Reality Check

As we all know, Hurricane Katrina did extensive damage in Mississippi, Louisana and Alabama. I talked to my family and thankfully everyone is ok and accounted for. In our town (Philadelphia) there was plenty of damage but thankfully most everyone is alright.

The news websites and TV are showing pictures of the devistation like you wouldn't believe. It's horriable down there. Hundreds dead, billions of dollars in damage, homelessness, lack of electricity... I could go on and on. There are areas that will be without power for a VERY long time... I'm talking weeks, maybe even up to a month or more. I read a story about a man whose wife was literally pulled from his hands as their house was blown away. It's all very depressing. Please keep everyone down there in your prayers and thoughts. They can use all the help they can get.

Listening to the radio here in Fort Wayne, there was a certain afternoon radio jock who said something to the effect of what was left of Katrina was now "causing havoc" in our area. Let me tell you something: If I saw him right now, I'd deck him. I'd hardly say some rain and wind could be classified as "havoc." The things I mentioned above... that's havoc. I think we have it pretty easy compared to our neighbors in the south. You, "Sandy," are an asshole and in desperate need of a reality check. May the great hemoroid of life shine upon you.

--Jonathan

Life's Little Twists and Turns

Hello one and all. It is I, Jonathan, yet again to bring forth all that has been going on with me.

Life is a strange thing. I don't even think I have to tell you that but I just felt that it needed to be said. One minute you're cruising along, everything seems to be going well and all of a sudden... WHAM! Your car (in my case, a truck) hits a tree (before you ask, no I haven't been in an accident; it's a metaphore people). That happened to me. And it's not just one event like some who already know some of the details think, it's actually a few things that have happened.
The biggest: I am, yet again, S-I-N-G-L-E. The short version of the story: Nicole says that she has feelings for another guy and has for four years. Excuse me? Wait a minute... we get into this relationship and all of a sudden this thing with the guy comes out of nowhere? Hmm...

I talked to Mandie about this situation and told her the story and she said that she couldn't think of who this mystery suitor could be. Now I'm not saying that Nicole lied to me because I really don't have any reason to think that... she's been honest with me about everything else as best as I can tell. But I just wish I could have known about this hang up sooner and especially that I could have found out in a different way than I did (I won't get into that). No, you pervs, I didn't find her in bed with someone else. See, I know how some of you think. :-)

Nicole, if you're taking this as a slam against you, you really shouldn't. This is my blog... this is the one place where I'm honest and can vent. If you're offended by my honesty, that's too bad. I will never apologize for being honest. We can talk about it if you wish... you know how to reach me.

So this has caused me to take a good look at myself. I mean, I basically got dumped for another guy. It's not the first time that's ever happened to me but it still makes you wonder about yourself. So I've decided that I'm taking a break from the whole dating/relationship thing for a while and I'm going to figure some things out about myself. One of the questions running through my mind (although it really shouldn't be, at least most who know about it say that it shouldn't) is whether or not I'm doing something to make this happen. Am I smoothering? Am I trying to move things along too fast and it's causing problems? Am I not being as great of a boyfirend as I should be? It's any number of things like that... Everytime I think I've found a great woman, something happens to mess it up. Am I the root cause of it? I guess I have some thinking and pondering to do.

So besides all of that, I've had my spirtual life awakening that I talked about in a previous post. I'm still doing well with it. My mission next weekend is to go to a new church and see how I like it. There are several churches around Waynedale (the part of town that I live in) so I'm going to start exploring those, doing research online, talking to people, etc. I'm still praying and reading my Bible most everyday. One of the things I've been praying for guidance on is the stuff I mentioned above. Maybe God's trying to tell me something through all the things that have happened in my love life.

The past week has been good at work. It's a month until the book starts... actually, less than that. We still have lots of fine tuning to do and we also have to finalize our plans promotionally. We have some great things we're going to be doing. Obviously I can't talk about them just now but it's going to be a fun ratings period.

I guess that's all I have for right now. Time to go home, do some laundry (I'm stillllll catching up!) and maybe clean a little. Until we meet again, my friends...

