In Grand (father) Fashion!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Grandparents are a special breed. They all have their little quirks, sayings, and what nots, that through the years first get on your nerves, but then grow to be some of the staples that you live your life by. On this November 4th, I would like to honor my Grandfather's 70th birthday by introducing you to some of his greatest sayings.

1) "Well I'ma tell you like this" - Most of Grandfather's pearls of wisdom/stories normally start with this phrase. When you hear this, you might as well settle in. The only bad part about hearing this is when you've come to him with what you feel is an important problem. If you're hype is any manner, its pretty deflating to have him come back with that.

2) "Every closed eye ain't sleep" - This one is a classic. In order for you to understand this one, you must know that my Grandfather hasn't slept through the night probably since the Kennedy Administration. So when as a kid I would always hear him say this, I always thought it was really just a threat. Well that was until my brother and I tried to be slick and sneak into the kitchen for late night peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Grandfather swooped in on us like an owl on a three legged mouse. That night, I truly learned the meaning of this saying.

3) "Jaws tight like Dick's hat band" - Well this is probably how my Grandfather would have described the look on me and my brother's faces when he busted us. I don't know who Dick is, but I do know that we were pretty salty that night, so Dick wears a seriously tight hat. I've always wondered if Dick was just somebody my Grandfather knew, or if it was a well known fact that Dick had a tight hat band.

4) "Joe Sausage Head" - To be referred to as a Joe Sausage Head was pretty severe. If Grandfather called someone this, they generally didn't have much, if any, sense. The funny thing about this saying is that until a co-worker of mine used the term last year, I thought my Grandfather was the only one who said it.

5) "Neither Vip nor Vop" - I have no idea what the hell this means. But when Grandfather says it, its with so much authority, that it almost makes sense.

6) "Like 40 going north" - In case you guys don't know, I drive for a living. I have damn near been on every highway and byway in America. But both US 40 and Interstate 40 travel east and west. So I have yet to figure out what 40 he's referring to. I'm not trying to prove Grandfather wrong, I'm just trying to understand what my man is referring to.

7) "More (Blank) than Carter had little liver pills" - This was another saying that for the longest time, I just took Grandfather at his word. I had no idea who the hell Carter was. With the advent of the internet, I finally decided to look up Carter and his little liver pills. Low and behold, I finally found the information. Carter wasn't a person, per se, but instead a company that made laxitives. Apparently they must've done big business back in the day cuz Grandfather is still referring to them now.


So those are probably the 7 most classic sayings from my Grandfather. I share them with you because though he's not your Grandfather, I'm sure your grandparents have some good saying of their own. I invite you to share with the blogosphere some of your grandparent's sayings. I'm proposing that we keep a Grandparents dictionary. These 7 are enshrined with my Grandmother saying "Flusterated, and Testes (That's the plural of test to her, my girl's grandfather who says "Search" (That's church to everyone else), and My Grandfather John's singing "Every day, every hour of the day", and the ultra classic "Summage". (A summage is a son of a bitch. I guess that's just how it was said in Mississippi).

To my Grandfather. Happy Birthday Grandfather. May you always know that though you might not have thought we were listening, WE WERE! And as we've gotten older, your words have never been truer. We Love you, and hope you're around for many more of these birthday posts. Enjoy your 70th. Next time I'm in Chicago, the cognac is on me! Lol


-DrizaDre-

Life After Death

"It sounded like Vietnam man."


I nor him had ever been in the Vietnam war; However, as he described the story it was reminiscent of stories told to me by my Grandfather who actually had been in the Vietnam war.


I sat there listening intently. I was in awe at the words coming out of his mouth. A lump formed in my throat that I couldn't even begin to attempt to swallow away.

"Man we kicked it out at club Ruby that night. We didn't get into it with anyone it was all good we had a good time. After the club we went to Maxwell's right off of the E-way. It was six of us in the van. As we're riding along I barely had 2 bites of my polish when bam!!

They began to shoot up the van. "Man it sounded like Vietnam."

"They shot over 20 times into the van. Elliot got hit 6 times. Then one of our other guys in the back seat also got hit once. We didn't see anything. It all happen so fast. The craziest part is that I was in the passenger seat. But after leaving the club I was cold and the driver had the air blasting so I was trying to change seats with someone in the back. But no one would switch with me. They even joked around and even threw me a blanket up to the passenger seat. So I could've easily been in that back seat as well."

"The only explanation the police could come up with was that it may have been some type of gang initiation. We were in a Hispanic neighborhood and you know those Mexican gangs you have to kill someone to be initiated."


The only response I could muster was man that's crazy. I mentioned it was so hard to imagine and I had just seen him the week before in the barber shop.

"Man I cut with him every day and have worked with him in different shops for 10 years, so imagine how it is for me. I still can't believe it. It still hasn't even hit me yet."

The subject then turned to his daughter. "Her 5th B-day was yesterday. I stopped by and dropped something off for her, but it just wasn't the same man." I replied "She's the same age as my son and also starting kindergarten next month." He replied back "Man my daughter is only a few years older. So that could easily be me."

As he said that I looked over at Elliot's old barber booth station. I noticed his barber chair was gone. However, they had created a make shift memorial in his honor. They had pictures up along with his obituary and flowers.

Of course still saddened by his loss. Seeing the memorial some how gave me a bit of comfort. I felt like it was great to honor his memory in that way.

If you read my last blog entry "Senseless" I talked about the tragic death of someone I knew Elliot Thompson, that was shot and killed a few weeks ago. The above story is recounted by someone that was there in the vehicle that he was shot in. Well a week prior to hearing the actual story I attended his funeral. Like all funerals this one was definitely a sad one. But for a few reasons this was sadder than most. Perhaps it was because he was still so young (only 31 years of age). Or perhaps it was because he was a young father (his daughter would be 5 this month and starting kindergarten next month). But when I think about it I think that what hit me most was the fact that I have seen myself in his place...

Let me explain what I mean when I state this. I am in no way a person that always discusses death. In fact, I don't even fear death. I realize it is something that will eventually happen and nothing I can do will prevent it when it's my time. So in my expect the worse hope for the best mentality, I simply hope and pray I stick around long enough to accomplish a few more things and see all those I love do the same.

However, when I think about death and really get around to answering the question of how and when I think I may kick the bucket, (buy the farm, push up daisies, meet my maker, give up the ghost or whatever death idiom you prefer), its pretty specific. Now I know you shouldn't speak n certain things because of the chance of speaking them into existence. However, as I stated and as we all know death is something that is unavoidable.

But to be real this incident that killed him was something that could have happened to anyone that was driving in that area at that particular time. I for whatever reason see myself going out in a sad unexpected manner such as this. Nothing that I provoked, nothing that I was doing reckless, nothing that was anticipated and I knew was bound to happen. However, I think it would/will be something swift and totally unexpected that will happen much before my time.

I say all that to say that today is barely promised and tomorrow is out of the question. It's a blessing of God that I'm sitting here typing these words. And if I'm here tomorrow to be able to do the same it's even more of a blessing. Life is precious. I enjoy living every single day I get to do so. Although I may see myself going out sudden and perhaps tragically, I pray God has a bigger plan for me, which includes living a long time and seeing my son (and/or future kids) and grand kids grow up and live their lives as well.

