Beer, Wings and the Betterment of Society

I've said it many times and I'll say it again: People never cease to amaze me.

Usually when I've said that I've meant that someone has done something to enhance my opinion that today's society is chopped, screwed and is heading straight down the long train track to Hell. But there are people out there who amaze me in good ways, who show me that there are indeed great people out there who want to better society rather than further mess it up or even leave it as it is.

It's refreshing.

The latest person that I can add to this list: Jamie K. I only met Jamie about a week ago but I feel like I've known her for years (wow, the cliche's are starting early this morning! HA!). She's 21, a single mom and in school to become a Licensed Mental Health Councelor. That's right, basically a shrink... hmm... maybe I should keep her around. Not only so I can receive free mental help (God knows I could use it!) but because she's actually trying to make society better than how she found it! Wow... whoda thunk it?

We need more Jamies in this world.

Of course, the fact that she and I agree on many things like politics, family values, beer... that helps out as well!

So crak open an ice cold, uh, Killians, Jamie K.! Unlike how most people seem to be these days, she's not a part of the problem, rather she's trying to be a part of the solution.

That's refreshing... kindda like a Killians and wings. :-)

--Jonathan

Family Values

I am a pig.

At least that's what many women (and even some men) would say about me. Why? I believe greatly in traditional family values. In doing so, I see nothing wrong with a woman being a stay-at-home mom. That's right, I believe it's perfectly fine and dandy for a woman to want to put a career on the back burner and take care of her family. I see nothing wrong with a woman being the soccer mom that attends as many of her kids activities as possible. I see nothing wrong with a woman being at all of the PTA meetings and helping to plan school functions. I see nothing wrong with a woman being at home after the kids are dropped off by the school bus so that they aren't left alone during the day and have help with their homework. I see nothing wrong with mom (and dad) making dinner and everyone sitting down at the table to enjoy a nice dinner and conversation.

I see nothing wrong with a woman being June Cleaver if she so chooses.

Yet, society seems to think the type of woman mentioned above is a failure and is somehow against the advancement of women's rights. Now, I'm not against a woman going to college, having a career or anything like that. But there are many women who want to be June Cleaver but also feel pressured by society to conform to the "norm" that is a mom being at work 60 hours a week and relying on others to raise their children. I'm of the opinion that this type of mentality is directly responsible for the United States having a divorce rate of over 50% and why we have, according to one website, the third highest divorce rate in the world. I also believe that this type of mentality is responsible for our children turning out to be the dilenquants that most seem to be today. Juvenile detention centers are filling up fast. In many cases it's because the child has no family support at home. This conformity is directly responsibly for all of this.

It all really irks me.

Most would think that me being in the business that I'm in and doing some of the things that I do that I don't give a rip about family values. But that's exactly the opposite of how I feel. I was fortunate enough to experience what a real family is like and I want to be able to pass the same on to my children when I have them. My mom did have a very successful career but she also made time for us; she had a balance. These days it almost seems like even having a balance is wrong and anti-woman. My question is simply "why."

The Bible says in many places that women are to be submissive to their husbands and that they are to run the household and do the bulk of work involved in raising the children. Each gender was given a role in life by God, yet we think today that this is totally wrong. I'm not saying by any means that women should be slaves to their husbands and, again, if they want to have a career outside of the home then that's just fine. But women and men (don't think for a second that I would exclude the husband from all of this) should have a balance so that the family doesn't suffer. Then maybe we won't have such a high divorce rate and maybe our children will be better raised and turn out to be better people when they're in our shoes.

I also believe actually disciplining our children would help out with a lot of the problems we see with our kids today. I was spanked as a kid and I turned out just fine. I didn't have any of this "time out" or the other B.S. punishments that are doled out today. I'm not saying beat the living daylights out of a kid or that they shouldn't have punishments such as grounding when their older; however, I see nothing wrong with spanking a child. And please, parents, let's actually do something with our kids besides watch T.V. Go outside and shoot some hoops. Go to a baseball game. Do something!

