All Her Life

Today something MAGICAL happened for a beloved friend of mine.

He became a FATHER.

I hope he knows what I know:

"A son is a son 'til he takes a wife, 

But a daughter's a daughter ALL HER LIFE."

My beloved friend, CONGRATS for having a daughter!!!

'Cause you'll have a place in her heart ALL HER LIFE!!!!!!!!!!

'Bout That Time

It's about that time!

2014 has come and, for all intents and purposes, has gone.  What have I accomplished this year?  Well, a few things.  But 2015 is gonna be even BETTER!  And MORE PRODUCTIVE!

I'm callin' it!

2015 is gonna ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Boogie Fever

Back in the '70s, R&B group, THE SYLVERS (and their ENTIRE family), had HAIR for DAYZZZZ!

NO WIGS, WEAVES nor HAIRPIECES here!!!!

The REASON For The SEASON

My WISH for ONE and ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The End

Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! :) :) :) :) :)

JOY To The World

I don't ask for much in this life.

I don't need a MANSION.

I don't need a BENTLEY.

I don't need 200 pairs of shoes.

But, man, I DO need something WARM, SOFT and DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

51 & THANKFUL

Today is one of the most special days of my life.

It's the day of my BIRTH!

I awakened this morning and IMMEDIATELY gave GRATITUDE for BREATH.  Then I went and took a piss!  LOL

All jokes aside, I am THRILLED/ELATED/soooooooooo INCREDIBLY THANKFUL to be ALIVE!  And WELL!  Many folks were not blessed to see 51.

51.  Not 50.  Not 49.  Not 39.  51.  WOW!  I can hardly believe it.  I wish my parents had told me that just because you grow older, doesn't mean you don't feel the same as you always did.  In SPIRIT.  I mean, I STILL feel like the same me I was 10 years ago.  But, thankfully, I am not.  Much has changed.  Physically.  Psychologically.  Professionally.  I am a different man than I was 10 years ago.  And I'm happy about that.

I enjoyed lunch today at an oceanfront restaurant: Bluewater Grill.  My lunch date was a swell gent named, Stan!  I hope to break bread with the chap on many more occasions to come!  We truly enjoyed the place!

I don't know what tomorrow has in store for me, but if I'm lucky, I sure hope it's as terrific as TODAY!

I pray for EVERYONE and EVERY THING!!!!!!!!!

Amen.

Toys, Glorious Toys

In just a bit, I'm gonna attend a "12 Days Of Christmas" party.  Guests gain entry by either bringing a toy for a girl AND a boy, or making a cash donation.  I've decided to bring toys.  I went to BIG LOTS and found a group of dolls I had never heard of:  KENYA Fashion Madness.  I hope the little girl who gets 'em LOVES 'em!

For a little boy, I got (2) Hot Wheels Monster Trucks.  He'd better love 'em, too!!!

Heck, if the boy wants the dolls and the girl wants the truck, so be it!  Let's just say I got toys for KIDS!  ALL kids!  So, there! :)

All my adult life I've done what I can do to make life better for others.  So, tonight, here's to enjoying a cocktail, something good to eat, and giving away some cool toys!

Doctor, Doctor, Give Me The News

Today I went in to get lab results for last week's cholesterol screening.  Since I stopped taking statin drugs to reduce my cholesterol, I figured I'd better go see how things are comin' along.

WELL..

The results were HORRIBLE!!!!!!  ABYSMAL!  AWFUL!

My cumulative cholesterol total was a WHOPPING 319!
HDL was 63.
LDL (the wretched stuff) was a RIDICULOUSLY HIGH 231!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I mean, man, I felt SICK!  Figuratively, thank goodness.  Not literally!

What alarmed my nurse practitioner, though, was my Creatine Kinase total: 1401!!!  The "normal" range is 44-196.  WHAT THE F*CK!!!!!!!!!

The nurse was so concerned she gave me an EKG.  It was fine.  As was my temperature and blood pressure.  Before I left, though, she took more blood and a urine sample.  We're determined to get to the bottom of this Creatine Kinase business.  And to find a way to lower my cholesterol WITHOUT damn statin drugs!!!!!!!

I wish Mama and Daddy were still alive so I could give each of 'em a couple of vigorous shakes for passing down there cholesterol craziness!!!  LOL

I'm watching my diet like a hawk now!  I have to stick around 'til I'm READY to GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

N-O-W!

February 11, 2015 is the final deadline for me to turn in a writing project.

In my mind, that project is professional LIFE or DEATH.

However, in all honesty, it isn't THAT serious.

