Japanese boxer turned activist for kids...

My friend Mieko told me I had to get in touch with Eiji my last few weeks in Japan. He lives in Tokyo and was a boxer who took his fight outside the ring, and into classrooms as a motivational speaker for kids both domestic and abroad.

During my last two weeks in Japan, based out of Tokyo, I linked with Eiji and his family for lunch and had a conversation with a man I consider a gentle giant. For years, Eiji transitioned from boxing into a believer in dreams. He started a YouTube channel that was based around interviewing people around the world, but especially in Japan, on what it's like to live a life following your dreams, and seeing them come true. He was intrigued by my story, and along with an interview in the hotel lobby, he also offered over being my book agent rep in Tokyo once my memoir is finished. He'd get it translated and all. Such a giving person, not looking for anything in return. 

What is so important about people like Eiji, in Japan, is that Japan is a country built on sameness.

Their saying "The nail that sticks out farthest, is the one that can get beat down" encapsulates this idea.

I saw it a lot in the school system when I worked there. It broke my heart, but was something as a 'gaijin' I had to just swallow and accept. This is not my home country. But for Eiji, it is. He knows what it's like in this country and for these students, and he has a voice they understand and would listen to. For that, I've always respected his plight. 

The above article, for Peacemakers News, is a commemoration of not only the 6 month mark of the tsunami and earthquake on 3/11, but also our 10 year anniversary of 9/11, as well. Eiji was noted for traveling to NYC on 9/11/01 and helping to find survivors of the tragedy.  Since then his message has been to bring love and peace, not war. 

Glad to have people like this in my corner, in Nippon.

findings in Union Square...

Tonight was really the first night where the weather was actually comfy enugh to rummage around the streets of New York City.

After busting down a spoken word piece, my first performance in over five years, I wasn't ready to go from the gig straight back home.

Getting acclimated to the shift in weather, as much as I am the shift in my relationship status, my brain needed to clear itself and all I wanted to do was walk. Walking in NYC, especially at night, is like my favorite past time. From 29th and 3rd Ave I started heading toward Grand Central, when something told me to reroute and head back to my favorite part of Manhattan, the Village. Union Square is the spot and I trudged there in my own zone.

Upon reaching the park, there were a huge circle of people and what looked like a laser show going on. They were filming a movie, and apparently the actors were jumping rope with light sabers????

I don't know...what do you think? Pretty cool. I love NYC when it's warm. you never know what you will stumble on. Even at midnight.

1.10.11

Everyone is debuting and emphasizing tomorrow, January 11th, 2011. 1.11.11

Personally, I am commemorating today. 1.10.11 This day will go down in my personal history books, as the day I completed my first travel memoir.

The stats: 71 chapters, 284 pages, 2,163 paragraphs, 102,599 words...

Rough draft of my first book, complete.

I cannot wait to touch it feel it in my hands, flip through it's pages, and see what this looks like in real life.

A year and a half in the making...it feels amazing.

Phase one is officially complete.

my brain hurts...but I love you

My brain is zoned out something crazy.

So, my goal was to finish the rough draft of the memoir for January 1st. Though that did not happen, I am so close to the end it's baffling almost to believe I have been doing this for so long. Over a year writing. My brain is starting to give way.

Towards the second half of last year I swore off reading anyone else's books until I finished the rough draft of my own. I have not read a book in months and it's starting to bother me. I have barely even written in my personal journal. No bullshit, that I need to find time to do because it's one of the ways I keep my balance. Last time I wrote in a journal was Christmas. Not a good look, I'm usually every day.

It's time. It's time to get this done. It's time to feel this manuscript in my fingers, and start editing something that isn't attached to my computer screen. It's time to allow myself some outside literature and get that reading muscle stimulated.

Only about twenty pages left, I estimate...it's the final stretch.

Dear memoir....my brain hurts, but I love you.

humor the writer in me...

I came across this video on fellow expat's page Cragazza . Being that I am in the last part of my book, around twenty pages away from finishing. I love the humor from the writing gods.

