About Me

Hello, my name is Bryan Gira and welcome to my Blog. While I surely don't claim to have any talent as a writer, I have always had an untapped passion for writing and everything you read on my Blog is truly written from my heart.

As far back as I can remember, all the way back to Elementary School, I enjoyed short stories and such. Both reading and writing, I found it was easy to let my imagination take me away to places I'd never been and situations I'd never experienced. As a kid, I was a fan of The Hardy Boys Series of books. Not sure if anyone else out there remembers them but for those unfamiliar, they were similar to the Nancy Drew Mysteries. Similar in as much as they centered around young 'psuedo' detectives, two brothers resembling Sherlock Holmes types, always seeming to find themselves involved in all kinds of mysterious adventures throughout their neighborhoods. It always amazed me how the police were never involved and how they were able to solve all of those crazy scenarios on their own. But I guess that's the beauty of writing Fiction, it takes all thoughts of common sense and throws them right out the window.

Looking back now, they were teenagers with 40 years of detective experience under their belts. I'm sure if I were to read through one of those books today, I would instantly realize how utterly unbelievable the story lines were but as a kid with a very vivid imagination, I could definitely 'see' myself in every situation and always from the edge of my seat. Both the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew Series' went on to become television series' in the 70's, that's how popular they were.

As the years went by, I never pursued my 'dream' of being a writer as I felt guilty about attempting to make a living at a career in which I was extremely passionate about yet felt I was severely lacking in talent. And with that being the case, I surely had no possibility of making a living, let alone ever having a book published. I mean, only extremely talented and famous authors ever have their books published, correct? People like Steven King, who coincidentally I'm honored to share the same birthday with, could hope to achieve such lofty goals. Therefore I surely had no chance of making any money at all with my writing, how could I even think about making a career of it. Choosing instead to attempt all other forms of survival, just trying to 'get by' in hopes of 'making it' through life doing things that I already knew how to do rather than take a chance and pursue my passion. After all, heaven forbid I actually took the risk and tried to learn how to be a better writer only to find out that I had no talent whatsoever.

As I look back I definitely have to question that logic, especially now as I sit here alone and broke, knowing that most of the choices I made along the way surely never turned out as I had planned. I can't help but wonder how different my life would have been, had I followed my true passion instead of taking the seemingly 'easy' way out. But as we all know, the past is the past and we surely can't turn back the clock. All the wondering, what ifs and the woulda coulda shouldas won't change the fact that I never took the chance and I will always regret it. That's another wonderful part of having your own Blog, your own online 'journal' so to speak. Who's to say you are a lousy writer? If it's how you feel, then it's how you feel and however you choose to express that is up to you and you alone.

And so as I sit here now, many [ok, many MANY] years later, wondering what if I had taken that giant leap of faith, I have decided to finally start jotting down some of my past recollections, current thoughts and hopes for the future. Random as they may be, just things that cross my mind interwoven with all the ups and downs of life. A smorgasbord so to speak of all the good, the bad and everything in between that life has a way of throwing at all of us. Things that I hope others can relate to as well.

For the most part my writing helps to relieve some of my inner stress, helping to reflect on past decisions, both good, bad and indifferent. And while I can't change them, perhaps looking back will enable me to somehow learn from my mistakes and help me to avoid making them again in the future. Who knows, might even allow me to enjoy those very few times here and there that I was seemingly able to make the correct decision and reap the benefits from those rare occurences as well. And to be honest, if I can help even one person along the way to avoid some of lifes pitfalls, to live their life without the regrets that I suffer through every day, then baring my soul and making a complete fool of myself in front of the entire world [ok, the two or three people that might read my Blog] will have all been worth it.

So have a seat, buckle up and hang on tight because you're about to go on a rollercoaster ride the likes of which no one could nor should ever have to experience for themselves. Thank you for stopping by and please feel free to comment on any of my posts. I always appreciate others opinions, as I truly believe that it's through communication and interaction that we can all continue to learn and to grow as individuals. I also hope we can stay connected through Twitter, Facebook, You Tube, Google Friend Connect and all the other numerous Social Media Sites that allow people all over the world to mingle.

