D*mn it feels good to be a gangsta...
(aka...At least they're honest about it in the South.)

You ever had a situation that was so appallingly racist you were surprised anyone could still be that ignorant. Like 'how did you survive with the Neolithic opinions?' Then you just want to completely belittle them until they feel dumb as hell.

Tonight my band was playing at this club on one of the most popular strips in the Boston area. Honestly, I never heard anything about the place til we were booked to play it. Upon arrival I was disappointed cus i thought the place was twice as big as it was (stupid deceptive online photos). We sound check, everything is smooth. The band before us does the same and the band (excluding me) go to get something to eat. Upon arrival they are given a hard time at the door. The band was not up to dress code. ... Wait... Dress code? Who said anything about a dress code tonight?

Yes. After we've already been set to play we find out there is a dress code. Now sure it is not the clubs fault they have a dress code. We should have been informed in the booking true. However since it's too late for that now, I ask to speak with the manager. Surely, he'll be reasonable about the situation.

The security guard i've been talking with up to now (whom i've deemed Uncle Tom aka House Slave Supreme) points me to a 'gentleman' outside in a black wool trenchcoat. May I also mentioned that he refused to explain why they hold fast to their dress code tonight? So I go over to the manager, at which point he and I begin to discuss this policy.
(I shall paraphrase to make him seem more intelligent than he tried to be.)

His point: We have a dress code to keep the crowd civil.
My point: Our crowd is a music-appreciating college crowd, they are not a rowdy bunch.

His point: Hip Hop shows have fights.
My point: We've never had a fight at a show. We've never had a dress code at a show.

His point: We are trying to avoid a certain time of clubgoer. This is an upscale establishment (he said 'joint' i think).
My point: We the band are not to dress code. The engineer is not to dress code. Some of the people you've already let in are not to dress code.

His point: We're not changing the dress code just for tonight.
My point: Why not?

His point: Cus I do not want to?
What I thought: "Are you three?"
What I said: What is your reason for that?

His point: If we slide tonight. People will constantly want to come in under dressed.
My point: Why would you suddenly lose your ability to turn them down then?

His point: It doesn't matter, it's not changing anyway.
My point: Then you are content to have twenty people at this gig versus filling the place to capacity.

His point: Yes.
My point: How does that make sense? Not only are you losing out financially for the evening but you are also denying a new crowd the experience of your 'joint'.

His point: Doesn't matter the dress code is not changing tonight.
My point: So who do you decide gets in or not?

His point: No 'baggy' jeans. No boots. No sneakers. No Polo shirts.
What I'm thinking: Now you know good and well who wears Polo shirts.
What I say: That's very subjective.

His point: We know the type we're looking for. They wear the baggy jeans, they come to the hip-hop shows and they start fights.
My point: Well that sounds like y'alls problem to me. Our crowd is not that type.

His point: Well how do I know that?
I'm thinking: Bout time. Possibly the best retort you've had this entire debate.
I say: True, however I can tell you that our crowd looks and dresses a lot like me.

He looks me up and down surveying my jeans and hoodie and asks what i have under the hoodie. I have a black t-shirt on. He concedes that I would not get in. I laugh, fighting the urge to slap him with my degree. I ever-so-eloquently communicate that as he can see just cus i'm dressed 'a particular way' doesn't say the first thing about me. He asked if i've ever seen people in tuxedos fight. I respond yes. Clearly lying but it was a dumb point (even beyond the exaggeration that people are wearing tuxedos to this 'joint'). So why concede? He asks if i've seen people not dressed up fight. Dumber question. So I point out how civil i've been in this entire debate while he's the dressed up one who has been cussing to me.

At which point the promoter suggests talking to the guy above this 'manager'. Which pissed me off (though i didn't show it) cus that means i just spent half an hour debating with the lackey.

I turn to the promoter and relate that the number of people they turn away tonight will be far greater than the amount they admit. I went on to say either way this is not going to reflect well on this establishment (verbatim 'it's going to give the club a bad name'). Lackey then interrupts and says "Oh your going to give my club a bad name, then forget the gig then. You can't play here." I'm thinking "good move buddy, making a small show a no show = better results ... clearly he has his MBA on lock)". Let's expound on the economics of it. 2 people = little or no money. However we're still set to get paid a booking rate. So financially, not playing works better for us. As far as reputations go, we could just send an email explaining the situation then play another show next week and be good. They would still be dicks.

