#icca's

Let's talk about how attractive and talented my amazing friends are! Congrats to the Fordham Ramblers for being so damn perfect and advancing to the semi-finals of the ICCA's!!

(And shoutout to my best friend Anthony for winning the Outstanding Choreography award for the set, I feel like a proud mom)

get myself to sleep. yes, it is in fact due to emotional issues i'm experiencing at the moment, but not necessarily any negative type of issues, if you can imagine emotional issues being so. lots of things happened tonight, some more expected than others, but happened nonetheless. one notable negative aspect of the night is that i feel i legitimately and significantly hindered a friendship which i long held immensely dear. half of me wants to believe that shit is gonna blow over as it has often done, but the other half of me feels like i royally fucked up. the ratio is about 49% to 51%, respectively. i am not, however, trying to focus on this negative aspect in this post, just stating it's a contributing factor for my new-found insomnia which has led me to make this post.

the good stuff plays a much more significant hand in all of this.

for starters, my a capella group, the stony brook high c's, competed in the international championship of collegiate a capella (ICCA's) last night and, no gas, we fucking killed it. unfortunately, we did not tickle the judges' fancy enough to place 1st, or even 2nd, but we did place 3rd out of nine insane motherfucking groups. apc rhythm of nyu took home first place. even though we didn't win, placing in an international competition, i feel, is a big fucking deal.

but it gets better

there was a little mini showcase as the judges deliberated on the winner -- a beatboxing showcase. all the beatboxers from each group lined up on stage and gave a little taste of what they had to offer. of course, in the stead of the dope amit bhowmick, i was charged with the duty.

to fucking have 30 seconds to do something you love in front of an audience of strangers and friends, with all eyes and ears on you, is one of the greatest feelings in the world. and then to have that crowd cheer as loud as they did after the fact. no lie, it nearly brought me to tears. if i could walk around with that same sound in my ear my entire life, i would never tire of it. it ranks right on up there. but what's more is people recognize you afterwards? not even know your name they just know who you are? (one of the members of the winning group ran into me at a restaurant after the show and literally greeted me with "holy fucking shit fuck we call you 'dubstep boy.'") that is incredible. to have the recognition and respect of complete strangers, it blows my mind that this kid from queens, who just grew up making stupid noises with his mouth, could be so appreciated by people who have never seen or heard of him before.

with all this said, i did not win the best VP award at this competition, which was disappointing, to be honest.

but fuck it. i love the sound of cheering, the sounds of crowds going nuts for something no one taught me or forced me to learn; for something that i decided to take on by myself and to work on by myself. that is the greatest feeling i could ever receive and no slip of paper could ever give me because for that moment, in a haphazard crowd of individuals, no one is a stranger, even if for that one moment.