However, it's sad that some don't see just how precious lif is and will do things such as take another life. They don't even see how far past the person they're killing it affects. That's someone's father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter, niece, nephew, grandmother, grandfather, grandchild, etc.

For some reason it took me a good while to finally finish writing this blog as it stayed in draft for over a week. Sorry if it's all over the place.

But all I can say is embrace those you love and Live life. There are no guarantees in life except...Death.

Black to the Future

It's late afternoon on March 23, 2050.

"Grandaddy. I need some help with my homework". Jesse, a cute little girl of 9 snuggles up to her grandfather.

OK baby, what do you need help with.

"You know that President that just died? Well we need to do a report on him. Our teacher told us to interview someone who was alive when he was President. So I figured I would interview you".
You mean President Obama baby?

"I guess" the little girl shrugs.

OK, well what do you want to know?

"I don't know. Tell me about when you voted for him and stuff like that".

OK. Well, it's actually a very funny story. See, I was in Chicago on that Saturday before the election. I was absolutely determined to get back to Los Angeles to vote. I mean, this was going to be historic, and I didn't want to be sitting on the sidelines for this moment in history. So I left Chicago on Saturday evening. I was supposed to go bowling with my brother Cory and my nephew Cory, but they wouldn't let us. Some snake league was bowling. In hind sight, its probably best that I didn't get the chance. You'll understand why later.

Anyway. I left Chicago that evening, and back in the day I actually drove cars. Not how you guys have flying cars now, I actually had to steer and drive myself. So I drove all the way to Denver, Colorado. I made it there on Sunday evening. From there, I had to drive to Salt Lake City, Utah. I didn't make it to Salt Lake City until Monday afternoon. I would have caught a flight from Salt Lake to Los Angeles, but your grandfather isn't the flying type. So I bought a ticket to ride the bus. Well, the company the ran the buses back then was called Greyhound, and let me tell you that they were the absolute worst. I got on the bus, and the bus was supposed to leave at 6:30 p.m. Well, at 7 p.m., the bus was still sitting in Salt Lake. And as a matter of fact, the driver put me off the bus so that they could put on some other passengers.

I was so upset. It really was beginning to look like I wasn't gonna be able to make it home in time to vote. But I got a bright idea. I called someone from my job, and I figured out that if I took the bus to San Francisco, I could pickup a car and drive myself to Los Angeles. So I went for it. I made it to San Francisco around 2:30 p.m. that Tuesday afternoon. Greyhound was supposed to get me there earlier, but again, they were the absolute worst company back then. Probably the reason they are no longer operating this many years late.

So I left San Francisco at 3 p.m. Well unlike today, we had a such thing as traffic back in my day. And San Francisco was notorious for having some of the worst traffic in the country. I can't deny, I was weaving in and out of the car pool lanes trying to pass up some people. Eventually I made some headway, and I was flying. I mean, going so fast that I could have given these flying cars of today a run for their money. I had to drive 344 miles, and I needed to get to my polling place by 8 p.m. It was hectic for sure. I pulled up to my polling place at 7:58 p.m. (Pacific Time) I ran inside. Out of breath, I asked the lady for a ballot. She said "you barely made it". I told her that after all that I had been through, I was happy that I made it at all. She handed me my ballot, and I went to do my civic duty. I finished voting, got my stub and my "I voted sticker" and I went back out to the car.
As soon as I got back in the car, they made the announcement that Barack Obama would be our 44th President. I was ecstatic. I mean, after traveling all that great distance, I had cast the ballot that sealed the deal for Barack Obama.

"No you didn't Grandaddy. You just voted, that's all"

Hey, I'm telling the story not you. Were you there in 2008?

With a big grin on her face, Jesse shakes her head no.

Alright then. Anyway. The most important thing that I want you to take from this story is this; too often our people, back then, believed that their vote was insignificant. And unfortunately, that's exactly what certain segment of our population wanted them to believe. But President Obama reminded people that it was not only a privilege to vote in this country, but a responsibility. And plenty of our ancestors died for us to have just this very privilege. That's why I tried to move Heaven and Earth to get myself home in time to vote. I mean, I knew one day that you and you brothers and sisters would need to hear this story. And most importantly, you one day would tell your own children and grandchildren. Your Grandaddy voted for the first Black President of the United States. I know that it doesn't seem like much now considering that we've had other Black Presidents, including Barack's daughter Malia, but you need to know that on November 4th, 2008, the world did change. President Obama did make it to where we as black people understood that we were important in this country. And yes, we could make a change.
So when you do your report, you make sure you let your class know that though I never thought I'd ever see a black President, I give glory to God that I was absolutely wrong.

"I will grandaddy, I will!!"


-DrizaDre-

Inconvenient Convenience

If you're alive today then there's a 99% chance you have either sent or received a text message before. Now I will admit that I love and enjoy the convenience of being able to text as opposed to making a call. Plus since a young kid I've never been that much of a phone person. I was talking to my son (4yrs. old about to be 5) on the phone the other day and after the usual how are you, how was your day, what are you up to I over hear him whisper to his mom "Mom I don't have anything else to talk about." But I can feel him I'd rather be playing than have a long conversation with my dad too. But I'm sure if his spelling game was a little more advanced he'd probably say just text me daddy. LoL.

Well although a text message can have plenty of advantages and they usually outweigh the disadvantages, there are some things that can still bother you about texting. Maybe it's not necessarily the text message itself but there are certain things associated with text messaging that can be erking to some. Or maybe it has more to do with the person that you're texting on the other end. I've just come up with some things that I'm sure we all have experienced pertaining to the text message and well you can decide how you feel in particular about each item.

Text Forwards

I wrote an entire blog about text forwards you can read it yourself. So no need to elaborate too much more on it. But it's a big pet peeve of mines so it tops this list. Just know that if you forward me a text 9/10 you won't get it back. LoL.

Response Time

Is there a protocol as for how soon one should respond to a text message? Now I normally don't read rules and instructions. I usually just take things out of the box and figure out how they work on my own. So is there something is the manual for the phone that states one must respond to a text message in a certain amount of time? I'm sure we've all gotten that text from whoever stating or asking something. Well perhaps you were busy at the time, sleeping or just didn't want to respond right away. But the next thing you know you're getting a call with someone asking "why didn't you reply back to my text?" Now let's not confuse this person with a serial dialer as my brother mentioned in an earlier blog. To be honest I've done this one myself. Then after I call I tend to ask myself if it was this important shouldn't I have just called in the first place? LoL.

Accidental Texts

I was recently got a text from my son's mother and she was telling me how excited my son was to wear the costume I bought him for Halloween. So, I replied back and then I got another text from her that said "I love you too and have a wonderful day." Well it was obvious that this was clearly not for me. However, once you press send on that text message it's over. As much as you hope and wish you could get it back it's definitely too late. But lucky for her I knew that it was sent to the wrong person. A different kind of ex may have taken that text the wrong way. I've made the mistake of texting the wrong person as well. My mom and brother have similar names; in fact, there is only 1 letter different in their names. Not to mention their phone numbers have the same first 5 numbers. So there have been many of times I've accidently text my mom instead of my brother. Although my mom is really cool, I'm glad those accidental texts [meant for my brother] weren't anything too vulgar like they can be at times. LoL.

