Moving N2 The Holidays With A Balanced Chai

The new job has been stressing me out, but its a good stress if you can believe that. You have to have a little bit of bad and good stress in your life to stay balanced.

I have been working out more to combat the effects of the little bad stress that I have, which has put me in a better mood than I have seen in quite some time.

And despite the stress, of work and the fact that single life is not all that its cracked up to be, I have been in better spirits that I have been in a long time. So much so, that I think I will break out of my usual grumpy Holiday mold and put up a real Christmas tree in the apartment this year, which I have only done once in all the years that I have lived out of my mother's house. I may even decorate it...just kidding.

Of course I will be stringing up pop-corn and purchasing new ornaments for the tree, complete with presents udder the tree. They will mostly be for me due to the fact that I generally never get X-mas presents from anyone else. I may even get a gift for my roommate and cats as well.

In addition to making this year's X-mas as FABULOUS as I feel, I will be reconnecting with the traveler in me ewhich I have let slip away. Though I know the necessity of saving money, life is WAY too short to just sit on your wallet like you are trying to hatch an egg.

Needless to say, with friends and family swarming into town for the Holiday season, and my renewed since of adventure, awesome pics are down to pike to make this blog pop!

Wow, where has the year gone?

I don’t know, but over the past week, it seems that I have finally gotten back on track with my life’s goals.

The summer has a way of knocking me off track of what I really want out of life. Not having a steady source of income is another way that your dreams can get off track.

Well the summer is gone, so more time indoors are soon to come. Also, I was offered a full-time and permanent position at the non-profit agency that I worked for all this summer. The pay is increased from what I was making so I can finally get back on track with my financial goals.

Last Monday I was offered the position and I treated myself to the good news to buying a gym membership, complete with a new workout plan.

Since my last day at my old position was Thursday, I took Friday off and formulated a one year personal financial plan. I know it sounds cheesy, but I figured if businesses can do it, why not do it for my personal finances.

Things seem to be back on track.

ArtWorks Mural @ 7th and Washington in Covington

Neighborhood Quote Of The Week

You always make each day a special day. By just you're being you. There's only one person exactly like you in the whole world. And that's you yourself, and I like you. - Mr. Rodgers Television Show

Save The Date: Walk To Stop AIDS Sept 25, 2010

Learn more and donate here.

A Family That Laughs

Family is an odd thing.

In one since, we all have one, despite how dysfunctional yours may seem.

Even when you did not grow up with your family and do not know who your family is, you still have one, whether that is in the form of friends or your extended family. Its very similar to the six degrees of separation phenomenon, someone will be there for you, at times its just hard to find.

I was lucky enough to grow up with a family which was close, but yet had the fortitude to leave us with enough space to feel that I was on my own.
With the loss of my grandmother earlier this year, I thought it would be a great idea to chronicle my family and they whey in which they assisted me during my youth to help me to become the man that I am today.

Here is a snippet from the first few pages which I have written:

Tuesday June 11 1996

Today I was called a nigger. This is the first time that I can remember that I have been called this. People might have called me this behind my back, in fact, I am sure that people have called me this behind my back.

I was in the car with my mom and she was trying to merge into traffic. It had seemed like one driver was going to let her over because he has stopped his car with enough room to let her in, so we pulled out. At the same moment he pulls ahead, leaving us out of traffic and on the shoulder of the street so we had nowhere to go but push our way back into traffic in front of that guy. He honked his horn at us and then came up beside us and said “You fucking nigger!”

I did not feel the rage that I thought I would. I felt empowered. I felt this way because this man was so afraid of us that he almost hit another car while he sped away from us. I guess he was afraid of us. Ignorance will do that to you.

All through my life, I felt as if I did not belong, and the aforementioned entry from my journal is just one area where I never quite fit in. Not in the since that I was shunned, but in the since that I always felt that there was someplace where I was more suited to be, I just had not found euphoric place that you read about in books like Harry Potter or B.F. Skinner’s “Walden”. In the beginning of this realizations, I attempted to mask its reality and live the life in which was supposed to be living; that of an African American hetero sexual male. It was only after the realization of my family’s love, world travel and military life, that I had come to the realization that pretending only spirals into more lies, ultimately becoming an omnipotent aura in your life.