But to me, it's HELLA SERIOUS!

So, until that date, this ol' boy has work to do.

So let it be WRITTEN.  So let it be DONE!

Postcard From The Edge

One of my fave fraternity brothers, JEFFREY, sent me a text of this pic a few days ago.  It's a postcard I sent to the mother of another fraternity brother waaaaaaay back in January 1988!!!  He found it when he was just at his parents' house, cleaning out the place after the recent death of his father.  At the time I sent that postcard I had just moved to NYC from Indianapolis and wanted to reach out to one of the kindest ladies I had ever met.  Heck, I really got to know her when I begged her to come see my one-man show at The Indianapolis Civic Theatre.  And by golly, she came!  And brought people with her!!!!!

Mrs. MARY M. SPOERLE earned her heavenly wings back in January 2013.

I hope and pray she can see me writing this posting about her.  It really makes me feel SUPER SPECIAL that she held on to the postcard all these years.

She was one helluva lady.

And always will be!!!

Mrs. Mary M. Spoerle 

1929-2013

Let It Be Known

Well, I'm DETERMINED to follow through in 2015!

Absolutely DETERMINED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  :)

Who is Cam Montgomery Jr?

Listening to Iyanla Vanzant explain who she WAS and who she currently IS really shakes me to the core of my being.

I fled Indianapolis in 1988 with the sole intention of recreating myself in New York City.  Professionally, I ditched my surname and only went by my initials: CAM Jr.

A new man had emerged.

Well, what I didn't know is that changing one's name doesn't necessarily change one's state of mind.  I may have had a different name, but I clung to the same ol' thoughts I had in Indiana: a person is SUPPOSED to ALWAYS know where his next paycheck is coming from.

And WHEN it's coming!

So, I got a full-time job!

And never felt more MISERABLE!

Other young, aspiring performers I knew were living with one or more roommates, working as waiters, taking acting lessons and going out on auditions. I had NONE of those concerns, 'cause I was working to pay for my leased condominium in a doorman building.

I lived in that condo for 10 years before I decided I had to make a change.

So, I went away on a one-week vacation from my full-time job at MACY*S and never returned. Leaving when I did was STUPID, though, because I had made no prior preparations for the loss of income. I mean, yes, getting out of the joint was something I HAD to do for my own sanity, but I could have been MUCH WISER about my departure. Saving for a year or two before I left, just like I did before I left Indianapolis, is what I SHOULD HAVE done!

But I DIDN'T!

I moved to Brooklyn.

Had a roommate for the first time in my adult life.

Got a part-time hosting job in a restaurant.

And was STILL miserable!!!!

I lived in that damn Brooklyn apartment, with that damn roommate, for damn near two years before I realized I had to make ANOTHER move!

But this time, I was smart about it.

I got myself cater-waiter gigs with two or three different catering companies, and stashed away EVERY cent I could.

Sometimes, I worked seven days a week. Heck, some days, I worked TWO catering gigs. I knew I wanted to have as much money as possible before I made my next move.

But WHERE would I go?

Sunny Southern California, that's where!

I arrived in L.A on January 9th, 2000, and stayed that month with a friend who had moved from NYC a year or so before.

I bought my FIRST car (a $2500 '84 Mustang), leased a tiny apartment that February, and was off and running!

Catering was my source of income. But, dangit, before I knew it, I had replaced my former full-time MACY*S gig with full-time CATERING!

What the f@#!???????

Fast-forward to right now: December 1st, 2014, and where am I?

STUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yep, I'm back wedged between a rock and NO PLACE!

IMMEDIATE CHANGE is BANGING on my DOOR!

On my HEAD!

And on my HEART!

I'm 50 years old. I don't have ANOTHER 50 years to get it right!

Hell, I don't have another 50 DAYS!

The time for me to live my BEST life is NOW!

N-O-W!

RIGHT NOW!

So, I'm gonna WRITE myself OUT of my current life!

And I'm gonna TALK myself out of my current life!

I'm gonna LOVE myself out of my current life!

Listening to Iyanla Vanzant explain who she WAS, and who she currently IS, really shakes me to the core of my being.

"[The life I'm living is NOT the truth of who I AM!]"

"This need NOT BE!"

My Favorite Kind Of Day

Yesterday was a BEAUUUUUTIFUL day in my eyes.

Most folks here in L.A. deemed the day dreary because it was raining.

Well, I LOVE the rain!  Absolutely LOVE it!

I wish it rained HARDER yesterday, so I could simply stand in it and REJOICE that I was ALIVE!

And WELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I pray for everyone and everything!