This is mainly a regurgitation of what my pastor preached about in church today, but it moved me and stirred my thoughts quite a bit.
The person you're with is the person you asked for. They haven't changed at all, they've always been the same person. It's just that when youre meeting someone, you only get to see one side of them and humans are more than 2 dimensional so there's more than one side to a person. There's never any complaints when relationships are going fine, but the moment you have an argument or a disagreement, then he or she has changed, they haven't changed. When you find your significant other, if you find the right one they're supposed to be your other half, they're supposed to think of things that you don't and you won't always agree. You don't want to be in a relationship with someone like yourself, that's what friends are for you want someone who'll bring something new to the table. So don't think of differences as reasons to run away.
Times will eventually get hard, but when you are weak, your other half is strong and vice versa. Men do get weak, and we need a woman who can be strong when we get weak, not a woman who'll say "man up" all the time, because the world beats us up enough and if we get beat up at home, then there's no point in coming home.
Don't always listen to your friends when it comes to your relationship. Especially if they're telling you to leave your significant other. Some people are just jealous and misery loves company so people will say anything to see you just as miserable as them. Most of the time people tell their friends all their business and dont tell their partner their feelings and they get to that point where they get fed up because they have all these feelings that're building up and eventually it all comes out in one big explosion. Before that happens, try talking to your partner, before you get to "girl he got one more time" have a conversation with your partner and see if that doesn't improve your relationship.
The grass isn't always greener on the other side. The 80/20 rule is in effect here. Don't think that just because somebody looks good and says exactly what you want them to say at that moment, that they're better than who you have. Some people treat a relationship like a job, they're just sticking around until they find a "better" job, what most people don't realize is that there aren't any better jobs there's just different jobs, every job has it's own drama and people you can't stand. There's people and things about every job that you don't like and just because a job pays more, doesn't make it a better job.
Don't go into a marriage, with the thought that if this doesn't work, I'm leaving because if you have that mentality, that you can get out, then you will get out. If you go into something and there's no way out, you'll find a way to make it work. That's why marriages in the old days lasted so long because there wasn't a divorce. You only got a divorce two ways, either the Pope granted it to you or you went to Vegas. If you believe that something will fail, then it will, don't ever believe that your relationship will fail and you always have a chance.
Love one another!
-Peace
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
What Happened To The Voices?
I was listening to some old school r & b on my way home from class and I was wondering what happened to the male r and b singers? Is it me or are their voices becoming weaker and weaker? I mean back in the day they had Rick James ( Fire & Desire is still the best duet ever made, I don't care what anyone says), Luther, Marvin Gaye, Al Green, Teddy Pendergrass, Peabo Bryson (Feel The Fire! What?!?), you get the point. Now it seems like all we have are a bunch of substitute teachers. I always figured that if I had the talent to sing well, I'd want to sing like Peabo Bryson... and I'd sing "I'm So Into You" to a girl and sweep her off her feet, hopeless romantic fantasies I know, but bear with me.
It seems that the caliber of voices has steadily gone down. I mean in the 90s we had Boyz 2 Men and Dru Hill, Brian McKnight, Babyface, Joe, Jodeci, Silk, R Kelly. They were our equivalents of Luther and them. However, as great as they were, our parents would tell us in a minute that they couldn't hold a candle to Stevie Wonder. Since the 90s, the talent has just considerably gotten worse. I'm not saying that the guys out now are bad singers, it just seems like theire voices aren't strong. Female vocalists still have powerful voices. We got Jennifer Hudson who has a great voice, Beyonce is a great singer when she's singing and not man bashing, Jazmine Sullivan is the new kid, but still can blow, Keyshia Cole is coming into her own, but people still question her talent, mary J is still putting in work. So the female side is still killing the r & b scene. Who do the men have out now that is decent? We have Musiq who's a great singer, Jamie Foxx who has a great voice, Ne-Yo, writes some of the best material, and John Legend who people think is bringing back that old school feeling, but I haven't really liked anything he's put out since his first album. Other than that we have a bunch of teenyboppers and swooners. Guys that can't sing great, but their looks keep the girlies squealing (Trey Songz, comes to mind, no homo).
So what is the problem? Is it the content? It can't be that because Rick James wrote about sex all the time (give it to me, super freak), so when people argue that the music has become mysogynistic...I say nah! The lyrics were more subtle back then, because Billy Paul wrote about having an affair with "Mrs. Jones" and I didn't know what the hell he was talking about for the longest time. Now the lyrics are more up front, is it because our generation has the vocabulary of a twelve year old? Or are songwriters just trying to appeal to a wider audience? I think that may be the problem, trying to appeal to a younger audience. No one makes grown and sexy music anymore.
