(click the picture above for
the high definition
video - but also click
YouTube
for me!)
8:13 PM, Friday,
April 4th, 2008:
Sometime
soon after July 13th,
2057:
"Now, wait
wait wait. I know it looked bad... but that's kind
of the point of the day Peter. I just pull it
off better than most. What you're seeing isn't what
it seems. Let me defend myself here. I can't
go to hell. Really, I can't. I know everyone
believes that I should if the last entry was indeed
false - but I promise, once you hear the whole
story you'll marvel at the way it all came together
and realize I really shouldn't go to
hell."
So let's get this
out of the way right off the bat:
I did not lie
to my father. I did not make my father cry tears of
joy for being a grandfather and then say "April
Fools". The video you watched was from January of
last
year when we really did think Donna was pregnant. It
was a testament to just how sensitive her system is
and just how much out meat is filled with hormones.
After a dinner of steak and eggs from Ralphs (I shit
you not) - Donna's boobs were literally a cup size
bigger and her sense of smell was nearly super-human.
Her body seemed to be going through all these hormonal
changes and there was no reasonable explanation other
than pregnancy. The last video was real, and the
following morning she got her period. The locked entry
616 was explaining that it was a flase alarm, but
absolutely loving that I got that moment on tape. Even
though it ended up not being true, the conversation is
as precious to me as anything I have as it will
be true someday - and that first reaction is a keeper.
I watch it from time to time when I'm toolin' around
the computer and it just lights me up. I cannot wait
until that day is a reality.
I got a few emails
from people saying - "The locked entries are locked
for no reason, or they are blank entries..."
I did not, and would NEVER black out entries for
no reason. Ever. To me, that absolutely ruins the
integrity of The Journey - and honestly - it's just
not fair. Setting up an April Fools Day joke by lying
for a whole month defeats the entire purpose. The
truth of the matter is that some very difficult things
have been going on and I'm simply not at liberty to
make them public just yet. They do effect The Journey
however, and even the titles give away too much
and cause too much concern. So much so the joke had
simply been cancelled as of mid-March but things got
remarkably better in the past 10 days or so and both
Donna and I actually enjoyed the day quite a bit,
giggling at everyone's responses. Tyson was awesome -
he calls up: "Punk ass." all pissed that we had spent
time wth them in the past week and never told them she
was pregnant and they find out online. HAHAHA. It was
a wonderfully precious moment. Like, Ty was really
peeved. "Christ, I thought we were friends..."
Ha. I love it man. Seriously, Tyson and Michelle are 2
of the coolest people I've met in this
city.
So clearly, it was
indeed false, but I have to say - those who said:
"True" are actually the winners in my mind, because
other than going back and finding the picture of entry
616 there was absolutely no way to know. It was one of
those weird phenomenons where absolutely everything
alligned and there was simply no discernable way to
figure it out. The video clinches it. I saved
that puppy for over a year knowing that it would make
an ironclad April Fools joke at some point. And nearly
everybody who actually had the balls to guess said
"true". And some of your emails were wonderful and
I thank you all for them. Many of you are
incredibly supportive and wonderful and I read
several with tears in my eyes - because someday it
will be reality.
Those who chose
false unfortunately came up with some pretty
ridiculous reasons like "You're not ready for a kid"
LOL. Because babies wait until you're ready. Ha.
I know of two couples in my 32 years of existence
that planned a pregnancy and I don't believe I
will ever be ready financially to have a child.
Ever. As far as mentally? I have no doubt
I am ready to be a father. It's been a part of me
forever. And again, to those of you who wrote the
wonderful emails about what I'll be like as a father,
thank you. It will happen someday when I least
expect it.
The majority of
you pussied out and did the ol' "If it's true,
congrats! If not - you didn't get me!" (sigh). Come on
guys, play along! That's the fun! But as I said
before, this year - I don't take any solace in
"getting" any of you because in reality, that
video was indeed true. This year was literally
impossible to "get" because you guys weren't really
watching a fallacy. I have to say though that this
year was a bit of a turning point for me - and
I think next year, the tenth joke, will be the
last. I'm going to do everything in my power to make
it a TRUE (so we're at a perfect 5-5) and then let the
tradition go. I've already proven to myself that
I can not only fool people that aren't expecting
something - but I can fool the people that ARE
expecting something and there's little else to prove.
I also let down a friend who had been helping me
through all the tough shit that the locked entries are
about - as he saw the preganancy as a wonderful
resolution to those problems. Of course because it was
the first of April I had no way of telling him it
wasn't true. He later admitted he just overreacted
because he was pissed I "got" him, but I did feel
bad.
The bottom line
is, my whole life is sincerity. My whole life is being
honest and truthful and helping people. The April
Fools Day joke no longer feels like me. I hate that
it's now making people doubt the sincerity of an
entire month (March) because they're waiting for it. I
hate that there are people reading this RIGHT NOW
thinking "Yeah, he's just making us think
it's over so our guard is down..." LOL. Enough
already. So - there will be one more. And I will do
everything I can to make it an incredible
positive event in my career that happens to coincide
with that date...or I'll play one last joke. Either
way I'm moving on from it.
No
foolin'...
Adam
PS -
I thought I'd include a personal
video (yes
I actually have several not online!) I made on
Father's Day last year that I got to spend with my
father and grandfather.
It's
all made with hidden camerashots trying to
capture those little moments that you
think don't matter. It's why I've always
hated posed pictures. My memories are not
of loved ones standing up straight and
smiling for a camera. Well, let me take
that back - some of them are because
that's about all you have left when you
don't do things like this. I implore
everyone reading this to do goofy things
like setting up a camera and capturing
moments even if you have to make an
announcement that's what you're doing -
and then let everyone forget about it.
There's nothing more precious than the
sound of your parents/grandparents
laughing, the cadence of their voices - or
in this case the subtlety of body language
and how they talk with their hands. You
may feel goofy doing it now, but try and
let go of that pride.
