Endless Information

Yesterday the Republican Party chose its first black national chairman in its history. Michael Steele is the former Lt. Governor from the great state of Maryland. Now, my first thought when I first heard of this news was that the RNC made this move strictly for PR purposes. There have been a lot of talks about the getting the Republican party to relate more to minorities and I think they some believe that this will be an automatic fix. I find it very interesting that as soon as the cameras were on him he stated that he is going after Obama and looks forward to sparring with him. He also stated that he would tell Obama how you like me know in reference to Obama being dismissive of Steele a few years back. I really wonder if this dynamic is needed right now. I wonder if Obama will take his forcefulness kindly or will this begin a constant back and forth battle. It makes for an exciting time in politics but the chess game has officially begun in Washington.

Last night my wife and I went out with a few of her co-workers and we met a young woman who had just moved to DC from Hawaii. My wife and I questioned her as to why she would leave the warm beautiful climate of Hawaii to come here and she stated it was an opportunity she could not pass up. I can't even begin to think how hard of a decision that was to make. How do you leave a climate like that to come here. Don't get me wrong, I love DC like no other city but if I could be in Hawaii seven days a week.......I will leave it at that.

First Week

So, we are coming to the conclusion of President Obama's first week and I must say that it has been an eventful one. He has had to very quickly show what he is made of and I think he has done a fairly decent job. I do think there have been some newcomer errors and I think some of those need to be addressed. One of the first errors that I think he made was directly addressing Rush Limbaugh on one day and Fox news on another day. As a President you need to really be careful how you address those that critique you. Calling direct names and going after a section of the media is never a good move. Fox news is a network that has the time and energy to focus on all things they deem negative and they will do it with a vengeance if baited. Obama also came out on Wednesday and directly addressed the respective governments in the DC area about their quick closures of schools. Now, I am not going to debate if I agree with this statement or not but once again, the comment came across as a bit condescending.

Now, there have been some things that President Obama has done this week that I think is his way of starting things fresh in DC. He has really been on mission to get this new stimulus package passed. He keeps pushing that he wants bipartisan support and is going out of his way to get it. Just on Wednesday night, the same evening after not one Republican voted for his stimulus plan, he had a cocktail party at the White House for both Republican and Democratic party leaders. This is my opinion is a very gutsy move, and it shows that he is willing to go outside the box. President Obama also this week went on Arab TV to attempt to make amends with the muslim world. Now, I am fully aware that this is going to be a long journey in reconciliation, but for a new president to do this early in his administration is very telling of how things are going to go.

Hopefully Obama will sit down with his advisors this weekend and really analyze his first week and weigh out the positives and the negatives. I think he had a fairly strong showing, but he needs to save his sound bites for the major issues at his hand. Let his press secretary be the one to make comments on individuals. He needs to remember that he is not campaigning for a position, he is leading a country.

Facebook

Facebook never ceases to amaze me. For the last few months now I have been getting friend requests from a wide variety of people on Facebook. These requests have come from people I used to go to school with, to former clients, to people that know me through someone else, etc. It really is an interesting dynamic. I also am starting to believe that Facebook is addictive. My wife stays on Facebook, as well as many other people that I know. What is it about this site that has us all in awe. Do we really want to connect with old friends or are we just curious to see what people are doing and have done in their lives. Does this prove that all of us are nosey or is it a dire curiousity. I will fully admit that I am nosey and will leave it at that.


This economy is really starting to make me nervous. I am 30 years old and can't remember a time when so many people were losing jobs. Everyday on the news you are hearing about companies cutting jobs and even some companies going under. Many predictions have things getting a lot worse before they get better. I had a conversation with my father the other night and he stated to me that I lot of what we are seeing are some companies "trimming the excess fat". It still makes me nervous. I work in the banking field and I see firsthand how people are being affected. Property values are going down, money market rates are almost non-existent, you almost need an 800 credit score to get approved for a any type of loan, and so on. I really hope this stimulus helps but I don't know...

