tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-199245402024-02-06T20:58:37.759-08:00I Am Everyone I MeetAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01052534823751216071noreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19924540.post-15915990501469345652016-06-04T12:02:00.002-07:002016-06-04T12:03:23.149-07:00woops it's oldmanhiding.comi have a new website:
oldmanhiding.com
do check it out thanks<a href="www.oldmanhiding.com"></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01052534823751216071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19924540.post-27342234929497810522015-01-13T10:45:00.000-08:002015-01-13T11:15:08.456-08:00You Have Two Things
This morning when I woke up, I thought, "When you die, you have two things." You don't have money or security or prestige. You have what you love and what you hate, That's it. These two things determine who you are, nothing else.
And you can subtract what you hate from what you love. That's who you are. That's what you take with you.
It makes sense to pay attention to this all of your life. It's a simple math they don't teach you. Whatever you hate is subtracted from what you love.
You take love with you because love is who you are.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01052534823751216071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19924540.post-18076180750575509302014-08-10T13:05:00.004-07:002014-08-10T13:05:59.465-07:00Age and Change
I was talking to my son Jules this morning. “I wish we all lived on the farm and you just painted,” I said.
Dad,” he said, his tone partly beligerant, “I want to tell you something. I love what I do. I’m good with computers, really good. It is what I do. It’s my art now.”
“OK,” I say. “I know that. I just don’t understand it.”
“No one does,” he said. “But I love it.”
“You’re right,” I said. I gave in instantly because he is right. “I don’t know squat about computers. I’m just archaic. I’m from a different world,” I said.
“You like computers more than you think,” he said. “You depend on a better made car, on hospital equipment, on new medicines, on airplanes, on your TV and air-conditioning.”
I didn’t tell him I wish I didn’t. “You’re right.”
“OK.”
“You are right. No one understands what I do when I write, either.”
“No, they don’t.”
“We thought that if you worked words into what you felt and thought, you created something for everyone. If you did it well.”
“Yes.”
“And that there would be someone to read it. Anyway, I’ll try to change. And not just for you. I need to learn the difference.”
He knows where I’m coming from. Maybe I don’t know either world, mine or his. But it’s true. The entire world now is a step out of my sight. I recognize changes,. I see everyone hooked on cell phones and thinking in ways that computers have influenced them. They have changed my thoughts, too. Maybe I don’t know how much.
Could I understand the world from a contemporary viewpoint now? What would that do to my brain? Make it smarter, yes. Make me broader and more realistic. Open up a world of things for me to pursue. It would make me think like them.
This is everything I’m trying to avoid. Living as long as I have, makes me care about the past, about my friends and family who have died, my experiences which have gone away, and my dreams which have been surpassed.
Holding onto the past is not logical. But the past is visual and visceral in my head. If I could change—if I could see, beyond the context of what I already know, as if I were young, and innocent in a way, ready to listen, to see, to be startled again for the first time. That’s the rub. New flowers tend to grow from old branches in the same way. Imagine a petunia’s being a rose or a gardenia’s being a tulip.
How beautiful the concept of change is. My eyes widen at the idea. Like renaming the sun or the moon.
Like calling love by numbers, not words. Or seeing memories through the future.
That’s the key: the utter impossibility yet the absolute experience of everything. Its incomprehensible nature makes our lives dream like. What is, is a thing that beats with our hearts and lights up our eyes. It just requires our breath, one at a time.
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01052534823751216071noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19924540.post-83927205934947562692014-08-10T12:47:00.001-07:002014-08-10T13:09:12.343-07:00birds in a bush
As I walked along a sidewalk this morning, just ahead of me one, then two, and three sparrows darted from a hedge and flew up into a tree. A few seconds later, four or five more followed. Then nearly a dozen. Their flight was as quick as a shadow appears and disappears. I wondered how many birds could lie in the hedge there. I visualized them in those narrow branches inside the hedge, leaves everywhere. Then, as I reached the opening that they had left from, I peered in and saw nothing.
Not a bird. There was no evidence of their ever having been there.
I walked on, the birds not even in the trees now. So that is how life goes, I thought. And that’s what it leaves.
At least inside us.
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01052534823751216071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19924540.post-34272251779451159432012-08-01T11:50:00.003-07:002012-08-01T11:59:40.273-07:00Talking to Strangers: Difficult or Easy?<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I
am not sure why but my talking to strangers lately has gotten more difficult.