Text Assumptions

Have you ever gotten this text? "I'll just hit you later you seem busy." If I'm texting you back and we're texting back and forth how can I seem busy? Now if this other person is your spouse or better half that can just sense things about you I can understand such a response. But to just make such an assumption based on reading a text message is to me without merit. The same goes with this one. "You seem upset or mad." How? Did the words come across your phone screen differently than I texted? The problem with reading words is that the reader gets to intepret (whether out loud or in their head) how the words are spoken. No different than when you're reading a book or even this blog. You [the reader] get to choose the tone of what you're reading. The same goes for a text message. And often the reader can make an assumption which can be so off the mark. And you know what they say about when you assume.

Text Arguments

I know that everyone reading has probably had an argument by text. I personally hate arguing at all, let alone via text. Now it could start from something like mentioned above where a wrong assumption is made based on a text message. The next thing you know someone is typing in all CAPITAL LETTERS. And you know what that means, yep they're now yelling at you. And dont forget the exclamation marks!!!!!!! That's showing them you really mean business. Oh wait what about the little mean smiley faces >:-O Is that the yelling one? Well my problem with text arguing is that when I do it I think to myself what am I doing and why don't I just pick up the phone and say what I need to say? But unfortunately once you've started a text argument it's like a 12 round boxing match and you just don't want to throw in the towel. However, there can be an advantage to arguments by text. For instance, you can think more about what you want to say and strategically choose your words. Whether they be the perfect upper cut, a little jab here and there, or even dancing around the ring like Ali trying to avoid further confrontation. Where as in a face to face or even phone argument at times you speak the first thing that comes to mind which usually adds fuel to the fire of an argument. But don't take too long to respond. As stated with response time either the person you're arguing with will think you're ignoring them or even that they won the argument. You may get a text stating "Nothing to say huh? Thought so!!"

Drunk Texting

Now this is definitely one of those times where you probably wish your phone wasn't so technologically advanced and that had an old school brick cell phone. Drinking and texting is definitely not as dangerous as drinking and driving but the results can also be tragic in nature. Have you ever had a little bit too much to drink then sent a text that said something you shouldn't have said to someone you know damn well you shouldn't have even been texting? Well usually when it happens just like most things you do while intoxicated you don't realize what has taken place until the next morning. As soon as you start to reading those texts from that individual the you scratch your head wondering what they're talking about. That is until you open the sent folder and see exactly what you were texting. In response to your discovery you'll usually let out an "Oh S**t!!" and then try to figure out how you'll clean this one up.

Recently Google unveiled "Mail Goggles" which actually helps to prevent drunk e-mailing. When activated Google will require the e-mailer to solve a series of math questions in order to determine that they're in the right mind state to send that e-mail. Once you complete the questions the e-mail will be sent. However, if you can not solve the simple to complex math questions (as previously determined by the user) the e-mail will not be sent. Hopefully for all of us drunk texters out there they'll eventually install a technology such as this in cell phones.

Text Abbreviations

Now luckily I've been able to keep up with some of the younger generation and their text talk as I like to call it. But sometimes even I'm stumped. I mean I can recognize the basics such as LOL (Laugh Out Loud), TTYL (Talk to you later), LMAO (Laughing My ass off), LMAFO (Laughing my f**king ass off), IDK (I don't know), BF (Boyfriend), GF (Girlfriend), BFF (Best friend forever), OMG (Oh My God), BRB (Be Right Back), JK (Just Kidding), BTW (By the Way), Etc. But then again there are some abbreviations that I would never be able to figure out. For instance, FIIK (F**K If I know), I would have never gotten that one. Or FEITCTAJ (F**k 'em if they can't take a joke), which I should know since my grandfather always says this. Also, GTFO (Get The F**k Out) and SWL (Screaming With Laughter). Basically the list goes on. Whatever happen to regular English? Now you have to be able to speak text talk. If you want to brush up on your text talk skills there's a whole list of abbreviations you can check out here. I just wouldn't try to impress your friends with any of those abbreviations unless they've also studied this list. Or you'll probably get a text response back like "WTF" (What the F**k?)

Well regardless of what I like and don't like about texting I won't lie and say I would want to give it up as a feature on my cell phone. Like I said there are much more benefits than there are negative things associated with the text message. In fact, I just ordered the new G-1 (to the left) phone from T-Mobile last week. It should arrive in another week or so. So basically you know that the text messages won't be stopping anytime soon.

So as Lil' Wayne said "Unless ya Feel a lil desperate send a nigga a text message."

--C-Recks--

Diamonds Are Forever??

I was listening to the radio last week and a caller called in saying how much she adores her boyfriend, how great of a guy he is, and how much she was in love with him, etc. Well she went on to say how they're now talking about getting engaged. She then explained that the rings he was looking at just weren't flashy enough. And how she works for a big P.R. agency and she can't be seen with some small engagement ring.

Now I was married once and I remember when I proposed to my ex I was like 19 years old. I was going to school and working 2 jobs. I could barely afford to pay attention let alone the bills. So I would say the original ring I purchased and proposed with was maybe $300 at most. But it was what I could afford at the time. The next year I got a better job and prior to getting married upgraded the engagement ring to something that was more expensive. But it really really didn't make a difference about the ring because at the time we were so in love.

So I have a question: Is it the size of the ring? Or is it the love in your heart that really matters?

Or is it that the ring should be a reflection of the love?

Well each of you reading can formulate your own answers to the above questions. We all have our own opinions and I guess since I have the floor I'll share mines.

First off although it may not seem like it at times (based on some of my previous blog entries), I actually do believe in Real Love, marriage and all of the wonderful things that come along with it. So with that said I think it's a beautiful thing when a couple is in Real love and progress from dating, to engagement and eventually to marriage.

So with that said let's examine the ring. We know that the ring is a symbol of a woman's promise to give herself in marriage to the man in the future. Also, we have all heard the traditional price to spend on a ring is 2-3 months wages or salary. Well I have always heard this, but I never knew where this statement came from. Well according to Wiki this guideline originated from De Beers marketing materials in the early 20th century, in an effort to increase the sale of diamonds. So basically this guideline has to be one of the most successful and long running marketing schemes to date. In fact, the slogan "A Diamond is Forever" coined in 1947, was recently named as one of the best slogans of the 20th Century. So, 100 plus years later we're still going by De Beers guideline and increasing revenue for the diamond industry.

Now I'm not trying to approach this subject from a cheap man's perspective. I honestly feel like if you love the woman and truly want her to marry you then you should go all out and show her how much, but within reason. I feel like when purchasing a ring a man should take some things into consideration just like any other major purchase. And I'm sure we all agree that purchasing an engagement ring is a major purchase. So this is no different than purchasing a house or a car; therefore, you should consider a number of questions. For instance, can you really afford this ring? What if she doesn't accept? Then what is the return policy? How will you pay? Cash or credit? What about the wedding itself? Will you have to pay for the wedding? Or are you lucky enough to have her parents follow tradition and pay for the wedding?

"On average, US couples spend $28,732 for their wedding. However, the majority of couples spend between $14,366 and $35,915 while their wedding budget is typically 50% less than the amount spent. This does not include cost for a honeymoon or engagement ring." "The average cost of a diamond engagement ring is $3,500 to $4,000."