--Jonathan

Rambling While Putting Off Work

So I'm at the station right now. I don't know why but I just can't get motivated to finish my production so I can go home. Maybe it's because I'm tired. What? Heh, that wouldn't really be very logical since I could just tell myself "the sooner you finish your work, the sooner you can go home." I don't know why I just wanna sit here and stare at a computer screen. What a piece of work I am sometimes. :-)

The day's been pretty good. We had a station meeting this moring and we talked about the goals that were set and how to get there. Obviously I won't go into too much detail since "Sandy" reads this from time to time but I will say that we do have some big plans and we've got some things cooking that should make us smoke in the fall.

I can't wait for February.

Oh, my dryer wasn't fixed yesterday like I originally thought. Apparently they had to order a part. Grrr. By the time they fix the damn thing, I'll be doing laundry for days. Figures. But maybe that will give me motivation to go home! :-p

Well, I'm about to proof Mandi's resume' and then I'll go finish my production and get the hell outta here for the night.

More updates soon!

--Jonathan

The Midwestern Baseball Tour and Other Random Stuff

Ok, so my vacation summary is finally here! w00t!

Monday was pretty much a sedate day for the most part. Unfortunately I had to take about an hour out of my vacation to attend a mandatory jock meeting. Nothing major, just had some issues that all of the air people in the building had to get together and discuss. Issues resolved, I go about the rest of my day, which consisted of sitting on my ass. Dad arrived to Fort Wayne around 4:00 at which time I picked Nicole up so that we could all go to dinner and the Wizards game. Yes, that meant that Nicole was introduced to my dad. As I said in a previous post, that went really well. :-) The game was fun too even though the Wizards lost. Here's an interesting tid-bit: I have never seen the Wizards win at "The Castle." Every game I've been to, they've lost! Isn't that sad? Maybe I'm bad luck!

Tuesday, dad and I went down to Indianapolis where he was introduced to the greatness that is the Red Eye Cafe! That place has the best coffee on Earth! It definately blows away anything at Starbucks. Well, most anything. Anyway, after lunch we roamed around downtown Indy. We chedked out Circle City Mall, which I had been to before but didn't really get a chance to explore all of. I didn't realize how huge that place is. My favorite was a store called "Field of Dreams" which had signed sports memorabilia. After the mall we explored The Circle which was really cool. Dad seemed very impressed by the War Memorial in the center. I, of course, was interested in Emmis Communications' headquarters. I didn't realize that Radio Now's studios were on the first floor. They have an awesome facility! After The Circle and some time at the bar of TGI Fridays', it was off to Victory Field for the Indianapolis Indians' game against the Durham Bulls. We got to see a former MSU stand out pitch for the Indians! That was a big time treat. That and getting to munch down on stadium dogs and beer!

Wednesday was by far the highlight... well, for the most part! Wednesday was the day we took off to Detroit to check out the Tigers vs. the Red Sox! Comerica Park is a beautiful baseball stadium and you would never know that the place was in the middle of the war zone that is Detroit. Our seats were pretty much behind home plate but here's a twist: They were in the wheel chair section! We both had actual "seats" but my ticket was actually for a wheel chair slot. Ooops to Ticket Master! That was almost an interesting situation but it all worked out. The game was really good, a good tight one. Detroit ends up pulling it off 6-5. Honestly I was hoping for a Red Sox victory. *ducks to avoid flying objects thrown by Kristi*

After the Tigers game, we finally found the car and attempted to leave. Note that I said "attempted." Somehow we got lost in the ghetto! We must have rode around for over an hour before finding our way back to I 94. You talk about being scared! We must have been the only white people within a 10 mile radius. Now before you get your panties in a bunch, I am far from being a racist. We got some strange looks from people who were obviously gang members and I honestly think someone might have been reaching for a gun as we passed by. Thankfully most of the people there just minded their own business and left us be.

Thursday and Friday were spent with Nicole at her new apartment. She has a really nice place, BTW. It was nice getting to spend some time with her and doing almost nothing the entire time. Relaxation. There's definately nothing wrong with that. But I'll admit, just getting to spend that time with her was what really made it so great.

