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Links to every chapter in the book, along with pictures can be found below:
Chapter 1 - Pirates of the Susquehanna (8/31/07 - Harrisburg, PA)
Chapter 2 - Escape from the Island Party (9/1/07 – Harrisburg, PA)
Chapter 3 - God’s Basement - (September 2007 – Philadelphia, PA)
Chapter 4 - An Idea Is Born (October 2007)
Chapter 5 - Galaxy Productions (Fall 2007)
Chapter 6 - New Zu (December 2007)
Chapter 7 - New Beginnings (New Year’s Eve 2008)
Chapter 8 – Tru-Thousand-Eight (Winter 2008)
Chapter 9 – The End of an Era (Winter 2008)
Chapter 10 - Where’s the Party? (March 2008)
Chapter 11 - Finding Home Again (Spring 2008)
Chapter 12 - A New Journey (Spring - Summer 2008)
Chapter 13 - Summer of Good Vibes (Summer 2008)
Chapter 14 - Purple Stars (Fall 2008)
Chapter 15 - Saturday Night Fable (December 2008)
Chapter 16 - Hustle and Glow (Winter 2009)
Chapter 17 - Fight the Power (Spring 2009)
Chapter 18 - Back to Ground Zero (Spring 2009)
Chapter 19 - A Lesson in Business (Summer 2009)
Chapter 20 - True Colors (Summer 2009)
Chapter 21 - On the Run in the Summer of Love (Summer 2009)
Chapter 22 - FreEDM (Fall 2009)
Chapter 23 -The Experience (Winter 2009)
Chapter 24 - Nothing Lasts (Winter 2009)
Chapter 25 - Time to Take a Chill Pill (Winter 2010)
Chapter 26 – Choice and Consequence (Winter 2010)
Chapter 27 - Crabs in a Bucket (Spring 2010)
Chapter 28 - Fear and Loathing in Raveland (Summer 2010)
Chapter 29 - Dose of Reality (Summer 2010)
Chapter 30 - Summer of Hardcore (Summer 2010)
Chapter 31 - Symbiosis (August 2010)
Chapter 32 - Dance with the Devil (Fall 2010)
Chapter 33 - Speakeasy (Winter 2011)
Chapter 34 - Rites of Passage (Spring 2011)
Chapter 35 - What A Long Strange Trip It's Been
SYNOPSIS
The year was 2007, I had just turned 21, and I was struggling to find my place in a world that I didn’t understand. I spent most of my life as an outcast because I refused to conform with the expectations of mainstream society, but that summer, everything changed when I went to a rave and discovered an underground culture where I was finally accepted, where there were people just like me.
It was like stumbling down a rabbit hole into a magical land of peace, love, and freedom. It really did feel like there was some type of magic in the air back in those days, because my life changed so quickly. In just a few months, I went from a common hustler and a nervous wallflower to a major promoter who organized and supplied some of the most notorious underground events on the east coast.
I found meaning in my life, and I even found love, but I also found a dark side, which would threaten everything I gained. I ended up in a unique position to witness some of the wildest things that this underworld has to offer, experiencing some very extreme highs and lows of my own along the way. Years later, I reflected on what I saw and what I learned during those crazy times, and now I am ready to tell my story.
PREFACE
Throughout the years, my mind would sometimes drift toward the idea of writing a sort of memoir. After all, I did spend a fair amount of time deep in a mysterious underworld, where I was in a rare position to peek behind the curtains and see how it all worked. I never got around to this project though. There were always more pressing matters at hand, more important projects demanding my time and energy, things that needed my immediate attention.
Then one day everything stopped.
I was diagnosed with cancer, and I found myself no longer worrying about the next big project, but instead, fighting to stay alive. When things were at their worst, I was truly unsure whether or not I was going to make it. Suddenly, that memoir was no longer a passing thought in the back of my mind, it was an absolute necessity. If I wasn't going to make it, at the very least, I wanted my story to be immortalized.
Each week, as I suffered through my treatments, I would take my laptop to every appointment, and keep it by me at home, so I was able to work on the book every moment that I had enough strength. Luckily, I made it through the experience healthier than I ever was before. By the time I began to recover, I found I was almost finished telling my story. What I ended up with was the book that you are about to read, Paper Squares & Purple Stars: My Life As A Rave Outlaw, tales from my most interesting years...so far.
This book is based on a true story, but some of the names and other details have been changed. I also used composite characters and condensed timelines for the ease of storytelling. There are some elements of fiction in this book, and any likeness or similarities to real-life individuals is purely coincidental.
Remember that this is a story of growth and learning, and you may disagree with many of the decision that my character makes in this story. There are many things about myself and my career that I am not proud of, but these darker aspects of my story carry valuable lessons with them. Besides, what you are about to read wouldn’t be nearly as interesting if I didn't include those details.
