Scott Wampler died today and I’ve been in shock for hours. I think I’ve always been able to be friends with anyone, but as I’ve gotten older — the ones who invade my heart and get a jersey in the rafters, like my true favorites, are the outliers, the naysayers and the radicals. Who just lean in on being resistant to monotony, total bullshit and always down for some ruckus. Scott was one such dude. Twitter is how we met many years ago, just via the typical pull of the platform mixing up people who would never be in the same spot at the same time but in agreement on what we don’t like and won’t stand for. Our mutual love of horror, film, Nine Inch Nails and dragging people to filth is what brought us together and that expanded into a network of people I simply adore. Like somehow the universe saw fit we all be friends and we all met because we liked what the other person wrote? Like how our minds unfurled on the page in the glories and shambles of our existence over the last 7-8 years? That’s just rad. I asked him to help me with projects, he would do the same with me—a resounding yes. He believed in me and I him. We respected each other. I have been sobbing loudly no less for hours—because I’m furious. Furious that I can’t nag him anymore. I am sick to my stomach that he won’t tell me to STFU because he’s laughing too hard at my rambling on air. I am deeply annoyed that he won’t call me with some crazy idea of his that sounds so good it makes me go HELL YES LETS DO IT, and I’m outraged that he is no longer going to be in our lives. No one prepared me for aging, no one told me my friends were gonna die young. No one said anything. But I’m learning in realtime. Our friendship wasn’t done it was going to be one of those where we’d be cackling till our side hurt into old age, just being buds. I will miss you so much Scott. You were my homie. This collective place, this world, this page, this existence won’t be the same without you. Love you for life dawg 💛