Old Man Brings Recording Studio to College Campus

I walked right up to him.

He was standing in the library at a table with nearly an entire recording studio on top. He had a laptop and monitor along with a pad controller for beats and sounds on the table, all of which left several cords sticking out and jumbled behind the table. 

He told me his name is James and that he's the same age as Michael Jackson.

I know... That's a super cool fact right!?

Why he is here?

Before the conversation about Michael Jackson, we talked about why he randomly brought a great big music recording set up to a college campus library. He said music producing is just his hobby and the library lobby is a good place to do it. I wanted to ask him why he doesn't do it at home, but I just assumed he didn't have space. Moving on.

Race Issue

We went on to why I was in the Valley and he kept bringing up that race isn't such a big problem here for me. I'm guessing because the RGV is predominantly Hispanic. In my mind I thought, "super inappropriate... I'm black and you're white, you can't say that..." But I just smiled and nodded. 

The Music Industry

"A person has to be immoral and corrupt in order to succeed in the industry," said James, who is a musician. I told him in a video I watched a You tuber said, "A lot of people aren't as successful because they don't want to deal with the occult." And he told me he is a Christian and he thinks you have to be really good in order to be discovered. I argued, now artists don't have to have as much talent they just have to have the burning desire to work towards their musical goals. "But they have to be good at something," he countered. I agreed. Now, back to the Michael Jackson story.

Michael Jackson Connection

I'm not sure why we began talking about Michael Jackson but I'm sure it had something to do with music. AT FIRST! Until he blurted out "Michael Jackson is a pervert." I quickly responded, "he is?" Like I had never heard anyone say that about Mike. "No grown man has any business hanging out with 14-year-old boys, nothing good usually comes from it," said James a 58-year-old. I had to back my guy Mike up a little by saying, "Well it depends on the reason they are hanging out." In my head I felt like "Aww man, Mike probably did it, since the James had put it like that." I ended up excusing myself from the conversation so I could go sale more candy.

It's amazing what kind of stories you'd be able to tell if you addressed your curiosity by starting conversations with people who do things out of the ordinary.

One Shocking Moment

A man who looked about 57 years old was on campus and purchased a candy bar to help my eye surgery fundraiser. I was shocked becasue he had a normal left eye, but the right eye was closed, shut and tight. Something was wasn't right with his eye. I'm so thankful that someone who was having there own trouble with their eyes would be kind enough to help me with mine.

I hope his gets fixed soon. Eye's aren't anything to play with. I mean who would play with them? How could we literally play with our eyes? Let me know in the comments below :)

I Was Scammed

I WAS SCAMMED 😱

I met a guy who was smoking a cigarette outside of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Library.
At the time, I was raising money for music equipment.

He was intrigued by this and went on to tell me that he had Los Angeles music producer connects.

"Yeah I sent a rapper out to Houston and flew a rapper to LA to do shows," he said.

He said he books rappers and artists for events as a side job, aside from his regular health care career.

"I used to do a lot of promoting when I was younger so I have a lot of music connections."

I told him, it would be cool if he could get me connected with producers that he knows and he told me to send him my Soundcloud and we exchanged contact information.

One month later around midnight, he sent me a text and said he loved my music and the studio he contacted in Houston did as well.

He told me he paid four bills for studio sessions, and he needed to pay the fifth one. He wanted to know If I'd be able to come up with $100 by the next day.
I told him yes.

The next day, I brought a friend along to met up with him. He asked my friend if he could talk to me in private. Even though I didn't want my friend to leave, he did.

Now it was time that he tried to convince me why I should trust him. I ended up getting a ride to the bank to pick up the money, in his raggedy red truck.

I gave it to him before my ex-girl friend called. She was angry that I gave him the money without her being their because she was supposed to be my "manager."

To calm her down, he offered to take us to dinner at Chipotle.

He came up with an excuse, and never showed up!

The next day he wouldn't respond to calls or texts although he was posting statuses on Facebook.

For two days, he didn't respond to me, until I told my brother I was scammed.



My brother was really smart about his move. He texted the scammer as if he was my attorney and said I reported the scammer to the police. 

The scammer then texted me the only text he had sent all day saying, "I'm not ignoring you, why would I?"

I ended up getting my money back at the police station. I asked the cops to collect it from the scammer. I didn't want to see his face again.

Leave comments below:

Why Vote for Donald Trump?

Donald Trump won...

Hip hip, boo!

It seems like not a lot of people wanted him to win, but his popularity trumped.

It was so hot while I was selling candy, I had to step inside.

