This isn’t the start of a joke. It’s what happened when a Black midwife, a French tour guide and a jazz trumpet player cross my path in Downtown L.A. In Episode 9 of Allergic Reaction, In Episode 9 of Allergic Reaction, I wander Downtown Los Angeles on Election Day, looking for directions to anywhere. I wander through Biddy Mason Park, the Bradbury Building (Blade Runner, 500 Days of Summer), the Broad Angels Flight, and Grand Central Market. I chase loops and mark time by meditating on a red yoga ball floating down the L.A. River, or a mini bottle of tequila spinning endlessly in an escalator groove. I arrive in the present moment where a robot waitress serves me lunch in Little Tokyo. It is now eight months after the election that no one seemed to mention on the day of the election, and I retrace my steps. This time the world feels like Teflon. Nothing sticks. Until I return to Biddy Mason Park and meet Issce, a jazz trumpeter who practices eight hours a day. The sound of his trumpet echoes off the surrounding buildings. He likes to play there because "it's a little seedy" and no one bothers him (except me). We talk about the power of human potential. We talk about being in the flow. We talk about what it takes: practice. In these present moments of honing your craft, using this time to improve, you can actually create a greater future.