It's been a process y'all. I have learned so much, primarily that my adult ADD is a fact of nature and I've been going cold turkey on controlling it. I'm so used to short term projects and short term gratification. This is, by far, the longest project I have ever worked on in my life. It's also a first of its kind for me. I've been learning my process, as I indulge in it.

For over a year, I've been writing this travel memoir. I can't believe that. So much of my guts and soul are regergitated in its pages. It's my thank you to Japan and my ode to India. I cannot wait to share it with you all. Just remember, it's all a part of the package. So much to come this year.

age of entrepreneurs...

To hell with Cash Money, Young Money, Diddy Dirty Money...whateva!

This is the Age of the Entrepreneur, and what I like to call new money.

As my mind is definitely transitioning on building business in 2011, I am taking notes from the young power players that are around now. This hit me during a weird time.

I was sitting down, enjoying one of my vices, watching Millionare Matchmaker on Bravo. Yes, I'm a Patti fan. After getting sucked into a mini marathon, I noticed something now that they have moved the show from LA to New York...a HUGE percentage of the millionares in New York are in an internet business.

This is that new money. Some came to frution during the huge internet boom, but don't be fooled, many started after (um....can we say Facebook). There is a serious pool of opportunity out there, and once the changes to Nomad•ness take place first quarter next near, I believe I will be in route.

Thus leading to my daily status': I woke up feeling like I could be a millionare this time next year.

Truth is...I DO, for the first time in my life, TRULY believe it.

the power of the social network...

I know I'm behind the curve on this one, but yesterday I took myself out on a movie date.

I finally got the chance to see The Social Network. Honestly, it blew the business section of my mind to bits. I remember, yesteryear, thinking that I was truly born in the wrong generation. I love old-school music, am a fan of revolutions, and really dig natural hair...being a teenager in the mide 70s/early 80s could have been my thing. Yet, this film alone made me realize I was born in the extact time and place I was supposed to be. The limit of the internet is, in fact, limitless.

Underneath stellar writing, and Oscar-worthy acting and directing, I was drawn most to the genius the portrayed Mark Zuckerburg had in relation to the human condition. Finding out that the creation of Facebook stemmed from a drunken night blogging, after his then girlfriend broke up with him, just goes to reinforce that most people do need 'projects' to get over lost love. It just so happens to be that his was the seed that planted a multi-billion dollar empire.

It ignited a fire underneath me, in regards to my projects and how they relate to social media. Any business that does not take this form of networking on seriously, and internationally, is already ions behind the curve. We live in a time where you can connect to anyone. If you have a great idea that goes viral, someone with the power and the money will see it. Limitless. The internet is a universal way of almost equalizing opportunities between the haves and have nots. That, in itself, is priceless.

Yes so, if watching with smart eyes, this film is no less a piece of art as it is a full on case study, breaking down technology as much as it disects greed and ego. A must see, and see again.

The businesswoman lurks...

I feel it closer...

In the midst of what is looking to be a 12+ hour work day from home, I decided to put on some Pandora playlists, while enjoying a Crunch bar. All a precursor to me starting the Master Cleanse tomorrow. In the middle of digitially getting myself ready to write, Goapele's "Closer" was next up on the playlist, and stopped me right in my tracks.

This song, this woman, this song. This song is so potent right now, as I feel I am truly living the lyrics. I am blessed! There is no denying that someone up top is looking out for your girl. Certain doors have opened recently that I've been dreaming of for years. I am, indeed, closer to my dreams. I feel it. I sat still and just listened to the song. Remembering the first time I heard it...

I was an intern at Sony Music Entertainment (yes, before the BMG merge) my sophomore year in college. I worked as a Television/Radio Production Assistant and would roam the halls on the 31st floor feeling unstoppable. On any given day, music would blast from various people's offices, and on a particular day, this song resonated down the hallway. Her voice caught my attention, and the words pulled me in.

Here I sit, farther along in my career,  nearly seven years later, the same woman (just more internally developed) and the song strikes me just the same. Now, more relatable.

two long legs...