Speaking of Nicole, I told her earlier that she could always tell that I have something up my sleeve because my eyes tend to turn a little green. I IMed her earlier today and told her that my eyes should have been a very dark shade of green because I definately have something up my sleeve! Most specifically for (probably) sometime this weekend. She's done a ton for me lately and I want to do something really nice for her soon. I pretty much know what I'm going to do, it's just a matter of getting the timing worked out (read: coordinating our schedules). What are my plans? No, no, no! No details for you! I know that she reads this sometimes. :-p

Well, I'm heading home for the night! A 12 hour day is plenty for me. :-p That and my dryer is finally fixed so I need to do some laundry. And I've also been inspired to write in my private journal at home. :-)

--Jonathan

Faith

Anyone who knows me can tell you that I'm certainly no saint. I cuss, I drink (sometimes--don't worry mom), and I've committed other assorted sins. If I tried to list all the things I've done through out my life that I know are wrong, I'd be here all night and well into the week.

I won't lie, I've been lazy lately. Church has been the further thing from my mind since I moved up here. I always said that I was going to find a church when I moved up here and got settled. Did I? No. I even read my Bible every night for a while. Do I now? No. I got lazy. As you can infer, my faith was shaken. There's no specific reason other than just being lazy and not wanting to do anything about my spirtual life. No church, no Bible reading... and I all but stopped praying. I started to question things. I've basically been in that holding pattern for the last couple of months.

One of the good things about being with Nicole is that I've had the opportunity to go to church with her. When she invited me the first time, I said yes without even thinking about it. Almost right afterward, the "bad" side of me went "and why did you just do that?" So I went and I enjoyed it. It made me think. Ever since things have been going through my mind about why I got lazy, why I've felt the way I have and all that good stuff.

Today I went with her again (I haven't missed a Sunday since we've been together, BTW) and I really started to think. I know that no matter what I'm still a sinner and I'll never be anything close to perfect but that doesn't mean that I shouldn't serve God to the absolute best of my abilities and that I shouldn't profess Jesus Christ as my personal savior. One of the things I thought about was how could I ever question anything about God. If I need proof that He does exist and that he does work miracles, I shouldn't look any further than the nearest mirror. I, myself, am a walking, talking and breathing miracle. I have a disorder known as Ketotic Hypoglycemia. Basically it's the opposite of diabetes; the form that I have tends to be pretty severe. When I was a child I had it REALLY badly. I wasn't supposed to live to see my 10th birthday and, yes, I almost died a few times. But here I am today at age 24 and I haven't had very many problems with the disorder since I was about 12. If that isn't a miracle, I don't know what is. There's a little more to that but I only share that with certain people.

So what's my plan? I'm going to continue going to church. I am going to start reading my Bible everyday and I'm going to start praying everyday as well. One of the things I've been missing so much is church... I just didn't realize it.

Just by typing all of that I'm feeling better. I'm so glad that I'm getting back on the right track. Please keep me in your prayers.

And thank you, Nicole. :-)

--Jonathan

P.S. The promised vacation summary is coming! I just felt like typing the above today instead. Stay tuned!

Back from Vacay!

Hello to the three of you! I'm back from my vacation... well, sort of. I'm still technically on vacation but our night guy had to bail tonight so I'm going to cover the shift since I had no plans tonight besides sitting on my tookus eating homemade mac and cheese and watching some random show on TV.

I had a TON happen this week, including what I've dubbed "The Midwestern Baseball Tour" which I'll tell you more about later. My dad and I got to see three games in Fort Wayne, Indianapolis and Detroit (AKA "The Armpit of the Midwest"). Sorry, Kristi... just telling the truth!

Nicole also got to meet my dad while he was up here. That went really well. You know how it is the first time you let your girlfriend (or boyfriend, whatever your case may be) meet a member of your family. But it went really well. He really likes her so I took that as a good sign. :-)

Well, I would love to write but more I have to finish getting ready to terrorize the airwaves of Fort Wayne. Yes, I am a night jock again even if it is but for one night! :-) I will give a full report tomorrow or Monday. Until then...

