You call that a sandwich?

I love being from New Orleans. Absolutuely love it. i love telling people where i am from and about all the reasons why I think it is such a great place. The food, the music, The colorful cast of characters, the people, the hospitality, the style, and all the Lagniappe that makes the Big Easy so beautiful.

I also love visiting new places and meeting new people. I like to do things their way and see how they live and to see what's so beautiful about where they are from. All of this is fine and well, but there is one point where I draw the line. Sandwiches.

Ever since the first artisan slapped that hunk of meat between a couple biscuits(C'mon people, I'm talking about sandwiches) generations and cultures have been eating sandwiches. The sandwich is an effective culinary tool. To eat each part of a sandwich independently is a task and can leave your fingers messy. The idea to encapsulate the meat, produce, and condiments within the cozy confines of bread was culinary genius.

Over the years there have been many versions of the sandwich and they have grown in size, shape, and name. The ingredients have changed as well and we now find ourselves in the midst of the "Golden Age" of sandwiches where sandwich shops battle for market share by using relentless advertising and opening locations on every corner and in every wal-mart or gas station on your route to anywhere, U.S.A.

here comes the "but"

But, I rarely frequent these fine establishments. I find little joy in these sandwiches with their various artisan 5 cheese honey oat italian herbs breads and fine assortment of meats and 27 varietis of cheese and blue cheese bacon ranch italian olive oil chipotle sauces. All of those ingredients and options are fine, and you may love some or all of them, and that is ok.

But to me, it's a snack at best.

You see, where I am from, this is not a sandwich

THIS is a sandwich

I mean no disrespect, but once you have enjoyed an authentic New Orleans style roast beef po-boy, there is no other sanwich.

And so, it all goes back to where you are from. I am from new orleans, and when momma said i'm gonna bring home some sandwiches we didn't open a bag of chips, we went and got an extra roll of paper towels to wipe the gravy off our elbows and a fork to scoop up all the extras left on the plate that the french bread could not contain.

So, let me apologize in advance when you ask me if I would like a sandwich and I politely refuse. I certainly mean no disrespect and I truly hope you enjoy yours . As for me, I'll wait till i get back home. where it's not just a sandwich, it's a meal.

The Deed is Done

Always looking to the next big thing, yesterday I signed up and PAID FOR the New Orleans IronMan 70.3

The race is April 17th, 2011. and includes the following:
1. 1.2 mile swim
2. 56 mile cycle
3. 13.1 mile run

so if you have nothing to do 17 1/2 weeks from now and happen to be in the "old neighborhood"(most of it takes place in New orleans East), keep an eye out for me. I'll be the unstoppable one.

18 weeks to go

today I start my 18 week half Ironman(HIM) training plan/routine. So if you ask me if I want to go do something or you need my help with something and I tell you no, don't take it personal. This is the time of year where I do what the training schedule says, it is my holy word. If it says it, I do it. It is priority one.

18 weeks to go, one step at a time.

Stolen Poem

IronMan 70.3 New Orleans is 19 weeks away.
I found this poem on someone else's blog. It sums up my world.

In my world,
The water is cold,
The wind is hard,
And the road never ends.

In my world,
There are no losers.
Only competitors still on their way,
And spectators waiting to be inspired.

In my world,
Victory is not weighed in gold,
But in determination and courage.

In my world,
There are no boundaries,
No limits,
There is no end.

Every day is the last day of my life,
And the first.

In my world,
The word “can't” does not exist,
And nothing is impossible.


author unknown

Running in Cirlces

You're running and you're running and you're running away, but you can't run away from yourself"- Bob Marley

Flag of Sicily

I think on my sicilian origins from time to time and consider the trials and tribulations my people have faced, fought and conquered for centuries. The many invasions and defeat we have suffered, the rulers we were forced to live under, the rebelions we have ignited, and the freedom we have earned.

Then i think of my own life and the obstacles I have been faced with and overcome. But, it seems that I often find myself fighting the same battles over and over again. I know how to win the battle, so it would seem a simple thing to do. But, each time the battles seem to get harder to fight. When I ran the marathon a couple years ago the training was tough, but I managed to get myself up and out the door just about every day. I missed a few workouts due to illness and personal issues, but i would say I did 90% or more of the scheduled workouts. And because of this, I completed the race never doubting that I would finish.

Then i turned to triathlons. And I was faithful in my training. Though that 1st swim in rough water completely kicked my butt, I never doubted that i would finish.

And from there I have been fighting an uphill battle. my training has become much less consistent, and my eating habits of become less nutrtious. I have had days and weeks of doing well, but they have been followed by days and weeks of slacking. And I haven't been able to break out of this series of highs and lows.

Then I paused for a moment, as I learned from Ferris Beuler, and I thought about the situation that was before me. And it seemed so clear. 

SCOTT, YOU HAVE TO BREAK THE CYCLE!!!!(that's me yelling in my own head) 

Actually, that thought occured to me while talking to a friend of mine about somethings going on in his life, and he realized that he was putting himself into the same bad situation over and over again. Then he said that he did something to break that cycle.

