Yea, so I know it’s been a while since I wrote last. Sue me. Shit happens. But I’m here tonight to say that I am back. I’m here to stay. Charlie Coward will not let the masses down.

Recently Drexel and I left the comfort zone we all know as the Buffalo-Niagara Shithole and traveled to the back-woods of Pennsylvania. “Why the hell would someone go there?” you may ask. Well, that is none of your goddamn business. But the one question I will answer (and it was a question Drexel and I pondered while we were down there) is, “can you still be Punk and live in the sticks?”

At first I thought it may be too difficult to be Punk in the backwoods. How can someone stay in the Punk state of mind while being surrounded by Bush fanatics driving pick-up trucks with NRA stickers on them? How can any sane Punk deal with life in a small town? Is it possible to live a true Punk life while existing in close proximity to racist and bigoted wastes of sperm?

My answer is a resounding HELL YES. After all, as many of you know, Punk is not the clothing you wear, or how many tattoos you have. Punk is a state of mind. And if there is anything that would keep my mind in the Punk side of my brain, it would be the backwoods of America. Where else can you try to affect change better than some dinky hilltop town with one traffic signal and (maybe) two cops? Sure, if you wear your anthem on your sleeve, like many of us Punks do, you would stick out. And sure, if you have a Mohawk or listen to Social Distortion while tearing ass down the road at full blast people might stare at you and shake their heads as you go by. But that is kind of the point, isn’t it?

If we are true Punks, we are trying to change the status-quo. If we are true Punks, we are trying to make a difference. If we are true Punks, we are trying to stand out in the crowd. Standing out in the crowd is to believe in what we see as Right and speaking out against something other than what everyone else is doing. Living like this out in the country is almost more Punk than doing it in The Big City. It is easy to follow the crowd of leather-clad punks walking to the next Fall Out Boy show. But be honest: just because everyone else says that Fall Out Boy is cool, does not make it right. If anything, it makes it fucking wrong! So what is the difference if you are following those wanna-be cunts or if you are following the cockstain with the George Bush bumper sticker? No matter how you slice it, you are still a fucking follower. It’s easy to just not be a Punk. It is hard goddamn work to be a Punk. The world has taught and trained us all to think what they want you to think. Punks have found a way to not drool every time that bell has rung! Punks have found a way to follow the beat in their own head. Punks have found a way to tell The Man to get fucked.

So as I end this, I will go back to the original question: Can someone still be Punk and live in the backwoods of America? If a person is a true Punk, they can be Punk anywhere they want. Punk is the way you think and the things you believe in. No one can take that away from you. As long as you can stay true to yourself, and not give in to the false truths that The Man wants you to believe, then you can be Punk any goddamn place you want.