Through the magic of the google, last week I re-connected with one of my oldest and dearest friends, Mark Austin. Shaggy (a.k.a. Mark) and I had not been in touch in about 5 years, and I totally take the blame. How sad is that? Shaggy was my best man, but I let time and 700 miles get in the way of our friendship.

I met Shaggy in 9th grade, and looking back, I can’t really remember my high school years without thinking of him. We were always connected. When I wasn’t living out of my Blazer, I lived at Shaggy’s house. Whenever Johnny-Law needed to correct some inappropriate behavior, Shaggy was detained right along side me. Tight. Always.

When we were sophmores, we were both diggin’ on two freshman hotties, Lauren Wood and Kelly Quartaro. What are best friends to do when they can’t decide who would ask who out? Yup… coin-flip. Mark and Lauren ended up dating for the next three years, while Kelly and I dated off and on for three. Mostly off. Ok, we dated for about four months, and then there was just this weird tension for two years while she dated other guys, and I didn’t date much.

So in honor of the flip of the coin, here’s e.s.l. covering Girls originally recorded by the Beastie Boys. (you can listen to the original here)

I am out of words now.