Peace out, be WiLD!

--Jonathan

Upset Stomachs, Protests and Cybar Club

I don't know why but my stomach seems to be upset. I don't know what I did to piss it off but it's sure giving me hades right now. Maybe it was the East of Chicago I had for lunch. Maybe it's all the coffee I've had today (I've been up since 6:30 and I won't be going to bed until after 2:00 and THEN I have to be back here at 9:00 so I need it). Maybe it's rebelling for another reason that I haven't realized. Either way, I've been petting it and hoping it settles down.

Good tummy.

Today has been pretty good. I led a protest downtown today! Well, I use "protest" very loosely. Here's what happened:

You know the rumor of the buffalo nickle being recalled because it has a pee-pee? It's not true but most of my listeners don't know that. Anyway, the statue of General Anthony Wayne is downtown in Frierman Square. General Wayne is riding a horse and the horse is VERY anatomically correct. After I told Van about this, the wheels started to turn.

Uh oh!

So this morning I found myself in front of the statue armed with two signs that said "Just say no to horse balls" and "this statue is immoral," a megaphone and a big mouth. Anyone who knows me can tell you that this is NOT a good combination. I was standing at the corner of Main and Clinton (one of the busiest intersections in Fort Wayne) holding signs and chanting into the megaphone. People were yelling, blowing their horns, etc. It sounded GREAT on the air. The cops drove by. It was a good time.

So tonight I'm going to Cybar Club for our WiLD Wednesday out there. Basically that consists of a banana eating contest and the "big boy boxer contest." For me it consists of me sitting on my ass until I have to go on stage to introduce Joel (the MC) and pass out shots and bananas. Good times, good times. Actually, I really dislike going out there some nights. Don't get me wrong, about 85% of the time it's pretty cool but there are a few nights where it just sucks... like last week. There were five chicks in the banana contest. Now, you can imagine what they're supposed to do with the bananas. Three of the contestants actually ate them. OUCH. Yeah, it was bad. Oh, but the boxer contest was even better. Not one but TWO dirty old men participated. Yeah, it was interesting. I felt sorry for the female judges who were bumped and grinded on by these old farts.

Nicole and I are doing well, thanks for asking (I can read minds so I knew you were wondering). I'm going over to her apartment in about an hour so that I can have dinner with her and her mom. I realllllllly like Nicole. Things are heading in the right direction and I have no doubt that they'll continue to do so. She's unlike anyone I've dated recently. She's mature! Wow, whoda thunk I would be dating someone like that? LOL But she's awesome, treats me better than anyone I've been with in a long time and I just really like how it's been going so far. I just hope I don't try to move things along too fast like I've done in the past. But you learn from past mistakes and I feel like I'm finally using those lessons. I'm not sure what she has up her sleeve for my birthday (Saturday). We're both working that day so I have a feeling that we're probably not going out, which is perfectly fine with me. But I guess I'll just have to wait and see what unfolds. She's being real hush-hush about it. Hmm... ;-)

Speaking of my birthday, I can't believe the last year has passed so quickly. It's unbelievable. I read the retrospective of my 22nd year that I wrote last year and I couldn't believe how much has changed and even how much has stayed almost the same since then. I'll have to write another retrospective but I have no clue when I'll get around to it. I have much to do over the next couple of days to prepare for my vacation so it may be in a couple of weeks... but I'll get to it eventually.

And speaking of my vacation, I won't be online much (if at all) next week. My dad's coming to visit for a few days and it's going to basically be non-stop baseball! :-D Monday we're hopefully going to the Fort Wayne Wizards game (BTW, dad, it's at 7:00) for Dollar Night! Can't go wrong with dollar hot dogs and beer. Tuesday we may go down to Indianapolis to see the Indianapolis Indians play the Durham Bulls but that's still kind of up in the air. Wednesday, the best part: We're going back to Comcerica Park in Detroit to see the Tigers take on... drum roll, please... the Red Sox! Yes, the world champion Red Sox! I can't wait. AND we got hella good seats behind home plate. Oh yeah, I'm excited. Saturday I'm going with Nicole to a wedding in a town south (I think) of here. I've always gotten excited about weddings... two people finally realizing their dream ever since they realized the other was the one for them, a new beginning and even friends who haven't seen each other in a while reuniting to celebrate the marriage of their friend. And the receptions usually aren't too bad either. ;-)

Ok, this went way beyond my original title of "Upset Stomachs, Protets and Cybar Club" but I had some time to kill. :-p Feel free to comment or not to comment. Email, don't email. Whatevah's clevah.