Don't take this as an anti-woman rant or take this as "Jonathan's stuck in the 20th century." I just see nothing wrong with a family being just that, a family. I know that when I start a family I'll strive for this. If everyone else shared this mentality, I believe this world would be a much better place.

--Jonathan

Random Thoughts and Ramblings #180

The last two days have been pretty good. I've been in a funk lately (anyone who's talked to me lately knows this, unfortunately) and the last two days have just been outstanding. We got a ton of things in the cooker right now. No, no, can't say what just yet. Let's just say that the fall book will be an interesting one. :-)

I was reading Fort Wayne's newspaper today (The Journal Gazette) and I noticed a story about a man who tried to blow some pipe bombs so that he could rob a Meijer in town. Well, he also did the same thing in a town in Ohio and in South Bend apparently (he was found guilty on all of them I'll assume that he did it). I just loved how they wrote the article in such a way that he was a victim of circumstance. "Angry, depressed and overwhelmed by debt, Thomas B. Hansen told a judge in Allen Superior Court on Monday how he planned to rob the Meijer store on Illinois Road in 1999 by detonating homemade pipe bombs outside two credit unions to divert the police. Minutes later, Judge John F. Surbeck sentenced Hansen to 24 years in prison..." Aww, cry me a river! Listen, I have to pay bills too, I can get pretty down in the dumps and all of that but I'll be damned if I would ever think of blowing up a credit union to rob a store. And I damn sure wouldn't use that as an excuse "Oh please have mercy judge, I was depressed." Give me a break. He did the crime, he ought to do the time. I also thought the parents asking the judge to be lenient was a nice touch. Please... if I did a crime, I would hope my parents would want the judge to throw the book at me.

The newspaper making him out to be some kind of victim makes me sick. See why I hate the media so much?

You know what I don't understand? Why people get into such messed up relationships. I was talking to a friend of mine today and she told me that her boyfriend (or whatever he is, she says it's complicated) flipped out because she took a different route home so she could stop by work (he assumed that she was going to another guy's house). She also told me that he doesn't like her hanging out with her guy friends. Wow... Yeah, this sounds like something healthy and kosher. Most of my friends are female. Whoever I date in the future is just going to have to deal with it and trust me (wow, that's a wild concept!). It's not like I'm hooking up with them. Notice the word "friends." Also, I have to do things on the air and on stage that most girlfriends wouldn't be happy about. Again, they'll have to deal with it. I'm not changing my life just to please my mate, not on something like that anyway. I dump my friends for no one and I don't sacrifice my job performance for anyone either.

Apparently my anti-smoking rant ruffled some feathers, especially from this one girl in particular (I also posted it on my myspace page). Look, it's not that I hate smokers because, well, I don't. All I said was that I believed it was a disgusting and unhealthy habit and I would never date anyone who smokes. Never did I say that I wouldn't even associate with smokers because I do daily. Want an example of why I hate smoking (note that I said "smoking" and not "smokers")? I went to the Papa Roach concert at Piere's on Saturday (it rocked!). It was supposed to be a non-smoking concert, which made me think "hmm, maybe I won't have to put up with smoke haze for once." WRONG! 3/4 of the people there were smoking. My eyes watered, I got a headache, the smell was horriable... that aspect was just a horriable experience. Honestly, it almost made me throw up. Who honestly wants to be in all of that crap? Now, let's pretend that you're trying to eat in a restaurant. Would you really want to sit next to a table where someone may be smoking while you're trying to have dinner? Yeah, that really gets the appitite going.

That's all for today. Until next time...

--Jonathan

Cancer Sticks!

As the title of this entry would indicate I drew my inspiration from the ladies that I've been around who smoke but this could apply to the guys too so pay attention! You may find out how the opposite gender feels about you.