Let's wrap this up... promoter talks to boss. Boss is like bring 'em in. Boss apologizes lets us know about how they had a bouncer stabbed (i'm thinking sounds like a personal problem, homey). Lackey gets written up. We play a pimp show. Put some new people on to us. I come home and though I wasn't going to give them a bad name before... i sure am putting the truth out there now. As Thom Yorke once sang... "You do it to yourself, you do, and that's why it really hurts!" [Radiohead - Just]

Peace & Blessings.


___________________________________________
THEMODERN - 36 Lansdowne St Boston MA

Spell check and send...

As you may know i'm exercising alot of patience right now as I try the different musical aspirations I have. The hardest part is seeing the goal and still being JUST out of reach (for now).

The band has just finished mixing the debut album. (I'll elaborate another time... maybe. Probably not.)

I just finished writing a song for a major artist. (Pray for me.)

I have 2 songs of my own FINISHED and like 4-5 more half finished. So I will be able to gig soon.

I can almost taste victory!! Just gotta stay on my grind and accept my blessings. For now I'm out... gonna focus. I met a young lady today who wants to be a writer but is focused more on her current job. I asked if she still writes. She appeased my ambition (I think). I wish her the best and say to you keep dreaming and making moves towards them.

Peace & Blessings.

_________________________________________
Pop Culture Finds Lost Boys -- Friday, Feb. 02, 2007 -- TIME MAGAZINE

Put your records on...

So.... we (Melodesiac) just finished mixing our first LP. I'm jamming it now. All that is left is to master it and then press copies for the public. Mwa ha ha ha ha ha. Tell a friend i said 'mwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha'.

But yeah that's what is up with me. And I'm trying to put together some other music for an artist or two. As always working on my songs. Lastly, going to work. By the end of the year I will be way better off.

Is this gonna be bizarro year?!

Happy New Year!
I had to work today. But I got a raise! As well, i get time and a half. So ... me happy... kinda!

Anyway, ran into an acquaintance on the way home, he missed his train home so i am letting him crash on the couches downstairs. Introduced him to the roommates, they seem cool with it all.

Anyway, the real reason i am blogging right now and not writing some songs is because of this article.
BBC NEWS | Americas | Tabby cat terror for black bear
Dang shame! Definition of punk! Or, as I said maybe this is just Bizarro Year!

Peace.

Godfather of Soul

Possibly the most entertaining performer. I can't think of someone who I listen to who he hasn't influenced.

If you were up on James Brown, find something of his and play it repetitively.

Recommendations:

This Is A Man's World
Payback


_________________________________________
BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Soul star James Brown dies at 73

'Feel free to have other Flying Spaghetti Monsters before me. I don't mind.'

Missed opportunities...

I like to think of myself as apart from the "necessities" of society. I can live without an iPod and don't need PS3. I can go without TV, internet, and most electronics for periods (hopefully short periods) at a time; especially if I can work on music in the meanwhile.

Today however I left my phone at my girl's place. 'No biggie, I'll just find someother way to contact her when I am on my way there', I thought to myself this morning. Seeing that this eventful night I was waiting for was tomorrow I was good. Cut my hair today, went in to work on one of my off-days. (Overtime pay, and making my work-week a little easier by spreading out the load). I was good. Chillin in fact. Jammin' D'Angelo's Voodoo album all-day, also my boss brought his copy of Jay-Z's Blueprint to bump in the workroom. Coolest old Jewish dude I know.

Anyway, I get home and find out that the event was switched to tonight. Of course I missed it cus I was at work. Even though I could have left work at ANY time. Dah well, I'm sure I'll get to mingle with movie stars and other folks in their network another day; cus u know that happens all the time for me. Grrrr... phone.


Peace.
_____________________________________________

Beatles, Elvis, Jay-Z or Rolling Stones.... where's Michael?

What is this, cop F-up week?



"Forget the police!"

