“I’m tired…”
“I’m hungry…”
“I can’t think it’s too late/too early in the day”
“Is it Friday?…”
“It’s almost the end of the month already…”

Don’t get me wrong, because I too am guilty of saying those things, but I try and change what and how I phrase everything. If you take life for granted and just go with the flow, you’re going to run into road blocks and you’ll just stand there, looking stupid, scratching your head, and you’ll turn around and not do anything because you can’t think outside the box you’ve put yourself into.

I try looking at my daily routine as a sitcom, a jazz musician improvising, musicians releasing new albums, a GOOD comedian’s set, and if you see them again, they’ll never do, play, or say the same thing twice. Granted there are times stories need to be re-told, but if it’s to the same audience, they could almost tell the story for you. Try and add something new, throw people for a loop, DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT! If you start saying and doing the same things over, mirroring what’s already been done, you’ll lose viewers, fans, and friends!

When you step out of your house, and if it’s always with your left foot first, try going out with the right one instead. Yup, stupid idea, but it’s a change, and you’re still going on with your normal routine.

When I was a manager in pro-wrestling, I was running around the ring like a dumbass, shouting at the crowd, and I had a routine. Every week, I tried to add to whatever I had done the previous show. As soon as I walked back to the locker room, I’d start thinking about the next show and what I could do. The next show could be the next day, week or month, but my mind was always thinking on what to do. I challenged myself day in and day out to make everything better, and yeah, there were times that some ideas bombed, but I tried them. Those failing moments made me work harder!

The same goes with ITRadio and my status updates on Twitter (and other social networking sites). With ITRadio, I have 270+ shows in the bag, well over 500 hours of content, and granted over 5 years, I’ve brought up and told the same story, but I hope I added something new to it! When Frosty and I first started ITRadio, that was one thing we strived on doing week in and week out. What story can we tell, make up, talk about that differs from what we’ve already talked about. Now as a solo host to my show, IT’s a whole hell of a lot harder to do on a weekly basis, but it keeps me going.

Twitter is the same way. In 2 years, I’ve almost posted 14,000 tweets. Granted 50% of them are about the same subjects (twooping, Taco Johns, sushi fish, Mtn Dew, my H8s), but I challenge myself to update with something different from before, make it entertaining, and hopefully make people want more.

The nice thing for the people who choose to follow me or listen to my show, is the simple fact they have the option of ignoring my updates, blocking me, not downloading my show, or hitting mute/stop. In real life, you can’t do that, but how phucking sweet would it be to have a mute button. Sometimes, I want to record people talking, play it back to them, and see if they can tell that they can be annoying. With that said, I know a lot of what I talk about is annoying as soon as someone sees my mouth open or name show up on their screen, and they’d want the same mute button for me.

The next time you wake up, are about to tweet, or say something, start thinking on how you can make it different for yourself, but the others around you.

Do IT, do IT now!

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I’ve told you about my favorite foods, Sushi, Kwik Trip Hot Dogs and Taco John’s, but there is one thing that I enjoy while consuming my favorite foods, a cold beverage. That beverage would be Mtn Dew.  Unlike the other blogs, I don’t know when I first started drinking Mtn Dew or the real reason I love it so much, but I do (no pun intended).

I remember waking up my senior year of high school, I’d do my hair, eat Oreo cookies and milk, watch Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, brush my teeth, and then grab a Mtn Dew on the way out the door. By the time I got to school, which at most was five minutes away, the Mtn Dew would be gone. When I would come home, that would be the first thing I would have after walking in the door. There was one time I refused my parents to crush the cans and I left them on the kitchen counter and made a castle of empty cans.  There was no reason for it, no pictures taken of my artwork, but I did it anyway.

After moving to Minnesota, living on my own with my own income, some of my ‘drinking’ habits had to change. I couldn’t afford 4 cans a day, and I wonder how much my parents spent to keep my ‘addiction’ going while I was in high school. I know at one point I had stopped drinking Mtn Dew daily for about 6 months. I never got headaches, which was nice, but it might have been the reason I had a dream about the tasty beverage.

