Here's a secret: There are few things in this world that make me happier and more nostalgic than listening to Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band.

I'm not sure if anyone knows that. You are now the "Kitty" to my Anne Frank.

Did he just make an Anne Frank reference?

Yes. Yes he did.




xxx.

If Wrestlemania 24 really was Ric Flair's last match, I kind of wanted to share a story about him.

On April 17, 1999, I had just turned ten, and my dad took me to a wrestling match in, I believe, Ft. Pierce, FL. It was a WCW house show, and it had been a while since I had been to a match. This was kind of the way that my dad and I used to bond. Every so often, we'd go to a match. We went to quite a few WWF Raws, WCW Nitros, or just house shows.

But, on this particular night, my dad told his friend that it was my birthday, and his friend just so happened to be in WCW security. He hooked me up with a "ring boy" position, meaning I got to take the robes and whatnot back to the dressing room for the wrestlers. I was just a little mark, but I loved it.

Backstage, I met Chris Benoit and Rick Steiner, among others, and received a ton of merchandise. My favorite possession from the night was my Four Horsemen t-shirt, that sadly got lost somewhere from moving from Jupiter to Chesapeake Beach.

The thing that impacted me most that night was Ric Flair's match. No, I don't remember who was in it, and no, I don't remember who won. But, before the match, when Ric Flair took off his robe, he was supposed to give it to an actual crew member. But, he saw my Horsemen shirt, and gave it to me instead.

Like a flag, I was told to not let it touch the ground. That wasn't a problem, considering I felt like I was ten feet tall. Ric Flair personally handed it to me, instead of someone he knew. Was I dreaming?

I will never forget that, and I hope that if I stay in this business, I will get to meet him and thank him in person for that, and for everything he has even done for the sport.

When you look in my room and see one wrestling poster, and it's of Ric Flair, now you know why. I respect him more than I respect most people.

Thank you, Ric Flair. Clap clap clapclapclap.

xxx.

It's now Monday, thus ending the busiest week of my life. But, working for Ring of Honor has been a dream of mine since its conception, and working in the wrestling business is a dream that I have had for as long as I can remember. I'm doing both, and I can honestly say that I am proud of myself for moving forward with my life.

I saw some close friends on Saturday, and some friends that I hadn't need since elementary and middle school. Reliving memories from being younger, including being told that someone remembered how I was always tired on Tuesdays in 4th grade because I stayed up watching wrestling, really made me feel good.

I am really trying to achieve my life goal, one day at a time. I am putting my name out there, and making friends. I am grateful for every single person that I have met so far, and I have learned a lot in the six months that I have been working for a wrestling company. I never thought that I'd meet any of the guys that I have met so far, especially not the Japanese workers, or people like Larry Zbyszko.

I have to say that I thank Sal Hamaoui and Gabe Sapolsky for giving me a chance, and now I'm trying to run with it.

xxx.

Tomorrow (or today, I guess) starts quite possibly the busiest week of my life. Three (?) tests, starting the full-time job at Bank of America, and ROH's Orlando double-shot debut. I'd say, "Thank God for Spring Break!" but I won't even be able to enjoy it next weekend, because I'll still be working 2-11pm. I guess this is growing up.

I had a great weekend, filled with Full Impact Pro shenanigans on Saturday, with tons of driving included. On the way home, I listened to a radio show with a man that said he knew who the Zodiac killer was. I laughed. He sounded crazy. On Friday, I had a great lunch with Caity, Liz, Steph, Trish, Nate, and Ian, at Crazy Sushi. It was, in fact, crazy. Then, my Aunt Peggy and my second cousin Dan and his daughter came into town for the night, and we all went to the Outback Crab Shack. I miss Maryland crabs.

Today, I went to church in the morning after getting home at an ungodly hour, came home, edited pictures, said "Sayonara" to those lovely twins, edited pictures some more, ate Easter dinner, edited more pictures, finished editing pictures, said "Smell you later!" to a big headed sweetheart, and took a nap with a cat. All in a day's work, my friend.

Now, I am going to bed, not looking forward to the next week or two. I can handle it, I hope. I just don't want to drown in the stress of it all.

Adulthood, here I come!




xxx.

Me neither, Pig. Me neither.

xxx.

