Sooooo, I'm gonna try to make this a little thing. Where I talk about my songs and go more in depth on em. We'll see if I actually keep this up! Time will tell. Either way, "My First Dog." It's about Minnie! Now much of this story could be grasped in my song so feel free to skip to the end. But yeah, the idea to tell a story about Minnie came from Ashia, my muse and creative director... so make sure you give her props on the idea! I was like, "I wanna do a song about Minnie, what should I do?" And she said "You should tell a story!" Wallah! Now lets talk about Minnie. About her origin story, her personality, and our most epic adventure.
I'm not sure if you've met Minnie but she is a wild little sweetheart! Back when I first got her, I was in college and in a fraternity. There was a greek figure related to SAE, Minerva. I believe she was a goddess or something, I don't completely remember the connection to my fraternity. Either way, I was also with a girl who loved Disneyland at the time. So Minnie's name was a mix between the Minnie Mouse from Disneyland, and a shortened version of Minerva. Man I have too many stories about Minnie. Where to start! Lets start with how I have no idea what kind of breed she is. I got her at Helen Woodward with my dad, and they said she was part Sharpei part Beagle.. but honestly she looks like a sphinx to me! At least now she does. She's a beautiful creature I tell ya. And as a puppy she was just plain adorable. She was all by herself when I looked in the kennel full of her brothers and sisters.. and I was just drawn to her.
Her personality can best be desribed as a sweetheart that gets a bittt excited upon meeting. Definitely the toughest part about having her was she had a little social anxiety when I brought people over, but also just got overly excited. Like excited to the point it didn't really look like a fun excitement for her! It was sadddd. Her little heart beating so fast for the first half hour to an hour that guests were over. Eventually she would calm down, but that first impression may have scared some people off. It's okay! Other than that, she was just a normal dog. She liked to bite stuff she shouldn't. She hated when I left the house. But as for some unique things, for one, she loved to get chased around the backyard. I was playing flag football at the time and I would try catching her. Basically tackling her, but much more playful than your typical football tackle. I figured if I could tackle a dog, I could tackle a person! She was so fast!!! And her long tail was like a little rutter, helping her stay balanced during her high speed turns, it was incredible! And a split second before I would grab her, she would turn on another gear! That team ended up playing in Nationals for intramural flag football... so I like to think Minnie helped out. Now, I'm a bit older and a few knee surgeries later, so I can't quite chase her like I used to... but man that was one of my favorite things to do with her. When indoors, her favorite toy was the rope. Tug a war was her jam. When she was really young... a story I didn't talk about in my song... is she would just sit in my lap while I played video games. It was so cute. Sometimes I would smoke bowls in there, ya know, and blow the smoke through a toilet paper roll with a dryer sheet... so my parents couldn't smell it... lol. Good times.
Then, after graduating I had to move out of my moms house. Mainly because she didn't like that I was selling weed out of her house, so I can't blame her. I ended up staying with some friends at what we called The Hotel. Until of course.. the housemates got tired of the high kid (me) crashing on their couch with his dog. So I posted a facebook status about finding a place. Then a friend told me about Austin, Texas. I looked it up and I didn't know that it was the Live Music Capital at the time. I was sold! Once I found a job, Minnie and I packed up my car, and went on our way! Our first stop was New Mexico. I stayed the night there, hooked up with a girl with a huge butt!.. then kept going to Austin. It was really tough getting settled in Austin. I never really felt super comfortable. I did make a lot of friends, some who I still talk to today... but yeah its hard to describe. Regardless, my main goal was to just work on my song-writing. So I was able to do that. And I really brought that a long way in that year I was there. Not to mention I did my first live performance there. Can I get a hell yeah?! And even though my craft improved, my state of mind did the opposite. I just felt lonely. Even with Minnie there, it was tough. I was working a couple jobs, I was barely home and could hardly even hang out with her or anyone for that matter. My roommate worked at a bar, so luckily she wasn't completely by herself during the day. Either way, my time in Austin came to end. We did the same thing but in reverse... and headed back to San Diego. I'm so glad to be back. I just feel at home in San Diego. I don't see myself ever leaving again! I also can't imagine making that crazy drive without Minnie in the car with me. I needed her on an emotional level, and I'm just so thankful she was such a trooper.
She's getting old now. 12 or 13. And that's what really inspired me to write a song for her. It could be considered a love song for her. And ya know what, she deserves it. And I just wanted her to have a song dedicated to her before she checks out ya know. She just sparked so many moments of joy in my life and it was about time.
Peace & Love.. from my heart to yours,
Billy