At least two times a week for the past year, I’ve drove past the sixty-year-old and wondered about his story and what he possible could be reading. In my mind, Rick was not just another homeless man. He was a dignified professor performing some integrated long social experiment. So it took me awhile to build up the courage to finally approach him. My fear: Rick snapping at me in public and shouting things like, “You ruined it!” and “You’ve blown my cover as an undercover homeless person.”

Turns out, Rick is soft-spoken. I doubt he’s ever yelled. And while sometimes I think its important to poke and prod someone for their story–you know, get down to the nitty gritty–I equally think there’s strength in keeping it simple. And Rick is very simple, as you will soon see. This interview took place at Lake Eola Park and lasted only five minutes. In exchange for his time I gave him a copy of Fragmentation + Other Stories, to which he graciously accepted.

How did you end up on the benches of Eola Park?
I came here from Key West… looking for work. Didn’t find much. I was a cook, a line chef, for my catering line. Then in the divorce, my wife got that… as well as everything else.

She got the catering company?
Yeah… she got the catering company and everything else. So I started traveling around. I was in Key West for about ten years. And then things got screwed up pretty bad. So I thought I’d try somewhere else to work. I thought, Orlando! Big tourist town. Lots of restaurants. But… [he gives a major thumbs down] that went right down the tubes.

Are you looking for a job now?
I’m always looking for a job.

Do you have any family?
Three kids… somewhere. My wife had them adopted after the divorce. When I found out, it was too late to do anything about it.

Where do you spend most of your time?
Walking around. Sitting here reading.

I always see you with a book in your hand and usually under the 408. Why there?
Why not? It’s a nice place to read. And I don’t get too wet when it rains.

What are you reading today?
[He turns the front of the book towards me so I can see it.] Praying For Sleep

What’s your favorite genre?
I don’t just have one. I’ll read anything but Romanticism and Westerns.

How many books do you think you’ve read in your lifetime?
Oh… at least 20,000.

What’s been your favorite read?
My favorite read is The Bible. I read it at least twice, three times a year.

Really? Do you learn something new each time you read it?
Yeah. I learn about me.

What have you learned about yourself?
I’m not the bad guy that I think I am sometimes. It’s always good to make yourself self-aware.

Where do you get your books?
People give them to me. Or I find ‘em.

What do you love/hate about Orlando?
I don’t hate anything about Orlando. There’s no use. It’s a waste of energy.

Then what do you love?
Everything… because God gave it to us. And I get to enjoy it.

Do you find that people are nice to you?
Yep

What do you want to tell people that walk by and maybe stare at you?
It only takes one mistake and you could be the same as me.

If you could be anywhere else in the world, where would you be?
[Pauses] Nowhere.

C’mon, nowhere?
I’m happy where ever I am.

Fair enough. Now I’d like to do some word associations. Say the first thing that comes to mind when I say the following words:

Today:
Beautiful

Food:
Necessary

Love:
Necessary

Music:
Necessary

Education:
Definitely necessary

Alcohol:
Once in a while

People:
Try to do good.

Tomorrow:
It never comes.

If you could go back in time and do one thing over in life, what would it be?
Nothing.

You’d do it all the same?
I made the choices I made. I thought they were right. So why would I change them?

But are you happy with those choices?
Yeah… I am happy. [Smiles]

Interview Date: October 25, 2011

Thanks to Google, there he was on my computer screen. A picture of a middle-aged man and his cape flying proudly behind him. He stood strong and proud.  ”Master Legend: Orlando’s real-life superhero,” it said. I was dumbfounded. How could two characters like ourselves coexist in the same city for twenty years without knowing each other? Everyone who lives in Orlando knows it’s a small, big city where everyone knows everyone within three degrees of separation. It’s the rule (at least that seems to be the rule when you’re diving head first into the Orlando dating pool) and yet somehow this superhero snuck his way into a national publication and on to the big screen while no one was looking. If anything, that’s a magical feat upon itself. Kudos ML.

To set-up this interview, I emailed strange listings on googled websites until finally someone replied with Master Legend’s personal email. Within a day he sent me his phone number. It was a month before I called him. I needed time to build up the courage to say, “Hi. Is this Master Legend?”

On the phone he told me about his recent Orlando Sentinel cover and how he felt like the HBO documentary took advantage of him drinking one beer and made him seem like an alcoholic. He assured me he no longer drinks, and that he was going through a depression back then, and that he’s a good guy and soon he has to go get some cracked up teeth fixed. And this all happened before I could formally introduce myself.

Master Legend is practiced. He knows he has a story to tell and it’s obvious he’s told it many times before. Based on my research, his story is very consistent. The morning of this interview he was suppose to call-in to XL106.7 and talk to Johnny on his morning show. His phone blocked Johnny’s call and the interview never happened. He said he felt terrible. To show that he’s dependable and that the morning goof wasn’t his fault, he still wanted to meet me after 8pm to clear the air.

He wanted to meet at Gino’s pizza, the very same place he took the Rolling Stone writer. Due to noise, we walked down Pine St. hoping to find quieter spot for interviewing. Along the way he made friends with a NY Sergeant Fire Fighter, a two-year-old and the two-year-old’s family. He passed out business cards to those he encountered, as if they were presents. He did not leave out the two-year-old. “Find me on Facebook,” he shouted to anyone within reach.

Eventually we landed at the outside tables of Bullit Bar. He faced the street, I faced him and the brick wall backdrop. We were interrupted three times in twenty-two minutes by ML fans. I’m sure many more fans walked by pointing and staring. After all, he was wearing tights, armor, a helmet, sunglasses and a cape–just another Wednesday night for a real-life superhero.

Jana: Describe a typical night for Master Legend.
ML: It depends on where I’m at and the territory. If it’s in my Winter Park area, it’s usually a quiet night because I’m scouring the streets making sure no evil comes back. Long ago, there was all kinds of stuff going on… all kinds of crackheads and people burglarizing everything. I fought them off one by one. When the cops couldn’t do anything, myself and The Justice Crusaders ran ‘em out of town and now I just keep the town clean.

When I come to Orlando, downtown, I walk the streets and help the homeless people. I look for anyone who might be getting attacked. If someone gets attacked, I will jump into action!

In your opinion, what makes a superhero?
You wanna try to do something above and beyond what the average person is doing—that’s one thing that makes a superhero. And you gotta have the heart and spirit, that’s the main thing.

When it comes to being a superhero a lot of people say you must have super powers. A lot of guys out there will say they don’t have super powers. I say they haven’t tapped into it or they don’t believe in such things. But, I, myself am the superhero Master Legend that has super metaphysical abilities.

Is that something you were born with? Or is it a choice that you made?
It’s both for me. I was born with a veil and died the moment I was born.

What do you mean a veil?
It’s a membrane over your face. It’s pretty well known through the ages. Anyone born with the veil that survives without being suffocated is gifted with certain abilities. I suffocated, you see. The doctors brought me back. They brought me back! It all depends on the color of your veil too.

What color was your veil?
Purple.

What does that mean?
I can see spirits and stuff like that…

[A stranger from New York interrupts us to have his picture taken with Master Legend. He recently has seen the HBO documentary and is a fan of ML’s.]

That happens a lot.

That’s okay. What is your superhero quality?
There’s plenty of qualities there. Mainly, I care. That’s the biggest quality I have. I could sit back like other people I see in this world who only worry about themselves, but that’s not me. I’m trying to make a difference. And I’m willing to do anything to do it. I’ll do dangerous stunts—whatever it takes! Just to help out people.

Have you ever heard the story of the Human Fly? It’s a story you should check out sometime. He’s one of my hero’s. Marvel made a comic about him way back in the day but it was short lived. I think you’d really like the story about him. He helped out a lot of sick kids by doing dangerous stunts. And that’s what I’m willing to do too.

How do you find the courage?
After my second death. When I was a teenager I died a second time. I suffocated. Both times I’ve died by suffocation. But the paramedics brought me back! And when I came back the second time I had these special visions. People think I’m nuts when I tell them that. But I’ve shown people what I can do over the years.

Tell me more about these visual powers. Do you see colors or what?
I see spirits and demons in the metaphysical world. I know a lot about energies. There’s these energies that are sometimes evil and I can see them. Something else I do is see inside of people very well. I can read into their very souls.

What do you see inside of me?
I won’t go into all of that right now. That’d be a long thing… and I don’t think we have that kind of time. But I want to help ya.

Fair enough. How did you come up with your costume?
It’s emerged through the years. I’ve always liked armor and protection. And my colors are chrome and black. The silver is like the light shining through the darkness. That’s why I like silver. Silver is the color of purity.

What brought you to Orlando?
Over twenty years ago, I got tired of Louisiana. The town was bad and I was gettin’ sick of the place.  So I decided to come here. Some friends told me to come on down to Orlando. So I did. They said they had a job for me and a place to stay. But they didn’t. I was homeless the day I set foot in Orlando. I had to fight my way through it. I got jumped and beaten up pretty bad.  My face was fractured in, my wrist was broken, stitches to my head—and I had real good, long hair back then too. They stitched my head up at Orlando Regional Medical Center and had to cut my hair.  Luckily, it’s back now. Thank goodness. No bald spots or gray hairs at forty-five.

What do you like/not like about this city?
It’s what I don’t like about many places—the rich people have so much while more and more people are suffering on the streets. There is money being made off of the homeless people. The money that’s suppose to go to them hasn’t been helpin’ one bit or else I wouldn’t have to be out here handin’ out jackets and blankets and food and water and socks and shampoo and soap and toothbrushes and toothpaste and everything I do.

I like the cops, but then I see they have to uphold certain laws that I don’t like. Like, when the jail gets a little low on prisoners, they randomly find homeless people to throw in the jailhouse. I have that filmed. They don’t know it. Some of my spies and The Justice Crusaders…

[A couple walking by interrupts us and asks Master Legend to take a photo with each of them. He is quick to get up and greet them, and then kindly poses for more pictures.]

A lot of times people want to take pictures with me but I don’t think they really care what I do. Anyhow, The Justice Crusaders are jumping into action with the video cameras. You see, the jailhouse industry—as I call it—make $150 a day off a homeless person or criminal or whoever it is. That’s how much tax payer’s pay—$150 day. I’ll tell ya what. There’s a lot of people out there that could use a room. There are places all over that’ll rent a room for $100 a week no problem. Now, for $100, maybe even $75, you could have all the homeless off the streets for a week. Instead, all that money is going to the jailhouse industry. You see what I’m talkin’ about? They have to keep all the jail rooms occupied. It’s kind of like a motel.

[A homeless man interrupts us and asks Master Legend for some goods. ML tells the man he has no handouts at this time. The man asks him what he’s doing out on the streets. He says he’s watching the city, but that’ll he’ll be by later with water and snacks. The man slaps ML five and keeps walking.]

How is the crime in Orlando?
It’s nothing compared to Louisiana. Louisiana was really bad. I don’t think anyone will ever realize what I went through there. They don’t scare me, I’ll tell you that. You don’t go around like this and be afraid of ‘em, ya know? I try to avoid the trouble if I can. But if they want trouble, they’ll find out who I am—Master Legend Kungfu Master.

Do you really know Kungfu?
Yeah! I was trained by a real master.

Do you have a day job?
I’m self-employed. A lot of people don’t understand that I still have obligations. I keep myself self-employed in case there are certain situations that people do need me. Like, I have an award from Orange County Sheriff’s Department for my ability to help during hurricanes. When that [kind of stuff] happens, I can’t worry about asking for the day off. So I’m self-employed, even though times are a little tougher these days as a home repair expert, property manager. I also do professional tree climbing.

How many hours a week do you spend as Master Legend?
I’m always Master Legend with or without the suit. The suit doesn’t make or break me. I’m always Master Legend, that’s just how it is. It’s who I am. I throw on the suit at times, but there’s no act or anything. I’m always ready for action.

What do you say to people who don’t take you seriously?
I don’t have time to waste on explaining myself. I don’t even care, really. I’m too busy trying to save the world.

What’s been your favorite mission?
I guess one of my favorite ones was when I had to fight the evil child molester and his crackhead gang. I had to take care of them all and put them out of business. They won’t be selling any crack rock anytime soon, and the evil guy won’t be molesting any little girls.  Knocked his teeth out. Broke a bone right here in my hand doing it.

That leads to my next question. Have you ever been injured on superhero duty?
Plenty of times. Shot twice. Broken bones. Broken ribs. Concussions. Broken up teeth. Broken fingers. Broken knuckles. All kinds of stitches and bangs, a couple slices and slice wounds, it’s what you get when you’re professional fighter.

