By the time I woke up I was deep into a section of Brooklyn I had no business being in. Unaware of the stop I hopped off the train and decided to go above ground. I thought to catch a cab but quickly realized I had no money in my pocket. That blows. There was no ATM in sight. No bodega offering a bootleg ATM that would charge you $5 to remove $20. So instead of getting the train in the opposite direction I decided to walk.

The smart person I am, I charged my phone before I left the bar. Quickly, I clicked on the Google Maps app and found the best way to get to Atlantic Ave Station. I haven’t been to downtown Brooklyn in a while — not much has changed.

At 3am in the morning the platform was full of people.

Like a zealous New Yorker, I peered down the subway tunnel to see if an arriving train was anywhere in sight. It was not. Taking in my surroundings, I notice a woman kneeling down next to the edge of the platform. I wasn’t sure if she was fatigued from a long night or looking for something in her bag.

She then proceeded to get on all fours, maybe hoping that someone would show her where the wild goose goes. I wasn’t too sure, but I thought it was a great moment to pull out the camera.

You cannot pull out a camera on a subway platform without being noticed. Folks started moving towards me, curious about what motivated my shutterbug moment. We all stared at this woman getting close to the edge.

I’m not sure what was going through her mind. Maybe she thought her life was on the wrong track and needed to inspect it before getting back on the train. Or maybe it was so far off track that she thought to assume the position because her life is f*cked.

I only wonder if she had friends to help her through what would be later learned was a drunken stupor.

I pretty much don’t care about what I put on in the morning, just as long as it is clean is all that matters. Now, I am conscience that you have to coordinate to a certain extent, just not too far off the wall that you bring too much unwanted attention to yourself. But some attention just happens because people feel invited to speak to you regardless to what type of mood or manner that you may, yourself, be in.

Yesterday, I was riding the elevator with one of my folk. Now, when I ride the elevator with certain people we get to conversing, this day was no different. We were having a relatively mellow conversation. One stop after the other, the elevator starting to fill up. That didn’t deter me from continuing with my conversation. As people boarded, other folk boarded the elevator people started to chat amongst themselves.

As I was about to get into a joke with my companion, someone decided to turn their attention toward me. And it went something like this as he turned his attention in my direction.

Dude: Can I ask you a question?

I sized dude up. I looked him up and down and tried to go through my memory bank and started to play match game. He fit no one I’ve ever spoken to or recognized from anywhere.

Me: Sure.

Dude: Do you always match your sneakers with your shirts?

I look at my companion, she looks back at me. I look around the elevator, all eyes on me. This is what I consider unwanted attention. The smart ass in me wanted to know if dude sees me every day and took notice or is he just looking at me for the first time and making an assumption.  But I try to keep things civil and professional. You have to also keep in mind that it is summer, my job has no dress code, so I can wear what ever I want.

Me: For the most part.

Finally, we reached the bottom level and we all depart the elevator. I told my companion that was weird and went on my way.

Thank goodness it is Friday. As New Yorkers expect warm weather through out the weekend, I’ve taken the time to plan out what may be an adventure filled trek through the streets of New York City. The way I see it, the warm weather on the horizon will have me venturing out to parts of the five boroughs I’ve never been to before or revisiting those which I haven’t quite been to in a while. This spring/summer time should be interesting.

So, tax day has passed and I’m happy that most people have gotten that burden out the way. The reality may be different for other people, as they filed their extensions — some people just procrastinate.  Taxes always remind me of how single I am and how singled out I feel. Most people get that feeling on Valentine’s Day. For me, it actually is a reminder every time I look at my pay stub.

Single people who don’t have kids or (alleged) dependents get taxed a whole lot more. Why? Probably because the government feels we don’t have any extra mouths to feed so we have no need for the extra cash. Don’t they realize that the majority of single people stimulate the economy by buying other people drinks? That should count for something. But it isn’t all about alcohol. Of course, I’m hitting happy hour a little later.

While I’ve been away from the blogging front I’ve spotted the trend in traffic to this site — mostly generated by search queries. As you know Spring is upon us — although it is sneaking in and out and doesn’t appear to want to stay around too soon — many people are, once again, kicking folk to the curb.  We all know this as Spring Fever. Cause everyone wants something new to play with. Are you aware that 11% of text users are comfortable with breaking up over text messaging? I think this is more of a sign of the times than anything else. We’ve become so comfortable with IM conversation, e-mail, social networks and all that online stuff that we fail to see the necessary conversations that require physical attendance. Certain parts of communication should be left for verbal, not textual, conversations. Face-to-face interactions tops all. Unless you have one of those faces that people can’t stand to look at sober or with the lights on.

I don’t think it has been ten minutes yet but I think I’m done ranting. I’m ready to get started with my work for today and complete a few projects.

