It Ain't Ova....

First let me apologize to those who actually follow this blog. I definitely have been slacking on my pimpin'. But let's remember that I do this for a living and sometimes my fingers get tired dammit. OK, actually I was just being lazy. Won't happen again. .... I think.

So from time to time, I may have a guest to the blog. This is one of my close friends talking about the kinda stuff we talk about everyday as we frequently comment on people's "U IDIOT" moments. I'll be back... in the meantime enjoy....

Complacency at its Finest

So uhhhhhh, why the hell are my gears being ground at 9:30 in the morning? All I wanted to do was come into work, check some emails, do some internet surfing, and then somewhere after lunch think about doing some work AFTER getting some much needed texting out of the way. But instead I open up emails with comments that read: “When Barak wins…”, “When Obama’s in the White House…”, “How do you feel that our next president is going to be black?” This is the shit that really gets to me. People act as if the dude is already in the White house sipping on some Ace of Spades. Unless yesterday was Nov 4^th and I missed it, people need to wake up and realize that although he may be the better candidate he doesn’t have this election in the bag.

Just because everyone in our hoods is wearing Obama tees and Diddy is making Obama blogs, this doesn’t mean its time to call out of work on the 4^th and 5^th and plan your drunken fest at the 40/40. It’s this complacent attitude that has kept us getting the short end of the stick for many years. Let’s not forget that this Government has no problem shanking us and then hitting us with that convenient store lingo, “Thank you, come again ”. (Enter Apu voice here)

Our neighborhoods or circle of friends is but one small segment of a bigger picture. Some were out there, there are persons of all colors banding together against Barak (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRqcfqiXCX0 ), as well as there are individuals that just don’t know whether to go left or right. So before we go getting ready to do the electric slide at the celebration party, how bout we use some of that energy and do whatever we can to make sure on Nov 4^th we have a real reason to celebrate?

At the end of the day Nov 4^th can be one of the greatest historical moments of our lives or one of the greatest public upsets. So you have a choice whether you gonna go hard for the man, or whether your going to be ironing your “See what had happened was ...” t-shirt to wear to work on Nov 5^th. I mean the last time we ironed that bad boy was when we sat there and complacently let G. W. Bullshit into the big house. This resulted in 8yrs of losing, an oil war, and a bailout that didn’t even work smh. I mean do we really want to not vote and risk another 4 to 8yrs of the same. I know some of you may say you're to busy, but don’t worry if you stop kicking the rocks for 2hrs to head to polls no one is going to steal them.

(Applause here...)

And back to our regularly scheduled programming....

It's crazy how many excuses people have for not voting. The two major ones are that our vote doesn't matter anyway (which to an extent I can understand but fuck that... vote or I'll smack you myself) and that Obama has already won so there's no sense in being late to work because you were waiting on some endless line. There was a record turnout in voter registration in New York. People sent in 204,000 voter forms in the first two weeks of October. That's a great sign. But it's only a sign. How great would it be to see 100% voter participation? Everything important that you're going to hear about this race is already out there, for better or worse. So now we're on to Sarah Palin's wardrobe and death plots on Obama. By the way, the fact that Michelle Obama made a point to alert the public that the outfit she wore on Jay Leno was from JCrew made me what to throw a tomato in her face. Why are you indulging in that nonsense? Plus, she's rich too, it wouldn't have made me feel any better or worse to hear that her dress was Armani or Christian Dior. I don't know what's worse, the fact that both campaigns apparently think the American public is really that shallow and fickle or that the American public may actually be that shallow and fickle.
Let's worry about questioning our democracy, about questioning the supposed democracy that we're looking to impose in the Middle East. Let's worry about the fact that a significant number of my friends can't find legitimate jobs or that our public schools suck donkey nuts and even those that are well-prepared to head to college can't afford it. Let me be clear when I say this: Fuck Joe the Plummer. At least he has a job and a decent healthcare plan.

I didn't want to rant about politics again but oh well. Onto the Randomness...

