It's That Time

As the old year comes to a close, it's time to set goals for the New Year...

And REACH 'em!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So let it be WRITTEN!

So let it be DONE!

Cuter Than Cute

Sometimes in life, you just gotta sit back and laugh.

And what better way to do it than with three adorable pups????

No Bueno

I stopped buying and drinking milk two years ago or so.

Why?

Well, the real reason is because I just thought, this milk isn't for me.  My mother's milk was for me.  And I also thought that by cutting out milk I'd have less mucus/phlegm.

I've since read a study that indicates that consuming milk might not adversely affect mucus buildup.  But, now that I'm not drinking it anymore, I don't miss it.

I reckon since I love cheese and frozen yogurt, I'm still getting my share of milk.  But as long as I'm not drinking it, I'm fine.  

I do kinda miss all the cereal I used to eat, though.  Truth be told, I only consumed milk in the past because eating cereal was an easy meal to prepare!!!

So, no more milk.  No more cereal.  And that's just fine by me!!!!!   

What a CATastrophe

I'm not a cat lover.

I'm not even a cat LIKER.

The guy in the video below was simply a little overexcited to open up his Christmas gift, but his cat obviously didn't wanna hear that noise!

Geez!

#NoCatsForMe

#AbsolutelyNever

And this is what the guy looked like afterwards:

Christmas 2016

MERRY CHRISTMAS to one and all!!!!

Now, go share a meal with your beloved pet!

The King of The Green Regimen

The King of The Green Regimen, Mr. TYSHAWN BRYANT, has a new product to help keep the world HAPPY and HEALTHY: The Green Regimen's ELITE PROTEIN.

This protein powder contains:

a.) 25g plant-based protein
b.) Organic hemp, chia seed and pea proteins
c.) 3g organic fiber

I'll have to check out this product to see what's what.

And, heck, I might need to jump on The Green Regimen just to travel around the world like Tyshawn does, lookin' all badass on a moped in Phuket, Thailand!  :)

Philanthropy

I may not give as MUCH money as these terrific PHILANTHROPISTS, but I make it a point to STILL GIVE!

Give what you can.  Time.  Money.  Other resources.

Just give SOMETHING!

#TheWorldIsABetterPlaceWhenYouGive

#TheLadyInTheColorPurple

Korean Adventure

So, yesterday, to celebrate my birthday, I stepped outta my comfort zone and treated myself to a body scrub and an oil massage at a Korean spa in Koreatown.

Century Day & Night Spa was my choice.

I had read several reviews on Yelp, but, as usual, Yelp reviews ALWAYS have reviewers who present polar opposite critiques.  So, I simply chose Century because I've passed it up a million times when I frequently used to drive to Baldwin Hills.

Once inside, the front desk lady was very pleasant, took my driver's license, then gave me my locker key.

I walked into the locker room area, found my locker, then disrobed.  Completely!  I wrapped a towel around me, then headed out for the steam rooms and sauna pools.

Side note: some of the spa guests were much more at ease in the environment than I was, since it was my first time.  Meaning: they walked around HOLDING their towel, instead of WEARING it!

Listen, I'm not a big fan of really hot water.  Not at all.  So, the first sauna pool I entered heated me up in no time flat.  I was sweatin' in that sucka.  So, I got out and hopped into a cooler one.  That one eventually made me sweat, so I walked over to the ice cold pool.  Well, that was toooooooooooooo damn cold!  I couldn't even summon the courage to get into that pool past my knees!

After thirty minutes or so, I was called by David, my masseuse, to begin the two procedures I had purchased.  The body scrub wasn't near as bad as Conan O'Brien pretends in the video below.  I liked it.  Especially when David poured the warm water over me.  He scrubbed thoroughly, that's for dang sure.

I was instructed to shower after the scrubbing so I could be ready for the oil massage.  When I came back into the room, David told me to lie on my back.  He placed cucumbers over my eyes, then proceeded to rub oil infused with cucumber all over me!  Well, not all over, 'cause genitals are not touched.  And yes, spa guests lie on the massage tables completely nude.  With THREE guests per room, mind you!

