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Im Different,Yes, Im Different!By Relentless Aaron

What is it that amounts to the substance of a personlike me? Why do I possess different experiences,relationships, ways and means then, say, the next personwho grew up in the same small community, married thatsame local woman, and forever embraced those same localfriends and trends? (More)

Random

thoughts from

the worlds

leadingUrban Lit

Author.

Everyday, in

every way ,

strive to get

be t t e r and

be t te r andbetter. Your

past DOES

NOT equa l

your future!

RELENTLESSDAILY

June

27th,

2013

Last Night: With my

seasoned, White rice, and

grilled chicken, I grilled up

some turkey burger and

mixed veggies, garlic and

poured myself some Peach

Sparkletini

Getting It RightJust Watch & Recognize How The AnimalsDo It! By Relentless

If you ever had a question on what is right andwrong in life, stop by the nature channel for NationalGeographic or any of those programs that deal withanimals. It is clear to me that the animals have it right.Everything from procreation to recreation to nutrition towork ethic to sacrifice and up and down... (MORE)

AGE 5 WKS

AGE 48

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Don't assume that I think I am somuch different than everyone else that myblood's not red. I have heard the mostincredible stories from other people whowere "Army brats" or if not that, at least achild of a traveler/someone who, because ofa job or an adventure, toted their childaround the world to experience so manydifferent walks of life. You may have evengrown up on a farm, milking goats and cowsin your childhood/way from the person whoshops at the local supermarket (or Bodega)for their packaged dairy products. Maybeyour childhood (or even your community)was gang-Influenced; that can be Bloodsand Crips as well as it can be political and

cultish. Either way those were influences inyour surroundings, in your family and inyour life. Perhaps that's you and I'm sureyou have stories to tell. However, because Iam a writer and because my eye and mysense of knowing My sense ofassessment, wisdom and of courseperception... my sense of awarenesscoupled with my sincere study andmarveling at human nature; because all of

those attributes have somehow weighedinto what might be considered the skill set

and genesis of a writer, I find myselfblessed with the opportunity to share my lifeexperiences that have amounted to the

substance of "me." In my novels thereare extreme experiences that,

matched up with diversity and asavvy, godly overview, havesubsequently entertained massesof readers. And so at least, something isattractive about my walk in life, or maybehow I see it & detail it.

The other reality of me is that I grew up inan altogether different way then you did

Again, not to say my experiences are any

better than the next persons, they are justdifferent! For instance, you may have grownup with a mom and a dad who kept 9 to 5

jobs and retired, all the while took care ofyou. Even in your adult life your parentsmay have looked out for you in one way oranother. If it wasn't your parents it was arich uncle. If it wasn't your rich uncle, then itwas your grandparents who gave a lifetimeof service so that their children and you

could live happily ever after. Hell, some ofyou have not experienced any of the (MORE)

Why Am I Different?

RELENTLESSDAILY

Ju

ne

27th,

2013

WHAT IM

LISTENING

TO:

Jason Mras

I Wont Give

Up

Joni Mitchell

Help Me

Rachelle

Ferrell

With Every

Breath I TakeiHeartRadio

Pandora

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above and grew up in poverty,with just a dream to fuel you andyour want to progress in life.

And aren't these experiences consideredthe juice of life amounting to our ways &means and how we come to makedecisions? Isnt your past relevant to whereyou today?

I am certain that my parents had that

perfect perspective to enjoy the great"American way." In fact my grandparentssurely had that perspective of working hard,to eventually support and embrace thefamily they have created. I recall mygrandparents putting away 20 grand or so,money designated for my college tuition; agift for their first grandchild. Unfortunately, Inever got to realize that money when it mayhave mattered most. In fact, my father

invested that in his business, which wasquite successful and carried our family fordecades. I won't get into the recklessness,and poor choices leading up to the way thatthings inevitably ended. In fact that too ispart of my "Topless" novel you may haveread.Yet, what I did want to talk about, is thedifference between a person like me andwhat might be considered life for a normal

child. And bear with me because I'm goingsomewhere with this essay, even as discover myself while I write it.