The Master Legend spread opener featured in Rolling Stone January '09.

Now that you’ve been in Rolling Stone and recently featured on the HBO documentary Superheroes, you’ve gained quite a bit of attention. How has that affected you?
It’s good. I want everyone across the world to know superheroes are everywhere. Then sometimes, it aggravates me. A lot of times people want you to do everything for them. I can’t do everything and work my regular job. I have to turn down magazines. They wanted me to write a book and I turned that down. You can’t be there for everyone. And sometimes they get mad at me and think I’m being mean. That’s one thing I don’t like about all this. People expect too much out of me. That’s what happens.

I don’t live with mommy and daddy. Sometimes people get false impressions that superheroes do. My daddy killed himself when I was fourteen and my mom disowned me when I was fifteen. I’ve been on my own ever since.

Do you feel like you’ve been portrayed in magazines and in the documentary in a way that’s fair?
They don’t tell the true story. The tell part of it, a skim of the surface, but at least they’re getting the word out there. They just want to do what entertains. There are things I would like them to know about me, some of the more serious stuff. I make the videos so people can see me helping others, and I hope it encourages them to help others too.

Have you made any money from any of it?
Nope. It only takes money out of my pocket all the time. Rolling Stone never paid me anything. HBO never paid me anything. And as for all the other radio shows, people think they pay me, but they don’t. So I collect all kind of expenses just trying to not let people down. No one ever thinks about that. I’ve gone to places where they don’t even have a cold water for me to drink, and they expect me to talk forever.

How is Master Legend’s love life?
There’s a lot of women who wish they could be with Master Legend, but they don’t know the truth about it. It’s not all fancy times. And I’m not the millionaire they think I am. I try not to hit on women as Master Legend. I just take pictures with them. I had a girlfriend a while back and she died. I haven’t been with no woman since.

What are your dreams?
I want to start veterans’ hotels all across the United States. I also wanna help disabled people get off the streets. No homeless veteran’s or disabled people on the streets and then I’ll work from there. This guy from the swamp is going to show the entire world how greed is stoppin’ people from offering a helping hand. I got plans that’ll fix all these problems.

What advice would you give the world?
The world needs to see what’s really going on and take off the blinders. Stand. Unite.  And fight to take back what’s rightfully ours.

How do you want Master Legend to be remembered?
Master Legend will never have to be remembered like he was dead. I’m known all over the world so I’m pretty much immortal. And it’s not just being known but I have done so many wild things. I have no fear. It’s like I can’t die.

If something did happen, and I became missing somehow, remember me as the guy who helped carve the way for many other superheroes. I’m proud I’ve stood strong against evil.

*Interview Date: September 21, 2011

To keep up with Master Legend, like him on Facebook. Or go downtown to Gino’s pizza any given night. It’s his secret interview meeting spot.

The event had impacted me. My curiosity was peaked. I had to know why people were willing to wait so long for food truck food. How good could it be? According to Cory, “The Korean Taco truck in LA serves the most delicious food you’ll ever eat.” So two days later I tracked down the Big Wheel Provisions Food Truck (because I thought it was the prettiest) and ate a gourmet pork sandwich off an old ironing board–and loved it. What is so great about eating from a food truck? Everything. Again, I ate a gourmet pork sandwich off an ironing board and loved it. It’s an experience. You can try unique eats and enjoy them outside and in nature, with or without friends, and all the while you’re supporting a local business. If you haven’t tried a gourmet food truck yet, you must. If you’re too lazy to track down your dinner, you can hire them to come to you (Big Wheel caters!). No matter how you do it, I want to ask you to support Tony, Big Wheel Provisions and other local food trucks. Without our support, they will go away.

Jana: Where did you learn to cook?
Tony: It’s been a long journey. My Mom past away last year so it’s tough to stop and think about, but it started with her. My dad had a boiler company as I was growing up, where he’d fix boilers. I didn’t like the smell of fuel. I didn’t like how dirty you got. So I just hung around inside and in the kitchen and helped my Mom cook.

I also wasn’t allowed to watch TV unless I was watching cooking shows. So it kind of started as a way to sneak TV, but then I realized I could chop really fast and do most of the stuff. So I did college. I did vocational school. And I just started working. [Laughs] I’ve been working since I was like twelve. So I’ve spent a lot of time in restaurants.

Did you work in any local restaurants around town?
Not a ton. I moved down here from Providence [Rhode Island] to teach at Le Cordon Bleu. I was hired full time. I didn’t know anyone, but I made some friends who also taught at the school.

To be honest with you, I was pretty disappointed with the restaurant scene when I first got down here. This was pre-Luma, pre-Ravinous Pig… and I was living in Metro West, which is not a great part of town, at least not for restaurants.  I left the school to open a place in College Park called Adair’s—it’s now closed. But I did a lot of work there for a couple of months. And then I got to spend sometime at The Dessert Lady, waiting tables and playing with cake. Working with Patti [Schmidt] was great. She used to get a kick out of me answering the phone cause she’d make me say, “Hello, this is The Dessert Lady.” [Laughs] But that’s it. I haven’t spent a lot of time working in restaurants in town.

How did Big Wheel Provisions come about?
A couple different ways. I was teaching at the school when I got a random phone call about doing some personal chef work. It was with one of the Magic players. I started working with him, and was immediately hired by another one of the Magic player’s families. They had come over for lunch one day and was like, “Oh my gosh, you must come work for us too!” So [I was working] five days a week, plus teaching, so it became a lot. I did that for a year. I was dating someone at the time that was passionate about the things we do now, and still is. And it was time to make some changes. Working for a for-profit education system is often soul-selling I guess you would say. I started having issues morally, and attitude-wise with what was happening at the school. So I decided to spend some of time on Big Wheel [Provisions], which we officially launched in 2008 going into 2009.

Honestly, it looks so much different now than we ever thought. Big Wheel was called Big Wheel because we thought it was going to be Big Wheel Cheese & Provisions. We thought we were going to open a cheese shop, which was our goal. Here we are three years later and still no cheese shop. We thought we could call up the Winter Park Farmer’s Markets and say, “Hey, we here and ready to do all your stuff. We’re local.” But we’re still on the waiting list there.  So we came to the Audubon Farmer’s Market here at Stardust and Gabby Othon-Lothrop was like, “Oh my god. We’ve been looking for someone like you. Yes, please. Come join us.” So we started with five or six different products one night and did extremely well considering with what we came with. And the madness started from there… and it’s been nuts.

Food Trucks are big in LA and New York but what made you feel like it would work in Orlando?
I didn’t know it would work, and I don’t know if it’s working still, which is very difficult to say. This is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. The thing about Orlando is that it rains every day in the summer between 4-6 and we’ve lost a lot of days in the summer because of it.

What was your first food truck experience like?
[Pauses] I don’t know that I had a food truck experience until I owned one. [Laughs] That’s really embarrassing to admit. But other than ice cream trucks… yeah, I never had a food truck experience. Wow, that’s weird to think about it.

Do you think there can be too many food trucks?
Yeah. There’s a surge happening here, but also a waning. I’ve already seen some food trucks come and go which is unfortunate. I think people may get food truck fatigued. I few other food truck owners got upset with me earlier this spring because I said I saw food trucks as a two-year fad in Orlando.  Financially, we set it up so that for two years we’d be in it, make a little bit of money, and then we’d own the truck to put out every now and again.  We hope that doesn’t happen, but already we’ve seen some community backlash in LA and Portland and I just hope that doesn’t happen here. So can there be too many food trucks? Yes. But I’m more worried about there being food truck events too often and too often in the same place. I also think a normal family doesn’t want to eat at a food truck six nights a week, and it’s difficult to fight for those people.

How do pods work to a food truck’s advantage?
Pods are great. When we started, we thought we were going to be downtown, that we were the only truck and that people would come jammin’ to us. What we really found out is that when we’re alone, very few people come seek us out. Orlando is a town of a convenience, at least in the food truck world. When we do food truck pods it gives people a choice.

It just seems counter-intuitive to me to invite your competition to sell with you.
It is. But you know, it’s great. Like the other night Treehouse’s generator went down and they came to me for oil. I searched for oil and starter fuel and did anything I could to help them get back up and runnin’. We all run together and kind of look after each other. At the same time, I think we’re all looking to be the best truck. At the end of the night, everyone asks around, “Hey, how’d did you do? Did you do I alright?” Ya know? It’s not that we think we’re better than everyone else. We just want to make sure we’re being the best we can be.

How much does a food truck set-up cost?
It cost us about 10% of what would be brick and mortar. Although, it’s cost us double than what we had in our initial budget. Realistically, it’s gonna cost $35-40,000 just for the truck, and then there’s licenses. That’s also before you get into places to park, gas, staff, and everything else. It all adds up really quick. We are very lucky. We have great vendors and do a lot of the work ourselves. But when you have no money and you’re spending investor’s money, it goes a lot quicker than you want it to go. [Laughs]

What’s the biggest challenge to cooking on wheels?
The unexpected. The unexpected pops up everyday. It’s not like a restaurant, where you can call emergency guys to come fix equipment twenty-four hours a day. Those people don’t work on trucks, and then the ones that do work strange hours. So if you go down, there’s nothing you can do. You have no other choice than to shut down.

We’ve lost tires. We’ve lost alternators. And those are things we didn’t expect. Of course we expected maintenance of the vehicle, but it’s always unexpected when something messes up or breaks. There’s a lot of things that can happen and as a planner my mind goes crazy. But you know, it’s part of it and we’ve learned to embrace the food truck life.

Are licenses and permits ever a problem?
In Orange County and City of Orlando you have to be on private property to sell. What that means is that we have to find someone who owns private property and then ask if they’ll let us park there, which requires a letter of permission and usually means we even pay rent. In some cities in America, you can just park on any street and sometimes you may get a ticket but you just stay and literally go anywhere. So it’s not that license and permits are really problems. It’s more finding places that will have us.

A picture I took during my first food truck experience.

Who comes up with the daily menu?
It’s a team effort. There’s often our stack of greatest hits that we feature on the menu, like we’ll always have our chicken skewers and grits or some kind of variation of them. Often, the variations are brought through by Nikki Pulli who is our sous chef, or Erik Gilbertson when we just sit around and talk about the menu. A suggestion may be that we need to have more snacky stuff. So we’ll think of things to do, with like octopus or sliders or meatballs. We buy local as much as possible.  So often we’ll buy at Farmer’s Markets with no idea or purpose, and then figure out what we’ll do after. Our menus often depend on what we buy.

What items are your best sellers?
[Pauses] We go through a lot of fries, and I’d say our bacon brown sugar fries are most popular. A lot of grit cakes, which are always delicious.

And Mexican Cokes! That’s personally something I buy every time.
We go through a fair amount of soda, and we feel like we do a pretty good job stocking up on a selection that is natural with no corn syrup.  We like carrying things that no one else has.

Describe a good day on the food truck.
We wake up and it’s sunny. The forecast is 0% chance of rain.  We get to the food truck and no breakers have shut off.  The truck cranks up the very first time.  It’s rolling. We load all the food into the truck and there’s plenty of room in the fridges. We remember to strap everything down before we pull out. [Laughs] Because that happens often. We pull out and something falls and breaks.

We arrive at our location 10-15 minutes early because there was no traffic. There’s no problem with the truck and the generator starts up the first time. We set up on time and there’s a line waiting before we even open. Then when you’re cooking, you fall into something that I like to call ‘The Matrix’, where you’re almost not thinking about what you’re doing and things are running smoothly and the flow of expediting is good. People are paying in cash—we take credit cards, but cash is always good. [Laughs] And the beer is cold… that’s obviously after we’re off the truck. But yeah, just a lot people walking away with smiles. You can’t ask anything more than that.

You’re very close to being a contestant on The Great Food Truck Race. What do you think the show would do you for your business?
We were talking about it just the other night. We were asked to join them last season, and I had to turn it down because we opened the very next day. I know from those conversations you’re only allowed three to a truck and there are five of us that are working on it at the moment. We’d have to figure that all out. Business wise, it’d help us expose our brand. There are still some people in Orlando who have never heard of us. That’s good. It’s some untapped market. But it’s also shocking because we’ve been on the cover of the [Orlando] Weekly, and wow, we were in the [Orlando] Sentinel eight times just last month. And how have you not seen the thousands of people waiting at a [TheDailyCity.com] Food Truck Bizarre Event in the Fashion Square Mall parking lot?