Black Ice

This morning reminded me of those days as a child when you would have your eyes glued to the television praying that your school district would be closed. My wife who is a teacher was informed last evening that her charter school would be opening two hours late this morning due to the ice. So, this morning at 6:30 like an excited 8th grader, I turned on the news to the get the school closing run-down. What memories this brought back. I can remember vividly my brother and I refusing to get dressed until we knew for sure if we had to go to school or not. If we did not have to go due to the snow we would then hurry up and get dressed, go outside and punish each other with a barrage of snowballs. Even my father would join in on the action on his way to work. How I miss the grade school days. Short of a major weather event, there will be no delays for me.

Can someone please tell Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield to speak to Muhammad Ali's doctor. Where are the loved ones in both of their respective lives. Is there any one in both of their corners (no pun intended) that can tell them that they need to hang up the gloves forever beofre serious long term damage occurs. There is a rumor going around that these two may be planning a bout for some serious cash. NO NO NO... This is a epic fail waiting to happen in my opinion. I need to put together an intervention team ASAP.

Quiet is better

When is someone going to tell Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich that running his mouth too much on national television is a no-no. How are you in the middle of a impeachment trial and you take time out of your day to work the network circuit. It is really disgusting. CNN showed clips of this man on Barbara Walters, the View, speaking with Geraldo, etc. Here is an idea. STFU and keep it moving. If you know that you are innocent continue to let the media do what they do. Personally, I would take the stance that the American People have not heard the full version of those tapes and until they do, once again they need to sit down somewhere. I know this may be a little close minded on my part but eh....This does not however give him a pass to be on every news channel. It comes across as a bit arrogant in my opinion. He needs to take notes from Jack Abramoff. Stay away from TV and do a Time article...It goes a long way.

If you are in the DC area like I am you should have some snow falling outside right now.... It is not enough in my opinion. When I moved back to the DC area from Atlanta I was expecting snow earlier and lots of it. Mother Nature is holding out on me and I don't like it. I need some real snow. 12 inches and above will suit me fine. (Pause).........This flurry stuff is for the birds.

Appreciation

Today is my mother's 57 birthday and I must say I am really excited for her. My mother has had an exciting last few months and she seems the happiest that she has been in a very long time. This post though is not about her in that respect. It really is about our relationship, and how I have learned so much from her in the last 14 years.

Prior to that 14 years I was in a normal family and love was just passed around freely...We were really like one and we did everything together.

When my brother went to college back in the early 90's I was left in the house with my parents who were in the early stages of a separation and pending divorce. Things began to get very weird around the house and as a 14 year old teen I began to rebel. For some reason this took on the form of being disrespectful to my mother. This ranged from everything to yelling, to being just out right defiant. I know now that this was just my anger from my parents going to different directions but at that time it was really bad. The bad behavior continued until my father noticed it and advised the judge in the proceedings that it is best that when the dust settles that I move with him to Cleveland. During this time period when I was away from my mother for long periods of time, I started to realize how much hurt I caused my mother and I began to work on repairing that.

By the time I moved back with my mother my senior year of high school the process began oh healing. My mother and I had our problems my senior year and freshman year of college but it was more due to the crowd I was hanging with than anything else. As the years have gone by since that our relationship has taken on a very interesting dynamic. My mother has become a lot of different things to me. She has become my main support system, my spiritual advisor, my counselor, etc... It's something I really can't put into words. My wife tells me that I become putty when my mother asks me to do something and I think that is true. I think it is my way of repaying her for the wrong I did growing up.

I can never make up for making my mother cry. I can never get out of my head how in a fit of rage in 94 I laughed at her feelings about the pending divorce. I can never get her shocked look out of my head when the police called her my senior year for many things. But I can say that I can smile when she says how much things have changed. I can smile about her first meeting my wife or being there at the hospital when my son was born. I can smile when her and I talk on the phone for hours and laugh and cry together. I can smile when she comes and visits and her and I go out to eat. It really is a wonderful thing. I can't go more than two days without talking to her.