Maybe cause I am older. I have the same curiosity, but others are of course
reluctant to focus on anything but their world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I just spoke to a group of young
people twenty to twenty- two whom I greatly admired.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt joy, talking and listening to them.
But I felt their resistance. It is a form of young people’s lack of interest in
history.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>They were bright, good looking,
observant people. One girl struck me with her perceptive comments. She is a
political science major, a senior. Two of the others were going to medical
school. The others majored in political science or economics. They will become
doctors, lawyers, good ones I bet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Three of them had heard of Aldous
Huxley and one had written a book report on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Brave
New World</i>, but he hadn’t read the book.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>When I asked them about their most
important values, they each listed family first. Second, they said, was doing
something for their country. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Although they looked Italian to me
and spoke English perfectly, they were second generation Afkan.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>These youths should be shown on TV.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>One girl said the difference in the
disadvantaged of the world and them was only poverty. With financial
opportunity, people are pretty much alike, she said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Another girl said she did not mind
wearing a Berka if she could go to Afghanistan to visit. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As I left them, they were eating and
moving on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I did not touch them at all so far
as I could see. But they touched me. They gave me things to think about. I
worry a bit, disrupting their picnic, but I will tell others about how
impressive they were.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">You can explore more of James White's world in his novels. <u style="font-style: italic;">I Am Everyone I Meet: Random Encounters on the Streets of Los Angeles</u> is available this summer for only 99 cents on Kindle right <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Am-Everyone-Meet-Encounters-ebook/dp/B002E19LPS/ref=tmm_kin_title_0">HERE!</a> </span></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01052534823751216071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19924540.post-47887181598631801422012-07-30T11:13:00.000-07:002012-07-30T11:13:20.850-07:00Guest Post!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgtMtWkkyyCkGmlOYpaXLB4M0SxOnlif63doKbSzwXRG0a3_9lrKPhYL0CKmBT3mdTvi4hOiNySmTcx7HUNX4CYIsEVrToYQu72bZ0UDPSR7u_-49G0ZGM_mdup_crwHtqPpyziw/s1600/JulesWhiteBlackBackground.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgtMtWkkyyCkGmlOYpaXLB4M0SxOnlif63doKbSzwXRG0a3_9lrKPhYL0CKmBT3mdTvi4hOiNySmTcx7HUNX4CYIsEVrToYQu72bZ0UDPSR7u_-49G0ZGM_mdup_crwHtqPpyziw/s400/JulesWhiteBlackBackground.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Check it out! James P. White contributed to the guest post up on the blog of Jules White. Jules White designed the cover art for two of James's books: <i>Observations Without Daddy</i> and <i>I Am Everyone I Meet</i>. You can check out the guest post today by visiting <a href="http://juleswhiteartist.blogspot.com/">THIS</a> link!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01052534823751216071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19924540.post-76405252241229042502012-07-24T10:50:00.001-07:002012-07-24T10:50:10.343-07:00The Fate of Literature<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I
think of my literary friends who have died. Their works have suffered the same
fate that they have. When they were alive, together, we spoke together, what we
wrote and we said and what we read had a oneness. We had a respect for the
solitude we had when we read good writing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We did not talk to each other
outside of knowing we were writers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Those of us who are alive did not
realize that we would live in a world where that respect did not exist and
would be misunderstood anyway.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We had no concept about the future.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“More people are reading now than
ever,” silly people say. It’s like saying that more people know about the
American revolution now than when the revolution took place. I miss that
literary world and don’t want to be part of one that is counterfeit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The weaknesses of the profession
took over, like a disease and “writing” became something less than information.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><i>Read more <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Am-Everyone-Meet-Encounters-ebook/dp/B002E19LPS/ref=tmm_kin_title_0">HERE!</a> </i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><i>James P. White's books are available on Amazon. I Am Everyone I Meet is available all summer for only 99 cents! </i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;">James P. White </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;">2012 </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;">All Rights Reserved </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;">No unauthorized reproduction, except to quote for reviews or interviews. </span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01052534823751216071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19924540.post-66787041892499444472012-07-20T10:44:00.001-07:002012-07-23T09:34:51.206-07:00A Penny For Your Thoughts: Who are we?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Who are we? you ask. Are we these other people we meet on the street or are they us? Are we interlopers among them? The strangers we meet are some of the most precious gifts: we are allowed to pet the animals. Then we let them go back home without us. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">You can catch more of James's work in <i>I Am Everyone I Meet: Random Encounters on the Streets of Los Angeles, </i>right <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Am-Everyone-Meet-Encounters-ebook/dp/B002E19LPS/ref=tmm_kin_title_0">HERE!