THE END ALL BE ALL BLOG

30

2008-05-23T21:25:00.001-05:00

I've been preparing for thirty, by calling myself that since I was about 27 and a half. So the adjustment period has been smooth. The only major difference so far is that I have finished my first draft for my first book!! I had intended on being finished with it about 5 days ago. The goal was to have it done before I turned 30 but better this is just fine by me. Of course it's just a first draft. I still have some touchups and revisions but it's all downhill from here. I can finally start calling myself a writer, and it was 30 years in the making.

Challenging tradition

2008-05-09T14:56:00.004-05:00

It's summertime and for New Orleans this marks the return of something special and dear to us all...

The Snowball

A frozen New Orleans treat to reward us for being in the deep south. But yesterday I came to a revelation. My love for the snowball will never be the same again because of...

The Sonic Lemon Berry Slush. Now on the surface these two seem like the same thing; flavored, shaved ice. But after yesterday, I realized just how superior the Slush is for me.

1. Snowballs are shaved ice with syrup. This often means they are very sweet. While I do like sweet, I can only handle so much of it. My personal preference is tart or sour. So more often than not I get a half sour apple/ half pink lemonade snowball, or an AKA. But even the Sour Apple fails to live up to it's name at some stands so there's no telling if you're not just going to get something really sweet. On the other hand the Lemon-Berry Slush is made with real fruit and fruit juices and includes a whole lemon, gauranteeing you a sour undertone to your frozen drink. I know this particular attribute doesn't suit everyone. But for me I will take the sour over the sweet any day.

2. Snowballs are not cost effective. At Sonic I can get a Route 44 Slush which is 44 ounces of tasty, sour, frozen beverage for the low price of 2.09. For 44 ounces of snowball it would be about twice that price. Although the 20 ounce slush is only 50 cents less than the route 44, at 1.49 it would still be less than a 20 ounce snowball which costs about 2 dollars at most snowball stands.

3. Slushes are year round. Snowballs are seasonal, and although, due to our warm climate, the snowball season is pretty long around here, there are still some warm December days where I need shaved ice, beverages at my disposal.

4. Apparently, snowball stands don't open until 2 in the afternoon on Sundays. And this may be true of everyday, I'm not sure. Last Sunday I went to two different snowball stands and they were both closed, the latter of which I arrived at close to 2 pm and people were beginning to line up waiting for it to open. I could only assume the rest of the world knew that it didn't open til 2. Well SLushes are available when Sonic opens at 9am til it closes at 11 pm. The sun don't start shining at 2 pm. Advantage Slush.

The only advantage left the Snowball has is its' tradition and class. Snowballs have a mystique that Slushes don't. I could very well invite a woman to get snowballs with me and label that a date, which I'm afraid I can't say about Slushes. But that's all it really has in its' favor is public perception. I'm a fan of traditional values, so I will continue to support the Snowball from time to time, always searching for that elusive extra sour, green apple. But my heart truly is not there anymore like a Republican turned Obamacrat.

In other news I want to make a plea to Byron Scott, George Shinn, or someone with a sniper rifle: please help rid the Hornets of Bonzi Wells. I'm not sure what's going on in Byron Scott's head, but for whatever reason he is still giving Bonzi extensive minutes in the playoffs. Maybe he truly believes that we can't win the Championship without him and he's waiting for him to wake up. But he is killing me. Bonzi is in a contract year so I can only assume he just doesn't care about the game of basketball anymore. He really hasn't done anything since he absolutely slaughtered Kobe that one series like 5 years ago. But he's doing so much less now it's not even funny. He utterly refuses to play defense. Every one of Finley's three pointers last night was because of a late rotation by Bonzi. He's not the scoring threat he needs to be to make up for his lack of defensive awareness. He's just sucking up minutes that Julian Wright could be using to gain playoff experience or Mike James could be contributing to. Maybe the Hornets aren't ready to win a championship yet. They were not completely dead last night when they gave up hope in the game. There's a big difference between the way they played in the last 5 minutes of the game and the way the Chicago Bulls, or for that matter, the San Antonio Spurs of the last few years would play. Perhaps they're not hungry enough and they need to see what a grind it is to have to start over from scratch to try to win a championship so they can see that they shouldn't be wasting a single opportunity while it's right here in front of them. But that don't take Bonzi off the hook. He's terrible and I wish he would just be granted the leave of absence he so desparately desires.

The Main Event

2008-04-28T02:55:00.001-05:00

The month of May is a very important one. Not just because it’s the birth month of yours truly, but it also marks the anniversary of a very important occasion to us all. So in the spirit of the 8th anniversary of this momentous occurrence I have taken the liberty of preparing something special. May 30th 2000 two young Emcees battlerapped their way into superstardom. And now thanks to Youtube and the internet highway you can see this battlerap at your leisure. So to mark the 8th anniversary of this event I will dissect for you the battle raps and declare a true winner for once and for all. Now it is important to understand the nature of a battlerap is such that you are directly in battle with a single opponent. But to be given the free reign to just talk bad about your opponent would make it a ribbing contest instead of a rap contest. With that in mind a subject is introduced and both parties must tailor their rap to fit the assigned subject. For the sake of M.C. Gimp vs J-Bo the subject was hamburger. Following is the complete breakdown of the opposing raps.

The Challenger: M.C. Gimp. And he’s only the challenger because he challenged J-Bo to a rap for battle supremacy cause that nigga J-Bo think he can freestyle. Don’t get it twisted. J-Bo was never a champ.

Phone check, fat neck (a nickname of J-Bo in his heavier days 1 pt) answer and you’ll get wrecked
Step further, Hamburger, I’ll be your fucking crew server (as in to serve his bitch ass up, and a crew server like those who work at fast food establishments. Lovely double entendre, and adhering to subject. 2 pts)Fake ass nigga think he the king, Bitch step into my burger ring (reference to Burger King, a hamburger establishment. 1pt)
I’ll eat you like a burger fiend, Chalk you like you KFC (as anyone with a hamburger preference would do to a chicken eatery 1 pt) if my preference Mickey D’s
Meat and ketchup only please, when you dressed for Teedy Bees ( a reference to our mutual friend, and dj, Terrence whose nickname is Teedy Bees. He only ate his hamburgers dressed with Ketchup and pickles at the time, as you can see from the video he appreciated the reference. 1 pt)And he don’t want no mayonnaise G, so keep your wiener in your jeans and I’ll keep my whopper BVD’d (triple combination powerpunch here. M.C. Gimp relates mayonnaise to a man’s semen and uses the phallic symbol of a wiener to represent Jared’s man meat which is obviously not a hamburger, but a processed facsimile of real meat. Which in this case would be a whopper since that is…A. Bigger than a regular wiener, B. A hamburger which again is the subject and C. Gimp letting him know not to write a check his ass can’t cash by getting in a big dick contest with the wrong nigga. 3 pts + bonus point for triple combo=4pts)
For you shoot your load to quick and leave Shaneika feeling slick and get yo slack took by my nigga B Rick, big ups to my nigga quick and big chalk to this big mac bitch, yo mac attack aint doing shit (WOW!!!! So much depth here, where do I begin? 1 point each for every friend reference in here. That would be SHaneika, B-Rick-Brenton, Quick-Nick and Jared-Mac: his mac attack, i.e. he being named McKendall would necessarily have a Mac attack, which again does what? Serves as a double entendre for our subject of hamburger 5pt combo. 2 bonus points for simultaneously drawing B-Rick into the line of fire who was the resident expert and only previously skilled battle rapper. Not too distantly past from this time Brenton had a crush on Jared’s girlfriend Shaneika who obviously did not requite his love. The mere mention of B-Rick’s love for Jared’s girlfriend is intentional comedy and therefore serves to attack 2 parties at once. 7 pt lyric so we might as well just round up to 10!)
Step to me? Want me to serve ya? I’m open 24 hours like Whataburger! (1 pt)
Stepped up talking that shit first to me? Bitch I graduated from Bovine University! (This Simpsons reference might have slipped past you. There was an episode when Lisa gave up meat. And the meat council came to Springfield elementary to encourage kids to eat meat. They suggested that Cows going to Bovine university would go on to a better stage of life, when it was in fact a meat factory. At the end of the instructional video hosted by Troy McClure, Ralph Wiggum stands and attests proudly to the class “When I grow up I want to go to Bovine University” This is funny because not only does he not understand it’s a meat market, even if he did think it was a university for cows to get higher education why would he want so proudly to go there? Any Ralph Wiggum incorporation, due to the sheer brilliance of his character on the Simpsons is an automatic 3 pointer. So to connect Bovine university a meat market with this battle rap is even more genius than Wiggum himself. He’s telling you in the vain of hamburger that you don’t want to step to him because he went to college for battle rapping about hamburgers!! How does he come up with this? 5 points)Earned the degree Royale with cheese (1pt for Pulp Fiction reference) and all you got was a PHD…Penis sucking homo disease (2 point for the running education sub reference and 3 points for the strong finish because Jared wets a lot of cock with his mouth. 6 pts)Total= 32

