Good Day

Today I took my wife and my son to the African Art museum here in DC. I have not been to this museum in about 10 years. My parents took my brother and I there a few times when we were younger and I took a few dates as I got older. I wanted my son even though he is two to really start to understand important history. The first part of the trip to the museum involved just looking at wonderful pieces of art from different countries in Africa. My first observation was that out of all the pieces, Nigeria seemed to have the most detailed work. The work from there also seemed to use a variety of material. The work from the Congo also had me very inspired. It seemed to use a lot of its work to honor the family structure. The next part of the museum had a exhibit that showed in pictures and words the civil rights movement. Many of the pictures revolved around MLK, Andrew Young, John Lewis, Stokley Carmichael and a host of others. Many of the pictures showed the police beating marchers, people being hosed, and dogs being used to attack people. Some of the pictures were very graphic in that they showed people who were shot and killed by police in Alabama, Tennessee and various other states. The exhibit was very moving. They also had a display that showed the police report from when Rosa Parks was arrested. It even had the paper where she did her fingerprints. They even had a TV set up showing the old Eyes on the Prize series. I really hope my son took in some of what he saw even though he is not able to read as of yet. I really need him to understand what we have come through to get where we are today and where we need to go. It was a powerful exhibit.

Ways of Living

Why are people in this day and time still living way beyond their means.? I am seeing so many of my friends and associates still buying expensive cars, clothes, etc and not thinking long term. Some of these people have children. Where is the focus on saving for the future? Why is there a need to have a brand new car that you can barely afford. I just don't understand it. I used to get asked a lot why I drive a Toyota Corolla and I always respond that it is a good car that is excellent on gas. Don't get me wrong, I would love a new German car but what is my motivation. I am a 30 year old married man with a 2 year old son. I am thinking in a very practical manner. I have clients that live in apartments with $700 car notes. Why??? Priorities people. That same money that you spend on a that expensive car can go into a 529 plan for college for your kids. . Or it can go into a rainy day fund. I know my wife and I are working toward being debt free very soon. I don't know if having our son made us this way but it is something that is constantly on our minds. I try to to talk to people that come in my office and advise them of how to save money right now. Certain things can wait. One of my old clients who is a stock trader gave me some very good advice last year. He told that if you can't buy something twice you do not need it. This is how he goes into every purchase from a house to an television. He pays everything in cash. This is where I strive to be.

This morning on the radio I heard Purple Rain by Prince. This song is the epitome of good music. It reminds me of when I was growing up and we as a family played record almost every Saturday night. My father back then was always buying albums and playing them in the family room. These albums ranged from Purple Rain to Terrence Trent Darby(I am can't get that song out of my head Rashad), the Temps, to Kool Moe Dee. Even my brother back in the day would be in his room playing all types of music and would have me in there. This was back when you would try to catch songs on the radio and tape them. I still remember when my dad bought home the How you like me know record and played it to death. I used to look at him like he was crazy but it was indeed good times. I wonder how my son will look back on times like this. Normally on Saturday morning I blast music (censored music of course) from my itunes and he will sit with me and do his two step. (Okay, the two-step part was a stretch but he still dances)
I hope he treasures it when he gets older as I do.

One Liners

Bobby Jindal is messing up his shot for 2012.

I am proud of my Boy Dhani for his new reality show on the Travel channel.

I need a new IPOD that can hold more songs.

The new Joe Budden album is crazy. (Sorry Rashad)

I started working out again and I am in crazy pain.

Going through the process of a merger is a pain the behind.

Writing everyday really is a exercise for the brain.

You can learn a lot watching No Reservations on the travel channel.

Music really is a great form of therapy.

There are too many state troopers on the beltway.'

Its good to conquer your shortcomings every day.

I don't miss Atlanta at all.

Marriage is contagious.

I want to see the Roots in concert.

Mid Week Ramblings

I sat and watched Obama's speech last night and was left feeling like more was needed. I knew going in that he was going to be making a thematic speech but I did not know to that extreme. He was extremely vague in laying out his plans. I am aware that he has some things in the works, but I think we are at a point where we need honest feedback. I know I am tired of hearing about what needs to be done. I am ready to hear how we are going to do it and what programs will suffer based on long term needs. There needs to be a breakdown of timelines, and we need to be informed of everything. This may be asking a lot so early on but I feel like this is what is needed right now.

Why is it that people who don't have children want you to have a bunch of kids. Everywhere that I go people ask myself and my wife how many children we have and we say one. We also say how we have no plans to have any more children. This is something that we have talked about in great detail. This normally turns to the person having a discussion about why having one child is not good for the child and how an only child is normally a spoiled child. To all of you that have this point of view I invite you to please take it upon yourselves to have all the children you want. It is not happening over here. My wife and I are very content. Even in my seminar yesterday during lunch, the facilitator asked me how many children my wife and I had and explained everything to her. She then proceeded to tell me how her husband was raised an only child and how he is. Really? Is it that serious?