The Beautiful Pearl Inside

I have decided to give an introduction of sorts, a way of introducing myself to my readers. While this may seem a bit out of sequence, as I have already created a few posts, I still feel it may help others to relate to who I am, where I came from and how the heck I ended up here. As they say, better late than never.


I was born in 'The O.C.' Anaheim, Ca. to be more precise. Way back when the only thing that stood out above the endless groves of orange trees was the 'Matterhorn'. Yes, I grew up a few miles from Disneyland and boy was I grateful for Grandma & Grandpa. The priceless memories that I still carry to this day of all those wonderful trips to D-Land, zooming down The Matterhorn, The Haunted House, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Submarine Rides and of course, one of my all time faves, the electric cars of Autopia. Mario Andretti had nothin' on me as that is where I most assuredly honed my driving skills. Even at 5 years old, I never lost control of the car, never strayed off the track and most definitely never got a speeding ticket. Matter of fact, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't fail. You can only imagine how my self confidence skyrocketed with every lap and even though I got to know every curve and straightaway intimately, for some reason I still couldn't improve my lap times. It wasn't until a few years later did I realize that the cars were guided by a center 'rail' and that the top speed was also 'governed', therefore I was limited to a top speed of about 2mph! And all those years I thought I was a supreme driver, yearning to take on A.J. Foyt only to learn that it was some pimple faced kid in a light blue shirt, waiting for me at the Finish Line who was actually in control. Oh, the disappointment.


Yet that feeling of despair was nothing compared to opening up your ticket 'book', only to find that you were out of 'E' Tickets. In those days there were no mile long lines to wait in. Each ride was designated by a specific 'letter', A's, B's, C's, D's and E's and each book came with an assortment of various tickets. Unfortunately all of the best rides required 'E' Tickets [that's where the saying 'E Ticket Ride' was derived from] and so you had to be very careful when choosing which rides you 'really' wanted to go on. Of course we always tried to save one 'E' ticket for last because you knew darn well that when you ran out of E's, your day was done and you might as well pack it in because you're going home. In fact even to this day, when I reflect back on seeing that the E Tickets had indeed run out, that empty feeling comes flooding back to the pit of my stomach. Time for the long walk back to the parking lot. I'm sure by that point in the day Grandma and Grandpa were pretty much done watching us having fun and were more than ready to drop us off at home, yet they never showed it. Come to think of it, I wonder if they ever hid any E tickets from us, knowing that was the signal for the day to end? I can never thank them enough for all those memories.


Through the years our family moved around Los Angeles but never left So. Cal. I spent most of my childhood racing Motocross, what a blast. That's me in the B & W photo, tallest in back with the long hair @ about 8 or 9 years old. Everybody had long hair back then, you had to have your hair hanging out of your helmet when you raced or you just weren't 'cool'. That's my sister to my left and a few of my first cousins in the front row. Some might recognize the little guy standing in front of me, seemingly picking his nose. That's my cousin Jason. Nowadays most people know him better as 'Earl' on the TV show, "My Name Is Earl." Yes, he's a bit taller now and he's got a mustache so no need to mess with the nose as much.


Through High School my friends and I spent alot of weekends at the beach, one of the best parts of growing up in So. Cal. I graduated at 16 so I couldn't really 'take off' at that point but when I turned 18 I moved to Ocean Beach along with three of my friends. In 1979, San Diego was so much different than it is now. While still incredibly beautiful, back then there was no traffic to speak of, only a few TV Stations to choose from and the beaches were in essence wide open. For the most part you could pull over along the Coast Highway anywhere or anytime you desired. In fact you could spend the night in your car if you wanted to, which of course we did from time to time.


