It's Monday.
While we're pushing for a better world check out the i'm Initiative. I saw an ad for it on Pandora and was sucked in because this guy looked hilarious and I thought the i'm Talkathon was legitimately some guy blogging and AIM-ing and facebooking for 30 days straight...aka my life.
C_o_m_m_o_n feat. P_h_a_r_r_e_l_l - AnnouncementThe i’m™ Initiative from Microsoft™ makes helping social causes easy. Every time
you use Windows Live™ Messenger or Windows Live Hotmail®, our free webmail service, we'll share a portion of our advertising revenue with some of the world's most effective social cause organizations. Exactly how much will we share with our partner causes? Well, that’s up to you and the growing masses of registered i’m Initiative users. The more messages you send, the more we give.
I walk into work the other day, all geeked about my new phone which, for the record, is a very classy "wine-red." I haven't had a colorful phone since the era of Nokias that got out of hand with the face plates. I whip it out for my coworkers so they can ooh and awe and the first thing I hear is, "what...you got a maroon phone?!" I go around all day "hookin em horns," all proud because I'm the youngest in the office and still in school, holding my own, and my silly behind has to sit there defending my color choice to my Aggie colleagues. Ain't that bout a.... but it's really sleek and cute, and I knew it was time for a change when the other night in the club I flip open my phone to text and my friend, who has to be 3 years younger, has the nerve to say, "Oh no girl, we have got to do better." Why does she need a Blackberry? Just to check her Facebook!?
True story: The other night I went to a Class of 1998 high school reunion at The Ivy Lounge. I didn't go to that high school, grow up in that city, know anyone who did, or graduate anywhere near 1998. With that said we had a good time and more importantly they played a lot of fantastic music from 1998. Do you know what a good year that was to graduate high school!? That was the hey day of Puff Daddy, Biggie, Mase, Usher, not to mention every great Texan rapper to ever lay something on wax. That was the first stop of several that evening and at the end of the night I finally admitted Dallas' legitimacy as a city. It's nowhere near the level of Space City, but it's tolerable when you have good company.-- Does Obama back ethanol? I think it's tragic it takes our big country forever to get the wheels in motion for fossil fuel alternatives and when we finally do we're all "Doh! We use corn for food too?" Rising food prices, apocalyptic flooding in the bread basket, crazy subsidies, and government guidelines for the amount of corn that has to go towards ethanol production....it's enough to make you want to splurge on a hydrogen car.Then there's the gold medal level of resilience, which Steinhardt refers to as "stepping up." This is when you do whatever it takes to meet a challenge and in the process you advance to an even higher level of functioning and wellbeing. You are thriving rather than just surviving.
"When we talk about resilient people," says Steinhardt, "we refer to 'the three C's.' These individuals see challenge as an opportunity, not occasion for fight or flight. They have a strong value system and are genuinely committed to the people in their lives and to the activities in which they're involved.
"And, finally, they have a sense of control and believe they have the power to influence things and make things better—they don't feel like victims and lack initiative. A resilient person is like a tree that's branches are flexible and bend with the wind rather than crack and break under pressure."
With one hand still gripping the handle of the gun, he now puts his hand to my chest. "Why don't you sit your ass down and watch how it's done?"
I take two steps backward and sit on the couch, also a gift from the church. An apple-faced white woman wearing a tie-dyed shirt brought it the day Achor Achor and I moved in. She apologized that it hadn't preceded our arrival. The people from the church were often apologizing.
I stare up at Powder and I know who he brings to mind. The soldier, an Ethiopian and a woman, shot two of my companions and almost killed me. She had the same wild light in her eyes, and she first posed as our savior. We were fleeing Ethiopia, chased by hundreds of Ethiopian soldiers shooting at us, the River Gilo full of our blood, and out of the high grasses she appeared. Come to me, children! I am your mother! Come to me! She was only a face in the grey grass, her hands outstretched, and I hesitated. Two of the boys I was running with, boys I had found on the bank of the bloody river, they both went to her. And when they drew close enough, she lifted an automatic rifle and shot through the chests and stomachs of the boys. They fell in front of me and I turned and ran. Come back! she continued. Come to your mother!
In his history of 19th-century America, “What Hath God Wrought,” Daniel Walker Howe quotes Ralph Waldo Emerson as telling a meeting of the Mercantile Library Association in 1844 that “America is the country of the future. It is a country of beginnings, of projects, of vast designs and expectations.”That’s the America that got swallowed by the war on terrorism. And it’s the America that many people want back. I have no idea whether Obama will win in November. Whether he does or doesn’t, though, the mere fact of his nomination has done something very important. We’ve surprised ourselves and surprised the world and, in so doing, reminded everyone that we are still a country of new beginnings.The second is "The Great Seduction" from David Brooks and it basically touches on how Americans have lost their ever loving minds with credit cards and all around over-spending. I hate to say it but the sub prime housing crisis is not solely on the evil doers who scammed grandmas into fixed rate mortages -- why did that grandma think she could get the Beverly Hills house on a hillbilly salary?! No offense to hillbillies... But Americans have led the way in ridiculous spending habits -- you know if you can't pay your rent you should not be buying that new Fendi. It's a great article and a wake up call. Just educating yourself on the latest 401 (k) options (see article 3) isn't enough, we need to educate our peers. The class divisions are getting deeper and wider with every paycheck -- shouldn't we all be doing our part to bring up everybody? A chain is a strong as its weakest link?
