A decade under the influence, what 2000-2009 meant to me.

This decade saw me grow up. All of my defining life experiences happened these ten years. I came into this decade as a precocious 11 year old who thought he was gonna be a professional football player/Astronaut when he grew up. in the Year 2000 I entered Woodlands Middle School and met the other half of this writing tandem. I sat through the events that unfolded on September 11, 2001 in my seventh grade english class with my best friend and then girlfriend. I had my first kiss. I had my first breakup. And met friends who I maintain to this day. This was all before High School. I'll never forget August 20th 2003, my first day at Lake Worth Community High School. I was an AFJROTC cadet along with one of my best friends who would go on to be my first college roommate. My freshman year of high school was spent playing football and chasing girls, something that would not deviate too much for the next four. My sophomore Year I had my first serious girlfriend. They say you always remember your first, well, somehow I'm still good friends with my first, despite myself. Around this time I realized I saw the world differently than most, I seldom took anything seriously and used my sense of humor as a coping mechanism to deal with the soul crushing effects of being a teenager. By self medicating with drugs and alcohol I learned who I was going to be when I grew up. I realized a few things about the world and decided maybe I was meant for something more than a self-serving life. I still carried on as a teenager but it wouldn't be until my senior year of high school when I would make a commitment. I remember my dad wanted to call up my recruiter and punch him in the face. I had a future, and to him it was not one of an enlisted man. I had another girlfriend at the time who was willing to do anything for me, not wanting to worry about anyone back home and wanting to life my life on my own I cast a perfectly nice person aside for my own gain. I now live with that every day of my life. I've been forgiven by her numerous times and told that it was no one's fault really, but I know better than that now, such is growing up. I would move out of my parent's house and up to tallahassee where I would attend Florida State University, I would spend my time there lazily spending my days on a couch where I would either drink myself into oblivion, play video games, or both. I found out I would be deploying to Iraq in the fall of 2008, I didn't have the balls to tell my family for nearly three months. This deployment has taught me a lot of who I am, who you can depend on in life, and what other people live like in other parts of the world. I've learned I'm very proud to be an American and consider myself fortunate enough to grow up where I did. I end this decade the same way I came into it. Single. full head of hair. and sober. here's to the aughts. the decade that I grew up in.

Brad's Top 10 Films of the 2000's

10. American Psycho (2000) - This movie made Christian Bale, as Patrick Bateman he was Dexter Morgan before Dexter Morgan. He realized what he was and the best part he was completely fine with it. Without this movie I don't think I would be able to tap that inner sociopath I posses. I may not murder people, well not literally anyway.

9. No Country For Old Men (2007) - Having never seen a movie with Javier Bardem before I saw this movie and the guy sold me completely on his character. Josh Brolin and Tommy Lee Jones are given's in almost any movie you put them in. The cat and mouse game between Bardem and Brolin is solid throughout and the cameo by Woody Harrelson doesn't completely kill the movie.

8. Wall-E (2008) - If this movie doesn't bring a tear to your eye you're inhuman. Also, the recycling and exercise subtexts are a nice touch.

7. Star Trek (2009) - JJ Abrams is a better director than Michael Bay and this proves it. You can make a movie biased on a franchise and you don't have to make it explosion porn, you can have a story, you can have layered characters, you can make a good movie off of a popular title with a large fan base and not disappoint people.

6. any Lord Of The Rings movie (2001-2003) - Peter Jackson used to be a fat hump who had an epic beard, now he just has the epic beard. Watched as a episodic movie it serves as an awesome cinematic experience, a little draining, but awesome nonetheless.

5. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) - Rushmore was one of my favorite movies in high school and this movie stands out more than The Life Aquatic did to me. Wes Anderson is a great director and his newest movie The Fantastic Mr. Fox is slowly growing on me.

4. Inside Man (2006) - Clive Owen is hands down my favorite actor, Denzel is a close 2nd, I had forgotten this movie was directed by Spike Lee until I imdb'd it.

3. The Dark Knight (2008) - Christopher Nolan knows how to paint Gotham City, after Joel Schumacher ruined the batman franchise with Ledger's death polarized a movie that already promised to be intense and it only made the Joker role all the more haunting. Michale Caine as Alfred described the character perfectly "some men just want to see the world burn."

2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) - Charlie Kaufman scripted a movie that I first saw days after breaking up with my first real girlfriend, I cried. Hard. I just remember feeling the way Jim Carrey's character Joel felt in the scene where he's driving his car and sobbing as he listens to a tape on his radio. Jim Carrey is known as a comedian, but this movie is hands down his best work as a lead actor.

1. City of God (2002) - Growing up I thought Brazil was a tropical paradise that had women with huge boobs, awesome beaches, and a giant jesus statue (and Bob Burnquist, I really liked skateboarding.) After watching this I my entire opinion of that country changed in a heart beat, it's like a third world version of The Wire.