</a> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">(Copyright James P. White 2012 All Rights Reserved No unauthorized reproduction aside from quoting for blogs or reviews) </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01052534823751216071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19924540.post-46794213749687550112012-07-18T16:00:00.000-07:002012-07-23T09:35:13.186-07:00Fireflies<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I notice that every feeling I write about takes place in a certain situation and doesn't last long. The situation doesn't create the feeling, but expresses it. Regardless of what it is, another new feeling quickly takes its place. I'm trying to catch each of them, just for a moment, like fireflies. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #073763;">You can pick up <u style="font-style: italic;">I Am Everyone I Meet: Random Encounters on the Streets of Los Angeles </u> right <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Am-Everyone-Meet-Encounters-ebook/dp/B002E19LPS/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2">HERE</a> for 99 cents this summer to read more! </span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01052534823751216071noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19924540.post-19726229074918222012-07-16T12:02:00.004-07:002012-07-23T09:35:25.583-07:00Blowing in the Wind<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I
go out to no particular place to meet and to talk to anyone. I find this
exciting not because of whom I might meet or what I might learn. Doing it is as
undirected as something’s blowing in the wind. I do it because surely this is
our natural state. Having a career and a status or a nationality or a particular
religion is not our real situation. We make up who we are and then dismiss the
world outside because of our fantasies. If you want to know more of who you
are, meet people who don’t know who you think you are.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b>You can purchase <u>I Am Everyone I Meet: Random Encounters on the Streets of Los Angeles</u> for 99 cents right <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Am-Everyone-Meet-Encounters-ebook/dp/B002E19LPS/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2">here!</a></b></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01052534823751216071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19924540.post-518002413443362462012-07-09T10:11:00.001-07:002012-07-09T10:11:30.429-07:00Summer Reading Giveaway!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWj-uWOq68OmumCRV5MtXB6x3Mn0_XBOnJYxgcsTAP_7J1tUPUYiLhPGQNot9SiInfvx0rDaVR1rvRINzUoSFXQw39krVK98oAJ0QPiCI7mLnpVJZu9f6sS_1FtwfSmi_t1WSZAw/s1600/JamesBook2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWj-uWOq68OmumCRV5MtXB6x3Mn0_XBOnJYxgcsTAP_7J1tUPUYiLhPGQNot9SiInfvx0rDaVR1rvRINzUoSFXQw39krVK98oAJ0QPiCI7mLnpVJZu9f6sS_1FtwfSmi_t1WSZAw/s320/JamesBook2.jpg" width="209" /></a></div>
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Hello, everyone! Summer is officially here. It's hot outside and you're looking for a cool spot to relax in. What's better than relaxing in that cool spot with a book? Not much! You can win a free Kindle copy of <i>I Am Everyone I Meet: Random Encounters on the Streets of Los Angeles</i> on this blog. We will be giving away more free copies if we get more entries, so feel free to come back every day and gain more chances to win on the Rafflecopter form!! </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Good luck!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<a class="rafl" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/9aa50216/" id="rc-9aa50216" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
<script src="//d12vno17mo87cx.cloudfront.net/embed/rafl/cptr.js">
</script>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01052534823751216071noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19924540.post-33147146970119316102012-07-03T15:17:00.000-07:002012-07-23T09:35:35.605-07:00What are they doing and thinking?<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">When
I walk up to a group of people, what are they doing and thinking? All of this,
of course, depends on who they are. The moment we live in, has as many eyes as
the ones we’ve already experienced. Even if people are experience the same
feeling generally, their reasoning and their invention of dealing with the
moment varies. There is no such thing as one idea or one thought; there are
beginnings and results and any immediacy is as temporary as a single breath.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> Yet we go around assuming that we
have individual thoughts all the time. What we call individual is only the
thought that finally has affected what is going on in our multiplicity of
thoughts and ideas.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> Things appear to become more
singular when we speak to each other.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01052534823751216071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19924540.post-64696257850650358042012-06-29T13:07:00.004-07:002012-07-23T09:35:48.876-07:00Vice President of a Bank<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"> “I was Vice President of a bank,”
the well dressed man whom I’ve struck up a conversation with at the health food
restaurant says.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;">We sit side by side in
the little place. Our orders are being prepared.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “One day I decided I would do more
than just make money. I quit my job and spent months in meditation training
with some of the most knowledgeable people in the world. Now I teach
businessmen how to meditate.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “Do they like it?” I ask.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “They do. I know where they are coming from. Their
lives are so busy they forget how to go quietly into themselves.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “Is that where you go when you
meditate?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “I think so, yes.” He is a handsome
middle age man who keeps in shape.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “That’s a wonderful thing to do,” I
say. “Do you miss business?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “No,” he says, “not at all. The
people I teach are quite successful in their fields.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> He didn’t have to tell me they pay