Enjoy the weekend ahead and make a phone call to that person that you actually care, but haven’t spoken to in quite some time.

Make a move, Make a difference.

Social Networks are taking over peoples lives.

One of my old jobs now has a Facebook page. They sent me an e-mail to sign up so they can stop sending e-mails and just broadcast accordingly to their page, so we can stay current with the recent happenings. That’s all well and good for them but I appreciate an e-mail. It’s one thing to have to log into my e-mail (or BlackBerry), it’s another thing to log into some social network for the same thing (not that I wanted to keep up with what is going on at my former place of employment anyway–hence my apprehension of joining their page).

A couple of weeks ago a friend’s birthday came around, her family hit her up on Facebook. Not a phone call. Not a text message to her phone. They hit her up on Facebook. This is family. Why shouldn’t she get a phone call? A card? A hug? Why are we so dependent on technology that we refuse to have some sort of physical/verbal contact with the people we love, or should love, or should love us? Making that phone call means a whole lot more than leaving a message on a wall (Facebook wall–you’d actually have to use a social network to know what this is). After all, this is your flesh and blood? I know they say blood is thicker than water but is binary code thicker than blood? I think not.

I think people are so addicted to social networks, its like a drug and MySpace is that gateway drug, like weed. Everyone has tried it once (but some people won’t admit to inhaling). You start there and make your way up to cocaine or what some of us call Twitter-I figure you sniff cocaine line by line so aren’t tweets are same thing?

But if MySpace is Weed and Twitter is Cocaine what does that make Facebook? Crack.

Yeah, Facebook is Crack (for some). You just can’t get them off it. The internet would have to shut down for them to get off it.

It has to be. Some people just can’t get off it. They try to push it on you the moment they get a hit they are all over the place and feel at ease with the world. Yet, they want nothing to do with you unless you’re on it too. Why are you calling me? Why didn’t you just hit me up on Facebook? You ask them what they did for the weekend and they tell you, “Didn’t you read my Facebook page? I updated all weekend.”

But lets not forget Friendster, Bebo, and Orkut. Some people won’t admit to using any of these services but they are out there. Kinda like Crystal Meth is out there. You can make it in your basement, garage or even in your car but you are a little ashamed to tell anyone you’re on it.

Who am I to say anything about anyone else? Twitter was my Crack once. I would tweet from my phone while at the movies, getting my haircut, watching TV. Anything and anyplace I could tweet I would tweet. I’d talk about Twitter like it was my new best friend. “I don’t know how to quit you, Twitter.” But then my phone died on me one day and I was out of touch. And Twitter was out of reach and then I told myself I could live without Twitter. Twitter won’t be the death of me.

I don’t want to get to the point where I cannot talk to people. I already have issues with text messaging. Why add social networking to the list?

I am thankful for:
Being able to have all working limbs
Good health
Supportive family/friends
My job
Having the opportunity to make a positive impact on a child’s life
Having a roof over my head and food to eat
Those people who inspire me to do better in life
Those people who show me what not to by way of their actions

I believe it’s really crucial to show those whom you love and care for how appreciative you are. Also, it’s highly important to know that nothing is possible without the grace of God.

Lately, there has been an ongoing discussion between some folks and myself about how to discipline a child.

Many of these people feel that hitting a child is always necessary when the child doesn’t obey. I was given the opportunity to hear various stories and share some of my own regarding the issue of discipline.

One story involved a 5 year old child being hit because he didn’t tell the truth. I was then asked what I would do if I encountered the same situation with a child. Before I could respond, I had to take into consideration that I was a child that grew up in a household where whippings were the norm. I also had to take into consideration that in the past, I’ve spanked a child or two. Then, I thought a little deeper into the person that I am today and that is how I formulated my response.

The person I was in the past would have lost my frustration and beat the child for telling a lie. The person I am today would take a different approach because I don’t believe that to hit the child for that reason would stop the child from telling a lie. I even went as far as asking the person this: “When you tell someone that you’re going to call them back knowing that you won’t, who beats you for telling a lie?” The person didn’t have an answer for me and it was clear that I gave them something to think about. My point was that children may tell lies or even worse. However, adults are not exempt from such behavior. But what is really important is what method(s) you take when approaching the situation.

Just yesterday a parent came to register her grandson for the after school program and she made a comment that when her grandson tells a lie, she takes twenty-five cents from him as a punishment because she has tried beating him and it wasn’t as effective as the new method she is using to discipline him. She also expressed that in her opinion, beating makes the child “harder”. In so many ways I agree with her. I know that beating made me harder and it also caused a pattern within me. I only grew older using the only method I knew to discipline children because I wasn’t aware that there were other alternatives.

Even with that being said, I really think it’s a case by case basis on how adults should discipline their children. What doesn’t work for some may actually work for others and vice versa.

What’s your take on discipline?

I wanted to write a post about reading.

