Part of rebuilding in New Orleans is complete

But will it stand up to a Category 4 hurricane?

Thank you for your efforts and work.

Happy Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday to one of the greatest musicians and composers to ever live!!!

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

The Truth Comes Out!

You Are 40% Weird

Normal enough to know that you're weird... But too damn weird to do anything about it!

How Weird Are You?

Big thanks to Richmond for the link! I think I'm less weird, but don't we all!

Be quiet Dawn!!!

Friends?

Got this in an email . . .

A simple friend, when visiting, acts like a guest. A real friend opens your refrigerator and helps himself (and doesn't feel even the least bit weird shutting your beer/Pepsi drawer with her foot!)

A simple friend has never seen you cry. A real friend has shoulders soggy from your tears..

A simple friend doesn't know your parents' first names. A real friend has their phone numbers in his address book.

A simple friend brings a bottle of wine to your party. A real friend comes early to help you cook and stays late to help you clean.

A simple friend hates it w hen you call after they've gone to bed. A real friend asks you why you took so long to call.

A simple friend seeks to talk with you about your problems. A real friend seeks to help you with your problems.

A simple friend wonders about your romantic history. A real friend could blackmail you with it.

A simple friend thinks the friendship is over when you have an argument. A real friend calls you after you had a fight.

A simple friend expects you to always be there for them. A real friend expects to always be there for you!

Create a caption

And yes, the church is composed entirely of legos!

Itching for a scratch

Are you tired of flipping your mattress, cleaning your sheets after one day(besides for other reasons), taking extra baths and applying different creams? Chances are that you have been invaded by bed bugs. Yes, they do exist, and I'm not talking about your dead skin. If you read the article, you will see that these bugs do exist, and they are literal blood suckers. So before you go to the clinic to see why you are itching, call your doctor first.

Raising and teaching boys

This was a great article in Newsweek magazine. There are many young men at my school who seem very bright, but are having behavior issues. They are minor, but are still disruptive to the classroom environment.

I remember when I was in middle school, I was suspended four times. I could not stay out of trouble, and I was never a bad kid. There seemed to be something about the environment that allowed me to stay in trouble. I was aware of my behaviors as I always willingly paid for my mistakes except for the four times I was suspended. Three of the times stemmed from refusal to do punish work. A teacher said that I was talking, and gave me punish work. Since I wasn't talking, I refused to do the punish work. That turned into a behavior report which I refused to bring home, which turned into a referral that gave me detention which I refused to attend, which turned into suspension which my mother never punished me for.

The other suspension was for cussing at a teacher. I was wrong for cussing, but I was right to be upset.

When I went to high school, it was an all boy school, so naturally the faculty and staff were prepared to deal with us, so it was there that I prospered.

Since then, I have always supported the idea of separation of genders at schools. It made sense to me then even without a PhD study. Boys and girls are different, and we have to stop denying this.

I plan to pull my problem boy students aside today and talk with them about school. This article has been very inspirational to me.

I love music!

Wonder what type of music I like? Of course not, but since you probably don't have an internet radio station yet, click here to listen to what I listen to on a daily basis.

Godzilla's Nemesis

Did you hear about the giant jellyfish in Asia? Could you imagine swimming next to one of those things? They are ruining the fishing industry in Asia and fast becoming a delicatessen! Apparently, Godzilla doesn't like sushi either!

Coming of age . . . . . .

On Sunday, January 22, 2006, my oldest son(6 years), on his own recognizance, gave his life to Christ. The pastor performed the altar call, and my son raised his hand. I asked him if he wanted to go to the altar, and he said yes. He walked down like a big boy by himself(unbeknownst to him I was following behind), and he accepted Christ into his life.

I was proud and scared at the same time. I feel that he has made the right decision although one could debate whether or not he really knows what he was doing.

I never pushed him. I only make him pray at night and before meals. He asks questions, and I answer them as honestly as I can.