I really just want to say Happy Birthday to my mother. I smile as I say that and I truly realize how blessed I am to have that relationship with her. I love you Mommy

Worries

On November 2, 2006 at 11:47 in the evening my son was born. Words can't explain the happiness my wife and I felt at the moment. I knew I that point that my life would change forever and that my focus would always be his well-being. (Second to my wife of course...!00 points) As these two years have virtually blown by, I have noticed that my son has a personality that mirrors my own. He has a sense of humor, he is hardheaded, he is a flirt, (sorry baby), and lastly he has a smart mouth. This is where my worry comes in. For the last several weeks when either my wife or I pick him up from childcare we hear that either he has talked back to one of the providers or that he is very adamant about which toys are his. Now, I know the toy part comes from him being an only child and I guess I understand that part. I was raised with an older brother so I really could not be selfish about anything due to the thrashing I would get. My son on the other hand feels as though what is his is his and no one should dare touch it. This concerns me but I chalk it up to terrible two's and will leave it at that. We are working on the sharing aspect at home. My real concern comes from his mouth. I really worry that it is something that will not leave him. Any one that knows myself or my brother or even my wife knows that we all have a very smart mouth that can and sometimes does get all of us in a little bit of trouble. But all of us are at least 30 (sorry again baby) and so it is part of us at this point. I must say that I don't want it to become part of my son and cause him some of the the same minor issues it caused me. Maybe I am overthinking this, but I must admit I am worried about it.

Laws .

There really needs to be law about going into work on the weekend. There has to be no worse feeling (an exaggeration of course) than getting up at 7:00am on a Saturday morning to go in the office. I really think the weekends should be time spent with family, friends, and maybe Jack Daniels if that is your cup of tea. Now, I know I should not be complaining since this week was a shortened one but still I must vent. And I know I need to make the best of my day.

I also need to know is there a unwritten law about having to speak to your neighbors. When I returned from work yesterday, as I parked my car by neighbor was sitting on his porch and went out of his way to speak to me. When I say out of his way I mean he was on his cell phone and told the person to hold on and walk down his stairs and into the middle of the sidewalk to speak to me. I really think this is uncalled for. A simple wave in my opinion will suffice. This is almost as bad as my new neighbor to my left who proceeded to tell me her whole life story when I was rushing to a meeting one morning. I understand that she may need a friend ( her husband just died and she moved to get out the the old house) but that is something that needs to be eased in. I know this sounds harsh but you get my drift. My wife accuses me of being anti-social and that just may be the truth. I just don't have patience a lot of time for random conversation.

Politics Everywhere

So, I had planned on speaking on my gripes about the music industry this morning until I turned the radio on and heard a rant about Russ Limbaugh and his comments about Obama yesterday. I must say that I am bothered that his comments are garnering this much attention. Does Urban radio not understand that this is what he does on a regular basis? Speaking on the issue all over morning radio only solidifies his place in shock radio. I heard the comments on CNN.com yesterday and chalked it up to him being an attention whore. (I really do hate that expression.) You have to put him in that Michelle Malkin category. (Google her)

I think I will save my rant on the music industry for another day. I was on a very popular hip hop website last night and just kept running into ignorance....

It is back to work again today and I am really not looking forward to going in early...Having an 8:00 meeting combined with the fact that I may have to work late is not my idea of a good day. Also combine the fact that my wife and son will be out of town for the weekend and you have the makings of a cranky man today.

Well

Well, I guess this is my my grown way of getting things off of my mind. When I was young, or shall I say younger, I used to write so-called rhymes and vent that way. It seems as if I have grown out of that and moved on to using this as my forum. Being that I am now 30 years old on my way to 31 it seems as though life is always there to remind you of something..... Life is never easy but if it was, I probably would take it for granted.

I am coming off of a good weekend and a productive few days off. I think I am ready to go back to work on Friday. I think...... Without getting in to much detail I think I am really bored with work and ready to go back to school. As a matter of fact, I know I am ready to make that leap..... I just need to make that first step.......

But when...........