THINGS, INCLUDING MY THOUGHTS ON MR. JOSHUA

September 3, 2019

By DINO COSTA

-Cheyenne, Wyoming

Mr. Joshua is one hellacious kick in the ass, isn’t he?

I don’t know what is worse, the fact that I actually allowed him to write his own story or the fact that the ornery prick is now a resident of

Wyoming and has been ever since I arrived here back in 2012…and not only does he live here in Wyoming – but he resides only about a mile from where

I do.

Of course, I read his story that appeared here only a few days ago, in fact, if I didn’t edit the damn thing it would have been more of a mess

than it turned out to be.

He mentioned our chance meeting on a sidewalk in Denver when I picked him up off the pavement and then brought him to a hospital – but he told the

story in such a way that he made it appear as though I was calm and matter of fact during that ride. On the contrary, as the old geezer was drunkenly spewing from the mouth that night I told him that if he didn’t shut up I’d

pull the car over and throw him the beating of his life.

But something he’s right about is when he told of me not providing him (or anyone else) with any details concerning my plans for the future – that is

if I even have a future.

I guess I should be appreciative that Mr. Joshua was able to accurately go through a timeline and a sequence of events covering large portions of my

middling little broadcast career interspersed with his own thoughts.

Toward the last few paragraphs of his thesis, a tear nearly came to my eyes as I read his words and feelings concerning yours truly. No, not really. It

takes a hell of a lot more to make me cry than some periphrastic and disjointed tales from the mind of a guy who has trouble remembering what he

did yesterday never mind attempting to recount what went on in my life at various junctures.

In all seriousness, however, I must admit that the man has been a great comfort to me throughout many trials and tribulations over the years.

Many people we meet will tell us about the dozens and dozens of friends that they can count on when reality suggests otherwise. Perhaps some people

do have a litany of friends that they have the luxury of calling upon for this thing or that, but most of us do not.

The stark truth is that most of us have very few ‘friends’ in life as opposed to many of us happening to know a lot of people and having many of

what I’ll refer to as; ‘acquaintances’.

A friend, or rather, a true friend, is a rarity in many instances.

The truth is that I have very few friends, and yet, like most, the number of people I know and generally like checks in at a much higher number – but

that doesn’t necessarily mean that they are friends.

A friend is someone who genuinely loves you and someone who sticks by your side through everything, the good, the bad, and yes, the ugly as well. We

all experience each of those things I just mentioned, but no matter the ups and downs, a friend is someone who never leaves your side – ever.

Mr. J has been someone like that to me and I like to think I’ve been such a person to him over the years.

Mister J wrote about a few different things and he obviously wanted to step into the way back time-machine to provide some of his thoughts on my

halcyon days at SiriusXM Radio.

I will say that Mr. J’s remembrance of my time at SXM was on point in regard to each of his thoughts.

I guess I’m a little surprised that Mr. J passed (or perhaps never even thought about) on detailing the various efforts I’ve made over the last

few years as I’ve attempted to re-establish a niche within the industry and the amount of time I’ve sometimes been forced to spend away from my family.

The crisscrossing of the country either on wheels or through the air, the various meetings and concepts discussed, the people I’ve spoken with, the optimism at times and even the resulting disappointments of the last few

years.

Mr. J implored me to get back on the air as soon as possible – but he also knows the fact that I’m not on the air currently certainly isn’t for a lack of effort on my part. The effort is always there even if the timing or the

realities of the current environment can screw things up one too many times.

And yes, I’ll agree with Mr. J that America desperately needs a voice such as the one in my possession – these days now – perhaps more than ever

before.

But this is about ‘fit’ more than anything else – and fit is not as easy as one might think, not these days it isn’t.

The industry has changed so substantially since I first entered it full-time back in 1997 and finding the right parameter fit, particularly for such an opinionated individual such as myself is far more difficult

today than it was years and years ago.