I'm scared because I want his focus to be on the relationship, and not the religion. But this is his choice right now, and God will take care of him.

Wonderful song

Click on the title of this thread to hear the song. Big ups to Barrell R. for forwarding this song to me.

Its here, its here! Its finally here!

Yes I love this show. I'm just a music junkie, and I love a good story. This show has both.

Poem of the moment

I don't know when I wrote this poem, but I found it recently and would like to share it. It has no title.



I can't lose me
because I'm all I got.
Defeat will rot at my footsteps
before I ever give in.
Loss and hopelessness will fade
before I falter from a bump on my chin.
I was made to last
and I keep going
strong and steady
like a moonlit glow on the Mississippi.
Haters gather en mass
to take a shot at
dismantling my ass
but what they fail to grasp
is that only God can judge me
begrudge me, make me weak
and since it is he who has
established me, my win streak
will stay loss incomplete.

I won't lose me
because I'm all I have
like Larry Holmes' Jab
or Dominique Wilkins right hand
I can only go one way
but that has not affected
my All Star status
nor Hall of Fame induction.
My self destruction
is about as real as a pink elephant
or purple banana
served in tacos from the Havana cabana.
They can't stand to
see a man who will
can't be broken
by the common realist
or token
I've spoken
enough.

Lil' Sis

This is my friend Dawn's website at myspace.com

Check it out!

Sorry, its not an inappropriate website.

Poor Choice of Words

I don't care how chocolate is made. When you call a city "Chocolate City", you do not immediately think of Hershey, Pennsylvania(is that where the city is?)! You think of a city that is black, whether mostly black or all black, those are the immediate thoughts. Poor choice of words Mayor Nagin. And since when is Uptown mostly white? I should be a reporter in New Orleans because the reporters only seem to get information correct regarding the French Quarters.

And God is mad at black America? So, in saying chocolate city, there is no dichotomy among racial lines, but God separates the races? Dude, stay out of those barber shop conversations that are built on conspiracies and misinformation because it makes you sound dumb!

I see your point, but poor choice of words.

In Honor of Dr. King

I thought the link was actually a nice story albeit it involves sports.

Its been 20 years since the day was commissioned as a national holiday by 666(Ronald Wilson Reagan). Unfortunately, I think King's dream is really viewed as a joke or insignificant by many. We now live in a point of reference society. If it didn't happen to me, then it is not entirely plausible. That's my two cents here.


And personally, I don't see anything wrong with Hilary's comments. I mean, they were politically motivated, but these days, how often does a politician honestly speak from the heart? Bush needs to be bashed, and I wish more legislators has the cajones to do just that.

Back down memory lane

Seems inspiration is to be found on other blogs. My date story, which happened before I met the wife, was funny to me because of how it happened and where my mindset was at the time.

Before college, I attended a prestigious 100% black high school in New Orleans, and being an all black school, we learned about things that were all black. We encouraged one another based on our race, and strove to make the world a better place for blacks.

That meant only dating blacks, and only interacting with black people. So when I visited Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, I figured that it must have a been a European town because there were few blacks to be found. Somehow, I attended the school anyway. So on the first day of school, I was wearing my kente cloth and looking for my class. I was going to bring African American culture to San Antonio like no one had ever seen before. My first class was Intro to Computers(we learned BASIC, PARADOX, and some other outdated software programs).

Immediately after class, a young lady approached me with the most mesmerizing eyes and coke bottle like figure that I had ever seen in person. Her name was Yvette, and she asked me out.

I was dumbfounded. How could she have the audacity to ask a black man . . .

but my God look at that body.

I'm down for the cause and the struggle . . .

but my God look at those eyes.

Er, sure. I'd love to go out with you. Here's my number.

I think my wife was the only black person I dated after Yvette.

BTW, the date was boring, and it seemed she only wanted to show me off to her friends. They had personality, and she didn't.

But at least she was bold!

Immigration reform idea gone wild?