Although all men would love to propose with the biggest Flinstones' rock on her finger, sometimes it's just not feasible. Let's add a real world example. Recently singer Beyonce who's married to rapper Jay-Z openly discussed details of her marriage. "In eschewing tradition, Beyonce didn't want an engagement ring, as it is "just material and it's just silly to me." Instead, the lovebirds got matching tattoos on their ring fingers of the Roman numeral IV — a digit not only significant because of her wedding date. Beyonce was born Sept. 4; Jay-Z, Dec. 4. "What Jay and I have is real," she said." Now imagine that. Jay-Z can afford to buy anything he wants, including the most expensive engagement ring imaginable. Now to refer to the opening example, I would say that Beyonce has a much bigger image to keep up than the young lady at her little PR agency job.

All I can say is that in this economy knowing what I make I would hate to be in a relationship that is heading towards engagement. Unless I was lucky enough to have a woman that will say something like Beyonce I would seriously have to wait until I saved up enough money. However, I would potentially run the risk of being consider one of those guys that want the milk without paying for the Cow. So what is a guy to really do? But there are so many factors to consider when you're trying to choose that perfect engagement ring. Just know that if you don't represent correctly she probably won't be the person you hear it from. You should be more concerned about the external pressures. Yep you unfortunately you should be worrying about "what will so and so think of the ring?" She may even be fine with the inexpensive ring initially, but may quickly change once people get in her ear.

Her girls: "Girl it's nice and we happy for you and happy he finally popped the question lord knows we thought the day would never come, but damn all this time and that's as much as your man loves you? That ring is a lil' small aint it?"

The Scavengers: "So you say you engaged huh? Well I can't really tell from the ring you're wearing. If I was your Fiance' you'd be wearing a real ring."

Her Dad: "You know I don't really like the boy anyway. And if he can't even buy you a suitable ring then I can't understand how he's going to take care of you."

You can trust and believe that by the time all of them finish talking you'll be hoping that you haven't passed the 30 day return period yet. Bottom line is this I'm not hating on a man that can buy his potential wife a $25,000 ring or better. I'm simply saying when did the focus of love and marriage get switched to how much the ring you buy is worth? If I love you unconditionally then whether I'm rich or poor or somewhere in between that love is going to be the same. If I can't get you that 5 karat diamond engagement ring to begin with then I ask you to accept this 1 or 2 karat. I know that you're worth more than gold and diamonds. And I promise I will upgrade this ring as time goes on and as my income increases. But maybe that's just me.

Basically when I plan to get married again I want to have that Grandmother and Grandfather love. I don't know what happen but people have gotten away from that. You know your grandparents started out with basically nothing but love, that is if they even got an engagement ring back then. But your grandfather did what he could when he could and eventually got her a ring and by time we were old enough to know grandma had a beautiful wedding ring. But as much as they went through they still had that Real Love. That unconditional Love. No matter how bad things got or what flaws the other person had they still stuck it out and took "til death do us part" to heart. So if you have that type of Love, then the type of ring you have doesn't matter, nor does any other material thing. Because you can't put a price on love. I'm just saying, I'd rather have Love that's forever than a diamond that is supposedly forever.

But as for the subject at hand. However you feel about the engagement ring I just feel like it's a conversation that each individual couple should discuss. Communication is key. Make sure you're on the same level when it comes to engagement, proposal and marriage. If you know that your potential fiance' will want an expensive ring then you better get on the grind and start saving for that ring. Or perhaps you can use Jay-Z and Beyonce as a way to get out of having to buy a ring and getting a tattoo instead. I dont recommend trying it unless you got Jay's type of money. Or maybe you can use the line that Method Man said in the song "All I need" Featuring Mary J. Blige, "Word life you don't need a ring to be my wife." But to be honest I doubt either will work but good luck with that!

--C-Recks--

Knowledge is Power

"My people perish for the lack of knowledge"
Hosea 4:6



I had the pleasure of spending the past week in what is commonly referred to as the Dirty South. I want to start this blog by saying in advance that I Love the Dirty Dirty. (I know I just killed myself right there. Sounds like, "Oh I love black people or some of my best friends are black). Well I'm gonna say that too. Some of my family lives in the South. Its been about a year since I've been down here, and it didn't take me too long to be reminded of what I dislike about the South. IGNORANCE. Some of it is just cultural, and I completely understand that. If I were to go to Japan, I too would have a lack of understanding about some of their customs and traditions. (But give me credit, after 30 years, I am getting better at using chopsticks. lol) However, some of it is just an out and out abomination to our education system. Here are three examples of what I had to encounter on my most recent confederate tour. I'm sure that I could have squeezed what I'm about to say on these three subjects into a "Penny for my thoughts", but I feel like I gotta charge you a little bit more for this gold.

Speaking of pennies, story number one is about change. I was in a Subway Sandwich last week just outside of Jackson, Mississippi. I'd just left Texas a few hours before, and pretty much drove straight through to Mississippi. As you see in the map above, Texas is considered a part of the Dirty South, but let me tell you that there is a major difference between Texas and Mississippi. So much so that other than paved roads, and that you can look at white women without getting lynched, I can't think there's a whole lot of difference between 2008, and 1908. But I digress.


So as I place my order at the counter, Tuna on Honey Oat, the lady working the register interrupts my "sandwich artist", and says "how much change am I supposed to give him back? I didn't know that he was paying with a twenty, I thought he had exact change. I think I'm supposed to give him back $6.89". Let me pause right here for one second. I begrudge no one the opportunity to double check their math. Especially when it comes to handling someone else's money. That being said, you will understand what I did have a problem with. My "sandwich artist" asks how much was his total. The lady at the counter responds "$8.89"! Now I'm no smarter than the average genius, but I know damn well that this chick should have ballparked my man's change at more than $6.89. I could do nothing but shake my head at that one. Oh, and just to further put her on blast, the lady had to be in her mid twenties. Old enough, as they say, to know better. Let us continue our journey.

I needed to stop and use the pay phone. (I'm tired of wasting my damn cell phone minutes calling my job. Lol). So I stop at a truck stop in Meridian, Mississippi. Meridian is basically on the border of Mississippi and Alabama. That being said, the lack of intelligence was still in effect. The truck stop I was at had phones in their dining area. So I'm basically sitting in another Subway Sandwich. While I am on hold with the job, I see the women behind the counter inspecting one of their customer's many tattoos. Asking him questions like "did it hurt and how much did it cost". Nothing major at this point. However after the man walked away, I hear one lady say to the other "I'm gonna get my tattoo". When someone says that, there's usually one of two responses "what are you getting", or where?

Well she didn't even give the lady a chance to ask, she just say "I want to get a tattoo on my foot"! My immediate thought was that's an unconventional place for a tattoo. But she wasn't done. She proceeds to tell the lady that she actually wants a tattoo on the bottom of her foot. At this point, all kinds of "what the hells" are rolling around in my head. Why the bottom of your foot? Who the hell is gonna see it? And the usual, "What the hell are you thinking"? Once again, I begrudge no one's opportunity to get a tattoo. But that one was a first to me. Bottom of the foot? The way that I thought about it, the only person who will probably see it, besides your self when you have your leg in an awkward position, is your man when you're having sex. And not to put my business out there or nothing like that, but I don't think seeing a tattoo on the bottom of my lady's foot would enhance the sexual experience .1% for me at all. Not even if it was my name! I mean, you gotta think about the fact that the rest of the time she's walking all over you, LITERALLY! Now if this tattoo thing is something cultural, I apologize to those of you whom I have offended. We just do things a different way in the rest of the civilized world.