top dollar to learn to meditate. To do it for free wouldn’t be worth their
time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “Where do you teach them?” I ask.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “All over the world,” he says. “Many
are CEO’s of Fortune 500 companies.” He nods at the young man who brings his
salad. I see mine coming.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> He continues to talk as we eat. “The
world is so filled with stress that most of us just don’t see each other
anymore,” he says. “We put our priorities first. Whatever I can do to change
that is important to me.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “And to all of us,” I say. Quite
suddenly, without thinking out what I am doing, I take a dollar bill out of my
pocket. I put it on his table. “Here,” I say, “I want to give you this.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> He is taken aback. It is obvious a
dollar bill doesn’t mean much to him. Nor does it to me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “No, no,” he says.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “I want to give it to you.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> He shoves it back. “Thanks, but I
don’t want it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “If I go to the park and hand it to
any homeless person, he will thank me for it,” I say. “He will appreciate my
generosity and even love me for it sometimes.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> The man doesn’t answer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “The homeless man wouldn’t be too
proud,” I say.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> He smiles uneasily. He focuses on
his eating.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> I do, too. There is probably no
excuse for my being so rude. Whoever said meditation was about caring for
others anyway? But isn’t it about opening up to the world?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> I hurt his feelings, but I wanted to
point out the generosity of the homeless. They will freely take a dollar from
someone and give thanks in return. We shouldn’t take this for granted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><u><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: large;">I Am Everyone I Meet is available for Kindle at 99 cents! Pick up your copy <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Am-Everyone-Meet-Encounters-ebook/dp/B002E19LPS/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2">TODAY!</a></span></b></u></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><u><b><br /></b></u></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><b><u>(</u>All Rights Reserved 2012 James P. White No part of this work may be reproduced, except to quote in interviews or book reviews, without the express permission of the author) </b></i></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01052534823751216071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19924540.post-63192466793306416982012-06-26T10:14:00.000-07:002012-06-26T10:15:21.599-07:00Summer Promotion!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrieoB2BkNe4wAdq9HogJqd6wfk41vcijX3SrkZHITwfqfHvfqbwD7e5mEukNyWtKFIgOUOaeY_zjvoSWA4CHSRso6QQChIaAiIx7O615VsS3iq6TJKUmVzhLU4ZVxZdLPyRpoSA/s1600/JamesBook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrieoB2BkNe4wAdq9HogJqd6wfk41vcijX3SrkZHITwfqfHvfqbwD7e5mEukNyWtKFIgOUOaeY_zjvoSWA4CHSRso6QQChIaAiIx7O615VsS3iq6TJKUmVzhLU4ZVxZdLPyRpoSA/s1600/JamesBook.jpg" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Summer is here, and that means that you might have a little extra time to settle back with a good book and enjoy a few days of rest and relaxation. Or maybe you're working and need a book to relax with at the end of the day. At any rate, you can probably guess what's coming. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">That's right. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">You can snag all kinds of 99 cent ebooks from the Kindle Store on Amazon. In fact, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d;"><i>I Am Everyone I Meet: Random Encounters on the Streets of Los Angeles</i> is</span> now only 99 cents, too! In addition, you can pick up James P. White's other novels on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Am-Everyone-Meet-Encounters-Streets/dp/1448640148">Amazon</a> as well, like <i>Birdsong</i> or <i>The Ninth Car </i> or <i>Talking about Ideas with your Children.</i></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01052534823751216071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19924540.post-70305720204914398752012-06-22T10:46:00.002-07:002012-07-23T09:36:01.146-07:00Being Asked is Not Enough<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">As I walk along the promenade, an older homeless woman, thin, grey haired in clean clothes, plants herself directly in front of me, making me stop. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">"Can you help me out?" she asks. "My family's hungry." </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">She is clean and well dressed. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I don't want to give her money because she is confronting me. I am in a hurry. She does not step aside to let me pass. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">"Not even a dollar?" she asks. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I smile and walk on. Then I frown and I look a little deeper into myself. I do not want to give this woman money. I realize that I only give when I choose to. Just being asked is not enough. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">I Am Everyone I Meet: Random Encounters on the Streets of Los Angeles, is available in paperback and on Kindle right <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Am-Everyone-Meet-Encounters-Streets/dp/1448640148">HERE!</a> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
All Rights Reserved James P. White 2012 No part of this work may be reproduced in any way, except to quote on blogs, reviews or interviews, with out the express permission of the author)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01052534823751216071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19924540.post-42473569444139026682012-06-20T10:51:00.002-07:002012-07-23T09:36:09.962-07:00Where did you go to school?<br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">I
wait in line at the counter. An attractive blonde in her late twenties gets in
