I’m watching this on AMC tonight. I always watch it when it airs on TV.
Early Reflections 6/13/13
I went hooping for the first time in a couple of years. I’m a little sore but I feel good. I surprised myself. I was balling— shooting three’s, setting picks, cutting, and layups. I went to watch Game 4 of the NBA FInals with couple of friends.
The topic came up about women who respond to loud and flashy men but make men who are not as flashy or noticeable “jump through hoops”. The analogy that was given was the Amercian Gladiator show. If you remember some of the obstacle courses and the theme music you would know how powerful and funny that analogy was. I teased my friends and told them I’m attracted to hood girls.So as the convesation took different turns and moved on, I came back to that statement and took it a little further.
A hood girl to me is someone who has a blue collar mentality and humbled beginnings. They could be middle or lower class as far as income and earning power but that doesn’t define them. I think of a cool, smart person who has a down to earth and funny personality. They’re relatable. I think of a fly sense of fashion. I don’t like women who are uppity. There’s a difference between carrying yourself with pride and being snobby. That’s a personality trait that’s not related to your income.
This relates to me. I’m never the loudest in the room. That’s not in my personality. I’m pretty quiet. I’m still a lion. Roaring is for marking territory. It’s loud but no more than a low pitched welp. When you already know what’s yours, you don’t always have to say it.I do understand that we all give all vibes and even then you still have your notions about a person. I always say you would have to talk to me to actually know how cool and smart I am. It won’t take long. I’m rambling but my point is when you get past the intial meeting neither party should have to jump through hoops to let the other person know that they’re interested or interesting. I’m really just logging my thoughts down. During tonight’s conversations, I really had ideas for a couple a essays, one social experiment, and a topic for a short film.
Sometimes I dislike that I give off a vibe of substance. Sometimes I want to be the bad boy who is wild and crazy but sometimes that mentality can leave you with an incurable STD. That was the more serious topic on tonight. Sometimes you don’t want to jump the hoops and put up with the bs. I’d rather just had casual sex. They’re so sensitve. Emotionally drained. Give and take. Push and pull. Who needs that ? We all think we’re so smart and that our judge of character is sound and true, but what about your judge of personality. Who the fuck asked you….
Third post for my brother(right). Happy twenty-fifth birthday ! It took me about an hour to decided which pictures I would share in honor of his birthday. Growing up, I can remember him waking me up from practicing late at night or early in the morning. I got immune to it. Between me bangin on the keyboard and him doing the same on the drums, our house was always rocking. We got yelled at so much by our mother. She put up with us. This is where is all started. 54 Green Street South Nashville.
Today is my baby brother’s twenty-fifth birthday. It’s pretty cool to see the progression. The more recent picture was taken at one of his drum clinics. The older picture was taken at Napier Elementary school in South Nashville, TN at a kindergarten graduation ceremony.
My mother’s birthday is today. She turns 73. I watched her minister and take care of so many people down through the years including myself. I can remember her ministering to people she had met that same day and tears would be flowing down their faces.I’ve seen her say a kind word to a stranger. I’ve seen her take in men, women, boys, and girls. A lot of the kids would stay with us for weeks at a time. My mother had church in our house on the south side of Nashville. We had family and friends who lived in the projects up the street. She would get them, round them up, and have church. I started playing piano at home but I would play for her services too. It’s one in the same.
Just last Tuesday, she was ministering to one of the kids she took care of years ago at our home. They linked up after many years. She is saved, santified, and filled with the Holy Ghost. She has been an example and has lived a life of holiness since I can remember. She’s always kept it real and been able to relate to young people. Her hair is salt and pepper and long. I’m always touching it when she has it in a fro. Natural hair styles are trendy nowadays. That’s nothing wrong with that but my mother was rocking a fro when it wasn’t trendy. Her hair is still growing. She gets so many compliments on it. I’ve always been attracted to natural hair styles. I always tease her and tell her I thank God she’s not bald headed and ugly.
She has a masters degree in both Theology and Christian Education but she will tell you in a minute it’s not about degrees. She’s a retired nurse and welder. She has driven the church van, organized Vacation Bible School, cooked and sold dinners. She studied fashion briefly at TSU but dropped out to take care of her mother and father. She’s a missionary and preacher. She’s a seamstress and recentely has come out of retirement and made a skirt. She still owes me some blue pants with a tiger logo from years ago. I remind her every now and then. She has all of her teeth. Thank God.
She can sing as well. She sangs with annointing and conviction. “God is moving by his spirit. He’s moving in all the earth. Signs and wonders see God Moving. Move in me.” That’s her favorite song to sing before she ministers. Another one is “The Blood that Jesus shed for me way back on Calvary. Oh, the Blood that gives me strength from day to day. It will never lose it’s power. It soothes my doubt and conquers every one of my fears. It wipes away my tears. For it reaches to highest mountain and the lowest valley.”
I could say so much more. I’m going to tell how much she means to me. She’s the backbone of our family. I admire her and look up to her. I take care of her now—so she says. I actually believe she’s still taking care of me-still praying for me. Still worrying about my well being. She has never stopped being Mom. I love her so much.
Haitian model/actress Garcelle Beauvais. She has aged beautifully. She was my childhood crush from one of my favorite shows, The Jamie Foxx Show.
I heard this a couple of years ago. I had a friend play it last night and I immediately remembered hearing it. It definitely made an impression then. I got chill bumps listening to it now. It’s not a HD video and this is not sound mix for some award show but it’s powerful. I haven’t been following Sasha on The Voice but what I took from the video is that she can sing and really well. She has control over her voice. The voice is a powerful instrument. It’s a machine until you maniupulate it to do something. Sasha is doing work. Rob Lewis is on keys. I forgot how great he is. He is the reason I came across the video years ago. Everytime Rob sits down at a piano, it’s a history lesson. Vocals and piano can do some things. You just have to listen.
I was rooting for Memphis to beat the Spurs. I live in Nashville. I never really cared for the Spurs but I’m not a fan anyways. I’m a lover of the game so I give respect when it’s due and sometimes when it’s not. That’s a future blog post. The Spurs have been consistent for over a decade which is an understatement. I was watching ESPN the other day and I learned that Coach Popovich had a military background. Lebron James said that “Tim Duncan is the most consistent player in the last fifthteen years and that he sometimes goes under the radar because he’s not flashy like others players”. I thought back to their coach’s military background along with David Robinson and their blue collar culture. They play as one unit. Not a lot complaints or celebrations. I didn’t say a lot about the Heat but I like the Heat. They’re really exciting to watch. Well, here we are. Heat vs Spurs. The Finals—so official they had to write it in cursive. Game 1 is tonight. Let’s Go !
I got a chance to finally listen to this mixtape all the way through. I liked it. J. Drew wrote and/or produced every track. I’m a fan of doing it all yourself when you have talent to do so. I view it as an art project. I choose the colors and paints. I do all the drawing and painting. I aspire to put out my own album in the near future so it was cool to see someone my age have full control over their artistic expression. He showed he could write hooks and be cohesive and swag it out when needed. The production was really good. The first track is a great track to introuduce the tape. The material caters to an urban audience. Like This(Cougar) is a trendy topic and interest of today. He also kept a certain approach to each song. With eight tracks, I could start to put together a style . I just hope he branches out a little more with the lyrical content. You can stream and/or download the mixtape at Livemixtape.com.
