Grown Up Holidays

It's odd being in a place without snow for Christmas, especially having grown up in the great white north of New England. I'll take it though. I think I've officially had too much snow in my life haha 🤣

Don't let the boring top of this blog stop you from reading the whole blog...or the fun stuff. I wanna know about you, so please read all of this 😁

LOW-KEY BIRTHDAY

I recently celebrated my birthday with a nice quiet and relaxing day filled with one of my favorite meals - homemade lasagna and a few moments at a small local beach watching the sunset. 

When I was younger, I'd seek to get rowdy at some bar or house party with friends (even bad influences like my buddy Jonny Firestorm), but as with most people, the years have changed what I find to be enjoyable. I still like to get a little rowdy but I've definitely slowed down.

Less drinking (for now) and a little more focused on trying to get in (very good) shape again. Or at least some nice pecs and shoulders. Maybe some meat on the arms and legs. I'm even debating on taking up running. 

Here's something Donnie Dukes sent me this morning. Man, if only that's what The Champ still looked like eh? 

MUSIC

Recently convinced myself to buy a little inexpensive record player ($35) and have been listening to whole records. Do you remember doing that? Buying a whole record or CD and exploring it from start to finish. Finding little gems that didn't make it to radio.

I started my collection with some sure things - ABBA, Billy Joel, Jim Croce, Elvis, Van Morrison & Fats Domino. I've picked up a few more recent bands - The 1975, Mac Miller, Chris Stapleton, Morgan Wallen & a couple others. 

I'm pretty big into music. I enjoy concerts (preferably small acoustic ones) and finding new songs (even if they are decades old). Finding covers of hit songs or almost hit songs.

Watched the movie The Holdovers and the soundtrack for that was top notch. I suggest checking that film out. I have been listening to "Crying, Laughing, Loving, Lying" on repeat for like 2 weeks. 

Always open to musical suggestions, so let me know what you think I'd like. 

HOME REPAIRS WITH BLAKE STARR & TANNER RIPLEY

I've been trying to fix up some stuff at my house and I was struggling to find good help...until Tanner Ripley moved to the area and Blake Starr reminded me of his skills. Between the 2 of them, things are coming along nicely.

I did a little construction work when I was younger and help my friends work on stuff from time-to-time, but I'm more of the guy who carries stuff and holds the flashlight for them. I'm more capable than you'd think but I prefer to leave it to the actual skilled folks when I can.

Blake is a perfectionist with his craft and he reminds me of my buddy in Maine with his aim for greatness. In an old house, that's VERY difficult. Fixing something as simple as a leak in the plumbing or a weird spot in the drywall opens up a can of worms. 

Isn't it amazing what kind of work some people do. I mean shoddy. Blake takes his time and loves explaining the process (just like my friend back home in Maine). Makes me almost think I could do it by myself with their help 😜

LOS ANGELES IN JANUARY 🌴

I finally booked my flight out to Los Angeles. I've been planning this trip for weeks but I stopped putting it off. 

I'll be out there for about 2 or 3 weeks - doing shoots, wrestling, learning some new tricks in the wrestling world and hanging with my buddy Ron Sexton. Thinking maybe we can breathe some life back into Can-Am. 

While I'm there I plan to finally check out Palm Springs, so if you have any recommendations on what to see out there please let me know. 

Also, I want an excuse to get down to Orange County. It's been a whole lot of years, so somebody challenge me to a match or 2 down that way 💪

Not sure when I'm returning, but thinking of swinging up to Chicago to break up the long plane ride. We'll see what happens with potential fun activities in Chicago. Maybe I'll avoid the cold weather and break up the trip by swinging down to Texas or Mexico. I don't know. 

Anyone have a better idea?

AM I A DICK?

I get a good amount of emails. I just slayed through 1500+ emails with individual responses to 95% of them. Took me a few weeks (and longer than I expected) but I'm happy and content with that - knowing that I try to respond to everyone who sends an email to me.

Some people get upset that it takes me long to answer some of their messages and sometimes I even miss a time-sensitive email.

Please allow a little grace. I'm not a HUGE business by any means. I like to make sure to read everything and doing so on a computer goes against my soul. I prefer reading books and newspapers on actual paper. Maybe I should just go to a strictly snail mail system 😜

Anyway, I don't know how the "other guys" do it, but I've heard stories of the company with all the big jacked muscle talking trash to their fans in e-mail or the guy who only responds to argue about politics and religion with fans and supporters.  I actually get forwarded correspondence from fans that share these interactions with me. It's amazing.

Now, I know I'm not a peach 100% of the time, but my aim is good and I am a nice guy who wants everyone to get what they want. Please allow some patience and understanding. 

When you make contact with me, you are talking to me and I'm trying to be as kind as possible.

HOLIDAY BREAK

I came to the realization over summer that holidays aren't what they were when we were kids. It's not all fun and games anymore.

With that said, I'm planning to take off some time starting Saturday, December 23rd and doing VERY LIMITED work stuff until December 27th. Please understand, I will resolve any and all problems but it may take me longer as I do NOT want to be sitting at a computer on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. 

PS: I need a good fishing spot. Any leads? 

TELL ME ABOUT YOU

Lots of interesting people in the world and I know that the supporters of Wrestler4Hire & Hero Hunks and all these other off-shoots are doing cool shit!

Share with me what you do. I'm into music, books, weird art, etc. I've shared a lot about me, share some about you.

Either post a comment below or shoot me a private email. I'm intrigued what other people do out there in the universe. 

This is probably the most important part of the blog post. As I am genuinely curious. Recently, I've found writers, piano players, artists, costume designers. They've even been kind enough to send me copies of their works and sign them. 

I'm legitimately excited about the responses to this.

ANNUAL FUNDRAISER

Huge thank you for the support with raising money for my hometown in Maine during the cold winter months. It was wild to see some BIG donations from some long-time fans and friends. Please know that I appreciate everything legitimately and every dollar counts. No matter if it's $1 or $1000. Thank you from my heart.

If you have the means to donate, please consider this - https://www.gofundme.com/f/f3vvvx-annual-bday-holiday-fundraiser

As you may have seen, there was a wild ass storm that just passed through. Some of my friends and family are still waiting for power to be restored. The flooding was wild. Apparently a dam had broken and caused some havoc. 

Here's a link to some visuals from the storm - https://www.foxweather.com/extreme-weather/drone-video-flood-northeast-deadly-storm-east-coast

THAT'S ALL, FOLKS!

I'm still looking for some nominations for the 2022/2023 awards. If I don't get enough, we'll skip it for this year and I'll find something else we can do that's fun and interact. 

Maybe another live chat with some guests. Maybe a special VIP video chat. That seems fun. 

With this long-winded post nearing it's end, I sincerely wish you a great rest of the holidays and hope they are marvelous!

Thank you for everything.