The Challenged: J-Bo
5 point automatic deduction for asking for a different beat. 5 point deduction for rewriting his rhymes after M.C. Gimp had already delivered his rhymes. M.C. Gimp delivered his rhymes on point, in a timely fashion to the beat assigned. If he don’t get to choose his beat or rewrite his rhymes after he hears J-Bo’s then why should fat neck get to? -10 before he even starts that whack shit.
Gian give me felatio, in the circle…you’s a ho, boy you have no flow, my shit you will eat. Like Stevie fucking wonder knocks you off yo feet. (what???) Oh wait, shit, what’s wrong? Oh I just started this song. Then again I’m feeling hungry (J-Bo is still yet to land a scoring blow, nor has he made any mentioned of the assigned topic of hamburger. He’s like a boxer who just dances around the ring for a whole round hoping not to lose any points with his whack ass rhyme.)
Then again I’m feeling hungry blah blah blah some indiscernible words, and yo I’m feeling like a burger, make mine a double please (finally the topic at hand) and yo…………….on mine……………….I need some extra cheese, for all you bitch ass niggas…………….drop to your knees (1 pt and a loud yawn) Oh wait, oh wait…. back to this here. Um let’s get started…fuck this nigga, fuck this nigga, fuck this nigga, fuck this nigga. (the repetition works for me and J-Bo scores another point. But wait….is that M.C. Gimp taunting J-Bo with his own whack ass rhyme? 1 more pt for M.C. Gimp)Barbecue sauce, like the love at Otto’s, Man Gian Ride out, Bitch you’s a ho (nice reference to the BBQ restaurant we had eaten at earlier that day mixed in with a mediocre chalk of M.C. Gimp 2 pts)
Now that I done said that, back to the burger, I mentioned sauce and cheese, now it’s going further. Meat and Keiser bun, my meat not well done, I like a little pink, like twat it’s so sweet(none of this is chalking M.C. Gimp, just randomly trying to fulfill the requirements of the hamburger topic. 1 pt for mentioning twat and pink hamburger meat and 2 point deduction for wasting time because the reference has no place in this particular battle rap) The burger needs a pickle, Oh yeah Gimp, suck mine! (his most clever line so far. Well give him 2 pts) Cause I’ma rhyme, and rhyme, and rhyme all night. Oh yeah, burger sounds kinda tight, getting fries on the side, Yo that shit would be tight…now…yo that’s it for my meal, it’s time…to bring….the motherfucking real! ( ¾ of the way through the song and you just deciding now to bring the real? Bad business.)
Ol’ holey leg nigga, my caps you must peel. in through the front, out through the back. Bitch all your hoes come from the sugar shack. (finally a decent combo from Jared. This was about 4 weeks after M.C. Gimp got shot so the reference to the hole in his leg is a nice touch in combination with the Sugar Shack which was the strip club at the time known for having the second rate strippers as opposed to the preferred Roxbury. Nice 3 pt combo but it might be too late in the fight to start making connecting punches.)
Roxbury nigga, that’s where I’m from. Lil boy out the door, cause with you I’m done, nigga…..This aint Fantasia and that ho, motherfucker, Michael Franks can’t save ya (From the crowd’s reaction this appeared to be J-Bo’s best combination but it was actually just a really big swing that never connects. First of all Fantasia is a Disney cartoon or a singer from American Idol which did not exist at the time. In no way does this have anything to do with Michael Franks, or for that matter Hamburgers. A Michael Franks reference used against Gimp because of his appreciation for the man’s music was always something the group would tease him about although he wore his man love for MF as a badge of pride. So the attempt is worthy of a 2 point blow but not the 7 or 8 point blow the crowd noise might seem to indicate. )
Cause lil bit…I’m yo maker. (1 pt) I’ll hop off this bike and kick you like the undertaker. Cause you as a man is motherfucking absurd, so beyatch make like a nerd, and study this DICK! (3 pts for a strong finish. “Make like a nerd and study this dick” was a running gag for the Houston trip and therefore appropriately applicable. )-12pts + 14 pts=2 pts
M.C. Gimp bonus point = 33

So the final tally is M.C. Gimp wins 33 to 2 and is therefore honored as supreme to J-Bo for battlerap supremacy!!! And here he is 8 years later, celebrating the vanquishing of his foe the same as Bill the Butcher in Gangs of New York. I’d like to thank the fans who supported me from day one….No autographs please!

Where Deshaun Stevenson opening his big mouth happens

2008-04-19T01:32:00.000-05:00

And then a picture of Lebron swinging from the rim with his nuts there. I must say it’s been a while since I’ve been so excited about the NBA playoffs. In spite of my loyalty for the Suns the past few years I’ve had little else to cheer for and always the draining notion that I would be seeing 22 games worth of Spurs basketball. But this year looks to be something special.

The first round series I’m most excited about is the Wizards/Cavs. Deshaun Stevenson is young but you wouldn’t think he’d be stupid enough to say Lebron is overrated considering that they’re about the same age and Lebron will be bustin his ass for another 12 years if Deshaun can hang around that long. Imagine if some mediocre shooting gaurd said what he said about Michael Jordan when he was in his 5th and most explosive year in the NBA. And then imagine that the rest of the mediocre shooting guard’s mediocre basketball team said they wanted to play Michael Jordan and the Bulls. What do you think Jordan would do to them? 40 a game? 50? Is there a cap to the punishment he would dispense? The thing is I’m picking against Lebron here. Not that I agree he’s overrated, or that he won’t absolutely light Deshaun Stevenson’s ass up from now on. But I can cosign with a team that has lost in the playoffs in consecutive years calling out the team that’s beaten them. And the Wizards are a better team even though they are mediocre, cause the Cavs are one Lebron away from being the worst team in basketball over the last 4 years. I’m imagining 42, 11, and 8.5 out of Lebron over the 6 game series, but it won’t be enough.

As far as the rest of the East I don’t think I’ll be too interested until the conference finals. If Lebron can make it past the Wizards by himself I think he’s good enough to will 2 big performances against the Celtics and that should be worth watching but other than that there won’t be much in a pretty boring East until the 7 game series for eventual NBA champ Boston and Detroit.
The West however has 3 great first round matchups. The most gratifying will be when the Suns beat the Spurs in the first round. Not just because I love the Suns, but more so because I hate the Spurs and the less Spurs playoff basketball the better. The only thing better than seeing them lose in the first round, would be seeing them in the lottery.

I don’t think the Nuggets will be able to beat the Lakers even though I don’t think the Lakers are as good as people think they are. But I will enjoy watching them try. A.I has been consistently in my top 3 for a decade now, and I like Carmelo. I finally figured out how to sum up Kobe’s legacy in relation to Jordan. Imagine you took all the basketball skills and athleticism from the bar Jordan has set. Added 2 inches to and 15 pounds of muscle. Then add all the learned basketball knowledge from watching and studying the Jordan game and from conception groom this man for basketball. What you have should be superior to Jordan, correct? Well, now imagine instead of having him get beat up on in basketball by an older brother, this guy is always the first pick at lunch. Imagine if instead of sticking him in a middle class home in North Carolina he grows up in Italy as the son of a former NBA player. Imagine if instead of getting cut from his high school team he has high schools recruiting him from the time he’s a 6th grader. Imagine if instead of being saddled with a sub par team for the first 5 years of his NBA career and getting beaten down by one of the most physical, championship teams in history he gets placed on a Lakers team with Shaquille Oneal and before he even knows what struggle is wins 3 championships. And that is why Kobe will never be Jordan. So…yeah, Lakers in 5.
Then my beloved Hornets. It would have been nice to see them get that first seed because then we would get a much better matchup against the Nuggets who are the kind of team that the Hornets would need to play early to get acclimated to the playoffs, and then meet up with a Jazz team that would be less difficult in the second round then the Suns or Spurs. The mavs, who I’ve never liked are not that great but they have experience and I think the Hornets lack of will be a problem for them this year, although it will serve them better in the future. I do believe in Chris Paul but he is not yet the best player ever under 6 feet as some would like to claim. He has to prove he can rise to the next level in the playoffs which was Isaiah’s specialty. I’m not saying that he can’t or won’t do it. I’m just saying it might take longer than some expected. But I’m still taking the Hornets in this round because I still don’t believe in, and am not afraid, nor ever will be, of Dirk.

But whatever happens it should provide for good basketball.

Dear Andrew

2008-04-16T10:30:00.000-05:00

Andrew,
I’m hoping that not only do you read and understand this letter. I’m hoping that you save it and look to it from time to time as a reminder. Let me start by telling you this letter is not an assertion of authority, but an expression of respect. I’ve had several conversations with Coach Landrum, and a couple with Coach Higgins and it’s safe to say we all agree that this sports program can be special. With our freshman class of athletes Lusher can be held in the same regard as the Catholic schools sports programs. I personally believe with our talent there’s no reason why we can’t compete deep into playoff competition in football and win State in basketball someday.
But I believe the key is you, Andrew!
The major drawback to Lusher is that most of our athletic talent is cluttered in a young class. There aren’t enough models in the upper classes that you all can look to. There’s not enough talent to push you. A lot of you have great potential. But you don’t even know how good you can be. You all don’t even know how good you want to be. So it’s up to those of you who can do it to push each other.
Now I won’t sugarcoat it for you; being a leader is not a choice and sometimes it is a burden. But it’s also a gift. Whether you like it or not, your peers around you will, and do, look to you for guidance, for their energy, for encouragement, for your approval, etc. As a leader everything you do will reflect on those around you and those behind you. If you work hard they will work hard. If you come to practice and work to get better, they will want to be better with you. But if you slack they will slack. If you undermine the coaches, they will think it’s ok to talk back to the coaches. If you leave practice because you don’t feel like being there, they won’t feel like practicing either. Now I know you didn’t ask for that. But you can’t change that the same way black people couldn’t change the color of their skin and were oppressed because of it. The same way women can’t change their gender and have to carry baby’s instead of just make them. The only thing you can do is accept it and make the best of it. And once you realize that it’s not a choice you will realize being a leader is a great thing, the way black people now realize their skin is beautiful, and the way women realize it’s a blessing to bring life into the world. You were born a leader, and therefore, people will follow you.
The fact is that you need them as much as they need you. I know you have personal goals of playing on the next level. But your goals will fall short if you don’t have capable people around you. If you don’t have players who are also a threat, you’ll never score a single point. If you don’t have teammates who are capable and willing to block for you, you’ll never rush or throw for a single yard. If Lusher doesn’t win any games all of your statistics and personal accomplishments will fall by the wayside and fade into the nothingness once you’re gone. Or you can carry those around you and behind you to higher heights, and when Lusher reaches its potential you can know that you contributed to a thing greater than one man.
I know sometimes you get frustrated with the guys around you who don’t have your talents and you think it would be easier to just “Do you.” But it’s not that simple. God gives us gifts to share with those around us, to help them reach their own potential. Gilbert can be a great basketball player and dominate on the High School level and maybe beyond. But he’s not a leader. Brandon Scott can be a great cornerback and shut down half the field. But not without you pushing him. Aaron Harrison will give everything he’s got on a court or a field, but he needs you to motivate him to know when to make the hit, or attack the boards. Ricky can be the greatest athlete to ever compete at Lusher. But not unless you are there to show him how much you can accomplish so he can strive to accomplish more. They are soldiers, but none is a general. If you throw 100 soldiers into a battlefield they will go 100 different directions if there’s no general to tell them where the fight is. The question is not whether you’re a general. The question is whether or not you’re going to fight. I told you during a basketball game that you are not a man. I stand by that. A man doesn’t leave his family behind. You can choose your friends but you can’t choose family. And your teammates, the people you sweat with, cry with, win and lose with, are your family. Those in Lusher middle school who aspire to someday be your teammates are your family. And you need each other, but they need you more.
We all know you’re a leader, but can you be a man. We know you’re a general, but will you fight?