Also, how u supposed to fight crime when two of y'all can't handle a 92yr-old?
Peace.

Big Ole Words...

So I know i've been keen on Cee-Lo since the Goodie Mob days... and I thought he originally proved why i singled him out on a track called "Big Ole Words" from his Perfect Imperfections LP...

Yeah... my boy Lasu threw this my way...



Gone let that marinate...
...think about what u think you know versus what u know you don't know!

Peace.
__________________________________________
C'mon. Even 10 bullets each from 5 cops would be excessive, Bloomberg...

One nation under a blue...

Mwa ha ha ha ha. Dems have the House & the Senate. And Mass just elected a Black man as Govenor. My district in Texas is still represented by a congressman who i feel understands me better than most. And I'm still Employee of the Month. Ok, the last part was irrelavent, but I just felt I needed one more good thing.
I'm busy i'm out!
___________________________________
BBC NEWS | South Asia | India eunuchs turn tax collectors

Busy duckin' the Po-Pos...

Sike... Though it is not entirely untrue, I just don't mean to glorify it. See last week the band and I wrecked shop at this party at Tufts University, so then we set out to do the same at M.I.T. It was crunk for all of 5mins before the cops got Maxwell on us and came knockin. We didn't want to get nobody innocent in trouble so we turned it down a bit. Nope, came knockin' again... needless to say we didn't really oblige like we should have cus there wasn't going to be any pleasin' them. I look it as a testament to the liveness of our show. You ain't jammin' if you don't get the cops called on you at least once. However this would be twice in our case. We just finished last time though, HAHA WHAT?!...

We are doing a gig on Nov. 14th at Harper's Ferry, and the proceeds are supposed to go to the Big Brothers / Big Sisters organization, so turn up if you can.

Rutgers University - be forewarned, we coming for ya on Nov. 18th. Let 'em know. Tired of the false protection and serving. That is it... I'm out.

Peace
________________________________________

YouTube - D' Angelo - Live @ Chris Rock

Make a whip with a dollar...

The following was sent to me by a friend:

We Still Wear The Mask, by Jelani Cobb
Posted by TayariJones on July 4, 2006 03:59 PM

You all might remember my moking response to Ice Cube and other hip-hop stars' critque of Oprah Winfrey. Ice Cube, et al, accuse Ms. Winfrey of having a "problem" with hip-hop and demand that she invite them onto her show. Jelani Cobb , professor of history at Spelman College (my alma mater), intense culture-critic, and all-around righteous brother, has written a more serious and thought-provoking response. Meet Jelani, and read his essay.

***

These days, camouflage is the new black. Hip hop now operates on a single hope: that if the world mistakes kindness for weakness it can also be led to confuse meanness with strength.

We could have known that it would come to this way back in 1896. That was the year that Paul Lawrence Dunbar dropped a jewel for the ages, telling the world that “we wear the mask that grins and lies.” The poet’s point was that beneath the camouflage of subservient smiles, black folks of the Jim Crow era were hiding a powder keg of other emotions, waiting patiently for the chance to detonate. The thing is, Dunbar never got the chance to spit bars with 50 Cent or throw in a guest collabo on a Mobb Deep album. If he had, then he would’ve known that grins and lies were only half the story.

These days, camouflage is the new black. Hip hop now operates on a single hope: that if the world mistakes kindness for weakness it can also be led to confuse meanness with strength. That principle explains why there is a permanent reverence for the thug within the music; it is why there is a murderer’s grit and a jailhouse tat peering back at you from the cover of damn near any CD you picked up in the last five years. But what hip hop can’t tell you, the secret that it would just as soon take to its deathbed is that it this urban bravado is a guise, a mask, a head-fake to shake the reality of fear and powerlessness in America. Hip hop will never admit that our assorted thugs and gangstas are not the unbowed symbol of resistance to marginalization, but the most complacent and passive products of it.

We wear the mask that scowls and lies.

You could see which way the wind was blowing way back in the early 90s when Dr. Dre was being ripped off by white Ruthless Records CEO Jerry Heller, and nonetheless got his street cred up by punching and kicking Dee Barnes , a black woman journalist, down a flight of stairs. In this light, hip hop’s obsessive misogyny makes a whole lot more sense. It is literally the logic of domestic violence. A man is abused by a larger society, but there are consequences to striking back at the source of his problems. So he transfers his anger to an acceptable outlet – the women and children in his own household, and by extension, all the black people who constitute his own community.

