WORLD OF RAWR

PREFACE

HOW I FEEL ABOUT IT

Let's get to it. I'll use bullet points for easy reading.

1. Cyber is not a preference of mine. I have no interest in it as it is not my thing.
2. My preferences have no bearing on you. If you want to cyber, then go for it. I might even read it. Since this site allows you to cyber, do so to your heart's content.
3. Age has no bearing on preferences. From the least serious of us to the most serious of us, no one on this site is in the UFC or Olympics, so it is unlikely that we are making a living from being here or wrestling with others. We are collecting different experiences, making friends, and whatever else as we want to because we're adults and that means we can do things we prefer to do like wrestling, kickboxing, or cybering. The fact that people take hours out of their day to badmouth preferences where they are not harmful to self/others or illegal is a form of stupidity I don't know how to wrap my head around. If you're not interested in something I am interested in, feel free to just... you know... move on.
4. Clarity is key. This goes for everyone on the site regardless of preference. We have profiles and we use them to put information in full view of everyone about what we like or what we don't. Not everyone will like what you like: Welcome to Earth. However, someone will and that's where the fun stuff happens. Be clear about your preferences so we know what we're getting into. A lot of people here like the physicality of a meetup, so that is the norm here. If that is something you are not into, the onus is on you to be very specific and clear about that.
5. You're not a freak. No more so than the rest of us. We should be past the age and mentality where we have or make time to ridicule people for liking what they like and pursuing it.

There's a lot of talk on both sides of the spectrum and I get it. Meeting people that aren't what you hoped is hard. Meeting people that have the same interest but are hella far away sucks. Meeting people that aren't into physical meetups is rough. Maybe there are ways to restructure the site so it is easier for people to do and find what they are looking for, but dragging people through the mud and trampling on them because they like something you don't doesn't do anything for the community but cause division that we don't need.

Be at peace and do your thing. Let other people do the same.

Hello there, sports fans!

I'll be visiting Seattle in a few weeks from now so if you've ever wanted me to visit, you'll soon have that wish.

Throw something in my inbox and see what happens.

Reminder: That Starts Tomorrow!!

Well, hello one and all! I've been thinking about what to write here to share with all of you and decided I'd create a spot for all of you to [A]sk [M]e [A]nything (in case you wondered what the title was about).

I'll check on this every week, so leave me a comment here (or send a message) about anything you want to know. I will probably not answer everything, but what I do answer will be as real as can be.

Let the fun begin.

Just a heads-up that, as with any trip where I meet Marc, there will be new pics for you to drool over soon. I had fun and made more than a few silly faces.

So as a follow-up to this story, I thought I'd mention that there was a happy ending. The wrestler here wrote to me, still a bit miffed about the whole set of events. After I took some time to calm his (very much unwarranted) rage, I explained the entire situation and timeline from the beginning.

The misunderstandings cleared up, he apologized and we are chatting up a storm on whatsapp about what we'd like to do when I'm back in Italy (hopefully for vacation, so watch out Opon).

Every match seems to bring something fun and interesting to the fore. I'm starting to wonder about roles and what they even mean in terms of my experiences. I recently wrestled Judo Sniper, AX, and PJ within the last month and all of these experiences have been wildly different, but have a few common threads.

Also: my recommendations are getting me in trouble. The good kind, mind you, but still...

I find myself missing a few of you. That is to say, I look for connections with anyone I wrestle, but when I think about people I would love to wrestle right this second... mmm....

Aside from that though, for each of you that I've wrestled with, or communicate with about wrestling on a regular, I appreciate the gift that you give me in just having a spot to walk on the wild side a bit and enjoy being a little less in control than I normally am. So thank you.

Earlier today, I was talking to this guy about something I wrote a couple of days ago. He commented on this part:

There's also something to be said about a recent exchange I had with someone who was very upset about how communication went. It's a common story: they wanted to set up a match, I wasn't sure if I could, etc...

However, this got taken to pretty high irritation levels which includes a note that I was being unfavorited, that I wasn't a nice person, that other people must have met me by magic, etc. 

Of course, reading that, my buddy here sided with me, but there are really no sides to be taken here. It's just unfortunate. I want to present both sides as fairly as I can. First, mine. I'll use bullets for easy reading.

1. It's Friday in Italy. Yay weekend! I've been here for a week due to work and so there's a lot of things I'm doing with coworkers.
2. A wrestler here contacts me a day before and asks if I want to meet up, but I have plans that evening and tentative plans for the next day, so...
3. I explain that I am not sure if we can meet up or not.
4. I head out for food, come back, and check a few messages before bed. Some are from this wrestler asking for whatsapp info and the like.
5. I message back with some of the info and head to bed as I'm exhausted.
6. Now it's Saturday. It's our last day in Italy. I go shopping with the guys from work.
7. I leave for the day.
8. Phone dies. Now I'm concerned about this wrestler, but I didn't commit to anything, so I don't panic too much.
9. I get back around 7PM. Now I have the evening free. Let's check messages!
10. Lots of messages wondering where I am, why I'm not responding to messages here (see above paragraph).