In Mount Vernon we had a park in thecenter of town known as Hartley ParkHartley Park would be considered themedian, in a town where black and whitewere divided. And at the time, back in the70s, we were indeed a Black & White townThe haves & the have-nots. EverythingBlack was south of 1st Street, whileeverything White was north of Lincoln

Avenue. If youre not familiar with the areajust picture it as a North and SouthboundInterstate Highway, and in the middle of itall; a Visitors Center. Hartley Park would

be just that, settled between 1st Street andLincoln Avenue. On the south side of townthere were numerous apartment buildingsthe projects, and multifamily units. On thenorth side of town there were single-familyhomes mostly, and if there were apartmentbuildings they were well kept. On the southside, we had drug abuse, drug salesmurders and robbery. On the northside, we

More

Keep your head up. Keep striving to do and

be better. Your past does not equal your

future! Relentless

RELENTLESSDAILY

Ju

ne

27th,

2013

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cou ld l eave our door unlocked/our screen dooropen to the world. On thesouthside, our door is had to

be chained locked andbolted: and even then an olderman forced his way into ourapartment and threatened me (ateenager) at knife point. On thenorth side we had clean Parksgood schools clean streets andhigher property values. On thesouth side of town, folks had theirfirst floor windows gated and their

front yards fenced in. On the northside of town there were rarelyfences for the front yards where theworst you could expect is a neighbor'sdog to shit on your lawn. In fact, studentsfrom the southside had to be bussed intoschools that were positioned on the north(suburban) side of town. That wasdesegregation in my hometown of MountVernon; our post-civil rights era.

A great change took place in myfamily when my father sold thehouse we lived in on the north sideof town and moved the family tothe south side of town. Wegraduated??? LOL Now, Instead ofthe one-family house we resided ina two bedroom apartment. Threechildren in one room, and our

parents in the other. We can callthat tight! Maybe not as tight asthe Eskimos do in Anchorage

Alaska, but tight nonetheless! And Icannot remember being lesshappier in an apartment, than ahouse. After all what did we knowabout happiness at such a youngage?

And so, suburban livingended and communal livinbegan. And yet mom made happen so that her childrew o u l d e x p e r i e n c e t h e

diversi ty in l i fe . Wtraveled to California couple of times/once o

a long-ass bus trip, ananother where we fle

f rom Dad. Lo l @wharelationships will put kids thru!

made trips to Chicago, where my unclwas a judicator in the Cook County system

And besides the traveling, we were alwayregistered for the Boy Scouts and GiScouts, or this n that summer camp

Wherever mom could land

nursing job we could look forwarto a summer of camp activitiesHow lucky we were! And therwere music programs and churcprograms. And mom even broughus along on her in-home nursincontracts where we were exposeto another side of life; those greabig homes in Bronxville anScarsdale where mom was hired

as a private nurse. The locaMemorial Day parade in MounVernon was a highlight of our yearsince Mom the Gilmores fullengaged, riding our bicycles alonthe side of the baseball teams oscout troops, even dressed up isome funny ass outfits and papier

mch heads. #hrpuffandstuf

NOTE: Some self-

discovery is sometimesall that's necessary tohelp a person connect

the dots in life.And for me, an authorwith so many

Im Different...Continued

RELENTLESSDAILY

Ju

ne

27th,

2013

WHAT IM

LISTENING TO:

Kanye West &

Kenny

Lattimore

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Im Different...Continued

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Ju

ne

27th,

2013

(As if we served in the military!) I shouldnote that Dad was never a part of thischarade (I mean, parade), since he wasalways busy with the deli.

But these were some of those differentchildhood experiences that serve asfoundation. Foundation (youre asking) forWHAT??? LOL! Aside of those activitiesthat Mom engaged in, between the ages often & thirteen I was swept-up to help myfather stock the shelves and man the cashregister at Vernon deli/the family business.Just doing life differently. But different

was never new to me, because even atHartley Park where kids played on theswings and indulged in hopscotch,(remember that?) I was doing i tdifferently Sitting with the adults/probablyfolks in their 20s & 30s, as they playedSpades. From time to time I wouldwatch the Early MountVernon basketball greatsmix it up on the court, ands o m e w h e r e i n m ynetworking I'm quite sureDenzel (yes, the Denzel)and I crossed paths.Maybe it was at theYMCA where I was anasp i r ing p ing pongchamp and pool shark. Maybe itwas on the baseball field at brush Parkwhere I pitched for George Latimers Tri-Star Auto Parts baseball team. Just so

many rich and rewarding experiences werea part of my childhood. I have nocomplaints. And yet, it was quite different,affording me a world of experiences to pullfrom; the diversity that enables me to writebooks that are re levant and theconsciousness to cope with todays hiddenracism/classism/sexism; but also to beopen to change and possibility. My past haslent me the state of conscious decision-

making and savvyperspective; all thatweigh on my ability

to live & let live.

I dont do paranoia,simply because Iam able to put

things into properperspective, timeaf ter t ime. Andwhen my decisionsdont even feelright( o r w h e n t h e yshouldnt), it turnsout that there was(or is) a reason forthings that happen.

How else can weexplain me climbingBear Mountain (atrandom) and finding

one of myreaders at the top? (Too long astory/I promise to share with youanother time). Nevertheless, itsall coming together nicely; from

the relationships Ive earnedover the years, to the resourcesthat come my way, to the giftsIm blessed to have. I wouldnttake another path to get here.