I'm glad to see you

I had a funny dream

And you were wearing funny shoes

You were going to a dance

You were dressed like a punk but you are too young to remember

I'm glad to see you

I'm outside the house

I'm not thinking right today

I've got no energy

I'm glad that you are waiting with me

Tell me all about your day

Breaking off is misery

I see a wilderness for you and me

Punctuated by philosophy

I'm wondering how things could've been

I'm happy for you

You've made it hard for me

I counted on your company

You are staying with your friends tonight

I'm feeling sorry for myself

I keep taking everything to be a sign

I'm happy for you

But now I know this hurt is poison

Too sharp to be bled

I'm sitting on my empty bed

I'm on my empty bed

At night the fever grows, it's pounding, pounding

I'd rather be in Tokyo

I'd rather listen to Thin Lizzy-oh

And watch the Sunday gang in Harajuku

There's something wrong with me,

I'm a cuckoo

Scary moment, lovin' every moment

I was high from playing shows

We lost a singer to her clothes

My trouble raised its ugly head

I was revealed

And I was home in bed

I was a kid again

Jesus told me, go after every coin like it was the last in the world

And protect the wayward child

But I'm a little lost sheep

I need my Bo Peep

You know I need My Shepherd here tonight

Breaking off is misery

I see a wilderness for you and me

Punctuated by philosophy

I'm wondering how things could've been

I'd like to see you

But really I should stay away

And let you settle down

I've got no claims to your crown

I was the boss of you

And I loved you

You know I loved you

It's all over now

And I was there for you

When you were lonely

I was there when you were bad

I was there when you were sad

Now it's my time of need

I'm thinking, "Do I have to plead to get you by my side?"

I'd rather be in Tokyo

I'd rather listen to Thin Lizzy-oh

And watch the Sunday gang in Harajuku

There's something wrong with me,

I'm a cuckoo.

Belle & Sebastian: "I'm A Cuckoo"

This world isn't as big as you wish it was. When you find out that what you need is right under your nose, I won't be there anymore. It's silly of me to even be there now, but I have never been one to "do the right thing." Sometimes, all time does it make it hurt longer. You've stolen my sanity, and I want it back. More than anything, I selfishly wish that I could move away from Jacksonville and pretend the last four years have just been a dream. But, because that's absurd and foolish, I sit around and wait for my cue to screw up again.

This is my life. I want it back.

xxx.

I think it's because you're not just a friend. But do you got what I need?







xxx

Love? Yeah. I guess it's kind of like that. Long gone are the days of love being "like a piledriver." Love is a Burning Hammer.

"...but isn't it ironic that you still have ideals and I still have nothing?"

Today I watched a lot of 30 Rock with Emily.

Today I watched It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia.

Today I watched the rain fall outside.

Today I watched the street lights as I drove down the road.

Today I watched the inside of my eyelids as I tried to sleep.

Today I watched my professor lecture on something that I don't even remember.

Today I watched Ring of Honor results come in.

Today I watched me type things I shouldn't have typed.

Today I watched messages to me I didn't want to read.

Today I watched myself be pathetic.

Today, I watched.

xxx.

I won't lie. It's kind of what my heart did when you said what you said. I know that you are one of the few people that actually reads this, and I hope you know how much it sucks. Not for you, of course. What can I say? I should have expected some sort of payback.

So here I sit, listening to Billy Ray Cyrus. It takes me back to my nostalgic age of four. "It Won't Be The Last" came out in 1993. Let's see what else happened in 1993:


- January 11 : WWF's Monday Night RAW premieres on USA.
- January 23 : President Bill Clinton inaugurated as president
- January 27 : Andre the Giant passes away.
- January 31 : Buffalo Bills lose their third consecutive Super Bowl; Michael Jackson plays the half-time show.

- February 23 : Gary Coleman wins a $1,280,000 lawsuit against his parents.

- March 9 : Beavis & Butthead debuts on MTV.

- April 7 : I celebrated my fourth birthday.

- June 11 : Jurassic Park debuts in theaters.
- June 23 : Lorena Bobbitt cuts off the penis of John Wayne Bobbitt in Manassas, VA.

- July 19 : President Clinton announces his "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy regarding homosexuals in the military.

- August 28 : Mighty Morpin' Power Rangers debuts on FOX.
- August 30 : The Late Show with David Letterman debuts.

- September 13 : Late Night With Conan O'Brien premieres on NBC.

- November 3 : The Nanny premieres on CBS.
- November 11 : Microsoft releases Windows 3.11.



Yeah, I imagine other stuff happened, but those are the ones that matter. Thank Jebus for Wikipedia.



This is me, moving on with my life. Let's see how that works.





xxx

Sometimes, I feel like I'm getting played like baseball.

xxx

At FIP over the weekend, Larry Zbyszko was there (because he "needed to get out of the house"). I at first didn't recognize him when he walked by me, but when I saw him go outside with a cigarette, I knew it was him. I went up to him a bit later and introduced myself, and we had a full blown conversation. I have always respected him for his work in the business, and to meet him and have him be such a cool guy, my respect for him rose even more. Larry Z. is the man.

Speaking of FIP, Saturday's show was awesome. It was the first one back in quite some time, and seeing everyone was a lot of fun. I love this opportunity I have gotten. The next show should be great as well, and the fact that Ring of Honor is running in Orlando the next weekend makes it even better. Wrestling is good.