Got this in an email too. Supposedly, a farmer in South America was losing sheep and couldn't figure out why. So he put up an electric fence, and this is what he found.

This is what the world has become.

I just received this in an email entitled "Mother of the Year". This is just sick. And if anyone seeing this picture has done something similar, please do not post on my blog. You make me sick to my stomach. What about the child?

My son's favorite wrestler

I remember when my grandfather used to watch Mid-South Wrestling right before going to church, and occasionally, I would get to sit with him at watch it. My favorite wrestler used to be the Junk Yard Dog, Kerry Von Erich, and of course, Hulk Hogan. He took me to see a title match between Hulk Hogan and the Iron Sheik. As usual, the Hulkster pulled of the win, and it was one of the most exciting time of my life. I can still hear the crowd screaming as we all watched this match that appeared so real. Its kind of weird to sit and watch my son as he watches the Smackdown matches. I have to because it has become so sexually oriented, that I have to change the channels, or sometimes I will explain exactly what he is watching, and tell him the difference between reality and TV.

He loves to jump on me when I'm laying down, and tries to sneak in an Angle lock, or the Figure 4. My son has yet to pin me, but one day he might be able to do so. He's only six, but he can do the Mexicool flip off of his sister's playpen without missing a beat. When did he practice, and why do I keep allowing him to do it. Wouldn't it be funny to see him as a wrestler some day? That is what he wants to become when he grows up? ??????????????????????????????

If you ever send me this sh!t . . . .

I'll track you down and make you eat it. Some jokes just go too far and I can't endorse them here. Perhaps I should not have let some of my students read my weblog. I can't get knee deep into some shyte. Oh, and if you haven't figured out how to navigate the blog, click onto the title of this thread for the article, er, website, etc.

Tony Blair the disciplinarian

So what if he smacks his kids? Some kids need more than a simple smacking to get them in line. Why is it that adults without kids, or those who work long hours and barely see their kids are the only ones against using physical methods of discipline? Use what works as long as it is appropriate and not out of anger is my stance.

National De-Lurkers Week

From my friend, the spirited one, I just learned that this week is National De-lurkers week. For those who are not privy to net lingo, a lurker is someone who reads threads and never leaves a comment. Say something. Hi. Hello. Where's your pic? Something.

Angelina Jolie admits pregnancy

She has finally admitted what many of us already knew. Why do celebrities who are always in the spotlight lie so often? Afterwhile, 2+2=4, and most people can do basic math.

Angelina Jolie is so hot, but what is freaky is how me she looks like her dad. A lot of good looking females look like their dad.

The Love dress(an old joke)

The mother-in-law stopped unexpectedly by the recently married couples house. She rang the doorbell and stepped into the house to see her daughter-in-law standing naked by the door.

"What are you doing?" the mother-in-law asked.

"I am waiting for my husband to come home from work." the daughter-in-law replied.

"Why are you naked?" asked the mother-in-law

"This is my love dress" the daughter-in-law replied.

"LOVE DRESS! You are naked." said the mother-in-law.

"But my husband loves it when I wear this dress. It makes him happy and he makes me happy." said the daughter-in-law.

"I would appreciate your leaving now because my husband will be home any minute." The daughter-in-law continued.

Soured by all of this romantic stuff, the mother-in-law left. On the way home she thought about the "LOVE DRESS" and got an idea.

She undressed, showered, applied her best perfume and waited by the door for her husband to come home.

Finally the pickup truck drove up the drive way and she took her place by the door.

The father-in-law opened the door and immediately saw his wife naked by the door.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"This is my love dress" the mother-in-law replied.

"Maybe you should iron it." he replied.

In love with a younger woman

I am. I must admit it. Yes I'm already married, but this young lady has stolen my heart as well. Its my daughter of course! Perhaps one day I will post a pic of her. She is such a happy baby.

