My landlord,
Robin Yates, gave me some great insight while he was out shoveling
ice and snow at the Esmond. He told me that an acquaintance
was complaining about his life, but the man was unwilling to do
anything about his problems. Robin then told me of one of
his younger tenants, Kabir, who was frustrated at how long it
was taking to start making money at his job. Robin told
Kabir to be patient. He said that you're working three jobs
and getting an education - it's evident that you have the drive
to make money. The other man must really want to be miserable
because that's what he includes in his life. This is the
essence of the rest of the conversation I had with Robin:
When
you look back at the end of your life, you got what you really
wanted. Some people want relationships, and that's exactly
what they get. Others want fame, glory, power or money,
and that's what they get in their life. In the end you got
what you're searching for, only you may not have known what you
were really looking for.
I had to
stop for a moment and reflect on what I have in life so far.
When I look back at what I have accomplished, I concluded
that my life is an adventure. It was this conversation that
inspired me to include these web pages with my site.
Places I've lived:
Some of my favorite cities
to spend time in
| New York, NY |
Cleveland, OH |
London, England |
Edinborough, Scotland |
| Chicago, IL |
Pittsburgh, PA |
Paris, France |
Orkney Is., Scotland |
| San Francisco, CA |
Toronto, CAN |
Rome, Italy |
Innsbruck, Austria |
| Albuquerque, NM |
Minneapolis, MN |
Venice, Italy |
Salzburg, Austria |
| El Paso, TX |
Lake Placid, NY |
Florence, Italy |
Vienna, Austria |
| Santa Fe, NM |
|
Munich, Germany |
Bolzano, Italy |
| Dallas, TX |
|
Amsterdam, Holland |
Meran, Italy |
| Washington D.C. |
|
Brussels, Belgium |
Dublin, Ireland |
| Baltimore, MD |
|
Berlin, Germany |
Inverness, Scotland |
Countries I visited
| Germany |
Belgium |
Switzerland |
| Austria |
Holland |
Canada |
| France |
East Germany |
Mexico |
| England |
Spain |
|
| Scotland |
Portugal |
|
| Ireland |
Italy |
|
Timeline Milestones:
- Born west of Cleveland, OH
- Formative years on the South side of Youngstown, Ohio
- Growing up on a small farm outside of Lisbon, Ohio
- First job in Youngstown, OH after school and summers
- Attending Catholic high school in Youngstown while still living
in Lisbon
- Attending University of Notre Dame
- Innsbruck, Austria as an exchange student for one year
- Getting Married
- Graduate with Business Degree from U. of Notre Dame
- Moving back to Youngstown
- Business Mgr. for Ohio Color Inc.
- Getting Divorced
- Becoming a Landlord at 1836 Elm in Youngstown
- Starting and running a photography studio
- Working as a Benefits Admin. for AVI Foodsystems
- Closed photo studio to work for large corporation in another city
- Working at Swagelok in Cleveland
- Moving to Chagrin Falls near Cleveland
- Earning Black belt in Karate
- Getting MBA from Cleveland State University
- Moving to Downtown Cleveland
- Opened the Studio of 5 Rings
- Got a winery license
- Quit Swagelok and started working at my own business full-time
- Move Studio of 5 Rings from downtown Cleveland to Rocky River
Fun Activities
- Adventurous dining
in Cleveland. If you're bored with dining in Cleveland,
this will help you discover an entire world of different cultures
right here in our own back yard.
- Running
- Typically run two to four miles every other day in Midtown
and Downtown Cleveland
- Best run was 17 miles from E.55th & Euclid to the West
Side Market, then to Tremont, over to W. 80th & Lorain,
then back to E. 55th & Euclid.
- Bicycling: I bought an old Raleigh Technium in the spring of 2006. I put over 525 miles on it before Fall 2006. I used to ride a bike in college, and I have rediscovered how much I love riding a bike. Exploring the streets on a bike helped me to fall in love with Cleveland all over again. Starting from Downtown, I ride all over the city and many suburbs.
- Camping trips:
- Ultra-light hiking and camping on the North Country Trail
- Car camping in New England, New York, Ohio West Virginia, Pennsylvania,
New Hampshire and Vermont
- Backpacking in Europe
- Beaver Creek State Park in SE Ohio is one of my favorite spots
- Winter Sports
- Alpine skiing in Sandias, New Mexico and Alps, Austria
and Cleveland, OH
- Snow-boarding in Cleveland, OH
- Cross Country Skiing in Cleveland Metro Parks, Chapin Forest
and Towpath
- Viegln (small skis called "wings" in German) in
Innsbruck, Austria
- Rodeln (basically Luge sledding) in Innsbruck, Austria
- Bob sledding in Lake Placid, NY. Went once when it was open to public - it was a blast!
- Spelunking at Mammoth Cave
- Earned Black Belt in Karate - Self-Defense
Concepts. This remains one of the deepest running activities
in my life, and it helped inspire the Studio of 5 Rings.
- Paintball: Arena, woods, fields, night-time
- anytime is great for this this one!
- Fun cars I have owned. It wasn't until
I moved to Cleveland that I bought my first new car. I have
had some real adventures owning and maintaining 16 transportation
specials through the years. These were my favorites:
- 1983 Plymouth Gran Fury State Highway Patrol with Pursuit
318, spread bore intake manifold and Holley racing carb
- 1977 Monte Carlo
- 1998 Monte Carlo
- Professional Photographer: Opened my own studio,
met a lot of interesting people and gained valuable small business
knowledge. More importantly, this is where I grew in art
appreciation and started my thinking toward opening an art gallery.
- Played drums for 7 years, and I played in several
bands in college. We played "Progressive" music
at the time, which was the precursor to today's "Alternative".
Blink-182 remains my absolute favorite!
- Poetry Night - open mic is my favorite.
I got hooked attending Nancy Bizzari's poetry night at the Cedar
Lounge in Youngstown, OH back in the early 90's.
- Wine making: I am a Vintner with my own licensed
winery. I make wines from California and Chile from juices I purchase.
- Eastern Philosophy: gives me a fresh perspective on everyday living while my keeping Western values and faith. Here's a link to my thoughts and select quotes from others regarding martial strategy
- Exploring Cities: Here are some places to visit right here in Cleveland's Midtown
Lending a
hand to Hurricane Katrina victims
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