Story number three takes place in Douglasville, Georgia, a middle class suburb of Atlanta. On Sunday I went to their friendly neighborhood Wal-mart. I'd just walked into the store to purchase something to cook for dinner. As I was walking past the produce department, a young black man of about sixteen or seventeen asked an older white woman "is this a cucumber"? The second I heard his question, I wanted to somehow grab the words out of mid-air Deion Sanders style, and keep them from entering the ears of this white woman. The reason? Well, in the second or two it took for him to get the words past his lips, my brain had already processed that this ignorant summage, as my Grandfather would call him, is holding a Goddamn zucchini! And the last thing I want this white woman to do is possibly feel more justified in her opinion of black people. Young blacks especially. Or hell, if she had a good opinion of black people, I don't want it to be ruined because this fool doesn't know his damn vegetables.

For any of you who are unsure, let's have a quick remedial lesson in vegetables.


This on the Left is a cucumber.







On the Right is Zucchini.




Now some of you may be saying, hey give him the benefit of the doubt. Its an easy mistake to make. Well I say nay nay. Making excuses for mistakes like that are the reason that these kids grow into ignorant adults.

I want to finish up by saying that not all people in the South are ignorant. There are some brilliant people from the South. Some of our finest institutions of higher learning are in the South. In spite of that however, some of our people are definitely slipping through the cracks. Everyone that I wrote about on this blog was black. And it just saddens me that in 2008, almost 2009, there are still so many of us who lack the necessary education to succeed in this world. $6.89 may seem like correct change in Jackson, Mississippi, but it'll never get you to a penthouse in Manhattan. Not knowing the difference between a cucumber and a zucchini won't get you to driving that Bentley down Michigan Avenue. We as a people dream big, but we don't comprehend that the path to all those dreams is forged by a good education. I'm not just putting the Dirty on blast, that goes for people across this country. Hopefully if no one is listening to me, maybe they'll listen to Barack. I'm done preaching for now, I have a head ake. (No offense cuzzo. Lmao!)


-DrizaDre-

The New 20

I had to take the time out of our regularly scheduled programming today to make a quick dedication. This one goes out to a man that I consider a great man, a great friend, and someone I am privileged to have in my life. On Monday September 1st my brother will be turning 30 years old. Having grown up with him it's hard to imagine that the day is coming. I mean I can sit back and remember him turning ages like 10 and 20, but 30 always seemed like such a long way away. Well that is until now. You have officially made it to age 30. So, I want to take the time out to say Happy 30th Birthday to my one and only brother.

When I started to think of three decades worth of living I didn't just reflect on the good old days and good times. However, I started to reflect on just some of the things we did as kids and as adults that could have prevented us/you from reaching this 30th Milestone. That's right I'm referring to the dumb shit that could have killed us/you. So, I've taken a bit of time to outline a few of those things. They're in no particular order.

I know Lupe Fiasco's first single was Kick Push which we all realize now is talking about skateboarding. However, my brother and I regard ourselves as the original black skateboarders. When we were living in California in the early 90's skateboarding was the thing to do. So of course we had to have skateboards as well. When our parents finally got us some we were all over the place on those things including places we shouldn't have been. Not to mention doing plenty of things we shouldn't have been doing. But I guess as they say boys will be boys, and boy oh boy did we prove that statement true. Most of the friends we hung out with and skateboarded with were white. And let's just say that back then we were too young to really realize that white people are the let's just say the "adventurous" type. So, that along with some peer pressure we were introduced to some things we normally wouldn't have done. Well somehow we were talked into riding a skateboard down a hill such as the one you see in the image on your left. Not standing up but laying down on the board as if one is really less dangerous than the other. But as if it's not bad enough to simply ride down the hill as you can see at the bottom of the hill there is a traffic light. So we would ride down the hill through the intersection using only the soles of our shoes as brakes. I remember my brother got in trouble for tearing up a pair of dress shoes this way. LoL. Needless to say we should have/could have died doing this.

As a kid peer pressure is a Mutha. Here is another example of peer pressure. This had to be like 1988 or 1989. But as me, my brother, and a friend of ours were walking home from the local arcade we were walking over a bridge similar to the one in the picture to the left. Below the bridge was like a basin so when it rained it filled with water. But on this particular day it was empty and exposed it's solid concrete. Well our friend decided to dare my brother to walk on the outside of the overpass. It may have even been a bet I don't exactly recall. All I know is that my brother makes the decision to take this dare or bet. So, as he proceeds to climb over the railing and walk on the outside of the railing across the bridge. As he's holding on tight to the railing and moving across the bridge I was on the other side quickly becoming hysterical. This walk may have taken a minute tops but to me it seemed like an eternity. I attempted to talk him into stopping and come back on the other side. However, I was doing mostly crying and yelling for him to do this. In hindsight that may not have been the best thing to do while he was concentrating on walking and not losing his balance. Yes I know I would make a great hostage negotiator. LoL. Yes so what I bitched up. LoL. But I was like 8 and thought my brother was going to fall to his death at any moment. So what would you expect? Well of course he made it across but it gave me a mild heart attack in the process. Once again another stupid move. LoL.

My brother and I didn't learn how to swim until probably after age 10. One particular day we were hanging with friends in their apartment complex that had a swimming pool. Well some of our friends had been swimming. They all knew we didn't know how to swim. However, one of them decided it would be funny to push my brother in the swimming pool. Now this swimming pool was designed as most are where it starts shallow and as you go further the water level gets deeper. Well he was pushed into the shallow end, which is maybe 4 Feet of water at most. Although he wasn't that tall at that time he was definitely taller than 4 Feet. Although as my grandfather always says, you can drown even in as little as a thimble of water (this is probably the one fact of his I still haven't fully accepted. LoL). But as he was pushed in feet first, his head never went under the water. But I guess just the thought of being in water and not knowing how to swim is enough to panic anyone. So once he began to panic he was flapping his arms all over the place while trying to reach out for the edge of the pool. Although I should have been scared and hysterical as in the story above, I was not. I was quite the opposite. I was actually laughing. To see him with his head above water essentially standing up within a fingers reach of the edge screaming I'm drowning was funny to me. Because I was sitting there thinking in my head like "your ass is nowhere near drowning kill the drama." LoL. But one of our friends went ahead and jumped in and saved him by guided him back to the edge. Although, it wasn't really a near death experience I'm sure my brother felt like it was. Also, not too long after this incident we decided to learn to swim.