Body scrub done.  Oil massage done.  Then it was off to check out the various steam rooms.  Lawd, let the record state, CAM Jr wants NO part of really hot steam rooms.  Truth be told, I entered the Korean Mist steam room and thought I'd die from heatstroke!  That room was so damn hot.  Next door to it was the Eucalyptus room, and good googly moogly, that mother was even HOTTER!  No, sir!  I wanted nothing to do with either room.

I wound up coming across the Marble room and another steam room that suited me just fine.  So, if/when I return, I'll bypass all the other steam rooms except those two.

I'll admit that I saw several guys who made it pretty obvious they were in search of something other than a cleansing spa experience.  I kept my eyes closed while in the steam rooms, so I didn't have any hassles.  But I noticed what I noticed.  I'll leave it at that.

All in all, I highly recommend checking out a Korean spa at least once.  There's something to be said for communal bathing.  I didn't mind yesterday's experience one bit.

In fact, now that I think about it, I can guarantee I'll return!!!!!

    

53 Years BLESSED!

I Charles Andrew Montgomery Jr, alias Cam Montgomery Jr, alias Beany, contain IMMEASURABLE GRATITUDE for being BLESSED to welcome the beginning of my 53rd year of LIFE!!!

I give GRATITUDE for my HEALTH!

I give GRATITUDE for my SIBLINGS!  And that includes my two, eldest nieces who, in MY eyes, are my siblings!

I give GRATITUDE for EXTENDED FAMILY and FRIENDS!

I give GRATITUDE for my SANITY!  Yep, I said SANITY!  So what if it isn't as fully intact as it was some 25 years ago.  It's STILL in MY possession!  Lol

All jokes aside, my life IS a BLESSING and I am a BLESSING!  I OWN that!

I am THANKFUL, THANKFUL, THANKFUL for EVERYTHING I AM!

And for MANY things I am NOT!

I fully intend to spend this day spreading as much JOY as I can muster to EVERY, LIVING BEING I encounter!!!

So let it be WRITTEN.

So let it be DONE!!!!

The Day Before

Well, well, well, here it is just one day before a brotha can ENTHUSIASTICALLY give gratitude for being ALIVE and WELL to begin his 53rd year on this earth!

Honestly, I feel GREAT!  And I'm still not too harsh on the eyes, either!  So, if I'm BLESSED to see tomorrow, I'll ring in my 53rd birthday with a new experience!

I think I wanna check out a Korean spa in Koreatown.  I've never had a professional massage, nor gone to a spa of any kind.  So, I'm gonna google all the spas in Koreatown and see which one sounds best-suited for me!  Why not?

I intend to make my 53rd year one hell of an ADVENTURE!

Filled with TONS of new, invigorating experiences!

BRING it ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

May/December Disagreement

I have a friend who thinks it's downright gross for a much older person to be in a romantic relationship with someone considerably younger.

Her exact words were:

"I will never be convinced someone young wants to be with someone old, other than for money, security or mommy-daddy issues, when they could be with some young and hot [person] like themselves."

Well, my belief is that everybody enters into a romantic relationship with his/her own expectations.  For his/her own reasons.  If a young person wants to be with a much older person for financial security, professional gain, etc., so be it.  If the older person wants the younger person because of youth and beauty, so be it.  Everybody gets what they're after, so what harm is done?

When I see a cat I think is hot-as-Hades, I don't care if he's 21 or 61!  But I sure as hell WON'T discount the hottie for being much younger than I am!  No, sirree, Bob!

I told my friend that she and I will respectfully agree to disagree on this subject.

Love is love.

And HOT is HOT!

I mean, who the hell am I to discourage a potential romance because someone was born 25 years AFTER I was!

Haaaaa!  :)

Call Me Mr. Know-It-All

The Bible has 66 books!

Subtract your FINAL age for this year from that number, then add 50.

I betcha the number you get is your birth year!!!

Lawd, Have Mercy

All TRUE hip hop devotees will recognize my vintage, reversible, down bubble coat!

The sucka made MANY an appearance in rap music videos in the '80s and '90s!

Down in NYC's West Village I paid a whopping $100 for it back in '91!