She is 18 months old, and loves to smile and laugh at me anytime of the day. When she wakes up early in the morning and starts to whine and fuss for attention, as soon as I walk in, her fussiness turns into a sly smirk, and she buries her head into her pillow and starts to giggle.

I don't think the sunrise can produce as much sunshine as she does.

When you already have kids, you love the new one instantly, but a relationship has to develop. Initially, I was scared of having a daughter because of how I had treated some females in my life, plus the fact that females have babies.

Sound chauvinist? Oh well! That is how I felt.

But now, to me she is the first movement of an opus, the sunlight after the storm, the cable guy finally arriving. She is the promise of good things to come.

Give Bush a brain

Simply click on the title of this thread and see what you can do. I was only able to give him two. :(

I've been saying it for years.

I knew that I wasn't crazy. I was taking cough medicine, and it never seemed to work, but supposedly conventional wisdom said to take the medicine because I could not see how it was working. So instead of allowing my immune system to get stronger, I would take cough medicine to relieve the symptoms. Now my immune system can barely stop the Astros from scoring!

I guarantee that most people will not stop taking the medicine. Even my wife says that the medicine causes phlegm to come up. Hogwash I say. Its all psychosomatic. Now I need to find some vitamins to help build my immune system. Any suggestions?

Machiavelli in this . . .

You Are Somewhat Machiavellian

You're not going to mow over everyone to get ahead... But you're also powerful enough to make things happen for yourself. You understand how the world works, even when it's an ugly place. You just don't get ugly yourself - unless you have to!

How Machiavellian Are You?

I received this in an email . . . .

Slow down for three minutes to read this. It is so worth it.
Touching words from the mouth of babes.

What does Love mean?
A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8
year-olds, "What does love mean?" The answers they got were
broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined.
See what you think:

"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over
and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her
all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love."
Rebecca- age 8

When someone loves you, the way they say your name is
different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth."
Billy - age 4

"Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on
shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other."
Karl - age 5

"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of
your French fries without making them give you any of theirs."
Chrissy -age 6

"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired."
Terri - age 4

"Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she
takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is
OK."
Danny - age 7

"Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired
of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My
Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss"
Emily - age 8

"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop
opening presents and listen."
Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)

"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with
a friend who you hate,"
Nikka - age 6 (we need a few million more Nikka's on this planet)

"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he
wears it everyday."
Noelle - age 7

"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are
still friends even after they know each other so well."
Tommy - age 6

"During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared.
I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and
smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared
anymore."
Cindy - age 8

"My mommy loves me more than anybody . You don't see anyone
else kissing me to sleep at night."
Clare - age 6

"Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken."
Elaine-age 5

"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still
says he is handsomer than Robert Redford."
Chris - age 7

"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left
him alone all day."
Mary Ann - age 4

"I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her
old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones."
Lauren - age 4

"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and
little stars come out of you." (what an imagination)
Karen - age 7

"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't
think it's gross."
Mark - age 6

"You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it.
But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget."
Jessica - age 8

And the final one -- Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once
talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the
contest was to find the most caring child.

The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor
was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon
seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old
gentleman's yard,
climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked
what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, "Nothing, I
just helped him cry"

When there is nothing left but God, that is when you find out
that God is all you need.

Whoa, lay off the biscuits!!!

Didn't you read the title?

Lift Every Voice

A few weeks back, world renowned Gospel Artist Kirk Franklin appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show. He revealed his addiction to porn and discussed briefly how it came about and the advice he received in coping with it.

Personally, I thought that he was brave for sharing his problems publicly, but many do not feel that way. Some say that he should have settled his problems in his church. Although Darwin Hobbs agrees with me, he points out that many Christians do not agree. What do you think?

I Get High On Fry

is what Pat Robertson must have said in his prayer time. "Fry" is PCP dipped in formaldehyde. Some people smoke this stuff and develop a mental illness! Now I understand why Pat says the things he does. We should not take him seriously because his disorganized thought was apparently brought on by foreign substances. Remember to keep Pat in your prayers.

