Hello all.  Thank you all for your emails and inquiries requesting a new blog post.  I have been so very busy – no excuse, I know.  Those of you who follow me on Facebook and Twitter may already know about the “goings-on” but for everyone else lemme just tell ya…

First of all, I am now the Creative Director of a beautiful salon here in Midtown Atlanta.  The feeling is so great to be able to go into a salon everyday and know that I am actively achieving my dreams and goals (still with many more to go).  Let this be proof positive that if you dream it, you can achieve it!  I have to say that the responsibility is great and the task can be stressful. However, it is worth it at the end of the day to know that I work with such terrific people and work for owners who share a great vision of the true meaning of a high-end salon.  To those people I say – thank you for everything!

In other news, all of you know just how much I LOVE having a full social calendar, and girls and boys, it has never been more full! YAY! From Gay Pride Atlanta to Halloween parties, I have been having a blast. Child please!?!?!?! Ok, so let’s talk PRIDE people. I had so much fun with my friend (that has been known as “M”) but will now and forever be known as “Tree House.”  LOL! She knows why.  I was so touched by Delta, Coca-Cola, Orbitz and Smirnoff Vodka for sponsoring the festivities.  These amazing sponsors are proof that the tides are turning in a beautiful, accepting direction.  The care and support of such large and powerful companies gives me hope that the rest of the country will come around as well.  It is so great!  Best way to describe it…LIVE IT LOVE IT LIVE IT!!!!!  Oh, and “Tree House”…May I have a to-go cup please!?

As I am sitting here writing to all of you, I am just getting settled in for the evening and unraveling my layers (love the cold weather). Coco and I are sitting at my desk that is nestled up to a large picture window that just so happens to be directly to the right of the balcony door of my new condo located on the 12th floor of  a gorgeous condo building in Midtown.  As I look up from my computer I see the buildings of Buckhead Atlanta and all of Atlantic Station.  The city lights are truly breathtaking and the sounds of the city never grow old. With this kind of view and Adam Lambert playing on the IPod (thanks Mom), I have to ask how I got so lucky?  Many of you may be thinking that my view of the sky line explains the title of the blog.  No sir!  Actually, it is to describe just how high I set my goals.   I moved here a mere 5 months ago. Just five months ago I was very new in a city about which I knew very little and had even fewer contacts.  But, something in me said that it was time for me to take this step.  I can tell you that the move was not an easy decision, but I truly felt that I needed to make a giant leap, knowing that it was in God’s hands.

Now naysayers always exist….but my inner voice kept telling me to reach for my goals….Hence the title of this blog “View from the Top.”  Though I have achieved so many of my goals, I am still not anywhere close to being at “the top.”  I want to encourage all of you to set your goals as high as your heart will allow.  Aim for that brass ring and reach for it.  Don’t allow anyone to ever tell you that you CAN’T! If I had had listened to those people, I would not be enjoying myself as much as I am now.  This reminds me of my favorite quote…”Life is about the journey and not the destination.”  Though I am far from my final destination, I am thankful for every minute of the climb. Push yourselves and grow from the journey.  Even when no one else seems to believe in you, know that I do.  How are you going about achieving your dreams and goals? What is your story? Email me, and I will blog about it.

*This Blog is dedicated to all of the children who have lost their lives as a result of bullying.  Just 10 years ago I was recovering from a suicide attempt after years of being bullied, because I was gay.  My hope is that no child ever has to resort to something like that ever again.  No goal is out of reach and every life has value.  Love yourselves and each other…not for the reasons that make you the same, but for the reasons that make you different! Loving one another is the only way to live “An M Famous Life,” and it is a major step toward your own “View from the Top!!!!!”

God bless you all!

Be M Famous

Christopher Macken

Ok so we all know the old saying, “Do not put off for tomorrow what could be done today.”   Well normally I would agree with that, but in this case, things are simply falling right into place for me by waiting until the last minute.  All week I have been sitting down at this computer and staring, quite blankly I might add, at a screen that had a couple of sentences on it and I might add, not very good ones at that.  So, I tried all the usual tricks to get the creative juices flowing: candles (I’ve gone through three pillar candles), music (every genre you can think of), having a glass of wine… or three (that usually does the trick). But, nothing!  The only thing that my attempts got me was glazed over and singing along with Bobby Brown to “My Prerogative” and dancing around the house with the dog while using my wine glass as a microphone (the reverb on a good red wine glass gives you very nice pitch and tone) … “can’t tell me how to live, it’s my prerogative….  do what I want to do….”