Another theory is that male r & b artists don't have any soul anymore, they don't make you feel the music like the old schoolers did. That could be true, I find myself relating to the older music more than the new school music, but is that the lack of soul or me just growing up?
The sad part is that it's only on the male side that I'm feeling this contempt because I love Jazmine Sullivan, Jennifer Hudson, Fantasia, Jordin Sparks, Alicia Keys, and sometimes Beyonce and Keyshia Cole, when they're not man bashing. I feel their songs, but Trey, Chris Brown (Pre-battered woman), Omarion, Marques Houston, B5, Ruben, etc. I'm not feeling, maybe because they're not singing to me or about me, but then again neither was Luther(....I think) and I felt his music.
What do you guys think, is male r & b music declining or is it just me?
It seems that the caliber of voices has steadily gone down. I mean in the 90s we had Boyz 2 Men and Dru Hill, Brian McKnight, Babyface, Joe, Jodeci, Silk, R Kelly. They were our equivalents of Luther and them. However, as great as they were, our parents would tell us in a minute that they couldn't hold a candle to Stevie Wonder. Since the 90s, the talent has just considerably gotten worse. I'm not saying that the guys out now are bad singers, it just seems like theire voices aren't strong. Female vocalists still have powerful voices. We got Jennifer Hudson who has a great voice, Beyonce is a great singer when she's singing and not man bashing, Jazmine Sullivan is the new kid, but still can blow, Keyshia Cole is coming into her own, but people still question her talent, mary J is still putting in work. So the female side is still killing the r & b scene. Who do the men have out now that is decent? We have Musiq who's a great singer, Jamie Foxx who has a great voice, Ne-Yo, writes some of the best material, and John Legend who people think is bringing back that old school feeling, but I haven't really liked anything he's put out since his first album. Other than that we have a bunch of teenyboppers and swooners. Guys that can't sing great, but their looks keep the girlies squealing (Trey Songz, comes to mind, no homo).
So what is the problem? Is it the content? It can't be that because Rick James wrote about sex all the time (give it to me, super freak), so when people argue that the music has become mysogynistic...I say nah! The lyrics were more subtle back then, because Billy Paul wrote about having an affair with "Mrs. Jones" and I didn't know what the hell he was talking about for the longest time. Now the lyrics are more up front, is it because our generation has the vocabulary of a twelve year old? Or are songwriters just trying to appeal to a wider audience? I think that may be the problem, trying to appeal to a younger audience. No one makes grown and sexy music anymore.
Another theory is that male r & b artists don't have any soul anymore, they don't make you feel the music like the old schoolers did. That could be true, I find myself relating to the older music more than the new school music, but is that the lack of soul or me just growing up?
The sad part is that it's only on the male side that I'm feeling this contempt because I love Jazmine Sullivan, Jennifer Hudson, Fantasia, Jordin Sparks, Alicia Keys, and sometimes Beyonce and Keyshia Cole, when they're not man bashing. I feel their songs, but Trey, Chris Brown (Pre-battered woman), Omarion, Marques Houston, B5, Ruben, etc. I'm not feeling, maybe because they're not singing to me or about me, but then again neither was Luther(....I think) and I felt his music.
What do you guys think, is male r & b music declining or is it just me?
Monday, February 9, 2009
I Never Looked In The Mirror And Wanted To Be Someone Other Than Me
I never looked in the mirror and wanted to be someone other than me.
I envy no man because I know that somewhere someone envies me and because I am envied I never look at others and wish to be them. I look at all the beautiful things around me and try my best not to take those things for granted.
I know that noone enjoys being stopped by the cops and having to pay a fine, but there are too many people who were stopped by the cops and paid a fine with their lives. So you know what, I'll pay your $125.00 ticket because I know in the grand scheme of things $125.00 is incomparable to the price of my life.
I hate smudges on my white shoes too, but I am not going to take a life because my $65.00 Nikes that I chose to wear to a club where foot stomps are notorious are no longer flawless whe children walk barefoot across burning deserts each day for 65 cents.
I know that I am envied so I take care to cherish everything in my world. In a world where some people take their family for granted using babies as paychecks when some women pray every night that they can get pregnant to have a child to give their hearts to.
I never took shame in being a mama's boy, better a mama's boy than a daddy's boy because papa was a rolling stone and I could never roll fast enough to keep up with his pace.