line behind me. She is well-dressed and carries a purse. She acts like she dresses, as
if she is used to money.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “Hi,” I say, “where are you from?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> Although she faces me, her eyes have
no expression. For a moment I think that she isn’t going to respond. When she
does, she makes it extremely clear that she does not appreciate being spoken
to. “Not from here,” she’s says.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">I
know I should say nothing more, but it is embarrassing not to. Why can’t we
interact on a friendly level?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “Oh,” I say, “where did you go to
school?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “To USC,” she says. She thinks this
has prestige.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “I used to head their graduate
writing program,” I say. “But my son and I went to Brown.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> She suddenly smiles. “Oh,” she says.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> It is my turn to order. I do, then
move past without looking at her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> My responding to her as I did is the
surest way to lose with this person. My interaction was rather silly, but the
real problem is that on some level I care about her and she does not care about
me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;"><b>Pick up <u style="font-style: italic;">I Am Everyone I Meet: Random Encounters on the Streets of Los Angeles</u> for <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Am-Everyone-Meet-Encounters-ebook/dp/B002E19LPS/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2">99 cents right here!</a></b></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;">(All Rights Reserved 2012 James P. White No part of this work may be reproduced without express permission of the author, except to use in reviews or interviews)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px;">“What
do you do?” I ask.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “I teach,” he says. He works at a
school that teaches stylists how to cut hair.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “How much is the tuition?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “Expensive.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “How much?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “Well, it depends on where you go.
It can be as low as two thousand or as high as thirty.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “My god How much does a stylist make
when he finishes?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “Most make minimum wage.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “Is your school expensive?” I ask.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “Very.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “What are most people paid after
graduation?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “Minimum wage.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “That’s it?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “After a while, they make more. A
few make a lot more. But it doesn’t really matter where you go to school. You
can still compete.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “How much is the most expensive
haircut?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “I know a place in Beverly Hills
where it’s eight hundred dollars.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “Really?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “Yes, but that the highest. “ He is
as amused as I am. A minute later he moves on to another machine. We are at the
gym. I do not know him. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> I think about how interesting it is
that we put such prices on any kind of education. Learning is in spite of
money, not because of it. It doesn’t really have a price.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">You can purchase <i style="font-weight: bold;">I Am Everyone I Meet: Random Encounters on the Streets of Los Angeles </i> for 99 cents right <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Am-Everyone-Meet-Encounters-ebook/dp/B002E19LPS/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2">HERE!</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">(All rights reserved 2012 James P. White) No part of this work may be reproduce in any way, except to quote in interviews or reviews, without the express permission of the author) </span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01052534823751216071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19924540.post-88343831163528949892012-06-14T08:58:00.001-07:002012-07-23T09:36:45.103-07:00Palisades Park & Tree Hugging<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">This afternoon in Palisades Park is as glorious as the one before it. Strollers follow the path and look out at the view. The blue of the sky is as calming as the expanse of water. The sun makes distinct shadows on the palms, on the thick, healthy grass. I'm about to start a slow thirty minute jog. Somehow, all these people enjoying the park, day after day, are strangers. I never know anyone or want to. I am a stranger as they are. This not knowing each other is a kind of privacy. I watch a woman pull up into a parking slot, stop her car, kill the engine, and get out. She hurries. She is headed for someplace. She rushes over to a Eucalyptus tree and, ignoring us, wraps her arms around its trunk. Her hands pat the trunk as her arms caress the trunk. Her eyes are closed. And she had hurried from her car because something about the tree had drawn her. I wonder what she would do if I walked over and asked her to hug me. Then I ask myself, why don't I hug trees? Even worse, I dislike her hugging them. Yet I'd probably prefer hugging the tree to hugging her. If Theresa of Avila in her brilliant <i>Autobiography</i> can write convincingly about walking into a garden and seeing rocks breathing, why do I look askance at this woman hugging this lovely (and maybe lonely) tree? Would I care if she did it in private? </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-size: large;">You can find </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-size: large;">I Am Everyone I Meet: Random Encounters on the Streets of Los Angeles</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-size: large;"> for 99 cents on <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj236gD19dHWd2eNDFK7sK4wcc2h0oaAvHzDDVX6Cu-srfzcxxTdPvHO45AE-zNy2tZFpkuGPXuzm1JuwNcOMkz5LUC3dRj2Ud_HMLU_L4tWMNTIsSOtSZhqLwHXjZ0SHw8iCS_/s1600/palisades+park.jpg">Kindle!</a> </span><br />
