit that I didn’t, to ask. The only music I ever heard was that of my father’s extensive vinyl classic rock collection. So I could tell you who Lead Zeppelin, was but no one else. Somewhere along the lines my friend Isabel, who to this day is like a sister to me, introduced me to Flogging Molly, and I was hooked! The band, and specifically this song, became a symbol of my, Isabel’s and our dear friend Stella’s friendship, it was “Us”. We were inseparable fighting our own little war across the slopes of Aspen Mountain, it got to the point that if one of us stamped once the other two would finish the last two thuds in rhythm with “counts two one, two, three fell apart as the hit the floor…” our favorite lyric of the song.

Wish You Were Here, written by David Gilmour and performed by Pink Floyd
The Year From Hell
After graduating from 8th grade my family and I moved to Vermont. I was torn away from all my friends that I had made in the past nine years who had become like family, specifically my two “sisters”, Isabel and Stella. I was also removed from the Waldorf atmosphere that I had been nurtured in for my entire scholastic existence and plunged into the local public school system where I became just another statistic. I made a habit of listening to this song on the bus while riding to Harwood, the Hellhole. For that is how I really felt or rather I wished I was there, back with all my friends laughing like a bunch of idiots as we rode up the gondola of Aspen Mountain. Who knew that that year would end up being the best turning point in my life?

Ride On Shooting Star written and performed by The Pillows
I Found Myself Through Craziness

The craziness of this song perfectly illustrates my life at High Mowing to a tea. I was beginning to discover what I really liked, without having any of my old friends to help me decide. I was me and I loved it, I loved the school and just felt like dancing! This is also the time when I realized my passion for story telling and I knew, and still do, that I want to tell stories in every medium possible. During this time I took my first steps, or rather a running leap, towards love, when I finally plucked up the courage to ask DuCiel out. It was the first relationship for us both, so we really had no idea what to do. We liked each other and that’s all I needed to know.

If I Ever Leave This World Alive written and performed by Flogging Molly
Of Friendship and Hope
Have you ever had something that you cherished, but you never knew how much it meant to you? Well that’s how it was with me when DuCiel broke up with me. It was like my entire world had dropped out from underneath me, but for some reason I knew that it would be OK, because on that day I realized that I really loved her. She said that she was just overwhelmed and she needed time to think, I was OK with that, I myself was a bit confused. All I really wanted was to be her friend and most of all for her to be happy. I tried to convey all this in an email that I sent her with this song attached because it illustrated my wish to be her friend no matter what. Looking back at it now, breaking up was quite possibly the best thing that could have happened to us.

Make You Feel Better written and performed by the Red Hot Chili Peppers
Could Life Get Better?
I could go line by line and tell you every parallel between this song and my life. Out of all the love songs I could have chosen, this one just seems so perfect, the beat and the tune have carried me through the last year because I’m fearless. There is nothing left to get worried about, DuCiel chose me and she knew that we both wanted to be together for a very long time and she told me so on January 22 2006. This time around, just like the song says, “she’s the only one for me”. It’s because she is not just my girlfriend, she is also my best friend, which is why I don’t begrudge the time we spent as friends since it let us really get to know one another.

He’s A Pirate written and conducted by Klaus Badelt
Take What You Want, Give Nothing Back
This song is in here not to describe a period of time but more a state of mind. The tune of this piece has become the soundtrack of my day-to-day life, I’m not exactly sure why it’s here, I think maybe because it shows that now that all my old friends have graduated or gone missing I have to strike out on my own and pick up a new crew of geeks to pillage High Mowing with. Or perhaps it’s here because it’s epic and right now my life is epically amazing and hey, who doesn’t like Pirates?

Tank! Written and performed by the Seatbelts
3,2,1…Let’s Jam!
The beat and rhythm and fast pace of this song is like the road map of my future life, I know exactly where I’m going, not exactly sure how to get there, but get there I will! I thought it only fitting to use the opening theme of one of the shows that has inspired me, the jazzy tune and velocity encourage me to push myself a little faster and a little harder because if I want to have my own development studio by the time I’m 29 I am going to have to be the first out of the gate.

One Winged Angel, Orchestral version, written and conducted by Nobuo Uematsu
Thanks For All The Fish
This song, more than any other, has inspired me to set my dreams higher than most people would deem possible. It is my dream that I will one day create something as revolutionary, influential, memorable and loved as the story that this song comes from. My crowning achievement would be to change popular belief that video games, as just a simple form of entertainment into one of accepting that genre as a fully-fledged art form, just like cinematography and literature.