This document of my life is nothing more than an insight, a life lesson for those who are still caught behind the veil of their true self and want so desperately to unmask. I can’t say that the way in which I found self discovery is the right path for all who find these words, in hind sight, I am not even sure that if I had the omnipotent option to bend time and retrace my steps, that I would conduct myself in the same way. But I can say for certain that the path which created the man that I am today was the correct one, for me. Telling my story may help whoever finds these words to locate their own path.

Bad Veins Rock Da Square

Fountain Square has in the middle of Downtown Cincinnati has down a great job with attracting different parts of the community and creating an inviting public space.

Last night, I hung out with a few of my friends, a virtual boys night out, to listen to the music that was scheduled to play on the Square that night.

I would pretty much listen to any type of music (sans county and very hard rock), but I love ad adore gospel and 90's R&B and generally only go out of my way to see this type of music live.

Ohh, I can't forget show tunes...I am a sucker for them as well.

But last night on the Square, the bad Bad Veins took the stage and I was intrigued. I have to say that I enjoyed them and I look to buy some of their songs in the near future.

Pride Cincinnati 2010

Before you get your panties in a wad about the lateness of this post, there is some method behind the madness.

In most cities, Pride has become a one stop shop, setting aside only one weekend to celebrate.

But this year, Cincinnati is bucking the trend by having three separate events.

It began with July 4th's celebration in Fountain Square.

It continues with this evening's Pride festivities in Northside.

And later this year, Northern Kentucky throws their hat into the fray with their first Pride Celebration.

These pics are from July 4th's Pride Cincinnati 2010.

The $10 Downtown Experience

In the 1990s, Main Street which borders Cincinnati’s Pendleton and Over-the-Rhine neighborhoods, between the blocks of Central Parkway and Liberty was a hot bed of vibrant night life, bringing all walks of life together.

Over the past few years, this area is in the process of seeing its economic renaissance which has yet to peak. The community of Over-the-Rhine has historically thrived on community togetherness, fostering a sense of urban unity.

Events like Grapevine, Second Sundays on Main and Final Fridays brings vendors onto the street and people to patron the many shops and galleries which brighten these blocks on Main and the addition of Joe’s Diner will do nothing but make the district that much more appealing.

It is not unexpected to spend a week night in this area for less than $20 and here’s how.

Meet for Coffee @ Iris Café $2

Located at 1331 Main, this small quite coffee shop is a great way has taken the place of kaldi’s, sans the alcohol, by providing a shelves of books, sustenance and a great place to socialize.

Eat @ Joe's ... Diner That Is $8

Move just a block and half east to Sycamore to find burgers which are reminiscent of what you would come to expect from a traditional diner, in addition to extra seasoned fires which are filling yet relatively light and not floating in a sea of grease.

Light Up The Night @ Neon’s $10

End your evening with spirit or two around the corner from Joe’s Diner. A $10 spot will get you a couple of Over-the-Rhine ales, but the outdoor experience is of outdoor social hour is priceless.

Bridging Broadway: They Have Come A Long Way...Baby!

Over the past six months, Bridging Broadway gone from a sparkle in the eye of Stephen Samuals to being well on the path to becoming its own full fledged non-profit organization. The process will be completed in a matter of weeks when the organization files it's 5013C paper work with the state of Ohio.

As some of you may know, I currently sit on the Executive Board of this organization and have witnessed first hand the transformation and am invigorated at the possibilities in which Bridging Broadway has in store.

Some of the things that we have on the horizon are as followed:We are in collaboration with the City of Cincinnati and LISC (Local Initiative Support Committee) to conduct the most comprehensive study to date of the area around the Broadway Commons site which will include a community outreach efforts in the form of conversations called Bridging Broadway Dialogues, which will be dynamic focus groups aimed to engage feedback from the various stakeholder groups in the Broadway Commons area (land owners, developers, residents and the arts).

Being a non-profit, we are always attempting to recruit like minded individuals from all sects of the community to assist with our mission to connect people and places to promote a new downtown Cincinnati entertainment district.The Bridging Broadway Board and Committee Member FAQ, explains our purpose and activities and describes the functions of the various committees.

The official deadline to accept applications runs through today and the selection process will end by the end of August. After reading the attached, please feel free to complete and return the enclosed questionnaire or pass forward the information.

More info about our organization can be found at our website.

Too Funny!

Dawg Days of Summer R Here!

The first week of summer is almost over and boy has it ever been a hot one.
With the temperature consistently being in the 90’s with the heat index reaching the 100’s, the dog days of summer are definitely in full force.

