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It’s nice to have a job

What a week. I interviewed two really remarkable people: Antonino D’Ambrosio and Aamion Goodwin. That’s pronounced Ah-mayan for all you who were as clueless as myself.
 I’ve had a thing for Frank Serpico ever since I saw the movie “Serpico” some 45 years ago and plastered Al Pacino’s face on my teenage bedroom wall. That was Al’s big break you know. Anyway, now D’Ambrosio has made a documentary with the real live Frank Serpico. I’m here to tell you, it may be because I’ll be 60 in a few years, but that 81-year-old Italian American is still very easy on the eyes.
 The more D’Ambrosio told me about Frank, the more I fell for him all over again. He went up against NYC police corruption in the early 1970s and ended up paying the ultimate price…he’s still got a bullet lodged in his brain. Sometimes this whole newspaper thing is pretty darn sweet.
 Then I talked with Aamion Goodwin. At first I was stuck on the fact that he said “right on” a few times in our initial conversation. Then I called him again and talked for a bit and he was pretty darn awesome. He and his wife Daize (that’s Daisy to us folks, I think) are both professional surfers who spend a good part of their time in Kauai, Hawaii. The thing is that they also have a unique take on raising children.
 Aamion’s dad took him along as he decided to spend most of his time on a little island in Fiji back when Aamion was a year old. They traveled between Hawaii, Fiji, and New Zealand until Aamion was 18, hence his stellar surfing and fish spearing skills. Aamion and Daize decided some time ago that they’d like to take their kids on a trek like that as well. And so they did, and they documented the experience. They spent nearly a year traveling to Nepal, Ireland, Morocco, South Africa, Iceland, and more, finally landing in Fiji where they caught up with Aamion’s dad. His hair is longer than Aamion’s and he swirls paints on fabrics and wears a piece of long brightly colored cloth around his middle.
 The best part of their travels is that they brought their kids along. Given is probably around 4 in the documentary and little True takes off with the family when she’s about 5 months old. So this family of four spends almost a year with a camera and documentary crew of about 10 people. They bring their surfboards along, catching waves even in Iceland amongst giant chunks of blue ice. True eats her first solid food (carrots) and learns to crawl and walk on sandy beaches.
 I’ve seen my share of crunchy types. With Daize and Aamion, though, their sincerity and their innocence shines through. You leave their movie “Given” feeling like you should’ve just clothed your babies in cloth diapers and nothing else, fed them mashed mango and carried them across the universe so they could meet all kinds of people before they reached the age of 5.
 I always fall for the granola people. And the people who go against authority. These interviews were my dream experience. Someday, mark my words, I’m going to confront Donald Trump with a bunch of sage, which I will light and try to surround him with.    

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