The emphasis within the industry, save for a few people (I’ll get to this more of this here in a second), is to employ people with a mostly generic mindset, individuals who are merely content to be on the air, to be a part of the scenery, coloring only between the lines and never deviating from

the prepared industry script that is disseminated each day.

In other words, what the industry now values more than ever is soft and safe rather than ballys and provocative in an effort to appease the out of

their minds and insane loons on the scene. JUST ONE EXAMPLE:

https://www.libertyheadlines.com/gerry-callahan-fired-weei/

The resulting consequence to this new media paradigm is that it has left the world of radio totally bereft of anything resembling personality while

giving listeners a pretty basic roster of vanilla on-air individuals who pretty much all sound the same and talk about the same things in all the

ways that are considered unassailable by some of the unhinged and mentally mad people out there.

The industry is not so much on the lookout for talent these days as much as they’re attempting to forecast predictability with their on-air hosts.

Think of it as broadcasting analytics.

Talk show jobs? It seems that never have they been as unavailable as they are today.

But if you’re interested in selling radio, or trying to anyway, you’ll have no shortage of available opportunities.

In fact, if you head to any industry job website you’ll see loads of jobs for radio salespeople from one end of the country to the other. The reason

for this is because there is so much turnover in the sales area of the business – and this is for a couple of different reasons.

1-The majority of those attempting to sell radio for a living are hamstrung by an inability to excite their prospective marketing partners by inducing

them to buy into the dog-shit radio programs they’re trying to move. If you haven’t been able to notice, these days, there’s a lot of dog-shit on the

air.

2-Because it is oftentimes more than difficult to get marketing partners (particularly from a local level) to buy into these dog-shit presentations, sales

personnel eventually run out of patience because they see their paychecks dwindling week after week which then forces so many of these

well-intentioned salespeople to drop the idea of trying to pitch unsellable products – and they then move on to another job in another line of work

where they can actually hope to make some respectable money. Thus the need for a new batch of salespeople on a near-permanent basis.

Once people such as Rush Limbaugh, Howard Stern, Michael Savage, Mark Levin, Howie Carr, Mark Belling, and a few others, retire from the

industry (or are fired), they will be replaced by zombie-like talkers who will all sound the same and true personality-radio will be a distant memory

never to return.

Of course, listener behavior continues to change and more and more people are seeking alternative means for their news, information, and opinion,

which has compelled people to move over to the Online world where there are no draconian rules and where a few talents with something to actually say don’t find themselves hemmed in by the severe and oppressive climates normally associated with today’s darker-by-the-minute radio business.

However, every now and then I do find something that makes me believe that there is still some light remaining at the end of this gloomy radio tunnel.

For instance, just the other week an announcement was made introducing a new radio station in Orlando, Florida, with a format that is truly the

antithesis to most of today’s predictable and ‘safe’ radio decisions. In fact, it’s pretty damn stunning.

“Florida Man Radio” describes themselves as; “personality radio”, and almost every host featured on their initial on-air roster has created some

waves in their former program incarnations, and yet, those running this new station which has recently launched don’t seem to give two shits about any

of that. Refreshing? Where do I sign up?

This station will feature people such as Bubba The Love Sponge and Shannon Burk, just to name a few, and the station’s program director, Rick

Shackleford, said the following in announcing the station’s intentions and what they will offer to their listeners: “There will be no topics

off-limits, including topics specifically about our on-air staff. Our topics will include sports, politics and pop culture. If you talk about it

in your life or on social media, Florida Man Radio 660 AM and 105.5 FM will talk about it.”

Where, oh where, has this Rick Shackleford been all my life?

But back to Mister Joshua (not his real name by the way) because there are some things he neglected to tell you all.

For all of his self-deprecation in the story he authored, Mr. Joshua sold himself a little short as a man and as someone with life experiences that

exceed many others.

As much as he thanked me for helping him through some things, likewise, this friend has done the same and never once has he abandoned me. He’s

always urged me to remain upbeat no matter what the situation or the circumstance, he’s like a walking and talking, one-man inspirational anthem

of positivity.