I never complain when I'm given extra condiments on my sandwiches because I know that there are people who's bellies are swollen due to malnourishment while I pick off the very vitamins and nutrients that could save lives. I don't watch infomercials about people dieting going from a size 3 to a size 0 because they wanted to fit in the clothes they wore in high school at age 45. News flash, get a grip, it's callind growing up for a reason, that's why your clothes don't fit.
I never looked in the mirror and wanted to be someone other than me. And being me is good enough for me.
Peace!
I envy no man because I know that somewhere someone envies me and because I am envied I never look at others and wish to be them. I look at all the beautiful things around me and try my best not to take those things for granted.
I know that noone enjoys being stopped by the cops and having to pay a fine, but there are too many people who were stopped by the cops and paid a fine with their lives. So you know what, I'll pay your $125.00 ticket because I know in the grand scheme of things $125.00 is incomparable to the price of my life.
I hate smudges on my white shoes too, but I am not going to take a life because my $65.00 Nikes that I chose to wear to a club where foot stomps are notorious are no longer flawless whe children walk barefoot across burning deserts each day for 65 cents.
I know that I am envied so I take care to cherish everything in my world. In a world where some people take their family for granted using babies as paychecks when some women pray every night that they can get pregnant to have a child to give their hearts to.
I never took shame in being a mama's boy, better a mama's boy than a daddy's boy because papa was a rolling stone and I could never roll fast enough to keep up with his pace.
I never complain when I'm given extra condiments on my sandwiches because I know that there are people who's bellies are swollen due to malnourishment while I pick off the very vitamins and nutrients that could save lives. I don't watch infomercials about people dieting going from a size 3 to a size 0 because they wanted to fit in the clothes they wore in high school at age 45. News flash, get a grip, it's callind growing up for a reason, that's why your clothes don't fit.
I never looked in the mirror and wanted to be someone other than me. And being me is good enough for me.
Peace!
Sunday, February 1, 2009
They're Building Jails For Our Kids!
The government is building jails based on the test scores of 3rd graders.
As a human being, I find this to be extremely contradictory, especially of America who is the "greatest nation".
Do we have such little faith in our educational system that we can't prevent our 3rd graders from being criminals? I mean have we exhausted EVERY other option? Are there no after-school programs, no mentoring programs, no way to get parents involved? Is this the ONLY alternative?
This is how much faith the government has in America's youth, the ones that will someday grow up to lead this country. We're really giving them a reason to trust the government.
Can we take lil Timmy's name off of that jail cell and find a better use for the money? I read an article where an elderly black woman was complaining because her issue was that we're giving the people this money and they're going to turn our children into prisoners, but if we gave that money to her, she could turn that same child into anything but a prisoner.
You think I want to hear that? I have little cousins who'll be in the 3rd grade soon and I'll be damned if they're going to be a prisoner in this brand new hell you're concocting. If anything I'll be in jail before them because if they even think about locking up one of my little cousins, and you can quote me on this, that prison will blow up like the Godfather!
How are we not outraged at this as parents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, grandparents? We are aware that they're building these prisons for our children so why aren't we doing everything to prevent this from occurring? I say we do our best to prevent any one of our children from becoming a criminal and make those prisons nothing more than a monument for the idiocy of the government. Real talk!
-Roderic
As a human being, I find this to be extremely contradictory, especially of America who is the "greatest nation".
Do we have such little faith in our educational system that we can't prevent our 3rd graders from being criminals? I mean have we exhausted EVERY other option? Are there no after-school programs, no mentoring programs, no way to get parents involved? Is this the ONLY alternative?
This is how much faith the government has in America's youth, the ones that will someday grow up to lead this country. We're really giving them a reason to trust the government.
Can we take lil Timmy's name off of that jail cell and find a better use for the money? I read an article where an elderly black woman was complaining because her issue was that we're giving the people this money and they're going to turn our children into prisoners, but if we gave that money to her, she could turn that same child into anything but a prisoner.
You think I want to hear that? I have little cousins who'll be in the 3rd grade soon and I'll be damned if they're going to be a prisoner in this brand new hell you're concocting. If anything I'll be in jail before them because if they even think about locking up one of my little cousins, and you can quote me on this, that prison will blow up like the Godfather!
How are we not outraged at this as parents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, grandparents? We are aware that they're building these prisons for our children so why aren't we doing everything to prevent this from occurring? I say we do our best to prevent any one of our children from becoming a criminal and make those prisons nothing more than a monument for the idiocy of the government. Real talk!
-Roderic
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