From my book, JUSTIFY THIS, in the chapter about GOSNELL:
"We were filming the movie in Oklahoma, and there was one role that we still had not cast. I just had not seen anyone that struck me as right for the role.
On a Sunday after the second week of shooting, I went to a Waffle House (my favorite restaurant chain by the way) in Oklahoma City. The place was very busy, and the manager was going around apologizing to everybody for their meals being late.
I kept looking at her. There was something about her. She was very attractive, and she had a tattoo on her neck. There was a certain toughness about her, and she way she carried herself was so poised and competent. There was a strength and a wisdom to her that I thought would really read on camera.
I felt moved to go and talk to her. I waited until she had a free moment, and I said, “Look, I know this sounds like a crazy pickup line, but…um, have you ever done any acting?”
Obviously having never been asked that question, she predictably responded, “Um, no.”
I said, “Look, I know this might sound like a cliche pick-up line, but…I really am a director from Hollywood and I really am shooting a movie here in town, and there’s a part in it that you would be right for. Would you mind if I got the script and let you read it with me to see if it’s something you want to do?”
“Um, okay.”
I drove home and got the script and went back to the Waffle House and sat down with her in a booth to read the script together. I explained that the character only had three or four lines, but they were very important to the story. I said, “I think you could do this. Would you be willing?”
She was understandably skeptical of this guy who suddenly showed up at her job claiming to be a Hollywood director and offering her a role in a movie. “I don’t know. How much would it pay?” she asked.
I said, “Well, it’ll probably be at least two or three days of work—and it’ll pay about eight hundred and thirty dollars a day.”
She said, “Okay.”
Probably a little better than Waffle House.
The first day she came to work, she practically brought her entire family with her to make sure I wasn’t some sort of crazy serial killer. We shot with her a couple of days, and she did very well. She was a natural. I kept telling her, “Tessya, don’t try to be interesting. You’re interesting enough. Just tell the truth. Let the words do the work for you.” And she was terrific.
On the third day, one of the producers, Ann, came over to me and said, “You’re not going to believe this.”
I replied, “Oh no. What now?” I was sure someone had quit, or some location had fallen out, or some other low-budget-movie disaster had occurred.
She said, “The thing that happened to her character in the movie happened to her in real life.”
I said, “What are you talking about?”
“Tessya, in her real life, went to have an abortion, and when they let her listen to the heartbeat of the baby, she decided not to go through with the abortion. She had her baby, just like her character in the movie.”
I was floored. I felt the hand of God was at play here. I believe God led me to that Waffle House to find her. That something inside me, telling me, when I first saw her, “She can do it! She can do it!”—was Him.
She is now the proud mother of three boys, including her firstborn, whose heartbeat changed her life.
@sagesteele@WaffleHouse
@WerderEdNFL Except for the fact I get the exact same thing when I’m working and not playing golf. I even got a steering wheel cover to combat this great mystery, but alas, still getting the stain.
The American Revolution was bankrolled by one man. The richest in America. He died broke in debtor's prison.
Robert Morris.
In 1781, he raised $1,400,000 on his own personal credit to march George Washington's army to Yorktown. The Continental Congress had no money. The states refused to send any. France had stopped. The final $20,000 came from Haym Salomon, a Polish-Jewish broker who personally underwrote the rest. The richest man in the country put his balance sheet behind the war and ended it.
AOC said this week that "the American Revolution was against the billionaires of their time."
The math doesn't survive the source documents.
Morris signed the Declaration of Independence. He signed the Articles of Confederation. He signed the Constitution. One of only two founders to sign all three. He served as Superintendent of Finance from 1781 to 1784, ran the Continental Navy as Agent of Marine, and chartered the Bank of North America. The financial machinery of the United States was built by the merchant who had spent the prior decade running the largest shipping firm in Philadelphia.
John Hancock was the wealthiest man in Boston. George Washington owned 8,000 acres at Mount Vernon. The signers were merchants, planters, and lawyers at the top of colonial society. The complaint was taxation without representation, levied by a Crown an ocean away. The Stamp Act and the Townshend Acts hit merchants hardest. That's why merchants funded the war.
Then the math finished Morris off.
He owed nearly $3 million by 1798. He sat in Prune Street debtor's prison for three years. George Washington visited him there. Congress passed the Bankruptcy Act of 1800 in part to secure his release. Morris died in 1806 with a five-line obituary in the Philadelphia papers.
$1.4 million in personal credit. $3 million in personal debt. The richest man in America bankrupted himself funding the war AOC says was fought against him.
This is Robert Morris, the richest man in America in 1776.
He literally bankrupted himself usinf his vast personal fortunate, shipping fleet, and fiscal acumen to pay for the American Revolution.
AOC is stupid.
Just bumped into the great Randy White… never ceases to amaze me what an extremely nice man he is. Still in phenomenal shape too. And I don’t think the youngsters are fully aware of how freaking good he was.
A defensive tackle, 6 foot 4 and call it 265 lbs, this dude embodied toughness, power and grit. He only missed one game in his entire career. His max on the bench press was said to be 560 lbs, but he could do 10 reps of 450. Yet he was also ridiculously quick and would often chase down running backs.
#2 overall pick, SB Champ, SB co-MVP, NFC Defensive Player of the Year, 9-time pro bowler, 7-time 1st Team All Pro (some places list him with 8), 14-year career, Ring of Honor, and of course THE HALL OF FAME. 🏆
Part man. Part monster. #TheManster #Doomsday
Did I miss anything, @Boys_Vox?
Hope you might consider joining us at Gentle Creek GC for the 13th annual Sydney's Band of Gold Golf Tournament | The Cure Starts Now. Sydney was a close family friend who became an angel too young from DIPG, an incurable childhood cancer. https://t.co/96b1FeAHSX
This famous prayer is called “The Lorica of St. Patrick” and it dates back to 5th century Ireland. “Lorica” is Latin for breastplate and it’s a genre of prayer meant to act as spiritual armor. Patrick prayed Christ into every direction, every moment, and every encounter.
Our list for the Best of Private Clubs has been released. Notably, there are now 9 clubs with initiation fees at $200,000 and above, along with 16 clubs whose initiation fees exceed $100,000.
For the complete rankings, visit https://t.co/oe1TUMmd8Q.