What's goin' on, teens!! I know we haven't been together here since the summer, but now that this last week of 2012 is upon us, I wanted to throw out my year-end opus blog, and entertain and likely offend you one last time before my balls drop. Wait...is it before THE balls...ONE ball? I don't have one ball,, that's not what I'm trying to say...I mean, there's a thing in Times Square still, right? Oh...before THE ball drops in Times Square. Very good. Meds are on board, and we can proceed...
This has been a really huge year...not just for me...for all of us...right? I have been trying to think back to the beginning of the year, and spin my mental rolodex forward to help me remember as much as I can, but no doubt I will miss a lot...but with the help of my calendar, I'll try to hit the highlights.
The year started off with an important decision I made to get in better shape. I had been told of a doctor named Alfred Roston who is a really good nutritionist and gastroenterologist here in my area, and someone who had been a patient of his had spoken to my father about a weight loss program he went on through Dr. Roston, and it was the only thing that had worked to help him lose weight and keep it off. I have struggled with this friggin' issue for a long time, and it was important to give this a try, so I made an appointment with Dr. Roston, who put me on his "Nutri-Thin" program. It's a battle, and I won't bullshit you, and yes, I've cheated...but in the first 10 days or so, I lost 15lbs. To date, I've stayed in the neighborhood of 40lbs lost, and I'm still at it, despite the occasional obstacle...like mourning the loss of Hostess cupcakes or a really good slice of pizza. I'm not apologizing, but I know I have to focus more to lose more, and I will, because I got another trip to Cabo San Lucas coming up in 3 months, and I ain't fuckin' around now!
Around this time, I also began to experience more persistent pain in my lower back, so I began to see a chiropractor/massage therapist in Yonkers who my father had put me in touch with. My initial nervousness of becoming paralyzed and having to make wee-wee tinkles in a bag for the rest of my life notwithstanding, I couldn't be more comfortable with the way I'm handled by my chiropractor, Leigh, and she has also become a good friend, which means nothing to my co-pay requirements, but I won't complain too loudly...
February was hard. My grandmother had once again gotten sick, and whereas before this, she had always seemed to bounce back, this time was different, and the respiratory problems she was having were proving to be too much for her 96 year-old body to handle. Much like I did when my grandfather was ill back in 2005, just prior to his passing, I again made the very easy decision to "stand post" with my grandmother in the hospital. I felt that it was my job as the first, eldest (and according to them, "favorite") grandson, to just be there and watch over her, no matter how long. I of course had some concerns for my job security, but after a few days, and it seemed like things kept taking turns for the worse with her, I knew that I was exactly where I had to be, and job be damned. There would be other jobs if it went that route. However, the managers at my job were very understanding and supportive, and basically told me to do what I had to do for my family, then come back. That's exactly what I did. It wound up being a 2-week absence, but when my grandmother passed shortly after Valentine's Day, with not just me, but lots of other family literally by her bedside, I knew I had done something really important for her, and for my family....again, as I had done in 2005. I hated how I felt, but when my grandmother was my date on Valentine's Day, and I told her I was there with her and I loved her, she opened her eyes for the first time in a day or two, and said "I know."
That was the last thing she said to me. She left us just a couple of days later.
On March 15th of 2012, I went to Cabo San Lucas again, and despite still having a slightly heavy heart with the loss of my grandmother, I knew she would want me to go down there and enjoy myself, so I did, and had the most amazing fun time. I joined forces with my friends, Sean and Sheila, who were also vacationing there at the same time, and for two action-packed days during the Spring Break season (which also included St. Patty's Day!), we rocked the Cabo Wabo Cantina, the Mango Deck at Medano Beach, among a few other exotic locations, and lemme tell ya'...yours truly was DEFINITELY doing the Cabo Wabo for SURE! One of my newest friends down at the Cantina, Viridiana, kept my Wabojitos flowing! I realized that I packed WAY wrong for the trip though, so in March of 2013 when I hit Land's End once again, my huge suitcase will have 3 pairs of underwear, 2 bathing suits, a towel a few t-shirts and a pair of jeans...the rest of the space will be saved for the various bottles of delicious elixirs I bring home with me! LOL....
I am so in love with Cabo, it's not even funny...and you know what? They have EMTs there, too! Don't get me started. One day, you'll read about JonnyLand! EMS serving the downtown area, and you'll know I made it. I'll grow my hair long, keep my shades on, and instead of trauma shears on my duty belt, I'll have mini-flasks of various tequilas...man, that shit can cure ANYTHING that ails ya'! A nice reposado to take your mind off the pain from that broken wrist? I gotcha covered.