For all of my sarcasm about Mr. J at times, the fact is that he’s a more than a learned individual who can talk about just about any topic

intelligently – and he’s as smart as a whip.

And yes,make no mistake because it is more than true, one of the bars he mentioned in his piece (Jerry D’s) was never more successful than when he

was running it and from what I’m led to believe, running any bar or saloon in a successful fashion isn’t an easy thing to do.

I think the thing I’ve always appreciated about Mr. J more than anything else is that he’s authentically real, there is no pretense to him

whatsoever, he’s always been able to recognize the humanness in people, and he’s far from judgemental.

The one thing I don’t like about Mr. J is that he’s a Yankees fan, but even there we find a story to show the kind of a guy he is.

While working at Jerry D’s one day he impulsively had the idea to head to New York to finally go to Yankee Stadium for the first time.

So, he finished up his work one night at his place of employment, took a red-eye out of Denver to New York, walked around Manhattan for a few hours

after he landed, then headed out to the Stadium for an afternoon game between the Yankees and the Twins.

Then after the game ended, he got back on a flight to Denver and arrived back at Jerry D’s by 9 PM that evening to work a few hours and to close out

the night at the bar with no sleep for over 24-hours.

You can’t make this stuff up.

A well-rounded and eclectic person?

He’s been to Rome a few times and he actually lived in Italy for a year. He’s been in a rock band, he was elected to the city council one time in the place he lived, he was an all-state wrestler in high school, he’s been

a waiter, a salesman, a cook, and he actually was working with me moving furniture and taking old appliances out of homes on the day I got the call

that SiriusXM wanted to hire me just about 10-years ago.

Then, after my first year at SXM, he called me out of the blue and left me a message asking me to pick him up down at Penn Station. What? I called him

and asked him what the hell he was doing at Penn Station? “I’ve decided to live in New York for a while”, he told me. WHAT?

So sure enough, I head over to Penn Station and there he is waiting right outside of Madison Square Garden for me to pick him. I brought him over to

my home in New Jersey where I was living at the time – and for the next year Mr. J did what he said he’d do, he lived in New York! He got a job

waiting tables at an Italian restaurant to make ends meet and had himself a Big Apple ball.

He did return to Colorado once in a while and one time he showed up at my home at about 3 in the morning and informed me that he needed a ride out to JFK to head back west for a few days. He woke me out of a pretty deep sleep

and when I asked him what time we needed to leave for the airport he said; “well, my flight leaves in about 90-minutes so it would be a good idea if we left

right now.”

As to some of the particulars of what Mr. Joshua wrote and my responses with some specifics…

Mr. J wrote: “During his 5-year tenure doing national radio, Dino Costa ushered in a

never-heard-before brand of sports commentary and opinion that galvanized the country on a daily basis whenever he took to the air. I know that I’d

never heard anything like it before.”

MY RESPONSE: True dat. Without blowing myself too much allow me to state for the

millionth time that there is no sports radio soundtrack the equivalent of The DINO COSTA Show, not yesterday, not today, and not tomorrow unless I’m

behind a microphone and speaking into it. That’s supreme confidence, my friends. Okay, it’s also a little arrogant too. Deal with it as you’d like

to, I guess.

Mr. J wrote: Shortly after the story appeared Hastings phoned Dino Costa to apologize. But why apologize? Men’s Journal Magazine is a publication run by devout liberals and Hastings, who had many liberal tendencies himself, told Dino

that the story he wanted to write was mostly left on the editing room floor by those at the magazine who refused his request to amplify the piece in all the ways he had hoped to. “You’re too fucking hot for those guys over

at Men’s Journal”, said Hastings.