I'm expecting a call from Best Buy soon, so I'll find out if I got the job or not. I really need the money.

I think I'm coming down with something. I hope I'm not, but I feel like crap. I think it's gonna be a Nyquil night for me.


xxx
Jake.

Look at you, Percy Bysshe Shelley. Looking all innocent. You aren't. You know you aren't. You're a good writer, but you're not innocent. And I hate writing papers about you. Yeah, I said it. I hate it. I wish I knew how to quit you.

On Mondays and Wednesdays, I have a two hour break between classes. So, usually, I do a bit of studying in the car, turn on my NPR, and take a nap. Today, however, they were talking about tuna fish. It wasn't interesting at all, but I was just so intrigued that I couldn't nap. I can't remember a thing that was said about tuna fish, but I can tell you one thing...I was tired in my history class.

Back to Shelley for me. This sucks.


xxx
Jake

It has rained for the majority of the day. I am a fan of the rain, yes. But, I am not a fan of tornado watches/warnings, as I do not own any red shoes that will take me back home in case I get sucked up. This is my rational thinking. Take it or leave it.

I managed to fight the torrential downpour and go to Wal-Mart to buy the new Legacy Of Steve Austin DVD. It's weird that I only mark out for him from his 'Stunning' days to his 'Ringmaster' days. After that, it's 'eh.' Nobody cares, Jake. Nobody cares.

I'm just counting down the days for FIP. I'm getting really antsy. This is the first show since November, and I'm happy that I'm going to be seeing everyone again.

Paco let me borrow his bass, and today I learned how to play 'Smooth Criminal.' Not bad for just playing the bass for a day, right? By next week, I should be tearing the house down. Literally. Bare hands. Bare bass.

Emily pointed out probably the best Personal Ad in this week's Folio Weekly. Here it is, verbatim:

Uncommon Grounds
Me: scruffy, hot Scrabble dork. You: probably not interested. Chatted about movies. Thought you had a nice butt, but sex is overrated (just said butt-butt). Only want you for Scrabble. We'll restrict "scoring" to the game.


Best. Personal Ad. Ever.



xxx
Jake.

I am waiting for this to come in the mail. I am going to have to problem whatsoever playing Japanese video games for my Valentine's Day this year. Who needs a valentine, anyway?

The thing about me is that I say a lot of things that I don't mean. I say things that will rile people up just to add some sort of excitement to my day. Yes, it's a personality flaw, but I kind of like it like that.

I used to care what people thought of me. Now I don't even care what I think of people.

When I was younger, I used to claim a religion and be all about praising God or whoever. It was until recently that I realized that I don't want to praise and worship someone that we all fear so much. So, I kind of gave up on that whole thing. I believe in myself, and I like it that way. Who knows? Maybe things will change. But I enjoy where I am currently at in my life.

I parked next to a man at school today that locked himself out of his car. Instead of offering any assistance, I decided to play some Pokemon, eat my fruit salad, and listen to NPR. I didn't want there to be too many cooks in the kitchen, anyway. He ended up getting in because another guy came to his assistance. I call that 'fate.'

I don't know why I have such a vast knowledge on things that will get me nowhere in life. How many people in this world would actually want to argue about the greatest wrestling gimmick of all time, or if Randy Savage had sex with a 14 year old Stephanie McMahon (in my opinion, The American Males and yes, respectively). I need to hit the books.

Speaking of books, I do enjoy a good read every now and again. That's all I have to say about that.

I have class in the morning and I imagine that I will be suffering through an hour and fifteen minutes of my teacher fumbling her words and not knowing what's going on. So, Chris and I will laugh and make snide jokes to each other like usual. Ah, college. It's the life.

I'm good with sarcasm.

xxx

Jake.

I still have no idea where I'm going, and I honestly have no idea when I'm going to get there. Even when I arrive, I'm not sure if I will realize it. I'm trying to figure out what path to take and what path to block off, but all of them look the same in the long run. They all end in death. Cynical? Maybe, but try and prove me wrong. This isn't a movie. I'm not Superman. If anything, I'm just Jake. What else do you want me to be?

People try so hard to be something they aren't. Have I done it? Of course I have. I went through my 'finding myself' phase which included way too much Hot Topic clothing, but I made it out alive. For better or worse.

I have grown up a lot over the past year. I have realized a lot over the past couple of months. [side note: why does the new Dillinger Escape Plan sound like Nine Inch Nails? Get back to me on that.] Does finding yourself mean that you have to know what you want to do in life? If so, I'm afraid I'm never gonna find myself.

I am too fickle to find anything for that matter.

Sometimes I just type, regardless of whether it makes sense or not. I hate when people say "irregardless." It's not a word, people. For real.


Jake.