We think in this town you have to have something extra to make it big. The show would help people in Orlando realize there’s some really cool things going on here in Orlando that aren’t franchised, and are independent. We’re real chefs. We’re not a roach coach, or whatever you want to call it. We feel like coming off a road trip like that we could get into a space with rent that’s not too expensive. Maybe open a small retail shop? That was always in the plan for us. It would just help us get where we need to be brand-wise.

And when do you find out if you made it or not?
No idea. The voting goes into September. And I’m already a little weary, because I hate asking everyone to vote for us all the time. But it’d just be a good thing for us if it happened.

What would you do if the food truck business faded away tomorrow?
I’d have to have a couple tough conversations with some employees. [Laughs] Honestly, I’d cry and I’d probably think about what city I’d want to be in next. And that’s tough to say because I love being a part of the change in Orlando.  I love being a part of what’s making Orlando a better place to live, and I do think we’re helping to accomplish that.

But you’d definitely keep cooking, right?
Oh yeah. I don’t think I could ever step away from cooking. I’m not smart enough and I’m too crude and rough around the edges to do anything else. [Laughs] Food is the only thing I have any expertise in.

*Interview Date: August 20, 2011

To follow Big Wheel Provisions, hit them up on Facebook or Twitter. Also, PLEASE vote for them to be in the next Great Food Truck Race by clicking here. We need Orlando to represent!

Without people like Mark (and many others already interviewed on this blog), Orlando would continue to be defined by its theme parks. Instead, there’s something much more authentic bubbling in the city besides the new, illuminate million-dollar Lake Eola Fountain. There are a group of passionate art lovers and contributors who genuinely love the arts and art shows they promote, who only participate in these events for self-fulfillment or educating others. This makes Orlando one of the greatest places to live. We are a city that houses a lot of talent that likes challenges and doesn’t give up. Here’s what I mean:

Where are you from?
I was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Now… is this one of your gigantic interviews where it’s, like, the whole human being?

[Laughs] The whole human being?
Yeah, well some interviews are just about an event.

No, this is about you and your life story.
Oh my God. I’m nervous now. I’m neeeerrrrvvvous. Okay, go.

How did you make your way down to Orlando?
I auditioned in Atlanta, Georgia for a show called, The Legend of The Lion King.  I had no idea that it was basically for an African American cast or vocalist. I had never heard of the show before. So I auditioned. Sang. They called me back and hired me for a comedy show [The Anacomical Players] and brought me down here in like ’98.

What’s made you stay?
I didn’t. As soon as my contract ended, I did not want to stay at Disney World as an actor. So I went to study graphic design in Atlanta for about a year and half. I came back to Orlando, because it was kind of like my home base in my brain. I ended up going back to the theme parks as an actor because I couldn’t get work in graphic design. Then in 2003, Disney Cruise Line hired me for two contracts.

During the second cruise contract, I made friends that were like, “You should move to New York and audition for New York stuff.” So I went to New York and got a lot of job offers. I turned them all down because I was scared. At the very end, in the fall of 2004, I was offered a role on the national tour of Oliver. I took it.

I did Oliver and then did another cruise line gig with Royal Caribbean. After that, I had the choice of going back to Orlando or New York. I had given up my apartment in New York. On the ticket they gave me, it said Orlando. I could have fought it because technically they had flown me to Puerto Rico from New York, and that’s where they should have flown me back. But I didn’t care. So I was like, “Let’s go back to Orlando.”

When I got back to Orlando, I sat on my ass for a few months. Then I applied for a graphic design job for a company here and they ended up making up this position for me called Viral Marketing Specialist. Basically, it was my job to come up with ‘out of the box’ crazy ideas to sell to their clients.  I did that for about a year and then left.

Then I did my show Improv Cabaret at Fringe. I spent a year or two taking that to different cities—to San Francisco, and New York and Miami and Charleston. I thought that was going to be my thing. My background is in Musical Theater and it was the perfect mix of theater and improv. I was like, “Who else is doing this? No one.” I thought it was my ticket, but eventually it went nowhere.

I did go on one more tour, and an off broadway producer in New York told me to call him when I got back off tour. I had met him once before. I called him right when I got back. He never returned the call. I was so scared… sometimes I get scared of success and moving forward. I never gave him a second phone call. That ended Improv Cabaret for me.

What’s your favorite part of performing or being on the stage?
It’s a job. There are some fun aspects to it, but it’s what I went to school for. It’s what I have the most experience in. It’s just like if you study math or banking… that’s the job you end up doing.

I’m shy… and awkward off stage. On stage, with the right piece and the right settings I can be completely different.

What’s your favorite show that you performed in?
My resume is so tiny… I guess my favorite was Jesus Christ Super Star. The character I played was King Herod. Usually he’s a large, rotund, slightly feminine character who is being sassy to Jesus. I went in I gave them what I thought he should be… and committed to it. And they hired me.

I’m not rotund. I am feminine, but I did it in a different way. And I did my version of the song. I hadn’t re-written it, but I had made choices. I’d say they kept 99% of them. I changed a line or two. I added a big, huge high note at the end of the song. My research had only consisted of going on You Tube and watching other performances of King Herod. That’s what I liked about it. I had come in with new ideas for musical theater and people had liked what I brought. That performance was one I had a hand in. It was fun.

What’s been your favorite live performance to watch?
Oh… that’s a good question. I love The Early Show, as far as improv goes. That’s here, and they’ll be at the upcoming Orlando Improv Festival. I like the Broadway Series that comes through because of the level of quality is extremely high. And at some point I’m going to go see The Orlando Ballet. I love ballet.

Where did the idea for thedailycity.com come from?
It started as an arts blog, but after touring the country and seeing hundreds of cities and downtowns and tiny towns and big skyscrapers and bridges and dead factories and old malls and new malls and new urbanism… and then coming back to Orlando, I couldn’t help but look at the city with different eyes. The arts are one part of a city’s culture, just as much as urban planning and community gardens. So I started paying attention to the whole picture and not just one sliver of it.

On tour, there’s also a lot of down time and you’re in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of actors. There’s just nothing to do. It took my mind off the hotel I was in and put me in Orlando. I was like, “Who is this person? What is this person writing about? What stories are going on?” It was fun. It was like writing a little newspaper that no one was reading.

Why did you choose to blog about Orlando, and not a theatrical, artsy city like New York that is known for its arts?
Why are you attacking me? [Laughs] I’m kidding. I had no interest in that. It would have never even occurred to me because that market is so saturated.

Who runs this operation?
A lot of it is me. And then what I don’t know about, I look for help. And I’ve found some great help. A girl named Jennifer—she loves music—she just went to the Vans Warped Tour and did about fifteen interviews with a microphone and camera. I had no idea this was happening.

There’s another guy Samir who loves movies and music. He posts about movies or concerts that are coming up. I know nothing about music. Food wise—we don’t really have anyone blogging about food yet. I’ll post if a new restaurant opens or if there’s a Food Truck Bazaar, but I don’t talk about it. I give pictures and tell people where it is.

How do you receive most of your information?
I do a lot of my own research.  I develop relationships with people who are doing interesting things and they send me information, tell me what they’re doing next.

What makes the cut?
I go by my gut. I write about things that I think no one knows about, small, interesting things, like an art opening at Pompom’s. But then I’ll get a press release from Macy’s about Karl Lagerfield’s new line and I’ll blog about that too, because I know some people might care about that. Like me, I care about that.

Mark and Mayor Dyer

Often, I get invited to the same press events that TV and newspaper people get invited to. And there I am, with my iPhone camera in hand standing next to a row of thousand dollar professional video cameras… I’m not The Sentinel. I’m not The Weekly. So for me to go up to people and ask questions, it’s pretty scary. I’m not a gigantic newspaper and sometimes they’ve never even heard of the site. It’s a yo-yo experience running this site sometimes. To some people I’m nothing and to some, I have value.

Do you ever wake up in the morning and think, I don’t want to do this anymore?
Yes.

What do you do on those days?
I don’t work on it that day. I mean, I don’t have a staff of fifteen that I need to pay so that they can feed their babies, so I can take some hours off.  But in the back of my head, I know that if I don’t have a blog post going out, it hurts my business.

Where do you vacation?
I’m too poor to take vacations.

What’s going on in your love life?
Oh my God! What! How dare you. [Laughs] There is a person of interest right now. They’re lovely to be with and smart. Romantically, I prefer smart people over creative people. That yin and yang thing has had an appeal since college.

In your opinion, what’s trending in Orlando right now.
Obviously food trucks.

TheDailyCity.com's Food Truck Bizarre is known to attract thousands.

Do you want to talk about how they’ve evolved from your point of view?
It’s super exciting. I think we’re moving at such a fast speed. We just started getting the word out about food trucks in March. That’s when the first [thedailycity.com] Food Truck Bazaar was and everyone went ape shit. I think that’s what really kicked it off, at least in my opinion.

Even before then, in 2009 I was supporting food trucks, the taco trucks. I was doing taco truck taste tests, and inviting people to the truck, and having people translate the menu from Spanish to English. I was getting people out of the cars and eating in gas station parking lots, which was unheard of back then to mainstream audiences. Cut to just a month ago, when we had a national food truck TV show filming an episode in Orlando. From what I was told, they were going to come to Florida, but only to Miami. Somehow they heard about what’s happening here in Orlando. I don’t know how. They didn’t tell me and I didn’t ask. But they asked me, a writer from The [Orlando] Weekly, and a couple of food bloggers to speak about the food trucks they selected. So now Orlando’s food trucks are going to be on national TV. From March to July, we’ve moved so fast, and I just think that’s incredible.

What are your favorite food truck delights?
I love Crooked Spoon’s mac and cheese. I love sides. I love Big Wheel Provision’s grit cakes, four triangle cakes made of grits and deep fried. I love anything from Yum Yum cupcakes. Those are my three side snacky things.

Why do you care about what happens in Orlando?
I just see the possibility. I don’t know. It’s hard to not get excited when you can see opportunity for the city, for its citizens and for yourself.

Tell me about the Improv Festival you started.
I started doing a lot of Improv Festivals myself, as a performer. I liked what I saw. I came back to Orlando. Orlando did not have an Improv Festival. I went on Elizabeth Maupin’s blog, I wrote her an email that said, “Put this on your blog, please. I’d like to do an Improv Festival in Orlando within one year.” It was a personal challenge to myself. I had never done anything like it before. I’m an actor. I know how to wake up, put my head shots in a folder and go to auditions.

I almost wanted to get angry when I thought of Orlando not having an Improv Festival. I mean, why? It’s a giant city. We have the talent. We have the venues. We can bring people down. No one else is doing it. So I did it. It was a put up, or shut up moment and I used thedailycity.com blog to get the word out. I gave myself a year, and within a year and two months the first Improv Festival happened.

What are your goals for this year’s event?
Increase the audience attendance. Increase the number of shows. Have a dedicated after party location. And also generate more awareness, which will always be a constant battle.

Why do you think people don’t show up?
Because they never heard of it.  Because no one knows the names of the people in the theater. There’s a lot against us, and you have to know that going into it.  I’m figuring out how to combat that but sometimes it seems impossible.

Well, here’s your chance. Sell me. Sum up the Improv Festival in five words.
Well, you have to think…

Stop right there, that’s five words.
Canada, Chicago, Washington State, Atlanta and a ton of Central Florida teams coming together for three days of comedy improv shows.  The selling point is we’re bringing people in from across the country.

Mark, this is the point when you’re suppose to tell me that’s it’s going to be soooo funny and that I shouldnt miss it because…
Oh! Yes, of course, it’s going to be funny! [Laughs] Every God-damned city needs to have an Improv Festival! If they don’t have one, they need to slap themselves upside the head and figure out how to get one. If they can’t afford one, they need to figure out how to make money to get one. Quote. Unquote. I like this… this is fun.

*Interview Date: August 11, 2011

To keep up with Mark or any of his projects, visit any of these sites: www.thedailycity.com, www.markbaratelli.com, www.tacotrucktastetest.com, www.orlandoimprovfestival.com

Mother Falcon proved to be different. They defied the odds during a tough economic time, and while some local businesses shut its doors they kept growing into the next building size. INTERESTING. I found myself wanting to create and customize my own t-shirt of my favorite Magic player just to support the business (Remember Pietrus? Yeah, well I still miss him and his last minute three point shots). I also started attending the Mother Falcon art shows. It wasn’t too much longer before John and Melissa agreed to carry my book in their store. And soon it became very clear to me that Mother Falcon had always been much more than a t-shirt shop. COMMUNITY. Mother Falcon has become a gathering place for Orlando’s creative and art-inspired neighbors.  And now with the opening of their newest venture, a craft beer and wine art bar called The Falcon, the heart of Thornton Park is pulsating again.

