There are stories we tell to one-up each other, and then there is this blog. Read wondrous tales of strange creatures, explore the depths of human indecency, and hopefully laugh a little as we find out what could possibly make people do what they do.
Welcome to Big Bad Jon, a website highlighting the life and times surrounding the writer, bouncer, deli clerk, security guard, substitute teacher, social media ad man and giant, Jon Rzepecki.
We begin with the name. Big Bad Jon. If any of you are familiar with the Jimmy Dean ballad "Big Bad John" you will know it is not a happy tale of a friendly giant, but instead the dirge of a drifting, laconic strongman. I have been serenaded by classmates and roommates, drinkers and smokers, dresses and suits, old and young and have found that I cannot escape that "big, big man." Shortened from Jonathan, I have no need to space out my preferred first name from three to four letters, and as luck would have it, nobody owned this URL, so a website was born.
While I have a couple inches and 40 pounds on the fabled John, if you tell me there's a mine collapsing I will make sure the fire department is on site sooner than you can nuke a Jimmy Dean sausage biscuit. And yes, the country singer and the sausage maker are one in the same.
Much akin to PBS, this site is paid for by readers like you, if you are a minor trying to sneak into a bar with a fake ID, that is. Big Bad Jon, its domain, the logo and a year's worth of me talking to the world was paid for by a weekend's worth of confiscating forgeries and misused IDs.
Canecdotes, Healthy Hammer, and Paths are where you can discover interesting stories about bar life, music, fitness, and my travels. I also have an official count page for my ID total.
Polish Hammer is the origin story of my nickname.
An example of a Nadziak, a Polish war hammer.
Canecdotes details the cavalcade of fake and misused IDs I encounter working at my bar.
Every new shift brings hours of anticipation until a big burst of pent up aggression here or a drunken pong player there makes it all worthwhile. This blog is about what I see and hear, not about people I work with.
The only real name I ever mention is my own*.
Wayward Paths is my foray into everything else. If you like music, you can read my detailed concert countdowns. Miss sitting around watching slides of other people’s vacations? Browse through my photos of Spain, Seattle, New Orleans, and LA. This is where you get to see what I see.
Healthy Hammer is my fatness to fitness journey and how I spent some time during the quarantine of 2020. If you like reading about how much a person suffers from eating, not eating, working out, and flailing at fitness life, you’ll enjoy this blog.
*Sorry, Sholanda.
