walk the walk.

so i'm leaving this young ladies apartment, walking down the hallway to the elevator when i hear her say, "that's some swagger you've got there." i turn, smile, take a little bow, and proceed on my way. once i get in the elevator i chuckle out loud to myself. it's one of those laughs that just comes out, because you're sharing a private joke with yourself. yeah, like that. the joke is that this wasn't the first time i've had someone comment on how i walk, and probably won't be the last. but what only a handful of people know (until now) is that The Walk, my walk, has been years in the making. that is to say that i walk like i walk for various reasons, not the least of which is that i walk like this...on purpose.

it all started when i first noticed that my father runs a certain way...more of a trot actually. i was in around the 5th grade. the run was, left hand over the space between his sternum and his stomach (usually holding his jacket together), right arm limply hanging at his side, palm tilted up at the sky. the foot movement was a light short shuffle, two parts effortless, one part deliberate. it was a run that, the first time i became conscious of it, i knew i needed to copy. so i did. over the years, i tweaked it, and turned it, and made it my own, but for the most part you can see the original in there still.

during the time that i was perfecting my run, it occurred to me that if i could shape that movement, i could most definitely craft my walk. so i did. it hasn't so much been a step by step process, as it is just strides (no pun intended) in particular directions. the short of it included three main influences. the first being eddie murphy...from the 80's. anybody who can look that cool walking around in tight ass leather pants is just a mandatory inspiration. the second is denzel. the fact that i can just say his first name is almost all you need to know about the man's walk. i've never seen anything like it before or since. you look up swagger in the dictionary, there is picture of him. the last of my influences, but in no way the least, is naomi campbell. now if you happen to be someone who 1. can walk. and 2. is vain enough to care what your walk looks like, and you don't try and put a little naomi campbell walk in your walk, well, you're just a fool. naomi walks like a damn freight train, which to me...is hot.

so besides having such expert tutelage along the way, there has also been some environmental and biological factors that have contributed to my walk. the first environmental factor was my junior year of high school, when my calculus teacher gave us permission to show up late to his class. he said that hurried minds never mixed well with math, and that we should come into his class (which was after lunch) relaxed. so, i was late every damn day. which is harder than you might think. you can only take so many long lunches. but if you walk reeeeaaaaally slowly on top of that, you're sure to be late. so i did. my dad would later re-enforce this action by telling me to make sure and take my time through college, and enjoy what was going on around me. which i of course interpreted as...walk even slower. there was the heat, the "scenery," and just the fact that i didn't really much care where i was going, because i was fairly certain it would be there when i arrived. sumthin else that has deeply influenced my walk, and a very little known fact about me, is that my left leg is a full inch and a half longer than my right, and i also have developed in my old age, a hip problem to go along with it. which many a person has mistakenly presumed as me trying to infuse some P.I.M.P. into my walk. not the case. i'm actually limping, all the time. and of course, as many have speculated, and a lucky 27 have found out, there is my "package." i'm not sure if its contributions have been more physical or mental, but either way...it sure as hell hasn't hurt.