You reap what you sow: a narrative in 24 hours

2008-03-15T13:51:00.003-05:00

1am
I have 4 midterms awaiting me in the morning. I haven't studied and don't plan to. Mostly because I haven't studied yet this year and I haven't gotten a grade lower than a C. The one exam I did do poorly on ended up being graded on a curve which brought me up a full letter grade. SUNO does not offer the most difficult of curriculum. I need to make sure I finish from here in a timely fashion before they discredit this university. I don't know whether to worry about that because SUNO probably puts more reachers into Orleans Parish Public Schools than any other college. That, of course, is not necessairily a good thing. I'm not worried about my English or Geography exam. English cause it's English and Geography because he gave us a 45 page study guide. With that much information there's no way he's giving us difficult questions. I'm sure 3 of the 4 multiple choice answers for each question will be Daffy Duck. Music and Information Systems I have no idea about but like I said no exam this year has been difficult. I opt to keep watching season 3 of "The Office" because Dwight Schrute is one of my new heroes and I'm thinking of changing my Myspace name to "Assistant to the Regional Manager."

5:30 AM
my sister needs to be dropped off at her friend's house cause they're going to New York. I'm not as concerned that I'm only going to get 2 hours of sleep as far as my test is concerned. However, I know to expect a long day because I have work after, then dinner plans, then I'm going to Les Bon Temps, because Ayo's birthday week Thursday is probably as good as any night to see the Soul Rebels. I will be reaping what I sow by the time the day is done.

9:20 AM
My mom wakes me up and I don't know whether to be thankful she helped me not miss my first exam or upset that now I have to deal with the guilt of not going which will disrupt my sleep. The first exam is about as difficult as I expect. I finish in 25 minutes which allows me time to go finish the paper also due today before testing is done, and keeps me awake so I don't fall asleep in my car and miss my next exam. I open the Geography exam and to my dismay the first 20 questions are nothing I've ever seen, and this is the class I've only missed once because Amiri Baraka was speaking that day. It appears that I will reap what I sow sooner than I thought. I deductive reason my way through the test, which I'm sure will be curved because everyone did poorly, and shake it off to head for my next two exams wich I surf through. My music professor actually read directly from the test on Tuesday which I realize when I knock off the first half of the test without even reading all of my multiple choices. English is made up of all the quizzes we've taken this year and a few things he talked about ad nauseum for the past two weeks.

5:00 PM
I've found renewed energy from my kids. We're preparing for our first track meet of the year tomorrow and they're focusing in on our coaching. I can see they're excited. We're a young school and most of our athletic talent is concentrated in the Freshman class. We'll probably get stomped on tomorrow running against the strongest competition in the city. But I don't mind us taking a loss as long as they don't get discouraged, cause in the long run I'm sure the oats they sow today will be reaped at great harvest in the future.

7:00PM
Since my English exam was so easy I found time to make it to the barber between class and work and now I've gone home to clean the rest of it up, before my dinner engagement. The young lady taking me to dinner made the mistake of betting me that she would keep a consistent workout which I knew she wouldn't do. We're supposed to be going to a movie too but I think I will cancel that portion because a dark theatre usually promotes sleep for me even when I'm not working on 2 hours of sleep. The only thing better than going out to eat is going out to eat and only eating half your food and then knowing you get "Out to eat" food for lunch the next day. I depart my dinner guest cause she has a workday ahead and some people take that seriously. Shortly before our time ends I get a text from another friend of mine. I proceed to her house where I find a short nap and a BJ. Probably the best after steak combination a man can know.

1:00 am
And in the 24th hour is when things take a turn. We're in between sets at Les Bon Temps. I haven't been here in at least a month and the music is even better than I remember. The three drinks at dinner and one drink here have me in good spirits. I head outside to socialize and run into my cousin's cousin on the way out. I hug her and my cousin's friend as their group passes. I ask my cousin's cousin if she's not cool with my cousin or something because they are usually together here. But I've definitely seen this group of 4 travelling closely together and my cousin far away from them at all times. She shuns the question with some version of it's a long story, which confirms that there is turmoil. I'm so glad I was born a male because I would hate to have to be mad at my cousin/friend over something I have no doubt is not as long a story as she would like to believe. I head outside and begin talking to one of my Les Bon Temps friends on the bench where she is sitting alone. My cousin's (ex)friend comes and sits next to me and I turn my attention to her. She too declines to comment on the happenings that brought about the standoff. She only offers some prophetic words

"You reap what you sow."

Not ten seconds after the words come out of her mouth she stands and walks over to where my cousin's cousin is now standing opposite another girl with only a guy in between. They exchange verbally for all of three seconds before a push is exchanged. It's the only push. The rest are fists; connecting fists. Their fight begins approximately ten feet from me. 60 seconds later the fight is literaly in my lap. I'm trying not to get hit by one of these wild swinging fists. 30 seconds after that the fight has passed like a Tornado blowing through and my cousin's cousin is all punched out while the other girl is still swinging and connecting with the top of her head. They are finally separated and my cousin's cousin reaches underneath the bench I'm sitting on to retrieve her hair. Apparently the two of them are fighting because the man between them, my cousin's cousin is dating and is also dating a friend of the other girl. Why that means they have to fight is beyond me. But then again why anyone would fight over a married man besides his wife, who is at home sleeping and is not either of the girls dating him who the fight now taking place conerns, is beyond me. The bouncer comes and tells all parties involved it's time for them to leave. Apparently my cousin's cousin and my cousin's ex-friend interpret leave as "Stand in the middle of New Orleans' historically known Magazine street with weave in hand." While standing there my cousin's cousin takes humbrage with the proximity of the cousin of the girl she just fought. They exchange verbally for all of three seconds before the girl she just fought's cousin punches my cousin's cousin in the face and floors her, or Magazine Street's her. So now my cousin's cousin is on the ground getting beaten in the face by the girl she just fought's cousin for all of 30 seconds before someone is able to separate them. My cousin's cousin, not having enough for whatever reason attacks and punches at several times the married guy who has been in between all of these fights. He ducks her punches as long as he can until it's obvious she's out of control at which time he grabs her by the neck and pins her to a car until the bouncer can come over and break things up again. She is given the ultimatum go home or go to jail. So my cousin's cousin and my cousin's ex-friends all walk to their car but don't manage to leave before the police can arrive. I don't know whether or not she ends up in jail for the evening, but I know the other two fighters didn't since they have long departed and I know the married guy has gone home to go to bed with his wife which I'm sure the thought of makes the cold floor of OPP that much more bitter. Now i'm not picking sides and I'm certainly not making judgements, but it seems that if her loyalties had stayed with her (and my) cousin she would not have found herself getting beat down on historic Magazine street while my cousin's ex-friends watched. I'm not saying my cousin would have jumped in, nor should the ex-friends have. And I'm not saying that a woman shouldn't mess with a married man who's already taken on someone as the other woman. All I'm saying is you reap what you sow.

Some things I still don't understand

2008-03-12T20:30:00.002-05:00

Summer of 2006, I was still getting re-acclimated to my city. Besides the obvious physical changes, I didn’t have any of the friend base I had had before. With all of my friends not having come back I began hanging out with old friends who had not been here before, and made new friends. My socialization time drastically increased and the number of hangout spots I would frequent increased with it. One night at one of these spots that was kind of underground I guess, in that not many people knew of it, and the played a lot of old school hip hop, I started a conversation with this girl. Nothing fancy, but she came across as the kind of woman who was very demanding to be in control of things. She was really sharp, and had a no bullshit attitude, or as our beloved Lil Boosie would say; she was a "Bad Bitch." Anyway, I began seeing her more and more at these spots, especially this one. She gave off this aura like she was too good for men, but not in a stuck-up way, just in a "Niggas ain’t shit" kinda way. That is until we were in this other spot one night and she revealed for one reason or another that she had been frequenting the first spot so much because she had been seeing this guy in private who was affiliated with the bar. At first she wanted not to reveal anything which told me it was someone I knew. Immidiately I guessed it could only be one person. And when I asked her she responded yes. Now the thing is, there were two guys who worked together and had very similar sounding names. I was friends with one and just cool with the other. So when I asked I assumed it was the one I wasn’t that cool with because I knew for a fact the one I was cooler with had a girlfriend. I had met her when she visited from out of town, and we had quite an in-depth discourse about some things. The other one I wasn’t as sure about but I thought I had heard he was involved too. So I blurted out "Oh, ok, I thought he had a girlfriend." Yeah I know that violates all the principles of the guy code. But first of all let me say that it was a mistake. I was more just talking out loud than passing information. And second and most important, I don’t believe in that Guy Code bullshit anyway. Most of the time I just feel if something is not my buisness I don’t need to be the messenger. And as far as my friends are concerned I have loyalties to them. But I don’t give two damns whether some random dude is busted or not. If my friend is a woman than she gets my loyalty over some nigga anyway. Point being though, I didn’t mean to say that because in hindsight it was out of place.

