Category: commentary

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The Power of Perseverance

“If life held no difficulties, we would never know what it was to persevere.” – Theodicus, 1798

You’ve heard it probably a million times: Practice makes perfect. Or: Try, try again. Or: You can do anything you set your mind to. Sometimes you believe it, and other times you roll your eyes so much they slide back into your head (ouch!), but your reaction usually depends on how your week has been going. If you’ve had a wonderful week, then you believe in perseverance paying off, but if your week has been horrendous, you are more prone to eye rolling histrionics.

Throughout it all, though, one thing remains true. If you learn from your mistakes you are better off than if you just keep making mistakes and never changing your patterns. That one is undeniable, even if you’ve never learned from any of your mistakes, because it just means you’re the one who doesn’t change, who doesn’t improve. Continue reading “The Power of Perseverance”

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4th of July

I am a black man living in the United States of America. You know I hardly ever use the race card, but in this case it is , very much relevant, so I mention it. On July 4th in 1776 a fledgling nation professed its independence in a bombastic declaration. While John Hancock was affixing his “John Hancock” to one of the most famous documents the world has ever known, a document that freed many people from oppressive rule, my ancestors were still suffering under a different kind of oppressive rule. So, how do I feel about Independence Day?

I love it (and not just because I was a bicentennial baby). Continue reading “4th of July”

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— Feeling Left Out

App not. Want not.

I admit it. I love Facebook. The FB app is on the first page of my phone’s apps, so when I turn it on it’s staring me in the face. I love Facebook so much that I even have the separate FB Messenger app, and the FB Page Manager app, even though I could probably do both of those things just fine from the original Facebook app. I just like being able to say I have three FB apps on my phone. Yeah, I’m just cool like that.

But I noticed something in the last couple of weeks that causes me distress. It seemed like everybody else who  used the mobile FB app could display how they were feeling in their status lines and I couldn’t. Heck, I still can’t. And I’m beginning to think that it’s some kind of conspiracy. Maybe not quite on the level of the “grassy knoll” thing, but pretty darn close. It’s like identity theft or something, but instead it’s app functionality theft. Continue reading “— Feeling Left Out”

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Isolated Moments

Life is a series of moments, strung together and laid out flat. If you paused for a second and looked at each one individually it would be like frames in a cartoon flip book. Each one looks slightly different from the one before it and after it, but you wouldn’t be able to tell unless … Continue reading Isolated Moments

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Just Nod Ya Head

I admit it. Sometimes I just nod along when others are saying something I have absolutely no clue about. I know I should probably just ask, but I don’t want to feel like a rube. That’s what using Bing to look something up after the fact is all about.

I’m sure you don’t do the same thing, though. I’m sure it’s just me. I think there are a finite number of topics any one person should know a lot about. And if they try to learn more than that their brains might possibly explode or become fondue or something.
Continue reading “Just Nod Ya Head”