Did you guys know that there’s a band called Mother Falcon?
John: Yes. They’re from Austin, where my family lives. And it’s totally a coincidence. We found out about them when we started our Facebook page.

I noticed that you beat them to the Mother Falcon Twitter domain. So that must count for something, right?
John: Yeah, we got lucky. We didn’t realize that they were a band until after we opened up the store.
Melissa: We went to South by Southwest about two years ago and they were headlining as one of the big bands there.
John: They were actually on the cover of the paper—the Austin Chronicle.
Melissa: And we were like, “Cool! Perfect.”

Where did the name Mother Falcon come from?
Melissa: Basically, we wanted the store to be called The Falcon. We were always talking back and forth about whether we wanted a second store or location. So we joked around that the first store would be the ‘Mother’ store. Then we kind of thought the name Mother Falcon was memorable and it just kind of developed from there.

Why a T-Shirt design shop?
John: We realized there was a niche for it. Both of us wanted to make custom clothes and couldn’t do it. So we thought it’d be a good idea to start doing it that way.
Melissa: Yeah. We both really like customized t-shirts. The only places around that did it were iron-on places, and we didn’t feel like you could completely express yourself with that. There wasn’t enough creativity.  At the time, we were thinking of opening a business together and so we just decided to do that—customize shirts.
John: Plus, the only other way to get a custom t-shirt was on the Internet. And there was no way to control how good it came out or …
Melissa: Yeah, there’s no personal experience on the Internet.

Is there a company you modeled Mother Falcon after?
Melissa: [Pauses] We looked at a shop that did iron-ons, where you picked your own iron-on. We liked the fact that you could have a hands-on experience with the graphics. So we did model ourselves after that a little bit. We also modeled ourselves after a tattoo shop, where you can look through books or pick art.  It all kind of came together organically. We kind of didn’t know what we were doing. We just put ourselves in the place of a customer walking in the shop, and thought of what they’d like to experience.

Why do you think your business thrives in Thornton Park?
Melissa: Well, we’re residents of Thornton Park. We both lived in other places for about eight years—out west. We both ended up coming back. I think when we came back we both realized how much we loved our home and loved Orlando. We have a lot of passion for our neighborhood and for our city. We appreciate it.
John: Right when we opened, everyone in the neighborhood totally loved and supported us.

But retail is so hard to do downtown…
John: Retail is hard to do anywhere right now thanks to the economy.
Melissa: Yeah, that’s true. I think we have a legitimate love for our city and people embrace that.

How did you two meet?
John: Through E-Harmony…
Melissa: [Laughs]

No way.  C’mon…
John: [Laughs] No, we met through friends. And we hit it off immediately.
Melissa: We had the same mutual friends from high school all the way up…
John: And we never knew each other.
Melissa: Yeah, we never knew each other.

So when did you officially meet?
Melissa: When we had both just moved back to Orlando…
John: …in 2004.

Who made the first move?
John: I did.
Melissa: [Laughs]

Who’s always right?
John: She is.
Melissa: [Laughs]

What’s the secret to sharing a business and a marriage?
Melissa: [Pauses] Communication.
John: Yeah. And understanding.

Understanding what? That she’s always right?
John: Yeah. [Laughs] We both have the same goals. We both want to be successful. And so we help each other out.

Who does what around the shop?
John: I do mostly t-shirt printing and graphic design. She does all of the business aspects and marketing. And social networking. Everything.
Melissa: Yeah, social networking. Marketing. Accounting.

You guys certainly draw a lot of business during the NBA season. What are you guys gonna do if the NBA lockout continues and the season is canceled?
Melissa: Cry. [Laughs]
John: Yeah, cry. And not just because we might lose business but because we’re fans. There’s nothing more that I like doing than watching basketball after work.

What’s been your favorite Magic shirt?
John: Matt Barnes Will Kill You.
Melissa: I like Dwight Power.

Have you heard any feedback from the players?
John: We had a player come in who thought the shirts were really funny.
Melissa: What was his name?
John: Malik Allen.
Melissa: Yeah, and JJ’s wife came in about a shirt for herself. Her and her friends wanted to spell out ‘WE  ♥ JJ’ on their shirts and wear it to a game. We also gave her a shirt to give to Ryan Anderson… the ‘I’m Gay For JJ’ shirt.

One of many shirts created by Mother Falcon.

Really? That’s awesome. Was she a good sport about it?
John: Yeah.
Melissa: Yeah. She thought it was really funny.
John: We also had a fan wearing that shirt pose with JJ for a picture.

Who’s your most loyal customer?
Melissa: Don Miller.

Who’s that?
John: He’s a radio personality. Hilarious. Really smart guy. Does political radio.  He’s very cool and comes in all the time.

Who’s your most famous customer?
Melissa: [Pauses] I don’t know.
John: I don’t know either. Shaq?
Melissa: Yeah, we’ve made shirts for Shaq before.

What were they?
John: They were for the Shaq Vs show, you know? We made him a Bieber Fever shirt.
Melissa: Yeah. It was Shaquille O’Neal versus Justin Bieber. And so he wanted Bieber Fever and #1 Dad.

What’s been the strangest shirt request?
Melissa: There’s so many.
John: Yeah, there is a lot.
Melissa: We get that question a lot too. Let’s see… what would be appropriate? [Laughs]
John: We’ll pretty much print anything that’s not racist. We don’t tolerate that. If there are curse words, we’ll print that. You know… we’re not prudes. [He looks to Melissa] What’s a good one?
Melissa: [Laughs] There’s one that comes to mind, but I don’t want to say it.
John: The pound one?
Melissa: Yeah. [Laughs]
John: That’s the one I was thinking of too.
Melissa: [Laughs] Let me think about it some more. Ask me again later.

I’m excited for The Falcon to open. Whose idea was it to open an art bar?
John: Like we said earlier, it’s really been an organic process. We started out making t-shirts and it grew and grew and grew. We started getting involved with the local art scene, and we’ve been having monthly shows… do you want to take over?
Melissa: No. [Laughs]
John: So basically, we decided to open The Falcon so we could host the art shows and cater them ourselves.
Melissa: Basically, we’ve been doing art shows each month and each month we feature a local artist. You can either buy the art or get the art printed on a t-shirt. The shows just kept growing and growing and we just thought it’d be nice to have a bigger space to have parties. And voila! The place next door became open. So we decided to try it.
John: See. Her answer was way better than mine.

[Laughs] Why are the arts so important to you both?
Melissa: Since high school, I’ve always been around artistic and creative types. And while I took more of a business path, I think I’m still a creative person.
John: There’s no such thing as too much art. It’s cool to be a part of what’s happening now. We love the artists here. There’s so much talent in Orlando.
Melissa: We never talk about it, but John’s a good artist. When we visit his family in Texas, there’s a painting his grandfather has from when he was ten or something. Right? His mom always tried to encourage him to go to art school, but he never wanted to. So I’m glad he has a way to express himself now.

What kind of crowd do you hope The Falcon draws?
Melissa: Hopefully just the same crowd we’ve been having… people that are fans of art and the arts. We’re gonna have craft beer and wine. So people who enjoy craft beer will have a new place to come.
John: It’s going to be no smoking too.

Which will be a nice contrast to Burton’s.
Melissa: Yeah right. I think it’s going to be for people who are looking for something a little different in Thornton Park.

What comes next after The Falcon?
Melissa: Baby Falcon. [Laughs]
John: I don’t know. Let’s just get The Falcon open first.

Now tell me… what was on that shirt?
Melissa: This guy came into the shop and he wanted a shirt with an ‘I’ and the pound sign and a women’s body part that I will not say out loud.  He wears it around Thornton Park while riding his pink scooter all the time.
John: I think his scooter’s white.
Melissa: Oh is it? [Laughs] I thought it was pink.
John: No it’s not, but a pink scooter does make the story sound better. [Laughs]

*Interview Date: August 9, 2011

To make your own customized t-shirt or learn about any upcoming Mother Falcon art shows, visit www.motherfalconclothing.com.

Ever since a close friend of mine told me Donna was once the VP of Ticketmaster, I’ve wanted to know her story. I was intrigued by the fact she never brought this tidbit of news up in any of our conversations over the past few years. Not one “You’ll never believe this onetime at Ticketmaster” story. Not even a name-drop.

Still, I didn’t pursue this interview for a very long time. I was waiting for the right moment. And then finally, earlier this year, I started pushing myself towards it, even though I wasn’t sure if it was timely enough. I had started questioning myself. Am I making excuses? Is there ever going to be a ‘right’ time?  Or am I just lazy?

Wanting to prove to myself that I wasn’t a procrastinator, I pushed forward. And then the strangest thing happened. The morning of this interview, I resigned from two positions I cherished very much, including stepping down as the publisher of Burrow Press, the very company I had created. Only I hadn’t told anyone yet. I wasn’t sure how to tell anyone, except my boyfriend who supported me very much.

There was no better time to have lunch with Orlando’s Ambassador of Love. Sometimes interviews come at the most appropriate times, even when I don’t plan it that way on purpose.

Let’s start at the beginning. Where were you born?
Tampa, Florida. At MacDill Airforce Base. My father was in the military.

What was your childhood like?
Interesting. Challenging. We moved to many different cities. On the air force base, we were always the ‘other people’, which taught me great lessons about not being afraid. And that it’s okay to meet new people and introduce your self to people without preconceived notions.

What places did you live in?
Interesting places. Dallas, Texas. Rapid City, South Dakota, Roswell, New Mexico.  Spokane, Washington.  Sacramento, California. Riverside, California. Los Angeles,

California. Washington D.C.. Virginia. Maryland.  Lakeland, Florida. Orlando, Florida. And of course, where I was born Tampa, Florida.

Now did you go to college?
I’m a high school graduate.

So how did you go about your journey from a secretarial position to vice president of Ticketmaster?
My father wanted me to join the military. My mother thought that if you were a secretary, you’d always have a job. Well, my father took me to see a military recruiter. Military life was very good for our family. We traveled. We received education. We got to live in places we probably could have never gone before.  My father got to travel internationally. We never made it. Still, it wasn’t for me.

As far as my career, I worked my way up through the ranks at live sports and entertainment venues.  It was interesting to me and I wanted to do it. I was always told, “It’s not a woman’s business,” and “You don’t have an education” and “You should maybe think about something else.” I never listened.

How long did it take you rise to your ultimate position?
It took me 5-6 years to become a supervisor and then a manager/director. After ten years in Washington D.C., I moved to Florida to work at the Lakeland Civic Center. In 1981, I became the director of it. I had progressed through the ranks there as a ticketing manager, then assistant manager and then manager of the whole operations. Then I was hired as the Executive Director of Ticketmaster, Florida.

After being at Ticketmaster for several years, I became Executive Vice President of the Southeastern Region and also Vice President of industry relations. It was a lot of responsibility. My territory covered seventeen states. So I had seventeen managers and almost two thousand employees, because we also had a call center, a customer center, and mangers for marketing and general managers of operations. I had a large division and large territory, and close to three thousand clients—from the smallest nightclub that held forty people to largest stadium that held 100,000 people.

It takes a certain type of person to be a good manager. Where do you think you learned those skills?
That’s a real interesting question. I know a lot of managers. I’ve been a manager. And I’ve had a lot of managers. I learned many important lessons by the way people treated me, you know, hands on experience. Immediately I’d know that’s not the way I want to be or manage.

I always wanted to be around people that were smarter than me, people I could learn from. I was around the sports field a lot and you see team spirit often. My management style was about being a good communicator, and sharing information and asking a lot of questions.

So when you’re living that kind of lifestyle, you know hanging with celebrities and such, what makes you leave that job?
I always was an artist too, self-taught. I was self-taught as an artist and also in my career. [Pauses] I was full-time at work and full-time doing my art, and it was my art that was taking over.

Also after working at different jobs and having accomplished many goals, I’m a person that likes to keep going and sharing and giving and loving what I do. I’m still a consultant for Ticketmaster. I have my own arts and entertainment consulting company, xoxo Media Group, and have been consulting for the past six years and will continue to for years to come. I love the industry. I love being involved.

Now I get to use all the skills I have learned to support the arts with being the chair of the Downtown Arts District. I get to be active in the community and active in the industry. I’m active at Full Sail [University] and am on the advisory board for the entertainment business school. I guest lecture there twice a month.  So I love giving back and sharing with the students.