I'm a litle dreary eyed after a good four hour nap/sleep at some random guesthouse in the middle of downtown Hong Kong.

I have to do an Interact with Evie episode on how to get from Hong Kong International Airport to the downtown, Nathan Road area. When I landed, I realized I'd have to do the trip all from memory again. It's not bad at all.

I just needed a bed. Trying to do anything even remotely cose to sleeping in Bangkok airport last night was a bonafide no go! That shit was the worst, but I definitely was not alone.

I am up now after a semi-legit sleep and shower, getting ready to head back to the airport.

The two long legs of my trip will commence in about five hours.

I'm flying 10 hours to Dubai.

Yes, the Dubai that I dream about temple hopping in for days on end. Dubai is actually on my top ten dream trip list. I'm excited to see their ariport.

Then, after a fairly short transfer time, I fly 13 hours from Dubai to JFK.  Geeze!

Time to turn these planes into memoir writing capsules and get some serious work done, in between hopefully, some serious naps. I'm not the best at sleeping on planes.

Almost to the concrete jungle.

1 quote 1 morning...

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”

-Calvin Coolidge

For artists in particular, there is a need to defy the odds of being the one to make it. In conversation, I find myself standing up for friends as much as I stand up for self, in having this faith that if you just keep going, you can reach your personal top. This quote plays with, and into that theology. 

It informs me of what I need to get back into, for sure. NYC•Gaijin.

Thoughts and personal takes on this quote, that I found here?

the vocab...

Action brings dreams to life...

Flushing a conversation that I had out...

I don't get along with this person, yet I'd never not try to find the hidden "gems" that I may be able to take with me, and learn from. It's usually the most difficult people that produce the most dramatic learning opportunities in your life. Years ago I was told, "Listen to the message, despite the messenger." I've adopted that view ever since.

One of the things that stuck out in the conversation was his noting that I use the word "I", "me" and "my" more than anyone he knows.

I use the word 'know' lightly as well, just because he doesn't truly know me, himself. The short time frame, and level of past personality conflict, haven't allocated enough space and time for it. Fair enough, I would also venture to say I don't know who he truly is either.

But this note I found interesting...Interesting because it's true. This is something I know about myself. More specifically, it is something I know about myself, where I am in my life presently. I don't know if being an Aries (the sign ruled in the House of Self), or being in the midst of a numerological 1 Personal Year (the year of building self) magnifys this fact, or what, but I don't deny it's there.

It's there for a reason.

It's there because I am creating the foundation to creative projects, businesses, and relationships that fuel my soul, and will eventually fuel a livelihood. This is probably the most introspective year of my life, right now, today, as I write these words.

Writing my first book. Being a new businesses owner with Evierobbie Media. Debuting and upkeeping the Nomad•ness website and travel videos (which is doing great. Thank you all for reading and re-reading. watching and re-watcing). A new relationship. Coming into my own woman. Seeing many fruits flourish from past labor, that didn't really feel like labor because it is what I love to do. It's an extremely personal year.

Those closest to me know that I sometimes describe myself as an extrovert with very introverted tendencies, particularly writing, which has me alone and in front of my computer for hours on end, doing something I absolutely love. Those closest to me also know that through the majority of my life, I was a giver, to the point that I was panic attack ridden, with nothing left for Evita. I was physically, emotionally, and psychlogically drained for years on end. It took a long time to learn that doing something for myself is ok, with or without explanation.

It's not about me going all out only for myself. I could see where it is misunderstood as such by those who don't truly know me. It's about getting some serious moves made towards my dreams. I'll never apologize for that, as long as I'm not hurting anyone in the process.

This is a huge year in my life. I don't take any part of it for granted. I also understand that in order to accomplish certain goals, there are a number of things that need my attention. It's a beauitful thing. It's positive progress.

So when I speak on what I'm doing, it's merely to bring you into my world, voluntarily. Show you a different perspective, and a different way of doing things, not necessarily a 'better' or 'worse' way. Again, voluntarily.

It's the same reason why I update you all on Nomad•ness gals and guys that I see who embody the spirit of someone pursuing their dreams, balls to the wall. I can only support that.