I have no regrets. Closecalls, yes. But no regrets. Im

good with being different, againstthe grain and in my own lane. I dont needto go clubbin & drinkin when its theholidays. I dont need to flock to a festival

or a trade show just because many othersare going. And thats my firm grip onreality. My own.

Lifes been good to me so far.

#Relentless

GEORGE LATIMER

(Mentor)Hes now heavyi n to p ol i ti c s a s t h e p e o p l e srepresentative intheNYSSenate,buthe was simply mybaseball coach backin the daywhen I

pitchedintheminorleagues.

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FORWARD MARCH!(I Aint Got Time For That!)

By Relentless

You know what, WEGET BETTER. (What do Imean?) People makedecisions based on their

own ability to think,rationalize, reason, or theLACK THEREOF! But, intheory, we all somehowprogress. I'm not even madat some of the folks thateither said or did foul shit tome in the past, ESPECIALLYin the book business.Because I've overcome. I seethat as the fire or heat thatwas necessary to test my

ability to PROGRESS. So efall that OLD SHIT. Yes, I havemade some foul decisions inmy own walk (I'm notperfect). But I wish everyonewell and I'm PAST THAT...

you who called to chastise/hate on me when I startedmy book grind... you whoblocked my blessings to tryand keep me out of your

literati award shows, bourgiebook conventions and evenyou vendors who befriendedand supported some authorsover others... I'M PAST ALLTHAT. I'm just grateful to be

alive, accomplished and ableto PROGRESS throughanother day. I'm too blessedto wrap my head aroundpoor decisions that you or

made IN THE PAST. I ain't gottime for that. Afterall, if youhavent killed me then what?Exactly... youve made me abetter man! FORWARDMARCH

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ne

27th,

2013

I'm not evenmad at some of

the folks thateither said or didfoul shit to me in

the past,ESPECIALLY in thebook business.

...the ladder oftheir existence,The animals haveit right!

We can learn all aboutlife from animals. They don'tget emotional, they areforthright and determined intheir purpose, and mostimportantly they are consistentwith all of the above. For surey o u h a v e i s o l a t e dcircumstances where certain

animals may not keep up withthe trends, practices andsurvival skills of the majority. But for the mostpart, the mass majority of all animals includinginsects, reptiles, (and our favorite) mammals,all follow the same consistent purpose ofexistence, maintenance and procreation. Ashuman beings we will justify rationalize andget emotional about things like workingovertime to get something done, or doingmore for less, or assisting where necessary or

keeping up with our bodies and theirvarious clocks. This is where many ofour challenges lie. On top of that wedon't know how to communicatewhereas animals do know how tocommunicate and they don't evenhave voices!Yes the animals are getting it rightminute by minute, day by day, yearafter year and through the history ofEvolution. But here's my problem:even though we know for a fact thatthe animals have gotten it right, eventhough you will do the math and

realize that what I'm saying is right,you and your human mindand your human belief systemsand your cognitive dissidence willdeny the truth just as sure as I reveal ithere in writing. ANTS: Watch the ants andyou see them progress and you see themwork as a team, But in your mind yourreferences may tell you just the opposite! "i

MoreGetting It

Right

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Ju

ne

27th,

2013

RELENTLESSDAILY

can do this alone!""I can get along withoutfood for the next few hours" "I can put that offuntil I'm ready "

Granted, animals are primitive andhumans are civil, with a mind to makeconscious and calculated decisions. Soindeed, we are thinking beings that will do themathbefore we take the loss. Animals on the

other hand will sacrifice and take a loss justbecause. NOTE: I am not saying that we needto embrace all of what an animal is or does. Iam simply saying that we need to recognizethe value in animal behavior just as werecognize the benefits the resources theattributes and affirmations of others around us.Of course the majority of us are doing themonkey see monkey do dance. Sportsattractions, reality shows, clothing sales andsome other cultish activities I

chose not to talk about (now).The practice is clear; when wesee someone has made adecision, when we see they areenjoying the decision theymade, many of us will in factcopy and imitate, and take onthat same decision. In otherwords they have influenced us.#Peerpressure But there is littleinfluence in the animal kingdom

as they work off of instinct andpractice and some kind of crazychronic state of being, withintention, wil l power andpurpose. And that isbeen me for a longtime: I have thisc r a z y c h r o n i c ,habitual will power

W i t h o u t a l l o f t h o s e

experiences, both good & bad,

who would you be?

I am not saying that we

need to embrace all of

what an animal is or

does. I am simply

saying that we need to

recognize the value inanimal behaviorRelentless