And the city of Cincinnati has actually stepped up to the plate to help keep us cool.

There have consistently declared a heat advisory throughout the city and kept us informed as to notice heat stroke and heat exhausting and the difference between to two conditions.

In addition, there was a considerable donation to The City of Cincinnati for the specific reason to open a few community pools which were slated to be closed this summer. And if I am not mistaken, the pools are fostering longer hours than originally posted.

Good stuff!

The Queen City seems to be glowing brighter and brighter each year!

When Life Gives You Lemons...You Give Them Back

It is weeks like these which make you really question your purpose in the world.
No I am not depressed or anything, but that past few weeks has definitely tested my work ethic and self worth.

As stated in past posts, I left my job to do two things, help to take care of an ailing family member and to finally take the jump in to the world of self proprietorship and open my own businesses.

For whatever reason, the ending of the school year, the unseasonable beautiful weather, or the resurgence of people’s economic standpoints, customers are not flocking for my services which at the same rate which they were for the first few months of the year.

Needless to say, with concerns with money, things are beginning to become tight.

In situations like these, many fold under the pressure and begin to either steal or turn to other unfavorable things that get people “caught up”.

But I was not raised that way.

Ever since I could remember, when times were rough for my family, it made them work that much harder.

But I was not taught to work hard, but to work smart, but did not realize that was what my mother was trying to drill into my think skull all those years ago until I read Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.

The characters Hank Reardon, the embodiment of this virtue; Dagney Taggert, her independence of judgment gave her the ability to stand by the metal and her railroad in the face of virtually unanimous social opposition; and finally Francisco d'Anconia, whose ability to free those from the shackles of the self-sacrifice ethics, enabling them to recognize the virtue and necessity of self worth.

All of which who pushed themselves to herculean efforts in the ore mines, refusing to acknowledge pain and exhaustion as legitimate grounds to stop working to obtain success.

So today I listen to this book via iTunes, while I work and try to incorporate the virtues of the aforementioned, refusing not to fail in my endeavors.

A Family That Laughs...

Sorry for the lag of posts guys – things have been topsy tervy to say the least.
Not only have I been busy cultivating my new business venture with advertising and actually working on projects. In fact, was had the opportunity to a radio spot on Media Bridges’ Cincinnati Conscience radio program this past Monday.

I have also taken on a few other projects for non-profit organizations. I am organizing my neighborhood’s block party which I do every year and I am dipping my hand into planning the first major event for Bridging Broadway, a non-profit organization which connects people and places to promote a new downtown entertainment district in Cincinnati.

There were a myriad of reasons why I left the corporate world about a month ago, but the reason which topped the list was due to the fact that my grandmother’s health had been failing and with a number of our family members scattered throughout the country, I wanted to be more available to her.

A few weeks ago, she made the hard decision to enter hospice and let nature take its course, which ended this past Tuesday.

Different people handle death in different ways. Some people go into a deep depression, some attempt to recapture the memories that spent with the departed and others go cold.
Our family is one which laughs through both good times and the bad. At Thanksgiving dinners or family graduations, we would spend hours laughing, not in a cynical way, but at the memories of our the way in which we grew up and the times that we spent living below the poverty line and our attempts to make ends meet. And I feel that this time, though we will be sojourning my grandmother, we will celebrate her passing in similar fashion

My grandmother was a fighter, living on her terms until she decided that the fight was too much for take any further.

She enjoyed a passion for music and through her zest for living life to the fullest, endless affection for family and her exceptionally unconditional love for people close to her, she exemplifies a woman who left a “legacy of love” in the path in which she walked.

She loved good food and socializing, and had a wonderful smile that could light up a room. Many will not only remember her as being a mother to her own five children, but a mother and friend of her community. She was “The Rock” in which we could rely on for advice and guidance and she will be greatly missed by everyone whose life she touched.

She will be missed and never forgotten.

Starting You One Biz Is Harder Than You Think

About a month ago, I took an unimaginable leap of faith and left my fulltime job at a local health insurance company to begin my own endeavor.

Not only am I able to not work for myself and get more benefit out of the time I spend working.
I did have a little help though.

Baltimore County lawyer and part-time author Eliot M. Wagonheim has a great resource entitled, "Business Owner's Pocket Guide" and I finished reading it before I jumpend into my endeavor.

To download a copy or request a hard copy, go to Wagonheim's Web site.