Free Willy... Save the Orcas

This past winter I watched the documentary Blackfish on Netflix... And after making a post on FB yesterday because I kept running into a number of posts asking to join the petition to keep orcas out of captivity. I had to write something.

Now, I’ve always been one for animals and wildlife, learning about them, seeing them and quite frankly finding them more interesting than most humans... Heck, I grew up going to zoo camp and taking adventures to wildlife refuges. In high school I helped set up a watershed grant for the Lynnhaven River with my school as well as 3 years of the Oyster Restoration Project for the Chesapeake Bay... But, I also grew up going to the circus and visiting Sea World... I loved it but taking a step back, I am almost embarrassed to say, I enjoyed it...

Life for animals is not like the movies these creatures may like doing tricks but they aren’t like Alex (The Lion from Madagascar) who get a sense of celebrity and forget if Blackfish portrayed only the negative or edited the film to the director’s liking, the big picture of the film I think, is to open up our eyes to what is really happening... That these mammals (some captured, some born in captivity) are given a fraction of space in which they should be given to live... That most of these orcas were separated and forced to become family with other orcas making new pods and most of them hating the others for it, ganging up on the outcasts as if they were in middle school together. As I said in my FB feed I understand rehabilitating and researching wildlife but profiting off of animals while making them do tricks for treats or confining them to a limited space is upsetting... And it is, it’s not fare and it truly saddens me to think that they have a life of imprisonment for profit.

Places like Sea World or watching the circus are great if it’s the shows with people on water skis or guys riding motorcycles in steel cages with fire everywhere, I like the sense of community and watching all the people and hearing children laugh but what I don’t want to see or hear is animals being hurt or crying out... If I ever have kids, I want to take them to places where the animals and mammals are free to roam, to let them experience creatures in their own habitats letting them truly explore the wonder that is around us not what is brought to us.

I know that by signing my name isn’t going to change everything and I don’t expect for the orcas to just be released because they would need a release project that would help them back into the wild, so there are many steps to taking action but I do feel like by making people aware is the most important and then using our best judgement as to what we spend our money on and what we go see is a step in the right direction.

Long Live the Circle of Life.
Nants ingonyama bagithi baba, Sithi uhhmm ingonyama, Ingonyama!

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Dave’s!

Dave’s Cosmic Subs where everything is cosmically delicious!

With a menu that stretches out across the whole front wall and where we create specials based off our taste buds or creative customers, there really is no better place for a sub sandwich when it comes to this hole in the wall wonder... at times I can honestly say it help save me... they took me in when I needed extra money and 3 years later I do it all right along with my crew.

Dave’s isn’t just a sandwich shop to me... it’s what I call family... we work together, we laugh together, we goof, joke and cry, we eat, we dance, we party, we spend holidays feasting and we have a love hate for each other as if we were all related because trust me if anyone messed with anyone of us we would all have each others back. Over the years we have greeted and waved goodbye to employees but the truth is once you are in the crew, burns and all it’s like a secret society and Dave’s blood is the best blood.

Sure I work at a sandwich shop in which I could be doing something else, making better money, with benefits and not slicing meat for a living but because of Dave’s I get to set my own rules and life... If I worked behind a desk for someone else making designs or taking photos I would loose my creative... I would hate that I was making someone else’s dream/vision come true while putting mine on the back burner... I am an artist, a creative soul, I have dreams and goals and I will work for them because I do not want to loose what I love about myself... I know that working behind a counter isn’t what I strive for but with the people I work with, getting to be creative with food, making people’s tummies smile and then getting to build myself as Hoffmeister is worth it.

In life all I’m looking for is to inspire, to create success, to find happy... I do want a family and I want to be able to take care of things so that they can live comfortably and I hope I can do that along with keeping true to myself because I want them to know me the way I see myself and the way I would want to see them live... as themselves.

So to Dave’s and my crew, I Love You and know I have your back like the perfect sweater, even when the day comes that I throw away my gloves for the last time!

Moving On...

Thanks for all the messages and concerns about where I was going... don't worry, I haven't left or moved on from my little abode that sits on Ponce. However, I am choosing to move on in the right direction.

In a world full of people there are many things that we are faced with. There is no stoping earths rotation or the way of life, emotions, attractions and feelings but you do have a choice. A choice to better yourself, to stay true to what you are looking for and how you want to live your life. To be strong enough to move on when things no longer make us happy or hurt us. In hopes to finding something better... for who knows, something maybe out there that we never even imagined or dreamed of.