So she rebutted back at me, her face now having changed from lighthearted butterflies, to angry wolf, "No, he doesn’t!" And her friend sitting next to her also confirmed this somewhat angrily. I responded simply "Ok." Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t, but I certainly wasn’t going to argue about it because I had probably said too much already, I blame the Long Island which was my drink of choice at the time. So anyway, not five minutes later I see her walking to confront a man about whether he has a girlfriend or not, except of course, she doesn’t go to confront the guy I insinuated had a girlfriend. She went to confront the similar sounding name guy who I was friends with and was certain had a girlfriend! Lawd! She gives him a very angry talking to which he obviously deflects with her having gotten bad information, which ironically is true and untrue. And she proceeds to go directly to the dance floor and start dancing with the first guy she sees, which I asume is to make the guy with the girlfriend jealous.

Well played.

Fast-forward an hour and I see the two of them on a sofa her staring angrily and defiantly into the room as he tries to explain himself. Fastforward another 20 minutes and I see them making out on this very couch.

But that’s not the crazy part!

So anyway, I’m not so clear on the details of how this happens because at the time I didn’t know it would make for such great comedy. I have purged most of the information. But I do know that about two months later I run into this girl again after having not seen her since that evening. Now instead of being sharp and in control, she’s bitter and aloof. She is fussing about how "Niggas ain’t shit" but without that air of confidence she had when she knew she was above fucking with a "Ain’t shit Nigga." She doesn’t say this but I assume she hasn’t been around to any of the spots in the last few months because she found out the dude was in fact involved with another girl. Sucks for her I guess.

Fast forward a year

The girl has graduated from her grad school and moved back to her native city.

Fastforward another year.

Mardi Gras 2008 I’m standing in the middle of the street amongst some of the people, in my desparation, I had begun hanging with more frequently. I don’t hang out with them as much now because as opposed to trying to make new friends I’ve chosen to sulk in the loss of friends I once had at my disposal. That being said I do see them on events like this one. So we’re all out there and all of a sudden I get a big hug from nowhere from the girl. We exchange "Hey strangers" and very briefly begin a catching up session. I was not opposed to catching up but I honestly wasn’t too interested, and my lifelong friends were in town so I was anxious to get back to them and our Mardi Gras debauchery. But I couldn’t escape before with this very gleeful look on her face she expressed to me that she had a boyfriend now. "Wow" I said, because in our initial meeting when she seemed so sharp she was all about her I.N.D.E.P.E.N.D.E.N.C.E. But just like that she was no longer a "Bad Bitch" she was now Keyshia Cole. This must be a great thing for her to be so happy about the adaptation. I asked who she was seeing assuming it was some professional in her hometown that I wouldn’t know anyway. And as if I hadn’t already learned this lesson about women many, many times, you all knew it was the same guy that she had been dating before. I said "Oh, good for you guys." trying not to let my own impression of that situation interfere with her good mood. But I quickly had to disengage from the conversation because I just couldn’t handle it anymore.

Here’s the part I don’t understand. I know women make bad decisions all the time. I know they fall in love with the wrong guy at a more frequent rate once they find out he’s the wrong guy. I know they stay with him hoping things will work out. But what I can’t understand for the life of me, is with her knowing I know that she’s guilty of all these things, why would she approach ME with such joy as if she expected me to be happy for her about this development? She can’t possibly think with all the information about this situation I would think that was a good thing. I can’t even apply the term ignorance is bliss to her situation. The only term I can think of is "Bless!"

Black Relationships are Dying

2008-03-06T11:10:00.001-06:00

This is a speech I did in my speech class Wednesday evening. Kibwe asked for a perspective on why women are single he might have neglected so I got double usage out of this particular essay. For his purposes it might be a little lacking cause I was constrained to a 5 minute delivery window, but anyway, here's a femenist perspective on the state of black relationships. BTW this is an informative speech which means technically I was supposed to be stating facts. So I had to find a bunch of useless statistics to support my argument. That's why all those bullshit numbers, and references are in there.

"...he made the mistake of trying to appeal to your mind, unlike the old dog with knowledge for tricks of all kinds, who knows that most times, to give less is to get more."

The poet G perspective in his poem "Old Dogs Don't Need New Tricks" is trying to express that black relationships in America are failing. The traditional ideals which shape the American culture black people have assimilated into are becoming more notably absent in their goals and practices. According to Jabari Asim in his article, "Black Marriage Day" in the Washington Post, only 41% of black adults are married as compared to 51% for whites, while 69% of black couples having children are not married. The American Dream has been modified from 2.5 kids and a house to two and a half baby mommas and a nice whip.

Black Americans have never quite made it over the hump to true American Ideals. Some ieals, like Christianity, blacks were forced into, others, like suffrage, they fought for when denied them. Both struggles have come about because of the institution of slavery. Because of the fundamental concepts of slavery they've never been able to truly embrace American cultural ideals, among them, monogamous relationships. "Keep the body, take the mind." Denzel Washington playing the role of Melvin Tolson in the movie "The Great Debaters" echoed the sentiments of WIllie Lynch as the most basic rule of slave management. The descendants of these slaves have been handed down the oppression of an enslaved mind. Quit frequently the inner conflict of an enslaved mind struggling to understand its' own freedom has steered the black man's goals away from families and working for independence, towards achievement of its' own misperception of success, i.e. material possessions and reclaiming manhood. This self-loathing consequently leads two places; greed and/or jail. 15.4% of black men were incarcerated at the beginning of 2006 according to the Department of Justice, and 7% of black men die before 21. That's over 20% of men eliminated from the dating pool. This affords them enough time to begin a family but not enough time to finish one. This unbalancing act serves two poor ends, both working against the nuclear family. If a man isn't around he can't be a father. That being said the dilution of black mates serves to viciously enable those who would capatilize on their assets. Looking around this room, there is about a 6 to 1 ratio of women to men. Just as in any economy, women acting as relationship consumers are held hostage to the monopoly that educated, financially independent, attractive, black men have over the dating market. Supply of black males being so low mens they can raise the stakes however they choose. Often it results in them taking on multiple mates, which disempowers the black woman's leverage and thus her control in the relationship. The black man fitting the ideal can "give less and get more." which usually does not satisfy the needs of the woman involved. Such a parasitic relationship acts as a cancer because the necessary balance of contribution has been interrupted. This works against both sides because the male, now lacking in motivation to raise his own standards of performance, suffers because he can never truly achieve his potential while in the adolescent state of companionship. These men become incapable role models and serve the cycle of passing down misperceptions of success and goals to the the generations to come emulating the world around them. They grow up in unstable homes where fathers are absent because they choose to be or because they've been eliminated. Black boys grow up thinking they should abandon or take advantage of their women. Black girls believe they have to settle for what they can get. If a man wants sex they have to give it to him because he can and will get it elsewhere Young women without bargaining power are sexualized too young, and too early bear their own childrem doomed to fall into the same cycle. 13.4% of black women become pregnant between ages 15-19 according to the Guttmacher institute in their blogsite. Too small a population commanding too great a control with no checks and balances kills the democracy. Black relationships are dying becase when to have less means to be more, to give less is to get more.

If I could get some face time with Barack I'd go

2008-02-07T09:29:00.000-06:00

So I decided I would not skip class this morning to go watch Barack. I know we aren't going to do shit in any of my classes as usual. I've had assignments so far, nothing I couldn't have completed in my sleep, but we really haven't accomplished much in any of my classes. It's not that I wouldn't be interested in hearing what he has to say, but it doesn't really matter. To me everything that comes out of a Politician's mouth when they're running for office is bullshit anyway. It's all scripted and has its agenda. They study and disect the speeches of their opponent and then structure theirs' to counterdebate what the last guy just talked about. It's a big show and tell. I'd much rather have heard Obama speak before running or if he loses. Most of what he'll say if he is voted President will also be bullshit. Not to demean the guy or my support of him but to me it just seems that becoming President will mean he'll have to answer to the same guys as Bush, so there's only so much lattitude he can get anyway. Of course it's not the same thing. I remember last time when Bush was re-elected I was positive the world would be over before we saw another president. But the truth is that America's domestic problems are its own creation. I'll spare the conspiracy theories here, but I do believe that America is smart enough to solve it's problems. There are reforms in place in other countries that America could be modeling to deal with issues with crime, education etc. But the fact is America is invested in having an underclass. Sadly we don't get to vote on who's rich, so those people can maintain their power, which they aren't shy about using to keep poor people poor. Poor people, can farm our lands, do our labor and fight our wars. If everyone were rich we'd be left with only the few thousand patriots to act as our defense, and America's way too paranoid to limit ourselves like that. So it really doesn't matter who's president when it comes down to just the most basic of problems. To be honest right now I would settle for Barack or Clinton just because I believe it's in both of their best interests to get us out of the war. But I don't like playing games or getting all riled up and spirited with rhetoric just to see New Orleans continue to thrive in poverty, crime and poor education.

Here's the part where you ask me why do I even bother voting if I'm so anti-political.

Because I'm a spiteful bastard and I know those same rich, white people, who would rather see me in fatigues, don't want me to vote.