I hadn't met a trump supporter in the Rio Grande Valley until I decided to talk to a worker at a Chinese restaurant on campus.

I love talking to this guy, we usually have deep and interesting conversations.

This time was different. I didn't think he would ask me this question.

He asked, "Who did you vote for?"

I told him, "The lesser of the two evils." 

I didn't want to reveal who I voted for, because I didn't want to vote for either of the candidates. 

However, I didn't want the person who I thought would "Make America Worse Again," to win.

Back to the worker at the Chinese restaurant, let's call him Johnny Slim. After I asked 
Johnny Slim who he voted for he tried to go back and forth with me until he finally said it. "I voted for Trump," he stated confidently. 

With a smile, I said, "Oh." 

With out my permission, he went on to explain why...

To make a long story short.
The reason he voted for Trump is because he claims the Bible references God saying, "If you accept my people I will bless you." 

Who are these people, you ask?
Why. They are the people of Israel. 

Johnny Slim is a Christian and wants to be blessed by God. On the other hand, he doesn't like Trump and doesn't think Trump is Christian. 

Johnny Slim said Trump allies with Israel, while Hillary Clinton and Obama are not because they ally with countries around Israel who are Israel's enemies.  

The only reason Johnny Slim voted is so he and his country wouldn't miss out on the blessings of God.

Comment and let me know your take on this.

3 Ways to Solve College

I haven't been able to sell candy recently. While I'd rather read, record music, build a buisness, raise money for my surgery and travel, school is consuming most of my time. I have two more years left of college, and I wish I could be done sooner. I'm happy I found the best major for my personality. It's pretty hands on, however; having an entrepreneur mindset makes me want to only focus on creating income. I do understand getting my degree may benefit me for my long term success.
In college, these three things have been what made the largest impact on me.

The Internet

The internet has really made it easier to figure find the best way to accomplish almost any goal. I'm fully confident about my goals, it feels like school is getting in the way. I want to be young with the fortune and I will be.

Friends/Distractions

I only have a hand full, although I love talking with hundreds of people. I will reach millions by age 21, I am 20 now. I don't have a big problem with friends because I've learned how to say no without feeling bad about it.

There are actually no breaks in my life. The reason you stop doing what you want is because something else gets in the way and becomes your focus. Is what you are focused on what you really want to dedicate your life to? Is it really worth your time? Sometimes our goal has to be reassessed in order to know what we really focus our attention on in order to achieve our greatest benefit.

Money Problems

There's always a solution to every problem in life, just keep going. Desire is key, you have to focus on it and it will come. You attract what you think about the most. Look into the law of attraction. The key is maybe passive income which usually leads to financial freedom, but you be the judge of that.

In the comments, share your stories about any of the three topics listed above.

Guess who I met today!

Umm.. This is kinda sad, but there was a girl who scrapped coins out of her purse for a candy bar. After, she finished counting the total and put it in my hands; she told me that her dad passed away "a couple hours ago" and she donated to me for him. Because it's something that he would've done. Then she cried as I walked away. I didn't really know what to do. Comment what you would've done.

What's better than wasting time?

Selling candy is fun because I get to meet different types of people. This person happened to be really cool. I walked up to a random guy sitting at a tall table with an empty seat in front of him. "Potential custie," I thought. So I introduced myself, sat in the empty chair, and asked if he wanted to buy candy to help fund my eye surgery, but he said he'd bring money next week. Somehow, he went on to tell me that he's not from here, and that he's a rapper and producer named Chris, who's 18 years old, from Las Vegas. He sells beats online and creates music only using his iPad. He popped out the iPad, played his music and I liked it because his flow sounded kind of like my father, Drake. Yes, that's my Dad! Anyway, I went on to tell him that I also make music. Now we're cooking up musical hits. Check out our music: https://soundcloud.com/mecia-meesh https://soundcloud.com/christopehr-layne

Custodian Lives Matter

I was walking through the hallway and I walked up to a brown-skined boy with dreadlocks who happened to be from the same area as I'm from, the DMV (Dc, Maryland, and Virginia) metropolitan area. While I was telling him that I was selling candy to raise money for my eye surgery, I spotted a custodian listening to me. He pulled his wallet out while saying, "I'm not doing this because of your story. I'm not doing this because I want candy." He handed me four dollars and said, "I'm doing this because you have a beautiful smile." That was the sweetest thing I heard that day. Sometimes the people who are the most overlooked are the ones who will give the greatest encouragement and support. Let's begin to recognize our custodians who are helping us in the background.