I STILL rock it whenever I leave Cali in the winter!

p.s. I'm almost embarrassed to admit this, but I DIDN'T realize it was reversible until 15 minutes before I wrote this post!  I just thought it had a nice, red lining! :)  

Me, Myself & Vodka

I know many folks have a problem with being by themselves.

I'm NOT one of those folks, though.

I go to restaurants alone.

I go to bars alone.

I go to movie theaters alone.

I go to stage plays alone.

I go to weddings alone.

Hell, anyplace a person can go, I have gone or will go alone.

And WHY, you ask?

Because I LOVE my own DAMN COMPANY!

p.s. As I type, I'm drinking an adult beverage.

ALONE!  :)

Keep On Keepin' On

I have now been living in Los Angeles for a little over 16 years.  Actually, when January 9th, 2017 rolls around, I will have been here 17 years!  17 years that have truly flown by quicker than I can truly fathom.

I was two weeks into my 36th birthday when I landed here in La La Land.  I personally knew only one person, and casually knew of two others.  Luckily for me, the person I personally knew allowed me to live in his apartment for a month until I got my own place.  Truth be told, I don't think I would have moved out after that month if he hadn't made it abundantly clear I HAD to!  Haaa!  See, some folks you have to KICK out before they MOVE out!  Lol!

Anyway, I moved the next street over from him, in the same block, so I was still in the same 'hood.  Koreatown.

I lived in Koreatown for a year, then hightailed my butt over to The Valley.  North Hollywood to be precise.  Man, the difference was night and day.  In Koreatown, I oftentimes had to park three or more blocks away from my apartment building because there was no parking.  In NoHo, I could park right in front of my place.  Same went for when I went shopping.  Parking everywhere!  I don't think I'd ever move back into Los Angeles proper.  I'll be a Valley boy for the remainder of my Cali days!

Anyway, this post is really about how I've noticed that tons and tons of people move here from Small Town, USA, with hope of making a name for themselves in Hollywood!  Me, included.  Sorta.  I mean, I actually moved here from Brooklyn, NY, but originally from Indiana.  Well, over the years, tons of people move out here, and those same people wake up one day and five years have passed.  A decade.  Two decades.  And they're no closer to "making a name" for themselves than they were when they arrived; yet, they keep pushing forward.

My friend, Gregor, is a talented actor.  He truly is. I met him when he was 24 years old or so back in NYC.  I was selling clothing at Macy*s Herald Square and he was store security.  I went to see him in a couple of plays back then.  He was absolutely incredible in the first one I saw: The Boys Next Door.  Fast-forward 28 years and he's now 50.  And living here in Cali with his devoted wife, Natalie.  He has appeared in numerous independent films and a few, established TV shows, but none of the above have provided enough income to live solely as an actor.  Yet, he keeps pushing forward.

My friend, Donn, used to be the star of a popular soap opera.  Lost that job.  Became penniless.  Yet, he keeps pushing forward.

And then there's moi!  I, too, have seen the ups and downs of pursuing work that interests me, but doesn't pay me what I need.  What I'm worth!  The talent management firm I incorporated brought me joy in the beginning.  But when the checks would roll in and I'd see what my clients were getting, versus what I was getting, Papa CAM wasn't too happy.  They could afford to live in nicer residences than I, and I didn't like that one bit!!!!!  Especially since I had to work my butt off to get them into the casting rooms.  I say all this to say that, yes, I know what it's like to rub TWO nickels together in my pocket, and what it's like to rub NONE!  However, I keep pushing forward.

I clearly see that giving up is a sure-fire way to NEVER get what you desire.  Although it appears to be hella easy for most to do it, when it comes down to professional fulfillment, I simply can't muster the courage to quit pushing toward it!  I HAVE to keep pushing forward.  I have to keep doing whatever I can think to do to move me closer to my idea of a happy work existence.

Here I am.  52 years blessed.  God willing, 53 years blessed on this upcoming Thursday.  What I know for sure is that I'll keep pushing for great health, great relationships with family and friends and great times, working a job and/or jobs that interest me.

I think 2017 is lookin' realllllly good!!!!!!!!!!!

KEEP PUSHING FORWARD, gang!