So I guess I'll go do the memory of Medgar Evers some justice and practice my suffrage. But I think I'll skip the pep rally cause it's more important to maintain the little momentum I have as far as getting to class so someday I can run for for black President

That being said...Obama in 08!

18-1*

2008-02-07T08:39:00.000-06:00

18-1*
I think we all learned 2 valuable lessons from the Superbowl.

1. Tom Brady is not better than Peyton Manning. His only claim to be better than him to this point is his misconstrued success in the Superbowl. But against a legitimate pass rush and a team with the nerve to be more physical than his was Brady folded under the pressure.

2. God don't like ugly. All the shit the Pats talked did not fall on deaf ears. God has an ego and wants us to submit and be humble. You tell the world you can't be stopped and God will stop you to spite your mouth. You cheat to gain an advantage, your advantage will be used against you because you will be weakened when you don't have that crutch. You run up the score on other professionals, somebody bigger and badder than you will step on your face and make you run from it with a second still remaining on the clock. And the whole world will know you are cowards who don't have the sportsmanship of my 8th grade basketball players that at least have the decency to line up and shake hands win or lose.

Here's a valuable lesson only a couple of us learned. When your friends ask you to come in town because they haven't seen you in months you should probably just come in town, otherwise you might have to sit and watch your favorite team get their ass whipped and not even have a shoulder to cry on. In the immortal words of the Hockey Coach on Billy Madison "Better luck next year."

I honestly haven't been that excited about a professional sports win since...well, last year when the Pats got it handed to them by Peyton, Addai, Marlin Jackson, and the rest of the Colts.

Slideshows

2008-01-10T20:47:00.000-06:00

Accountability

2007-12-05T01:34:00.000-06:00

I usually don't talk about my plans. Not just on here but really I don't talk too much to anyone about them. Maybe one friend or two that I feel comfortable saying things with because I know they know me well enough. But in general, I made a conscious decision a long time ago not to talk about the conditional. I know how flaky of a person I can be, and I hate the idea of talking a big game then not living up to it. I have this skewed concept of integrity where it's ok not to do things I should do as long as I don't promise out loud that I will. I don't feel like I'm a quitter. But I am wishy-washy and a lot of time my priorities change cause I can't keep my focus for too long at a time. There's always so much going on I want to do and I go through these phases where one thing takes precedence one month then falls to the backburner the next. That being said there are some goals I set for myself I've been a little comfortable talking about and some I haven't really spoken on at all. The time is drawing nearer to execute or begin these goals. So here is my own check and balance on myself. Once I've put this out there there's no taking it back, so I guess this is my way of promising myself I'll stick with it and make these things happen. I always use the word accountability when I'm coaching my kids. I guess it's high time I applied it.

GOALS FOR 2008

1. I intend to finish my first novel before my 30th birhtday

I think this is the most important one for me so I'll list it first. Initially when I set this goal for myself I wanted to have it published by that time but I know that's unreasonable cause I really don't have control of that kind of thing. But it's well within my control to have a finished version of this by my May 20th deadline. My problem is that I can never stay focused with my writing. Even now in my head I have about 10 other writing projects I feel like starting. I feel like the black middle class and even upper middle class is so underrepresented and they need my voice. I want to write a series of short stories about a black superheroine. I want to write my novel I had started working on "The Liberation of Leonard" which is stored away in my unaccesible hard drive on my broken computer. And I really want to write a Spoken Word movie in the same vein as "Love Jones." I need to go back and revise some old scripts which I feel like could be written better now that I have more experience. I want to write a short story about sex from a woman's perspective. Shit, the list goes on. I can never just sit down and say to myself get all the other stuff out of your head. But I also feel like once I accomplish this goal it will help everything else fall into line. Of course I felt that way when I completed my first short story and my first screenplay and here I am still struggling with writer's overload. But anyway, too bad too sad for all of that cause now that I've said it I gotta finish up. I think I'm about 1/3 finished or so but I still got a long way to go!

2. I will complete a full length CD and DVD of my spoken word

This one is actually probably the easiest of all the goals. I feel like if I had 500 dollars and two weeks this one could be finished at any time. That being said I've felt this way since about July. But it's not so untrue. I already have all the poetry composed and the beats that go with it. It's just a matter of freshening up on the spit of it and getting in a stuido. As far as the videos I just would need a little bit of help and I would be wrapped in not too long at all because the concepts for the remaining videos are still fresh in my head. The problem I came across with this was that at the end of the summer when I was broke and struggling I was working really hard at putting the CD together. I basically recorded a reasonable version of a product I like in my room using some Maguyver like recording techniques and improvisation. But I quickly grew weary of my own work because I felt like I was doing it for the wrong reasons. Having a spoken word cd and a dvd of self-produced videos was never anything I longed for in my youth so these goals were pretty fresh to me. When I initially thought of doing it it was just because I thought it would be pretty cool to have my own CD and make it sound like I wanted to sound. But then I was actually offered a distribution and management deal, which even though this was a pretty sleeazy dude who probably wanted to make me a penniless recording artist, and it made me think of the marketability I might have on more than just a local level if I could make some things happen. So with this adjustment in goals I ended up putting all of this hard work into a project that became more about me making money than me making something I would want to represent me. Which isn't to say that the integrity of the work suffered at all because the creative side of it was done. But I found myself burned out becoming frustrated having to do all the work for myself and not being able to work at the pace I wanted to. So when I was finally finished with the demo version of my CD I didn't even want to listen to it. But I think I'm far enough removed from it now, and I've gotten financially stable enough to where It's not going to be a hustle when I finish but exactly what I hoped it would be, which is an accurate auditory representation of me. I think this will end up being more of a summer/late spring goal. Probably try to get started on it right about the time I finish the novel.

3. Time to graduate

Although the Novel is the most important to me on a universal scale, I think this is the most important in the present. I've never been shy about my lack of motivation in school. In fact I've often bragged about how I managed to rid myself of the stigma I once felt of being an underachiever, because I never attained a degree. And to be honest I'm still not very interested in school. But I need to graduate. I realized this summer that I can't be the coach my kids need me to be until that happens.

A. I'm not financially independent enough to do all the things for them I'd like. I've had to work odd jobs which take up a lot of time that I could be devoting to them. It's a catch 22 kind of thing. In order to work a job where I'm required to work the hours I do, I've had to find supplemental jobs that can work around that. Which eats away at time I could be giving to them in other capacities besides school site coaching. Not too mention it would be nice to do things like buy them lunch which I just don't always have the means to do cause the budget is thin as white people hair.

B. I'm not an ideal role model. The example I set right now is basically "You can get by" because more or less that's what I've been doing for so long. Getting by instead of reaching my potential. I certainly don't believe that college is the end all be all. But I also believe in taking advantage of your opportunities and there's no reasonable excuse I can give my kids why I don't have a degree. So who am I to try to instill values of working hard in school when I haven't proven I will do so myself.

C. As of right now I'm unhirable for positions I might be needed for in the future. Our basketball coach is this great guy Hunter Higgins. He's really sharp and knows his stuff and I'm learning a lot about coaching working with him with the high school kids. He's a good hire and good for our program so it was definitely a blessing that he was available when the job came open. But the thing about Hunter is that he's ambitious. And that's not a bad thing, but Lusher is not the kind of school that can support what he wants to do with a basketball program. We share one Gym between about 6 basketball teams. And even though boys high school basketball gets priority, between practices, and games, added to the fact that our basketball world will get bigger the farther we go and try to maintain all these different teams, there just isn't enough room. And the administration, which is modeling some of the academinc programs which don't put as much stress on the atheletic programs, is not really a good fit for Hunter's agenda. So I don't count on him hanging around for too much longer. I think the class of Freshman he has now are going to be able to compete for a state championship their Junior and senior year and after that I can fully imagine Hunter giving some definite ultimatums that probably won't be met. So when that time comes I need to be in a position where I can step in and assume that role so that all the work building the program doesn't go to waste trying to bring in someone new with a different agenda.

Point is all the time I've spent living my carefree lifestyle, which believe me I don't regret, is coming to an end now just as I new it someday would with the onset of new motivations sue to responsibilities I wasn't expecting. I always thought it would be kids I shared DNA with that would motivate me to stop looking forward to playing cards all night so I could wake up on time to go to work. But as it turns out it's a big ol' bunch of other people's kids who got me trying to do the impossible. I've never had a semester where I've completed more than 9 hours of coursework, either due to dropped classes, failed classes, or just not taking a lot of hours. Next Spring I'll be attempting twice that because I know my motivations are fleeting and the only way I feel I can trust myself to do it is to get it done as soon as possible. So hopefully by the end of the Fall semester I'll be finished with school and be able to take a position at the school where i can actually be there all day with them instead of for just a couple of hours in the evening.

I don't think I can do it alone. So by telling the world I've taken on the burden of expectation. I hope I can find the perseverance and keep the motivation to stay on track with this because I'm trying to accomplish probably the three most important things of my life thus far in one little old calendar year. Hopefully, this time next year I'll be writing a different blog about some shit I did instead of some stuff I wanna do.

F'n Saints

2007-12-02T22:47:00.000-06:00

I had been planning for weeks on writing my blog about how much I hate Les Miles. I was too lazy to get around to it, that is until they lost to Arkansas. But then I decided against writing it because I thought it would be too popular a sentiment and I was too lazy to get around to it, so instead I hated him in the privacy of my own mind. Well, of course earlier today when it appeared LSU has backdoored its' way into the national championship game I was re-enthused about writing for my hatred of Les Miles when Sean Payton made it all to clear that I need a perspective check, cause no matter how stupid I think a coach is, there's always someone out there who will trump him with something even stupider.

