So today's post was a non-fiction book. Basically to me, that says autobiography. And since I already chose "Scar Tissue" as my favorite book, I have to go with a wrestler autobiography.
(this is kind of why I didn't worry about posting today. However, I dare you to not close this window).
I think it translates so well because it is truly a book anyone can read. It is mostly about his life and when he talks about wrestling he does so in a way that anyone can understand it.
It's a great look at the life of a person who grew up in a wrestling family, struggled to get started in Mexico, battled personal demons for most of his career, but finally made it to the top.
Sadly, it's also a story of a life that was lost in November of 2005 in what is probably the saddest day in wrestling history. In a time when professional wrestlers are dying at a rate that is actually scary, Eddie's death was the most sad when he died of a heart attack.
If you have made it this far, I would actually say take a chance. Pick it up. You might enjoy it.
So while not entirely wordless and not entirely pictures, it still sort of fits that category. But this post was inspired by a recent offering from Kaylalala at Cinnamon on Toast who was inspired by Lisa at A Day in The Life. These are ten things that are currently making me happy (though "currently" is debatable because most of these are stuff I am looking forward to)
10. Alice in Wonderland - March 5
If you aren't excited for this movie, I don't know what to say. Depp + Burton + classic story + 3D = Effing Magical
9. After trying to find some classic Alice in Wonderland footage from the Disney cartoon, I came across this. And I could not stop laughing.
8. And then when I went to show Frisco that, he in turn showed me this. And I almost cried from laughing so hard.
7. March Madness
I don't know much about college basketball, but it's fun to play in the brackets. And my uncle is a big UNC fan, so that's who I go for.
6. Resistance - The Tiesto Remix (I was a little unsure about this at first, but it has grown on me)
5. Netflix
Netflix has allowed me to watch this season of Heroes with my family in South Dakota over Xbox Live, get started and finish Arrested Development, start 30 Rock and various other movies that I have been meaning to see.
4. Spring Break
Yes, that is a picture of Lost going with my spring break plans. My family has moved and most of my friends have their break at a different time so I will be spending my break playing video games and catching up on shows. And thanks to the above mentioned Netflix, one of those shows will be Lost.
3. Meeting new blogging buddies (and reuniting with old ones)
2. Wrestlemania 26
Don't hate, it's our Superbowl. And it's about a month away.
1. Graduation
Granted, this is the one that is the longest away. But it is the one I am looking forward to the most. The countdown has begun.
So I was going to update on my life and speak about random things, but then I just decided not to. If you still want to read some words though, check out what I thought of Monster over at my movie blog.
But for now, I would just like to share some recent pictures. Enjoy.
The test shot. The first picture ever taken with my new camera.
Random trip to Jme's. This is her cooking an awesome chicken/spaghetti hybrid (I know what it's called, but that just sounded cooler)
Her new dog Kami
Rockin out (I was on guitar)
What my last class of the day looks like. Notice how cramped the seats are. Worst idea ever.
Wrestling in Atlanta
Felt like I was watching it in HD
My visual aid for my Patriot speech (Stephen Colbert)
My awesomely delicious Superbowl meal (we like to call it Taco Extravaganza)
Kind of ironic to find a heart when throwing away boxes during Valentine's Day
A behind the scenes look at VDay
And this final picture proves that my best friend is cooler than yours
2/7 of any year is a day that I don't forget on my calendar. But 2/7/10 is going to be pretty special as well. Let me see if I can begin to explain:
The Good:
*February 7th is one week away from Valentine's Day. This is only good because it keeps me informed. Whenever I was in a relationship, I knew I had one week to go. And working at a flower shop, Vday means only one thing: HOURS! Not to be a sad story, but we have been really slow since the economy fell through. And I am only a delivery driver, so I only work when there are orders to be delivered. There have honestly been weeks where I have gotten like three hours on a paycheck. But Cupid's holiday never fails to deliver the goods.
*2/14/10 will be special for a couple of reasons.
1) The Saints won the Superbowl. Now, if you know me you know that the Denver Broncos are my team, but New Orleans is my roommate's/best friend's team. And I pretty much fed off of his excitement so it was great to see him celebrate and celebrate with him when they picked off Manning to pretty much seal the deal. My sister joked around and said that I should buy him the stuff that says "New Orleans 2010 Champions" for Valentine's Day.