I had a few 'miscellaneous' jobs here and there, basically whatever it took to get by but mainly I was a beach bum. Yes, I admit it. I should have done so much more with my life and while I surely regret it, there's nothing I can do about it now so life goes on. Then I got involved with Boats and I stuck with that for quite a few years. I ended up discovering golf in the mid to late 80's and really began to enjoy it. So much so that I left my job and went to work at a local Country Club in hopes of pursuing a job as a Teaching Pro. After a few years of that I came to my senses, realizing that I would never make any money at it and so I went back to Boats. At this point I was living in Mission Beach and with boats being such a big part of San Diego I felt there would always be plenty of work.


I continued working with Boats until the end of '05. I have a little house up in the High Desert near Joshua Tree National Park that I would visit on the weekends and tinker around with small projects, I absolutely love it up there. So much so in fact that some weekends I found myself not wanting to go back to San Diego. While still beautiful, San Diego had become so over crowded and add to that the fact that I was basically fed up with my job and so after all those years spent in Americas Finest City, I decided to leave the town I loved so much and move up to Joshua Tree full time. I had been involved with old cars for many years, more specifically the Woodie Clubs and so in June of '06 I loaded up 'Woodie' and drove the 150 miles to Joshua. Tree, that is. The land of the Joshua Tree Cactus, endless starry nights and many many rocks.


Talk about a change. I went from a bustling town of millions to a town of about 150 people. And only one of them was a woman and she was married to her brother. That's not a good sign for a single guy that spent most of his adult life living at the beach in San Diego, surrounded by endless women. Not to say I could get any of them but they sure were nice to look at. Now I was living in a place where there was nothing to look at but the beautiful rocks and oh ya, the stars. Not quite the same thing. Yet still, at first it was great. I loved the slower pace, wide open spaces and the peace and quiet. Not to mention the views of the National Park are absolutely awesome. But after about 8 months of peace and quiet I started to go a little [ok, a lot!] 'stir crazy'. Add to this the fact that I had also decided to quit drinking around this same time, which wasn't helping matters either and so I knew I better find something to keep myself occupied. I had to come up with a new career anyway and that would surely keep me focused and staying busy.


Hmmm, what would it be? I didn't want to get involved in another basic '9 to 5' job, that much I knew for sure. I had always wanted to get my Real Estate License and so I decided what the heck, no better time to do it and so I began studying. Took the Exam in October and finally received my R.E. License in December. I had a few friends that were local Agents and so I started working with them. I soon realized that I was trying to promote properties that I myself wasn't passionate about and so I ended up signing with a Broker near Palm Springs. I had always wanted to sell beautiful Golf Course properties and no better place to do that than down the hill. I began commuting daily to my office in Rancho Mirage, some 70+ miles each way and it began to get old in a hurry. So, I sold my Woodie [my last tie with San Diego, I cried when it left] and bought a Condo in La Quinta. I also changed offices at the same time which cut down tremendously on my drive time. Things were really lookin' up!


I lived in La Quinta up until the end of this past June. Yep, you guessed it. As it turns out, I bought my Condo the day before the RE Market came to a screeching halt. And so as values declined, so did any RE business to speak of and so I had to come to the realization that it was time to let my Condo go. All my hopes and dreams washed away. It wasn't just the money I lost, I was losing my dream Condo. I was finally living in a place of my own that I loved and I couldn't wait to get going with my new career. Needless to say, I have lost both my Condo and my career and so now I am searching for something else that I am truly passionate about. I know I'm most definitely not cut out to work a 'regular' job and so I'm kinda in limbo right now, living with a friend until I can figure out a new game plan, a new direction with a new set of goals. As far back as I can remember I have always wanted to be a writer. Even in Elementary school, I always enjoyed writing short stories. So who knows, maybe all of this has happened to allow me the freedom to move on, to do something I'm truly passionate about.


So, that's me in a [big] nutshell. I'm done with looking back and I never again want to wonder 'what if'. The past is the past, there's nothing I can do about it now and who knows what the future holds. I just have to move forward with a new goal, a new vision, a new dream. Perhaps I'll finally be able to travel the world, see all the beautiful things it has to offer and maybe even figure out some way to be able to turn my life and my adventures in to my latest Novel. At this point, the world is my oyster and I can't wait to open it up to find the beautiful pearl inside.