MY RESPONSE: To this very day, I remember the show I was doing when my producer, Andrew

Caplan, cut in on the show to tell me that the news was making its way across the wire that Michael Hastings was killed in a car accident in Los

Angeles. My heart dropped during that moment because although I wasn’t in constant communication with Mike, I did have enough conversations off the

air with him to feel as though I knew him a little bit and I had developed both an appreciation for his ability to write as well as a feeling of

genuine affection for him. I was also indebted to him because of the way he recognized the show and then did a national profile on it in the pages of Men’s Journal. As to the story that Hastings really wanted to write but

was not allowed to, I’m hopeful of someday being able to find that story, perhaps Michael’s wife, political pundit, Elise Jordan, might be able to

pass it along to me eventually? Mike was also correct when he said that Men’s Journal couldn’t handle me – the pussies that they are.

Mr. J wrote: “It has been rumored that Dino never truly liked this film, and that rumor

is indeed true, however, it had nothing to do with the people who made the movie as Dino felt they did a remarkable job in producing a prose that was

well done and visually excellent. I can confirm that Dino was not happy with the way he positioned himself in that movie.”

MY RESPONSE: I’ve made mention of this before a few times. It’s very true that the makers of the film did a fabulous job and the movie was more than

top-notch. But Mr. J is correct when he talks about the regret I have when I watch the film (I haven’t viewed it in a long time) and my behavior in

the film at certain junctures. Certainly there were moments in the movie where I don’t always feel this way – but overall – I felt that I acted like

a pompous ass in too many scenes and because of this some of those scenes make me cringe. I was on a big-time high at that time folks, a toxic

mixture of vanity and amped-up ego was at play and I think that came out well above and beyond what it should have during a few moments in the film.

As I have also alluded to previously, I did not handle the attention, the publicity, the fame, all that was coming my way during those days very well

at all. I’m certainly far from the first person to mishandle these things the first time around and I can promise you I won’t be the last. However,

the experience of going through it and the ability to learn from what I consider to be some past mistakes in this department – this will help me to

better prepare and deal with these things a second time around if I’m privileged to ever be in such a position again.

Mr. J wrote:

“Dino once told me that he found it truly amazing how his former company is apparently so willing to do whatever they can to advance the efforts of such a program, despite this program having not earned a single tangible

thing over the years, despite this program not generating a shred of publicity for the company (or themselves), despite this program being absent any cultural significance whatsoever, and yet, this program is

laughably held up as a sort of the gold standard at SXM – while The Dino

Costa Show was dismissed and shunned instead of being viewed as the enormous asset it clearly was at the time it was broadcast on that same

platform.”

MY RESPONSE: True – very true – to just about all of this. I’ll be short and sweet in my

response on this one and simply say that if SXM officials had gotten behind my show in only 1/10th of the way they have with the program Mr. Joshua

mentions then SXM would have rarely heard a peep out of me ever. And by the way, I have nothing against that show. However, recognizing the show I did

and the hard work that was put into the show, perhaps loving the show up a little bit, and things would have been far different in my estimation. But

in the end? I don’t think SXM people’s ever truly got the show or understood the show. In their defense? They’re far from alone.

Mr. J wrote: “Also, they did this knowing that Dino resided in Wyoming and in the

mountain time zone where he broadcast his show from a studio he rented in downtown Cheyenne. What did this mean? It meant that Dino needed to get up

at about 2:30-AM each morning to have enough time to get to his studio and to prepare for a radio show that would commence at 4-AM mountain time each

day. Now think about what he had done and all that he had accomplished up to the point he left the Mad Dog channel, then consider the maneuver that

SXM pulled on him, where they dropped his show into, and now go ahead and try to convince me that these were a series of moves that helped to

continue to build upon the foundation of success that Dino so absolutely achieved and then try and convince me that SXM was doing things with Dino’s

better interests in mind.”