2) I already declared that I watch wrestling, but to go even further I am as big a fan as some are for baseball. As in, knowing every stat and ridiculous information that people shouldn't know. Well, I get this info because of a website I go to. That website said they needed new columnists and I needed to get some practice in before graduation so I sent a sample in and they posted it and gave me a spot. I now have to post a column every week. I would put up a link, but I'm pretty sure none of you want to read about it. But still, it's pretty cool.
The Bad:
*Valentine's Day is a week away. Fuck.
*My ex-girlfriend's birthday is today. There was a time when I was seriously considering shooting her a text or something, but I thought against it. I've talked to a few people within the blogosphere and my IRL friends know the story, but man it's so hectic. But when you are with someone for so long (nearly 4 years altogether), dates like that start to get stuck in your head. That's why, even though I heard nothing from her, I still think she thought me when I turned 23 back in December.
The Beautiful:
*Another one of my friend's had a birthday today, but it is a whole different story. I usually talk of my friend Shedrick on here, who we lost in November of 2005. But I'm not sure if I have mentioned Cynthia, who we lost in April of 2006. But I don't want to end this on a sad note, I want to have it end on a happy note. Especially since today was her birthday, so that makes me think of good times.
Good times like this:
Random lyric of the day:
I've been spending way too long checking my tongue in the mirror And bending over backwards just to try to see it clearer But my breath fogged up the glass And so I drew a new face and laughed I guess what I'm be saying is there ain't no better reason To rid yourself of vanity and just go with the seasons It's what we aim to do Our name is our virtue
Spoiler alert: this post has nothing to do with love making, though I may touch on that later (that's what she said). It does have to do with the #7 and I wanted to do a witty title and for some reason this song by Tyrese popped into my head.
*Things you need to know before reading this post:
1) I am extremely tired and I have no idea why. But when I am tired, sometimes my speech gets sort of random. I just left a comment that I feel was kind of random and I was about to go to sleep, but I figured this could be a fun blog if I don't make much sense.
2) I try to pride myself on leaving comments and I have been slacking these past few days. I plan to go on a spree tomorrow and do the damn thing.
Now we proceed.
I was given another award, THIS ONE:
I received it from Smart Ass Sara and apparently I didn't need to do much to get it except give her an award earlier, but I'm going to take this self-esteem boost anyways. I think maybe she just wanted to know seven things about me, as those are the rules (I feel like I just quoted the first Saw). So even though I feel like I am going to disappoint her, I will do as I am told and post the seven things and then pass it on.
*Ok, one more warning. I have done these in the past and have probably mentioned a few of before, but I have gotten some new readers since then so hopefully these are still informative.
1. The following shows receive DVR treatment on my cable box: WWE Raw, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Tosh.0, Scrubs, The Office, Community and whenever they are on: Important Things w/ Demetri Martin, The Real World/Road Rules Challenge and Fantasy Factory. I would DVR Heroes, but we watch that on Netflix.
2. If you noticed above, I put WWE Raw. I am still a wrestling fan and will probably be till the day my heart no longer beats. In fact, I will be in Atlanta on Sunday attending an event. Why do I still watch? I feel like I was born with it. It's something my Grandpa started in me and I will probably never be able to shake it.
3. I am thinking over a decision that will change where my life is headed. As of typing this, I haven't talked to anyone about it because in a self-conscious way I feel they would laugh? I'm not sure why, but for right now it's the only thing I'm keeping to my self.
4. I had quite a few girlfriends from late middle school to early high school. That is meant to be more funny than it is to brag because think about it: at the time, you feel they are the love of your life but when you look back on it you realize how much of a kid you were. Anyway, my first "real" relationship was between the end of my freshman year and end of my junior year of high school. We still "saw each other" for a while after our break up and I did just about everything with her. But it wasn't until I started my most serious relationship so far that I went all the way. That relationship altogether lasted from a few days before I graduated high school to just before my fourth year of college. I remember every detail about that night. We were coming back from a football game in Troy and it was really late. I was sleeping in the backseat of my own car I was so tired. When we got home, it just kind of happened. A couple years later she tells me that what she remembers is afterward I got up and made a sandwich. Whoops. In my defense, I had too many emotions going through my head. One of them was hunger and I needed to take care of that. So there is my only TMI tidbit, I guess I should have put a warning or something but eff it.