Then, I thought about how many people actually don’t read.
So, I decided to write a post about how many people don’t read.

Then, I changed my mind again.

I figured, why write a post about how people don’t read when the one’s who really need to see it probably won’t.

I wondered to myself, how can people (adults especially) not like reading?

Reading is highly important.

Even blind people read.

Signs are everywhere along with so many underlying statements that are required to be read into.

I hear audio books are the way to go.

Now that I think of it, I recall the teachers in my public school used cassette tape versions of my favorite books in class from time to time.

I wondered if hearing words are as effective as seeing them before your very eyes.

Then, I remembered that when someone is telling me a story, I like to visualize the details in my head as I hear them.

Hmmm. I wonder if that’s how movies first came about.

Today, I was searching “Google” for pics that are relevant to 3:33 because it’s symbolic to the time I was born and I wanted to post some. However, my attention was immediately directed towards the “Related Searches” link and I noticed a few links that were definitions of the number 333. When I clicked on the link for numerology, I happened to get a meaning behind numerous numbers along with the meaning behind numbers 3:33 and 12:34. Below I’ve posted the details behind the most consistent numbers in my life.

Before today, I would be quick to say that hardly anything shocks me anymore. Although I feel that way, today was definitely an exception for me. I felt like a load was taken off of me so to speak because I started finding myself ponder on why I would take notice to the clock at these times of the day. Now I at least have an answer as well as a better understanding behind it. Now the question is, do I believe these things to be factual? Truth is, I actually do. The only thing left is to put what I have learned into perspective and apply it to see what results I get.

333 – The Ascended Masters are near you, desiring you to know that you have their help, love, and companionship. Call upon the Ascended Masters often, especially when you see the number 3 patterns around you. Some of the more famous Ascended Masters include: Jesus, Moses, Mary, Quan Yin, and Yogananda. The 333 sign shows that the Ascended Masters agree with your thoughts and feelings, whether negative or positive.

1234 – If you are repeatedly seeing ascending number sequences such as 1234, this is a sign from the angels for you to make progress. You will see this sign when thinking about an area of your life that you are concerned about and want to change. Seeing this number sequence immediately after these thoughts is a sign that this is the right course of action for you and you will have the angels support in its pursuit.

Have you noticed a pattern in the numbers you see on a daily basis?

Free Writing: I’m Perfect

Life is funny in the way that is has presented itself. I often wonder why events and happenings turn out they way that they do. All I can do is be me. Be the perfect me. See, I am perfect. I know most folk would sit back and say you’re arrogant. You are full of yourself. You’re not perfect. Nothing about you is perfect. However, I can look at them and tell them that they are perfect to. We all are. Indeed, my scope or perspective of perfect would take understanding. Allow me to explain… I am perfectly human.

People look at me and stare. They wonder why I’m the way that I am. Stubborn at times. I’m not willing to give in. I don’t give enough of me. Maybe, not often, I may give too much. But what others may see as selfish I can only consider to be self care. What most would consider to be arrogance I consider to be confidence.

From your perspective you’ll make it seem as if I’m everything I shouldn’t be. That I’m the worst happening since Bush won the first election. I’ll say this much: I’ve never invited you in. I’ve never once put out my hand for you to feel that I’m a handful. You’ve said this to me and I can only say back… You’re welcome to leave at any time.

Often people call me difficult and I have to admit it can come off that way. But the difficulty is you not understanding the word ‘no.’ Is it beyond your comprehension that I would repeatedly tell you no? Stop being so difficult they say. I respond with a “Stop asking me and you will not find difficulty within the matter.”

We are all free to be who we are and know what we want. We are allowed to be perfectly human in our imperfect ways.

Everything isn’t for everybody. But I’m for the ones that love me.

NOTE: I couldn’t help but put spacing in. I haven’t gone back and edited. However, I did take my time a little bit. Oh well if I didn’t fit into what free writing is about. I’m perfect in that way.

Free Write: Selfish

You call me selfish and I can appreciate it. I can own it and relish in the moment of my selfishness. You look at me as though being selfish is a bad thing. You explain why selfish shouldn’t be looked at in such a positive light. You have grown to understand that you are selfish and have taken the steps to change that, for you. Me? No. I don’t find a problem with being selfish. I see life so differently than you. I have learned to be selfish. Because in my eyes selfish isn’t a bad thing. (Warning: I’m about to get profane with my language.)

Too many times people label me saying that I’m selfish. They may not see the generous side of me. Perhaps that isn’t for them. How I see selfish may need to be explained to them. Sure I care about people. Who would I be if I didn’t. However, I had to learn a long time to put my self first. I had to learn to be about SELF. I had to learn to hand my own ISH. For no one person is going to handle it for me. So why not be SELF-ISH. Why not handle my own ISH? It’s OK to be selfish. It’s OK to put my SELF first. Yes… I am going to handle my own ISH, shit. I’m going to handle my own shit. And I won’t subject others to deal with it. If that makes me SELFISH then allow me to wear that with pride while you look at me with the crooked eye.