The dream happened in the spring of 2001 when I was living in St. Louis Park, MN. My apartment complex was across the street from a gas station. One day, the manager called his employees (I knew one of them while working at the mall) and said it’s closed until further notice.  I would walk past the station every day on the way to the bus stop. I watched as the cardboard boxes changed color from sitting in the sun. I also saw the milk stay on the shelves for two months.

So, I had this dream. I dreamt I walked home, the doors were open as they were airing out the store from the spoiled milk.  There was a sign next to the doors that said everything must go. The next thing I know, my roommate comes home, all the living room furniture was in the apartment building hallway and the door opens. I had Mtn Dew cases along every wall stacked to the ceiling. He asked what I did and I said, it was all free, I couldn’t let it sit there any longer.  I woke up soon after that and I wanted to cry, because I had no Mtn Dew in the fridge and my walls weren’t stacked with 12 packs.

Some people drink Mtn Dew, others, like me, live/drink/dream about Mtn Dew. If I could get ITRadio|tourettesradio|Feed This Blog sponsored by Mtn Dew, my dream would come true. When I was managing on the Indy pro-wrestling scene, I wanted Mtn Dew to sponsor me, because it was all I talked/blogged about and drank.  Before my ITRadio shows, if I have one in the fridge, I’ll get a can out, start the show, open the can and drink right next to the microphone. I’ve been told, when I do that, my listeners wish they had a Mtn Dew, JUST BECAUSE I WAS DRINKING IT BEHIND THE MICROPHONE! Oh well, I may not be a role model, but I can at least want a refreshing beverage.

I do, however, still have the dream of opening the perfect can of Mtn Dew. I wouldn’t dream of the perfect can if I haven’t seen and tasted the perfect can of Dew.  As soon as you pick up the can, you know it’s special. It seems a little heavier then what you’re used to and it’s super cold to the touch and gives you a possible brain freeze.  What makes this Mtn Dew a perfect can is the fact it is heavier and when  you open it, the liquid rises out of the can opening and spreads across the top of the can. IT happens on rare occasions, but tastes amazing!

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I guess I could be called spoiled, or I might just be lucky, but growing up in Eau Claire, WI had an advantage.  The advantage I’m talking about is Taco John’s! At any given time, I was 15 minutes from any of the three Taco John’s Eau Claire has. One is on Water Street on the UW-EC campus; the next one is near the high school on the south side of town and one in Oakwood Mall.  Even when I moved to Minnesota, I have lived 15 min away

When did I fall in love Taco John’s is beyond me? What I know I was younger than 10 years of age and I’m not complaining.  I mean, what else is better than their super nachos? Oh yeah, they have Pepsi products and Pepsi makes Mtn Dew!  And yes, I eat at Taco Bell. Sometimes I can’t get to a Taco John’s, but they also have Mtn Dew.

One of the earliest memories of having Taco John’s was at the mall. I remember my mom had something going on in the food court area, 10am hit, I was hungry, my sister and I were given two dollars. I remember this because the tacos we ordered were 95 cents each, plus 10 cents in tax and the total comes to two bucks! Maybe there was some gimmick that made me want it all the time.

My favorite item on the menu, other than the Mtn Dew, would be their super nachos. You can’t go wrong with crispy chips covered in ground beef, refried beans, guacamole, tomatoes, shredded cheese and melted cheese. Oh, and I can’t forget the olives.

I wish I could tell you where exactly I had the best super nachos in a long time, but I know it’s on the just east of the Minnesota/South Dakota border, maybe two or three exits before you reach the border on the way to Sioux Falls, SD. The location of this Taco John’s is about a mile off the highway, but it’s worth it.

This Taco John’s was old school! The inside maybe fit 30 people if they squeezed in to all of the seats, the food/kitchen area was maybe double the size of my apartment kitchen, but best of all old school things, they wrote the order down on tickets and hung them up to make. What I didn’t expect was they loaded me up not once, but twice. Once on the way to SD, once on the way back.