Nothing better illustrates that point than the recent Oprah Debacle. Prior to last month, if you’d heard that a group of rappers had teamed up to attack a billionaire media mogul you would think that hip hop had finally produced a moment of collective pride on par with the black power fists of the 1968 Olympics. But nay, just more blackface.

In the past two months, artists as diverse as Ludacris, 50 Cent and Ice Cube have attacked Oprah Winfrey for her alleged disdain for hip hop. It’s is a sad but entirely predictable irony that the one instance in which hip hop’s reigning alpha males summon the testicular fortitude to challenge someone more powerful and wealthy than they are, they choose to go after a black woman.

The whole set up was an echo of some bad history. Two centuries ago, professional boxing got its start in America with white slaveholders who pitted their largest slaves against those from competing plantations. Tom Molineaux , the first black heavyweight champion, came up through the ranks breaking the bones of other slaves and making white men rich. After he’d broken enough of them, he was given his freedom. The underlying ethic was clear: an attack on the system that enslaved you will cost you your life, but an attack on another black person might just be the road to emancipation.

The basis for this latest bout of black-on-black pugilism was Oprah’s purported stiff-arming of Ludacris during an appearance on her show with the cast of the film Crash. Ludacris later complained that the host had made an issue of lyrics she saw as misogynistic. Cube jumped into the act whining that Oprah has had all manner of racist flotsam on her show but has never invited him to appear – proof, in his mind, that she has an irrational contempt for hip hop. Then 50 threw in his two cents with a claim that Oprah’s criticism of hip hop was an attempt to win points with her largely white, middle class audience. All told, she was charged with that most heinous of hip hop’s felonies: hateration.

But before we press charges, isn’t 50 the same character who openly expressed his love for GW Bush as a fellow “gangsta” and demanded that the black community stop criticizing how he handled Hurricane Katrina? Compare that to the multiple millions that Oprah has disseminated to our communities (including building homes for the Katrina families, financing HIV prevention in South Africa and that $5 million she dropped on Morehouse College alone) and the idea of an ex-crack dealer challenging her commitment to black folk becomes even more surreal.

In spite of – or, actually, as a result of -- his impeccable gangsta credentials, 50 basically curtsied before a President who stayed on vacation for three days while black bodies floated down the New Orleans streets. No wonder it took a middle-class preppie with an African name and no criminal record to man-up and tell the whole world that “George Bush don’t care about black folks.” No wonder David Banner – a rapper who is just a few credits short of a Master’s Degree in social work -- spearheaded hip hop’s Katrina relief concerts, not any of his thug counterparts who are eternally shouting out the hoods they allegedly love.

The 50 Cent, whose music is a panoramic vision on black-on-black homicide, and who went after cross-town rival Ja Rule with the vengeance of a dictator killing off a hated ethnic minority did everything but tap dance when Reebok told him to dismantle his porn production company or lose his lucrative sneaker endorsement deal.

But why single out 50? Hip hop at-large was conspicuously silent when Bush press secretary Tony Snow (a rapper’s alias if ever there was one) assaulted hip hop in terms way more inflammatory than Oprah’s mild request:

“Take a look at the idiotic culture of hip-hop and whaddya have? You have people glorifying failure. You have a bunch of gold-toothed hot dogs become millionaires by running around and telling everybody else that they oughtta be miserable failures and if they’re really lucky maybe they can get gunned down in a diner sometime, like Eminem’s old running mate.”


(We're still awaiting an outraged response from the thug community for that one.) Rush Limbaugh has blamed hip hop for everything short of the Avian flu but I can’t recall a single hip hop artist who has gone after him lyrically, publicly or physically. Are we seeing a theme yet?