MY RESPONSE: Well, look, I had wanted off the MDR channel for almost a year in advance

to when my request was eventually granted, but the placement of my show, particularly after all it had contributed to the SXM platform, placing it on a channel I had no idea even existed at the time, and placing it in

morning hours, it did destroy a nationwide base of listeners that had been developed over the previous years and I was not happy with the move. But my

contract had indeed expired with SXM at that time and I remember being in my driveway on a 4-way call, myself, my agent at that time, and with Scott

Greenstein and Andrew Moss of SXM all included. It was either accept a new 3-year deal being offered at that moment and going to this horrible channel

– or it was say goodbye to the company completely. I accepted the deal ( obviously) and went forward hoping to make the best of it. But it did

make me resentful for what should be obvious reasons. Still, though, myself and Caplan attempted to make the best of the situation and I think we did.

Yes, getting up at 2:30 AM was a bitch most days, but with the benefit of some coffee and my enthusiasm for simply being able to get on the air it

proved to be enough to make things work out as well as we could have hoped for at that time. For those of you west of the Mississippi, I’m sorry you

never heard the show.

Mr. J wrote: “Speaking of Wyoming, it’s a place that Dino and his wife had determined

years before, that if the opportunity presented itself, that they would like to raise their family there. SXM has radio hosts all over the country

doing programs out of home studios or makeshift studios in just about every area of the United States, this is and was never anything that was new.

When Dino told SXM that he wanted to move back out west where he had lived previously, they consented under a strict condition. They would agree to

allow Dino to move to Wyoming and to do his show from a studio out in the Cowboy state under the condition that he consent to allow SXM to slash his

salary by $50,000 a year. Can you believe that?”

MY RESPONSE: Yeah, this one pissed me off and let there be no doubt that it was a good

old-fashioned ass-fucking if there ever was one. I guess they thought if they clipped me 50K a year I would change my mind and stay in New York?

While I was pissed off over this unfair condition they implemented, I wasn’t prepared to let them win either. 50K is a lot of money, it’s the

amount of cash that some people make in a single year. But the way I saw it was that our minds as a family were made up, we had been planning this move

for a while, we wanted it for our children more than anything else, and even if they sought to unfairly punish me by taking some of my money away,

on the other hand, I was still making excellent money, and if anything, this unethical and over the top condition they leveled at me made me want

to move to Wyoming even more. Also, Mr. J asks you to look for another example of where SXM did such a thing to some other air-talent? Don’t bother, this record is mine alone. This one was an SXM exclusive and it

probably won’t ever be matched or exceeded by anyone else – ever. Finally, let the record reflect that The DINO COSTA Show broadcast from a studio in

Wyoming and dispatched across North America proved to be better than ever.

Mr. Joshua wrote: “I’m positive, in fact, I’m absolutely certain, that had SXM come to Dino and told him that they valued him, that they wanted to begin building

around him, that they saw him as a long-term fixture at the company, that they had an idea, a plan they had thought out to increase his role within

the company, I have zero hesitation in believing that if those kinds of things were told to him that he would have reconsidered and stayed in New

York because those are the kinds of things that Dino always wanted to hear from SXM…but never did.”

MY RESPONSE: Again, for what that show produced, for what that show accomplished, for what that show kicked back to SXM in terms of attention, publicity, and the

visibility elements it procured on a consistent basis? If I had received just a little acknowledgment, just a little bit of affirmation, it would

have made all the difference in the world. Mister Joshua is right about something else here, and that is, if instead of cutting my salary and then

dumping me onto an obscure channel in the mornings with nothing in the way of promotion and no apparent plans to introduce any, if instead they had come to me with a plan of action, a 6-month plan, a 12-month-out-plan, something tangible and with vision attached, something substantive, an indication that they planned to build something of significance on this

then throwaway channel, then again, things would have been far different. I’m not at all bragging when I say I deserved such consideration, in point

of fact, the show and what it generated in the years prior made this a no-brainer for anyone thinking about this with an objective mind. And yes, it’s true as well that had SXM sat me down when I announced I wished to relocate west, had they said to me all the things that Mr. J mentioned, I

absolutely would have reconsidered and even possibly stayed in New York without issue. Should I have gone to them? Perhaps, but then again, my

feelings about wanting more of a prominent role (based on results of course) was something that had been in circulation for a few years up to

that point in time. The attention I was receiving from so many outside the SXM galaxy was great, but I would have traded all of that in for some

recognition from those I was working for and with at the time.

