Where will the next road take us? Nobody knows that answer despite what some fraud fortune tellers want you to believe. The past is history, only we write our future here in the present. Don’t make excuses, move forward, control your destiny with focus, despite any bumps along the way. I try very hard to practice that mentality daily.

As I conclude my sixth summer in the streets as Johnny Meatballs (with a very busy fall shaping up on tap), I have had some quiet reflections today on what that future may hold…the next six years and beyond. Both professionally and personally of course. Not everything is crystal clear, but I am always thinking and always looking at what (and where) I should roll into next. I will admit, I am a bit down at the current moment, missing the mountains…

I think I am a bit too young for a mid-life crisis and I know my wife certainly is--although she is six months away from the big “3-0” but we both seem to be in a bit of a rut, or, at the very least a bit tired of the hustle and bustle. We both have been working exceptionally hard lately and we really needed a break from our hectic grind. We luckily just got one, an extended weekend in the Poconos….with the kids of course…and it all ended too soon. Our kids are our world, we do everything we can for them and our primary goal is to do our best to give them the best opportunity to excel in all they do as they grow up. My meatballin’ career has definitely come a long way and it is far more pleasant than the 9-5 grind so many have in the corporate cubicle world--something I could never picture myself going back into.
By many accounts our life is anything but routine, but the constant is the hustle and it’s an uphill battle to make ends MEAT. Reason being, the cost of living is just increasing every day in north Jersey at a rapid pace. In the past few years I’ve seen many  move away and maybe someday we will too. But there has to be a plan in place obviously and that starts with truly establishing myself in my biz and expanding in the near future with a bigger bus and making a nationwide tour a reality (and maybe a reality show--who knows).

Now I am not a hunter or camper but I am not a chic city guy either. Manhattan is not for me, but neither is a farm in the middle of nowhere. I have always been stuck somewhere in the suburban middle--that’s why I always figured Bergen County, New Jersey was perfect for me. But things seem to be changing around here, or maybe it’s me? It was very nice to get away and take a break in the mountains of Pennsylvania with my family this past weekend. I don’t know if that’s where I belong but I felt right at home, my wife (who manages a medi-spa / plastic surgery practice in uber high-end Ridgewood and Park Avenue) loves the country area and upon returning to the rat race, I am finding myself at this juncture of my life wanting a more simple way of life. I don’t know if the long-term answer is relocating to those parts or if simply the ideals my family and I yearn for no longer exist in 2014. Maybe that’s why I have always felt I was in a battle for acceptance and respect and not able to relate to the holier-than-thou types but not the MTV generation either.

You know that old expression “keeping up with the Joneses” where one’s success is always measured by the degree of their collection of material possessions and how it compares to their neighbors? It’s more prevalent than ever. But I bet if you asked some of these high society types if they really want the designer thing because of the thing itself or because it just is the “thing” and they feel they must get in on the trend what would the answer be? This is so true now in northern New Jersey not just with personal living and social class rankings but also in business. Naturally business is a competition and in my business of street food vending, this particular summer more than in any year’s past I found things have gotten real cutthroat out there. I guess I noticed it more this season because now I have my Ball Bus and certain vendors with more elaborate trucks find my operation not quite up to par and don’t want to roll with me. They want to claim the way I operate is not up to a certain “standard” and that reflects a bad image on them. I think it’s jealously and intimidation because even without all their bells and whistles, I still book events, get press and get lines of customers.

I am the full package, it’s not just about the food or the manner in which I sell a meatball sandwich…whether it’s out of a crockpot under a tent, out of a wagon or now out of the bus. It’s the whole arrangement, the whole gamut. Sure people clamor to snap photos of some of these popular trucks, but I find it time and time again that when peeps come to my stand, while they do want pictures of my wacky bus, they want ME in the picture with them. That’s not me bragging that I am some superstar, the reason is because again, I offer that human connection because I am the regular guy, the working class average Joe just like them…folks can relate and feel as if they know me even if it’s just from a feast or facebook. I offer a personalized touch from the food, to the story-telling and all the Johnny Meatballs character accoutrements…from the meatball bus to meatball song to meatball shirts and every other novelty rolled up in this big ball of fun--puns intended.

The whole sideshow angle is a carefully calculated thing, I’ve coordinated each and every aspect for your enjoyment, if one seems confused or doesn’t want to partake, they can go elsewhere. Beyond this blog, I no longer feel the need to have to explain anything and try to win over people. This is me, take it or leave it. Beyond the craziness, at the heart of it all, as I always said before, one gets pleasantly surprised when they taste and see just how enjoyable my food is and I never get complaints. I always said you gotta sell the sizzle before the steak and my less-than-conventional delivery system of my goods and services is what has kept me alive in this game for six years where others fell by the wayside. What I am saying is we all need gimmicks and marketing tricks now to stand with those who have an endless stream of capital and can just throw down more cash if something does not pan out. I stand tall toe to toe with anyone and can throw down with the best--even if my monetary value does not reach six figures.  

I got balls and those are intangibles which cannot be quantified in shear dollars, that’s why it’s been tough to attain a serious financial investor, you have to be with me for awhile to understand all that I do--how, why and what the direct results are of my out-of-the-box marketing efforts. But it’s all good, I built my brand from the bottom alone and now I finally don’t have any involvement from any partners or people trying to latch on without doing all the work I do. I have attained a reputation and following and accumulated equipment and assets for my company. Yet nobody else can be me and the heart and soul of the Johnny Meatballs biz is me at the forefront.