But to finish this post off, I can’t for the life of me remember what their sales pitch was, but in 2002/2003, I swear they had something called “The Taco Challenge.” My friends and I never quite figured out what this challenge was, but we were in Eau Claire on a Friday night. We asked what the challenge was and they didn’t know either, even with a sign on the wall.

Well, we made our own taco challenge that night. We each ordered their Six and A Pound meal. That included six hard or soft-shell tacos and a pound of Taco John’s signature Potato Oles. All we would be able to drink is one medium beverage of our choice, but no refills and we had to eat the tacos and as many Oles in 30-45 min. It was good fun that night!

I still want another taco challenge and it will happen someday… someday! I think I’ll have to take a trip to Sioux Falls and visit Frosty for this challenge!

I’ve been eating sushi (or sooshi fish  (video below)) for almost seven years and I see no signs of not eating it anytime soon. IT happened during a huge winter storm, which fell on a Friday night  March/April of 2002.  I went to hang out with one of my best friends and ex-roommate, Bonnie/Rain, because we didn’t have any indy pro-wrestling gigs that weekend. We were too lazy to cook, or didn’t know how to cook, and took a trip over to Byerly’s, an expensive grocery store.

It was after the in-store sushi chefs had left, but their remaining sushi caught my eye. No idea what kind I had, but I picked up some to try and also gross out Bonnie because she hates fish of any kind. I must have liked IT, because I’m still eating sushi today.

I don’t know when I started eating sushi on a regular basis. IT could have been later that year once I moved in, or IT could have been when I started my current job in 2003. Regardless of when it was, I was pretty much hooked, just like those fish, so the pun was intended.  I knew there were sushi restaurants around me, but I was too nervous to try anything better than grocery stores.

Don’t get me wrong, Byerly’s sushi is decent, but IT’s the fast food version of sushi. Before I mention the few sushi joints I’ve eaten at, a funny story about getting sushi from Byerly’s.  I try and eat sushi every other week while at work. Other than I like eating IT, I love grossing out my co-workers who hate raw fish or fish in general.

There was a Friday I needed to leave work early and picked up sushi earlier in the day. This prepared sushi meal was one I had never seen before. Included in my sushi container was an octopus tentacle. YES, full, not sliced and placed on the sushi itself octopus tentacle. Before I swallowed that thing down, and I wish I had picture of this, but I had it sticking out my mouth like IT was my tongue. Trust me IT was funny, but I paid the price on the way to Wisconsin. Before you ask, no, I didn’t throw up.  When eating it I could feel the suckers in my throat as I swallowed it, but that wasn’t the gross part to me. The gross part was having my stomach feel like a science experiment with vegetable oil and water. My stomach was the 2-liter container for that experiment.

I’ve also gotten my friends hooked (is there any other way to say it without a pun?) on sushi. Where I have gotten most of them hooked would be Ichiban: Minneapolis. Ichiban’s is known for their all you can eat sushi (for an hour).  They have these cool little boats that go around in the circle and the sushi chefs are in the middle of the oval seating area. The chefs are always making crab cake appetizers, seaweed salad, edamame, sushi rolls, tempura and sashimi. They ask if you would like any rolls/sashimi if you do not see them floating around. The chefs engage in conversation, are funny and you can watch them make your food upside down, due to the mirrors on the ceiling above them.

One other great thing about eating at Ichiban with me at their all you can eat sushi fish is watching me eat for that hour. I tend to go overboard, trying everything, never stopping to breath other than to drink water and count how many plates I’ve put away. My eyes bug out of my head, I start to get chipmunk cheeks as I see something come around on the cool boat that I need, or want, to try.

And now, for a video of Brandon Dicamillo of CKY/Viva La Bam trying to get people to come to Kooma in West Chester, Pennsylvania, for their lunch time special and the place “where kids eat free…!”