Category Archives: The Way

2010 started out with such promise. I was in love, inspired, thinking of a future in a foreign land.

If it seems too good to be true…

It wasn’t meant to be. It took awhile, but she finally saw through my façade. I never meant to lie to her. It wasn’t a lie so much as a withholding of a vital part of my past and present. A financial hurricane that, while not insurmountable, is like an anchor weighing on any hopes of a happily ever after. I can’t blame her for disappearing without a trace. It was anything that a sane person would do when encountering a lifelong f*ckup.

Still, it would have been nice to see that Sydney New Year’s celebration up close and personal with a pretty girl at my side.

2010 was also the year that I finally escaped the restaurant business. The life of a restaurant manager is fraught with stress, frustration, temptation, workaholism and all of the other holisms.

Stress can bring out many different entities in a man. In me, it brought out the bull in the China closet. I was unlikable, prone to rage, a perfectionist in a job that is prone to imperfection. I made people cry. Often. It was only after I stepped away that I could recognize my bi-polar ways and come face to face with them. I much calmer, happier, and productive as a result.

2010 saw the completion of my third book. When I lost my girl I turned inward and focused on the writing. I reached out to an old acquaintance in a moment of complete serendipity and all of the sudden I had an editor and a publisher. The book was completely transformed the three quick massive rewrites and it was released in November. The release was not without its problems, and the problems are still ongoing, but I see a great opportunity to challenge the publishing paradigm. They will figure it out and get on to big things here in CBus. And so I write.

And write.

Last night, New Year’s Eve, was a chance to hang out with a bunch of talented men and women that are young enough to be my children. I cannot express what it is like to be in such an incubator of talent and expression. I step out my door and I’m surrounded with writer’s and musicians of all stripe. I have but to listen and a thousand ideas spring forth in my head. It is in that spirit that I came up with the High Street Soul Project. A year in the life of a dynamic street in a dynamic town in a world in flux. I don’t know what will happen with the the project, but it’ll be cool to find out.

2011 is teeming with possibilities.

I intend to finish two books this year. A thousand words a day (every day) should do it.

I intend to act with integrity, meaning what I say and saying what I mean.

I intend to live in the moment. I will work when I’m at work, write when it’s time to write, live when it’s time to live.

I intend to be a better friend to all of those who choose to befriend me and a better family man to all of those who show me their unconditional love. Who knows, maybe I will find the right girl to add to our family as well.

These are my intentions for 2011. I can’t take back all the things that I’ve done, but I can resolve to do good things in the future.

So I ask, what are your intentions? I hope that we can share.

Namaste.
One Love.
Many Smiles.
Peace and Love.
Happy New Year.

Your Friend, Brother T

The Real Four R’s

3. Respect Your Planet
a.k.a. mother earth ain’t no trifling female

This is the tough one. Every one of the billions of people on this planet has a different idea of what “respect your planet” might mean. I can’t speak for you guys, so I’m going to lay out my slacker white boy views on the subject.

1.Pick up after yourself.
In this consumer society it is more important than ever to lessen your carbon footprint and the amount of trash that you generate. This requires several “ask yourself ” moments. Do you really need to replace your 47″ television with the new 60″ model? How will you dispose of it properly? Are you going to pass it on down the line to a relative, a friend, or resell it on craigslist? How do you make sure that you pride and joy of justa few years back stays out of the city landfill.

Do you fall in the Pepsi camp or the Coke camp? Never mind. That was a rhetorical question. I can’t figure out why so many bottles and cans and cartons and cups end up on the side of every road in America. Let’s talk sandwiches. Are you a Big Mac or Whopper girl? If you’re like me, it doesn’t really matter. They are the easiest way to get half of your calories for the day in about three minutes. And then there’s the excessive packaging. Imagine if everyone were to carry around a refillable mug. A lot of you do, but then again, I’m not talking about you (unless you’re a chucklehead). Reuse, recycle, Reuse.

Just do the right thing.

4. Take Responsibility For Your Actions

Back when I was a restaurant manager, I worked for the second largest food company in America. When you run a corporate restaurant like that, you are bogged down with a lot of rules and regulations. It’s almost as bad as working in the government. It’s a lot to juggle and still get the pizzas out the door.

I was the guy that picked up all of the misfits and got them to do a good job. I’ve worked with addicts, baby gangsters and real live criminals. I had a pipeline from prison to the halfway house to the kitchen of my restaurant. As a result, I dumbed down the corporate reg-speak and boiled it down to four basic rules.

1. Don’t lie
2. Don’t steal
3. Be on time and in uniform
4. Take responsibility for your actions

The first three rules speak for themselves. The fourth is defined as this. If you screw up, come clean. It’s much better to hear it from your lips than have someone rat you out. This is a good life rule. I have not always followed it. I lost my last and best hope for romance because of it. I didn’t lie, as such, but I withheld the truth. Goodbye, girlfriend. Hello, loneliness.

Only you can control your integrity. Your word is your reputation. Your actions are your legacy. If you screw up, own up to it. There will be consequences, naturally. But your integrity cannot be denied.

Just do the right thing.

The Real Four R’s