What is the world coming to when my choices for television viewing at Real Chance at Love and Paris Hilton's New BFF? ... I've seen few things in the world more wonderous than someone selflessly committed to something or someone. ... Listening to Prince's Call My Name. ... All I keep hearing is "What's my name Bitch?" from that Dave Chappelle skit. ... I love Katt Williams. ... I just wish he would stop saying nigga. ... I wish everyone would just stop saying nigga all together. ...I had to spend money I didn't have on a coat because dammit being broke is better than being cold. ... Camel toe is NOT SEXY. ... Damn I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit. ... They really should give out awards for procrastination. I think I'd be the king of the free world by now. ... Back in the gym. Applaud me. ... In all honesty, I think 95% of the things I write are trash yet there is something about actually being able to literally paint a picture with words that is cooler than most things any one can do. ... Fashion really is organized confusion. It's when style meets chaos and it still "just makes so much sense." ... The Knicks cut Patrick Ewing Jr. and kept Jermone James. ... If you see Donnie Walsh, kick him in the crouch for me. Thanks. ....Your friends aren't just the people you speak to everyday. They're the people that you trust telling your problems to not just the ones that ask you what's wrong. ... The act of bettering yourself is a constant push to be better than you were yesterday and the people you surround yourself should make you better for having known them. .... Grudges are stupid. Grow up. ... Shout out to Lips. A response to your note is coming....

Vote or Shut the hell up.

C

Life....Life is what you make it.....

College days swiftly pass.
The phone vibrates. Text message. "Can I ask you a question?" it says. Somehow whenever someone asks permission to ask a question, that question makes me nervous.
"How did you know what you wanted to do with your life?"
Funny thing is, I thought to myself, how do I even answer that question? The short story is that you never really "know" until you're there and realize that you love it or hate it. Before that, you make the best decision you can, close your eyes and hold on for dear life praying that when you open them you'll find yourself in the place that you always thought you'd be. But in the meantime, you doubt yourself and question yourself and analyze and re-analyze and you claw through a maze of confusion.
But there is no way to sit down and decide in one day or a week or a month what you're going to be happy doing for the rest of your natural born life. And if you make a choice and you're wrong, who said that means you've effectively ruined your life beyond repair. It doesn't. Roads have exit ramps. If you find you're on the wrong path, get off and find the right road. But if you think you're going the right way, even if you're unsure, I say ride it out and enjoy the scenery.
Personally, I think finding what you want is a balance of finding what you like and what you're good at. In all likelihood, you'll like something because you're good at it. (Remember back in the day when you said that video game sucked only because you couldn't beat that shit.) But at the end of the day you want to come home feeling useful and accomplished -- feeling satisfied. Some people are in it for the grind. Some folk are in it for the love. Some just love the paycheck. Sometimes the grind is for the love of the check, if that makes sense. I say do whatever you need to in order to come home not wanting to sit on the kitchen floor watching your wrists bleed out.
I write because I think I'm good at it. I don't know if I just love being good at something or I love writing. Doesn't matter either way.
Plus, unless you've been touched by God in some wildly special way, you're going to wake up some mornings wishing that the building that you work at had a bomb threat and you get to stay home and do nothing. You just don't want to be pissed that you need to go to work. Then pissed that you are at work. Come home pissed that you had to go to work and then go to bed pissed because you have to go to work tomorrow.
Point is, sometimes you aren't sure you're on the right road. Just try to stay headed in the right direction.


And back by popular demand... Randomness......

A man stood on the corner of 168th street and Broadway screaming in a thick Spanish accent, "No Osama Bin Laden. McCain. McCain. McCain. Ten Dollars." Then pointed down to the cologne he was selling. ... It took everything in me not to kick him in the face and smash the cologne on his head. ... Maybe the smell would cover up the bullshit. ... Mavado's Inna Di Car Back. ... Crack. ... Great writers are thieves. ... I'm trying to be great. ... On that note, hideout1.blogspot.com. ... I just learned the Gully Creepa. I'm late but can't wait for the bashment. ... Colin Powell supports Barack Obama. ... As great as it is that a Republican political veteran supports Obama, no matter how he legitimizes his endorsement, people are simply going to see one black public figure supporting another black public figure. ... I don't conform to gender roles. ... Girls don't like that. ... Suck it up. ... Why do people only like gender roles when it benefits them? ... Emotions will have you broke. ... Emotions will have you broke and lonely with people laughing at how emotional you are. ... I've been a good friend lately. ... I appreciate people appreciating that. ... Sometimes freshness is born from necessity. Can't always pop tags. ... Why do people play games and then get mad when they lose? ... Like, you idiot. ... Your friends are the ones most likely to take advantage of you. ... The fact that you care is how you know they are your friends. ... Materialism is like Democracy's jealous homegirl that plays hype man and fucks up your relationship. ... I miss college. That shit is a fantasy world with pretend-money, endless women and no responsibilities. And all your friends live 10 minutes away. ... I ask myself every single day if I'm good at what I do. ... I'm more self-conscious than I let on. ... I have the same conversation with the same person through text messages every single night. A practice in futility. There are some relationships I wish I could repair. But you can't fix things that would rather be broke. ... I make a conscious effort to become a better person. ... Every day. ... Okay. Almost every day. ... No I haven't been back to the gym yet. Wednesday. I promise.

