Ready or not 2011 is here! So many things happened in 2010 that I’m not even sure where I should begin. For starters, if you haven’t already noticed, I’ve finally gotten around to updating the look and feel of my site. Hopefully you like it. I haven’t had much of any free time to sit and come up with a good redesign of the site so I went with something basic and elegant. I’ve been doing a lot of work on a lot of things and there have been a lot of changes for me in the last year. I’ll do what I can to recap the major events of 2010 and bring this blog current.

As far as my dissertation goes, it looks like there will be one more semester after this one before I actually “earn” the title of Dr. Greco. Things are going smoothly, but still at a snails pace. When I last wrote it was with the hope that I would be finished this semester, but that was before I realized just how much time and energy double shoulder rehab takes up. At this point I have a solid topic, I’ve done much background reading, I’ve been working on some code, and I’ve done much exploration into just how many incorrect solutions there are on the path to my PhD. It shouldn’t be too long now.

My wrestling sure did take a toll after taking just about the entire 2010 season off- my only tournament of the season being World Team Trials. On my road back I’ve felt like I’ve regressed to the point that I’m learning some of the basics all over again. The good news is that things are coming back to me rather quickly. I already have two medals this season and have been improving with most every match. In an effort to make up for the lack of last season I plan on attending 8-10 competitions before World Team Trials this summer. Hopefully it will give me what I need on my path to London next year.

My work schedule has also been rather interesting over the last year. Early on I was working a few projects that ended up being severely underfunded for various reasons and as a result have yet to see the light of day. Later on in the year I took on a few different projects that ended up being rather interesting to me and should be ready in the near future. If the past work year has taught me anything, it’s taught me that some people will sink to the lowest of lows to make a quick buck, yet their time will be fraught with peril and their riches short lived, and others will rise above to see the day when the prideful fall and are devoured by all they have wronged. Life sure is beautiful sometimes.

Well, that’s the quick and dirty on what’s been going on with me over the last year. Things are really looking up and the excitement of what’s to come is almost palpable. Hopefully I’ll be able to keep this site updated with the latest pictures, videos and other happenings in my life. I’ve taken quite a few pictures and haven’t found the time to stick em on here yet, but hopefully they’ll be here soon. Also, I’m most likely going to be integrating some of my social network stuff into this site somehow to streamline my update process. We’ll just have to see how that goes.

A final thought from W.C. Fields, “I am free of all prejudices. I hate everyone equally.”

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything on here and I feel it’s about time I do. I’ve been “out of action” for a few months now with two shoulder surgeries (one on each shoulder, not two on one). The recovery process is going extremely smoothly and so far it seems as if I might even be back on the mat a head of schedule.

I always thought that I’d have all this free time once I had the surgeries, but much to my surprise, it seems as if I have less time now than I did before. The one good thing is that because I’m on my own schedule, I don’t have anywhere to be at any given time, but I still have just as much, if not more, things that I have to get done each day. With everything I have on my plate, my current schedule mimics my normal (pre-surgery) schedule almost to the hour, it’s funny how these things work out sometimes.

The good news is that I’m finally making good progress on my dissertation. With my classwork being completed and not having wrestling on my schedule, I’m free to spend much more mental energy on it and its pace is therefor increased. I think I’m about a month away from submitting my proposal and twelve to fifteen months away from wrapping everything up. God willing, I’ll have earned my Dr. Greco name by nationals next year.

On another note, wrestling is going on this weekend at the OTC here in Colorado Springs; the Dave Schutlz Memorial International Invitational (something like that). I took some time out of my day yesterday to watch some of the Greco competitors duke it out for the opportunity to be called champion. Watching everyone competing really got me anxious to be back on the mat. It also reminded me that I need to take my time and make sure I’m fully prepared. I witnessed some decent wrestling, I witnessed some really good wrestling, and much in between. All in all it was good to see the guys out there fighting it out. I can’t wait till it’s my turn.

Until next time…

Life is fleeting. Make every moment count. If you’re taking the time to read this, then take the time to tell someone how you feel about them because you might not be able to tomorrow.

Jake Curby you will be missed…

More Info

It’s just about time for me to take off to Denmark (four days and counting) and I’m starting to get a bit excited. We’ve been training hard and really focusing on getting the job done. As it is in life, there are no guarantees in wrestling; all you can do is prepare yourself the best you can and give it all you’ve got when the time comes. I really believe we’ve been doing a great job of working towards a successful outcome and it’ll be interesting to see how things turn out.

One of the things I’ve been planning on doing is creating a special section on my site dedicated to the world championships. I’m planning on posting photos and blogs about what’s going on over there. I’ll make sure it gets taken care of before we take off so I can keep everyone up to date with the happenings of our trip. I’ll post a note with the details as soon as it’s ready to go.

Take care.

UPDATE:

The section created for the 2009 world championships can be found by clicking the link titled “2009 World Championships” on the right, or by clicking HERE