Now don't misunderstand me. I'm by no means thankful for having an idiot as LSU's coach. luckily all I have to do is avoid going blind or commiting negligent homicide in the next five weeks and I get what I wanted anyway, but with the burden of knowing Les will be there (and beyond) too. Les Miles is like if George Bush, Steve Martin and Forrest Gump had a baby. He's clueless and while he has the charisma of a leader he clearly lacks the understanding, or the temprament of one. And I question whether he has the football intelligence to be a coach. He's managed to turn the most talented team in the country into the most exciting team.

That's not a good thing!

LSU should be pounding people the way champions of the past like '95 Nebraska or '96 Florida champions did. They should have a New England Patriot like command over the College Football world. Instead every game is a new adventure. Consistently down in the 4th quarter of games with the formidable opponents, the Tigers have been called upon to make clutch play after clutch play with 0 margin for error. They've been in panic situations in 6 of their games this year. This is largely due to Miles' bad personell decisions, poor clock management, questionable play-calling, and most of all, I believe, his happy-go-lucky, cavalier attitude towards the game of football, which has to trickle down to his team just by the poor example he sets if nothing else. How many times have they shown premature celebrations of Les' which turned out not to merit discussion only because his team has cop? Let's break down the season's pivotal games.

Vs #9 Virginia Tech and
Vs #12 South Carolina convincing wins. Kudos.
Vs #9 Florida trailed much of the game and needed 4 different 4th down conversions to ensure victory. Some might call that clutch performance. I call it lacking a sense of urgency. no need for them to be in 4 down terrirtory if they convert more third downs. That's a play calling and management issue
Vs #17 Kentucky allowed Kentucky back in the game in one of those letdowns that happen after really big wins that coaches are supposed to not let happen. Called for a run play on 4th down in 3rd ot which was tripped up well short. Probably arrogance just believing no matter what play they threw out there it was bound to work.
Vs #19 Auburn Horrendous clock management on the game winning drive. Took way to long and no sense of urgency meant they found themselves in 4 down terrirtory again. Converted that crucial 4th, then moved into field goal range. Instead of kicking a long field goal to take the lead he lets Flynn underthrow to a man in the end zone. fortunately Flynn is not sacked allowing the clock to run out nor is he intercepted cause the corner doesn't turn around. But before the pass is even completed Les Miles can be seen beating his team out on the field in celebration. Not a good example. In letting his emotions get the best of him he doesn't send his team in to go for two. With 2 seconds left in the game the next time Auburn touches the ball they have to score. if they score a touchdown they win...unless the 2 points is successful. Is it improbable they would score a touchdown? Yes. Did Millsaps throw 15 laterals to win a game just a few weeks after this? Yes! Coaches are supposed to be able to hold it together so they can think clearly through things like this because their players don't have the clarity to do so. But of course the improbable didn't happen so that idiocy just fell by the wayside for everyone but me.
Vs #17 Alabama An overrated Alabama team forced LSU into a massive ammount of penalties and turnovers and once again late game heroics to the tune of 2td's in the last 3 minutes of the game were the only thing keeping them alive.
Vs Arkansas I honestly can't even remember the management issues I had with the way LSU conducted their last scoring drive in regulation. I just know that they went about closing the game out with a drive that would make or break them. Being a fan you have to always feel like there's a limit to how many times your team can overcome obstacles in these pressure filled situations. But the Arrogance of Les Miles just assuming that the job will get done with little regard for the possibility that sometimes it doesn't get done once again amazed me. Of course LSU managed to force overtime and then the defense just couldn't get a stop to save their lives but I don't necessairily blame that on Miles. It's what got them to OT in the first place I have my issues with.

This stuff ate away at me all season cause there was nothing worse to me than the possibility of having to watch a national championship game without LSU, and just as importantly with two teams I have no interest in, kind of like when USC played Oklahoma a few years back and I don't think I watched any two consecutive plays in that game. A January not being able to cheer for my team is not a January I want to embrace. which sadly brings me to the reason this blog actually came to fruition in the first place.

I guess since it's '07 now and the Saints aren't the darling of the NFL anymore cause no one cares too much what goes on here, unless it's fantasy football related, there's a chance this won't go down for the media as the STUPIDEST thing EVER to happen in a football game. But for those of us Saints fans who had punched our ticket to Arizona this Winter this might be one of those things flashing before us on a deathbed. Let's just say the Dolphins were leading 23-20 against the hapless Jets today and they did this play. It would still probably be the play that defined a winless season, and would still rank as the STUPIDEST thing EVER done in an NFL game. But the Saints weren't 0-11, they were 5-6. They weren't playing the other team lurking at the bottom of the division...nay, the NFL. They were playing the Division leader. They weren't playing for respect. They were playing for respect and for the reason any of us watch football in the first place; a shot at divison championship i.e. a Superbowl. I mean, undoubtedly they're not a superbowl team. That's pretty obvious when you see stuff like that happen. But at least fool me. Give me the rest of December and maybe some of January til you let me down. I like to think I'm poetic, but watching that play I was only left with the cliche "You gotta be kidding me." That's like the next thing to being speechless. It seemed like it could only be a joke that Jon Gruden was in on. "Jon we're going to run an end around lateral play ten yards behind the line of scrimmage with a skiddish, fumble prone, Reggie Bush throwing a poor lateral. But I'm just playing. We're gonna need the ball right back ok?"

Honestly, it's my own fault. I should have already been prepared for this, and known I hated Sean Payton after last year in the Dome when instead of just giving the ball to an effective Deuce McCallister to run out the clock against Philly, they ran a pitch play to shaky, unreliable, ass Reggie Bush that he promptly layed on the ground. After a terrible weekend fantasy football wise, and LSU wise last week I thought sometimes it's just not your weekend. Then with LSU getting in I thought maybe life would give me some retribution and there was a weekend out there for me. Then for no particular reason Sean Payton told Reggie Bush to toss my glorious weekend to the Bucs. Who knows, maybe the Saints will backdoor their way into something special too. And I'll flip back to the love side of this relationship. Or maybe Les Miles saw something he liked about that Sean Payton playcalling and will go to him seeking advice for the Championship game.

Shame on you

2007-09-25T16:22:00.001-05:00

Anyone who knows me well knows I HATE The Patriots. I hate the organization, I hate Tom Brady and I hate Bill Belichick. The organization itself makes a practice of hardballing players and giving them cutrate salaries. For years they've shown no loyalty to their players, devaluing them because they know Belichick, who is a good coach, could make do with more affordable ones. Belichick is a smarmy little bastard who reminds me of all the people from Franklin that I didn't like, like Michael Schlefstein and that dude named Matt who wasn't Matt Wessel. And Tom Brady...well, it's not even his fault I hate him. It's these assholes in the media who try to suggest that he's somehow better than Peyton Manning because Peyton chose Football, a team game, over Tennis, a game he actually can win all by himself. I'll get back to that later.

So nothing in week one gave me greater pleasure than to hear that Eric Mangini, who was most likely pissed at Bill for trying to run up the score on him, ratted his dog ass out. A violation so serious it begs into question the legitimacy of any and every win the Pats ever had. At least for me it does. Back to Brady again. Sometimes this guy has like 10 seconds in the pocket. Sometimes he actually is pretty good about getting the ball to the only place that it can go successfully. Certainly the kind of attributes that could be accentuated if say HE KNEW EXACTLY WHAT THE DEFENSE WOULD BE DOING AT THE TIME. Granted they've only gotten caught one time. But I NEVER got caught cheating on a girlfriend so that one time might as well be a million. I don't know nor do I care to what extent he used cheating in the past. What's done is done. I would love to see them srtipped clean of all three Superbowls and AFC Championship games won under Belichick. But the Tarnish on their so called Dynasty is enough to satiate me for now. If I could do something about these assholes insisting USC has a dynasty I could die happy, but I suspect LSU will have something to say about that in January. As far as I'm concerned the only Modern Dynastys are the 49er's and Lakers of the 80's, Cowboys of the 90's, and of course the most important the Bulls of the 90's which is the most impressive of all because in a league not diluted with expansion like The so called Spurs Dynasty era is, nor minimalized by only 8 teams like the Celtics of the 60's The Bulls competed at the top of the top sport and could not be stopped by athelete, time nore complacency. Anyway, I'm getting off task

Fuck the Patriots. For More on why I hate Tom Brady here's an Email I sent to Bill Simmons in reference to one of his articles on ESPN.com.

Let me start by saying I dig your column. You're a
helluva funny guy. Even though I hate the patriots I
can appreciate your loyalty. I usually check your
articles on the way to my fantasy page so I've never
felt an impulse to respond but you absolutely incensed
me with the statement "How many Superbowls would Brady
have won if he had Manning's supporting cast?"

Are you kidding?!?

I'm not a bandwagon Patriot hater. I've hated them
since the first time they beat the Colts (my perennial
favorite team since Manning got there) But nothing
chaps me more than talk of Tom Brady being a superior
QB to Manning because of his 3 Superbowl rings.
Nothing can be more misleading. If for whatever reason
we were to switch Manning and Brady's uniforms I think
he would have probably won, oh...3 or 4 Superbowls.

1. Brady's contribution to those Superbowls were not
that impressive. He led them on two different 40 yard
drives in sub 2 minute drives against some ok
defenses. Other than that what? He did basically
nothing but manage the game against the Rams and then
marched them on a dink and dunk drive to Vinatieri
range which was somewhere near Bourbon street that
year since he was making game tying and winning
fieldgoals of 40+ in the snow. I don't doubt Drew
Bledsoe could have won them that Superbowl with the
defense stepping up against the potent Rams offense
like that. The Rams Defense was a big play defense
with a bend but don't break philosophy. Kind of
perfect for driving circa the 30 yard line if you just
want to throw 6 yard passes to Troy Brown. Brady
played well against the Panthers for the second half
of the game and the end of the second quarter, but I
don't necessairily feel like he outplayed Jake
Delhomme in that game. Jake's game was magical in some
Brett Favre legacy kind of fashion against the Pats D
that Wore out the Colts super offense. And then once
again was saved by the foot of the most clutch kicker
in NFL history after the Panthers kicker botched it
big time leaving them to only drive 40 yards to
paydirt. He played pretty good against the Eagles too
but couldn't even beat out Deion Branch for player of
the game. There's not one single doubt in my mind that
tells me Peyton couldn't have done as well or better
in any of these positions.