I’m very honored to have an Honorary Degree from Full Sail. The students actually suggested to the management that I get an honorary degree because I didn’t have a college degree. That was always the story of my career. Sometimes I wouldn’t get a promotion because of it. All these years later I’m very thankful to have my honorary Full Sail degree.

What planted you in Orlando?
Ticketmaster was a young and growing company. They had offices in New York, and an office in L.A., and Chicago. The Orlando arena was under construction here in the late 80’s—’87 or ’88—and Ticketmaster was looking for someone to run the offices for the state of Florida. They wanted to set up here with a plan of expanding throughout the Southeast. At the time, Tickettron was the big ticketing company, among a few other smaller companies. So Ticketmaster pursued me to be the Executive Director of the Florida offices with the intention to expand into the Southeast region, which we did. It made since to locate the head offices in Orlando because it had good infrastructure, you know, with technology, and you had the new buildings being built, you weren’t far from Atlanta, Miami was having a new arena built. So it was centrally located. I moved here to take that job.

I continue to love Orlando and this is where I choose to live and work. Such a vibrant and exciting city on the move. And the people … they are amazing. Orlando is my home.

How did you gain the title Orlando’s Ambassador of Love?
That’s a title I cherish and treasure very much and I accept my responsibility with an open heart and a strong mine. In giving back to the community, in working with the arts and bringing communities together and in the theme of my art, the message is love. I have always been an advocate of the arts—the venues, the performing arts, visual arts, all of it. I think that’s what makes a vibrant and sustainable community.

Years ago there was a National Ambassador of Love over the United States appointed by Richard Nixon, the entertainer Pearl Bailey. And then the United Nations appointed her to be the Ambassador of Love for the entire world. Mayor Dyer knew of that.  I had had some discussions with the Mayor about different opportunities throughout the city. He would come out to the art shows, along with the rest of the community, and he would see the reaction to the artwork—the love and the heart. About three years ago, he made a formal proclamation [for me] and I love it.

I love being the Ambassador of Love. We’ve had articles about it in the New York Times. I was on the Samantha Brown show on the Travel Channel. It’s a very unique thing. We’re the only city in the nation that has one. It’s very nice.

What is your definition of love?
Wow. [Pauses] I think love is a way of life. Love is understanding and caring and sharing and being patient. It is feeling responsibilities to yourself and others to love and be loved. I just think it’s the greatest gift of all.

Loving yourself, loving others, loving your community, loving humanity, loving the arts—it’s just a feeling you have. I think everyone has it, just not everyone is great at expressing it. I’m not afraid to say ‘I love you’ to people I know and people I don’t know. I truly give the gift of love. And I want to.

Is that why the theme of your art is love?
I paint hearts, and love, and words and expressions of love, like the face, angels, the big red lips—I just have always loved life. I’m in love with life. I’m interested in people. I’m interested in community. I think that purpose and respect is just what comes out in my artwork. I don’t control what comes out in my artwork. I just paint.

Do you think these feelings stem from your upbringing or life experience?
I think a little bit of both. You learn from family and being around family. Watching love that people share for one another. And I think being around so many different people, and seeing the reaction to audiences of people, like what happens at a sporting event when everyone comes together, or what happens at a musical when everyone is laughing or crying together, or when you go with your friends to a concert, it’s just … [sighs] such a wonderful feeling. I’ve been around a lot of love. I’ve been around a lot of heartache too.

I’ve seen challenges. I’ve seen people living with nothing and people living with so much. I’ve experienced so many things and I think it’s a combination of it all.

What is your recommendation for overcoming heartache?
I think heartache happens from time to time. We’re always gonna have it. I think once we reflect upon why we have it, we understand why our heart is aching. We wise up. And we move on. There’s no feeling like loving someone and loving the people around you. I always say, “The journey we don’t always understand, but we travel it everyday.”  And if we choose love over everything we will be okay even when the days are terrifically tough.

What has been your proudest moment as an artist?
I have so many of them. One of the proudest moments for me is when someone sees one of my paintings, they make a connection with it and it changes them. It has an impact on their life. So much that they take it off the wall and take it home with them to live with every single day.

To have my art in the Art Collection in the Amway center. To have collector’s all over the world. I have a lot of proud moments. My artwork is in Paris, London and Hong Kong, and people I know and don’t know get to experience it in collections all around.

Something else I’m really proud of is that I was one of the first artists to teach a class at the Coalition for the Homeless. They have a program called A.B.C.—Art By Children.  One of my friends volunteered me without telling me. I taught a six-week course to children, ages 5-years-old to 15 years old, titled Stories from the Heart. It was just the most amazing thing. To see children expressing their feelings and pain—it just breathes life into your soul.  That’s definitely one of my proudest moments too.

You have come to a point in your life where you can relax. Wait, I don’t want to say that because that’s not true. But you’ve come to a point in your life where you can do anything you want and you have recently chosen to be the Chair of the Downtown Arts District. What motivates you to keep working and giving back?
[Laughs] I see the difference that it makes. I know the difference that it makes. I think it’s important to life and it’s important to people. It’s important to cities when you’re growing and developing as much as Orlando is. It’s one thing to have the best arena in the nation in regards to lights and technology, but we also have a million dollar art collection in there. The owners of the Magic and also the City both acknowledge the importance of art and how it enhances life, so they commissioned it.

It does make a difference. That’s what keeps me going. I want to. And I chose to. Of course, every now and then I’d like another day off … [Laughs]

What direction is the Downtown Arts District going?
Growing. That’s what we’re doing. We’re growing and doing more community outreach. We have a new young artists program at the CityArts Factory that is doing so well. It’s bringing artists together and giving them the opportunity to learn how to show as a professional artist. We’re looking to expand into other venues. The Downtown Arts District is on the move.

What are the challenges it faces?
We’re challenged by funding, always. And finding new people to get involved. It’s the same challenges I think all non-profit organizations face. You have to have funds to operate. And coming up with new creative ways to do that can be challenging.

What keeps you grounded in Orlando?
I love this city. I love the people. There’s something very special about this city. I’m really proud—and this is another one of my proudest moments—that people have stayed in Orlando because they have felt the compassion and heard the passion in my voice to what a great city we live in. They were going to move away to a bigger city, but they stayed. And that’s terrific! There’s only one Orlando. I mean, c’mon!

If you could sum up Orlando in five words, what would they be?
Five words? I think we’re a smart city. A vibrant city. A growing city.  A special city. And I think we’re a changing city. We’re always changing and trying new things. I think our citizens are committed to our city. They’re loyal and devoted.

Where do you see our city in 10 years?
I see the Performing Arts Center open. I see more people traveling here for our attractions. I see better transportation networks. I see us with more artists, and more art, and more creativity throughout the city. I see more business moving to our city.

And what about the love?
The love has always been here. [Laughs] And will continue to be.

Interview Date: May 19, 2011

For those of you who know Cory, you know shopping centers are not places he frequents often. They’re like Suburbian theme parks over-stuffed with everything he loathes–people, traffic, corporate America, commercialism and idealism. I was not getting treated to a shopping spree. I know better than that.

But then he pointed to this tiny little shop and said, “Remember the lady we watched on Cupcake Wars the other day? This is her shop. You can pick out as many cupcakes as you want. It’s $1 Mini Monday Mania.”  Knowing that he risked his life, traveling into his own ring of Dante’s Inferno to deliver me my birthday present, was just about the sweetest thing he could have done for me. And then I tasted the cupcakes.

Wow. I don’t even know how to describe them, except for that I’ve never described myself as a sweet person in years past, and now I’ll happily confess my Sweet! addiction. My suggestions, try both the Key Lime Pie and Boston Creme Pie minis. Heaven.

Naturally, I needed to find out the story behind these delicious cupcakes. And as quickly as I sent an email to the Sweet! staff, I received an invitation to Miss Holly’s Premiere Party (to watch her second appearance on Cupcake Wars) at Florida Hospital. I wasn’t sure what to expect from a Premiere Party at a hospital but if I had to sum it up in five words, it would go like this: Most Impressive Display of Cupcakes Ever. I ate as many cupcakes as I stashed in my purse, which ultimately left me feeling sick and disgusted with myself, but impressed by Good Golly Miss Holly’s gratuitous gift to her family and fan club.

Fast forward two months, where Hollis and I finally got the chance to meet up for this interview at a Starbuck’s in Maitland.  It’s the only interview I’ve ever done without a script.

What brought you to Orlando?
I lived in Los Angeles for over twenty years. While I was there, I started a company called Good Golly Miss Holly—a savory chef to celebrities. I started out doing birthday parties, while I was also a photographer’s assistant, and a nanny … you know, whatever I needed to do to pay the bills. Then I sorta fell into this job offer to go and do breakfast for a family and a bunch of people. When I showed up, it was Annette Bening and Warren Beatty. The Swarchenegger’s were there, as well as other notable public figures, and also behind the scenes producers and director types.  Slowly, it became a way for me to make it as a living. I wasn’t making it as an actress …

Was acting something you were pursuing?
Yeah. That’s why I originally had moved out to L.A.

Where are you originally from?
I started out in Michigan. When I was twelve, I moved to Vermont.  I lived in Vermont until I was eighteen.  Then I moved to the Providence of Rhode Island. I wanted to be an art student at the Rhode Island School of Design [RISD]. From there, I continued to study theater and moved to Manhattan. I lived with Carolyn Bessette, who later married John Kennedy. She was a lovely friend and a great inspiration in my life.

I decided Vermont wasn’t going to work for me. I wanted to start all over. So I drove across the country. I didn’t know anyone. It took me three months to get a cross. I ended up staying in New Mexico for almost the entire time, and I lived in a tee pee. I had a great time there. Almost stayed, but I did not want to live in a tee pee for the rest of my life so I continued to L.A.

And all of this, it just fell into my lap, one thing after the other. My big break happened when I started doing parties for people. My boyfriend lived next door to the creator of Will & Grace. At the time, he was the creator of that show Boston Common, which was just on the air just for a couple of years.  Anyhow, Max Mutchnick saw me one morning. At the time, I had this big, huge red hair. He was working on the idea of the show Will & Grace and he was like, “Oh, who’s that.” Honestly, I think he just liked my hair. You know, cause Deborah Messing’s character ended up having red hair.

He had asked my boyfriend about me, who told him I was a chef. He was like, “I need one of those. Right away. I need her.” So I did a sample luncheon for him at the Studio. I got great feedback, but I didn’t hear back from anyone for like a month. I was trying to pay my bills, my car insurance and lah, lah, lah—just a lot of stuff. I was thinking, “Please call me.” And that was my big break.

He called, although a month later, and said, “Okay. We’re ready to go. We need you to start doing lunches next week, every single day.” Studios go on hiatus for almost three months, and the season starts in the summer. So I think they started shooting July or August. I can’t remember now, but it was in the heat of the summer. It was a hundred degrees in the valley.

Word traveled quickly around the lot, and even though it was a CBS studio lot, every major TV show was being filmed there and I started making lunch for all of them. It became hugely successful, very quickly.

Now, do you have a culinary background?
No. I couldn’t get accepted to RISD because I’m dyslexic. I also didn’t have any money. The only thing I was capable of studying and passing was art and English. So what I did was I would sign up for financial aid, and then I would start the semester, get the money, and then leave and go to Europe for the rest of the semester.  I did that over and over again until years passed and I was $20,000 in debt. But at least I got to go and do whatever I wanted, and that was great.

So you learned all your culinary skills over seas?
I did.  Also, both of my parents weren’t trained chefs but they were incredible in entertaining—from the floral arrangement, to setting the stage for a party, the interior design, just anything to do with entertaining. My mother was amazing at baking. She would make like eighty different kinds of cookies, put them in these tin boxes, wrap them with big bows and deliver them to my dad’s clients for Christmas. She made her own bread … everything we ate she made.

My dad was more of the savory chef. He would roast a whole duckling or whole fish. Once we raced lobsters in the street in front of our home during our annual block party. When I was growing up, Starbuck’s was a new idea. Everything was becoming a phenomena—French presses, gadgets from Williams and Sonoma, anything to equip a kitchen. My parents were pretty cutting edge in keeping their kitchen stocked.  When we moved to Vermont, they retired and bought a restaurant.

So basically I took experiences from when I traveled—I had lived in Spain. I lived in Italy. I traveled to France and England. And my cooking is a combination of all those experiences, both from home and abroad.

When I was in L.A.—working like crazy and making food for a hundred people a day and doing very well at it—I was making cupcakes here and there, and frozen yogurt, but on such a small scale.  I was serving mainly savory, because the Zone diet was big then, and no one was really eating sweets. Then, my children were born.

And how old are they?
They’re almost seven and eight now, fourteen months a part.