Smoking, simply put, is nasty and bad for you. Have you ever kissed a smoker? It's disgusting! I've heard people liken it to licking the bottom of an ash tray. I'd say that wouldn't be far off base. I honestly almost vomited the first time I kissed a girl that smoked. Her breath was awful, her tounge tasted like a tobacco factory, her skin was bad, her eyes were red from all the smoke basically staying around her face... all in all, it was a very bad experience.

Now, you may think that I totally hate smokers. That is totally not the case as many of my co-workers, some family members and close friends are smokers. All I'm saying is that I wouldn't date someone who smokes because I think it's a disgusting habit, not to mention all of the health risks. I've seen first hand how health can be affected by smoking. How about a grandfather who had emphasema? Or my other grandfather who had prostate cancer but I also belive that he had lung problems from smoking... how about that? Speaking of which, here's some food for thought from the Centers for Disease Control:

* An estimated 8.6 million people in the United States have at least one serious illness caused by smoking.

* Each year, nearly 440,000 people in the United States die of a smoking-attributable illness, resulting in 5.6 million years of potential life lost and $92 billion in lost productivity from smoking.

* For every person who dies of a smoking attributable disease, there are 20 more people suffering with at least one serious illness from smoking.

* Among current smokers, chronic lung diseases account for 73% of smoking attributable conditions.

* Among former smokers, chronic lung diseases account for 50% of smoking attributable conditions, followed by heart attacks (24%).

* Smoking causes 3.3 million years of potential life lost for men and 2.2 million years for women. On average, smoking educes adult life expectancy by approximately 14 years.

* Among adults, most smoking attributable deaths are from lung cancer (123,836), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (90,582), and ischemic heart disease (86,801).

What amazes me is that smokers are presented with this same information from their doctors and their attitude seems to be "I don't care." I know that I couldn't knowingly do something that I knew would (1) kill me slowly, (2) hurt my family and friends and (3) possibly cause others around me to be sick from the second hand smoke that I cause. Sorry, I just don't dig it.

So please, ladies (and guys too, for the benefit of non-smoking ladies everywhere), stop with the smoking! It's nasty and unhealthy.

And K*tie... even though you love the cancer sticks, I still love you... I guess! Feh... just please stop.

--Jonathan

Ball of Confusion

It's about 12:35 AM on 9/12 and I just got back from Cybar Club. I'm drained. Not just because I'm tired but emotionally, mentally and utterly drained. I've had so much on my mind the past week, some of which I can share and some of which I'd prefer not to at the moment (sorry).

My brain is fried.

I'm trying to figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life. Everyone goes through a point in their career where they go "is this what I want to do until I'm 65?" Don't get me wrong, I love radio. But I'm really questioning some of the decisions I made in my past that are affecting me today (mentioned in a previous post). As you may have guessed, I'm really no closer to deciding waht to do than I was when I wrote that a few days ago. Sure, I want to go back to school but I have so many options... I can go to school here, I can move back to Mississippi, just stick out my current path... but I'm no closer to knowing the right decision than I was before.

I've figured out what one of my problems is: I'm homesick. Now ask me if I'll get to go home anytime soon. The answer: Of course not. I won't be able to take any more time off until at least Christmas time and maybe not even until January because I think I've burned all of my vacation time for the year. Anyway, my family's always been very close. I miss all of them badly. When I think of how much I'm missing right now, it drives me up the wall, even though I try not to let it get to me. I just don't know what to do... I'm so confused about so many things.

Don't you just love a walking cesspool of confusion?

If you're wondering how my date with Dana went, we had a good time. The night didn't go exactly as planned but we still managed to salvage a nice evening together. She and I had dinner and watched "The Ring 2" at my apartment and then talked for a while afterward. She's really nice and, honestly, reminds me a lot of my ex from Mississippi (Pam) in her appearance and mannerisms. She's a medical assistant for one of the local health systems and she eventually wants to become a R.N. Heh, how do I always manage to attract the nurses?! :-) I'm planning to see her again; I think we'll have dinner again and maybe take a walk at a park.