2. Manning's supporting cast was inferior every year
up until 2006. I suppose you would like to suggest
that Edgerrin James is far superior to Antowain Smth
and Kevin Faulk as a combination. And that Marvin
Harrison, Reggie Wayne combo is better than Branch,
Patten, Brown/ reciever by commitee. And I won't argue
that skillwise there's an obvious advantage to the
Colts. HOWEVER, that advantage is rendered fairly
insgnificant to the Pats Advantage defensively. Marvin
is a precise route runner with great hands. But he's
not Terrel Owens, Jerry Rice, Randy Moss etc. in terms
of big play ability. He's not gonna take a 5 yard pass
nearly get tackled and will himself vertical Like
Steve Smith last week. So to be perfectly honest his
and Wayne's contribution aren't too dissimilar to Troy
Brown's steady hole in the zone finding. Same for
Edge. He defenitely could get you those 7 or 8 yard
runs Emmit SMith style but there was no Barry Sanders
60 yard explosionslike he would do before the knee
injury. And with the Pats line which I feel was
superior to the Colts and their play action run
philosophy the running game contributed nearly as
efficiently as Edge. Now here's the thing. When you
matchup these weapons, Harrison, Wayne, Edge, against
the Pats defense all of a sudden I'm laying odds with
Brady everytime. Marvin either fumbled away, couldn't
catch or just plain couldn't even get off the line
against the physical (often defensive holding) play
from the Pats D. What is Peyton supposed to do then?
Become Michale Vick? I mean seriously, I love Marvin
and I appreciate he won't need Gene Upshaw's help when
his career is done, but have you ever seen a non Rams
reciever take more dives after a catch to avoid
getting tackled in any given year? The guy's soft,
especially come playoff time. I would take Troy Brown
over Marvin ten times out of ten in a championship
game. I gaurantee you this...if Brady had to face his
own defense without the benefit of his line, which
sometimes gave him betwen 6-8 seconds to look
downfield, and not Indy's marginal/poor defense in
those years they beat the Colts in the playoffs we
would certainly have a different opinion about Tom's
status as a QB in this era.

I got Moss in the 6th round of two fantasy leagues so
this is the first year I have been abe to see a Brady
touchdown pass without utter disgust in many moons.
But I think what takes the sting off his success this
season the most is that I don't have to hear any more
illogical mularkey about how he can win the big game
and Manning can't. When Peyton is done he will be
called the best quarterback to ever play the game
similar to when Jordan was able to beat the Pistons
finally he ascended to the rank of undisputed best
basketball player ever. Tom Brady is good, top 2 or 3
in NFL right now (I still like Carson talentwise) but
in an "all things being equal" playing field, Peyton
would be the one sporting the hardware

Late night with A&G

2007-08-08T06:41:00.000-05:00

The grammar is terrible but the content may be worth something.