(For you Malcolm Gladwell heads...why does this make me think of the 10,000 hours to genius chapter in Outliers??...)

fighting that block of writers...

"Be still when you have nothing to say; when genuine passion moves you, say what you've got to say, and say it hot." - D. H. Lawrence

progress...

43 chapters, 192 pages, 70,223 words, 1,442 paragraphs....progress

Chiang Mai in the rain...

Rainy days in Chiang Mai are made for writing memoirs...

I’m calm. Truly calm, in this moment. No cast members. No cameras. Some of my counterparts, I believe, are still asleep. Let them rest. I was the first one up and the first one out today. It’s our first storm in Chiang Mai and I love it. Rainy days, regardless of the city I am in, always agree with me. They calm my senses, slow the bustle of even a New York state of mind, and allow me to just be.

Starbucks, for those of you who really know me already understand, is a genuine constant in my life. Much of NYC•Gaijin has been written within the walls of this establishment. Niigata, Tokyo, Bronx, Manhattan, and now Chiang Mai. Anticipating the rain, I found myself excited to walk in it, feel it, and write amongst it.

I’m still slowly etching out of the creative rut I was in after Rudi’s death, and I finally feel ready to get back into the groove. The distractions of New York are thousands of miles away. The idea of getting a job, in the generic sense, is more challenging by the day.  Yet, with whatever stresses I have to deal with in just surviving this place, I know writing will bring me calm and clarity. That’s why I disappear to do so.

Writing my memoir about living in Japan, and traveling to India, while currently residing in Chiang Mai, Thailand…who would’ve thunk it?

my take on Eat Pray Love...19th Street and Broadway

This was the line that formuted at 3:25pm for the 3:45 showing of Eat Pray Love at the Loews Theater on 19th and Broadway, in New York City. I couldn't believe it. I mean, it's a Friday. Did these people not work, take a half day, edge themselves into a hyper extended lunch?

The theater was full. For nearly two and a half hours I analyzed the film and came to a few conclusions:

1. The book was better.

2. Julia Roberts was a perfect fit for the part.

3. Nomad•ness and NYC•Gaijin have a serious purpose in my life. 

4. Boyfriend got like 1000000 points for making it through the travel chick flick with me.

5. If you've ever been to Italy, India, or Bali (I have India) prepare yourself for a painfully real sense of nostalgia.

It was a good movie portraying a great book. I wasnt throw aback, and to be honest........it assured me of how innovative my sense of travel documentation has truly been.

Eat Pray Love ....a theater near you

Every once in awhile, there is a film that speaks to the core of your values and life. There's a film that guts you, whether from controversy or from truth.

I remember one day, while working at truTV, I had a co-worker Seida come up to me.

"Have you ever heard of the book Eat, Pray, Love. Evita it reminds me of your life so much. I love the way it's written. It's a little slow when she gets to India in the second part, but she reminds me of you so much. I can picture you writing a book like this one day," she said.

I responded,"No but I keep seeing people reading it on the subway. What's it about?"

Seida continued her pitch, " Oh my God you have to read it. It's about a woman who gets a divorce, then quits her job, and travels through Italy, India, and Indonesia on this trip to go find herself. It's something I could picture you doing."

I bought the book the next day. I finished the book three days later. I loved it, especially the India part. This conversation took place in Summer 2008. Little did I know that two months after it I'd be in Edinburgh, Scotland, three months after that I'd be living in Japan, and eleven months after that I'd be on my own trek around India. In conjunction with the travels, I'd start writing my own memoir. That which I am now approximately 170 pages into right now....funny how the Universe works.

I LOVED the book, and am a bit of a skeptic of the book to film transition. But this one, I HAVE to go see.

For all the women out there. For all the true life livers out there. For all the travelers out there. This film is the story of just one of us. Don't worry mine is coming...

Between Basquiat and Eat Pray Love I'll be spending this weekend at the theater.

India.