Ok, it's almost 1:00 and I need some sleep. Tomorrow's going to be a long day... potentially really good or really bad. I'll keep this updated as best as I can.

--Jonathan

9/11/01

Let us not forget what happened four years ago today. Just in case you need to be reminded, I'm speaking of the worst act of terrorism to ever be done on our soil. Last year I wrote my thoughts about the day and I post a link here. It says everything I remember about that day. Feel free to comment with what you remember about 9/11. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Remembering 9/11/01

--Jonathan

My Official Theme Song

I have adopted this as my official theme song... for various reasons.

By the way, it's "Scars" by Papa Roach.

I tear my heart open, I sew myself shut
My weakness is that I care too much
And my scars remind me that the past is real
I tear my heart open just to fail

Drunk and I'm feeling down
And I just wanna be alone
I'm pissed cause you came around
Why don't you just go home
Cause you channel all your pain
And I can't help you fix yourself
You're making me insane
All I can say is

[Chorus:]
I tear my heart open, I sew myself shut
My weakness is that I care too much
And our scars remind us that the past is real
I tear my heart open just to fail

I tried to help you once
Against my own advice
I saw you going down
But you never realized
That you're drowning in the water
So I offered you my hand
Compassions in my nature
Tonight is our last stand

[Chorus]

I'm drunk and I'm feeling down
And I just wanna be alone
You shouldn't ever come around
Why don't you just go home?
Cause you're drowning in the water
And I tried to grab your hand
And I left my heart open
But you didn't understand
But you didn't understand
Go fix yourself

I can't help you fix yourself
But at least I can say I tried
I'm sorry but I gotta move on with my own life
I can't help you fix yourself
But at least I can say I tried
I'm sorry but I gotta move on with my own life

Random Thought and Rambling # 175

So this is post number 175. w00t.

*throws confetti*

Ok, enough of that!

It's always a good feeling when a station beneath you starts stunting. Today (or was it yesterday? Hell, I dunno), B106 started playing one song from a different genre each day and will debut a new format next week. Today's selection is "I Fall to Pieces" by Patsy Cline. What do I think they're going to settle on? My money's on something called Jack FM, which is almost identical to a format on a station in my cluster called Mike FM. If B changes to Jack, I can't wait to see that battle! Screw the battle between us and Hot, the battle between Mike and Jack will be entertaining. I'll volunteer to sell popcorn and do play-by-play. :-)

The last couple of nights have been reletively sleepless. I don't know why I do this but sometimes I just won't be able to sleep for random reasons. Last night I was thinking of choices that I had made in the past that are affecting me today. As I was telling Sydney, you never think about that stuff at the time but you sure think about it after the fact. Like college... I decided that I only needed an A.A.S. But I never really gave much thought to "what if radio doesn't work out? Then what?" Not that I think I'm going to get fired anytime soon (with my ratings, I have nothing to worry about, trust me) but you still wonder what could happen later on down the road. So I'm seriously considering going back to school and getting a degree in marketing so I can have something to fall back on. Working full time and going to school will not be fun but I know plenty of people who have pulled it off and I have no doubt that I could go the same. I'm already researching my options. If you have any suggestions, feel free to send them my way.

Tomorrow night I'm supposed to have dinner with a woman I've been talking to, Dana. I mean, it's just dinner, it's not like I'm commiting to a relationship with her. Honestly, I still don't think that would be the right thing for me right now. But she seems nice and we do have some things in common. I guess I may as well see what happens. But I'm kindda thinking it may not go beyond our dinner date tomorrow night.

Well, I need to get back to work. That's about all that's going on in my life right now. In the words of Sonny, "Get up, stand up, elevate from that." That's my motto these days.

--Jonathan

Katrina: The Aftermath

Do I even have to recap the distruction that's happening in Louisana, Mississippi and Alabama? Anyone who's been breathing knows about all the death, destroyed homes, businesses, flooding and all the other badness that has come thanks to the worst natural disaster to ever hit the United States.