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All Rights Reserved 2012 James P. White (No part of this work may be reproduced, except to quote for interviews and reviews, without express permission of the author)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01052534823751216071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19924540.post-4491524698568729232012-06-12T09:58:00.000-07:002012-07-23T09:36:57.427-07:00A McDonald's Encounter<br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">I
always find people to talk to at McDonald’s. This is why I like to go alone. If
I go with someone else, I can’t venture out as I want.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> The McDonald’s in West Los Angeles
is as busy as ever. I sit at a little
table and sip diet Coke. Across from me is a Chicano eating a large
breakfast. We smile at each other. Then, to my right I see a man sitting with a
full cup of coffee and a folded newspaper. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “Hello,” I say.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “Hello.” Immediately I see he wants
to talk.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “What do you do?” I ask. The
question pops out of my mouth. He’s as old as I am and must be retired.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “I don’t know what to do,” he says.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> I understand what he means. One has
to be involved to live life. Otherwise one lives non-life. “There are so many
things to do,” I say.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “Like what?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> I think a moment. “You could go to
school. Take a class.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “I’ve thought about that,” he says.
He has already decided not to. Too many courses to choose from.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “You could go into spirituality.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “I don’t know how to do that.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “It doesn’t take knowledge,” I say.
“Just pray.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “Hmmmm.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “Well,” I say, “you can volunteer at
a home and help people.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> He looks directly into my eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “I don’t want to do that, either,” I
say.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “If I don’t know what to do, why
would I go join a group that doesn’t know?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> Not a good attitude, I think. “I
know,” I say, “you can write something. Or do some kind of art like painting or
singing.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “Yes,” he says. “I could.” He
clearly won’t.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> There’s just so much to do,” I say.
“But we don’t have to do anything if we don’t want to.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “I just don’t know what to do,” he
says, his lips quivering.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> I see that he means this in a
profound sense. He nor I nor anyone knows what to do. The thought unsettles me.
We don’t have purpose like spoons do. We’re like running water. The action is
what we do, like volume on the TV.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> Suddenly, I don’t want to help him.
What he is looking for startles me. A little bit of me senses that if I talked
to him too long, I would end up sitting beside him at the little table, asking
the same question. What do I want to do?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “Want” is the problem here. I’d
rather just ask myself, “What are you doing?” Maybe even that’s too much at 70.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">All Rights Reserved James P. White 2012 (No part of this work may be reproduced in any way, except for reviews and blog excerpts, without the express permission of the author)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>I Am Everyone I Meet: Random Encounters on the Streets of Los Angeles is now available for just 99 cents on Kindle! <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Am-Everyone-Meet-Encounters-ebook/dp/B002E19LPS/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2">Click here to explore!</a> </b></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01052534823751216071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19924540.post-84120689854781306222012-06-10T14:04:00.001-07:002012-07-26T12:12:17.850-07:00Lunch with an Actress<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I am at lunch with an actress who was once widely recognized for her talent. She is describing filming on a current project in Jersey. "These older actors are in a fix," she says. "In order to look like themselves, they can't grow old naturally, so they have a lot of surgery done. A whole lot. On film they look pretty good and are kind of recognizable. But up close they look like freaks. Their faces become exaggerations of what they were: huge, huge lips, big eyes, emaciated...it's hard not to burst out laughing." </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">I Am Everyone I Meet: Random Encounters on the Streets of Los Angeles, </span>is now available as a Kindle ebook for only 99 cents this summer! <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Am-Everyone-Meet-Encounters-ebook/dp/B002E19LPS/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2">Click here to take advantage of this offer!</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01052534823751216071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19924540.post-73095169604167414812012-05-31T15:18:00.001-07:002012-07-23T09:37:24.869-07:00Soup and Tattoos<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">The
twenty-four year old Latino who brings my bowl of soup has a big smile on his
lips and tattoos on his arms.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “What’s that?” I ask, pointing to
one of a baby’s footprint.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “It’s my son’s foot when he was
born.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “He was a big baby. What’s the
number around it?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> The Latino’s teeth are very white.