The agents of destruction are many. State governments have played a role. They aggressively hawk their lottery products, which some people call a tax on stupidity. Twenty percent of Americans are frequent players, spending about $60 billion a year. The spending is starkly regressive. A household with income under $13,000 spends, on average, $645 a year on lottery tickets, about 9 percent of all income. Aside from the financial toll, the moral toll is comprehensive. Here is the government, the guardian of order, telling people that they don’t have to work to build for the future. They can strike it rich for nothing.
Finally is more of a super informative public service announcement: "A Primer for Young People Starting Their First Job." Educate your minds and then share the wealth.
(A really talented young female who found fame with JD through YouTube)
M_a_r_i_a_h feat. Wayne and Akon - Bye Bye (remix)
K_a_r_i_n_a Pasian - 16 at War
I posted this a while ago but it's been getting more recognition lately and has grown on me like...mold on bread? HA, I got nothing. Anyway it's a FAB song, although when modifying it for singing in my car "21" has an extra syllable so it doesn't flow the same...
NERD feat. S_a_n_t_o_g_o_l_d and Julian - My Drive T_h_r_u
John L_e_g_e_n_d feat. A_n_d_r_e - Green Light
I can't get enough of 3000 these days. Have you ever been listening to music when you're sitting behind a lens that powerfully restricts what you want to listen to? More specifically what happens when you don't want to hear songs demoralizing sex and "love?" What happens when you don't want to hear songs idealizing relationships OR songs about breaking up (well....less often...)? I'll tell you what happens: you end up splitting your time between gospel, Outkast (with that I'll include Goodie Mob), and jazz. I don't want to hear Marvin just as much as I don't want to hear Whitney, Kelly, James, Donny, and Wayne. Sometimes my girls Carrie, Taylor, Mariah, and Bey might get me energized but ehhhh...still. The other night in the club I was so geeked when something came on besides all the bust-it-baby-esque songs, even if it was Jeezy. If only Houston clubs did the Houston throwback mixes like everybody else... I heard some old Z-Ro driving around Detroit and subsequently nearly killed myself and my coworker.
W_a_l_e - Hey Mr. Carter (remix)
*screams again* Mr. Carter is one of my favorite tracks off the not-the-greatest-ever Carter III ( which has sold well over a million -- I almost said a millie. Time for the remixes to cease and desist.) Wale is certainly included in my list of tolerable, listenable-despite-my-mindset artists (as is Blu, the Roots, etc -- I feel like that goes without saying though?) and his Mixtape About Nothing has been getting heavy play on Ipod Jr.
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"The Seven Deadly Sins: Wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, worship without sacrifice, and politics without principle." -- Mahatma Ghandi
"Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is the right thing to do." - Justice Potter Stewart
"It is not an adequate ethical standard to aspire to get through the day without being indicted." - Richard Breeden
"It takes less time to do a thing right then to explain why you did it wrong." - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
" A person of character takes as much trouble to discover what is right as the lesser men take to discover what will pay."-- Confucius
Accusing the times is but excusing ourselves.-- English Proverb
"Character is how you act when you think no one is watching, but conscience is the inner voice that warns us that someone may be." -- Michael Josephson
"Rather fail with honor than succeed by fraud." - Sophocles
"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." - Ephesians 6:12
But Ephesians 6:12 said it wasn't flesh and blood that we wrestle against
Principalities, powers of this world
Rulers of darkness and spiritual wickedness
In high places, so throw that whole armor of righteousness
The past few days I've had Duffy's "Mercy" stuck in my head. It doesn't help that American Gladiators is currently using it on a commercial that comes on about once every 15 minutes on NBC. 2dopeboyz posted a ?uestlove remix of the song and thus we begin the post of extraordinary British singers. (inspired by Buns Rivera - may you have a successful hunting trip over there)
Amy Winehouse -- I know, I know. We're all aware that crack is whack and it has destroyed an otherwise amazing talent, but her (previous?) voice (*recorded) is undeniable. "Tears Dry On Their Own" is what hooked me, but the video isn't nearly as good as the song by itself. Just close your eyes... Peace be with that woman's soul. Everyone has "Back to Black" by now but "Frank" was her first album and has a few hits like "F Me Pumps" and "Send Me Flying."
There are a million others I didn't mention but who I still love (Craig David, James Blunt, etc) but this post has been in the works too long and my schedule hasn't been too kind to blogging so whatev.
