“Poker is a fascinating, wonderful, intricate adventure on the high seas of human nature.”

– David A. Daniel The notion of one man’s trash as another’s treasure is far from unusual to me. I mean, let’s be honest, you can’t share the same name with Captain Morgan and not have some of the same qualities. In a debate, he and I would probably not see eye to eye on our idea of ‘treasure.’ We would agree to disagree yet rest assured, we share some common ground. As unrelenting adventurous spirits, we both have a desire to seek and a love for spiced rum.

     After imagining myself conversing with the fictional character, I thought I might be insane. That is until an idea sparked and had me thinking; what is it I’m seeking? If it isn’t gold or the fountain of youth, is there a treasure we all agree on? Is there something we all equally desire? It was then I found my answer and realized there is a means to my madness after all.

  What began as an inconsequential piece of paper soon took on a life of its own. By finding its way into the pocket of a second-hand shirt, somehow the un-treasured piece of paper went from obsolete to inspiration. For with the tangible essence of the paper came something intangible…a story. Better yet, a story that could be felt and experienced in reality. As a result of ‘coincidence’ and bold action, a connection between two strangers would be forged and a story worth sharing would be told.Last month I received an email from USC film grad and aspiring comedy writer, Mitchell Winkie. He had recently bought a shirt from my favorite thrift shop, Sunday’s Best. He had no clue that after buying the shirt it would hold additional value. Aside from an amazing fit and a ubiquitous, and not to mention, inescapable smell of thrift store, he was presented with a choice.

He found a slip of paper in his new shirt pocket. On the paper he found a grassroots version of a business card. Written by hand was my name, blog and contact information on index paper. I figured it might resemble the likeness of a flash card and therefore was the best choice for memorization purposes. Confused, he figured he either stepped into the Matrix or had one too many rum and Cokes, resulting in an alter ego, Morgan Ryan…now he was on to something.

Maybe it was his lifelong desire to receive a message in a bottle or his imaginative curiosity that prompted this manifestation. Or maybe it was his good taste in shirts. Any way you put it, one thing was certain…Mitchell clearly was a pirate too. Kidding. However I’m serious when I say all plausible scenarios led to one universal destination and treasure, a person and a connection.

As he tried to figure out how and why the mysterious paper had gotten there, he made his choice. He entered the game with a comical and entertaining email. Like any smart poker player, I knew how to act. Having already supplied him with a Maverick, he had the advantage. Equally so, I created my own advantage in knowing I had nothing to lose. I matched his email with a response and raised the ante with a face-to-face meeting. We decided on lunch at Sqirl, an innovative joint in Silverlake that serves breakfast until 4 p.m. We were all in…and it was up to Mitchell to figure out if the Maverick was suited for a royal flush or royal flop.

   To Be Continued…

|| CREATIVE DIRECTION ||

Jennifer Puno

|| PHOTOGRAPHY ||

Sara Clarken

|| STYLING | MUSE ||

Morgan Ryan