His black hair is neatly combed. “That’s his number on the ID bracelet at the
hospital when he was born.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “Are those feathers?” I ask,
pointing to another area of his arm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “My Dad did it. He can do tattoos.
When we were kids he told us not to act like white crows. These are two crow
feathers. Dad was very tough on us.” He motions with his hands across his
shirt. “I have a daughter. I’m going to put her name all across here.” His
excitement is contagious.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “Do you like it here?” I ask.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> He thinks I mean the restaurant. “I
just remodeled the counter. I did the granite. And that wall.” He points to a
beautiful stone wall. “I’m learning construction.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “Where are you from?” I ask. I had
meant did he like the U.S.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “I was born in Los Angeles.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> I look down at my soup which is
almost unappealing healthy. “You like this food?” I ask.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “Guatemalan is better, but I eat
healthy now. My whole family does. No more pupusas.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “Yes,” I say, reflecting his grin.
Then I begin to eat. Having your kid’s name tattooed across your chest is not
unusual in Los Angeles. It is an extension of the family values the Latinos
have always had.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> Imagine if my son Jules’s name were
tattooed across me on my chest or arms or back? What if I saw it every day, all
day long? What if I couldn’t get it off? I must love my son as much as this man
does, but when we gave Jules his name, it became his, not mine. I don’t think
he’d want it tattooed on me, either.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> Is it because we have a familiarity
of the mind and not the body? I have to think that the person who would do this,
loves enough so that the person whose name it is, would be proud.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><i>I Am Everyone I Meet: Random Encounters on the Streets of Los Angeles</i>, is available this summer for 99 cents!!! Click <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Am-Everyone-Meet-Encounters-ebook/dp/B002E19LPS/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2">HERE</a> to check it out! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01052534823751216071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19924540.post-3260245268415048992012-05-29T09:20:00.002-07:002012-07-23T09:37:36.590-07:00Who are you?<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">“Who
are you?” I ask the young guy stretching beside me on the mat outside the
exercise area at LA Fitness. He is doing strenuous core exercises without
resting. He is in the best condition and wears a skin tight shirt. He has black
curly hair, dark eyes and pimples.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “What?” he asks. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “If you are going to do that—those
hard exercises and be that strong beside me, then who are you?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “I’m Jeff,” he says, smiling. “Thank
you.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “How old are you?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “Twenty.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “I got married at twenty,” I say.
“Are you married?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “No way,” he says. “I’m not ready to
be married. I have to go back to school. It will be a long time.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “How many girls were in your 7<sup>th</sup>
grade class?” I asked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> He thinks about it. “About seven,”
he says.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “Only seven?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “Yes.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “I want you to pick one out. You get
engaged to her at sixteen and marry her at twenty. You spend the rest of your
life with her. That’s what I did.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “No way. Did you really?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “Tell me about that psychology.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “I couldn’t do it,” he says. “I
can’t imagine it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “What are you studying?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “I’m a trainer, but I want to go
back to school. I want to study small business. I want to own a business.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “You’ll do well at that if you are
this good at these exercises,” I say. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> He smiles broadly, filled with
enthusiasm. It has been many years since I felt the energy that is humming
through him. Every pore of his body is on alert.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “Want me to show you how?” he asks.
“You can do them.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “I know who you are now,” I say. “Go
back to work. It’s fine.” I begin to stretch, my way, and ignore him as he gets
busy, too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">You can purchase <i style="font-weight: bold;">I Am Everyone I Meet: Random Encounters on the Streets of Los Angeles</i>, to here more about James's experiences right <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Am-Everyone-Meet-Encounters-ebook/dp/B002E19LPS/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2">HERE!</a> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #134f5c;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #134f5c;">Copyright 2012 James P. White (All Rights Reserved) No part of this work may be reproduced, except to quote on blogs or reviews, without the express permission of the author. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01052534823751216071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19924540.post-63759099614057326502012-05-25T13:04:00.004-07:002012-05-25T13:04:54.195-07:00The Coffee Shop<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> </span><a href="http://wanderlust-diaries.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/peter-adams-coffee-shop-amsterdam-netherlands.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://wanderlust-diaries.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/peter-adams-coffee-shop-amsterdam-netherlands.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> At the coffee shop where I sit at an
isolated table I see several people, like me, using a pen and paper, and
writing. This activity is what is left of a literary world that made all of our
best thinking paramount. Good writing was never about what everyone wrote down
on paper. It concerned writing down and editing, writing down and editing, on
ones own, until the words had clarity that the writing down produced. But it
was not a single act of pouring out words like water splattering into a sink. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The act of writing, however, had a
significance. It meant that someone was trying to do something that was
important in all educated minds. It was not the idle journaling that so many
people call writing today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It was dealing with a love of words
that expressed thoughts more than emotions. The thoughts expressed the
emotions; the emotions did not express the thoughts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I feel the last of a literary world
that I hardly understood when it thrived. It was an unquestioned way of life.