--Jonathan

Message from Mandie

LOL So Mandie had a comment about what I wrote in my last post about Nicole and I.

"mutual friend"?

I HAVE A NAME, HO!!!

and it's about time you updated.

Dork.

Anyways, mucho happy for both of you..camps almost over...

CIVILIZATION!!!!!

Tell Nik I said Hi...you'll probably talk to her before i do.

**Me**

My apologies, Mandie! Yes, one and all, she introduced Nicole and I last year. :-)

Thank you, Mandie! :-D

I will try to post again this afternoon. Funny stuff went down over the last couple of days. LOL

--Jonathan

An Update!

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." - Green Day

Greetings and slutations for the three readers I have! :-)

I've long been neglecting this thing. You wouldn't even believe how busy I've been so I'll spare you the details. Most of them you wouldn't care about anyway so I'll just move along.

Where to start, where to start!

For those of you who don't know, Van (the morning guy on my station and someone I'm often mistaken for in public) got married a couple of weeks ago. As much as I bitch about radio and the "bad" aspects of it, I sometimes forget about all the good things that come about. I mean, for one, I'm on the freakin' radio! This job totally blows away digging a ditch or something (in other words, I could always have it A LOT worse). I get to entertain, be entertained and play awesome music. But getting back to Van: One of the good things about radio is that sometimes it can bring two people together in ways that are indescribable. Van and his wife met because of radio. When Van first moved here last year, his then morning show co-host Goose held a contest to find Van a woman. Evin was the winner and now they're married. Who would have ever throught a radio contest would end up bringing about marriage? When Van got married I had never seen him happier and even now that he's back from his honeymoon, he's still all smiles.

Two people brought together because of radio... who would've thought it.

Speaking of radio, the ratings came out last week and I must send out a big THANK YOU to everyone in Fort Wayne who listening to my station. We saw tremendous growth across the board and we're very pleased. Thanks again!

Continuing with the ratings, I'm going to go into brag mode for a minute or two so bare with me. :-)

If you look at the break downs, us versus "the haters" was a VERY close battle. They won in a few places... barely. We saw huge growth while they saw very little (and in some places they lost MEGA points). There were some places that we actually beat them! Women 25-34, the station was I believe second or third in the market overall while they were, well, not. In individual shows, we were VERY successful. My afternoon show was number one in the market with that demographic. It was also top 5 with all of our other key demographics. Yet, I supposidly couldn't cut it in the afternoon and I was getting my ass kicked. As I've already said, I was moved to middays (10-2) so that a stronger jock could be on during that time and so I could better perform my Music Director duties.

Suck it, "Sandy."

Enough radio! :-)

In case there was any doubt, I am not dating Emily and I never will again. For whatever reason there was some confusion on that front. I'm thinking it was because the friends who asked heard that I was dating someone and they assumed it was her since we were on again-off again so much. Well, part of that rumor is true: I am seeing someone. Her name's Nicole, she's 21 and she's a nursing student at Ivy Tech (basically, the community college of Indiana). We actually met last year through a mutual friend but it wasn't until recently (when I say "recently, I mean over the last couple of months) that we started talking more and going out some. What can I say, things just started to roll. I really like her. I mean, realllllllly like her. Alot. Yeah, I think you get the point. :-p So far, things are going well. Reallllllly well. :-p Oooh! Here's a pic of us at the Carmike 20 VIP party. Yes, mom, that is a tux!



Well, I have to end this now and get back to work. Thanks for taking the time to read my babble. :-p

--Jonathan