And Now For A Post in Which We Meet Laurence Fishburne

{Jarca Embroidered Cotton Gauze dress c/o Calypso St. Barth Bal Habrour Shops}

The weather in Miami has been absolutely splendid for beach bummin’ and wearing Calypso St. Barth brand tunics. This pic was taken last Friday right before I experienced a funny encounter with actor Laurence Fishburne (Yes, the illustrious actor most recognized for being Morpheus in The Matrix). The prospect of meeting Laurence is far more exciting to me than scoring a seat at Kimye’s recent wedding because in college, I’d watch The Matrix — in an inebriated state, obviously — at least twice a week. I’d come up with theorems and fantasies which are far too embarrassing to even explore on this blog. And then I’d sober up the next morning and think to myself, “Whutttttt?”

Anyhoo, I spotted good ol’ Morpheus swimming in the ocean with a pair of goggles on and I did what most creepers/serial killers do — I followed suit and swam nearby him LIKE A COMPLETE PSYCHO.

But that was as far as I was going to take it. I had no plans on engaging him in conversation (because that’s too Charles Manson-esque) — although I did want to joke around with a little, “You take the blue pill, the story ends. You wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want. You take the red pill, you stay in wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.”

But then… he spoke to me. Morpheus in skin-tight black swim trunks talked to me! ME!

I was nonplussed.

“We should get out of the water,” Laurence calmly said to me.

“Um. Sure. Okay. Yes. Whatever you say. But why?” I stammered because it’s not every day some A-lister plays life guard with you.

“There’s a shark. Look. Out there,” he replied, pointing South.

{CUE THE JAWS SOUNDTRACK HERE}

And so we scurried out of the water and chatted a few moments — trying to decipher if it was indeed a Great White, dolphin, Loch Ness monster or manatee. I played it cool and never once geeked out with any Matrix trivia. Internally, however, I WAS FREAKING OUT. All those years of hypothesizing the film during my halcyon college years washed over me and it was oddly surreal to be standing next to the very human responsible for such musings, you know? Of course you know what I mean! You’re crazy, too.

“Dude, that’s a manta ray,” I told him once I figured it out. (Thank you, Ransom Everglades, for that extensive Marine Biology class — quite possibly the only course I got a solid “A” in, by the way.)

And then we went our separate ways. I like to think The Universe placed that massive, thrashing manta ray there just for us — simply so I could share a few sweet moments with someone I always adored from afar. If for only five short minutes.

Photos by Ginger Harris