"I'm watching you change,
It doesn't have to be this way.
It gets harder everyday,
So you keep numb to feel safe.

Fuck what you know,
Can't you see it's shallow?
Every time you swallow,
Do you get a taste of what you've become?"
- Midtown


I have spent today watching seasons one and two of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, and I'm not sure if there has been a more brilliant show since it has blessed the airwaves. Seriously, every episode is so witty and creative that I just want the episodes to become little teddy bears and let me sleep with them. That's how much I love them. I want to sleep with them.

"I'm gonna stab his face off."
See. That's the beauty of this show. For real.

Why did I start the blog off with a song by Midtown? More importantly, a song from Midtown that really doesn't relate to anything in my life? Well, because it's a good song. Is there any special meaning behind it being there? Nope. Not in the least bit.

"Politics is one big ass blast."

...which brings me to voting. I decided not to vote in the Florida primaries because 1) My candidate dropped out [I will miss you, Kucinich], and 2) Even if I did vote, I would have just wrote in "Hulk Hogan." So, either way, my vote is useless. Unless, somehow, Hogan won...which in that case, I'm moving to Canada.

I enjoy my new tattoo quite a bit. I don't care what other people say about it, I love it a lot. It's a good thing, considering I will have it forever. I want to kiss it.

I decided against watching the Super Bowl this year, but now I wish I would have. The last two minutes of the entire game were just so awesome. This game has officially made me a fan of the New York Giants, because they beat the "unbeatable" Patriots. I really don't enjoy the Patriots ever since they played at Bartram. I really don't enjoy Bartram ever since I played there. Does that make sense? Nope.

I guess that is all. I love you.


Jake.

Downright amazed with the queen of hearts,
Living life like the end won't start.
Dodging bullets on the front line,
Clueless all the way.

New Year's Day won't be the same,
With everything I know.
Deceited stories, deceited brains,
Facing me, toe to toe.

This isn't a movie, Jake.
No credits to be seen.
Instead, it's me asking myself,
"What did it all mean?"




"A jaded, bitter man stands. And if the world is ending, we toast to it."

Four days after ranting on the WWE death angle, Chris Benoit, his wife, and his son has passed away.

I hope this shows you something, Vince McMahon.

At leas you did the right thing by showing up tonight on RAW and completely dropping the storyline.


Thank you, Chris Benoit. You have been a major influence to me and you are one of the reasons why I'd like to become a professional wrestler. Thank you for everything in NJPW, everything in ECW, everything in WCW, and everything in the WWE. I will never forget meeting you and Nancy when I was a ringboy at a show in 1999, and how great you were to me.

Thank you, Chris. RIP.



Love,
Jake.

I've had so much stuff on my mind recently, but I haven't had the time to actually sit here and type what I feel. Blame it on writer's block, or the fact that I'm finally sick of being in front of the computer screen, but in the end, the blame goes right back onto me.

My friends in Countermind came here recently and stayed, and I honestly had a lot of fun. It was the first time meeting Pat and Ryan, but they were both really cool guys. Then, of course, you have people like Matt, Ricky, and Nate, who I've known for a long time, and Shannon, who has been like a brother to me since 9th grade. It was great to finally have a group of people that I could sit and talk to and relate to; I don't feel like I've had that since moving. We had a conversation about how "hardcore" music's record labels are starting to sell better than punk labels, and we had Mario Kart races on our DS. Small things like that really make me miss being home. I miss being surrounded by people, I guess.

The only people I really hang out with from my original group of friends here are Caity, Trish, Liz, and Austin. Caity's going to Tallahassee, Liz is moving to Ohio, and Austin might be moving to California. Even if he doesn't, it's not like I see him a lot, anyway. Trish is staying here, but she has a boyfriend, and even though I love Nate, I hate playing third wheel. Everyone else in that group has either moved away, distanced themselves, or gotten into drugs. It's funny to look at people that I considered to be my best friends and see how they screwed up their lives. Ever get the feeling that people really don't want to be helped, afterall?

School isn't something that interests me anymore. I was so excited to get out of high school and start my path to greatness, but now I'm just feeling more and more worthless to myself and my family. I'm going to be someone someday, I promise. I don't think it's in me to just sit around and let life pass me by. Though it may seem like I'm doing this now, everyday I think about ways to get my name out there or try to make connections, which is why I talk to people at work, or why I e-mail bands or professional wrestlers, blah blah blah. I'm not afraid to talk to someone, no matter how I lead on.

Speaking of professional wrestling, WWE is stupid. Hey, let's pretend that we killed Vince McMahon, and make a mockary of it on television! We can make millions! People wonder why I talk so much crap about WWE; now you know.

I need to get a new job so I can get money. I really want a new tattoo, so either I need money or I need to become friends with a tattoo artist. I'll take either at this point.




I am tired of feeling worthless.



Love.
Jake.