Fashion Smashion12/9/2015
However, the life of a starving artist is not shenanigans. I met a nice young lady by the name of Jazmin who started a small fashion business and it is taking off. It's great to see young talent get out there and make something happen. While others are sitting around, letting their talents go to waste, there are still some kids rolling the dice and swinging for the fences.
Jazmin has a great business model going, she knows how to turn a profit, and give her customers exactly what they want. After our meeting, I realized we would make great business partners as she has style and fashion and is plugged into the industry and I can focus on the media, ads, and growing the business into milestones that would allow us to really build a formidable small business based on common principles. If you'd like to preview Jazmin's line of clothing, check out: hotcocoavintage.etsy.com My goal would be to grow us into a fully operational e-commerce site with ad driven traffic and affiliates pointing traffic our way. But Etsy is fine platform with a huge following and healthy competition so sticking with them for a bit is not a bad idea. See some pics from our impromptu test session below: A day at the library12/8/2015 While I am still writing up crap that happened to me on the road, I had to share this moment of excellence. I had wanted to hit the local library for the last few days to catch up on stuff and use free wifi without the obligation of getting all bloated and farty over some overpriced coffee. Danielle said she'd take me there since we had to run errands anyways. I said cool. After swinging by Cosco, the grabbing lunch, it was time for the library. I was in the middle of a ridiculous rant about god knows what when I see this guy running down the street like he was stomping on hot coals. We laughed for a minute and then she made a quick left into the Visalia Library. Before getting out, I blurted "sweet, I'm sure that asshole will end sitting right next to me." I make my way into the library, track down someone to help me with the wifi username and password (which changes daily), and found a seat near a power outlet. Everything is now set and I'm all ready to talk about yesterday's awesome fashion introduction with a new client/partner when that f*cking lunatic running down the street missing a shoe, turns the corner at Periodicals and just stares at me through his Panama Jack Aviators for about a minute straight. He puts his jacket on the seat across from us. Then, whilst staring at me, slowly stumbles over to the table next to me. About 20 feet from his jacket. Clearly, this guy is on something. He's indoors wearing shades. And he still hasn't located that other shoe. Then, I hear "pssssst.....pssssst" so I look at him since I figured this dude is about to become my problem. Out of nowhere, this guy carrying a Gandolf-like staff, hobbles over slowly, reaches into his jacket - and at this point I'm thinking "oh shit, this guy is about to shoot him in the face! The old man slowly pulls out this black object when the maniac next to me starts laughing hysterically and I hear "bang" on the table. Turns out it was his shoe. The old guy said "Hey man, you dropped your shoe about 4 blocks back. " He just turned around and left. I must have laughed for a good 5 minutes. Route 6611/28/2015 My trip into New Mexico was one full of ear-popping, maniacal driving. The people in these parts don't mess around when it comes to sustained speeds. Hell, the speed limit is 75mph! So naturally, everyone is moving closer to 85-90 mph on average. When you're 50 miles or so between gas stations, it's clear to see why you don't wanna go slow. All there is to look at is gargantuan farms, 25-story corn silos, and trains. Tons and tons of trains. Did I mention how many damn trains traverse the southwest? So by the time I made it into New Mexico, I was beat and decided to get a room on the world famous Route 66. This room is exactly what I thought it would be. 30 years of smoking, travelers, hooker's breath, and probably a few ritualistic killings left quite a scent in the room I got at the 5-star Motel 6 Resort and Laundromat. I had a quick chat with the surly old goat at the front desk. He was from Brooklyn. Probably in some sort of witness protection program by the sound of his disdain with the area and its inhabitants. After settling into my room, I decided to watch TV and see what terrible shit was plaguing our planet this time. More murder and mayhem of course. I quickly passed out, forgetting to set my alarm. No worries, because my battle damaged Terminator-like wake up routine made sure I was up by 6:59 AM. I finally got out of bed around 8am and loaded up the