Satisfied

How many people can you name that are really doing what they feel like they were put on this earth to do? How many people are really passionate about what they do and would do it even if they were not making a fairly decent amount of money? This is something that I have been thinking about lately. As a look around I really don't see anyone that falls in this category. I know a few people that are very successful at what they are doing and have made a very good career doing it. But I ask again about the passion. My brother and I have a friend whom we have known since he was in middle school. Ever since he was young he wanted to be a pilot and talked about it all the time. When he graduated high school he went on to college and when he graduated from there went right to flight school. He has now been a pilot for quite some time and he really enjoys it. How often is this that we hear of someone who follows a path like this. I will say that even my brother is now writing for a sports team part time and he is loving every minute of it. He has been talking about doing something like this for as long as I can remember. I asked though, how many people do we know like this. It has been said that college is supposed to help you with this process but I have not seen that. I know many people who went to school, starting job hunting, and went with the money. They are really operating on auto pilot. They may be doing what they need to do to advance in that field but are they really doing what makes them happy?

I guess this is on my mind because I am still searching for what truly drives me. I have always been a writer even when I was young. I started writing poetry and moved on to short stories and then music. It is something that I have always enjoyed but it is also something I just do for fun and not a career. I also enjoy and love music. I enjoy the entire music making process. I had a discussion yesterday with a friend who is in the music business about how much the process of putting out an album is unknown but how much I love it. I also enjoy working with and talking to at risk youth. In some way shape or fashion I have had my hand in one of these careers in my spare time when I am not knee deep in the banking world. I guess I am feeling like I may be more motivated if I did what made me smile all day long. I have been told my current Regional VP that I always seem to enjoy what I do and my results show it, but I really don't feel that way. I believe this is where the term stepping out on faith comes in. We shall see.......

Friends

As I get older I am realizing more and more that I really have a very small circle of friends. I can count on my hand the people that call my good friends. I wonder if that is normal. I have always been closest to my brother so he is really who I consider the friend that I have had the longest and who I am closest too...(And of course my wife). My brother and I have been through things that I can't even put into words. But he is always there for me no matter what and I love him to death for it. But beyond that my friends over the years have seem to come and go. I wonder if as people get older and get married and in relationships that having good friends around is not as important. One of my boys who I am going to work out with this morning is someone who I have known since I was in 5th grade. We have always been real cool so I can consider him a friend. We have lost contact a few times over the years but have always linked back up(pause) and have still been real cool. I also recently linked back up with a friend of mine via Facebook who I have not seen or spoken too in about 8 years. I just wonder if other men my age have a small circle of friends or do they still have a lot of people that they consider to be close friends. Do they still have a lot of people over the house from time to time? Or do they just go out every now and then with a select few people. Maybe it is just me. I think part of it may be my personality. It takes a lot for me to really trust someone and allow them in my circle. I don't think that trust is something that happens over night.

Idols

There have really only been a few times where I can say that I have really met someone that I have idolized. I am not the type of person that when I was growing up I used to dream about meeting this person or that person. I have always looked up to my parents and my brother and they always set the standard for what I thought a positive role model should be. I never looked at entertainers or artists as role models. With that being said though, there have been some people that I have met in my life that have really had me inspired. When I was in high school back in 94 my mother was still teaching at George Mason University and was director of African American studies. During this time she always has big name people come and speak at the school. These names ranged from Cornel West to Henry Louis Gates. I always was really motivated to go see these people speak and it always proved to be exciting and a really good learning experience. One meeting that really stands out in my mind is meeting Betty Shabazz. I can't put into words how humble I was when I met this woman. She had come to George Mason to give a speech for Black History Month and my mother was to pick her up from the airport and give her the grand tour and essentially be her guide while she was in town. My mother called me after she picked Ms Shabazz up and invited me to come eat with them. So, here I was a wild teenager going to eat lunch with the wife of the great Malcolm X. So, we met at a seafood restaurant in Virginia and I the remember the first thing she mentioned was how much she wanted a crabcake and how she remembers coming to the DC area when "Malcolm" was alive and how good the crabcakes were. This sparked about a two hour conversation(not really on my end, I was just listening in awe) about her life and how things were when he was alive. It was really a sacred time and it is one two hour period that I will never forget in my life. To be in the presence of such a royal person is just amazing.

I say all of this because last night at a Wizards basketball game I met someone who I have been trying to meet for the last ten years. Last night I had the chance to speak to Michael Eric Dyson. He too is someone that is friends with my mother and everytime he comes to speak somewhere I miss the occassion. I was supposed to meet him last year but could not get off work and I was crushed. So you can only imagine my joy when my brother told me last night that he was sitting behind the Wizards bench. The first chance I got, I went over to him and shook his hand and told him how much I wanted to meet him and how I was big fan. My brother had gone up to him earlier and advised him of who our mother was, so I reminded him of that and again told him how much of what he does motivates me. We talked for about five minutes and then I went back to my seat. It doesn't get any better than that. He too might I add, is very humble. He took the time to speak to everyone that came up to him and gave most people his business card. It's good to see things like that from such a big name.