Oh Wow

I can't believe it's been over a month since I blogged. You would think that with a new job I would have lots to write about, but the reality is that I really don't. I find myself very tired lately and I am convinced that allergies are out to kill me. I woke up several times the other night because my heard hurt too bad to sleep. I know you're wondering why I didn't take any medicine, and it might just be easier to lie than to tell you the truth. The truth being that I'm a tad bit paranoid about having a brain aneurysm and dying, and since that apparently feels like the worst headache of your life, then I don't want to mask that with Advil or something else. Make sense? See...don't judge me. It's a legit fear...that and roaches....

So I love my job. I'm learning a lot and meeting some great people. I love the idea of helping people, and I love even more that what I do can really make a difference. Yay! With all of that being said, I'm gonna try to meet more people and have fun stuff to tell you about. It really is a shame that making friends costs money. I've said this before, but you can be broke and still have your good friends, because your good friends don't mind doing free things with you, like going to the park or watching a movie at your place. But when you're just starting out a friendship, I think we can all agree that it's a tad creepy to have someone ask you if you want to come hang out at their house. Nope. I don't know you, I won't be doing that. Thanks.

Til next time! Hopefully sooner than later. I really did miss this.

The Greyhound

I was gone out of town for a few days to spend some time with my dad's side of the family. I rode out there with my parents, but they came back before me, so I caught the Greyhound home. Can I just tell you that if you just listen to what people around you say, it can make for a pretty interesting ride!

There was a lady sitting a couple of rows behind me who was talking about one bus trip she took where someone sold a sandwich, chips and soda meal for $5. She then said, "Imagine, if you sell 20 of those for $5, you'll make like $75." In my head, I thought, "Hmmm...are you sure it's not more like $100?" But who was I to tell her she was wrong.

There was another woman in the front of the bus who was taking her whole family to Circus Circus, but she kept calling it Circus City. Finally, her daughter in law said, "Circus City is that computer store! We're going to Circus Circus."

So that was just a bit of entertainment for me.

My Twitter

I'm only talking about this because clearly I need to carry a notebook with me to write my blog topics in. I remember lying awake last night thinking of the most brilliant blog ever, but now, now that I'm actually at the computer and about to blog, I am drawing a blank. But I remember how great it was and how easily it flowed in my head last night. Sigh. Alas, it is gone and all I have to talk about is how bad I am at twitter.

For those of you who don't have twitter, twitter is fun at first, but quickly gets old. But I assume...Oh my God! I just remembered what I wanted to talk about!!! Twitter reminded me because I follow Lil Wayne and it's been boring ever since he went to jail. Ding ding ding! I wanted to talk about celebrities who go to prison and what it's like for them on the inside. Man, sometimes if you just talk it out, you will get to where you need to be.

My question is this: When celebrities go to prison, what is the setup? Is Lil Wayne just in the mix with all of the other criminals, or is he somewhere like Martha Stewart was? Does Lil Wayne have protection or is he just exposed and in trouble if he drops the soap? Am I the only person who wonders these kinds of things? I was just thinking about that. A lot of rappers go to jail and I was just wondering what the situation is for them. Perhaps they come out more "hardened" than before, or maybe it's just a publicity stunt. Maybe they don't even go to jail, but if the public thinks that you did, then you sale more records.

In conclusion, hurry back Lil Wayne, twitter needs you.

The Warrior

Today marks the first day of the fourth week of working out. That is right folks, I have been working out religiously since March 1st, with the exception of Saturdays and Sundays. I decided this weekend that my body is probably getting used to my Turbo Jam and Hip Hop Abs DVDs, and that I should mix it up. Well, coincidentally, there is a treadmill in my house. So today I woke up, put on the workout gear, and hopped on the treadmill. I started off with a "brisk" walk and quickly worked my way up to a jog. Mind you, I hadn't jogged in I don't know how long and I've never been one to do long distances. Today, however, with my Jay-Z CD playing and my pure determination, I breezed my way through a mile and a half. It was effortless and it left me feeling invincible! Mid run, I started to think about everything that had been bothering me and I just felt all of it falling off. I didn't have a care in the world. I'm thinking that jogging may be the way to go, and I'm excited to incorporate jogging into my weekly regiment.

Have you seen this?

I'm a little late on this one, but you'll just have to forgive me. This happened earlier this week and I'm sure you've all heard about it by now.

Apparently there is a 600 pound woman in NJ who is striving to acheive the title of "World's Fattest Woman". She already holds the title for "World's Fattest Mother". Now, I know you guys know that I am a huge advocate for people following their dreams, but this takes it to a whole new level. In my mind, this is just a slow suicide. She claims that she isn't hurting anyone, but obviously she failed to take her two children into consideration. Dear Donna Simpson, if/when you eat yourself to death, your children will be motherless. Is this the kind of future that you envisioned for them? Do you want your children to grow up thinking that it is okay to consume 12,000 calories a day?

So, Donna, while I appreciate you having goals, I must admit that I don't buy yours. I think that your goal is more of way out and that are clearly some deeper issues at play here. Maybe you see 600 pounds as an obstacle and decided to make lemonade out of your lemon situation. So instead of deciding to lose 400 pounds, you've opted to gain instead. I don't mind that my tax payer money is being used to provide medical assistance to a growing epidimic, after all, I have to pay taxes and the money has to go somewhere.