It’s worth noting that Ludacris did not devote as much energy to Bill O'Reilly -- who attacked his music on his show regularly and caused him to lose a multi-million dollar Pepsi endorsement – as he did to criticizing Oprah who simply stated that she was tired of hip hop’s misogyny. Luda was content to diss O'Reilly on his next record and go about his business. Anyone who heard the interview that Oprah gave on Power 105.1 in New York knew she was speaking for a whole generation of hip hop heads when she said that she loved the music, but she wanted the artists to exercise some responsibility. But this response is not really about Oprah, or ultimately about hip hop, either. It is about black men once again choosing a black woman as the safest target for their aggression and even one with a billion dollars is still fair game.

Of all their claims, the charge that Oprah sold out to win points with her white audience is the most tragically laughable. The truth is that her audience’s white middle-class kids exert waaay more influence over 50 and Cube than their parents do over Oprah. I long ago tired of Cube, a thirty-something successful director, entrepreneur and married father of three children making records about his aged recollections of a thug’s life. The gangsta theme went cliché eons ago, but Cube, 50 and a whole array of their musical peers lack either the freedom or the vision to talk about any broader element of our lives. The reality is that the major labels and their majority white fan base will not accept anything else from them.

And there we have it again: more masks, more lies.
It is not coincidental that hip hop has made "Nigga" the most common noun in popular music but you have almost never heard any certified thug utter the word cracker, ofay, honky, peckerwood, wop, dago, guinea, kike or any other white-oriented epithet. The reason for that is simple: Massa ain’t havin' it. The word "fag", once a commonplace derisive in the music has all but disappeared from hip hop’s vocabulary. (Yes, these thugs fear the backlash from white gays too.) And "bitch" is still allowed with the common understanding that the term is referring to black women. The point is this: debasement of black communities is entirely acceptable – required even – by hip hop’s predominantly white consumer base.

We have lived enough history to know better by now – to know that gangsta is Sonny Liston threatening to kill Cassius Clay but completely impotent when it came to demanding that his white handlers stop stealing his money. Gangsta is the black men at the Parchman Farm prison in Mississippi who beat the civil rights workers Fannie Lou Hamer and Annell Ponder into bloody unconsciousness because their white wardens told them to. Gangsta is Michael Ervin, NFL bad boy remaining conspicuously mute on Monday Night Football while Limbaugh dissed Donovan McNabb as an Affirmative Action athlete. Gangsta is Bigger Thomas with dilated pupils and every other sweaty-palmed black boy who saw method acting and an attitude as his ticket out of the ghetto.

Surely our ancestors’ struggles were about more than creating millionaires who could care less about us and then tolerating their violent disrespect out of a hunger for black success stories. Surely we are not so desperate for heroes that we uphold cardboard icons because they throw good glare. There’s more required than that. The weight of history demands more than simply this. Surely we understand that these men are acting out an age-old script. Taking the Tom Molineaux route. Spitting in the wind and breaking black bones. Hoping to become free.

Or, at least a well-paid slave.

________________________________________

Fits of October

Greetings. If you have been outside (in MA) recently you might have noticed it getting COLD for no reason. Fortunately I've been inside, trying to write verses. "My degree keeps me warm at night!" ~ College Dropout
Other than that I've been chilling w/ the band. Last we watched a medley of Chappelle films. Anyway, one of them was Block Party. I shared this with the guys who mostly agreed and I share this with you know. Alot of what makes some people successful is their voice. I'm not just talking about singers, i'm talking about rappers, emcees, actors and comedians; entertainers in general if you will. For instance, Mos Def can say just about anything and it will be more amplified than most cats (i.e.> more funny, deeper, more insulting). "I don't know, Dave." Speaking of which, Dave Chappelle can say just about anything it will be amusing. I'm sure this has it's draw backs, but when ur a comedian the cons probably fall short of the pros. Snoop Dogg. Ice Cube. Notorious BIG. Bilal. Jill Scott. D'Angelo. Erykah Badu. James Earl Jones. Denzel Washington. Jaguar Wright. Black Thought. Louis Armstrong. Billie Holiday. There are many more but you get the point.
Yeah, I get complimented on my voice alot now, but I definitely want to continue to cultivate my gift 'til I like it. (As I get nicer I just set new goals.) That's how it should be though, right?

Peace.
_____________________________
Jazzmine Sullivan... your guess is mine. I guess she's British. All I know is she be singin'!

