Back in Miami again. We arrive the same way as the last time, before the sun rises. I notice the skyscraper’s lights as a kind of wakeup call but I don’t move fast enough to get a picture of that grand arrival.

We’ve traveled about 6,000 miles and visited 5 countries and we come to the end of this ocean journey.

Another sunrise in a warm climate. That’s all I want right now.

I wonder what coincidence makes the sun shine directly onto the place I’m going to. It is in the exact spot. How can that be?

Minutes later I see the view from the other direction. It’s just as spectacular.

Below is the NBA arena for the Miami Heat, and Bayfront park, home to many world famous events. In the distance we see the world-famous South Beach.

This place sparkles inside and outside.

After taking in the view and dropping my bag we head out on the city train which loads right behind.

My friend and I discuss the troubles associated with owning a car as we ride the elevated Miami city train from one skyscraper to another. This train travels very close to many apartments that probably had a better view before the train was built. Now the train passengers have a great view inside a lot of apartments. I notice an unmade bed in plain view not 50 feet away. How can they leave that bed like that knowing everyone on the train will see that. I would pull the shades just to avoid imagining the embarrassment of someone seeing it.

“I’d stage all kinds of shows for the ‘train people’. Imagine a mannequin and a LOT of fake blood. Or maybe re-enact that scene from Body Double with Melanie Griffith. It would go viral for sure. The new people have never seen this movie from 1985. They would never see it coming. I’d livestream the train people’s reactions. I’d call it ‘Train People Seeing Stuff’.”

We are going to a building that has a specific restaurant at street level that is serving juices and trendy fruit compotes for breakfast. I’m enjoying the water they offered for self-serve. One of the dispensers had lemon slices floating in it so I chose that one over the ‘plain’ water.  My tastes are becoming more refined, but no so much I wonder why they use lemons and not limes or some other more exotic (to me) local fruit.

I only remember looking at the menu because I’ve just had my usual 7 course breakfast served by a Philippino named Jeeves. I’ve become quite used to my chef’s turning out the variety of extraordinary dishes I can’t make.

“His name is Dave (still not his real name), not Jeeves. And don’t say it’s dementia because you think it’s fun to misremember.”

We are walking back from the fancy juice place that also had those single-family-home priced Avacado toast things the younger homeless kids love and something wet falls from the sky. 

‘Building Juice’, my friend comments.

I don’t ask. But I wonder. Do buildings weep? Is it condensation blowing off the roof or might it have something to do with the thousands and thousands of residential balconies overhead?

Having seen so many ‘short films’ on social media I know the answer. I also know why the restaurants bring out the umbrellas for sidewalk dining when those places never see direct sunlight (bird poop could also be a factor).  

Why you would want to enjoy your avocado toast while the upper (talking elevation) class people toss out half empty drinks and fish bowl water on you is a real mystery to me. Sidewalk dining is one of those ‘let’s pretend this is cool’ things city people do. My eyes are burning from the trucks passing by spewing mostly burnt diesel fuel. Sidewalk dining is literally eating in the street.

I can hear a girl named Muff commenting on the smell. She asks how anyone can support fossil fuels these days. She says in her city, the city buses are powered by used french fry oil. 

“Is she French? Or just pretending to be. I think I know the answer to that question. Why are they still wearing masks? Why did they misspell ‘downtown’? Why? Why? And Why?”

It’s loud too. Not farm tractor loud, outdoor dining in a city street loud. These are real noise level values, I’m not making that up. We walk a little faster, trying to outpace the building juice. The waterfront comes into view. It’s a cosmopolitan city and I see a guy walking behind his girl. He’s carrying her cell phone (probably live streaming her butt to her OnlyFans ‘fans’) while operating his own cell phone. This stands out to me as not normal. I point it out and my friend says ‘she doesn’t have pockets’ with total confidence that his reply completely answers my questions about the matter.  It’s not even in the ballpark of answers that satisfy even though I heard the same reply again from another friend a day later. 

I notice another girl run by, then stop and check her iWatch for some reason. I hope it’s to check her heart rate or something and not check the like count on her last post. She looks suspicious to me. Like she’s not really working out. I see her again trot by us, reversing the way she just came, and stop to put her code into the gate leading into her skyscraper apartment (probably). 

I don’t think that was a workout. She’s just out here looking the part.  I say so and my friend replies ‘she looks pretty athletic’.

“She’s twenty or thirty something , has her hair in a ponytail, and is wearing Spanx and super cute mesh running shoes. That’s not ‘athletic’. That’s not even authentic because I can’t make out any facial features. That’s a Miami heat-proof base layer. Probably not over the counter Neutrogena either. Don’t get me started on that!”

We pass by one of Oprah’s yachts and I see a political ad for a Cuban candidate. There are lots of Cuban’s in Miami and I’m told they come in all shades and even eye colors. You can’t know who’s who just by their looks.

“Lucy was Cuban.”

It’s funny that looks matter so much but don’t mean much. You can be whatever you want to be!

And that leads me to my longtime friend Aaron and what he’s been able to do.

But first, I need a nap by the pool. Fortunately, there’s a nice one here on 14.

“That’s the lobby in a building this tall.”

The sun goes down on another very interesting day. The city sparkles at night. There are floating billboards on the bay and the Virgin cruise ship has a holiday message in lights. Can you read it? It took me a while but I finally got it.

NAUTI OR NICE

When Aaron isn’t doing a live show somewhere he’s doing a live stream on TikToc. He’s got a lot of fans and that’s how it goes from entertainment to entertainer. The creatives get paid!

“How does this work? I am so curious do tell.”

You know FaceBook was the pioneer in selling information about you to advertisers and then charging them ad space. Well, that’s just one business model for an app. Another is to have users pay directly. TikTok is doing this by selling animations you can use to show your appreciation for a content creator. The viewers buy tokens and throw them at the creators during a live feed. The creator gets a cut. The live feeds are a place where you can make these animations appear and the creator will likely acknowledge you for them. Like throwing money in a tip jar.

You can spend as much as you like! Here’s another way to get those frequent flyer miles! Send your CC info and billing address to me and don’t forget the CVC code!

“So how much did you spend?”

I prefer to give my money to Jeeves, so …

One of the TikToc things is a ‘competition’ where you go head to head with another creator and you win if your fan’s give more animations – spend their tokens.

Of course, both of you win because you are collecting money from your fans. It’s a real-time popularity contest.

“So you need to be popular”.

Yes, your popularity is why you have fans willing to throw money at you (via TikToc animations).

Aaron is a very popular DJ. He’s got a lot of fans.

“So he makes money.”

Enough to make other people re-consider their life choices.

“Well, what are those girls getting paid for? They don’t do anything.”

Ya, ok so here’s the live stream. It’s pretty cool with the view and all. People like the music he’s playing and the interaction. You can see the animations, that’s money.

“Looks like Codergirl72 has a crush! Those Corgis aren’t cheap.”

Aaron is a longtime friend. Since 2000 so that goes back further than TicTok or DJ and even all the way back to my second life. It goes back to Tito Taquito but that’s another story.

“That’s not Tito!”

Got me! That’s another Ai generated image. I used that because I can’t find the originals. With all the Ai created content it is going to be harder and harder to get the real.

“That’s not the only reason the real is so hard to come by.”