It Came Upon A Midnight Clear . . .

Not the Christmas carol, but an answer. An answer to my prayers.

2005 was a tumultuous year filled with toils and snares that I had never encountered. There were several times that I felt like giving up, but I could not. If God has ever carried anyone for an extended period of time, He carried me throughout the year.

But the troubles that I had to face were not without obvious answers, and I knew the answer. My grandmother's favorite biblical story after Jesus was King Solomon and his response to God offering him anything that he wanted. For those who don't know, Solomon bypassed asking for riches and women, he asked for wisdom. Now without getting into a semantic debate about his choice, one can not deny how profound a choice he made. He wanted to know how to fish instead of fish falling from heaven at a moment's notice. I have prayed since I was a youth for wisdom because my grandmother always talked about that story.

Well God answered my prayer, and I feel wise beyond my years. But if you knew me personally, you would say, "Wise, but what about this decision and that decision?" I have made many decisions in my life that were not wise, and I knew before I made them that I chose the unwise path. So if I have the wisdom of Solomon, why did I make some choices that I did.

I'll tell you why. I had the wisdom, but lacked the strength and the courage to repeatedly do what is right.

Let's face it. Doing what is right is usually going against the grain, and that can be tiring. In my fight against the grain, I had the stamina of a 90 year old man without viagra! You know, perhaps one shot twice a year, and hopefully no heart attacks. I was too busy trying to be nice instead of trying to be real.

Well, my prayer for this year is to have the strength and the courage to do what is right. I mean, why live without God ordering my steps. This may not be your belief or a part of your belief system, but knowing what is right and actually doing it is an actual dichotomy. I plan to merge the two.

Hook em' horns go, go, go!!!!!!!!!!

Yee-haw! Go Texas! We kicked dat butt!!!!


Now, I must say that I don't usually ride on bandwagons, but I hopped on the UT train during the middle of the season because they were for real. I think that it is really cool that Texas won the title.

What really got my goat was Shoelimpy's impersonation of Patrick from Sponge Bob Square Pants, but also the hype surrounding the game, and the talk of Reggie Bush.

There is no denying his talent, but maybe its just me as I felt it was a North/South battle going on in the Rose Bowl. Nevermind that USC is in the West. Every news outlet around the country outside of Texas was picking the Trojans to do what they do best, protect what is theirs.

Well the Longhorns poked through that used prophylactic to weaken their seeming immunity from defeat, and make all USC fans burn with sickness!

Enough double entendres here, I felt that there was an unnecessary arrogance around the country regarding USC, and people poked fun at the cowboy tradition of Texas. I'm not a native Texan, but I've been here since last millennium. Some people may think that Texans are slow, but slow and steady wins the race, especially when USC's offense was slowed down, and Vince was steady. Go Horns!!!

I have to dedicate this song to my wife. Its definitely our theme song.

Music Video Codes By VideoCode.ORG

I mean, who else would I put up first?

Music Video Codes By VideoCode.ORG

Not that I needed to be convinced or anything . . .

How evil are you?

Where the hell have I been?

Greetings, salutations, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy New Year and anything else that I have forgotten. There are so many people that I did not contact over the holidays that one may figure that I MUST have been in jail. Hardly. I was waiting for the year to be over. 2005 had to be the worst year of my life, and I am so glad that it is over. With the dawning of 2006, I emerge unafraid of the new year, hopeful that it is harvest time as I spent many days and nights on my knees sowing seeds of goodness.

I can remember my grandmother saying that there will be good days and bad days, good months and bad months, good years and bad years. One of my seasoned(aged, ripened, etc.) co-workers said that she had a bad decade. Yikes, I shudder to think!!!

With there being more work and little time available, I have decided to keep my blog, and omit everything else. This means no more bnet and nationstates, and other places I visit(except for learngospelmusic).

But I will keep the hits coming like Whitney Houston off of crack.