Jerry A. Goodson

I'm an ordinary guy who's had many extraordinary experiences in this life that started at the end of 1976.

Blogging

I was a blogging pioneer, being that I had one around the turn of the century when the term was first coined. The majority of websites on the internet were static webpages owned and operated by big companies or well-funded interest groups. Personal or smaller less-funded interest group webpages were found on free content providers such as Geocities and Angelfire. MySpace and Facebook didn't even exist! Text messaging on cellphones was still rare, and smartphones haven't yet been invented. Windows 98 was the most stable operating system produced by MicroSoft, and I was grateful I didn't make the mistake of upgrading to Windows ME.

I built a data-driven website that was 100% written and hosted on my own personal server.

Fast forward to today, and anybody who wants a website can build one in the palm of their hand on their tablet or smartphone. As far as we've come, the scary and exciting thing is we still haven't reached our full potential! We don't have the flying cars as predicted in Back to the Future, but we still have mind-blowing capabilities we couldn't even comprehend when the first movie was made in 1985.

So, back to me. After all, this website is all about me... an ordinary guy from Atlanta, Texas, who has experienced a lot all over the world. I may get around to digging up an old backup of some blog posts from the past, but I don't live there. This site is about me... looking forward.

Family

I live in Atlanta, Texas, about three miles from the house I grew up in. I've been married to my wife, Ladonna, since 1998, and we have three children: Cody (2000), Dylan (2001), and Kyle Wayne (2007). I thank God every single day, without fail, for giving me three wonderful boys... and NO GIRLS!

In 2021, Dylan, aka "Bubba", brought a girl into the mix when he got married... and on July 12th, 2022, he made me officially OLD by making me a grandfather at the birth of his son, Ryder Elliott Goodson!

Bucket List

When I was twelve years old, I sat down and wrote out a list in the back of my Bible of everything I wanted to do before I died. I have done every single thing on that list except one: skydiving. Ladonna refuses to let me do it since it's the last thing on my list (See Interesting Fact about Jerry A. Goodson #100)

I really want to go skydiving, but Ladonna said I couldn't do it unless I added something else to my bucket list. I, jokingly, added having a threesome with two hookers... knowing I would NEVER do THAT! Ladonna didn't buy it.

Interesting Facts about Jerry A. Goodson

There are a bunch of interesting facts about Jerry A. Goodson. Here's a centralized list of those he's shared, to date:

Fact #1

Jerry refers to himself in the third person when he's telling interesting facts about himself.

Fact #2

Jerry is scared of burning to death or drowning. Ironically, he is a volunteer firefighter and SCUBA diver!

Fact #6

At a young age, Jerry was told to pick a wedding date he could easily remember each year for his anniversary. He picked D-Day to marry his wife, Ladonna, on June 6, 1998... 54 years after the US invaded Normandy!

Fact #9

Jerry was appointed as the Battalion Command Sergeant Major as a Staff Sergeant for an engineer battalion that was stood up for deployment in anticipation of Hurricane Dean. He was the highest ranking NCO that volunteered for the mission. After coordinating movement of millions of dollars of equipment from all over the state, the battalion was stood down after Hurricane Dean diverted and went south. Jerry spent the next 3 days sending all that equipment back to where it came from, and maintained 100% accountability of all troops and equipment. The battalion commander was a 1st Lieutenant that hadn't even completed OBC!

Fact #29

Jerry once pierced a woman's nipples. His good friend owns a tattoo parlor, but his friend was married to a VERY jealous woman. Jerry was visiting his friend, and his friend's wife was on her way to the parlor to bring dinner. Jerry's friend asked him to perform the procedure to avoid any conflicts.

Fact #30

Jerry never thought he would live past 30 years old. As many significant events he's gone through, he probably shouldn't have.

Fact #31

Jerry got a tattoo when he was 30 years old. He waited until then because of Interesting Fact #30.

Fact #95

Jerry was Class of '95, but dropped out of high school his junior year due to.... family drama. He went back to school and graduated in '96.

Fact #100

Jerry made a list of everything he wanted to do before he died. To date, he has done everything on that list EXCEPT going skydiving.

His wife, Ladonna, refuses to let him go skydiving.

Fact #201

Jerry was smoking a cigarette on the apron of the Benbrook Fire Department 2003 watching the Columbia Space Shuttle debris raining down over Texas. He didn't watch it on television; he watched it in real life.

Fact #232

Jerry won the election as a Republican candidate for Cass County Precinct 2 Constable. Jerry served for one 4-year term.

Fact #322

Jerry read "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger after observing Jerry Fletcher's (the main character in the 1997 film, "Conspiracy Theory") obsession with the novel. One of his favorite quotes to this day is credited, in the book, to real-life physicist, Dr. Wilhelm Stekel: "The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of a mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one."

Fact #498

Jerry has fired this rifle. Not a rifle just like the one in the picture, but the VERY rifle Al Pacino is holding! (Ref: A movie poster of "Scarface" with Al Pacino holding the M16/203 he used in the movie)

Fact #545

Jerry never wore a pair of washed socks during his two deployments to Iraq. Changing socks at least twice a day, Jerry always put on a brand new pair. At the end of each tour, he shipped over 800 pairs of washed socks home in multiple duffle bags.

Fact #667

Jerry arranged for his father to get married in front of the pitcher's mound in the Astrodome right before the Houston Astros played the Montreal Expos in 1992. There was a scheduling conflict with the chapel originally reserved, and Jerry overheard the idea that was made in jest... until Jerry started making phone calls!

Fact #879

Jerry held the actual murder weapons used in the solved but unprosecuted murders of Nicole Brown-Simpson and Ron Goldman, as well as other evidence that proves the identity of the real killer. Jerry didn't hold copies of the murder weapons.... he held the actual knives used by the killer!

Fact #1959

Jerry met Tommy Allsup when Allsup attended a concert by his son, Austin Allsup. During the concert, Austin invited his dad to performe a song with him. Tommy is the man who lost the famous coin toss with Ricthie Valens on February 3, 1959 that led to the loss of Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens in a tragic plane crash. Don McClean wrote "American Pie" in response to the incident. The song originally wrote for Lori Lieberman, "Killing Me Softly" was in response to a performance of "American Pie" by McClean. The song was made famous by Roberta Flack.

Fact #1992

Jerry was at the National Republican Convention held in the Astrodome in Houston, Texas, in 1992. Coincidentally, this fact about him is the same number as the year he attended the RNC.