Considering real life
I aught to be happy to go to sleep
But that would be dishonest of me
This day has been beautiful
I guess that means
Beauty is not devoid of its ugliness
Like the little-known golfer
At the well known tournment
I have walked the hills and green
The rough and well trodden
Well behind and ahead notice
I have loved this way
I have loved this path
Even before I knew it
It's beauty was there
Being
Ugly, beautiful, and best of all
Sincere
honest with me
While walking this course
it has walked my heart and mind
like a sower
This I have harvested
We are all deeply beautiful
which has also to do with how ugly we are
To flee from this truth is to flee from the beauty of life
We are allowed to be, truly
Life is not ours
to give or to take
We are barely stewards
How & ever
Living is of our own making
Live in truth
and you will live a real life
Like the last few minutes of half-time, work to be done calls. I have some things to work on. Gotta wrap up the next three weeks making smarter management, financial, social, and personal decisions. I haven't gotten the go ahead from the program.I think, in my nervousness, I've sought positive behaviors to put me at ease concerning this waiting period. I'm back to reading, calling friends, laying out in the grass, mixing up my days, taking pictures, tweeting, etc. It's been good
Now though, it's time to whip out the calendar, the browser, and the phone and go to work. In the words of P.Twiddy "Let's Go!"
BTW
the track on the "Last Train to Paris" homepage is shaping up nicely. It's been evolving slowly.
"The fool stares at the finger that points to the sky"
Amelé
hol up a sekin,
Holup A Sekin.......
This dude said, "I know we facin' a recession but the music yall making gone make it a great depression."
"aauuugggh"
"Pull your skirt down. Grow a set man."
I'll be the first to say, I don't claim Bk
despite the birth certificate
Not as many memories made
when compared to my time below the Mason Dixon
-all despite my obvious difference
p.s.
What is this whole thing all about anyway, style gentrification. Is it okay? Yes. Why? Because nobody owns style. I'll fess up and say it. No, I don't like to tell people what cologne I prefer because I don't want too many people smelling like me. I purposely avoid buying super commercialized scents like Aqua de Gio or Curve (huh?) or Ralph's stuff because I want to be readily distinguishable. The shoes, gotta be distinguisable. The ties, gotta be distinguishable (for the most part).
I can remember wanting exclusivity for the first time after I discovered this little shop in downtown Orangeburg. It almost didn't fit. Most of the clothes didn't especially fit me as they were sized larger for the 'urban' style of the time. The designs were nice though. Miskeen. Pay $50 and you'll never see anyone else with this shirt. "What!" I was working at Bi-Lo at the time and could have bought one but never did. I wasn't used to paying that much for a shirt. $50! I had jeans less expensive than that, but these painted shirts.
Then I discovered LRG. The materials, the stitching, the concepts, the details, those little messages in odd spots. They cared about their clothes. You could tell. I loved that. They inspired me to take on clothing design, big brother style. I dug 'em and could swing the $30-$35 shirts.
I remember when I first started wearing it and people at my high school were asking, "what's LaRGe?" Anyway, style is no exclusive province. What it is or isn't is up to whoever is talking.
All that being said, I don't really like observing folks JUST wear whatever they wear beacuse they've gotten the idea that it's in. That seems so impersonal. "How unfortunate", I think to myself.
A Message from the Brooklyn Tourism Board from jeff on Vimeo.
Perhaps the most significant event to be held in the name of diversity on Clemson's campus was sponsored by the Clemson Conservatives. I don't say this in sarcasm or jest but sincerity. I'm speaking of an event that has not left my memory since its impression. They sponsored a speaker whose name I have ,however, forgotten. The forum centered on the disadvantages of multiculturalism and diversity. Suffice it to say that upon prior research I learned that the speaker's personal relationships had been found in company of those of the radical racial sort. Expectations aside, he more or less gave a 30 minute speech espousing the virtues of segregation. George Wallace might have been proud. The question-answer portion of the event included attendees submitting questions into a pot to be screened by members of the Clemson Conservatives group. I was shocked to discern the discretion taken in choosing the questions as evidenced in the questions cleared to the speaker. Never before had I felt so hushed. Reader, I cannot express the paradox this puts a mind both passionate and rational into. A few others saw their passion win over. One was nearly escorted out. It only hurt their opposing arguement, of course.