Now here, it would be easy to say that given my circumstances, maybe this person is being a bit much, but then again, my thoughts (again with bullets):

1. Someone contacts me.
2. I respond, but intermittently.
3. They don't know if I'm here for a day or a week. They just want to wrestle.
4. They aren't getting enough feedback to make plans.
5. They start an exchange, but then it fades into nothing with no discernible reason why for several hours.
6. This person suddenly reappears like "oh hey, let's wrestle now".

Bonus:

1. Person is getting ready to leave town soon.
2. Person can't even state if/when they are coming back clearly and they are already difficult to communicate with, let alone plan anything with.

I imagine that any person like the above might seem like a bit of a jerk comparatively speaking, so I empathize. There are no bad guys here. Just rough timing.

Ah well.

So I'm back after my trip to Italy and Dubai. To say the least, it was a blast and included a bit of wrestling. In terms of wrestling, I have some special notes for the following:

• mewrestle: my first match in Dubai. It was enjoyable.
• N: I'm hunting this guy down the moment I get back to Dubai. The match was electric. Fun and exhausting.
• Andre: this guy was fun. Time flew by fast with this one. A bit of a language barrier, but sometimes, words need not be said.
• Opon: this was my first time jobbing and by the end of it, I was happy to do so.

There's also something to be said about a recent exchange I had with someone who was very upset about how communication went. It's a common story: they wanted to set up a match, I wasn't sure if I could, etc...

However, this got taken to pretty high irritation levels which includes a note that I was being unfavorited, that I wasn't a nice person, that other people must have met me by magic, etc. I think I'll take moment to note just this: we rarely know someone's circumstances when they don't respond to a message here. In my case, it was work-related travel and the time allowances that go with that, but these things vary between people. I think it's always best to just ask the other person what's going on and, if they don't respond, not to take it too personally.

Sure, it can be disappointing or even frustrating at times, but eventually something new happens or you find another way to occupy time until you can actually set up something.

That said, I think I'll try to sort out writing these warriors some recommends because they definitely deserve them. Also: holy cow, I have 14 matches now....

o/

So it finally happened that I got a bit of wrestling in a couple of weeks ago.

As always, it was after quite a while and therefore very much welcome.

EXHIBIT A

Since then, Shawty had been challenging me off and on about having a one-on-one, which I was all for. Lo and behold, he took a mini-vacation and came here. I met him on the last day he was in the area and we chatted, caught up, and wrestled. I was relentless and he was surprised. Body scissors, head scissors, nelsons, it was just all sorts of fun. Afterward, we ate a bit of food and I took a nap.

When I woke up, we talked a bit more and I headed home to avoid being a zombie and/or fighting rush hour ATL traffic.

EXHIBIT B

The next morning, we suited up in singlets and began to wrestle. It was a lot of fun, although short as we recognized there was too much potential for us to throw each other across the room on accident. Having shown a bit of strength to each other, I showered up and got myself ready for work while he headed to ATL to enjoy his vacation with friends.

That's the story for now until I get some flying done and collect some more stories to tell. I might have to plan some of my vacation time to see you all. So far, I know with certainly that I will be in NY, CA, and WA. If you're in those areas, I just might have to make a house call.

So I shall be on the road - or rather, in the air - for another round of work related travel to:

• Dubai
• Italy
• North Dakota (the hell?)

The fun part of this is, in order to get there, I have to have layovers in more than a few places:

• 1.5 hours in NY
• 3 hours in Italy

And that's just getting TO Dubai. On the way to ND:

• 3 hours in NY

And then on the way to finally get home:
*1 hour in MN

This is the part where I say that, if you're in any of these area that I'm in for 3 or more hours or in any of these places I'm headed, then hit my inbox. I'm mostly friendly and I don't bite often.

Context

Yesterday, one my buddies here asked me about a wrestler. We'll call him Wrestler A. My buddy wasn't sure abou. Wrestler A for all the normal reasons: pictures not recent, request for pic denied bc "My cam takes grainy pics", etc.

So he asked me what he should do and i said he should trust his instincts. After this, I do a bit of research:

1. I look up Wrestler A on another website.
2. I notice a recommend and read it.
3. I see if the writer of that recommendation is on this site. They are.
4. I go back to my buddy and suggest contacting them.

What my buddy finds out is that this eyelet doesn't look like his profile pics. My buddy has problems with people that lie, so this is a red flag.

Now then....

The Point(s) I Want To Make

• We're adults, most with jobs, in 2016. Cameras are not rare finds and are also not excuses for lack of a recent photo; your phone probably has one on it if you've bought one in five years.
  • See above for laptops
• I think it is safe to say we're adults here. We're on this site bc of our own choice to do thinhs we want to do. Lying about who you are or what you want is stupid for that reason. There's literally no reason to.
• Recommends are a thing. I've made friends here and avoided potential trouble because of them. My boys will protect me and I will protect them. Translation: we will research the hell out of you and expose that ass if you're being shady so don't do it.

With that off my chest, I'll be off to the office. Love you all. Let's keep looking out for each other.