We became friends in the car. Now we're riders.

C

Trying to form a habit

Today I'm going straight into the randomness....

I realized that I don't choose my friends. I let my friends choose me. ... I'm not sure if I like that yet but it works fine for now. ... I don't care what the fashion mags say, women please don't start with the glossy leggings. ... Listening to John Legend's Ordinary People. ... We really are. ... I woke up this morning feeling frustrated and I'm not sure why. I'm wondering if it really matters anyway. ... I hate to hear people say, "This is me," as if people are just supposed to accept your bullshit because you're too immature to rectify your flaws. ... I don't know why I like Erkyah Badu so much lately. ... I actually stayed up until 1 am last night to watch Making the Band. ... I'm still trying to decide if I'm disgusted with myself about that. ... You are your parents. ... Whether you like it or not. ... There are a ton of things that I don't know about my father. ... But I know that I walk like him. Sometimes I talk like him. I think that I hate to make appointments because he's adamant about keeping them. I realize I point with my index and pinky fingers. The same way he does. ... The more I learn about myself the more I learn about him. ... Funny how that works. ... I try to make everyone happy and I rarely succeed. ... I'm intent on keeping my pains to myself. I'm just as stingy with my joys. ... But I do share my smiles. ... How contradictory is that? ... Kerry Washington is one of the baddest women on television. ... So is the Latina woman on Heroes. I can't remember her name. ... Her name doesn't matter anyway. ... I hate that the professor from Heroes is now turning into The Fly. ... Aubrey O'Day is the white Lil' Kim without the fan base. ... Maybe she's Paris Hilton with more doctor visits and less money. ... I haven't been to the gym in almost a full week. Someone help me. .... I miss basketball. ... And running. ... Someone I've known nearly my entire life and I decided last night that we might never be friends again ... Without one foul word exchanged. ... One of my biggest flaws is that I don't allow people to help me. ... I'm getting better though. ... My coach used to tell me, "You only get wet once." ... That works in so many ways in life. ... In the meantime, while your getting drenched, be thankful for the people willing to hold the umbrella. ... For the first time ever, I think PacMan Jones didn't deserve to get suspended. ... Stephon Marbury should start mostly because Chris Duhon sucks. ... Angie Stone in Pandora. ... Sizzla in the car. ... Failure is an option. ... In that case I choose Option 2. ... Bob, tell me what I've won.

There is a comment box.... Tell me if I suck.

Pre Mid-Life Crisis??

I keep thinking about the mental state of people my age, including myself. Those who care, spend a considerable amount of life in self-evaluation. I really can't think of anyone who is where they want to be or planned to be at this point in their lives. Again, including myself. So there are a bunch of 20-somethings having educated rants about their short-comings. We all talk about the money that we don't have or the apartment that we want or if you have one then you're not satisfied with it. It's not big enough, or nice enough. Or maybe you car isn't fresh enough. Or you don't have a car at all. How did we end up this way when our parents were married with at least one child by now.
But the fact is that we measure success differently now.
Welcome free-market economy. You have now been infected by materialism. This disease has varying side-effects. Some of you may become shop-o-holics. Others will be obsessed with their jobs knowing that an increase in pay also means an increase in social status. Success will be measured in zeroes and name brands, in style and luxury.
There is no cure for this affliction. Although the government has decided to starting buy stakes in banks. Here that knock at the door? Sounds like socialism to me.
The point is that, we feel behind because we haven't achieved total financial freedom in a system that makes it possible for only a few. And that is not to say that it cannot be acquired by the masses but we are conditioned to want more and more and so we will never be satisfied. And in this generation, family, love and emotional security has shit to do with success. And so we suffer with materialism as our blanket and our sickness at the same time.