5. I change my mind quite a bit and I am man enough to say that I once hated something when I now like it. First example: Lil Wayne. There was a time when I COULD NOT STAND hearing anything by him or about him. The dude was just everywhere and got really annoying. Then one day, out of nowhere, I heard a song with him and Jay Z and my opinion started to turn around. I wouldn't call myself a fan, but I am eagerly awaiting the release of Rebirth, his rock album (I already have the leaked copy, but they said a new one is coming out this year). Second example: Twitter. I used to say "There is NO WAY I will get on Twitter. That is just stupid." And now I am addicted. Feed my addiction HERE
6. Summer of 2009 will go down as the greatest summer ever. Which is a good sign considering it was the last one and maybe it will get better. But I went on a road trip that people are probably getting sick of hearing about, but it changed my life. I want to explore more now, as we went from Alabama to California and back and seeing a lot of cool stuff in between. Also, I got in a lot of good time with my friends and family. I went to two concerts with Jme (No Doubt w/ Paramore and The Sounds; Taking Back Sunday w/ Anberlin and Envy on the Coast) one with Hedman (Warped Tour) and one with my roommate (Incubus). I also had my first and only hangover at my sister's, which was an experience -- one I don't plan on duplicating. And I had two easy summer classes. Life was good last summer.
7. I am terrible at meeting goals I set for myself. For years, I have said that I want to learn the piano, get a tattoo and become fluent in Spanish. The first two I have talked about a lot more. I even got a piano for Christmas 08 and touched it for like a random week. I really need to get back on that...
So, there are my seven things and now I have to pass this on. And what I am going to do is give a shoutout to my best friend, the one who got me started on this awesome blogging journey, the one who joined me on those concerts, the one whose new dog is going to call me an uncle and the one who I will hopefully see this weekend: ____j @ this is me; consequently
Now, my brother-in-law just called and said "Let's do the damn thing" in reference to Heroes. So it looks like I'm not going to bed just yet...
Random lyric of the day:
How could this be done Your such a smiling sweetheart Oh and your sweet and pretty face In such an ugly way Something so beautiful
With all the celebrity deaths in the past few weeks, I decided I would flash back to the only one that hit me. Now, watching professional wrestling for all of the 22 years of my life, I have heard of the passing of A LOT of wrestlers. Sadly, the ones that have any affect are the ones that are still wresting at that time of their death such as Owen Hart, Brian Pillman and even Chris Benoit. But Eddie Guerrero was different. As you can see by what I wrote, he was more than just "a wrestler." While I didn't know him personally, he just seemed like an all around good guy.
*Speaking of Chris Benoit, it's hard to talk about a wrestler death and not talk about him. Especially when him and Eddie were good friends outside of wrestling. So in the video at the bottom, you will see him pop up a few times. But don't worry, the Benoit story will get its own post one day.
*One more bit of trivia, the month of November in 2005 was especially crazy because a week or so after this, I lost a very good friend of mine. And trust me, his post will also come at some point. But needless to say, November is not a very good month for me.
*Oh, and with this subject comes a good bit of wrestling talk. But hopefully you can get past that. And hopefully you can enjoy the video as well.
*Last bit of trivia: this was the first blog I ever published on myspace. Good times.
So yea, I should be working on my essay, but I can't get this shit off of my mind, so here goes...
On Sunday morning, I learned the news, like many others, that Eddie Guerrero had passed away. As Frisco said when I told him, "that came out of nowhere". Especially because that exact night he was supposed to be involved in a triple threat match with Batista and Randy Orton for the Championship, and it was highly rumored that he was going to be the winner in that match. It was supposed to be the main event in a "supershow", where both RAW and Smackdown! shows would be taped back to back. After the news, all plans were scraped, and they turned both shows into tribute shows where the wrestlers had the choice to give testimonies, wrestle, or do both. Thier would be no storylines, just matches, if they wanted to.
