 Hi everyone! Thank you so much for watching this week's episode of Tools of the Trade. My name is- oh my god. Sorry, my eyes just shut on me. Did I mention I got Lasik? And if Cubs the Poet were here, I'd probably ask him to write me a poem about seeing without seeing. So, wow. What is this? Do you kids just say why this is in here? Everyone loves smart food popcorn. Oh, do you see that? You are so out of luck if you think you're gonna get chocolate covered. Almonds! You cannot have those! Hi everyone! Thank you so much for watching this week's episode of Tools of the Trade. My name is Jonathan. This beautiful angel is noodle. And this is the Cubs the Poet box. For those of you who don't know, Cubs the Poet is a man that we featured in our Icons of Our Tribes series. He is a modern-day wordsmith and a poet who works on the streets of New Orleans. So what he does is for five hours every day from 11 to 4 on his vintage typewriter, he writes five poems, custom poems for individuals who walk by and he consults with them first. They'll say, you know, do you want a poem about love? And he feels that poetry, it's such an important art form and it's such an important way to express yourself. There isn't a ton of exposure to it, right? It's not necessarily a lost art form, but it's something that people certainly haven't prioritized. A lot of people don't study it as much as they used to. Now we're going to get in the box. Okay, oh my god, oh my god, okay. So the first item we have in this box is what looks like a photo of himself working. So this is a framed photo of Cubs the Poet on his vintage typewriter. This item is a portrait that was done by another local artist named Jose Cotto. And what he does is he takes portraits of people, but he has them close their eyes first and think of a memory. And then once they open their eyes, he snaps a photo. So he takes a really special moment for someone that they wouldn't, you know, not necessarily be present for and he makes it a memory for them. For me what it does is it lets me, it gives me a little more information into Cubs himself and who he is and how not only his process works, but how he loves to learn about other people's artistic processes and he likes to sort of help facilitate them and help to observe their work. And I also think that this speaks a lot about the New Orleans art community, right? There's a lot of people there who are all trying to make an impact or are all trying to sort of go daddy phrase, make their own way and just, you know, really do their own thing and make a mark. And I think it's safe to say that this man did it. So, you know, Cuto's Cubs, this is a really nice beautiful portrait. And he's at his typewriter, which we love to see. The next item we have in the Cubs the Poet box is... sort of a, sort of a bevy of smart food popcorn and Cajun dill gator taters. So I am actually quite thrilled to see you in here because I love snacks and in particular I love these snacks. I am at my killies is white cheddar popcorn. I've eaten bags of this to my face. And I think this, I also love these because these are regional, right? This is just because everyone loves smart food popcorn. He gets a treat. Oh my God, where'd it go? I still have one left over. I still have one left over, so we got one. Look at that! He gave me paw and he gets a reward. He's so smart. Cajun dill gator taters kind of makes me think, you know, Louisiana, right? I'm there. It's transported me. I've got the Cajun. I've got gators. And I'm like, okay, there's only one place you can be for that. I can imagine this might be nice to have on the go, right? Cubs is always setting up around different places in the city to do his poetry and to meet new people and to write poems for them. So this is something that I can see being very portable. And I also bet he just loves it. Wait, okay, there's, hold on. There's, and you have to stay very far away from these. So on top of his, this guy's great. He knows how to live. So on top of smart food popcorn and his Cajun dill chips, he also said that he needs a really fancy bag of milk chocolate covered almonds, which came in sort of a Tiffany blue box and had the same impact of finding a diamond inside. So this is sort of the holy trinity of snacking. I think it's safe to say you've got your sweet, you've got your savory, you've got your fat, you've got your nut, you've got your sort of briny sort of pickle flavor. One more could you want? A salad. Oh, do you see that? You are so out of luck if you think you're going to get chocolate covered almonds. You cannot have those. Okay, the next item we've got in the Cubs the Poet box is Ralph Waldo Emerson on self-reliance. Cubs loves this because Ralph Waldo Emerson is one of the people that inspired him to do what he does. It's a meditation on self-reliance and noodle is not self-reliant. Noodle, you could really use with reading this book. I think you need to learn a thing or two about being able to rely on yourself for things. And what's great about this is obviously whether you are a poet or a creative of any kind or just your own sort of business owner, I'll scratch you, how's that sound? I'll scratch your gams. Yeah, we'll do that. You're going to want to be self-reliant, or at least you're going to want to know how to take care of yourself in your own business. So if you are a business owner, anyone who just wants to go out and start something, start creating, this could be a really useful tool for you, especially if you find yourself going back to it and finding pieces in here that are inspirational and help you at least stay a little more grounded in, okay, this is what I want to do and this is how I'm going to get there. Okay, the next item we have in the Cubs the Poet box is Burner and 20 bricks of, oh, it's incense. I have a ton of incense around my home. I love having this around. I can imagine that he lights this when he's writing. This might be something to help set the mood, something that might help him get into a creative mindset. There's something very ritualistic about going home, taking off your coat and then just lighting a stick of incense and letting it burn and just being like, well, A, I'm not leaving while this is still burning and by the time it's done there's going to be sort of a whole new aroma and kind of vibe in my apartment. So I think this is an incredible addition and whoever gets this is a lucky, lucky dog. The next item we have in the Cubs the Poet box is it looks like a dehydrated flower. It's certainly a dehydrated flower. Is this a poem? Did he write something? Nope. It says it's from the almond people. Okay, so this, this isn't an item really, but it is and you're going to get it. I'm going to write a little message in here and it'll be, it'll come in the little box. So Noodle and I will do that. Are you, are we going to do it right now? Thank you so much. Yeah, I'm going to write my message right now. I'm not going to try and write a poem because Cubs is the one who does that. I do, however, have a penchant for haikus. The dog on my right has a very yeasty face. Someone come help me. Cubs, if you ever need an assistant. Okay, that was not an item, but that was a thrill. Okay, the final item we have in the Cubs the Poet box looks like two vinyl, ooh, records. We've got, oh, we've got Solange. We've got True, we've got Solange. What great taste you have, Cubs the savant. Okay, so we've got True, which is delightful. And we have, oh, Tank of the Bunga's Green Balloon. Oh my God, these are Cubs. I'm sitting here thinking this man's writing his poetry. He's got his typewriter with him. He's got his incense burning. He's nomin' on some really fancy almonds. He's contemplating the thoughtful poem they put in the card. And he's playing some Solange. Come on, I bet this is a combination of things that he has to get him in a creative mindset. Okay, that's it. Oh my God, that's everything. That's everything that was in this box. I am so grateful that he took the time to curate this for us. Thank you so much. And thank you so much for watching. I hope you were inspired by the items that were in here. You know, I was. I'm kind of hungry now. One of those bags of smart food might come home with me. I didn't do a solid counsel. You'll never know if one's missing. But there's everything in here. I think, again, it really spoke to who he was as both a person, as an artist, and as an entrepreneur. So if you loved the items that you saw in today's box, you can win them. All you have to do is head over to our Instagram page. Once you see this video has gone live, make sure to follow GoDaddy and then comment by tagging a friend. You can enter up to five times, and each time up to five times, you'll be automatically entered to win this box at the end of the week that the video goes live. Go ahead and head over to our YouTube channel and like, subscribe, and ring the bell so you get notifications when a new video like this or another one goes live. On behalf of myself, on behalf of Noodle, and his perfect little tongue, do you see that? It's just sticking out of his face. Thank you so much for watching, and we will see you next time.