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! :)