All day yesterday the wrestling world was buzzing about the news. I still get made fun of to this day of still being a wrestling fan, but it is my thing. Some people love football, some people love cars, I love wrestling. It's that simple. On every wrestling site there is, all had posted the news with deep sympathy towards his friends and family. Even WWE's competition, TNA (Total Nonstop Action) said a few words on thier main home page. He had affected that many people. He had been in the wrestling business roughly 15 years, and had fought in Japan, Mexico, ECW, WCW, and then finally WWF/WWE. Throughout his career, he had made several friendships, and while not always a fan favorite, he was still one that people came to see, whether it was to cheer or to boo.
In the middle of his career, Eddie was released for drug abuse. Drugs took over his life so bad that he almost lost his life in a car crash. After years of battling his demons, he finally made a clean and sober return to professional wrestling in 2002, and started the last, and greatest, run of his career. In February 2004, he became the first latino ever to win the Championship Belt. On his dvd entitled "Cheating Death, Stealing Life", it shows his mom in the back hugging him and crying with him. It then showed him get on a cell phone and call his wife, breaking down and telling her "Thank you" for all that she had done for him. Clearly, Eddie was a man who loved his family and his family loved him in return. Say what you want about wrestling being "fake" and it's all storylines, but when they decide to give you that belt, it is because you earned it. Eddie had definitely earned it.
Eddie was one of the most entertaining guys in the business. He adopted the motto of "Lie, Cheat, and Steal". He did funny videos that showed him and his nephew using that motto to steal stuff and lie thier way around town.
My favorite memory of Eddie was the first time I saw him live (to the best of my knowledge, there have been so many...). It was in Dothan, the first time they had been to that town in years. He was in a tag match, and since it was not being televised, he would mess around with the crowd. He was the one you could count on to sign autographs, and to put on a show for everybody.
Eddie was never my favorite wrestler, but he was one I always enjoyed watching. I will deeply miss seeing him, as he brought a new light every time he was on TV. My thoughts go out to his family, who has lost a good man. To his daughters who will have to graduate, go to prom, and get married without thier father. To his wife, who once thier children get older, will not have her husband around to enjoy the good life with. To the wrestlers who shed tears tonight telling stories about his life.
Rest In Peace Eddie Guerrero. You were a good man, and you will be missed.
Frisco and I joined Matt Walker in the studio tonight. We usually do, well, I usually do, but Frisco made an appearance tonight and it was really cool, the three of us just vibin in there. We played random songs from 10-11, as is the usual format, then Matt played some chill music at 11. I am currently writing this blog right now because I am waiting for the Album Leaf to finish downloading so I can listen to it as I'm falling asleep.
I am also writing because we decided to stop playing Resident Evil 5 for the night. We are about halfway through and it's pretty much a given that we are not going to finish it before I have to take it back on Wednesday. Definite second rental though cuz I am really enjoying this game. Not "scary" like the old ones, but still tense and the teamwork aspect is cool.
That's about it for my day. Work was good, except for the thunder that woke me up this morning, then the wetness that I was surrounded in. Changed the title of my blog already. I think you see more music related posts anyways, so why not go with a Coldplay reference? Relived my favorite match of all time today -- The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan. Getting ready for Wrestlemania next weekend. I really wish I was more excited about it...
Speaking of wrestling, sort of, I recorded the Nick Teen Choice Awards because I wanted to see The Rock, excuse me -- Dwayne Johnson, and he was really good. I have to say, I think the kids route is where he is at now.
Taking Back Sunday announced the name of their first single off their new cd. "Sink Into Me". I can't wait...
Took pictures in the studio tonight. Sounds innocent right? Well what if I said I only wanted to take pictures so I could post them on myspace? What if I told you it wasn't even my camera? Should have them uploaded soon
And as far as my plans... I studied a little bit and cleaned a little bit. NEED to finish tomorrow. Mabye admitting that we won't finish RE5 will not distract me so much.
My download is done. Goodnight.
Random lyric of the day:
As you stand... under the barlights and the band plays some song about forgetting yourself for a while and the piano's this melancholy soundcheck to her smile
