A must share. He loves her. A lot!
Running Photo
I would like to share some of my favorite photos.
A series I call “Running through LaLa”
homeless Joe
I spent the first part of my stay in Atlanta with my aunt. It is a different Atlanta. I want to live in that Atlanta. Hotel/Downtown Atlanta, I do not want to live in. When I was younger the whole ‘energy’ thing didn’t make sense to me. Probably because I didn’t have the life experience to read my surroundings. I was much more inward, it was all about me. These days the people and surroundings affect me much more than I would like sometimes. With that said I don’t like living in downtown Atlanta. I’ve been trying to figure out why. I’ve come to the conclusion it’s because of a man named Joe. He calls himself Homeless Joe. Anytime I step out of my hotel it’s just a matter of minutes before Joe appears and rushes toward me. Joe has a distinguished face. You can tell he was a good athlete. He’s articulate and charming. He knows asking for a handshake is crossing the personal space boundary so he raises his fist for a bump. I can do a bump. But no hand shake. He goes into his routine ” I’m Homeless Joe, just call ne Homeless Joe. This is my city, welcome to my city. Where you from? Are you leaving tomorrow? You know what the greatest nation is? DONATION.” How about a couple of bucks?
Man behind the man
TV networks are introducing falls lineup in full force. Everywhere you look you see an ad for this show and that show. I’ve never had the time to watch much television in the past, but this year I’m especially excited. Why? Because of a colleague of mine Daniel Dae Kim and his new show Hawaii Five-O! I met Daniel in the mid nineties when I use to wait tables, he and his wife would frequent the restaurant I worked at. We would chat about this and that, he was always very cool and always very grounded. Daniel had just moved to LA from New York and was well on his way to becoming a working actor. The thing people knew him from was a hilarious Cheese commercial where he played a state trooper, it aired every other minute on every channel back then. It was really cool to see an Asian guy in a funny non-stereotypical spot. I saw him as an actor that had made it! Funny I thought that back then. ’Making it’ to me was just being on TV back then.
Food from right here!
I realized being away from home what I miss and NOW appreciate the most. It’s the food! Not LA food, food that is cooked for you. I’ve been all about eating out. Love it! Loved not worrying about cleaning up just eat the stuff wrapped up by some stranger and dig in. My perspective has changed, when your on the road one has a lot of time to think. To think about what’s important, what has meaning. Once I began to wrap my head around the concept of someone cooking for me it began to be pretty complicated. If you think about it, cooking for someone is a pretty big deal, you have to really care about someone to shop, prep and then put one’s magic mojo into a meal. Very complicated but easily taken for granted. If you look at food this way, the people that cook for you take on a different meaning as well. I guess it’s where that phrase comes from…”“The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach”
Fanny Fern (1811-1872)…I know we talk and talk about Better Luck Tomorrow, but it was a special time for us involved. One of the things that I remember that added to the positive mojo of the film was the food. Ernesto’s(co-writer-co-producer) parents knowing we had no $money for dinner, would cook meals for us. It was the best! Now I know why.
Home of the Braves
One of my fondest memories as a kid was the first time I went to a Braves game. It was the high light of that year…come to think of it, it was the high light of my childhood. Dale Murphy lead the Braves to a record season, every kid that owned a glove in Georgia wanted to be him, every kid dreamt of meeting him. A family friend and a fellow baseball lover promised he would take me to a game. Anytime I saw him I begged and pleaded with him. Finally the day came. We went on a sunday, we went on batting glove day. Nothing could beat this, not hat day, not poster day… to a kid in Georgia a batting glove was like gold.
Nazi in the Ghetto
If one were to ask me what my favorite food is I would answer…the Hamburger. My cousin in Atlanta recently told me about the best Hamburger in America.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann’s_Snack_Bar
The best in the nation? That’s a bold statement! The BEST hamburger? Hmm…I had to check this out for myself. So my cousin and I set out to find and try this best Hamburger in America.
I met my cousin James at his soul food restaurant (a def blog to come) around 2pm. One of his employees Barbara gave us directions to Ann’s Snack shop, the home of the infamous Ghetto Burger. She said I was going to be full and walked away. A warning? No, a promise!
lessons all around us
I use to think that about what people around me could help me…100% of the time the results never served me, as a person, in business, in life. Disappointment always lead to anger and closed off eyes to the new. Once I made the mental shift to how I may contribute to the lives of the people around me the surprising result was the people around me appeared to be a wealth of knowledge that contributed to growth personally, business, and an overall healthier way of life.
family = :)
1:45 am:
Can’t sleep, went for an easy 7 maybe longer didn’t have any gps gear. The humidity is keeping me up at night. I decided to put on my shoes and just go til I had to come back. Running has become my place of rest now. My mind is quiet when I run. Thoughts calm to a thick and slow tempo. I got lost around mile 6- maybe. A couple of stray dogs chased me for half a block. I’m faster than any homeless dog. Fear also ads an urgency to ones step.
I love Gypsy!
I run into a friend and he introduces me to a guy he just met…he happens to be a Gypsy. I never met a Gypsy before. Ignorance and media has put a stereotype in my head. There is no crystal ball, no creepy old lady, no horse drawn cart. Just normal dude with normal looks, normal conversation. Local scene, family talk, politics talk, mostly bla, bla bla talk. His wife and kids come by and ask for a picture and I ask “how long he has been married?”…‘twelve years, she cost $32,000′….”huh?”…”yeah 32 g’s”…huh? He goes on to tell me that in the Gypsy culture a man pays the parents money for a bride. 32 for a virgin and 25 for a non virgin. pretty much it’s a dowery, many cultures share this custom. However, in the Gypsy culture it’s a bit more complicated.