As I stated, growing up we had many white friends. Well I remember we were maybe 12 and 14 respectively. Me, my brother, and our friend Mary (she's white) were walking to another friend's house. It was night time and sort of late maybe 9pm. Well we were walking down some residential streets and it was pretty dark on those streets. All of a sudden we hear someone yelling out. "Get away from her!!" But we thought nothing of it and continued walking. Then we hear it again "I told you to get the hell away from her!!" Then we finally look back and we notice this white man a ways behind us yelling. We then realized that he was yelling at us. And by her he meant our friend Mary. We keep walking but the man doesn't stop. He continues to yell then the racial slurs began to come. "Get away from her niggers." The man appeared to be intoxicated, and he began to increase his speed almost as he was running towards us. Well as I mentioned in my last blog about fight or flight one of the 2 will take over when your adrenaline is pumping. Well when you're 12 and a drunk white man is running at you spewing racial slurs guess what? You're going to run!! Which is exactly what we did. We all took off running. The only thing was that our friend Mary didn't quite have the speed we had. My brother and I ran so fast that we ended up leaving her behind. She was yelling "wait up for me!!" However, we figured he's after us and he was trying to save you so we're not going to stop to wait for you and get killed by some drunk KKK member. Well we lost him. And we proceeded to our friend's house. We had no clue what happen to Mary though. Back in those days we didn't have cell phones to call or text each other. All we had were pagers and had to locate a phone to even be able to page someone. Eventually we ran into her and all walked to the other friends house safely. We're still friends with Mary and she did forgive us for leaving her like that. LoL.

As they say what happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas. Well my brother recently introduced me to Las Vegas on my 26th Birthday in 2006. Ever since that first trip I try to get back to Vegas whenever I possibly can. However, there should be a disclaimer on the Las Vegas brochure and I don't mean that what happens in Vegas slogan. I mean it should tell you something like "if you gamble the alcohol is on us and you will get F**ked up." LoL. That first trip to Vegas is memorable for a few reasons. This is the short version of the story. One, we were so intoxicated that while playing Keno I filled out a ticket and gave it to my brother to play. Well he played it but didn't play the right game. So next thing we know as the numbers start coming in all damn 7 of my numbers hit. Please keep in mind that I don't recall any of this but this is how the story was told back to me, I was that intoxicated. So as my brother goes to redeem what should have been my $7,000 winning ticket they tell him he played the wrong game. He attempted to argue but the most they would give him was the $1 back it cost to play.

Well next thing I know (this is the part where my memory comes back) I'm walking through the casino parking structure and cars are honking at me to move out of the way. I tried to call my brother but my phone was dead. So I tried to find the car. Well I did but my brother had the keys. Well I was smart enough to leave a note for him on the car. I have no clue what it said but I'm sure it made no sense at all. But I was lost. My brother later told my mom that this was the first time in 26 years of being a big brother that he's lost me. LoL. Well next I decided to walk back in the casino and look around for my brother more. But as I'm walking in guess who I bump into? Yep my brother. So we were both like "where have you been?" and then we started laughing and he proceeded to tell me the story about the money. I was livid to say the least. But the fact I had no recollection of any of it kept me from being upset with him. So we hopped in the car and I chose to drive for whatever reason. As I stated in previous blogs one should never drive intoxicated and here is a good example of why.

So, I get behind the wheel and my brother tells me which way to go and we hit the highway. Our destination was Primm, Nevada. According to Google Maps this is a 43.8 mile trip on Highway 15 that should take approximately 40 minutes to drive in decent traffic. Well those estimations are made with a sober person in mind. When I hit the highway I decided to turn into Lead Foot Larry and put the pedal to the metal. So we're flying down Highway 15 in a rental car made by Mazda doing 100 plus miles an hour just talking like it's nothing. I guess what they say about God looking out for babies and fools is correct. Because he's the only reason why we didn't either wrecked out or get pulled over and jailed. But we made it to Prim in what seemed to be 15-20 minutes max. The funny thing is that once we got to Primm we stopped at another casino and guess what we did? Yep we sat down gambled some more and no sooner than we sat down there came the cocktail waitresses with the short skirts on serving us more alcohol. It's free what was I supposed to do refuse it? LoL

Well I'm sure we've survived death even more times than the 5 that I recalled here. And I'm sure that God willing we'll survive plenty more to come. The first 30 years have been a blast. I appreciate the opportunity to have been able to share them with you. And I look forward to another 30 plus some. All I can say is embrace 30 I hear it's not as bad as they say it is. But let me know how it's going as you know I will be joining you within the next 2 years. But we all know your life is just beginning again so make sure you hit the ground running come September 1st. Plus as Jay-Z said 30's the new 20. LoL

Love you Man.

--C-Recks--

I D.A.R.E. You

I can recall back to being in 4th grade when I was first introduced to something that was brand new to me in so many ways. Somehow my parents had managed to basically never expose me to the knowledge that such a thing even existed up until this point. What is it that I'm speaking of you ask? Well the answer would be Drugs. Well I know that it seems odd in today's times that a 10 year old not know anything about drugs. But I can honestly say I don't ever recall knowing or hearing about them until this point in my life (However, alcohol I knew very well growing up with my Grandfather John). Well that was until my teacher 4th Grade Teacher Ms. Bernier (I had a crush on her. lol) announced that we would be having a D.A.R.E. assembly later that day. My young mind immediately began to wonder what is D.A.R.E.?

Well later that day an L.A.P.D. officer quickly explained what D.A.R.E. was to myself and an auditorium full of other 3rd, 4th and 5th graders. I don't recall what exactly what happen specifically next but I'm sure I ran home with all kinds of questions for my parents. Also, I remember later being selected as a finalist to read my speech I wrote about D.A.R.E. during the D.A.R.E. graduation program. Ironically, I can remember my father sitting up the night before helping me to write this speech. If you knew my father's history you would also appreciate the irony. Well I went on to deliver my speech and graduate from the D.A.R.E. program with my dad in the audience to congratulate me. I received my D.A.R.E. t-shirt, button, hat, bumper sticker, key chain and knowledge about drugs and gangs that I supposed helped to keep me somewhat on the straight path.

So good job ex LAPD Police Chief Darryl Gates on your D.A.R.E. Program, and good job President Reagan on your diligence on the "War on Drugs."

However, I decided to do just a little history on D.A.R.E. beyond what I learned from the officers in the 4th grade. Well in case you've been reading D.A.R.E. and either don't remember or are wondering what the acronym stands for it's Drug Abuse Resistance Education. Well according to Wikipedia D.A.R.E. was founded in 1983 and "Students who enter the program sign a pledge not to use drugs or join gangs and are taught by local law enforcement about the dangers of drug use in an interactive in-school curriculum which lasts ten weeks. DARE is popular and well-funded, at least in the United States. However, numerous scientific studies of the program report that D.A.R.E. does not actually decrease drug use among graduates. Some studies have even indicated that there is an increased rate of drug use among D.A.R.E. graduates. In 2001, the Surgeon General of the United States placed the D.A.R.E. program in the category of "Does Not Work".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_Abuse_Resistance_Education

Well when I read this I was truly in shock. So you mean to tell me that all those weeks of studying about drugs and drug awareness and prevention was all for nothing? You mean I stayed up late wrote that speech delivered it to an audience full of my peers for nothing? I walked around wearing a t-shirt and hat promoting D.A.R.E. all for nothing? Well how DARE you waste my precious time!! I could have been at recess or some other 4th grade activity instead of hour long assemblies. LOL. J/k. But of course it was not a total waste of time because I did believe in what I was learning at the time and again I am a successful product of the D.A.R.E. campaign and although many have taken the pledge and broken their word I'm sure there are many other success stories that came/come from D.A.R.E.

