- Before I get to the obvious reason for this edition, many of you were probably wondering why it's been so long since the last edition. There are several reasons but the main one was that I've been downright depressed and anxious at several points for various reasons like letdowns, disappointments and other stuff I really don't want to get into here. For most people that know me, that isn't really news but that stuff has really hit me hard in the past month and I've had some trouble coping. I was planning to do an edition earlier in the month but because of how I was generally feeling I was afraid I would end up talking about some things that, in the midst of my overall mood, might be misinterpreted or I might have written it in a way that might be different from what I had intended or even maybe say things I shouldn't be talking about without thinking them through. With that being the case, I decided to play it safe and hold off until I was ready to go here. Some of the stuff I planned for earlier will be included (not the mood-related stuff) but several things will come off the top of my head. In the past few days my mood has lightened a bit but that stuff is still hanging over my head and probably will for some time. That mood stuff shouldn't reflect too much in this edition but I did want to at least let people know what's been going on with me.
- As I do every year around this time, I talk in general about how the past calendar year went for me. I did do a few things in 2012 like starting to follow things like MCW and the efforts to bring back the USFL as a developmental league. I hung out with my friend Bob and his family a lot, created a new personal logo for myself (one that is all mine...MINE...bwa ha ha ha!!!!) and also did a lot of stuff related to the blog, but for the most part there was no defining or significant moment for me this year. I wasn't sure there was going to be one anyway since I don't have a much of a life at this point, but not having one this year in particular might have been more of a blessing than anything. I did turn 40 but I kept that low-key because even though it was a good birthday I just didn't feel like celebrating it. I got to meet some great people, mostly wrestlers, fellow wrestling fans and alt football enthusiasts. I didn't go out to a nightclub at all this year, which makes it a year and a half and counting since I've been in one...and before people ask, due to circumstances it will probably be some time before I go to one again. I've been working on keeping some semblance of stability personally while trying to plant some seeds ala the Parable of the Sower to get my life going forward again. It's been a long time since I've had any real semblance of a life and I struggled too much whenever I did have one, so I've been mentally and emotionally trying to work my way toward that (which is why I haven't pulled the trigger on a lot of things...I need more prep) and create a better and more effective one in the process so I don't have to go through this again. I'll be honest...I have no clue what is going to happen in the next year. The best I can hope for is that I might actually and tangibly move forward in a good way. I'm hoping that's the Lord's plan for me here because I don't have a clue which way it might go at this point, generally speaking.
- As of earlier this month, I have been back on DJRT for a year now. Another reason I didn't do an edition earlier this month outside of the mood-related stuff is that I wanted to do a review of the past year of DJRT, but since it was so close to the end of the year anyway I thought it better to do the year-end and DJRT reviews in one fell swoop. I will note that DJRT is in a mightily and distinctly different place than when I returned last year...the layout, the colors, the added pages, the DJRT logo and especially the social media additions. It's been a really busy and interesting year for DJRT. Regarding the social media stuff, I will note that the first thing I did on New Year's Day was starting the Twitter account for DJRT as well as myself. I now have over 700 tweets on there and counting. I still have the Facebook and Google Plus pages (I'll talk more about the Google Plus page in a bit) but I also added the DJRT Pinterest page for mainly putting images and videos and other stuff I come across on the net that some of you have found interesting. I also changed the web address to "djsrandomthoughts.com" which will be the address for DJRT for the near and far future. DJRT has evolved from being a simple blog to pretty much a full-blown web site with a rather small but growing presence. As a result, I'll probably start calling DJRT "the site" more than just calling it "the blog"...they might be interchangeable but I'll likely call it the former more than the latter from now on. Regarding the DJRT Google Plus page, if you look at the top of the site...see, what did I tell you: the "site"...you will notice the new +1 button for the G+ page (the equivalent of the Facebook "like" button which is conveniently next to it for you to like DJRT on there as well) and you can see there are over 600 people now that follow DJRT and counting. On Google Plus itself, I've also started a new community for the latest blog posts from people's personal blogs (to those of you who came from there and are reading this, welcome). I will be posting links to current and future editions of DJRT there as well as continuing to do so on the social media pages. Getting back to DJRT the site, most of you know that I've changed the layout more than once over the years. Most of you know that I've been planning a transformation of DJRT down the line into something different (I'm still keeping that under wraps until it happens). I have the site pretty much the way I want it set up with the pages, the social media and the content in the editions themselves, but in order to potentially make the transformed DJRT work I will be changing the look and layout of the site in this next year, 2013. By the time I'm done with this project it should look more polished and professional-looking and more "standard" in terms of how it will look compared to other sites on the net. This is a project that I will be doing over the next few months because it's going to take a while to get the right coding and get the appropriate look and feel for DJRT to take it to the next level. You will all see it when the new layout is complete and talk more about what I did in a future edition. I am happy with how DJRT works right now, but it must grow and change and be better and that's what I'm aiming to do.
- For the first time since 2008, I participated in a fantasy football league (I had a team in 2009 but didn't do anything because of the upheaval at the time). I had a team called the Random Thinkers and competed in my friend Bob's league. I dominated and won the regular season outright and won my way into the championship game but fell short and took second in the league out of ten teams. I was soooooooooo close but the players I had didn't step up like most of them had all season (except for Seattle's defense...they did REALLY well for me the past three weeks). I am somewhat disappointed to be so close to the league title but it was not meant to be. The funny thing was that before the fantasy league season started I was projected to be in last place. Going from projected worst to a near-first finish is not a bad thing at all.