I'm really looking forward to seeing some of my friends at the Solmar resort again, and of course, if you need me after hours, you'll find me in the VIP section of the Cabo Wabo...call only in an emergency. |
| On Medano Beach with my friends |
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| Chris checks out the tequila array... |
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| Me with Steve Smith in NYC |
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| Me with Chickenfoot, 5/19 |
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| Leigh with Chickenfoot, 5/19 |
My two nieces, Sydney and Brynley both had birthdays. Syd turned 2 and Bryn turned 1. Beautiful, funny girls who apparently both think I'm the coolest guy on the planet next to their dad, and I get FaceTime requests from Syd all the time. I love being "Uncle Jon"...twice over! They live out in San Diego with my brother and his wife, and I try to get out there to say hi once or maybe twice a year if I'm able to, and this year was no exception. I think I actually made it out there three times. In March, I spent a night there before and after Cabo, then in the summer for Bryn's first birthday, and just recently for Thanksgiving. I enjoy the visits, but not so much the flights....but you know, there's no way I'll pass up seeing them when I can, and it also ensures me at least ONE visit to an In-N-Out Burger joint...look up the word "mouthgasm" in the JonnyLand! Dictionary, and you'll see me there with a "Double-Double with Cheese" in my hand, drooling like a starving animal...
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| Bryn |
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| Syd |
On July 20th, tragedy struck the small community of Aurora, Colorado when a masked gunman burst into a movie theater and killed several innocent people at a midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Rises", the last Batman film. It seemed inconceivable that something this heinous could happen, but it did. What made it even more powerful and frightening for me personally, is that while I watched the horrific news unfold early the next morning on the news, when I learned it happened in Aurora, my first thought was that my best friend, Jessica lives there. Not NEAR there, but RIGHT there. The fact that she was at work in Boulder, an hour away from there when it happened, and of course would be absolutely not in harm's way didn't register with me right away. It was, however, still such a relief to hear her voice on the phone. Jessica told me that she knew exactly where the theater was, and that she has been there a few times herself. It was just chilling. It was an insane display of violence, leveled at innocent moviegoers, and in the midst of that horror, to learn that "Batman" himself, Christian Bale went to Aurora on his own accord to visit victims in the hospital, instantly made me feel better somehow. I remember people saying things like "It'd be great if (Bale) came here in costume to say hello to the people who were shot..", but I don't think anyone really thought he would do it...costumed or otherwise. His reputation isn't exactly a "spotless" one when it comes to how he interacts with people. But there he fucking was...not in costume, but that actually made it BETTER. It was HIM, not the character who went to console the people who were just out to see his movie and have a fun time. I won't lie, it made me a bigger fan of his. The wonderful composer of countless film scores (including the recent Batman films) Hans Zimmer write an original piece of music called "Aurora" as a tribute to the victims (it's on iTunes, by the way), because he was so shattered as we all were, by the acts of this crazed individual. It was truly a sad bunch of days as we all learned who these victims and heroes were who laid down their lives that night, and I'm sure that wound still bleeds for so many in Aurora.
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| For Aurora |
August saw my yearly vacation to my other favorite getaway place, Martha's Vineyard. The island Itruly call my "home away from home", where I have spent countless summers of my young and adultlives. First with my family, and then starting in 1989 on my own or with friends, I have walked thebeaches and trails of the Vineyard with a sense of relaxation, peace and happiness I can rarely findanywhere else. No bullshit. The sights, sounds, smells, tastes and textures of the island remain engrained in my mind for each of the 51 other weeks of the year when I cannot be there. In recent years, I was fortunate enough to become an owner of a timeshare unit interval at a hotel in Vineyard Haven where I had vacationed several summers with my friend, Chris. His mother has multiple units, and was looking to sell some, and I was offered one. It was the quickest "yes" I think I've ever said. This past summer was my second summer as an owner, and it was also the week of "JawsFest", an occasional multi-day event that pays homage to one of my all-time favorite films that also calls the Vineyard "home". JAWS was filmed on Martha's Vineyard in 1974 and became...well....I don't have to tell you. If you're reading this, you know what the hell JAWS is!! When I was young, the house that my family had in the village of Menemsha had a view of a place called Lobsterville Beach, where until recently, the wreckage of the "ORCA II", the sinkable version of the "hero boat" from the film was beached. It was an eyesore to many Islanders (residents) over the years, but to fans of the film, it was a piece of history to be loved, admired, and sadly, pillaged from.