I am challenging myself to make the right moves, so that as a person, I can be who my cat thinks I am, full of wonder. I want to surround myself w positive outgoing people, who can laugh along side of me as we'll as have a real conversation. For life is not about how many people know you it's about who you share it w. I believe life can be a fairytale but to have the real thing we must experience both sweet and sour so when we find it, we can appreciate it more.

So from a picture that was intended for an ongoing joke about lesbians and uhauls... it actually turned into a realization.

I hope you challenge yourself, go find your happiness, go out on a limb... as scary as it may seem the reward maybe worth the rush of the unknown, plus isn't that were the fruit is?

Treating the Ladies...

I don’t know if I should call it old school or if people have forgotten what it is to treat somebody they like but as for me I was always taught to show how you feel all while being a respectable person. For me if I like someone I show them by romanticizing them, making little things such as mixed tapes and write them little notes or letters (I love snail mail), to me this is not only special but something that should be done.

Recently it has been brought to my attention through a series of events that I am not who I say I am or the person a certain someone thought I was...

That I use the same tactics and make girls/women feel special by making them these mixed CDs, writing cute little notes and cook for them.

Truth, maybe I do use the same tactics but each person I meet and start something with is different. And who doesn't want to treat who they're with special? No one person is the same, just like I don't treat everyone the same. Yes, certain aspects because I am a creative soul so I like making things. I make mixes because I not only enjoy music but because I like to make the people I'm with feel how I am feeling though music. I have never once re-gifted a previous mix made for someone else because they aren’t the same feelings. I couldn’t have all the same songs or letters or words for them.

For each beautiful soul that enters my life I like learning about them and opening up, sharing not only myself but the experiences and getting to know each other because even if we move on from one another at least I can say I gave them me, I showed them the real Loren and if they walk away or realize they want something else it’s because we weren’t meant for each other and I tried the best that I could and that we had our moment, that we were meant for our moment that we shared. And in those moments I am given, I will forever look into the eyes of the one I’m with and let them know that they are special and that they are the person I want to be with in that moment.

Another argument is how could I fall for someone and then walk away so easy...? Easy, I don’t like being taken advantage of, I’m tried of giving myself and watching people somersalt into their actions. Don’t share things with me and have an underlining issues that you don’t let surface till after sharing parts of yourself with me. I realize we will have many people enter our lives who will excite us, challenge us, frustrate us, make us laugh till we feel like we have a six pack and when we do, I fully embrace it for I want to grow and know what it is like to feel. But when I think about who I want to be with at the end of my days it’s someone who is going to make me smile and reflect on the world not having to argue, yell at or wonder what if you are telling me the truth or are you yet again fabricating the truth. I want to end up with my best friend and when you are best friends things fall into place giving you a feeling of peace. Yes, I know there will be ups and down for nothing is ever easy because “anything worth having isn’t easy and anything easy isn’t worth having.”

All in all, I am happy the way I treat women and if someone thinks I don’t... then it’s their loss.

Say, YES.

While our lives sometimes move at the speed of light, where getting things done and moving onto the next venture is in our mind, we unfortunately forget about the beauty of random. I know I’m always on the go, have things planned out and things that could be if the first things fall through, all while I having a stack of projects and work waiting for me. It is sometimes overwhelming to say the least.

Last Monday (MLK day) I had off from work, it was the only day game of the season for the Hawks and I really wanted to go... I knew I had a bunch of work to do and didn’t have anyone to go with but something reminded me of the movie Yes Man. There is a line in the movie that says “You say No, saying no to life and therefore you are not living, every time an opportunity presents itself you will say, yes.” Now, I know that you can over say yes but if it’s just for the randomness and not to overwhelm yourself with taking on other person/s projects, then yes can make us live in the moment. And that’s exactly what I did!

I playing over and over in my head that I shouldn’t go to the game, work even called seeing if I could take a shift in case someone was sick but they ended up being ok so after posting on fb to see if anyone wanted to go to the game, I called Carmellow. She was already going to the game and had plans to meet up w/ her friends from work and invited me to meet up with them for they had an extra ticket! I jumped in the car but with the MLK parade going on I couldn’t cross over Peachtree and was getting aggravated with the parking situation, so I just pulled over and walked. I got ahold of Carmellow who directed me to their location. I was sent through a claustro-fuck and almost had a mini panic attack but made it to the bar where I met 3 new people and downed a shot of Jager before walking over to Philips Arena. Once at the game my nerves calmed and I started to enjoy myself running into a few familiar faces, taking it as a sign that I was on the right track for the day. The game started out like butterfingers but as it went on the hawks went neck and neck beating out the T-Wolves.