Boys or girls?
One of each.  Once they were born, I didn’t want to live in L.A. anymore. L.A. is a major city that’s on par with any major city in the world.  It’s great … and the influx of culture, and food, and beautiful people, trends and all those things.  Leaving L.A. meant giving up all those things to venture out into the vast opportunity all across the nation.

I knew I wanted to come up with some type of concept for a franchise or corporately owned business—that’s a big question for me right now, whether to franchise or corporatize, I think it’ll work itself out in the next year or so.  If I explored other parts of the country that were showing strong signs of growth, I knew I would have more of a chance of a concept taking, instead of jumping into an already over-saturated market.

The two places that were having incredible amounts of growth at that time was Raleigh, North Carolina and Orlando. My husband’s family had been doing some developing in Florida, but I remember us thinking, “There’s no way we can go to Orlando.” So we went to Raleigh, North Carolina and froze. And then we drove from Raleigh to here. [Laughs] It was too cold, and we couldn’t handle it. I had a toddler and a baby.  No thank you.

By then you already had Good Golly Miss Holly established, right?
Good Golly Miss Holly was the name of my savory catering company in Los Angeles. Now, that we arrived here, it took a little bit to come up with a concept. I thought about a diner, but I wasn’t into it. Then I thought I’d open a tart frozen yogurt place. When I pitched it to Simon, which you have to be on the waiting list for that place, like two and a half years, they were like, “No.”

Simon is the top in commercial real estate across the nation. So if you want location, location, location, you go to where there are 50,000 cars going in and out of the parking lot. That means a real density of about 60 to 80 thousand people a day in the Waterford Lakes shopping plaza. When you’re living in a city where there’s not at least a half a million people walking by your shop window everyday, you need the traffic to drive your business. You don’t want your cupcake shop just to do a couple hundred thousand in business.  It’s a lot of work. If you’re going to get up, and work that hard, you are going to want to make that money. Not just make it until the end of the day.

So I went back to them, and this time I used all my clientele from Los Angeles to bolster myself up and I said, “You’d be foolish not to go with me. I’m a celebrity chef and I will drive the business to your shopping area. And I want to add cupcakes to the yogurt concept.” And they were like, “We love that. Sounds great.” They flew in the next day and I had five hundred cupcakes waiting for them, and not the minis, the original size, which are the size of your fist.

They were like, “Oh my gosh.” There were cupcakes everywhere. It was great. And then we signed the deal on the spot.  I knew the company would be a success. I certainly had no idea the Food Network was going to call me.

How did that contact happen?
They just called me. The Food Network finds personalities that they want to put on TV. When they Googled cupcakes in Florida, my name came up. They were interested even more because my website is fun and there was the image of Miss Holly on it.  Other companies may have had a face but I’m a brand. My face is on the back of the truck, the club card, there’s a cartoon and …

In reflection, do you think branding yourself was the best idea you ever had?
Without a doubt. The first time I told someone I wanted to do that, they thought I was crazy. To put my face on the back of a truck? “That’s [having a lot of] ego” and “kinda weird” they would say. But it’s Martha Stewart, Aunt Jemima, Famous Amos, Mrs. Fields—food companies that have been wildly successful have a face attached to them. So I thought, if I look like this, I better use it to my advantage for as long as I can.  The joke I always say is, “Please dear God, please let’s just get this ball rolling before I have to go under the knife.” I mean, already they have to airbrush me for six hours just to make me look like the back of the truck. [Laughs]

It’s super fun. The dichotomy for me is that I talk about Miss Holly as the brand, but really it’s me. I have to take care of myself.

Was it difficult for you to leave your business to film TV?
Yes! There’s absolutely no way I could have left my business to film in L.A. if I didn’t have the staff that I have.  There’s just no way. Staff—it’s the #1 most important thing. The hardest thing for me when I left—well, actually there was two things—the hardest was when I left the business, I had to say, “I have to trust you guys to create the cupcakes in the same amount of time that I did, with the same look and the same taste.” I had to trust their commitment to the product.

The second thing that’s really hard is that I’m making a company about Miss Holly, which sometimes feels selfish. I mean, I talk about Miss Holly in the 3rd person! And I’m using myself, my face and selling my personality to build an entire brand, and hoping to monopolize on it.

Do you feel like you may be losing your identity?
No. It seems to be working for me. The only thing I worry about is aging. Seriously. I worry about not having enough energy and being able to keep up, and also maintaining a good home life with my children. I’m only one person. I have to thank my husband Barry for being an amazing father.

Now that you’re opening a new store in Jacksonville, what do you think will be your biggest challenge?
Being in two places at the same time. I have to do what I’ve done here, but double the size. I have a few people willing to move to Jacksonville with me, manage, and run the kitchen. And if I get what I want—and I always get what I want because I make it clear what I want—I’ll rent a house on the beach and the store should open by August/September.  I met with a designer today. It’s exciting. This store will be the prototype for many more to come, hopefully.

Which cupcakes are your favorite?
I’m a chocolate person, S’mores or Blackout.

Cory's Birthday Surprise

How many cupcakes does Sweet! make each day?
Right now, we’re producing, on average, 5,000 per day.  Yesterday, we did 6,000 cupcakes—875 tickets. That means that at least 875 people came into my store in Waterford Lakes yesterday.  The irony of it is that it was a Monday. Most restaurants will tell you, Mondays are the slowest days, but what we did was create Mini Mania Monday, where the mini is $1 instead of $1.50. Everyone drives from all over Florida and are just over the moon about that. It’s insane. Mondays are now just as big as Saturdays.

Have your sales doubled from being on TV?
100%. I felt confident in the competition because I have a savory chef background and I know my way around the kitchen.

How do you stay in such good shape?
It’s all about moderation. I probably eat a dozen minis a week, maybe, and that’s about tasting.  I also have a trainer Bryan Meyer. He trains Dwight Howard who eats the cupcakes too!

And what about your kids?
I don’t bring the cupcakes home often, they tend to go for the yogurt with fruit more.

What inspires you?
Anyone who is doing something outside the box and thinking on a grandiose level with a realistic ability and understanding of how they can implement those grandiose ideas. The thing I learned when I moved to Orlando, even with my limited knowledge of cyberspace, is the whole world is right here.  If I can do what I’ve done here, I can take it anywhere.

What business advice would you give to new entrepreneurs?
You have to make sure you have money and not worry if your business doesn’t make money [immediately]. That has not changed, no matter what’s happening with the economy.  The fact of the matter is if you’re coming up with a new concept, your output will always be more than your input and you won’t make money your first two years. I gave away $100,000 in product my first year. For Orlando that seems like a lot but for L.A. it’s really a drop in the bucket.  It’s essential you get your product into people’s mouths, hearts and minds any way that you can!

*Interview Date: May 3, 2011

To order your own delicious cupcakes, go to Sweet! online.

“How do you feel about having a mural on this wall?” asked my boyfriend. He was pointing to the wall in our living room in between the kitchen and guest bathroom hallway.

“I think that’d be cool,” I answered. I hadn’t given much thought to owning a mural before.

“How would you feel about having an Andrew Spear mural on this wall?” He obviously had been thinking about it for sometime now.

“Yeah, that’d be good.” And within seconds we were on Andrew’s website looking for ways to connect with him. Cory had pointed out Spear’s work to me at City Arts Factory and Mother Falcon’s Star Wars tribute months before. That was before I knew that Andrew had done a wall in the Las Vegas Real World house (which I found out from Andrew’s site. I’m too old to watch the Real World that is now a Real Train Wreck.) Cory was unsure he’d even have time for us now that his work was receiving so much attention.

“I’ll just ask him. Send him an email,” I said. “I’ve been wanting to start up the blog again. Maybe he’ll let me interview him too.”

Within one day, I received an email response. The next day a phone call. And by the following day he was at our house scoping out the situation.  One thing I love about Orlando is its artist are accessible and willing.

“Disco Circus was just something I whipped up for the back of a skateboard,” Andrew explained. Out of the three pieces we were considering, it was the piece featuring an elephant that I wanted.

“We just love the black and white lines with the pop of color you do,” Cory replied. “So we’d like to change the red carpet possibly.”

“Done. We’ll work it out. It’ll be dope.”

By that following Monday, Andrew began moving himself and his art stuff into our house. He stayed and painted for a total of five days, dedicating a few hours to his piece each day. It’s an experience I recommend to everyone. He will leave you with more than just his art work.

Option 1

Option 2

How would you describe yourself in three words?
Describe myself in three words? Loyal. Critical. And ready.

How would someone else describe you in three words?
Asshole. I’d hope they say funny. And motivated.

What about your mother?
She’d probably say I’m motivated. We’ve discussed that.  She actually thinks I work too much. She wants me to stop.  She doesn’t think I take time for myself. But she also thinks I ruin my relationships with people because I work all the time. What’s a word to describe that?

Selfish?
Yeah.  I’m the selfish son. You know? I’ve definitely forgotten birthdays. She’s called me and left me messages like, “Hello. It’s your Mom. Remember me? The woman that spawned you?”

So, yeah, I get that every now and again. But it’s her fault. She made me this way.

How so?
When I was a kid I said I was bored once. I must have been about eleven. She said, “You don’t have anytime to be bored in this house. If you’re bored, than you’re depressed. I don’t have depression around me. Get outside and rake!”

What made you move from Boston to Orlando?
I wanted to get the hell out of the Boston weather. I couldn’t take it anymore.

I figure, if you’re gonna be neurotic and crazy you might as well take something off the list that’s gonna make it easier to deal with life. For me, it was dealing with weather and getting that off the radar. Not worrying if it was going to be gray and all that shit.

What do you think has made you stay here for over a decade?
Probably the weather. [Laughs] I was just in New York yesterday, and even then I was like, “Okay, I’m ready to go.” It was shitty and rainy the whole time I was there. When you walk around Manhattan and in between subway stops and you don’t have an umbrella when it’s raining, it sucks. It’s pissing rain. It’s 40 degrees, too cold for it to be raining. It should be snowing. That whole thing just sucks.

Are you a Celtics or Magic fan?
Awe man. I’m not really a sports person. You have to understand that I grew up in Boston with the Celtics in the 80’s. Do you know what that means? It means Larry Bird, Robbie Parish and Kevin McHale—I know them because up there it’s a religion. But now that I’m down here, I’m definitely a Magic fan.  There I didn’t have a choice. It was like I had a gun to my head.

What made you pick up a paintbrush?
The Celtics. [Laughs] No.  My Dad was an artist. Not like gallery show artist but he was a creative guy. My Mom is creative too. Like I said, we weren’t really raised on TV. We had to do shit all the time. It was about music and art, and sports kind of fell to the wayside. We played instruments and drew, and our parents supported us with all that, which I think is good.  I don’t think a lot of parents want their kids to be A. an artist or B. a musician because you don’t make any money as you get older. You can if work your ass off.  But even that’s a pain in the ass.

Can you remember how old you were when you first picked up a paintbrush?
The first memory I have of that is painting the back of Beatles albums when I was a kid. The first time I had any credit to my name was when I was in the first grade. I drew a pig, and then we had to write the name “pig” in upper case and lower case letters all around it. My Mom kept all my stuff, but this one particular drawing I just was recently looking at and it’s so weird. It’s so particular and detailed. I wouldn’t have seen it as a kid but now I could.

You see these kids doing something and it’s like, “That kid’s got something. That kid’s got something. That kid’s a doodler. That kid’s a stoner. That kid should be doing something but his parents won’t let him.” All that shit happens.

Anyways, this one particular time I remember getting recognition. The teacher wrote on the page: This is outstanding! He should do more of this! And that’s all it took.

It’s crazy how one person can be so encouraging to us as kids.
Yeah. We need that as adults too. I don’t think it ever goes away.

What’s that? The need for validation?
Yeah.  Meaning you have to fail to succeed. Sometimes you fail so many times you just wanna give up, but then someone comes along and it changes. It’s like in dating or going for a job interview. Many people are gonna say no before someone says yes. You just have to have the nerve to find out.  A compliment on an illustration or art piece can go a long way.

Why murals?
I started doing these bigger murals when these Krink pens came out because basically it allows me to do my illustration stuff on a bigger scale. I wouldn’t be able to do this line work with a brush. I’d go crazy. The linear side of my work couldn’t read as well until these pens were available. Now, it’s like, the sky is the limit. You can do anything. It’s only been about three years since these pens came out.

Our Disco Circus completed mural.