Randomness....
White people really are SCARED TO DEATH. First this lady literally stands up and saying that she's actually read a lot about Barack Obama and from her educated point of view she has deemed Obama untrustworthy because (drumroll).... he is an Arab. Then McCain "defends" Obama by saying he is a "decent" man. .... When the fuck did simply being an Arab make you untrustworthy?? This is besides the fact that Obama is clearly not an Arab. ... In fact Khaled Hosseini, the author of Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, wrote a letter blasting the McCain/Palin ticket for not only allowing these attacks but fostering them. ... In Rensselaer County, Obama's name was mispelled on 300 absentee ballots. Spelled with an "S".
Osama.
That makes sense? I'm not into conspiracy theories but you have to think at least for a second that this is directed at dumb ass people like the lady who called Obama an Arab. They'll see the name Osama and check any box except that one. And the ones that are outraged by the "mistake" will cross out the name and spell it right. Then their vote won't count because they altered the ballot. So at the very least the mistaken ballot re-enforces McCalin/Palin stupid idea that Obama is a terrorist who chills with terrorists yet we live in a country that went and bombed another country that ain't do shit to us.
Okay so that wasn't so random. Back to the randomness.... Gchat is the devil. ... But I love her and she loves me. ... There are maybe two people in the world that I can tell anything to and they'll never judge me. ... It's still annoying that when I lay on my right side I can't fully see the television. .... Jill Scott really is the Truth. ... It always surprises me when people say I'm funny. ... I wish people knew how important socks can be to an outfit. ... Men should wear belts. All the time. ... Black men should have facial hair. ... Obama and Michael Jordan are acceptions. ... How many days in a row am I going to miss the gym before I get disgusted with myself. .... As much as I miss the gym, I miss Coldstone even more. .... I'm the best friend that you could ever have that never calls your phone. ... If you understand this about me we get along great. ... Pandora, you fullfill me in everyway. ... Yes, I am McLovin. Oh... Maverick, Maverick, Maverick. Did the economy change yet?


C

Allow myself to introduce......Myself

I been knocking around the idea of starting a blog since about, well, I don't know ... a long time. So here's to the end of procrastination. This blog will be about everything and nothing in particular. And with that said, that will probably be my last disclaimer because, fuck it, it's my blog so I can write what I want.
I'm watching the Jets game. Why am I not more excited that Brett Favre is playing in New York? I'm more into politics now than I've ever been which doesn't take much because before, I didn't care at all. I want to say that it's for more reasons than just that this is the closest that a black man has ever gotten to the White House. But the truth is, it's probably just that. There is a black man with a chance to run the country and I don't want to be left behind. But I don't have an "Obama for Yo Mama" t-shirt. No pins. No bumper stickers. I have though become more educated on foreign policy and the financial crisis. I watched more debates this election than I have in my entire life. I'm trying to not be biased.....trying hard. Cause I just want to slap John McCain. And I want to see Sarah Palin in person so that I can point and laugh.... hard!
I'm not just listening for who is more popular or endearing. I'm listening to policy and contradictions and the actual ANSWERS to the questions. Just not the deflections and rhetoric and honey-coated bullshit. This is the first time I've felt like an election has truly affected me directly. Like when I look at my 401K and/or get a mutual fund statement that says I'm losing the little piece of money I DO have and my only thought is: fuck this shit!
I don't know how they are going to fix this America that we live in. But that's why the President is supposed to be smarter than me. And smarter than you.
So I don't need an Obama T-shirt. My t-shirt slogan will say "Fuck this shit. Vote '08"

Randomness....
There are good women in the world. Good men too. ... The Knicks are still going to suck. I'm still going to watch every game and cheer like they are going to win 72 of them. .... I'd like to tell everyone who doubted me when I co-signed on Eli Manning that they can start forming a line for fellatio. ... I've been reading more now than I ever have before. On that note, Junot Diaz is the man, Malcolm X was assassinated about six blocks from where I work (yes, I get paid to write for a living too so if you're reading this, donations are welcome and I'll be setting up a PO Box.) ... I'm on to Cornel West now. .... Bill Maher is actually funny as shit but I've never heard anyone denounce religion the way he does. I won't co-sign on that but if it's funny, shit, I'ma laugh. ... I hate Blackberry. How can they make everyone more accessible and less sociable all at the same time? ... I saw a woman standing on the train last week, breast-feeding her baby. I still don't know how I feel about that. ... People should listen more and talk less. .... People who most firmly demand honesty, aren't the most honest people themselves. ... I admire anyone who knows something that I don't and is willing to share. ... My brother is determined to beat the ever-worsening recession. He says fuck sleep, there is money to be made.
My brother is my idol.

Hold the light.

C