(I’m keeping it short today. I have to hit the gym. Thank you for reading.)

Summer is slowly creeping upon us and I can see the sexy already. I can feel the heat, the water, the sand that summer is famous for. Life is about to get bonkers. If you thought Spring Fever was something wait until you get a load of a blazin summer. At least that is how we like to think about it. Well, not all of us. Maybe just me. What I do find interesting is how people equate summer with naked. We show so much skin. Summer must go around, door to door, handing out passes telling people please feel free to get as naked as possible. I realize some of people want to keep cool so the best way they accomplish their goal is to wear less clothes. This is all cool in the gang but the proportion of clothes to skin ratio should be in effect for some of these people. Honestly, you ever see people who wear shorts who shouldn’t wear shorts? People who are wearing tank tops (aka: wife beater) who shouldn’t be wearing wife beaters? How about those folks who wear sandals who shouldn’t wear sandals? I know folk know what I’m talking about. I’m speaking about the people who offer us too-much-of-a-meal feet. You know what that is? They got corn and crust, bunions and what not going on. That is too many carbs for the eyes. They sometimes even bring tools along known as hammer toes. What is up with that? With all the spots to get your feet done you would think folk would handle their business. I know they don’t have feet transplants but what is out there are shoes and sneakers that cover your entire foot. Please keep these things under wraps. Every foot isn’t for everybody. But yeah, people think they can do anything in the summer like they have super powers or something. Shout to the big girls. I know you are all out there. I like a thick woman. I appreciate them. But please please please don’t go around wearing too short skirts, too short shirts. If you are pulling it down while you’re walking, be it your shirt or the shorts/skirt then you shouldn’t have it on. If you have so much spillage going on which some people refer to as muffin tops then by all means cover up. I know we are all sexy and beautiful in our own way. But lets save that type of sexy for the bedroom. Show it to those whom can appreciate it in the privacy of their own homes. But off the fashion of the summer and on to the activities. Because we all know we make the trek to those key spots. May it be Orchard, Coney Island or Riis. We may even make our way to the Jersey Shore or the Long Island Sound. But by all means as New Yorkers we have to make our way to somebody’s beach. Not to mention the trek to the nearest amusement park. Shout out to Great Adventures. I’ll be checking you out soon. New York has a lot to offer as well in terms of all the free events. Got to get out to the greener side of the grass for the free concerts. You know a brother loves the word free so I’m up at everyone one of them that I can make myself available for.  Have a great summer.

Jill Scott said one is the magic number. I happen to agree with her. There is a lot of power in one. It takes one voice to be heard. One action to be made. One moment to be had. One element to be felt. One dream to may you think. Through these ones we can make life long change. After all it takes only one thought from one man/woman to take action to set off a revolution. It took one apple to change the way we think about gravity. That one trip to the moon to realize anything is possible. One man to dream of a world of true equality. One woman to refuse to sit at the back of the bus. One man to go against the grain and say the world isn’t flat. Through one action we can make a world of difference. It is within the power of one that we can become a nation of many. Catch the math as we take one person and another one person and we can create something… Something turned into an individual birthed to make a difference. One is truly magically delicious . But it doesn’t always feel or appear magical. One can be rooted in tragedy. It took one hurricane to change many lives. It took the act or should I say lack of action by one individual that made the devastation worse. It can take that one true love to make you appreciate love. It can also take that one person to break your heart. That one person to ruin your entire thought of what love is all about. It took that one penny to keep you from buying that gallon of milk. It takes that one paycheck from keeping you from being homeless. One meal to keep you from going hungry. It took the one gallon short on the road from you reaching your destination. Through the power of one can many calamities, tragedies, and events occur. One shot can change your outlook on life. One drink can make the difference between you making it home or you finding yourself wrapped around a pole. One wrong step, jump, hop, skip or jump can lead to a nasty fall. Through one wrong or right decision can we make a better world, or not. One dump of stock can land you in jail. One wallet pulled out the pocket can leave you laying dead in the street. One dollar short can keep your short of making bail. Through one thought process can we see change occur. Through the power of one can life be bolder, faster, and extraordinary- one billion that is. We walk around as individuals, as one person amongst many. Someone also said there can only one. One race? One nation? One groove? Through the thought of one we should come together to have a voice that can be heard as far as the one eye can see. Sometimes its that one person that can pull you back and tell you that isn’t the best move. That one person who touched you to make you feel much better than one day before. Isn’t it great to be the one to make a thing go right? Isn’t it great for one person to make it out of sight? It takes one person to get the party started. Thank you mister DJ. One person with one mind. Yet I’m among many people. One is the magic number.