Bilal on Leno will forever be one of my fave of his performances. Not for the vocals, cus he does WAY better, but for wildin' OUT on NBC. Thank you!! If they can't dig it... f*** 'em!!

Matriarch

R.I.P. Jeraldine Stanford

Southern Presidentiality...

Excluding other supporting details in their bios... we'll begin with this:
George W. Bush (doesn't keep it real) = fake southerner.
William J. Clinton (keeps it real) = southerner.

[If you want to understand how much Clinton sons Wallace in this interview, insert "Bitch,..." in front of every answer Clinton gives.]

Clinton - September 2006 - Fox News Interview

[Unfortunately Fox has conveniently yanked this from most areas. So watch it while you can. If I got my ass handed to me on national television I'd pull that too.]

Here’s some transcript of the Wallace/Clinton interview not in that clip:


CW: I know we’re over, but can I ask you two political questions? Let’s talk
some politics. In that same New Yorker article, you say you’re tired of Karl
Rove’s BS. I’m cleaning up what you said.

WJC: I also say I’m not tired of Karl Rove. I don’t blame Karl Rove. If you’ve got a deal that works, you just keep on doing it.

CW: So what is the BS?

WJC: Well, every even number year–right before an election–they come up with some security issue. In 2000, right before the election. In 2002, our party supported them in undertaking weapon inspections in Iraq and were 100% behind them in Afghanistan and they didn’t have any way to make us look like we didn’t care about terror. And so they decided they would [push] the Homeland Security bill that they opposed and they put some pill in it that we wouldn’t pass–like taking the job rights away from 170,000 people–and then [they could] say that we were weak on terror if we weren’t for it. This year I think they wanted to make the question of prisoner treatment and intercepted communications the same sort of issue until John Warner came and Lindsey Graham got in there and it turns out there were some Republicans who believe in the Constitution and their convictions…some ideas about how best to fight terror.

As long as the American people believe that we take this seriously and we may have our differences over Iraq, but I think we’ll do fine this election.

Even if they agree with us about the Iraq war, we could be hurt by Karl Rove’s new foray if we don’t make it clear that we care about the security of this country. We want to implement the 9/11 Commission recommendations, which they haven’t [done] in four years. We want to [..] Afghanistan against Bin Laden. We want to make America more energy-independent. If they want to talk about Iraq, say what they really want about Iraq.

But Rove is good and [that is] why I honor him. I’ve always been amused by how good he is. But on the other hand, this is perfectly predictable. We’re going to win a lot of seats if the American people aren’t afraid. If they’re afraid and we get divided again, then we’ll only win a few seats.

CW: Do you think the White House and the Republicans want to make the American people afraid?

WJC: Of course they do. They want another Homeland Security bill and they want to make it not about Iraq but some other security issue, where if we disagree with them, we are by definition endangering the security of the country. And it’s a big load of hooey. We’ve got nine Iraq war veterans running for House seats. President Reagan’s Secretary of the Navy is the Democratic candidate for Senate in Virginia. A three-star admiral who was on my NSC staff - who also fought terror, by the way - is running for the seat of Curt Weldon in Pennsylvania. We’ve got a huge military presence in this campaign and you can’t let them have some rhetorical device that puts us in a box that we don’t belong in.

That’s their job. Their job is to beat us. But our job is to not let them get away with it and if we don’t, we’ll be fine.

CW: Mr. President, thank you for one of the more unusual interviews.

WJC: I promise you, I was not trying to [..].
_______________________________________________
Op... I found Part II!!!
Olbermann adds the "Yeah!" to the Clinton interview!
Shout out to CrooksAndLiars.com for the interview and transcript!
The Bush bone's connected to the Laden bone...

The little things...

One of my pet peeves is when able-bodied people press the auto-door-open buttons for phsyically challenged people. I was mentioning this loud enough for my girl's coworker to hear and she started feebly attempting to defend these folks. It seemed she was one of them. But after dropping the word "spoiled" and "privileged" she resigned to take the L.
Really the point of bringing this up is to mark how little things say a LOT about a person. Now some folks will argue that you can't judge a book by it's cover. Maybe not... But it takes a certain type of person to cross certain lines without thinking about them. Like you gotta be either a lazy-ass or spoiled-ass person to press that auto-open button, cus that's not for you. Especially cus alot of the one's I've seen look like they only have so many uses in them before they breakdown. You gone open the door for somebody when it breaks? Of course not! How do I know?! Cuz you don't even open the door for yourself!