And what do lines mean to you? What draws you to them?
What draws me to them? Is that a pun? [Laughs] Um, it’s weird because I like to think that I’m an all-over-the-place kind of person. This [he points the mural he’s painting] is kinda like someone who does yoga, controlled. I’m not using a ruler. You have to get in the flow to keep the lines straight. There’s a rhythm.

There’s also a lot of sound to it.  Line work being heavier and thinner, and if there is a lot of weight to it, that’s like music to me. I don’t want to sound like too analytical because it’s not that crazy. But if you were to analyze it, I guess there ya go.

Which murals around town are yours?
The Peacock Room. The Hideaway. The Dynatech Building. City Arts Building. Sam Flax, both stores.

Which ones are your favorites?
The Peacock Room. The Hideaway. The Dynatech Building. [Laughs] I love them all. They’re like kids. You give birth to these things and then you let them go. There’s different moods to different pieces. The one I like the best is probably the one at City Arts Factory, the big black and white of the woman’s face. It’s the one that has the most raw energy.

What’s with all the women in your work?
Is [my girlfriend] Becky gonna read this?

I don’t know. Does she read blogs?
[Laughs] There’s a lot of sexual stuff going on there and there’s a lot of … [Laughs] I don’t want to sound like an idiot. I like drawing women because I like women. The face, the hair, the whole thing. It’s a good subject for me.

Do you draw women you know?
I try to keep it anonymous. If I were to do someone you know it takes the mystique out of the piece. If there’s a resemblance that’s fine, as long as it’s not exact. I’ve seen people use real people in their work and I just can’t take it seriously. I’m like, “C’mon really? That’s the guy from Octopus carwash.”

What artists do you look up to?
My favorite is Paul Guaguin. He’s old school. If you look at my stuff you’ll notice a lot of black woman and features and Tahitian. Ralph Steadman, the illustrator. He did the Hunter S. Thompson line stuff. Philip Burke. He became a Buddhist, but he was the guy who did the main illustrations for Rolling Stone back in the 80’s.

Then there’s Stevie Wonder and Eddie Van Halan. And actors, Scorcese. All that stuff. It’s not just visual. It’s all things. All things are important in shaping who you are.

Do you care to comment on the Orlando art scene?
Yeah. I’d love to comment on the Orlando art scene. [Pauses] It’s easy for anyone who wants to get involved. That’s a very positive thing. It’s also a negative because the scene is not as big as it should be, and it’s usually the same people doing the same thing, which is redundant. People here get locality disease. They get comfortable and stop pushing themselves outside their boundaries. Then again, it’s always hard to tell. That has to do with ambition, and I don’t know what everyone’s ambitions are.

I do know that there’s been a lot of change for the better since I’ve lived here. And that’s a good thing.

What do you think Orlando will look like in 10 years?
Hopefully the whole city will be murals. I’d like to see a lot more public art work, and not just mine. I’d like to see more sculptures and more … just more. More growth. And more art.

Where do you think you’ll be by then?
I don’t know where I’ll be in a month, never mind ten years. I hope to be happier and I hope it’s easier. That’s what I want. I’m not one of those people who are leaving. You know what I’m talking about. The ones that are always like, “I’m leaving I’m getting out of here.” I’m not that guy.

I’m just gonna let the art work takes me where it wants. And recently, that’s been to some pretty dope places.

*Interview Date: April 12, 2011

To check out what Mr. Spear is up to and possibly sign up for your own wall mural, go to www.spearlife.com.

How did I get the opportunity to interview a Blue Man? I asked.

My friend Brook had introduced me to her friend named Tisse, who had introduced me to her friend named Beth, who had questions about publishing and also happened to work behind the scenes of the Blue Man show. “Think a Blue Man would want to do an interview with me?” I asked. It was a question proposed on a whim. The next day she e-troduced me to Jordan through a Facebook message. Before long me and the Blue Man were exchanging messages about where we should meet up.

This interview happened at Dandelion Tea in the middle of the afternoon. It was two strangers meeting for the first time. Jordan was not blue at the time of this interview.

Jana: Did you always aspire to be a Blue Man? Or was it something that happened by chance?
Jordan: I saw the show for the first time in 2001-2002.  I went to visit a friend in New York. She took me to the show and was like, “This is gonna be right up your alley.” From the first time I saw it I loved it. There are certain things you experience and you immediately get. It just hits you somewhere inside.

I went to New York University for Theater. My acting studio was right next door to the [Blue Man] theater, like literally we shared a wall with them. Back then they had an ushering program, so that if you ushered the show you could watch it for free. You just had to give them your name and about two weeks notice, and they’d assign you a specific night.  After you ushered, you’d get a folding chair to sit in the back and watch. I did that four or five times.  Then, during my junior year, Julie, my girlfriend at the time, my wife now, said, “There’s an open call for Blue Man Group coming up and you have to go to it. Why not?” I was like, “Ugh. I’d have to skip class.” But I did. I played hooky and went to the audition. It was an open call with hundreds of people. And an open call in New York … there’s just a slim to no chance of getting anything out of it. But I did it. And about a month later I got a phone call from them saying they liked my open call and that they wanted me to come in and do an acting audition. So I did. When that was over, they said, “That was wonderful. We’re so excited, but we don’t want you to drop out of school to come into training with us. If something happened or you got cut during training … we just don’t want to ruin your life, pull you out of school and you don’t go back. Graduate. Do all of your work. And keep in touch with us.”

So I worked to graduate a semester early, keeping in touch with them the entire time. I’d send Christmas cards and stuff. [Laughs] Then they actually got back to me.

Two weeks before I was to graduate they called and said, “Hey, we heard you’re graduating. Do you wanna come in for training?” And that was it. I went in. Did the six weeks and made it through.  I got whisked out to Vegas to do some coverage out there for about eight months, and then came out to Orlando.

So the show is what moved you here?
Yeah. Julie had a similar story for Disney. She went to an open call in New York for Disney’s Finding Nemo Musical.  I was like, “Yeah, good luck getting that.” She was, “Wouldn’t it be great if I moved to Orlando for Disney and then you got Blue Man and we could all be in Orlando together?” I still was like, “Good luck with your open call that’s not only in New York but in Chicago, LA and all over.” She booked it though, and within her getting close to that I told Blue Man that I needed to go to Orlando.  They moved me down within a month of her getting here. It was perfect. And we’ve been here ever since.

What do you think of this city?
That seems like a weighted question. [Laughs] I don’t think I’d live in Florida if I hadn’t been sent here. I grew up in Tennessee, and even there I was always tired of the slower paced living, which isn’t necessarily the case here. There’s just a certain stagnant vibe too it.

The more I learn about Orlando, the more I like about it. Maybe that’s where we should start. [Laughs] I used to say it has absolutely no culture and there’s no art, but at the time I was living on I-Drive and working at a theme park. It was hard to feel a part of any community. It didn’t matter that I went to the same Publix every time, because I lived in a tourist trap it was assumed I was a tourist. Now, we have a house outside the city and I have more respect for everything. It’s homier. There’s community. Still, I can see the tentacles of Disney and the other theme parks wrapping around everything.

As an actor, you have a certain ego. It’s hard telling someone what you do, and having people say, “I’ve never heard of it.” Here, I’ve never had so many people say, “Oh, you’re an actor? That’s cool. My cousin plays Goofy.” I’m like, “You just completely demeaned me.” [Laughs] It’s not about whether or not you know the show or like the show, or even acknowledge that acting is a profession. It’s just “actors”—and I’ll use quotes here—are seen as a dime a dozen because Disney can put a Mouse head on anybody.

Tell me more about what it’s like being in actor in Orlando.
Before I came to Orlando, I never would have imagined that it was a good place for film and television. But it is.  Film companies are bringing their projects to the Southeast because it’s cheaper and the states are willing to help out more.  As a result, a lot of castings are out of Atlanta or Orlando, and it’s all considered one big melting pot of talent. There are lots of projects to have opportunities to work on.  It’s been a pleasant surprise. I never did film or TV when I was studying acting. When I got here, I found an agent and kind of flew by the seat of my pants. I’ve done well. It’s been a fun experience.

Does Blue Man allow you flexibility for other projects?
It’s fairly open. Fortunately, the company realizes that as an actor trying to recreate the exact same show every night, you sometimes need to get away for a little while.  Most of the time, they’re willing to accommodate that. We don’t have a set schedule. So when in a casting room, I can say, I have availability if I can know in advance.

I’m at Blue Man five days a week. There are five guys in town right now, so someone is always available to fill in at a show. We’re all currently working on other projects to keep our careers, or egos, going. Whatever you want to call it. [Laughs]  We really focus on it being a brotherhood.

How long does it take to get into costume?
You can do it in half an hour. We allow an hour so that we’re not rushed. Most of the time, it’s just sticking around waiting for the glue to dry. We have this strong glue that we put on and then a cap. It’s all hand made by this one family in the mid west somewhere. But we wait for the glue to dry, stick on the suit, and we have people around us to help cut it all down and make sure it’s smooth.

So it’s not all make-up, it’s like a skin?
Yeah. For the most part.

Does the glue eat away at your skin?
If you’re dry, you’re skin will really absorb the glue and it’s nearly impossible to get it off. We have a bunch of solvents we use. Everyone knows their skin and knows what’s best for them after doing so many shows. I’m always asked if my face breaks out. All we’re using on our face is grease paint. I actually like it because I get to exfoliate every day. You have to scrub your face with so much stuff. It works for me. I like how my skin feels after a show.

What’s the hardest part about staying in character?
The unexpected. The stories that we’re telling in our heads and that the Blue Men are trained into is very serious: life or death. So there’s no laughing, unless something completely unexpected happens. Then, we as humans, see how funny or how bizarre it is. If you don’t focus on staying in the character mindset then you’re like, “That was hilarious!”

Sometimes the guys will come up with stuff to make each other crack, for no other reason but to try and make each other laugh. It’s a fun game for us.

What’s the worst thing that’s ever happened on stage or during a performance?
Often, guys will hit themselves in the head with drumming mallets. There’s really nothing you can do since there’s only three of us in the show. There’s been times when a guy has gashed himself and he’s bleeding. So he’s had to walk off stage and cover it with blue.

Not too long ago, we had a funny thing where our lighting decided to just throw up all over the place. Our house lights came on and the audience was sitting there exposed. We could see everybody. At first, it was weird. But then it somehow it made the show more intimate.

There’s a strong story [to the show]. In the beginning, we’re isolated because we don’t understand each other. There’s not a fourth wall because we acknowledge the audience as that.  But all of that went out the window when the lights came on. It wasn’t a dark, mysterious void anymore. It was the entire audience staring at us. We didn’t have to try so hard to connect with everyone because we could see them. It was cool.

How did the Blue Man group start? I can’t remember. Was it a rock band or something?
The Blue Man Group started because of a group of people in New York. They were looking at art and artists, and it seemed that everyone was creating art to try to isolate themselves or isolate you. It was kind of elitist, like, “If you don’t understand my art it’s because you don’t understand me. You’ll never be able to understand me.” And that’s not what art should be. Art should bring people together.  It should start debate, conversation, communication and connection. It doesn’t have to be this long drawn out process. It can be spontaneous and a memory that everybody shares.

So a group of people got together to try and create that and bring it into this world. After many, many brainstorming sessions, The Blue Man Group came about. They started out doing guerilla-like stuff. Three guys would pop up in the New York streets, do something, and then disappear as randomly as they appeared. It wasn’t anything that they stuck around after to see what people thought. They just knew that those people, all 17, 23, or however many of them, would have this shared connection whether they realized it or not.

All the elements that came out of the show … like, the reason we throw things like marshmallows and gumballs that dissolve into paint across the stage and catch them in our mouths is because two of the original guys worked in catering together. And in the kitchen, they’d throw things to each other and catch them in their mouths.  It’s something that means nothing more than what it is.

Then one guy was a drummer, so … yeah, we drum.

Why the color blue do you think?
Blue. First of all, the specific shade of blue is called Yves Klein blue, which is after the painter Yves Klein. He had big parties where he’d bring in models and people, paint them blue, and slam them up against the canvas. It represented their life force, essence, at least it was one way of capturing it, ya know?

The blue itself is one of the only colors that doesn’t have a notion attached to it. If we were all green, people would say we’re aliens. Red represents anger. Yellow represents jealousy. Black, well that’s a whole ‘nother story we don’t want to get into. Blue is tranquil. It definitely doesn’t have any negative stigmas to it.

The thing with the blue paint is that it removes any sense of defining characteristics of the actors. If you saw all five actors lined up side by side, we all look extremely different. We don’t have the same facial type or anything like that. But you get us in blue, and people who don’t know us as individuals wouldn’t be able to tell us a part while we’re on stage. It’s an interesting phenomenon. It does a good job of wiping the slate clean so that all you have are eyes to really fixate on.

