The 48 Laws of the South

I was sitting in a closing today with my dad and we were waiting on some reprints of paperwork, while chatting with one of the loan officers from the bank. The banker asked if we were going to be purchasing lots of other properties like this one? My dad said yes, and launched into this diatribe of what we were looking at and where and for how much.

I felt this swell inside of me, it was knee jerk, and I had to stop myself from saying, what are you doing?! He doesn't need to know that!
But as I sat and listened I realized that this kind of openness and transparency is what makes small towns small towns and even big towns small towns. It creates all these tiny personal connections, a lot like what linkedin.com tries to achieve, but in person. It's what makes business happen here. It's the lubrication if you will.
I then realized that my time working as a film producer in Los Angeles trained me to be SO cautious about what I say. To rethink everything twice before I said it. Everyone was keeping information from someone else. And why? To feel powerful? To feel more important? To be a douche? If you had a good idea, good enough for someone else to steal then A) You'd be profiting from it as I speak or B) Someone else would have already done it.

I'm definitely going to have to get used to this, but I have a good walking example to learn from. It's definitely a breath of fresh air and it's renewed some of my faith in ethical business practice.

Kate Monster Vs. Business Monster

In this analogy Kate monster will be everyone out there that has the ability to live paycheck to paycheck and still enjoy life to the absolute fullest.
Business monster will be all those people out there that are go, go, go, and don't ever stop to appreciate life (most of those people don't have pets by the way).

I was standing at the bank today with my dad, setting up a new account for a property, while his phone begins ringing about a closing we have tomorrow. I continue to set up the account and wait for him to get off the phone - as soon as he does we are able to proceed with getting the account set up. We then go talk to the senior commercial lender just to get to know her and his phone rings more (he doesn't pick it up this time). As we stroll outside my dad vents to me about how ridiculous it is that the attorney dealing with the closing we are going to tomorrow is calling NOW to tell us of all this other information he needs BEFORE tomorrow. "Someone's not doing there job, and it really frosts me", he says.

If you've gotten this far then you will be rewarded with the point of my story. I was once a Business monster. Today, while at the bank I saw my dad being a business monster. My wife is more of a Kate monster. This makes coming home a really nice place to be. We have a dog, charlie, and are about to get another (so he has a sister to play with). This makes us a Kate monster family. So my goal is to work hard like a Business monster and play hard like a Kate monster. This shouldn't be too hard to do since I've got my own business and it's with my pops. However, if you ever see me around town being a Business monster, tell me to take a breath and channel my inner Kate monster.

Small town

Things are starting to feel a little more "homey" if you will. Erin's mom is in town, which always helps. I am getting into somewhat of a routine with my dad, and business is actually starting to begin. (I start my real estate license course in two weeks).
I go into the bank on Friday and see my sister.
I go over to my other sisters house today so that the dogs can play. We sit out by the pool, I enjoy a corona with my brother in law, and we chat.
This big town is starting to feel smaller, and slightly more comfortable.

Why I love Florida

I don't know that this needs much of an explanation. I was on a business trip today to Tallahassee and I saw this vehicle while in line at a Starbucks drive through. This combination of signage made such a statement to me, I knew - this would be a topic of the blog.

Here's the kicker. We pull up to the window and the attendant says, "I'm SO sorry for the way, but that car in front of you just bought 7lbs of coffee to send to the troops".
That either makes this posting better or worse....I just can't decide.