Let it marinate.
Peace.
_________________________________
Okayplayer.com - Jay-Z is holding up Saigon's debut album

B, that's yo friend...

Aight, if some random (homeless) brotha comes up to you claiming to be my friend... don't believe him. I don't know that mayn! I know his face, and apparently he knows mine. Let's back up though, cus it seems today was the day!! I don't know what category the day goes into, nor am I sure if I can even say "good day/bad day" it's just an astoundingly extra day.
I opened this morning. Meaning I was out at 6AM jammin' some Erykah Badu, Ab and Glenn Lewis. I surprisingly made it into work on time (cus I was starting to support a punctuality stereotype) and went to my zone. The first person I assist today is an elderly European male. Correction, I assumed he was European because he got real close to me when he spoke. I guess I made him feel very comfortable in the 54secs. "You are a very handsome young man. Has anyone told you that lately? Well, you probably hear it all the time," he said. I began to sheepishly nod. "But not today," he closed. To which I replied "Thank you," and departed stage right.
Then there was lunch. If you had told me there was a sign on my forehead "Up for it!" I would have been more comfortable. I'm thinking, surely I have a boog. A massive boog is breakdancing in my nose while Dave Chappelle plays rhymes "Spaghetti" behind me. Surely that would explain the man who sat down right across from me at lunch and proceeded to stare me down through his shades. IF YOU'RE GOING TO STARE SOMEONE DOWN, GET DARK SHADES. I SEE YOU. I will assume the person he was on the phone with was female though. Just to make it more as if I was trippin'. You know how you just kind of stare when ur on the phone but aren't conscious of where your eyes trespass. I could have given him that, until he hung up the phone. HE KEPT STARING. You ever figure that you'll just look someone dead in the eye til they look away, but they don't for a long time, so y'all are just locked looking at one another. That was my lunch.
But wait... there's more.
I'm happy cus I'm going home. Take the train back to my stop, and I'm coming out of the station and I see this homeless cat that I seen around town a good number of times. Usually I wave at him, cus I'm from Texas and he acts like I didn't. Today, I didn't even see him til I was almost out the door and he says "Hey don't I know your face from some where?" I'm thinking, 'you know my face from everywhere dude, I see you ALL-THE-TIME.' He's goes on into his act, "yeah, where do I know you from?" I pop off like three places waiting for him to ask me for a few dollars, which I actually had today, and was ready to give him. He asks me if I stay around here I say, "yeah". He says "Where?" [Creepy]. I give him a vague answer. He says "Yeah, what street?" [Creepier]. I give him the name of the main street I live off, trying not to lie. "What street number?" [Fuck it, I'm lying.] I don't remember. "You don't remember your street number?" he asks, not trying to hide the condescending inflection in his voice; as if I'm a dumb-ass. "When are you home?" [I shift my weight subtly into fighting stance.] "I can't really say, I changes a lot." Which is true. Though I'm thinking, ok, so he's trying to figure out when I'm not there so he can go rob me. He asks if I'm home on Mondays. "Again it changes a lot, so sometimes I am sometimes I'm not." The correlation from the previous answer seemed to escape him. "Do you have a phone there?" Nah. "Do you go to church?" he asked. 'Whew. Ok, you're a religious-crazy-person. I don't mind y'all,' I thought. I tell him how I somewhat go. He asks "Where?" [Pseudo-creepy]. I reply that "It's online." "Ohhhh..." he almost caught on. "What's your phone number?" I gave him my number. I think he miswrote it but oh well. "Do you practice abstinence?" he blurts out. 'Muphucka I don't know you,' I think, but tell him the answer. Why? I figure I don't know him so what does it matter. "You watch porn?" Ha ha ha. He's not ready for that answer. I fudge it to make me seem 'normal'. "What kinda of porn do you watch?" Truthfully, I let him know that I were I to watch I'd watch Black porn. His sixty-nine questions ain't up. He asks if I masturbate, JUST as this cute woman passes. Neither are ready for the real answer, so I fudge it. "Do you have a girl," he asked in an almost endearing-creepy way. WTF? Is he trying to set me up w/ someone now? Is this the Crackhead Love Connection? And why were his fingers greasy?! [Creeptacular.] I answered truthfully. He asked if we knock it down, I giggled out a modest version answer. Ain't nobody ready for that one. In fact, unread that. Now. Nower!! So then went back to the "tell me where u live?" and me responding vaguely trade-offs. Then he asked where I worked, I told him truthfully. Why should I care, we got security guards. Plus by now I got the impression that he was going to forget all of this in the next 10mins anyway. Seeing that he had already forgotten all of my original half-truths. This bell-curve of extra came down to me excusing myself for some business that didn't exist. He promised he would call though. You could say I looked back longingly at him as I left or was making sure I was the ass-whooping was cocked and ready.
Romeo oh Romeo, I would beat yo ass but you might like it Romeo.