In fact, Wiki reports that "According to the D.A.R.E. website, 36 million children around the world — 26 million in the U.S. — are part of the program. The program is implemented in 80% of the nation's school districts, and 54 countries around the world. D.A.R.E. was one of the first national programs promoting zero tolerance. The D.A.R.E. program has received numerous accolades and awards for delivering the message to keep "kids off drugs" and remains widely popular and well funded, receiving over $1 billion per year in the United States alone."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_Drugs

Well while we're on the subject of the supposed war on drugs I was curious to know how far we've come in this fight. According to the trusty Wiki "This total was estimated by the federal U.S. government's cost report on drug control to be roughly $12 billion in 2005. Additionally, in a separate report, the U.S. government reports that the cost of incarcerating drug law offenders was $30.1 billion—$9.1 billion for police protection, $4.5 billion for legal adjudication, and $11.0 billion for state and federal corrections. In total, roughly $45.5 billion was spent in 2005 for these factors." Now I am sure that there are many tactics implemented by the DEA to stop drugs from entering the country and hitting the inner city streets. And I'm not here to knock the DEA by any means because I know their job is not an easy task.

Unfortunately, it's not working too well at least from what my eyes detect. I've been throughout the "hood" sections of Chicago and needless to say you won't drive too far before someone throws up the universal "I got weed sign." For those of you unfamiliar it's simply putting your fingers to your mouth as if imitating you're smoking. So just in case you ever find yourself lost and driving through the "hood" if you see someone doing this don't worry it's not a gang sign. They just want you to know that if you're looking to buy weed, marijuana, green or whatever clever nickname you want to call it they got it. Funny thing is that I work and live in the suburbs but I was recently walking home from work and I walked past a Caucasian young man and heard him yelling "Hey!" Not knowing who he was talking to I kept walking he then yelled louder and I looked back and noticed he was talking to me. So I stopped and asked "what's up?" The guy then proceeds to ask if I have or know where he can get weed from? I quickly answered no to both and proceeded to take my black ass home. Well the black ass part was I'm sure part of why he chose to assume I had weed or knew where he could get some. I could go deeper into this stereotyping but that's probably best fit for another blog all by itself. But just goes to show you that you don't have to be in the heart of the ghetto to be confronted with drugs and drug use.

So back to the war on drugs, that's where we were. Well there's one tactic that I've discussed with my brother and a few others that I don't believe the DEA has used in their efforts to keep drugs off the streets. What I continue to say is we need to find out who makes and supplies the "baggies." Yes those small bags that fit only a nickel or dimes worth of drugs in them is exactly what I'm referring to. I'm no drug expert so please don't take what I'm saying as evidence I deal or use drugs because I don't. But being young and black and having lived in the inner city and still knowing people that do you get exposed to some things. Therefore, I know that to make certain drugs there are certain products you can use such as a scale, baking soda, razor blades. Well those are common items that you can basically pick up at any grocery store. However, I've never seen the little "baggies" in aisle 3 of the grocery store along with the sandwich bags and foil. Or maybe it's just me they are pretty small so maybe I've just missed them, but I doubt it. I just have never seen them used for anything else ever, so if they had another practical use then I could understand them being produced but I just don't have one. Then some even dare to have the marijuana leaf symbol on the outside of the bag. Come on now you can't tell me there is another use for such a bag. I mean it's bad enough that drug users are getting swindled as is. Well so I've heard, my parents have occasionally mention how a nickel bag back in the day was a sandwich bag full of weed now they're reduced to this small ass "baggy." Talk about inflation LOL.

But basically my theory is wherever dealers are getting these baggies from can lead to someone that has a connection with a lot of dealers. Now will it work or not I don't know, but to me if you haven't at least tried it then hell it's worth a try. But perhaps they have and figured the baggies were irrelevant to stopping the war on drugs. Now yes I'm positive that if they eliminate the suppliers of the little "baggies" that the dealers will use something else to package their drugs in. Anything from sandwich bags, to foil, to paper, plastic wrap, to tissue, bubble gum wrappers, etc. By no means am I saying it will solve the war on drugs single handedly but I think it would maybe give them inside access to some of the low level people and perhaps give them a chance to move their way up the ladder.

Well all in all I feel that drugs will always be in our society no matter how many billions the Government spends on the war on drugs. So ultimately there is nothing D.A.R.E. or removing little baggies can or will do to stop drugs and drug usage. However, when my child is as of age I do hope that programs like D.A.R.E. still exist. Although I don't expect them to my job as a parent, but I think it's a great way to begin the prevention and awareness especially in school where I won't be. But as a parent I will do the best I can to keep him as far away from drugs as I can.


C-Recks.

Back In the Day

It's Father's Day 2008. This would be my 5th (6th if you count when the time in the womb) official Father's Day. So far I've spent it having brunch with my son (yes a 4 year old took me out) and taking him on a bike ride to the park. As I'm watching him play on the slides and swings with the other children I'm reminded of a song. "Back in the Day" by Ahmad. In this song Ahmad reflects on the days of his childhood stating in his chorus "Back in the days when I was young I'm not a kid any more but some days I sit and wish I was a kid again."


(Ahmad - Back in the Days)


Well I guess one of the joys of parenthood is being able to sort of relive your childhood through your child. I can't personally go back and relive my childhood; however, every day I spend with or talking to my son is somehow just as good.

For instance, my son's favorite toy is a car. Not any specific car but any car. Yep if it has 4 wheels he'll basically play with it, and the more cars the merrier. Well I'm an "80's Baby" so when I think back I recall my favorite toys of choice were anything He-Man, Voltron, or Transformers (the original not the re-make). I mean my brother and I would fiend for more and more of these action figures. Recently my son was telling my brother about a toy he left at the park and wasn't there when he went back. Well let him tell it someone stole it and he was going to call the police 9-1-1. Lol. Likewise, my brother proceeded to tell him about how one time he left his He-Man toy (Skelator specifically) on the bus when he was a little boy. I actually recall when it happen and my older brother being all broken up over it. I think I may have even offered him my He-Man toy in replacement but it wasn't good enough. Lol.

Now when it came to Voltron, well if you're old enough to remember them the goal was to collect all 5 of the Voltron characters that connected to form Voltron. There was the head/torso, the 2 arms and the 2 legs. Well I remember when my brother and I finally had all 5 we were as happy as can be. Well that was until one of cousins (we still don't have enough evidence to name a culprit) broke one of the legs off the Voltron. Unfortunately, we were never able to form Voltron again. And yes I'm still holding a little animosity towards one of my cousins. (Whoever you are feel free to confess your sins at any time. Lol).

Well moving on, as I watch my son I realize that a child's only job as they see it at least is to play. There's honestly nothing else on their agenda. When I call my son nightly and ask what he did today I get the same answer "I played." And trust me I've seen him get his "play on" and you better believe it's hard work. I've seen him play so much all day that when it's late at night and he's still trying to play he's damn near falling asleep. Lol. But one of the main activities my son loves to do is go out and ride his bike. Unfortunately, he's still on training wheels so I don't ride with him yet; however you can usually find me either running besides or behind him (Kanye work out plan my ass!).

