The Nation We Live In, a Collection of Essays and Short Stories

Where does your personal INSPIRATION come from? How do you create that intrinsic energetic fuel to conquer your daily goals and work? Is it innate? Is your inspiration derived from an outside third party source? Well, personally I am inspired by Money and the possibility of increasing income and earnings.  As a self-practicing real estate agent, the more property listings, tenant rep showings, lease listings and buyers I can successfully engage with, the better. With more business, there is more opportunity to serve clients. In turn, successful client closings create happiness for them, and more income and bank account money for me. A Double win! But just like in your Monday through Friday or Sunday career routines, often the repetitiveness can bring us down and dampen the mood. Again, where do the creative juices and energy come from? Are coffee and caffeine the answer? Sometimes during a sluggish day around 3 pm, maybe yes, but caffeine should not be abused. ...

Preconceptions.... These new mobile phone application ordered electric scooters whizzing around my downtown and adjacent neighborhoods have distinctly changed Austin Texas's scenery! The terrain has visually been altered. These electronic "pay 16 cents by the minute," scooters have given this new century, a starkly different transportation look. Has your city been bombarded yet? Warning, they are coming. It's inevitable. Visualize with me, the streets and sidewalk you used to actually walk or peddle bike upon, now outwardly sporting these various and competing brand's scooters. How does it work? Well, I imagine, the usage methods are similar to the Uber, and Lyft ride-share models. First, download the scooter brand mobile phone application, next input a credit card for automatic payment, then locate a scooter to use, and finally scan, start, and go. I'd bet it is a pretty simple process. Isn't simplicity always the #1 goal of consumer te...

Don't you wish you could RESET your mindset back to a clean slate, as easily as restarting your computer? I do! Does the authentic stresses of adulthood, income earning, family rainmaking, inevitable taxes, constant bills, responsibilities, work relationships, and the juggling of duties, coupled with increasing city noise boggle you down? Even I, the experienced big-time city slicker am susceptible to these mentally draining and cumbersome adult problems. The weight of work failure, coupled with nighttime booze is not an ideal remedy. So how can we fix our mental health? Mental Health is a major humanity issue in today's times. How can we perform a successful mental reset? Where is the ZEN my readers? Recently after I became mentally bogged down, mean and zonked out, I awoke with the desire for a  clearing of the mental pallet. How can this be done? Here are some ideas, I thought of, coupled with my pretty lady sushi dinner dat...

Be Here Now. Live in the Moment. Don't dwell on the past.  These are all therapist and philosophically worn phrases. What about the Promise of Tomorrow? How do you feel about the immediate future? Do you think after resting your head on the pillow tonight, and enjoying an entire night of sleep, that the next day will be any better? Will tomorrow be worse? My inner self still wants to believe in my future living days and life. Do you care about your future life? When you are a kid, adolescent, college student and even as a twenty-something, the future, and eminent mid-life crisis seems galaxies and light years away. I'll never be 40 years old. That's what we all wishfully imagined. Personally, I recall as a twenty-something happily partying at night, and easily working during the day. My moods and health were smooth and assured. My twenties consisted of living in Austin, Texas and then later in my 20's after moving to New York, briskly walking the invigor...

Click here for a 2/12/2020 NEW UPDATE on the "Silent Sam" Removal on the Campus of Univ. North Carolina - Chapel Hill The United States southern Confederacy movement, southern states, and war soldiers eventually lost the Civil War to the North in 1865. In current times, the Confederacy is still losing. What's happening? Well, the Confederate resembling historical and prominent physical statues, streets and school names are being heavily questioned, yanked down, physically removed, and entirely renamed. It's happening often, powerfully and with consistency. These physically painful earthly reminders of the Confederacy are being attacked by the opposing human group masses. Governments are meticulously changing street and school names. Some people consider it an attempted re-write of American History. I consider it an intelligent desire to simply highlight more honorable and inspiring figures from America's historical past. In personal evidence of proof...

As an American citizen, the 1st Amendment, in my opinion, is the most important amendment to our nation's constitution. The 1st Amendment gives American residents the absolute right to express their opinions, and the right of free speech. It is also guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. Recently, a slippery slope has occurred in regards to a notorious, hate-filled, conspiracy theorist, and media personality Alex Jones. In addition to Alex Jones widespread media banishment, he is also being sued in court for defamation by multiple parents of the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting massacre. One of Alex's awful, stupid and hurtful conspiracy theories is that the Sandy Hook infant children shooting and deathly massacre in Connecticut was a hoax. This detrimental attention crazed human, Alex Jones thinks the murderous Sandy Hook shooting event was "fabricated" to constrain national gun rights. An example of modern Idiocracy. This man is mostly hated in society. It l...

Float the Rivers, Nap, Party all Night at the Square, Sleep, Coffee and Repeat. That's the Small College Town vibe and lifestyle of San "Marvelous" Marcos, Texas in a  nutshell. This summer I decided to mix it up, and try something different. I had been avidly fond of BABY Austin, Texas  for quite some time. One could describe San Marcos as the Brooklyn of Texas. I searched around on the internet, made some phone calls, and found a 2 month plus, short-term furnished lease, with zero security deposit at the Vistas complex in San Marcos, Texas. The Vistas is a welcoming, newer apartment complex that encompasses an entire city block. It has a pool, key entry security, a gym, and on-site management. Basically, everything was included in my $1800 dollar total rent, short term lease. The Vistas Studio apartment was ideal for my leisurely 2nd summer home. The goals were to vacation, relax, escape the bigger ATX city and small-town party! ...