Donna is 42 years old and fully capable of making her own decisions and suffering the consequences. I do have a problem with bad parents and there is no telling how these actions will affect her children. It's a head shaking, heart hurting situation and the worst part is that someone will see her story and try to top it.

If you haven't seen the article, then please use the link below to check it out. It's really sad that this is what our world is coming to. Have we really run out of options and the only thing left is to out fat each other?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/16/donna-simpson-nj-woman-ea_n_501245.html

Our Family Wedding

On Saturday, my cousin asked me if I wanted to go to a movie. Of course I wanted to go to a movie. I love going to movies, so I went. I had seen a quick preview of "Our Family Wedding", but I hadn't made in plans to go see it. You know how you see previews and think, "Man, I can't wait to see that"? Well, this was not one of those times, but like I said, I love movies.

My cousin and I got our snacks and our seats and the movie began. Within the first ten, or maybe five minutes of the movie, I knew that I wasn't going to like it. The acting was immediately painful and the plot didn't seem to make any attempts to carry the movie. 30 minutes later my cousin asked me if I wanted to leave. Maybe it was me being an optimist or maybe it was me being naive, but I couldn't help but think that the movie would turn around. Clearly, I was mistaken. Always trust your instincts.

It's true what they say, you can't make up lost time. I wasted almost two hours of my life on Saturday. I looked at my cousin in the middle of the movie and said, "I don't love you anymore." Yeah, the movie was that bad. I also told her that if this was a first date, I would have refused to see her again after this movie because she picked it and it spoke volumes about her character and judgment. Of course I realized that taking back my love for her and "breaking up" with her was harsh, so I just told her that she was no longer allowed to pick movies for us anymore.

I hope that I have spared you guys the pain that my cousin and I had to endure, by saving you from seeing that movie. The crazy thing is that there were people in there who were really laughing. Amber, my cousin, was looking around the theater and asked me, "Are they watching the same movie we're watching?" I said, "Apparently not."

Who do you think you are?

Have you guys seen the preview for this show? Well, I saw one the other day and it was of Sarah Jessica Parker finding out that her great grandma, or someone, was accused of being a witch in the Salem witch trials. In the preview, she says, "This changes everything about who I thought I was." As I watched that, I thought, "How?" How does finding out that someone you didn't even know was accused of being a witch change things? I could see if she found out that she was a quarter Asian or something that was actually persona altering.

I can remember the day that I found out that I was part European. I was shocked. SHOCKED. I know that you are reading this and thinking, "Have you seen yourself? You couldn't have thought that you were a full blooded African." Well, in my defense, I was 10 when my granddaddy told me that the slave owner had procreated with my great great grandmother, and that the little white boy that I played with all the time was actually my cousin. When I got to school the next day, I couldn't wait to tell him. "Ben, did you know that we're cousins?!" In my mind, I couldn't figure out what could be better than finding out you were related to someone you were already such good friends with. But reality set in with his response, "Yeah I know, but I can't claim you." I just stared at him. Even at the age of 10, I knew what that meant.

I'm not trying to say that SJP couldn't have been profoundly impacted by finding out that her ancestor was accused of being a witch. I'm not in the belittling people's experiences business; I'm just saying that I expected more. Brooke Shields found out that she stemmed from royalty. I will agree that that has an impact on who you thought you were.

Inspired by watching Oprah today, I set out to find out more about myself. I always knew that I was part European on my mom's side and part Native American on my dad's. I guess it was just a few years ago that I found out that I was also part European on my dad's side. French and English, to be exact. But even with these genealogical discoveries, I'm still left empty. For starters, I only have pieces of information about my mom's mother's side of the family and my dad's mother's side. I don't know anything about either of my grandfather's sides. There is no telling what I could find there. But more importantly than all of that, I would just like to know the story. What kind of strength do I come from? What kind of passions?

As an African American, I think that it's easy to have some sort of sense of where you came from. Not geologically, but capability wise. When you look back at the history of African Americans, you see a group of people who were strong beyond all belief. To be taken from your home, your country, your family, only to end up thousands of miles away in the worst conditions imaginable, and to rise up from that. I think that it is great to have that sort of motivation behind you, behind me. Anything that I am going through is not nearly as bad as what my ancestors suffered, and rose up from. They paved the way for me and I refuse to let their efforts be in vain. I look at my Native American ancestors and I see fighters and lovers of nature and life. I look at my English roots and see people who didn't want to stay in England and live under the king's rule anymore, and decided to leave to make a better life for themselves. No wonder I'm such a nomad; it's in my blood, I'm always looking for the best conditions. And to my French roots: I understand where I get my love for food, especially pastries. Yummy!

Ancestry.com costs about $30 a month if you sign up for the worldwide one. I think that with the little bit that I know about my ancestors, it would be dumb for me to think that I only needed to trace back in the US. I'm looking forward to finding out more about me, and learning about what makes me who I am. Of course, it would be a lot easier if some tv show would just fund it and do all the research for me.