What was the big problem?  I just write about my life and what is going on right…  It’s not like I am penning the 8th Harry Potter book (oh but wouldn’t it be great if they came out with one), but this week has provided plenty of reasons to be distracted. This week has literally been one social engagement after another.  Wednesday evening at Steel Restaurant and Lounge was fabulous, as usual, because I got to go out and celebrate the successful launch of the “Ask M Famous” style column.  Most of you are aware that Steel is my standing Wednesday night spot – free sushi and $5 Kettle One Drinks.  It is really a blast.  I have met so many cool people and will, of course, be there this upcoming Wednesday at 5 p.m. with some close friends who will be in the area.  Come hang out with us!

So, Thursday it was my turn to play hostess with the mostest. I had a small gathering of people over for dinner and cooked a fabulous meal.  You should know, I am trying to learn to cook (thus far in my life, the only thing that I could make without fail has been reservations.)  I am enjoying having people over and showing them a great time with great food and, of course, a fabulous bottle of wine.  If any of you have recipes that I can try, please send them too me at askmfamous@christophermacken.com or copy and paste them to the comment section of the blog.  That way you can share them with everyone as well.  At any rate, my guest of honor on Thursday night was one of the team members for a certain potential Georgia Governor candidate who just happens to be a Republican.  It was a great opportunity to actually speak with someone regarding the issues and not a television commercial.  Now if you know me, you know that I am not going to get very political or try to sway you in one direction or the other; the point of me saying this is to encourage you to actually research the candidates and decide what platform suits you best! Continue Reading »

As some of you may know, Life has done a fairly huge 180 degree turn for me. I have been on TV, Radio, written columns for magazines, and recently on a billboard. I forget how much has changed in my life until I am reminded of myself as a kid growing up. Now I have a very busy and very full social life. Plenty of people around and always a fabulous event to attend. This was not always the case for me. Growing up life was much different. I was the insecure kid with glasses that was the target of name calling, and bullying. I went through much of my middle and high school life just trying to fit in. Wanting so badly to be that cool guy that always had a choice of tables to sit at in the lunch room instead of the one looking for a quiet corner that he may be able to eat and not be noticed.

As adults we like to think that the bullies from school somehow disappear, or mature into good hearted people. Some of them do, some of them don’t. In school I was referred to as “Queer” and beaten up in the locker-room. Too afraid to defend myself and not knowing how to find a voice to speak up. Through my life and my travels I have found a very loud voice and am able to speak very openly, sometimes too openly, about my feelings, concerns, and all of the good things in life as well! I have been very blessed to have a platform that I can speak from. Last weekend my Spiritual Guide in Atlanta reminded me of the importance of making a change. Using such a platform to make a difference in everyone’s life and not just my own. She was so right.

I have been out and very proud of who I am for the past ten years; And in those ten years I have seen the world become much more tolerant. When I left my small hometown of Milledgeville Georgia for the big city in Florida I was leaving severe name calling, threats, and even people stealing hubcaps off my car, and was hoping to find a home in a place where people accepted me, and maybe a place where I could find love.

Although much has changed we still have a very long way to go. Just in the past month I was attacked by a very homophobic person. Hit twice in the head and once in the groin. The actual punches didn’t hurt near as bad as the motives behind it. I just don’t understand peoples need to hate. I can’t fathom why someone would harbor so much disdain for a human being simply because they are not like them. I have so many friends that are so different and so beautiful in their own way and even when I don’t like the way they think, I can’t imagine wanting to hurt them. I could not impose harm on another living, breathing being. That person is now facing charges. However Georgia doesn’t classify attacking a person because they are gay as a hate crime. Georgia along with 19 other States doesn’t feel like it is a “Hate Crime” if I were killed because of who I love. It is time for us to change that. Continue Reading »