recent conversation with one of my u14 soccer players:

“I go to an [redacted…] school, so there always seems to be a lot of drama.”

“Drama about what?”

“These days it always seems to originate from something that somebody tweeted or posted.”

on the other hand…

while I come across as ever so optimistic, I tend to be cynical about a lot of things. however, I’m always looking for good. it’s around here, somewhere.

but let me tell you about author Maya Angelou. this  is somebody that no matter how much we pick her apart, she still has integrity. Angelou was a victim of incest and rape, and she worked as a stripper. and, now she’s a literary icon and Nobel Laureate.

Angelou also inspired Beyonce when she created a fragrance. read about that, here: Beyoncé’s New Fragrance Was Inspired by Maya Angelou and Smells Like Overcoming Adversity

I’ll also note, here that Beyonce just turned the music industry on it’s collective ear by launching her latest album on iTunes while disdaining the typical industry hoopla. she let her genuine fans light the beacon. you can read a bit more about that, here: No stunt: Beyonce’s sneak attack on the music industry resets the rules

it goes to show that life is cumulative, and you can’t devalue any type of experience.

I coached a kid for a couple of years named AC. she once told me:

“we gotta use our super powers for good.”

peace be to my Brothers and Sisters.

brian patrick cork

NOTE:  Maya Angelou is an American author and poet. She has published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, and several books of poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning more than fifty years.

I coach girls in soccer becuase they have more worth than they can imagine today and I want them to be part of something special they won’t be able to fully describe until they have children of their own.

there is a book that now exists titled, Humans of New York created by self-taught photo journalist Brandon Stanton that you need to look at.

mr. Stanton approaches fellow New York denizens daily, asks permission (some times not) to take their photograph and conducts a brief interview. it’s (the book and visceral experience) easy to enjoy because, while there are certainly profound words, the effort drives its formidable impact through the startling images that define New York City.

I use the word “startling” as opposed to say, “stunning”, because of the way many of the pictures and associated bon mottes move me.

for example, it looks like one of my favorites contributions is from a woman that could fundamentally shape our global view:

“l tell you what my husband told me when he was dying. I said, ‘Mo, how am I going to live without you?’ And he said, take the love that you have for me and spread it around.”

that message drove me to my knees. I am genuinely thankful.

something you REALLY need to know:

Humans of New York is a hugely popular blog (go check-out that link. ← do it!), by the way, and of course only now a book.

and, I’m warning you… it’s addictive – in a very human and healthy way. feed your soul. do it!

Brandon’s ability (I snagged these words from somewhere else and replaced the word “willingness” with “ability”) to:

“approach strangers has led to some pretty amazing moments of openness, “whether it’s someone telling me about their battle with cancer, or somebody even telling me how they were molested as a child,” he says of many “startlingly honest revelations.”

something you might care to know:

for me, an almost perfect day would be spent with my little Emma Jo hiking about New York City with her taking pictures with her new camera while I talked to people.

I love talking to people. I value stories. I’m no good with a camera. but, Emma Jo might be. and, I really like being around her. and I’m drawn to cities that create stories through their fascinating residents by design almost more than I desperately need to help people.

some stories are worth telling. some other people need to help with all of it.

peace be to my Brothers and Sisters.

brian patrick cork

Or… How only Brad Pitt can make a Zombie movie into a political grandstand.

seriously… not all zombies are good. this is probably more relative to movies.

I intentionally threw you off just like Marissa Mayer does with Yahoo!

…what ever… here is my point:

a few months ago I stunned, you, and collectively, with my brilliant insight(s) around Brad Pitt’s World War Z. read about that here: zombies are not the only Walking Dead do it!

…and, yes. I’m discussing zombies on a Sunday! try and be rational about this… zombies don’t care what day it is. its just always lunch time.

in some respects it’s pretty good. the movie is fun to watch. but, it was all about Brad’s character – whats his name. that’s not-so-good (…see? it inspired me to use the word “good” in successive sentences. it failed to inspire me). I still resent the fact that Pitt and his crew lifted the title of Max Brook’s book, lied to the rest of us, and made an entertaining motion picture.

Pitt’s version of World War Z can stand on its own merits. there is innovation that results in a thrill ride on the iMAX screen. that said, I deeply resent the notion of fast, and in this case really fast, zombies, because it tanks my entire thrival strategy (“thrival” because I plan to kick hellacious ass).

however, the Pitt adaption lost its greatest potential for my admiration once I understood it arrogantly dispensed with the original book’s central conceit. for me, the best part of Max Brook’s World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War is it’s faux journalistic approach that had its protagonist traveling the globe collecting realistic stories from survivors of the zombie pandemic that we could relate to, and genuinely care about. in fact, the audio book version is all the better (you can get it on Amazon or even iTunes). the voice actors bring to life images that even the Brad Pitt movie could never equal in terms of pathos and edge-of-your seat excitement. the tight narrative jumps between characters from the earliest days of the plague in China to a (not the) triumphant victory for North America in Yonkers New York. the separate stores weave to form a complete picture of how mankind adapts to the apocalypse and creates a new world that can never forget what brought it to the brink of extinction.

…oh yeah… so, Max Brooks makes us think of the Jewish nation with World War II. perhaps Pitt was trying to dance around that. however, he absolutely twisted and distorted the Jewish element into an utter fiasco. so, I believe that was intentional. he definitely avoided the whole China issue, and probably for purely commercial reasons.

meanwhile… read, better yet, listen tot he Max Brooks book. you get more for your money.

I like Brad Pitt. and, I appreciate how he leverages his fame and fortune as a philanthropist. but, when it come to Zombies, Pitt is Max Brooks’ bitch.

peace be to my Brothers and Sisters.

brian patrick cork

is Self Reliance it’s own principle or quality?

questions and answers.

“Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles.”

that from “Self-Reliance,” by Ralph Waldo Emerson

it’s become something of an obvious point for me of late, if not a raison d’être.

a great life is always fronted by good questions. half the pleasure is finding the answers. the other half is spent realizing answers should lead to yet more questions.

but there are similarities: the futile feeding of the bottomless beast and the unavoidable psychological implications, the immediate hit of the new that feels like an orgasm and the inevitable coming-down.

the quest. questing. questioning.

that’s the plight, curse, course, option, existence, of the Heterodox.

we dictate our own fate by a river of decisions and actions. that’s fueled by discernment. there’s the gift. self reliance might be the best question or answer.

…oh my God.

so… reader… how might you interpret that final line?

peace be to my Brothers and Sisters.

brian patrick cork