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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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I Was At Disney Senior Night (or Not)

One thing most people don’t know about me was that I was on the Disney grounds during Senior Night (they call it Grad Nite now), 1994. Did you know that Disney World has a tradition where seniors from all over the U.S. can come to the Magic Kingdom and stay overnight on the grounds? They bring with them sleeping bags, and they can enjoy the park for that one night all night long. It’s a sight to see (and I wish I could have gotten a picture), all those sleeping bags lined up in neat, orderly rows throughout the park. It’s also something most people don’t get to see.

But I saw it. I was a senior in 1994 (well, sort of — that’s a tale for another blog entry), and I spent three straight days (and nights) on the Disney grounds. However, even though I was at Disney while Senior Night was going on, I didn’t get to participate in it. Well, I got to participate a small bit, but on the other side of it. You see, at Senior Night, since it’s an all-night party, there are usually musical guests who regal the campers with popular songs all night. In 1994, two of the biggest hip-hop/r&b acts were Zhane, and XScape, both of whom were playing that night. Continue reading “I Was At Disney Senior Night (or Not)”

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The Road Less Traveled

It’s funny how this was the daily prompt today when I wrote a whole book about this very concept. Today, we are supposed to write about a “road less traveled,” which means if we could have changed one major decision in our lives, how would it have played out? In my novel, Detours, I explore just this concept, and more than once too.

What I found so fascinating about it is that most people I talk to tell me they made their major decisions in life based on what other people thought. We honestly place so much faith in what others tell us. Either that, or peer pressure is more dominant than even I thought. And I am no different, except that I’ve made my major decisions in life based solely on women I’ve been in relationships with, and not really too much on what anyone else thought. Continue reading “The Road Less Traveled”

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Summer School English

Today was the first day of summer school, and for the third straight year I am teaching during the summer. It’s definitely an interesting thing, having students who have all failed more than one subject during the school year, but very few of them actually failed English (my subject matter). That makes it strange, teaching … Continue reading Summer School English