It was important. We thought it was permanent.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> But writing gets soggy when it
becomes everyone’s pastime and a means of getting down things. It has become
conversation, like the spoken word.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01052534823751216071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19924540.post-23456638796066137812012-05-23T11:16:00.002-07:002012-07-26T12:10:15.238-07:00The Stairway<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.howardgrill.com/Images/storyimages/oddsnends/stairwell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: -webkit-auto;">
</div>
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I am going downstairs in the hotel garage to get my car and drive to dinner. The valet car parkers wearing white knit shirts and black trousers run up and down the stairs all day. The concrete is stained. The narrow stairs barely leave room to pass anyone. I'm descending so fast that I almost run into a woman coming from the other direction - from the lower garage level. I smile as I pass her, a Chicano woman wearing a blue uniform with a white collar and cuffs. "Hello," I say. "Hello," she answers. She is walking slowly. Obviously she is tired. She works in some capacity in the hotel, but I have never seen her. No, I look back because she has hesitated and I wonder why. She sees a piece of trash on a step. She has stopped and is deciding whether or not to pick it up. Then she leans down and does so. There is no question how many things she has cleaned in her life. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b>From <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Am-Everyone-Meet-Encounters-ebook/dp/B002E19LPS/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2">I Am Everyone I Meet: Random Encounters on the Streets of Los Angeles.</a> Now available for 99 Cents! </b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span><br />
<i>Copyright 2012 James P. White All Rights Reserved (No part of this work may reproduced, except to quote for reviews or blogs, without the express permission of the author) </i>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01052534823751216071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19924540.post-71419126462612819442012-05-21T11:21:00.002-07:002012-05-21T11:21:58.326-07:00Five Dollars<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzAeyb2a2zAx-lbYz5FZI_-pqFSrd8ZS5ZIKRWvpa4XyhUwlfM39_Wd6EF2xXpSfMyx-3GZ_2f-oCN3G_PZucxvjlPyUWd2cRsz21M0MNheZd4C2m6mKOl3HhxLUmtGc_0P2TC/s1600/five-dollar-bill-front-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzAeyb2a2zAx-lbYz5FZI_-pqFSrd8ZS5ZIKRWvpa4XyhUwlfM39_Wd6EF2xXpSfMyx-3GZ_2f-oCN3G_PZucxvjlPyUWd2cRsz21M0MNheZd4C2m6mKOl3HhxLUmtGc_0P2TC/s400/five-dollar-bill-front-2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Leaving my apartment, I go along the outside walkway and out the metal grill to the alley. Immediately ahead I see a woman about my age digging into the trash. I walk past, glancing at her. She ignores me. Her grey hair is matted; her skin is dirty, too. She has to be in her sixties like me. After a few steps I turn around and walk up to her. I hand her a five dollar bill that I have just taken from my pocket. "Here, " I say. She reaches out and takes it. She looks at it. "Wait a minute," she says. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I am just walking off. I turn back. "Yes?"</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">"Why did you give this to me? </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">"I thought you needed it?"</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">"But why give it?" Her expression is very serious. She holds the money like she may give it back. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">"Because I care about you," I say. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">She breaks into a full smile. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">"Thank you, then," she says. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b>I Am Everyone I Meet: Random Encounters on the Streets of Los Angeles. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Am-Everyone-Meet-Encounters-ebook/dp/B002E19LPS/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2">Pick it up for 99 Cents today!</a> </b></span><br />
<br />
<i>Copyright 2012 All Rights Reserved (No part of this work may be reproduced, except to quote on blogs and reviews, without the express permission of the author)</i><br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01052534823751216071noreply@blogger.com0