Aka MCA; member of the Beastie Boys; aliases Nathaniel Hornblower & Abednego. He died of parotid cancer (salivary gland), in 2012.

Danielle and I used to lay on my bed for hours trying to decide which Beastie Boy looked the hottest in the posters on my wall.

I always liked Ad Rock (Adam Horovitz) the most. He was consistently cute and probably the most cheeky of the group. And boy do I love me some good old-fashioned cheekiness 😍

Danielle was all about Mike D. (Michael Diamond). Even when rumors swirled that he and Screech from Saved by the Bell were the same person, she stuck by her man 😂

But in those posters on my bedroom wall, oh my Lord, all 3 of them were so hot 🔥 We could never decide who looked the best in each poster. It would change daily.

I was never into the leather jacket-wearing, Fight For Your Right-era MCA, but during the Sure Shot era … woah Nellie.

He’d become more mature and started rapping about important things that mattered to him. He apologized to women for the way he’d acted toward them before; and when he became politically active, his biggest cause being to free Tibet – well that sealed the deal for me. He was cool as a cucumber in a bowl of hot sauce and officially my favorite Beastie Boy 😍

You know how people talk about where they were when they heard Elvis died? For me it’s when I heard Adam Yauch died.

Fittingly, it was Danielle who told me. 600 miles away from her and feeling really alone, I sat in my cubicle and cried.

It wasn’t just the tragedy of his life being cut short at 47, it was like a part of me died too.

Although I was well into adulthood – 35 and just about to have my 3rd baby, I instantly turned back into that twenty-something year old on my bed with my best friend, talking about him being the hottest.

I think God has a kind and gentle sense of humor because He gifted me with my own 3 beastie boys. They’re my constant reminders to have fun, be goofy, laugh, and celebrate life – just like the real B-Boys did. I’m happy to say that at 43, I haven’t lost that feeling and hopefully never will.

In honor of the brilliant, wonderful, inspiring, Adam Yauch, I’m ending this blog with some of my favorite lines from him:

Intergalactic – “Well I got to keep it going keep it going full steam/ Too sweet to be sour too nice to be mean/ On the tough guy style I’m not too keen/ To try to change the world I will plot and scheme”

Root Down – “Bob Marley was a prophet for the freedom fight/ ‘If dancin’ prays to the Lord then I shall feel alright’/ I’m feeling good to play a little music/ Tears running down my face ’cause I love to do it”

Sure Shot – “I want to say a little something that’s long overdue/ The disrespect to women has got to be through/ To all the mothers and sisters and the wives and friends/ I want to offer my love and respect to the end”

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️