Mr. J wrote: “But when you think about it, what a waste, what a missed opportunity for

both sides of the aisle, and in the days, years, and months since that time, allow me to tell you that Dino always wished that things could have

been different, should have been different, and always hoped for a possible reconciliation with SXM because in his heart, and Dino was always prone to

saying this, never was there a more ideal match for the kind of a radio show that Dino broadcast complemented by the platform that is SiriusXM

Radio. Dino always felt it was a match made in heaven – and that it should be again someday. Yes, I’ll also let you know that Dino had often expressed

regret at the SXM dissolution while many times expressing to me that he himself was indeed culpable to an extent in the downfall of that broken

relationship. And yes, truth be told, Dino had reached out to SXM officials several times over the years since the breakup, but no talks were ever

scheduled, no interest of reconciliation was ever expressed by those at SXM.”

MY RESPONSE: The eventual breach after 5-years was indeed more than unfortunate – it was

a magnificent opportunity lost, both for myself and for SXM, but there’s no question this hurt me much more than it hurt SXM, in fact, it probably

didn’t hurt SXM in the least. Remember something, if I said it once I must have said it a thousand times over the 5-years I was on the air

there: “SiriusXM Radio doesn’t need Dino Costa and no one person is bigger than this company.” Now, of course, in hindsight, there are things I do wish I had

done differently. On the other hand, I do take comfort knowing that any of my complications with SXM were always in the vain of best of intentions I

believe. I loved SXM and being a part of SXM, I promoted SXM with vigor as often as possible. I had no issues with the company that ever involved many

of the unseemly things we so often see in the broadcast arena. I never fucked anyone’s secretary, I never photocopied my scrotum and distributed

it throughout the company for others to see, I never assaulted anyone, I never had a domestic issue, I never was arrested for any drug or alcohol issues, I never disgraced the company or brought it disrepute in any way imaginable. I had no gambling issue that was brought to light, I never ran

a scam of any kind, and I generally comported myself as a respectable individual within the constructs of polite society. But I must also

acknowledge, I did bitch about wanting more, sometimes demanding more, and it seemed that the more I did this the further the gap between myself and

the company grew. Hey, I cared, okay? I was passionate and committed to my work and I wanted more people to become aware of it. I was hungry, I was driven and motivated, and I wanted to increase my mark on the industry in

total during that time. Should I have taken a different tact? In retrospect, yes, I should have. Should I have been more subtle and not so

public with my grievances? Absolutely, and it was my mistake for not being more discreet in this area. Should I have stayed put with my show and

remained with the MDR channel? Of this, I have no question, and more than anything, this one decision was the most gargantuan mistake on my part. It boggles my mind to think about where that show would have been at this

juncture and how much more developed and relevant it would be at this point in the proceedings had things worked out differently. In short, I decided to fight the law and the law won. In short, afterward, with time to think

about it, I came to acknowledge my part in the divorce. In short, I feel no shame in admitting to anyone that I overplayed my hand at the time. In

conclusion on this issue, while massively disappointing and as discouraging as the experience turned out to be, I believe it was something that perhaps

I needed to go through to better prepare me in the future. Those experiences have taught me valuable lessons and if you don’t learn from

some of your own past mistakes you’ll be bound to repeat them to your detriment. And yes, Mr. J is correct, I have reached out to SXM several

times over the years if only for an opportunity to provide them with the admittance of my own role in our parting and in wanting to concede regret

in the ways I handled some things during that time. To date they have shown no inclination to hear me out, unfortunately. The end. Now…what radio station will be waiting with a contract in hand as Craig Carton walks out

of his jail cell sometime in the future?

Mr. Joshua wrote: “If only Dino Costa could rise once more, one more time, with feeling,

bigger and better than ever before. How great would that be?”