At the close of question-answer portion, the police proceeded down the isles of the Vickery auditorium as the speaker said he would be available for questions after the event closed. I went down to them. My brief moment there was not as interesting as the conversation I had with the man outside of the building. In short, he attempted to make a case for how slavery was better for African Americans than would freedom have been. I left the conversation and occassion invigorated. I have since been to several diversity training sessions, multiculturalism-centered events, and served a term as the Undergraduate Student Government Council on Diversity Affairs Director. I have yet to experience an event as edifying as that night some two years ago now. Never before have I been in the company of such well behaved racists, white or black. Never since have I been in a setting that allowed an opinion so socially austricized to be expressed without incident. There was judgement on both sides but there was no coarse objectification or bawdy attack. It was all handled. In it's own way even, it was handled fairly. So rarely is such view given public forum. The irony of diversity is that for it to be accurately manifest, it make room for those who would see it discredited and done away with. Anything other than is a burlesque diversity. Above all, I will never forget the sincere, polite young man as he tried to express to me that my people had not been so great. That we had not made such a great impact on the nation or the world. That we, in comparason to his people, were indeed less than. That I, in comparason to him, was less than. It was not my fault. It just was. He needed to say that. I could hear the moisture in his throat as he spake it. A momento he had kept. He shared this with me. And in polite rebellion. I said nay.
I thought it might be over before it was announced
The state of affairs would have made for the most wonderful comeback story
It would have been a truly historic victory
The headlines would read
"America not for Sale"
"American Maverick"
"Thank You, My Friends"
The speech would have been that of America
and our dreams
and our enduring spirit
and our resolve to succeed no matter the odds
What a story
What a speech
What a president
It would have been
My tears well
My fears do too
What will happen now?
The cheers aren't so loud here
Thank God
But I know they'll come
The irony of racial abuse is that
The other side of the coin is rarely considered
I have not committed my father's sins
But am made to pay for them
Even in my polite rebellion
Yes, this is a historic event
But is that all it is?
Must I celebrate?
I don't agree with what he represents
Not because of the color of his skin
But because of the questionable content of his character
Can you tell me who he is?
Can you tell me who his friends are?
Can you tell me what decisions he's made?
Can you tell me how he's served our country?
Can you tell me what important impact he's made in our country in the past?
Not just for one group, but for our country?
Everyone seemed so ready to celebrate one dimension of him
Hurray, he's black
What else is he?
I hope 52% of America can answer that question sufficiently
I can't help but feel rollercoastered
This has been an incredibly emotional season
I wish his race had not been such a big factor
Such a point of emphasis
I wonder
If the results would have been different
Had America emphasized something else
Had America sought to write something more on their ballot
Had America pointed to something other than history
And given its maverick
Another opportunity to serve
To put Country
Before History
"Sen. Obama has achieved a great thing for himself and for his country. I applaud him for it. Whatever our differences, we are fellow Americans. It is natural, tonight, to feel some disappointment. But tomorrow, we must move beyond it and work together to get our country moving again."
-Sen. John McCain
"Hurray!
Yes We Can!"
went the crowds where I stood
"Keep it down"
said the cop
As if doing us a favor in not calling some higher authority
and reporting our unruly celebration
"Keep it down"
Not five minutes into one of my most deeply manifested smiles
I hear this warning
From this
old
male
white
cop
with a belly
and chew
How I wish he had not been
the stereotypical image that I might have imagined
but he was
and there he stood, his ground
but it was mine too
I too, stand here
and I won't keep me down
Hurray!
I sing
In polite rebellion
"As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, "We are not enemies, but friends... though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection." And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn - I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too."
-President-Elect Barack Obama
I'll jog first. My purpose in creating this blog started off rather selfishly. I think now though, that it may prove helpful, at least entertaining for you too. Rather than a peeved journal, or specialized hitlist, my aim is set "Publish Post" squarely on inspiration. Let's leave it up there and not confine this post to any specific genre. Whatever passion, whichever river flows through thoroughly will be channeled and posted. Here's a poem that came while I was in a 12-passenger van with a few college mates on my way to a conference. It's titled,
“The Sun Shines on American Me”
Sun in my eyes, I am America
I smell freedom
I hear justice
I have tasted tear-laden honey
I have felt the heavy hand on my shoulder
I walk on blades of glass
I run the risk
A singular article to follow us
This in my chant
This is my compass
This is my compassion.
A song
A psalm
A prayer to the heavens
Sun in my eyes, I am America
Goodmorning
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