(Photo Thanks: Dyana Bagby and GA Voice)


When the game ended I had every intention of going home to work on a few projects but walking out of the arena my new found friends were all going to continue their festivities and I thought back to the movie... I said to myself “Loren, today is the day you go with the flow and if something presents itself, go for it.” So I walked along having a few interesting conversations and laughs as Carmellow and I were called very attractive Lesbians by a very strait man as we sipped on a Moscow Mule and listened to Disney’s Snow White Heigh Ho, before being dropped off at another bar where we met for dinner and another new friend. As the girls took a smoke break, I got a text from my good ole roommate who I hadn’t seen in over a year saying she had an extra ticket to the Big Freedia concert and would love to catch up and being that “yes” was my word for the day, I dropped everyone off in midtown and made my way over to EAV where I met 2 handfuls of people who were full of life and good energy, making me smile from ear to ear! I was getting pretty tired when Big Freedia walked out and instructed us to work it out and get loose with him before he went on and lets just say it was a nonstop booty shake extravaganza. I met this super cute gay, Michael (pictured next to Big Freedia) and we ended up pairing up and being booty shaking dance partners. Once Big Freedia finally came out to perform he had all his little dancers (us) come up on stage and show the audience what we had learned, sweating, laughing, howling, booty shaking that moment was intoxicating and I didn’t think it could get any better then his last song came on. He looked me in the eyes and pointed to me, I gave him the thumbs up and he shook his head and pulled me on stage (solo) to shake it out with him. As I got on stage the crowd was wild and I thought it’s now or never, I ran across stage stop, dropped and rolled up onto my shoulders kicking my feet into the air and shaking my tush upside down and all I heard was the crowd scream in excitment... looking back and reflecting, it was in that moment and the moment of the whole day, meeting new people and enjoying myself with nothing holding me back that I can honestly say I felt infinite.

So, in the ever fast of our lives, live it, love it, be random and enjoy the unknown... get what you need to get done and then let go and find the beauty of a moment unplanned. Say, YES and see what happens!

What happens when you fall in love with a writer?

Better yet what happens if a writer/artist falls in love with you?!

As a kid most of us grow up watching Disney along with other movies/tv shows and read stories of true love, Princes and Princesses, the dork and the pretty one. I know, I for one have dreamt about finding my fairytale, hell, I have lived fairytales... only they didn’t end happily ever after... but I did get glimpses.

Yesterday as I was scrolling through my fb feed, I ran into a post that read: What happens when you fall in love with a writer. I read it and my wheels started turning for half the things talked about, I in fact do towards the lovely ladies that I have fallen for. I love making breakfast in bed wether it’s 8am, 7pm or 3am if you and I are hungry, I will cook. I like sex at anytime of the day and getting lost in their eyes, I wear my heart on my sleeve, I like sharing, I like adventures, I like exciting the one I am sharing my time and life with.

The truth is I have fallen in love a number of times (as well as have been hurt) the way it makes you feel is worth the good and the bad, it’s unlike anything other, your heart races, blood rushes through your body making your face turn red and your ears feel like they want to burn off, how it suddenly becomes hard to breath when you see them, how you get tingly and how when you make eye contact you turn away even though you could secretly stare at them till you fell asleep. Each time you fall in love it’s a different set of feelings, for you cannot love someone the same. Each person is a new start and together you can do and create anything. As a writer and artist I want to create a world that someone might have thought of but never thought existed.

I grew up in a house where my mother was treated like she was the only thing in the world that mattered. That not only my brother and I needed to respect but that my father would do anything and everything to make her happy, never raising a hand and always backing down when knowing she wasn’t. My dad said you treat the one you want to be with the best that you can, stand up when you need to but always show love even if you’re angry or hurt. And that’s what I want. I want to find and fall in love with my best friend. I want to sit for hours laughing, talking, not talking but enjoying each other... I want to get lost, get lost from time, lost from the world and find a world in them.

I’m an artist, I’m a writer, I am a creative soul. I have bursts of greatness in which I try and take your romantic dreams as well as mine and make realities. Where we set off balloons into the sky, light fireworks in a field, build forts and make hats, talk in funny little accents and dance down grocery store aisles, find a random fair and ride the best ride, eat amazing food over candles and make up stories that haven’t been told before. I like to sweep pretty girls off their feet and make them feel like they are the only one in my world. I like to have the rush of them making that moment the only moment one worth living right then.

I am in search for my love story and honestly, I know I cant plan it all out for what I want and what I don’t know exists, is a big factor. Plus having expectations can ruin the spark of a random love affair. And getting to know the real person behind the made up vision in your mind. So here’s to life, love and finding... May each of us continue forward and find what makes us happy and hopefully it will take you on your own fairytale even if it's only momentary.

"If a writer falls in love with you, you can never die."