Anyway, it seems I transcend class and genders now. Superstar!!
Peas in the middle.

The Soul Edition...

So, tonight some acquaintances and I were talking and we chanced upon the subject of 'Where are they now?' the soul edition better known as "What the hell happened to 'whats-his-name?!'". Ponder these as we did and if u know the answer, feel free to share. What ever happened to:


Maxwell

Glenn Lewis

Deborah Cox

(the rest slip my mind - and will be added later)


Peace.
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I'm working...

Just finished my first week at my new job. Points of note:

They have a section regarding blogging in the employment agreement.

One high-profile Red Sox player is a regular.

People are serious about each minute of their lunch break.

I get a full hour for my lunch break, which is about 37mins more than I need.

My degree and hobbies actually apply to my work now.

I have way more social skills than I remember having or using.

I don't hate people anymore, I pity them - except the ones I loathe.

At the very least I still enjoy that this is a blue state.

Peace.
_________________________________
BBC NEWS | UK | UK Politics | I will quit within a year - Blair

Diddy finally realized how much money he has, that's the real reason he dances.

You are where you eat...


Now, aside from the title being a pun, it of course ties into the following. I was in my girl's dorm and I went to the Men's room. In the stall I was a neatly placed menu to a restaurant. Now, surely I want to believe they didn't actually place them here among the plethora of advertising litter they dispersed, but you never know. My thing is if they did, it illuminates why they are failing compared to the other restaurants in the area. They've essentially associated their product with sh*t. Which could be pulled off if they were saying "We're the sh*t," but they weren't.
As a consumer, I like a certain amount of thought to be put into the advertising. I will buy from a company i can intellectually respect even if they are just honest in their lack of individuality in the market. What pulls me away is of course then the opposite. I don't think it's just me eithr. Then again as a consumer I could easily represent a few thousand like-minded consumers. For instance, though the character itself was popular, I don't think it was wise for Taco Bell to choose a Chihuahua as their mascot when their meat already tasted funny and looked like dog food. I would have gone in a direction a bit sooner than they did. Granted i'm sure they probably got a lot of business based on the popular association. However, it's not like Burger King using a King. A no-brainer AND funny. Hence, why they are still pimpin'.
Strangely enough, I rarely think about the YKK on my zipper when i'm using it.
Tragedy.

Peace.
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YKK on yo' zipper...

Keep in Touch...

Ok, so apparently I need to contact my family more. Alot more... I'm talking with my mom now who is apparently in her hometown. Supposedly my cousin (near my age) got married, is in Germany, and may live in Utah. My grandma just got over acute arthritis. I mean, yeah she is fine, but I almost didn't find out. Crazy! Ha ha ha.
Really I blog about this cus I am just overwhelmed by what else I could not know about my family. Not strangers, my family. Blood. Though my cousin trips me out cus it's like man... is it getting that time already. I feel like I haven't even been here (in existence) that long. I should really get cracking on the rest of these goals then. My time shall be extended. Bloggito, done.

peace....
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Arthritis is not a game. Grandma is a soldier though. Preacher's wife.

Donnie is a sadly overlooked vocalist.