It's no coincidence that I have been back for over a week and still have yet to post a thorough blog about my time in India.
As a writer, India presented a tangible challenge. How does one convey the power of the images, smells, and emotion captured in a place that saturates the senses in all these ways? India led to some of the best photography I have taken, to date, as you can observe throughout this blog. I also have video footage that I will be spending the next few weeks making heads and tails of for upcoming episodes of Nomad•ness. Overwhelmed with wondering how I was to relay the information of this trip, it wasn't until I started giving slide presentations to my schools in Japan, as a final lesson, that I got the energy and insight to push it out. The look on these children's eyes when I show them photos of me covered in the colors of Holi, or riding a camel, or kids their age too poor to go to school. They get it, and for a moment I see their eyes open beyond Japan. I want to influence everyone I meet enough to make them get over the fear, and get on the plane. This was my journey...

India.

The memoir will most definitely retain the details of my travels, but here I offer some photos as navigation through the most uncomfortable, scary, dirty, invigorating, and rewarding experience of my life. I thought living in Japan for a year made me a warrior. Little did I know what India had to offer.
The ten day trek took Melissa, Stephanie, and I through New Delhi, Jaipur, Pushkar, and Agra. We stayed in the North, venturing locally on buses and trains in the uncomfort of stares, being followed, and constant invasion of personal space. The ratio of men to women, outside, is highly uneven and it is not uncommon to find yourself surrounded by gazing men offering you rides, deaf to the word "No."
Northern India is also knows for being cultural, yet extremely poverty plagued. The South is known more so for the cleanliness, tourists, and resorts. Needless to say, I am happy we ventured in the North first.

They live the way they must. It is the begging of the children that tears you to pieces, but there is a silent understanding.

Five of our ten days we spent in Jaipur, celebrating Holi Festival of Colors, becoming masked by vibrant paint powder colors. The Elephant Festival was amazing, even after I drew a crowd of laughing male faces at my attempts to get on top of a horse. Good times.
Holi was one of the best days of my life, and Stephanie's 30th birthday. Mayhem, chaos, alcohol, and all of us in a humvee were the symbols of the day. We started by braving the Jaipur streets with our new friends and 'bodyguard' and we ended it in a private party hosted by Jaipur's elite, inside the garden of an old palace. The day was a real life fairy tale.







We continued through Jaipur onto the Amber Fort where we were surprisingly greeted by a snake charmer. All three of us took the charmer's word for it, stating that the snake wasn't poisonous, and touched the cobra. My brother would have been proud. When in Rome...right? There were elephants, monkeys, pigs, buffalo, and camels everywhere. Over dinner in the desert I had a monkey scare the hell out of me while I was eating outside, only for it to get into a fight with a cat. I cannot make this stuff up.

We intended to spend three days in Agra, but as per everyone's recommendation, it was too long. Agra also proved to be the dirtiest of the places we went so within twenty-four hours we got there and left, walking away from our hotel payments and all. Though the city left much to be desired, it was here I saw my mecca and the reason why I ventured to India in the first place.
Taj Mahal. The most epic representation of love.

We even saw Japanese people there, something that makes me feel very much at home now. How ironic?!

In leaving Agra, we rerouted for the unplanned part of the itinerary, Pushkar aka the desert aka Little Israel. It's a bit of a hippy town packed right in the middle of the desert and steep hills. We spent two days in Pushkar doing cheap shopping, gawking at the fine Israeli that ran the Internet Cafe, fighting off pink lizards and stomach issues, while riding camels for hours. It was here I met my 10 year old camel guide, the most fascinating young man I have met in my life.

Leaving Pushkar, I headed back to Japan to conclude my year long journey there, and my fellow travelers flew to South Africa.
Sugoy! Amazing!
If it seems as though I am recalling events, yet not emotion, it is because I still am. I am still searching for the right words to formulate the right sentences, to spit out all that I have in.
I am forever grateful for India. If for no other reason, I know I can sleep anywhere and find some comfort. If for nothing else, because even at my worst, I have so much more than those in the Northern part of their country. In its ugly, I find such a raw beauty. I look forward to the day I find the words...the memoir is going to be amazing.

Loving my life!