rasta FENIX: to bed i say
Gian Smith: man
Gian Smith: I started feeling spiritual as a MF
rasta FENIX: lol
Gian Smith: I'm writing apology letters to my ex girlfriends
rasta FENIX: watchin more porn huh?
Gian Smith: nah
rasta FENIX: dayum
Gian Smith: I was looking for something and I found an old email
Gian Smith: and it prompted me to read some emails froman ex
Gian Smith: and I realized how bad I fucked over her
Gian Smith: but the thing is
rasta FENIX: wow..
rasta FENIX: tha's pretty noble of u.
Gian Smith: even after we broke up I was still blaming her for shit
Gian Smith: when I was really doing allkind of fucked up stuff she neverhad a clue about
Gian Smith: An I been talking a lot of shit tomyself lately about how righteous I am and shit
rasta FENIX: ah
Gian Smith: so I figured it was some punk shit to think sohighly of myself but still be perpetuating the misconception I was an angel
rasta FENIX: u heard that akon song
rasta FENIX: im sorry?
Gian Smith: when I really was aanything but
Gian Smith: nah
Gian Smith: fuck Akon
rasta FENIX: i agree
rasta FENIX: fuck akon.
Gian Smith: lol
rasta FENIX: i HATE his music
rasta FENIX: but i admit
rasta FENIX: the song was some of the realist shit ive heard
rasta FENIX: his entire song.. was sayin "blame me" it was my fault.. i take responsibility for.. x, y, and z
rasta FENIX: . like to his mom.. to his girl.. to his friends.. to his fans (however few there might be)
Gian Smith: lol
Gian Smith: nigga was like ...
Gian Smith: my bad for this shitty ass album
rasta FENIX: lol
Gian Smith: nigga trying to get out his contract
rasta FENIX: basicly
rasta FENIX: LOLLLL
rasta FENIX: really though.. lyrically.. its not strong.. but content wise.. its pretty honarable shit
5:20 AM
rasta FENIX: neway.. sorry to interrupt
Gian Smith: check your email
5:25 AM
rasta FENIX: good shit
5:30 AM
rasta FENIX: impressive,,, on many levels,, and for wat its worth,, im proud of u
Gian Smith: thanks
rasta FENIX: pass it on
Gian Smith: I think it's going to liberate me
Gian Smith: not that I felt opressed
rasta FENIX: as it should
rasta FENIX: not that u should hsve
rasta FENIX: or maybe u should have
Gian Smith: but I can feel like I actually am worthy of the distinction I try to give meyself of being honest with women
Gian Smith: lol
rasta FENIX: and your knowing NOW that u should have felt oppressed,,, is in itself a liberation
rasta FENIX: true indeed
Gian Smith: hmm
Gian Smith: that's the best kind of liberation
Gian Smith: because you don'thave to go through the bad feelings of being opressed
rasta FENIX: glad u agree.
Gian Smith: you just have to know you should have felt bad about it
rasta FENIX: true
rasta FENIX: ya know what.
rasta FENIX: i dont think ive been an out an out bad guy to any of my women
rasta FENIX: .though.. a bit of what u said.. in terms of blame placing could apply to me. im sure. (though.. i feel ive been wronged more than any of them)
rasta FENIX: maybe im not grown or mature enough to admit any further.
rasta FENIX: my problem is this
rasta FENIX: i consider myself average
rasta FENIX: .. i think im a regular guy..
rasta FENIX: .. and .. people so often tell me NO.. u're spectacular
rasta FENIX: . at which point. im like NOO.. im realy like.. your AVERAGE guy.
rasta FENIX: and they're like.. look at u .. ur so humble
rasta FENIX: im like .. noo really.. ur missing it
rasta FENIX: i have cheated.. i have lied.. i have stolen (i thnk ).. i am weak on many fronts.
rasta FENIX: i am lazy.. and lack ambition more often than not.
rasta FENIX: but.. all people seem to toss accolades at me like cocnuts during zulu
rasta FENIX: .. and im like.. SHEESH
Gian Smith: I know what you're saying
Gian Smith: really I do
rasta FENIX: and its like.. WTF can i do..
Gian Smith: but you have to realize that just because you're HUMAN
Gian Smith: doesn'tmean you aren't also spectacular
rasta FENIX: i guess.
Gian Smith: you can take it as a complimnet if you want
Gian Smith: but it's also a burden
Gian Smith: it's not a choice to have an aura
rasta FENIX: .. oh.. definately a burden
Gian Smith: it's just what happens
Gian Smith: people gravitate towards you
Gian Smith: regardless of the faults they choose to ignore
rasta FENIX: .. i feel as though.. people's view of me.. no matter how inaccurate.. dictates what the expect of me.. and when and if if DONT deliver.. THEN.. the disappointment is multiplied.. and what can i really say "told you i was regular"
rasta FENIX: faults?.... what faults
rasta FENIX: lol
Gian Smith: you have gifts and magnetism which superceedes your faults as long as you aren't hurting anyone
Gian Smith: lol
Gian Smith: um
Gian Smith: scroll up
rasta FENIX: hey hey hey.. i dont know if these faults u speak of.
5:40 AM
Gian Smith: nigga you spoke em
Gian Smith: I just cosigned
rasta FENIX: and i dont know why was writing in this window earlier
Gian Smith: nigga wrote a soliloquy bout his faults
Gian Smith: so....
Gian Smith: youve been afraid of not living up to expectation for two decades
Gian Smith: yet you continue to exceede expectations
Gian Smith: what does that tell you?
Gian Smith: maybe if you spent less time worrying about failing you might actually fail
rasta FENIX: that the world is a horrible place with rediculously low standards
Gian Smith: and from there you would acheive
rasta FENIX: maybe ill only achieve at failing .. if i fail to achieve
Gian Smith: and now we're right back to it's nothing
rasta FENIX: .. yes..
rasta FENIX: its always nothin.
rasta FENIX: .. seriously though.. u read my speal about being average.. right
Gian Smith: yeah
rasta FENIX: we spoke of that before
Gian Smith: yep
rasta FENIX: if i tell a hoe.. im FAT.
rasta FENIX: .. hoes is like.. NO U NOOOOT.. IMMM FAT..
rasta FENIX: im like.. bitch u aint seen my stomach..
rasta FENIX: .. but i know u aint fat though..
rasta FENIX: how is it that when one is honest with onesself.. the world keeps lyin to you
5:45 AM
Gian Smith: LOL
Gian Smith: people see what they want
Gian Smith: we all know this
rasta FENIX: i guess that's the long and the shirrt of it
Gian Smith: so if people only see the good in you so be it
rasta FENIX: short
Gian Smith: here's the thing
Gian Smith: and let me preface this with a nohomo
rasta FENIX: lol
Gian Smith: the thing that makes you most spectacular is that you use your powers to do more good than evil
rasta FENIX: is that REALLY so rare?
Gian Smith: I'm sure you feel bad about things that happen with women who you aren't on the same level as they are with you
Gian Smith: and maybe you should
rasta FENIX: .. i mean.. i know im naive.. but.. am i completely anne frank'n round this bitch
Gian Smith: well
rasta FENIX: yeah
Gian Smith: most people who have your gifts would be totally manipulative
Gian Smith: and lack regard for those who fell beneath them
Gian Smith: they would use the Young Goodman Browns of the world
rasta FENIX: i beg to differ.. i feel as though the gifts i have .. came to me.. with some understanding of my ability..
Gian Smith: they would use the Susies and the Janes
Gian Smith: and I'm sure on some level you feel like you use all of them
rasta FENIX: the confidence to have swagger came from being able to recognize how people see me..
rasta FENIX: use the Young Goodman Browns?
Gian Smith: sure
rasta FENIX: ...?
Gian Smith: I don't know how
Gian Smith: maybe you feel like you use his loyaty
Gian Smith: maybe you don't
Gian Smith: but the thing is you could use his loyalty
Gian Smith: if you wanted to
Gian Smith: in a way that would be detrimental to him
rasta FENIX: i never even considered that.
Gian Smith: but you use people in a fashion that brings them up as well
Gian Smith: which is a spectacular thing
rasta FENIX: the thing is.. i DO think he's a pathetic lil twirp (ONLY in the sense of his self image)... but.. i think he's a powerful man.. who doesnt recognize his own ability... in a sence i feel that he DOES have control .. and cant be so easily manipulated.. (but chooses to let it happen)
rasta FENIX: bring them up?
rasta FENIX: i intend to.. but i cant say that i see myself actually doing this
Gian Smith: well
Gian Smith: how many women have you talked to to who've been in relationships where they felt like they were constantly giving
Gian Smith: probably all of them have felt that way
Gian Smith: Now of all the vast relationships you have with women how many of them do you think feel like you're being that kind of a burden to them
Gian Smith: there are guys with charm, money, good looks who only want to conquer women
Gian Smith: gain their submission
rasta FENIX: ya lost me with the first part of this.
rasta FENIX: i gotta re read it
Gian Smith: but you present a symbiotic relationship
Gian Smith: this is what I'm saying
Gian Smith: tosummise
Gian Smith: people (men and women) are always going to want more from you than you have or even want to give
rasta FENIX: ya think
rasta FENIX: ..
Gian Smith: I truly feel the majority of people in the world would offer the promise of things they did not intend on giving if they were in your shoes
rasta FENIX: .... i admit some would.
rasta FENIX: but.. i feel that .. once u have what i have.. and are in MY shoes..
Gian Smith: but you give people what you will of yourself without creating the unrealistc/unhealthy expectation
rasta FENIX: then u. dont see the value in it
Gian Smith: crazy talk
Gian Smith: I don't think you realize how much we have in common
rasta FENIX: lol
rasta FENIX: oh contrair
Gian Smith: there is a portion of the world you rarely come in contact with who feel the way about me that people feel about you
Gian Smith: I've been revered
Gian Smith: so much to the point of self doubt to whether it was deserved or if I was just a fraud
Gian Smith: But through great self-reflection I realised that it's not an accident that those people saw me that way
Gian Smith: and that my heart and my good intentions were what would separate me from the man I want to be and the man I feared I might be
rasta FENIX: so..
rasta FENIX: that leaves u at the man u are.
rasta FENIX: but where does he fall on that scale
6:00 AM
Gian Smith: well that's the thing
Gian Smith: in order to become the man I am I had to humble myself a great deal
Gian Smith: because I couldn't handle my own arrogance
Gian Smith: I thought a little too highly of myself
Gian Smith: in that I had to give up some of my "swagger"
rasta FENIX: tha's our difference.
rasta FENIX: i feel i have an edge up on the world in ONE regard.. (i know the truth about me).
rasta FENIX: .. tha truth is that. im fuckin AVERAGE
Gian Smith: there's a difference between HUMAN and AVERAGE
Gian Smith: you are capable of all things manis capable of
Gian Smith: an average person is not as well received nor do they know how to reciprocate their reception
rasta FENIX: ok.. that.. makes sense..
rasta FENIX: and on that i stand corrected.
Gian Smith: I think it would do you a great service to fail at something
Gian Smith: something visible
rasta FENIX: touche
Gian Smith: so that you could see that people would still have faith in you
rasta FENIX: i fail all the time
Gian Smith: but not visibly
rasta FENIX: they just ignore that shit..and act like it didnt happen
Gian Smith: not publicly visibly
Gian Smith: hmmm
Gian Smith: maybe
Gian Smith: I can see that too
rasta FENIX: basketball, karate, school, what cha got
Gian Smith: but I guess that's what I'm saying
Gian Smith: is that people can see you fail if they want to
Gian Smith: but they don't want to
Gian Smith: and they'll always believe in you
Gian Smith: but it's not an accident
Gian Smith: once again
Gian Smith: let's bring this back to me
Gian Smith: You will sit here and tell me how great a writer you feel I am
Gian Smith: and I feel like I am a great writer
Gian Smith: but at what gain?
Gian Smith: I could have written a book 7 years ago
Gian Smith: but I haven't
Gian Smith: in m mind that's a faliure
rasta FENIX: .. cuz u wack
Gian Smith: precisely
rasta FENIX: and it is
rasta FENIX: u're a great writer.. who happens to be wack
Gian Smith: but you don't see me as a failure because you know my potential
Gian Smith: it's not your goal for me to have writtena book 7 years ago
Gian Smith: so I haven't failed in your eyes
Gian Smith: you know that someday I will have completed a book you will pass along to your friends
Gian Smith: and for that reason you believe in me
Gian Smith: same thing
rasta FENIX: .. i say my following statement with the utmost respect... but.. i feel that YOU are more like me than a LOTTA other people.. and by saying that. i DO feel u are hella average.. and that the world sees what they want of u. (myself included) it takes removal of myself from the equation to say that.. but i feel that way
Gian Smith: if I'm average
Gian Smith: and you're average
Gian Smith: then we're all average
rasta FENIX: uhhuh
Gian Smith: now aren't we
rasta FENIX: .. nahh
rasta FENIX: .. the rest of them fuckas.. is sub par
Gian Smith: who is spectacular?
Gian Smith: Michael Jordan?
rasta FENIX: .. melissa ford
Gian Smith: Puffy?
rasta FENIX: oh. puff is truly stupendous
Gian Smith: Niggas who are driven by their insecurities
rasta FENIX: .. he's a god in the flesh
Gian Smith: lol
rasta FENIX: puff is the truth
rasta FENIX: . dont nobody betta say nuthin bad about sean combs.. lol
Gian Smith: I submit that people with spectacular acheivements aren't necessarily spectacular people
rasta FENIX: hmm.
rasta FENIX: so a man cannot be judged by his actions in your book
Gian Smith: actions and achievements are also different
rasta FENIX: .. so what then ... is the value of a man?
Gian Smith: Bill Gates is a billionaire right?
Gian Smith: but how many people do you think he will reach in his life?
Gian Smith: everybody in a sense
rasta FENIX: fair enough.. but is an achievement.. and a failure not one in the same depending on which end of the stick you measure from .
Gian Smith: that's the thing
rasta FENIX: ok.
Gian Smith: you can look at it either way
Gian Smith: I'm sure Puffy would rather make 500 million dollars than to move 1000 people with his words
Gian Smith: I would rather move 1000 people than to make 500 million dollars
Gian Smith: the both of us will emotionally move more people than Bill Gates, Puffy, Master P combined
Gian Smith: in our life
Gian Smith: our value is in our Hearts
rasta FENIX: ok
Gian Smith: and our Art
rasta FENIX: you know how i know u're GAY
rasta FENIX: lol
Gian Smith: lol
Gian Smith: I'm being real
Gian Smith: I don't believe anyone in the world can mathematically have as many close friends as I do
Gian Smith: and for all Bill Gates is worth no one would want to be around him if he werent rich
Gian Smith: wheras you are broke as me and people gravitate to you
Gian Smith: achievement i what average niggas do when they trying to be spectacular
rasta FENIX: ok
rasta FENIX: .. well put
rasta FENIX: so what then.. Do spectacular niggas do?
Gian Smith: pass it on brotha
rasta FENIX: lol
Gian Smith: and that's real
rasta FENIX: hmmm..
rasta FENIX: i have just come up with the HOT NEW SHIT
rasta FENIX: like ta hear it.. hear it go
rasta FENIX: people blog.. about THIs and THAT.. and all kindsa shit. most people might now wanna read. (but PEOPLE READ BLOGS .. errryyday
rasta FENIX: .. y not.. encourge moving dialog like that whih we share regularly
rasta FENIX: by.. posting IM convos
Gian Smith: I agree
Gian Smith: I'll post if you post
rasta FENIX: cool.
Gian Smith: but before you finish
Gian Smith: you can copy after this
rasta FENIX: damit
rasta FENIX: i .. closed my window during this exchange
Gian Smith: lol
Gian Smith: I'l send it to you
Gian Smith: anyway
rasta FENIX: listening
Gian Smith: people get the internet because they NEED it
Gian Smith: but why do motherfuckers buy Tokyos?
rasta FENIX: so they can bless up
Gian Smith: Because Ayo and Gian toldem to
rasta FENIX: .. nah.. CUZ we drink tokyos'
Gian Smith: Goddamn right
rasta FENIX: YUP YUP
rasta FENIX: lol