Anyway, this year, the "JawsFest" event was a real hit, and it payed tribute to the Islanders and other people who were involved with making the film. If you look on my Facebook photos page, you'll see an album from the event, filled with great pics of me with various friends, both new and old. Most notably, my friend Paul McPhee, who is an art talent to be reckoned with, introduced me to one of my favorite special effects make-up kingpins, Greg Nicotero, who is a long-time JAWS fan himself, and lately has been one of the producer/directors of a little show on AMC called "The Walking Dead"...perhaps you've heard of it. Greg's production company, KNB EFX is an Academy Award-winning makeup house in California, and he and the gang there have an amazing list of films under their belt to be proud of, and as it turns out, I wound up being Greg's "go-to" guy for lots of transportation stuff. He needed to get from place to place some of the days, and I know the island pretty well, so Paul made the suggestion to Greg "Hey...have Jon drive you."I couldn't have been more happy to oblige. Thanks for that one, McPhee! Greg and I became friends over the next several days, and by the time it was our collective last night on the island, he was inviting me to join him and Paul and a few others for drinks and dinner before some of the last night festivities of "JawsFest". It was around this time that I met another awesome new friend, named Melissa, who was working the event, and who I saw almost every day. We had chatted it up some, and she seemed to be very cool. I was talking to her one day about Greg inviting me to that dinner ,and she expressed a lot of interest in coming along as my "date". So, after lengthy arm-twisting on her part (not...at...all), I was really excited to have her coming along for the fun! I picked her up at the main "JawsFest" location that evening, and we made our way over to the restaurant where we would be meeting up with Greg, Paul and a few other friends. After dinner, Melissa and Greg hopped into the JonnyMobile with me to head out to where some of the "Shark After Dark" fun was taking place near the island airport. What ensued next was a 20+ minute drive of hilarity. Some of the island roads are hard to navigate at night, and Melissa is a year-long resident there so she had it all mentally mapped out, and LOUDLY commanded where I needed to turn left or right. Those commands were between fits of laughter the three of us were immersed in as we drove. We were cracking jokes together, making zombie references (Greg even had zombie blood on his sneaker from during production of Walking Dead in Georgia). It was really cool to be hanging out with a couple of people, one of them a legit "force" in the movie/effects business, something I have always enjoyed as a hobby (I'll simply say "Tom Savini", and those who know me will say, "ohhh....riiight.....THAT guy"), and just having a blast. Greg and Melissa are really down to earth, friendly, and funny as hell. Melissa and I were quoting the movie "Ted" all night, and I thought she was going to piss in her pants more than once. We had THAT kind of fun. Greg and I still keep in touch, and Melissa just came to NY to visit me last month when I took her to her very first Broadway show. A great time with a great person, and I'm anxious to see both of them again soon. Starting in 2013, I now have TWO consecutive weeks of timeshare on the island, so I'm psyched to have a longer stay and lots more fun!
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| Melissa, Greg & I on the Vineyard |
As of this writing, I am now the detail leader on a two month-long assignment for John's company where a protective agent is needed locally each night to provide security for an employee of a store who carries inventory and other items out of the store at close of business. Knowing the location and surrounding area as well as I do, and after providing the "advance work" to John immediately, he told me he knew this was why he wanted me on the detail, and made me the leader. I am really grateful to have his confidence. It's another steppingstone for me in the EP world, and come MAy of 2013, I hope to be in Virginia for a week taking the intense 7-day EPI training course so I can be certified as a Personal Protection Specialist.
November found me back at Mohegan Sun for another awesome concert event with my friend Leigh. This time it was the perpetually popular band Journey, who have been around as long as I have been alive. I had once again secured some amazing tickets and a meet & greet photo-op with the band, and again, for me, it was the happiness I brought to my friend that really amped up my enjoyment. I love going to shows like this, and I always get two tickets. I know I will find someone to come with me, even if it's last minute. Leigh has sort of become my "concert co-pilot", and with Chickenfoot and Journey under her belt, as well as a few other cool events, including a Broadway event that had us hanging out with the one an only James Earl Jones after seeing him in a great show called "The Best Man", she is now slated to accompany me once more up to the Mohegan Reservation to see Coldplay with me on Saturday. As the band wraps up their "Mylo Xyloto" tour, I have recently become a BIG fan of their music, and also of the spectacular show they put on. For a better idea of what I'm talking about, check out their "Live 2012" DVD. It's going to be a great way to ring out the year...
