I began writing poetry when I was only sixteen. I was always a fan of music, and poetry was more about writing lyrics back then more than anything else. Like every teenage boy, I wanted to be in a band and dreamed about hearing one of my songs on the radio someday.

Twenty-five years later, I have come to realize that I can't sing, my fingers are too short to play guitar and I can make one hell of a racket on the drums, but that's really about it. So much for the musical aspirations, I guess.

However, my passion for music has never changed, and the joy I get from writing has always remained. I have written over 500+ poems since then, so I figured it was time to do something with all those notebooks and napkins.

With my daughter starting high school this year, I decided it was time to finally put all those thoughts and memories into a book and share some of these stories with her.

She enjoys music as much as I do, so the times we spend in the car listening to new bands and sharing new artists with one another has been a dream come true for me. By the time she turned thirteen, she could name almost any rock band I threw at her within seconds.

So this is really for you, Junior. Long live rock 'n roll, show me some metal and don't stop dreaming - there is a song out there for anything you need. And should you ever hear one of my tunes on the radio, crank it up and think about your dear 'ol dad every once and awhile.