Matchforcouples.com

Yesterday morning I was driving in to our family owned gift shop (Daffodils) to put in my obligatory time. As I drove past our redneck neighbors to get there, I was overcome by a general feeling of sadness. I had the compulsion to text Erin and say, Don't worry babe - just remember how long it took to form those friendships in Los Angeles. I talked myself out of doing that in case she was actually having a good day.
I got to work in the gift shop and busied myself with opening duties, which I kind of just made up on the spot. It was some what cathartic to be busy and helping people, even though I did promise myself I wouldn't work in retail again, after my time at the Gap and Blockbuster. In trying to determine where this swell of joy aroused from, I realized that it was contributed to being "busy". Any of you who know me know I do best when busy - when left stagnant I get cranky and need my bottle. Busy is also a key word for lonely too, I think.
I talked to Erin, by phone, mid morning, and she was beginning to express similar feelings. "I don't have anything to do and anyone to talk to about it." I should have sent the text message!
That's when it hit me - there should be a Match.com, but for couples. One that couples could go on to find other couples with similar interests. I know it sounds corny, and probably insulting to those who are single, but I would bet there are quite a few people across America who relocate, as a couple, and have a hard time getting started meeting people in a new area.
The I realized thats kind of what facebook is about - not entirely, but surely one facet serves that need.
I ended the day at Hatcher's house, where I played rock band until my wrist hurt and it made all those earlier feelings subside. It's just going to take time. LA wasn't what it was in 1 month, or even a year. It was 7 years of memories.

T5

I am sitting in the new Jet Blue terminal 5 at JFK (which is ridiculously amazing) reflecting on the last 36 hours. Erin and I went on an impromptu trip to see Lin-Manuel do his thing in In The Heights. He is leaving the show on Feb 15th - and we both felt like this was an opportunity not to be missed.
Our friends Jimmy and Kelly were nice enough to let us bunk up at their place in Astoria and our other friends Emi, Paul, and Kate-monster met us for the night. The show was unforgettable. In my eyes (and ears) it's set a new marker for Broadway musicals. It's to this generation what rent was to my generation. The show, from every aspect, oozes cohesive juicy goodness. From sets, to lights, to choreography, to music, lyrics, talent.....on and on. Supid good.
At the curtain call Lin-Manuel came out last holding posterboard with "We just won" on one side. He took his bow and then flipped it over, "A Grammy". The crowd went wild - the cast was beaming.
We left and met up with Emi's old roomates at The Duplex (a piano bar downtown) where we sang classics and show tunes and had drinks until the wee hours of the morning.
My highlight was looking over at my wife, watching her singing musicals with all her friends, grinning from ear to ear. She had a light in her eyes that hadn't sparked that deep down happy way in a while. I was somewhat the introvert - just taking it all in. It's rare for me to take on that role, but I'm so happy that I did, because it allowed me to see her glow. She looked beautiful. It was truly the icing.

The Starfish

Dear Mr. Starfish Head,

While at the Lewis Black show last night you blew my mind. I've seen lots of hairstyle's in my day. The fro, the bowl cut, dreads, crazy colors, designs shaved in, crazy facial hair....etc.
Tonight though you bridged a new gap for me. The star fish. It wasn't the beginning of dreads - I promise. It was about 8 meticulously twisted and gel'ed strands of hair that lay ever so gently over a buzz cut; like a starfish would make a new home on a rock. I thank you Mr. Starfish Head for sharing giving me this experience.

*Starfish - the name of this haircut has to be credited to Mr. Hatcher Flaschen (blog link to come)

Bubba

I am sure there will be many posts about our experiences back in Florida. We both grew up here, but after experiencing such a socially liberal environment for the past 7 years, it's almost like moving here for the first time.

Last night I was searching craigslist for a "weight set". This was one of the postings that showed up from my search string. I believe it speaks for itself.

My view

This is what my office looks like right now. It's obviously a work in progress. Things are coming along smoothly out here. It's freezing, like 18 degrees at night - which is kind of odd. I'm excited for it to warm up some so I can do some necessary outdoor house maintenance. That's fun to say.
We are settling in slowly. You might find Erin feels differently (dec-o-blog). We are both going through an up and down roller coaster of highs and lows. I think the coolest thing is that we are going through it together.
We have a huge weekend planned. Lewis Black at the Florida Theater on Friday, NY on Sunday to see In the Heights and then Orlando on Tuesday to see our friends Jimmy and Kelly for a grown up prom night. This will be nice after a week of our heads buried in moving boxes.