Coffee Shop

Give me a comfortable place
to sit, read, write, and witt.

a place in space to end the race and slow the pace, waiting out the days with plays and games-
sunshine beaming between the pains.

Book Buying 101 – A Business for People With Pennies to Invest

The cast of characters is already enough to send my brain spinning down the sitcom pilot hallway.  But alas, I’ve got too many projects started already.

I started a new job yesterday working for a book reseller. He has an awesome loft apartment in downtown LA; it’s starting to look good downtown, in a couple of years you’re gonna be surprised at what’s occurred there, where he has shelves upon shelves of books listed on Amazon. When you order used books from Amazon, do you envision some poor schlep of a guy in a giant warehouse in Idaho picking that obscure out of print book from a shelf atop a 4 story ladder? Well not quite. It’s not one warehouse, but hundreds. And the schlep is often a shrewd market trader with inventory built up over time. There are independent dealers across the country scouring the county flea markets, garage sales, thrift stores and other various used book locations to offer up as used items through Amazon. These dealers ship you the product directly and are responsible through their agreements with Amazon to provide you with awesome service.

The guy that I’m working for is a terrific guy who has been working this game for many years. At least 8 and he certainly is not a schlep.

It is a fun job with a sense of learning that comes with each day. I get to hang out at thrift stores and buy books for cheap. Right now my goal is to build up an inventory so that I can have more items selling more often. Some things sell quickly and some sit for awhile in inventory before they sell. It was  a good first day on the job and I collected several textbooks, which can fetch quite a good fair.

Who knew that there is so much opportunity right under your nose. This is what theRevolution is about. Discovering and  connecting with people that have the insight into how to make their lives better with what is given to them.  The essence of creation. People with a sense of purpose and vison beyond what most people would consider to be practical. My sense is that there is a growing business here and there are plans for this team of Revoutionaries to reach out to the community in unique and powerful ways. This is what theRevolution loves to see. People helping people through economic incentive, community hands-on involvement and grass root communication. theRevolution has found another Authentic in the mist of the Fugazi.

The Sun rises and sets on the good and the evil.

His name is Boober

I had some profound insight into just how powerful is this universal truth. I see the power of Life constantly force its way through the cracks on the planet. Life has no prejudice. The seasons are the same for the sinner and the saint.  The unfathomable God we keep trying to fathom has no choice but to love our planet. The sun rises and sets on the good and the evil. Sit with that for a few minutes. He is giving the same gifts to the scoundrels and the liars that he is giving to the saints. How dare He! Tomorrow I can be a saint and the next day I may be a scoundrel. Yet God’s gift is still the life pouring through the cracks in our hearts. I pretend to yield the best that I can. But, how do you yield to the eternal?  “Go ahead Sun, rise today.” What kind of arrogance is that? And naive too. Do we say to ourselves,”Oh, today I’m going to yield to gravity.” NO. Aren’t you either fighting it or working with it? I believe that this universal truth, and scriptural axiom, is telling us so much more than just about the setting of the planets around the Sun. It is about the setting of us upon the planet to live and love by the same moon, stars, sun, seas, and forests.  God makes no choice but to shine love upon us all. The Sun cannot judge where it will shine. This is the knowledge of the Kingdom of Heaven. The rains, the Forces of Nature, pour on the unjust as they do the just. Why argue over God’s love? It rises on the good and the evil. It is just awesome to me today, the power of this eternal grace that we are given.

How will you great your enemy when you see him in God’s Kingdom? As you do now? Will you be envious? Will you be like the servants that were hired early in the day and given the same as those who only worked at sundown? Or will you know that the Sun rises and sets on the good and the evil and let the Kingdom of Heaven fill your disagreements with silent reconciliation, knowing what you had done to one another?

Is God not capable of another Sunrise for everyone? Is there not more fruit we can bare tomorrow, brother?

Peace and grace to you.

Michael

theRevolution

Poetry – My Hearts Guide

Live open hearted
Be inspired and moved by art
Be magnanimous of heart
Boundless in optimism
Search the depth for the verse, which expresses life’s tension. Life’s beginning. Life’s end.
Express life. Live art.

The Greatest Show You Didn’t Know

by Jeffrey Huit

Rarely in life do you truly discover something brilliant, promising and unique. Sure, you hope for it. You may even brag about that wonderful little play you saw, selling it to strangers as a slice of originality — but in a world of the ho-hum and trivial, it is so easy to dress it up, letting it masquerade as genuine. It is truly a pleasure, let me just say, to not have to do that now.

If I were to ask anyone (who knew anything about sketch comedy) where the best sketch comedy comes from, nine times out of ten I would hear “Chicago” or “New York”. What a true find it was, then, to stumble across a show called “Fries On The Side” here, in Los Angeles, California.

Imagine any sketch show on television. Now imagine the funniest sketch you have ever seen that show do. Now imagine a show that has, one after the other, sketches that equal or surpass the funniest sketch you have ever seen. That’s “Fries On The Side”. Am I overselling it? I don’t think so.

The show has been hosted by some of the funniest, free-spirited celebrities in Los Angeles, with bigger and brighter stars slated to visit in the coming SIXTH SEASON. Past favorites include Danny Woodburn (Mickey in “Seinfield”) Christopher Titus, Alan Ruck (Cameron from “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”), Tommy Davidson (from “In Living Color”) and Carlos Alazraqui (from “Reno 911″). And they come back to host, again and again. Why? Three reasons: the sketches are brilliant, the audience is on-board and loving it, and the talent in the show is some of the best you will ever come across.