What I am impressed by is the outpouring of support from a majority of people in the U.S. Semi trucks are being filled with supplies, people who don't have much for themselves are giving what they can to the victims, whether it's money, supplies or prayers. My radio group in Fort Wayne had a fund raiser last night at a local club and when all was said and done, we raised about $10,000 for the Red Cross. That, my friends, is the power of radio combined with the giving spirit of the people of Fort Wayne.

A few examples: We had several young ladies drop off cash, some bringing as much as $60. We had multiple people drop off checks for $100. A waitress dropped off her tips from that day (about $100 too). Pulvar's Pub held a collection. Trucker Rob (a regular on our morning show) held a collection with the drivers from his trucking company. We had someone drop off a check for $1,000. We even had a little girl bring her piggy bank to give. All in all, it was a VERY heart warming day yesterday and, since I'm from the area that was affected, I was grinning from ear to ear. I also want to give major props to Piere's for matching all of the donations from yesterday.

But here's some food for thought on that: While my group of stations has been doing what we can to raise funds for the victims, the other stations in Fort Wayne have done nothing... nada... zip. Well, unless you count bitching about gas prices. Here's a clue people: Serving the public interest isn't limited to just those in your metro. Sometimes that means serving people in other places. I think it's sad that all of the radio stations in town came together for the Asian tsunami but they couldn't do the same for people in our own country. It's pathetic and it sickens my greatly.

Something else I'm sick of: People turning this thing into a polical football. It sickens me... really makes me sick to the point of wanting to throw up. The last thing people in New Orleans, Biloxi and the other areas need are a bunch of people sitting in their comfortable air conditioned homes Bush-bashing. If you're one of these people, let me ask you: What have you done to help? If you can say that you've done nothing, then you need to shut the hell up and mind your own business. If you're not willing to be a part of the solution, don't bitch about the problem. The feds are doing the best they can... I mean, New Orleans is almost completely covered in water. It's pretty tough to get supplies dropped in under those conditions, don't you think? As for the people that are still there, the media really needs to catch a clue. It's not just black people that chose to stay there, there are plenty of white people trapped too (including a friend of mine that I've yet to hear from... Miggs, if you see this somehow, hit me up!) but the media wouldn't make you think that since all they show are the black people who stayed. The media making this a racial issue is completely out of line and this bias has reached all time lows. Shame on the media.

Of course, I could say the same about Kanye West... but let's not go there. The only comment I'll make about his remarks is that racism can work both ways.

If you want to place blame for New Orleans essentially now being a lake, you put the blame squarely on the shoulders of the leaders of New Orleans and Louisana. F.E.M.A. told them three years ago that the levees were too weak. They chose not to fix them. And for those of you saying the feds should have just done it, here's a civics lesson: That would have been illegal unless the state and/or city asked them for help (which they didn't). The federal government can't just come in and take control of something like that without the state's permission.

That's the law.

You know, it's pretty damn easy for the mayor of New Orleans to sit in the studios of WWL-AM and bitch about the feds not doing enough to help... and I'll concede that the feds should have done a bit more than they did at first. But let me ask you this, sir: What are you doing? What kind of leadership are you showing? You, sir, are a weak leader. If you want to see real leadership, look no further than Rudy Guliani when 9/11 happened. He was on the front lines doing what he could to help, keeping the public abreast of the latest developments and doing what he could to keep calm in New York, a city I might add is much bigger than New Orleans. New Orleans is now a city of anarchy and has fallen to the point that the national guard is having to come in just to maintain order. Yet, the mayor of New Orleans is supposidly being this great leader. I, for one, am not buying it.

Yeah, you've shown great leadership.

The people of New Orleans, Biloxi and the other areas affected by Katrina need our help. Give blood, give some money, blankets, whatever you can to help them out. Every little bit helps. And please keep these people in your prayers. They need all the help we can give them.

--Jonathan