soccer-mom-mobile to head out. That's when I spotted this awesome building up for sale. As you can tell, it has been repurposed several times. After admiring the Gas Station/Chinese Restaurant/Lunch Buffet, I figured I should ride a little further down Route 66 and see what I find. I passed a few Tex Mex joints and scrap yards, then found something I had wanted to visit for quite some time and completely forgot about it up until this point. The Route 66 Automotive Museum! This place was awesome and only $5 bucks to enter. All the cars and memorabilia was on sale - because let's face it, everything in life is for sale - and the lady running the place was really nice and gave me a little tour since I was the only one there at first. Like most places I show up, it's empty when I get there and people seem to follow me in. If only I had the same effect on the rain in California. Check out the gallery below: The White Castle Incident11/23/2015 When I arrived in Indiana, I was pretty beat. I had been on the road for a while and I figured I needed to take a break and get some rest. I spotted signs for the city of Terre Haute. Sidenote: I really had a hard time pronouncing Terre Haute. It comes out Tara-Haauuuoote. Near the exit, I spotted a sign for White Castle. I nearly had a heart attack. I haven't had White Castle in ages! I had to go. So, after cutting off multiple cars, I darted down that exit ramp, made a hard left, and ended up in the parking lot. There was a random lady dressed in a top to bottom poncho pacing the parking lot and I scared the shit out of her when I slid into my spot. She could tell I was on a mission. I walk through the door to hear the familiar sound of disgruntled fast food employees accusing one another of sexual harassment. I noticed the menu has changed quite a bit since I last went to the one on Bruckner Blvd two decades ago. I ended up ordering a two slider meal and added two chicken sandwiches. I figured let me see if I can grade both beef and chicken compared to Krystal's. My findings were surprising. White Castle makes a much better beef sandwich. MUCH BETTER. However - and believe me, it blew me away to say this - but Krystal's makes a 10-times better chicken sandwich. The employee walking around cleaning tables enjoyed watching me destroy this tray of food. When I told him about my trip, he was blown away. He offered me some free food but I couldn't stuff my face anymore. After burping and farting in the parking lot for what felt like 20 minutes, I was confident enough to get into my car, not crap my pants, and head to the Red Roof Inn. Check my previous post for the Red Roof Inn-cident. If you enjoy a good laugh and want to support this crazy trip, please donate to my gofundme campaign linked below! Day 5 - Red Roof Inn and Reality show11/17/2015 I arrived in Terre Haute, Indiana last night and with the storm aptly named Ajax rolling in, I've been stuck here since. When I pulled up, I noticed there was a Sheriff's Deputy car parked out front idling. I figured maybe he was checking in. I was wrong. Incredibly wrong. As I walked into the lobby, I immediately walked into a potential shootout. The deputy, a tall thin black man, was being berated by a short and ornery older Asian dude. This guy was slamming his hand on the counter, yelling "I live here 31 years, I am American!" and the officer stood there, taking it. Repeating his sentiment, I stood behind the little ninja just in case things got out of hand, I could leap in to pin this guy down. After a few minutes of storming around, he sat down and the officer confirmed the guy's address for the hotel clerk named Thomas - a very patient guy by the looks of it. Once they entered his info and booked his room, the officer radioed back to dispatch a code and walked out. The Asian guy followed him out. That's when Thomas asked "Uh, how can I help you?" and I said "I'm just looking to get a room..." He apologized and quoted a price. I asked him what had happened and he said the Asian guy was involved in a domestic dispute and his wife threw him out. The officer was kind enough to drop him off at the hotel so he didn't freeze his ass off outside. Right after explaining that, we see the Asian guy following the cop car on foot, yelling "TAKE ME TO JAIL YOU SON OF A BITCH!" We died laughing because this guy was really trying to get arrested. But, I had to comment that we don't know what happened. The guy could have walked in on his wife getting dry humped by the mailman. Who knows? I got my room key, and looked around outside before heading to my room. I couldn't find the little guy so I assume he might have been arrested. I'll never know.
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