"And it stoned me, to my soul" -Van Morrison

When he spoke of breaking that cycle, i was proud of him. and later, I thought about what he said and realized that I was guilty of the same and that I too needed to break a cycle.

For me it comes down to discipline. If you want to be something, you can. If you want to do something, you can. It's up to you to do it. No one will do it for you. Don't feel sorry for your self. Don't say you have to get a few other things in order first. Just get out or get up and start doing it.

An Example:

One thing I have heard from people many times is that they will start working out once they have lost a few pounds. This logic is plain old retarded, yes, i said retarded. It's the exercise that will cause you to lose the weight.

So back to me. The past week, I did almost all of the workouts I intended to do. This week i hope to do them all. There are already obstacles in my way, and I will have to work around those things. But i WILL work around those things.

You see, there is a person I want to be, in fact I am already that person. You too are already that person you want to be. You just have to let that person out, don't hide him away. Let him live the life. live your life the way you want to. No one is stopping ypou but yourself. There is no one to blame but yourself, the only excuse is that YOU have not done what YOU need to do.

So Do It!

I do stop from time to time to reflect on how my life is going, and from time to time I see a me I don't want to be. But I don't let it keep me down. I think of who i am and where I came from. I think of my family and how far my family has come through generations. I look back to the places that we migrated from and what we ovecame in those far away lands. And this time, I thought back to the Red Hill, and then to Sicily, and rememberdthat I am from a people who don't give up, who don't back down, who claim what is ours, and live life our way.

"For what is a man, what has he got?

if not himself, then he has naught

to say the things he truly feels and not the words of one who kneels

the record show, I took the blows, and did it my way"

                         -Sinatra

You will take some blows, but you will rise. Do it your way.

Now this picture makes me feel important. It was taken while I was at work. It seems that they look forward to my arrival all day. Oddly enough, I look forward to seeing them all day too.

For those who are wondering, the little dog is Brady. Lily is not pictured as she was securing and protecting a certain sector of the house, my bed.

In other news, in 4 hours my Thanksgiving break starts. I don't know who is more excited, me or the kids. Probably me. My plans for the week are simple, Exercise and video games, with a brief pause on Thursday for food and football (Saints play on Thanksgiving). I am excited about working out. it's been hard for me to getr into the swing of a full scale workout program. I really need next week to start getting into the routine. Today, after school I am heading to the store to get some aerobars for my bike. Aero bars help you to get into a more aerodynmic body position so that you use less energy while riding. This will come in handy at the half IronMan in April, or any other tri a may be doing soon. 

Well, I guess I'll  keep these kids out of trouble, 3 hours and 45 minutes to go!

And it stoned me...

..To my soul.

Everyday I walk into my classroom hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. A product of living in "Hurricane Culture" I suppose. Most days fall squarely in the middle, a little good, a little bad.

Today, I am seeing the worst, but am experiencing the best.

In American History we have studying the 1920's and 2 days ago started talking about the Harlem Renaissance. I briefly mentioned a few people who were part of the movement and what they did (Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, James Weldon Johnson, Langston Hughes) then showed a ten minute video on Zora Neale Hurston, and asked the students what they saw in the video that they thought was relative to their lives. The answers, most of them, centered around Zora (as they have taken to calling her, as if she were a dear friend) never giving up though faced with much adversity. I topic I talk about often in this blog.

So, i asked them to do a little writing. To answer the question: who are you? (oo oo, oo oo).

They worked on it for a while in class, asked me a few questions about what format to use and what exactly I wanted them to write. I replied: Whatever answers the question who you are, and in what ever format you think you can answer it best. After all, they are the experts on the subject.

Today they came in and I gave them the oppurtunity to share who they are. I told them it wasn't mandatory, that some probably wrote some personal stuff that they may not want others to know.

One by one volunteers walked to the front of the class, and shared. They shared stories of hardship and tribulation. Broken homes, broken bones, broken hearts. Lives of violence, poverty, drugs, alcohol, abandonment. Lives of seeing fathers kill and be incarcerated, lives of cracked out mothers, lives of lonely, scary nights hiding under the bed or crying themselves to sleep.

and more...

...lives of falling in with the wrong crowd, doing the wrong thing, being there at the wrong time...

and more...

...lives of walking away from the wrong crowd, doing the right thing, and making it the right time.

Lives of not giving up, looking on the bright side, finding a reason to carry on. Lives of hope, love, and redemption.

Lives of Redemption.

Lives of Redemption.

One by one i listened to their stories, I found out who they are. More importantly, I think they found out who they are. They found out that they are not the only one. Others have been through the same thing and have survived it and grown stronger from it. They showed how strong they are just by getting up to share, they gave strength to others, that they too can over come. They have shown me that I too can overcome the obstacles before me.

I came in today hoping for the best, and preparing for the worst. My heart has been broken today, and has been fully restored. The healed wound is often strongen than it was before. I saw the worst today, but am experiencing the best.