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| Me and Leigh with Journey band members |
When the second worst mass-shooting in our nation's history took place on December 14th, it was bad enough. When we all learned that 20 of the 26 victims were children no older than 7 years old, it became a heart-wringing tragedy for everyone, near and far. As the horror of what happened began to sink in as I watched the news unfold on tv, the tears streamed down my face, and I couldn't believe what I was hearing and seeing. I was very immediately consumed with a feeling of wanting to be far, far away from here. Anywhere but here. Away from the horror and the enormity of the pain that was once again inflicted on us. Especially when I started to see pictures of the children. I knew I needed to go to Newtown, CT to pay my respects to those folks, so last week, I did. I saw a few old and dear friends in the process, and that balanced some of my pain with a few laughs, but to walk among the memorials (and I placed my own tributes at one as well) and really SEE what happened there was incredibly painful. There was a hushed atmosphere all through the town, as much as there were things going on...it was as if someone threw a blanket over the Sandy Hook community, and the sounds of the innocent had been so drastically muffled...and even extinguished. God Bless every last one of the people of Newtown, Connecticut...it's all we know how to say...and we seem to be saying things like this a LOT more often than we may have done in the past. I wear a memorial bracelet with the colors of the Sandy Hook Elementary School that I got from www.survivalstraps.com/sandyhook and I'm happy that others have noticed it on my wrist and asked me about it. I also ordered some bracelets from a place called www.bandsforarms.com who are HAND-making something called the "Innocence Memorial" bracelet. All the money goes RIGHT back to the Sandy Hook community, and I'm only too happy to do the things I'm able to do to help that shattered place. It may not be a lot, but it's from my heart, and I do it most sincerely. Time heals all, so it's said, but somehow this incident doesn't feel like something that can be healed so easily, if at all....we can only hope and pray for that.
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| The Survival Straps Sandy Hook bracelet & Piddles...www.survivalstraps.com/sandyhook |
In Webster, NY on Christmas Eve, four firefighters responded to a house fire. The deranged man who had set his house ablaze was laying in wait for the firefighters to arrive so he could pick them off from across the street. He shot and killed two of them instantly, and two others are in the hospital. He used the exact same make and model assault rifle that the guy in Newtown used. This guy in NY was a murderer to begin with, and had recently gotten out of prison after an 18 year bid after he killed is grandmother with a hammer in 1980....a HAMMER....and he was out of prison. Our system fucking sucks. Now, I'm what is called a "first responder", just like police and firefighters. For the most part, we all wear very similar-looking uniforms. With the exception of police officers, first responders are nor permitted to carry any defensive weapons or items. Now...it doesn't mean we DON'T...fuck that shit. I've said this before....when a guy pulls a weapon on my partner or on me, and all I can pull out of MY pocket is a hand with some skin on it, you want nothing more than to wish for a can of pepper spray, an expandable baton, handcuffs...ANYthing. We are now very clearly living in a day and age where mass shootings, and random snipers who target the innocent or those whose sole mission is to protect and save lives are more and more the norm.
I'll be honest with you, kids...I'm happy to lose my credentials if at the end of the day I've maybe had to use something I shouldn't have in order to ensure my partners and co-workers go home SAFE to their families. You wanna suspend me, fire me, rip up my EMT card...have at it. I take this PERSONALLY because if there's anything I've learned since becoming an EMT in 1995, and even more so since working in White Plains alongside some really amazing people who aren't just co-workers, they are my FRIENDS, but they are my FAMILY as well. There is a brotherhood here. We wear the same blues, we go on the jobs together, we see the pain and try to bring a measure of comfort to those who need it. Now we are under attack. It's really that simple. You can't say it's an "isolated incident", because if you browse the newspapers or internet, you see that first responders are getting their asses kicked...or KILLED almost daily somewhere. A young female officer in Wisconsin was just gunned down the other day. It just shouldn't be something we are always looking over our shoulders for...but unfortunately it looks like it's become that. It's a sad admission I have to make, but I think it's going to get a shitload worse before it gets any better.
Well, it's getting to be that time, and you all no doubt have had enough of my ramblings, but hey---it's been a year in the making, so it's SUPPOSED to be lengthy! Just to make sure I don't end on a "down note", I want to lastly say that as many hardships that I have faced this year, (and believe me, most of them aren't even in this blog, so count yourself thankful for that) I have also had a whole lot of happiness sent my way. My best friend Jessica shares wonderful pictures of her beautiful one year-old baby girl with me all the time, and I love to see her growing up since I've "known" her since she was living in Jessica's tummy.
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| My tiny newest friend, Leia...Jessica's baby girl :) |
My buddy Wayne once told me that "...all that matters when you're feeling down, is that you get up and walk down the block to get to the corner...then turn the corner. You'll be amazed at what's waiting for you when you get there."
Well, the corner of 2012 and 2013 is just up ahead....I'm looking forward to seeing what's around it...whoever wants to join me is welcome...
I wish all my family and friends (especially the ones hearty enough to hang in and read this all in one sitting--you sonsabitches are troopers, you hear me!) all good things for the coming New Year. I'm thankful to have had you in my life this past year....yes, yes....some more than others, but I can't love you ALL the same, can I? ;-) I do love you anyway, though.....
'Til next year......
~ Jonny
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| Gimme a kiss! |
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| Peace out, yo... |
