Recycling

Last night, I meandered the streets of Atlanta at 1am for the first time in over a year. Heat lightning crested in the sky, and a quick sprinkle wet the asphalt and released that perfect warm, humid smell. I looked around, and streets that used to be littered with garbage and junkies were now quieter, cleaner. I passed the Masquerade, and a neighborhood that used to scream dirty now was dressed in gentrification. It was strange to see.

In many ways, I have been feeling like I wound up exactly where I left off when I left Atlanta last August. Same job, same friends, same very awkward encounters with people I was in no way prepared to see. But my walk last night reminded me that really, I'm not the same person. While I did go back to my old job, I'm on track for bigger and better things. I have way more patience for myself (and my cooking) than I've ever had. I'm in the midst of my own revitalization, much like Ponce City Market is helping my favorite city grow.

I still have a lot of my old bad habits. But I've made some better choices. And now, I'm exactly where I need to be to keep improving, keep moving forward, and make my mark in my chosen career path.

Living Life By the Frizz

Man, there are days like today when I SWEAR I should have been kidnapped, like, five times already. You see, I have a habit of occasionally hopping into cars with perfect strangers for no good reason other than they offer me a ride and I'm feeling lazy enough to accept. 

Now, I am smart enough not to get in any random creeper's car, but I will admit the look of some of the people I meet could raise some eyebrows. But I have gotten some awesome opportunities out of it! Like the past few days, for example.

Wednesday, I was headed into work for an early shift. Just before I got into work, a guy stopped me to ask about my tattoos.  I get that a lot, so I answered his questions and went about my day. Next day, on my way to work again, I ran into the same guy- this time, on the opposite side of town. We got talking, and he mentioned he was location scouting.  I gave him a few pointers pon areas to look into. He offered me a ride to work, and I agreed.

Before I continue!  I honestly didn't believe his location scout story. I assumed he was trying to impress the cute tatted chick, and I was just going to use him for the 5 minute drive. Another important factoid- he wasn't giving me any creepy vibes at all. Now, there was definitely the chance he could have been a rapist, or a serial killer,  or any number of things. However, living life comes down to trusting your gut and taking risks. This risk paid off- turns out, dude actually IS a location scout. I helped him out all Friday afternoon, and now I'm a production assistant on an NFL/Visa commercial.

Go figure! :D

Even better?  Looks like I may be getting steady work doing location scout work through him. Moral of the story? Don't fear your fellow human being. Be cautious,  but take a risk or two- makes everything way more interesting in the end!