So how do they do it? How does a little show, in little North Hollywood, manage to produce the kind of entertainment that blows away anything on television? Simple: only the truly great people survive.

That may sound harsh, but it’s true. “Fries On The Side” employs a philosophy that guarantees excellence. Besides engaging 8 or 9 staff writers who churn out nearly 20 sketches every week, they accept outside submissions. Frequently they wade through 40 to 60 submissions for a show that performs only 12 at the most. In an environment of competition, only the best survive.

Anyone can show up to act. Anyone — even you! Once cast, it is that actor’s job to be indespensable. Can you truly be great? Can you always be great? If the writers trust you, you stay. If they don’t, the casting won’t go your way, and the message becomes pretty clear. Currently, there is a main cast of 12 people who have done just that, with new hopefuls vying every week to be just as good or better. What does that mean? It means the show is better every year, consistently.

This all happens in a cozy theatre called The Sanford Meisner Center for the Performing Arts. Impressive name, camouflaging the funniest sketch comedy show in Los Angeles. While it is usually sold out, that only means 55 people are there with you. And you’re laughing so hard, you’re crying. Afterwards, the cast hangs out and enjoys a fine Coors Lite with you, and you’re happy they did. Rarely do you get to congratulate someone on a truly impressive show and mean it.

So here it comes: Season Six of “Fries On The Side”. Wow. A new show every week, a new host, and a cast of truly good-hearted people who rule at sketch comedy. Hopefully, The season is brought to you by this years sponsor – Snow Queen Vodka ™! First regular season show on Sat. May 10th! Wha hoo!
I guess L.A is finely catching on.

And thanks, “Fries”, for doing the impossible: making Saturday night in Los Angeles my favorite night of the week. Great job last night. Start writing… you’ve got a brand new show next week.

Very Best

Jeff

theRevolution

For more information, visit www.friesontheside.com

Also, this years performances will be stream-cast over the web by theRevolution in conjunction with comechill.com, the social networking home for people who hate the corporate pablum of those other dopie sites.

Certified Barista – [barista] : n. coffee artist.

Well I am an artist in yet another medium, coffee. Coffee, Cafe Latte, Espresso, Cafe Americano – all terms with which I am now intimately familiar. I am having the time of my life working at Starbucks in Beverly Hills. In fact I just completed my first 4am “clock-in” – yes, our store on South Beverly is open at 4:30AM.

The coffee house is the perfect place for a writer and wannabe shaman to get his start. The culinary delight. The interaction of people engaged in their daily chemical warfare. After 10 years of footloose and fancy-free lounging about the tables and chairs of many Starbucks stores from N.Y. to London (my pen has inked millions of miles in the comfort of this much needed water siren ), I am stepping behind the bar to serve for awhile.

I have toured town-to-town as a stand-up comedian and spent every morning taking time over an espresso to sort out my material. I love the lifestyle that coffee houses create and foster. Not so much the consumption by itself, but the act of sharing a common culinary delight is more about taking time to share ideas and create memories that will engage your mind’s eye for ages. Spend time, it’s worth more.

I look forward to sharing from the other side of the bar.

theRevolution is fastidiously learning all that it can about about food, drink, medicine, diet and ecology. We encourage putting action to belief and we believe that there is no greater priority than the Earth-food-body connection.

To theRevolution’s way of thinking, our highest priority is reshaping our understanding of how we interact with our earth.

Starbucks carries with it several of the guiding principles theRevolution also holds dear. First on the list is, “Provide a great work environment and treat each other with respect and dignity.” After having gone through their training, I can agree with the thousands of other Partners who echo my sentiments when I say that the company truely lives up to this guideline. There is a great deal of care here for the people and their planet. Thanks Starbucks.

Peace,

Michael

theRevolution

Senior Care Helps Patient And Caregiver At Olympic Adult Day Health Care

Nacole and Lilith remind me of two sitcom heroines sitting behind their desks at the end of their group socialization/1-on-1 counseling rooms.

Each behind their anchor desks like a pair of sweet news anchors reporting on the day from a whole different point of view. I kind of expected Bob Newhart to come through the side door to the garden. They report to me how life really is in the mental health/senior health care field.

Nacole says these are the most rewarding moments of her life. “Nothing in school can prepare you for the real world experience of working with someone in the middle of a full blown hallucination. It certainly gives you reasons to appreciate your own life.” She is grading math problems that she had given to one of her patients who is learning to add. Lilith tells me, “It is the simplest things that make the difference, like listening to them – nobody ever listens to them.”

Behind them sat a vase of a half dozen roses, a gift from one of the seniors who was appreciative to have been taught how to pay her bills online, a serious step forward for persons of this age. These are the victories of life at the Olympic Adult Day Health Care center on La Cienega.

The most rewarding moments for them are the days when they help a patient solve a problem. The degree of appreciation is a lesson for me to take outside these doors.

There is an Eastern philosophy to life that is apt here. If someone gives you a dime, spend a nickel on bread and a nickel on flowers.

Peace.

Michael

Many health care centers provide care for one of the following 3 areas. Olympic provide all three types.

1. The traditional model with social services, activities, crafts and some individual attention from workers.

2. The medical model with services above but also skilled services from nurses, therapists, social workers, psychiatrists, geriatric physicians and others.

3. The Alzheimer’s model with services specifically designed to support and care for Alzheimer’s patients.

And FREE TRANPORTATION!

Medi CAL cover the costs if you qualify.

Contact Luba at 310.300.1111

Additional info at:

http://adult-day-care.org/

http://notesfromtherevolution.wordpress.com