Well when I reflect on my bike riding days there are 2 things that immediately come to memory. Well first is when I was trying to learn how to ride without training wheels. Now I'm certain that teaching your child to ride with no training wheels is a very joyous occasion in both a child and a parents life (probably more so the parent). However, when I think back to my days of learning to ride I doubt my dad would call those days joyous. I specifically recall the day when my dad decided it was time to pull off the training wheels and show me how to ride like the big boys (mainly my older brother). Keep in mind that in those days we either couldn't afford helmets and knee and elbow pads, or kids were just made tougher back then. Lol.

Well all I remember is that it was one of the hardest days of my young life to that point at least. I remember "fallin' " so much Alicia Keys would get jealous. Also, I remember the last fall being the one that made me probably hate my dad for the first time in my life. My grandparents stayed right off of the Dan Ryan express way on the South Side. So to get back to Lafayette we had to cross over the bridge that stretched over the Dan Ryan. Well the bridge was an arch. So you start going up hill and ended down hill. So as my dad held the seat of my bike up the hill with confidence he let the seat go as I descended down hill. I believe he chased after me as my bike road down the hill on 2 wheels. And I'm sure I felt like I was flying and finally got the hang of riding with no training wheels. Well that was until I saw the approaching intersection and began to try to apply the brakes to stop this rolling contraption. Unfortunately as I applied the brakes I yet knew how to stop the bike and keep it from tipping over. Well as the visual probably depicts as I stopped I flipped off of the bike Dominique Dawes (the gymnist) style with the pavement as my only landing pad. Well good people needless to say my arms, knees, feelings, and pride were hurt all with the same fall. I of course cried as my dad attempted to console me, but it was to no avail. At that particular point I came to realize that my father was not superman and could not forever protect me from injury and harms way. I remember breaking away from him and running into the house to be consoled by my mom and grandmother and vowing to never ride again. I'm sure my father felt even worse than I did for all the scrapes, scratches, and falls I took. But I do recall him continuing to tell me with each fall "don't worry son if you fall just get back up and try again." Well needless to say I did just that and eventually learned to ride with no training wheels. In fact, despite the current relationship my father and I have, I can say those words definitely began my preparation for life at an early age. In other words, life is nothing more than a "get back up and try again" roller coaster that you continue ride until you get it right. So for that advice I thank you dad.

Now, I would attempt to add a moral to such a story but unfortunately there is none. All I can say is that in the next year or 2 the only thing I can be assured of is that I'm sure teaching my son to ride his bike without training wheels will be no easy task. Fortunately, I can learn from my father and buy protective gear for the falls and provide encouragement for when he wants to give up. Likewise, there are probably hundreds of stories I can provide of bike riding adventures including my brother and I riding our bikes at a local sand dunes as we called it (but it could've been a landfill now that I think of it. Lol) but this particular story stuck out in my memory.

Now I don't know how many of you have children between the age of say 2 and 11 but if you do well let's just say that it's safe to say that the Disney channel is something we share in common. All I know is that if Walt Disney from the grave wanted to brain wash children and form some sort of evil army he's definitely got the platform to do so. Anytime Hannah Montana can sell out a concert arena quicker than I can chug a beer there is something definitely wrong. Lol. However, all I know is that my son watches the Disney Channel religiously. And when I way "religiously" I mean even more than my grandmother watches/listens to church. And if you have a religious grandmother you know that's a whole hell of a lot. Unfortunately, as a parent there are times I'm forced to watch the channel as well even when I don't necessarily want to. In fact, so much I even start to like certain shows. I will keep them nameless as to not violate any Man Laws. But as long as I don't turn into those of you that watch even when your kid(s) aren't around (you know who you are) I think I'm good.

Well when Disney channel originally hit the scene I remember not having cable except at my grandmother's house. Also I recall feeling like I was too old for Disney. Besides, I liked Warner Brothers (WB) better than Disney anyway. However, just as my son has his beloved Disney channel we had certain cartoons we loved and wouldn't miss for anything in the world. For instance, Voltron, He-Man, Transformers (as previously mentioned), G.I. Joe, Thunder Cats, Ducktales, Darkwing Duck, Tom and Jerry, The Smurfs, Anamaniacs, and all the Warner Bros. Classics. Basically, cartoons were a way of escaping reality in our child like lives. Ironically, when you think about violence on television I don't know how cartoons still receive the G or TV Y ratings. But I guess even back then we as kids somehow knew Wile E. Coyote using an umbrella to stop a ton anvil was fake and never attempted it. Lol.

Finally, my son recently got introduced to the exciting world of video games. He began with his own game system of V-Smile which produces games geared towards education, but still have some of their favorite characters. However, after I purchased GTA IV on PS3 he quickly graduated from his V-Smile to the PS3 and wanted to play GTA (because of the ability to drive real cars). Don't worry he does nothing more than drive the cars as a responsible parent I turn down the volume and make sure he avoids any violence except the occasional breaking of a window to get into a car (I tell him he lost the keys) Lol.

However, in this new era of PS3 and XBox 360 I'm reminded of "back in the day." You know when the original Nintendo first came out (Sorry I wasn't old enough for Atari and "ColecoVision I was an "80's Baby" remember). But after Nintendo (not in order of appearance) then came Sega Genesis, Atari Jaguar, Super Nintendo, Sega CD, Neo-Geo, Sega Saturn, Sega Dream Cast, Nintendo 64, Nintendo Game Cube, Nintendo 360, Nintendo Wii, Playstation, PS1, 2 and 3, Xbox, Xbox 360, Gameboy, Gameboy Color, Gameboy Advanced, Nintendo DS, PSP etc.

Well needless to say our parents went through plenty of dollars trying to upgrade me and my brother's game systems year by year as the video game industry advanced. However, this particular memory stands out in my video game history. Gameboy was one of the game systems I mentioned that I just had to have. I remember convincing my grandmother during the course of an entire summer in Chicago to get me one right before going back home to California.

Unfortunately, not too long after going back home to Cali I remember being at the park with my brother and Grandfather John (as mentioned in the blog "The Grandadiest of Them All" June 13, 2008). For some reason I chose to bring my Gameboy, which I had begged and pleaded my grandmother for, to the park with me. And instead of giving it to my grandfather to hold I chose I chose to sit it down for what I thought was nothing more than a minute to 5 minutes at max. And as I went back for it, of course it was gone. As my son said "someone stole it." I'm sure just as he did, I wanted to call the police 9-1-1. But after looking all over the park with my brother and finding nothing I recall going to my grandfather John. Well in true grandfather John fashion he said something similar to this "well Cory (Curry as he could me) if you sat your shit down what did you expect? That's why you gotta keep up with your shit." Well with that statement I knew I need not search anymore and that my beloved Gameboy was forever gone. Having been hurt and upset I simply left with a lesson of "don't sit your shit down." And don't ask me how but I guess it somehow still holds true to this day. Lol. Although that's the one major video game story that comes to mind, believe me there are plenty others. Ask me later to estimate how much money I believe was spent playing Street Fighter II in arcades (but that's another story in itself).

In closing, I believe the innocence of child hood is one of the greatest feelings in the world. I mean to be able to learn, discover, and grow in life on a daily basis is extraordinary. Even greater than that, is to know that if you get it wrong you still have an opportunity to figure it out. Honestly, there are so many aspects to my childhood that I can reflect upon, but these particular points come to mind at the moment. So, make sure you check back there could be a part 2 coming soon.

C-Recks Out!!!