How many Blue Men are there?
Let’s just say how many shows we have. There are five of them in the US—Boston, Chicago, New York, Vegas and Orlando. We have a North American Tour that has a number of guys on that as well. There’s a cruise ship, European show and show in Japan, all of which have about four to eight guys, depending on the venue.

Why do you think this particular show has been so successful? It’s not like it’s changed at all.
That’s something we’ve talked about inside the company. We need change. The tour that just went out is mostly all new and cutting edge material. That’s where all the US cities are working towards, and these new show pieces and technology will be introduced in Orlando in the next year to year and half probably.

About its success, first of all, the show is universal. Everyone can watch it. Besides a couple of signs and a voice over, the audience doesn’t receive the story line through dialogue. There’s no language barrier. Music is the universal language and that’s pretty much all it is.  We have a rock band that underscores the entire show. We communicate through music.

I know you’re not suppose to talk, but if a Blue Man could what do you think he’d say?
[Laughs] That’s a good question. [Pauses] The three guys are supposed to be one organism, kind of like the three-headed dog. They all see things slightly different, like what should happen next or how they should achieve something, but still they need to work together. So first of all, what they’d be saying is something to get on board with each other. Something like, “What do you think? Good or bad? Good? Good, because that’s what I think. It’s two against one. Let’s try it. If it’s bad, we’ll take a step back and figure out a new plan.” That’d be the main thing.

But then to the audience it’s be, “We’re not so different. Look at us, and look at the person next to you with the same fascination and see them for the first time with open eyes. Let go of all those judgments and just talk to each other.” If you’re trying to play a Blue Man, it helps to practice the same fundamental ideas in real life. It’s hard. We’re flawed beings and that’s what’s cool about the Blue Man. He’s not an alien or someone from a different planet, he’s us, just stripped away of all the negative crap that gets in the way of experiencing. You know?  There’s no resentment or harboring old feelings.

Okay. One last question. Do you guys recycle the paper used during the show?
Yes. We use something ridiculous, like many miles of paper during one show. It’s all recycled. We only deal with one company, and we send it back to them. We strive to be as green as possible.

Even though you’re blue?
[Laughs] Um, yeah.

*Interview Date: October 21, 2010

Visit Jordan’s website to see his latest acting gigs. www.jordanwoods-robinson.com

Adonal Foyle is my neighbor. I’ve never talked to him about basketball before, even though I’m a die-hard Magic fan. Instead, we’ve had brief conversations about writing and literature and his non-profit back in the Caribbean, the Kerosene Lamp Foundation. This, of course, was back when I was finishing up my book and he was writing his thesis. We’d run into each other at the same WiFi spots and eating places in Thornton Park. Recently, I haven’t seen him, not even in the elevator or at the mailboxes, which is normal during the summer. It’s when the Magic often leave the building. (Yes, we host more than one player here.)

In the fall, when the players return, I become a little star struck (or the opposite of it. It’s hard to tell). While talking to a basketball player, I’ll go out of my way to treat him like anyone else. It’s like my brain refuses to accept that he’s a superstar, yet still places him in the “Extremely Tall Man That Palms Basketballs and Drives Nice Cars” memory file. Consequently, during conversation I am careful to avoid the “B” word at all costs. Why? I don’t know. I’m happy to talk about my passions and loves when asked, and so I shouldn’t be so embarrassed to ask professional athletes about theirs. But I am. So I don’t.

With the new Amway Center opening, and another Eastern Conference title up for grabs, of course I wanted to interview someone from the Magic. It’s a moment in time that needs to be documented. Our community is transforming. When Melanie Curtsinger from the Orlando Magic recommended I interview Adonal, I took it as the Universe’s sign to finally break down the barrier. Of all the players and people that work for the Magic, she chose the one person I’ve avoided the subject with for years now. Finally, it was time to talk basketball.

Jana: Why write a poem to announce your retirement from the NBA?
Adonal: I had just finished my thesis and so much of it was about players going broke, you know, all of it, loss of social status, loss of identity. Everything was negative about players that exit the sport. I’m from an island of five hundred people, and this sport has taken me so far. It’s given me education, it’s given me wealth, it’s given me luck, it’s given me the opportunity to meet so many amazing people and travel the world. Why not just say thank you? I just felt that if I did a press conference I wouldn’t get to say exactly what I wanted to say. The thing I wanted to say was, “I love this sport. I’m gonna miss it. Thank you.” And that was it. I love to write. So I wrote the poem.

Tell me about your new job title.
Director of Player Development, um, it’s an interesting job. I told Otis [Smith], that in a way, what he’s doing is giving me less money for what I’ve been doing for some time now. I’ve always been the person to help a guy if he needs help with something, but there wasn’t any job titled associated with it. So it’s kind of a weird moment that I’m getting paid to do this thing, but it’s fun. It gives me the opportunity to help guys figure out their path and to make the transition. The playing of the game is easy, but you’d be amazed on a day-to-day basis, how many things come in front of a player.

Many people may not know that you recently received your Masters Degree in Sports Psychology. Do you think your experience or your education will help better execute your new job duties?
The one thing I tell the guys all the time is you want choices. You want as many choices when your career is over as when your career is going. Everyone wants you to do different things for them while you’re playing basketball, but when you’re done then they start looking at your credentials.

More than anything else, I’m being hired for my experience and what I’ve gone through. I think I’m much better informed to help [the players] from my education. I can talk to them better. I can listen better.  I can talk to them about goals. I can talk to them about their vision. I can talk to them about the trajectory of the end and what the retirement process is going to be like, because that’s what my thesis was on.  You may not use all your skills from getting a Master’s degree, but it doesn’t harm any decision.

What’s the transition from court to office been like?
Horrible. People say it’s difficult, but I wanted to figure it out. I’m actually doing a blog about it, “100 Days of Retirement.” I’m like at day five. [Laughs] It’s been so gloomy. I feel so bad. It’s not that I don’t love my job, but I’ve been a basketball player for the past twenty years and now I’ve been asked to move into a new position. I’ve become a spectator. In many ways, it’s gnawing at me. As players, we’re selfish. We think, “The Universe can’t go around without us. We’re the most important thing.” Now, I’m like, “I’m here! I’m here! I’m not dead! I’m not dead!” The game just goes on. That’s one thing I tried to say in the poem … the game just goes on.  The more you have the easier it is to move on, but it’s not easy by any stretch of the imagination. It’s been quite difficult.

Are you excited for the upcoming Magic season? Any predictions?
Yes! What I like is that we were in the gym before anyone else, working really, really hard.  That gives me hope. When I talk to players at the beginning of the year, I never like to listen to it. It’s just talk. I like to look at what the practice is like and what happens in the preseason. That, to me, is a big indication of what a team is going to do.

We had our whole team here by the middle of September. That’s unheard of in the league. And they were working hard. They just weren’t shooting up shots, they were here running the track, lifting in the weight room, having a good yelling session. And they took that in the off season when they didn’t have to. That is what I’m most excited about.  They have put in the work this summer to be great in the regular season.

What are your thoughts on Lebron [James], the Heat and the first time we play them?
I think it’s going to be a great game, a great opportunity and a great rivalry. I think we’re going to win. There’s no denying that. I think we’re deeper.  I think the guys understand that every game we play against them is going to be a life and death situation in the East. We have to rise to the challenge every time. If we go out and play, use the depth of our bench, and because we’ve been together for a very long time, I think we’ll be successful. But it’s going to be a fight, and a great one.

How does the team feel about the new Amway Center?
Completely star struck. Every time I drive up, I’m like, “Are you kidding me?” There’s still places I haven’t been and I’ve been coming here for over a month already. I haven’t been in this part yet. [Laughs] It’s very nice.

I think part of it is seeing people’s reactions and seeing what this building has already done for this area. When people come in, their eyes light up and their mouth opens. To be the people that represent this arena, and then go out and represent the community and bring people back to see how we do things, is extraordinary. I think I speak for a lot of people when I say, “We’re so proud.” We’re so proud of the way it’s been done and proud at the way minorities were hired to do the work. It’s been done right. Everything.  I’m proud to be associated with something that’s so transformative for our community.

During one of the playoff games with the Cavaliers, I ran into Charles Barkley at Johnson’s diner. I asked him why he’s always doggin’ on Magic fans. He said, “Ya’ll are too nice. If you go up to Cleveland, you’ll know what I’m talking about. They’re crazy.” How do Magic fans compare to other NBA teams and their fans?
[Laughs]  It’s been a learning process for us. I think, no, I know that this year we’re going to move from being a passive kind of fan to being assertive. You have to think of it like this, we’ve been growing into a basketball community. Basketball [in Orlando] is still relatively young. As players, we have to help our fans understand that it’s okay to have and attitude when you come to the new arena, and to defend this arena that is yours, you know? Taxpayers helped build this arena and they should be proud of it. No one can come in here and push us around. We have to help our fans know that having an attitude, within the context of sports, is not only cool, and not only appreciated, it’s demanded! The message we need to get out there is: it’s okay to be obnoxious when you come to the game … to the other team. [Laughs]

What do you love and hate about this city?
What I love about this city is that it’s diverse. There are people from all over. It almost seems like it’s the place that at some point or another, you’re going to come to. I like that there’s a lot of tourist coming in, and the pockets of different things to enjoy.  Downtown has a different vibe than Windemere or Disney or Universal. There’s a lot of fun things to do. And it’s a very kid-friendly city.

What I don’t like about it is that I’m not here enough. [Laughs] I’m looking forward to being here more. Everyone complains about the heat, but I’m an island boy so I like to feel what that feels like. I’m a glutton for punishment I know. [Laughs]

The one thing I’ll say is that we have the new theaters at The Sanctuary, and I’d like to see more high caliber theater and arts like that around. I think there are already plans in the works to do that. So we’re on our way. We’re gonna get there.

You kind of mentioned it before, and I think it’s safe to say, you’ve achieved the American Dream. What’s the journey from small island to bigger city living been like?
Amen. It’s been the most amazing and surreal experience of my life. You can’t imagine going back and seeing where I come from, and then where I ended up at this juncture of my life. I never thought that it was even a possibility. I always say that in many ways basketball is the truest form of freedom and expression. You don’t have to be white and you don’t have to be black, you can be anybody from any part of the world, there’s no barrier, no social economic status needed, and as long as you have a good basketball IQ, you have the opportunity to completely move through this world and be at the top.

Photo: Fernando Medina/Orlando Magic

It’s the place where your skills determine your opportunities. I think there’s something so liberating about that. If you think about what this game has done for a lot of people who otherwise would have nothing, it’s amazing.

My Mom is here. We stay at The Sanctuary. She’s looking out, I’m looking out, we’re looking out over the lake, and I’ll say, “My God. Did you ever think we’d make it here?” And she hugs me.  I just keep pinching myself because it’s been a journey beyond my dreams, one that I’ll keep enjoying and living to the fullest.

If you could go back and do it all over again, would you change anything?
Nothing. I think the decisions we make along the way are made with the best information that was available.  How could you change it? I tried along my path to be as honest with myself as possible. It’s not always been the easiest thing to do, but when you do it that way you’re not surprised by the outcome. Like, choosing to go to a small school so I could have a good education, being drafted, getting the opportunity, choosing to give up a lot of money—literally give a percentage back of my contract so that I could end up in Orlando and be here—nothing seems like an accident. I did the best I could do. So I have no regrets in terms of things I can change. We could all spend less or go on one less vacation, but that’s not real.

How is Stan Van Gundy handling the new coach’s dress code? No more turtlenecks, more suit and tie.
[Laughs] Let’s just say this is going to be an on-going revolution. [Laughs] I dare to mention, that I don’t think Coach has decided how this journey is going to end up. It’s total conflict. [Laughs] It’s not a question of him having suits, I just can’t imagine him, as demonstrative and energetic as he is, not ripping up that suit in a half a game. So I don’t know. [Laughs] I’m just as curious to see how that’s going to turn out.

And the team’s flying out today?
Yes. To Texas. Houston.

For the first preseason game?
Yes, tomorrow.  It’s going to be hard for me, because up until now it hasn’t seemed real. It’s going to be real that I’m not on the floor tomorrow. [Laughs] I’m not going to be doing great, but I’ll be happy to see the team play.

Maybe you can write a poem about the experience?
I think I might. [Laughs]

*Interview date: October 4 2010

To read Adonal’s blog, visit his site adonalfoyle.com.