- Speaking of football, there seems to be a lot of turmoil regarding the Cleveland Browns right now. There's still one game left (a chance to sweep the Steelers but that's in doubt with the QB injuries right now) but after that game there looks to be another overhaul in the works yet again. I believe this time it will be different because there is definitely talent on this year's team that will be kept as opposed to years past and there is a new owner in Jimmy Haslem who is much more vested than the previous owner. I do believe now that it is time for a head coaching change. I liked Pat Shurmur as a choice when he first got there, but he has done some horrendous and confusing play-calling over his tenure that calls into question whether he was really ready for a head coaching job. The guy who is on the top of my head coaching search list if they do fire Shurmur is Greg Roman, the offensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers. He has done an amazing job with their offense there. He apparently has links to both Haslem and new CEO Joe Banner and had sought out the head coaching job at the University of Tennessee. He looks like he is ready to be a head coach (unlike Shurmur) and the Browns might be a great opportunity for him. I like Chip Kelly from the University of Oregon too, but I don't know if he would be a good fit here. In any case, I just want the Browns to be championship-ready sooner than later.
- I know it's a little late but congratulations to the Ohio State Buckeyes football team on completing an undefeated season. I had my doubts about Urban Meyer at first, but this past season has erased those doubts. I do think it is time to change the defensive coordinator. Luke Fickell was alright under Jim Tressel but I think he's regressed a bit and I would be surprised if they do get a new defensive coordinator before next season.
- BTW, don't forget to check out the DJRT store. As you can see from the edition pic, I am wearing the new official DJRT Logo shirt. I hope to see some more people wearing and representing DJRT in the future, so check out the store and maybe buy something there while you're at it.
- At the end of last month I went to an MCW show and Riot Television taping in Massillon at the Firehouse Grille. The show was awesome as always, but this time I took my friend Bob and his son with me. We all had a really good time there and I was glad I was able to share it with one of my friends. We got to meet Goldust there (yes, that Goldust) and Bob's son got to get a picture with him. After the show we met up with my friend Micah and his entourage (Bob and Micah already knew each other...small world), ate at the restaurant downstairs, and also got to talk to some of the wrestlers. I will say one thing about one of the matches on the show...the main event match between Goldust and MCW's Ethan Wright was really fast-paced and seemed WWE-level or TNA-level. I've seen Ethan Wright wrestle before but in this match he held his own and then some with Goldust and that just impressed the hell out of me. If you get the chance to see MCW, go do so. As I've said before, it's top-notch professional wrestling and great to see live. I don't know when the next show will be scheduled but I will pass along details of that when they come.
- I talked about the GLOW wrestling documentary and possible revival of that show, but there is another women's wrestling company that is making a return as well. David McLane, one of the founders of GLOW, also had a show called WOW, Women of Wrestling back in 2000 that had an upgraded wrestling product from GLOW and lasted for about a year. WOW is making a return in 2013 next month in Las Vegas with some of the original wrestlers from the first iteration of the series as well as possibly some new talent. You can find out more about it at their site here: WOW: Women of Wrestling.
- Something else I started following is a science fiction web series on YouTube called Divergence. It's about a U.S. Army guy suffering from PTSD and paranoia who comes to find out he is actually being followed by unknown people who can disappear into thin air. They've release a few short web episodes of the series but it is an interesting show. If you're curious, you can find out more on their official website (http://whatisdivergence.com/) or go ahead and watch several episodes on their YouTube page here: http://www.youtube.com/PopularUprising.
- I learned that the first real nickname for the internet was "The Galactic Network". I was going to use this name as the subtitle of the aforementioned edition I was going to do earlier, but I still wanted to talk a bit about it. It was first coined by J.C.R. Licklider of MIT in the early 1960's for the predacessor to the internet, ARPANET. I thought that was a cool little factoid and it reminded me of sci-fi properties such as Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica. It's amazing what has happened with the child of ARPANET over the past half-century or so and how it is changing the course of human civilization. It's certainly changed my life.
- There is one bit of advice I'd like to pass along that I've been thinking about over the past year and especially the past month that keeps popping up when dealing with certain people who are just acquaintances (not about my friends here on the internet or Facebook or Google Plus or in the real world...just acquaintances): "Don't make someone a priority who will only see or treat you like an option." I had an issue regarding something like this last month and I know a few friends of mine who have had to recently deal with some people treating them like they were one, so I thought I'd pass it along here for those of you in this possible situation to keep in mind.
- Song on Repeat: "These Are The Days Of Our Lives" by Queen. This is from one of my favorite bands and it is my favorite song from them.
- Shoutouts: Normally I would put a list of names to people I want to give shoutouts to in a particular edition, but it's been a somewhat sizeable stretch of time since the last edition and there's already a ton of people I'd like to give one out to here. I thought since this is the holiday season I'll just give a shoutout to all of you who have kept up with, acknowledged, or met me, not just since the last edition but in the past year or so. Thank you for reading DJRT and, for those of you I personally know, thank you for letting me be a part of your life in some way (hopefully in a good way). It is a blessing, for sure, to have you in my life.
That's it for 2012. I don't know what I'm doing for New Year's Eve (most likely nothing) but if I don't hear from you beforehand, I want to wish you all a very safe and happy New Year and hope you continue to have a blessed holiday season. Until next year, everybody...take care and God Bless.
DJ