Still, some folks don’t “get” my style whether it is online or in person--from my goofy social media memes done on Paintshop, or novelty t-shirts, funny videos or just the overall shtick which comes with the bus and whole circus-like feel I make at gigs with my props and “jimmy-rig” tables and signs. See, some of the PR firm managed guys with fancy 50 thousand dollar food trucks can act all superior but I run things myself and choose to showcase that with pride. It’s all part of the experience and fun and if it seems held together with Scotch tape, that shabby nobility is a quality I do not run from, I embrace. Just like our peasant nonnas put together gourmet meals back in the day on a shoestring budget, I am the underdog who reflects that ideal and many respect that, yet the haters will always knock that and look at me as a joke. But it’s okay, the joke’s on them because I know who I am and I connect with more customers who love me, if I didn’t I would have shut down long ago.

Thousands of balls rolled, hundreds of times over the past six years, they all can’t be wrong and I am still going forward despite those coming out of the woodwork trying to make it difficult and attempting to keep me down. The Ball Bus made its debut in June, these three and a half months have been an up and down ride and I am still searching for that perfect venue to duplicate the success and mass appeal that won over the biggest crowd I ever served on Super Bowl Sunday…

No I do not have the typical food truck, in fact it is the most anti-typical unlike one you ever saw before. It is a converted 1994 GMC Vandura, a mini school bus. The logos, words and phrases were hand-painted, it’s not “wrapped” like the rest. Just like the equipment inside, which I never claimed was a kitchen-on-wheels but rather a pieced-together set-up of small fridges, steam tables, pots and prep stations, the exterior is pieced together in different sections of drawn design work. The theme is rustic, old-school, personal. Kitschy, original, homemade, individual, full of character and charm. Just like my wagon before…just like me and my meatballs. I’m not out to attract some exclusive clientele or be intimidating, I am all inclusive and do what I do for the passion.

In taking this recent rendezvous to PA and seeing all the independent businesses in the Pocono Mountains like mine, I know I’d be a big hit up there because those folks would appreciate how I operate and understand my deal. I felt the same when visiting parts of upstate New York and New England. I will definitely be looking into the flea markets and other events that way, I just get the vibe that it’s not frowned upon to write your menu in magic marker and have a bit of an off-colour sense of humor…The places around there may leave some scratching their heads, take a joint like Country Junction--a general store, restaurant, petting zoo, playground, and mish-mosh of madness old and new, for guests of all shapes, sizes, social classes and denominations. I won’t attempt to put that spot into any more words, you just have to take a trip there to understand. And upon doing so and then looking at me and what I do, I think you will get what I am trying to explain with this blog and why I would fit in like a glove right on their property or right next door. That is where I belong and what I am all about to a T!!!

I guess because things are less congested then they are here, it’s more accepted to be a little different, it’s not all about who has the newest and shiniest things, it’s about the essence of the charm and character.

It’s getting harder and harder to operate now in my neck of the woods especially because clipboard carrying men with power trips are trying to regulate everything to the point of extremism, not for the greater good of anyone but for their own egos and agendas. Our country was built on independent peddlers and hustlers and because of the PC wussification of society where everything has to be all professional and held to a mandated standard, far too many mom and pops just throw in the towel. Everyone wants to call the cops or call a lawyer over every darn thing that is a bit unusual because of this ridiculous media-driven fear of constant pending danger.

People really need to toughen up, nobody seems to have any care for their neighbor to let them make a living, it’s more about love thy self now. Should we all just become robots like the powers-that-be want for the grand master plan? What happened to the gritty charm of self-made personalized business? If things aint all prim and proper and one operates without all their “paperwork” and a corporate attachment, people get skeptical. Entrepreneurs are being controlled to the point of submission which is exactly what the controller wants in this hostile takeover world. Nobody wants to be exposed to the good, bad and everything in between, that’s why places like Atlantic City are suffering. But the Poconos still seems to be in a place and time that has gone unaffected to a lot of BS and I am not saying I am going to pick up and move there tomorrow but I could certainly see myself in some capacity inching closer. Maybe I just belong in a different place and time entirely, but we can’t change that we can only carve out our own niche and create our own world whatever the surroundings may be…

I created my Johnny Meatballs venture to appeal to all, being mobile allows me to the ability to travel and I have thought of many places to expand like down south maybe Florida…or the Midwest…or California…hey maybe that national plan will begin an hour and a half away in the Pocono Mountains. Again, I am not ready to go live in some shack, but I don’t belong in a McMansion, it’s all about balance. There’s good and bad in everything--people and places--and all we can do is play the hands we are dealt and strive to ultimately be content while not just staying sane in the meantime through some drunken or medicated haze but finding our true pleasures where we can…whether it’s going out to dinner or going on a weekend getaway or just spending a day in the park.

Wherever I ultimately end up, I will never stop being me--the Meatball King of New Jersey, I yam what I yam like Popeye used to say. Maybe my tour around the country starts with the “Highway to Adventure” of Monroe County.

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NEXT 2 GIGS-
MEAT ME THIS SATURDAY (9/13) AT THE BARON BEER FEST TAKING PLACE AT HISTORIC NEW BRIDGE LANDING IN RIVER EDGE, NJ. IT’S A GRAND FESTIVAL OF BANDS, FOOD TRUCKS, BEER TENTS

THE FOLLOWING WEEK (9/20) I WILL BE AT THE VERNON RICKEY FARM OUTDOOR CONCERT VENUE FOR THE ZESTY FEST ALL DAY SERVING AT THE ELECTRONIC DANCE LIFE MUSIC CONCERT