Day 365

It has been long time since I've written anything here. Way too long. So long, I would think that no one has attempted in a while to go to my blog to see if I have written anything new. To anyone out there who might me reading this (a la I Am Legend style), my deepest apologies, as I plan to do better with just writing more in general. I am not the biggest fan of facing an empty piece of paper (or blank screen for that much), but I do know that sometimes you just have to force yourself to do things that are difficult for you to do, until it becomes like second nature [a side note: someone I know who writes told me a couple of weeks ago, that the best time to write is in the morning. He explained in a matter of words that this is so because when you're dreaming and you wake up, that the connection from which you were dreaming, hasn't been completely shut off, and that creativity still flows from this 'unbroken' connection. Not sure of the scientific research done on this, but I guess that explains the one time I woke up with razor slashes across my chest, and the dirty brown hat I had pulled out of my dream]. So I plan to try to force myself to write more until it becomes something I feel I have to do at least once a week. It won't be easy since I bought myself a PS3 for my birthday/Christmas present to myself...LOL. Still, I find myself enjoying sleep more than anything when I have the free time.

It's always natural as the year comes to a close, to look back over the past year, and think on blessings, milestones, accomplishments, and the biggest stories in the media. As for the latter, I am finally glad Britney Spears finally got her shit together (maybe), because it seems in the media as if they refuse to let her self-destruct into obscurity. With Hollywood dumbing us down, 'celebreality' has seemed to suffice as entertainment. Personally, I just feel that Britney's 'comeback' is the impetus to set a path for the development of an updated version of "Strange Love" with Britney and Lil Wayne, but I digress. This blog is my own personal look back on 2008 - things accomplished, and things to look forward to in 2009.

Hands down, my greatest accomplishment this year, was getting my business off the ground - the one and only Hoopla's Entertain Your Ride, Inc. Hoopla's is the original. Any similar offerings are biters of my concept. Getting Hoopla's started would not have been possible without the support of my mom. Ma, you created an American brand! How crazy is that?...well, not an American brand yet, but it has all the potential to be. It's all about how much I'm willing to put into it. So far I've created a website, have run a couple of trips, and have been in a couple media mentions. Basically, I've gotten my ears wet in entrepreneurship. The plane has made the taxi out to the runway - now all I have to do is get this thing off the ground and pilot it to where I want it to go. No problem at all, since this is my first time flying a plane. When you start a business, there are so many things you learn so fast. The most important thing I've learned thus far, or would advise to anyone who wants to start a business on his/her own (especially if you don't have a great deal of money), is to keep options open and start slow. Start as slow as possible for your business to function. If you're the only person running the business, this helps with you being able to learn your way, and to be be able to make fewer mistakes (which you will make) before they happen. When I started Hoopla's, I was very excited and very ambitious about it. My plans from the get-go also represented that healthy amount of ambition - which turned out to be a little too ambitious from jump. With the economy getting progressively worse since the near beginning of 2008, I found myself month by month, or week by week having to make adjustments and decisions that would keep my company viable. My company was a business to consumer model in 2008. In 2009, and until the economy gets better, it will be a business to business model - all part of executive decision. When I first thought of, and was planning Hoopla's, it wasn't as if I was planning to get my business going in a recession. It just so happened that things started unraveling in the country as I had already got going on production. But I honestly believe that starting out the way I did is an advantage, because I am forced to make important decisions quicker and adapt quicker. So many American companies folded this year because they got content, and either failed to see or do anything about the heat they spotted around the corner.

So as 2009 kicks in the door, my resolution is to increase my territory. Increase my territory in career, health, wealth, love, happiness, and spirituality - to take what I did in 2008, and do better in 2009. As I write this, I feel pretty good. With all the people in the country losing jobs, homes, and any security, I'm doing pretty good. In days, I look forward to my next martial arts test (and another year or so, my black belt). I look forward to going back home to celebrate the inauguration of the first black president of our country. I look forward to going home to see my family and peeps, and those I haven't seen in a while. In the months to come, I look forward to adding bricks on to Hoopla's. I look forward to expanding my career in entertainment into acting. I look forward to getting back on track with my comedy, which unfortunately, had to take a slight backburner in 2008 to get Hoopla's going. I feel bad that I have been neglecting my personal website for so long, but hopefully I will do much better with that in 2009. I look forward to coming closer to that someone I met on election night - definitely what us guys call 'wifey material'. She knows who she is. Most importantly, I look forward to looking forward - 2009 and beyond. I hope to, within five years, have positive dramatic change in my life personally and professionally. I wish most of all for my mom to see all the success in her son, who dared to be all he dreamed, and which was the result of the hard work of her and my father.