MY RESPONSE: Pretty fucking great, actually. But don’t hold your breath for too long

because it might not happen. For it to happen would require an individual(s) who have instincts and who possess a perception that is far

more advanced than the usual Tom, Dick, or Harry, in the world of broadcasting. It would also require a person not particularly interested in only hiring someone who fits the specific mindset and world view of the

person doing the hiring. These days, many programmers place a premium on hiring people who fit the same kinds of attitudes and norms, ideas and

precepts that they themselves hold. Talent be dammed, the important thing to a lot of these people is; “Does this talent see the world in similar

ways that I do?” But for the talent evaluator with an ear for understanding true expertise in the area of entertaining an audience the question to be asked is: Does this individual (Dino Costa) do a show that

compels people to listen? Yes. Does this person demonstrate a unique and exclusive brand of commentary and opinion that runs completely counter to

the status quo? Yes. Do I seek just another voice – or am I seeking something singularly uncommon? Even if the interested string-puller asked these questions and arrived at all of the correct answers when it comes to

someone such as myself, the fact is, that the arena of talk radio has changed so substantially that even if they sought the elements that I bring

to the table it still might not be good enough to fit within the carefully selected kinds of programs that are aired these days, programs that lift off at the start of affairs and touch down a few hours later with nothing in the way of provocative or potentially alleged insensitive content – at

least on over the air commercial radio stations that is. For full disclosure, two-months ago I visited with a station in Miami and was

offered a show. However, two things prevented me from accepting the job. Firstly I didn’t come away from the talks with a feeling that I would have management’s support if any shit hit the fan – and I’m not interested in

any more short-term scenario’s as I feel I’ve put my family through enough

heartache over the last few years. Secondly, convincing my wife to relocate to South Florida turned out to be a bigger issue than I thought it would be

and she wanted no part of a move to Miami. What’s wrong with Miami? Oh, well.

Look it, we can re-hash the long-ago SXM days from now until the end of time and nothing will change both the achievements of that show back then

or the eventual dissolution of the show at the time it happened. It’s really ancient history by now and no further discourse on the matter is

really needed anymore, is it?

It’s water well under the bridge and looking to the past too much will prevent anyone from gainfully moving into the future. I still hold SXM in

high regard, wish them well, and I still like many people in the employment of that organization currently. The only reason I’m writing about it now is

in response to what good old Mister J happened to write and concluding with my own two-cents.

Moving onward…

So in summation, I’d like to thank Mr. Joshua for his somewhat eloquent exposition he authored last week as well as his steadfastness in continuing

to believe in me as both a person and a professional.

Like me he’s imperfect.

Like me, he’s had his share of shortcomings, idiosyncrasies, and eccentricities.

Like me, he knows that we all fuck up sometimes, we sometimes say the wrong thing or act the wrong way, or make a decision that we come to regret.

Hey, we live, we learn, we adjust, right? Well, what other option is there?

You have an issue with any of this? Fuck off, we really don’t care, although, both Mister J and myself would very much appreciate it if you could please mail us the blueprint you’ve used all these years for perfect

human living.

Like me, I like to believe, Mr. J is real, he’s raw, and he’s this thing that is impossible to sometimes predict – he’s fucking human.

Maybe the most important thing, perhaps the most admirable thing I find about good old Mr. J is that he’s a sinner saved by grace, a believer, a

true zealot for the Lord.

So, my friend, are you now reading this missive too?

Well then let me close it out by saying that I have no idea what your future holds either, but I’ll remain optimistic that it will be better than

not considering that your past has been much more good than anything that could be considered bad in any way.

I’d like to urge you to keep staying true to yourself, you’re a good man, with a good heart, and always with the best of intentions.

Thank you for being my friend and I truly hope I’ve been able to reciprocate that friendship accordingly over the years.

I like to think that our story together still has another few chapters to go, and I’ll be here for you no matter what, amigo.

Because…what was that you wrote?

“Cause that’s what men do, that’s what friends do.”

Did I get that right?

P.S. You’ll never write another story on my website so don’t even think about it.