And Justice will prevail...Poetically!!!

Not built that way

2008-08-14T20:56:00.000-07:00

I don't mind my societal role in this nation. I feel like in most situations I can recognize what others expect from me. As a matter of fact, its just that kind of thing that is a huge virture when negotiating this minefield called life.
Actually, most of us fall into the dance as we go about our lives. Displaying intelligence when needed, sensetivity when called upon, and those rare occasions that call for an extra dash of ethnicity(read:actin like a nigga), we can kick it up a notch like Emril. At least the black people I hang around do to.
Roles get funny when the races or genders are meshed.and it makes me wonder what would happen if we could somehow crash these paradigms to the ground. I mean if we could put a little extra bbq sauce in the flex capacitor and smash the previous record of 1.21 gigawatts on our way to shattering the space time continum. Things could be, if only for a moment, different. That difference would be good sometimes. Which brings me to my point. Wtf is Ocho-cinco thinking by saying that what Phelps has and will accomplish in his utterly dominant career is nothing special?
It is no secret that the black athlete, most oft,when from blight infested backgrounds is brash, outspoken and willing to speak his or her mind. It is widely assumed that if but for a chance, there are thousands of prime athletes in the streets they managed to raise themselves from. They feel that their sport is what gave them the shot but if they had water polo in the hood then their dominant physical prowess would have them excelling at that. Pligga nease!!!!
This guy all but challenged Phelps to a swim race! A race? In water? Against aqua man? Are you serious??? Black people, and furthermore those of us with unfortunate upbringings, don't hold a monopoly on athletic talent.
Unfortuatley, the paradigm for a white athlete in america is to shrug this off, laugh about it and stay mum as to stay PC. This is where the sauce in the flex copacitor would come in. And change Phelps' mild manner ahh shucks character to a streetballer with the gift of gab. And turn a pool into an And1 blacktop. Phelps could arrive in cinncy with his squad of country club swimmers and tell mr johnson to shut up and get in the pool. And I would bet all the money I have ever made and what I will make , that it would be comical. I mean seriously. Two live stews called this guy a dolphin!!!

But it will never happen like that. Most people are content in their roles. Damn I wish though!!

Immagitatcha!!!!!

It's my blog and I do what I want to

2008-07-09T17:29:00.000-07:00

I'm not going to spend a whole lot of time on why I haven't updated. See the title. Let me just spend some time on what has changed since I last typed:

A black man has a respectable chance to be president.

I love this however I do fear that this will give license for people to understate the racial climate of this country which still tends be...less than reasonable. People will have to come to the understanding that Senator Obama didn't get to where he is because of a lack of racism, but moreso in spite of racism.

We are still at war:

We didn't get the full 411 as to why we went to war. (Google WMD's)We didn't get the full 411 as to how we were doing on the ground(Google Mission Accomplised) lastly, now that it's all been established and known that we are over there to stabilize the region so that we will have a better price on the regions major export, we are continuing to break records daily on the price of crude oil. A barrel of crude oil is a weeks worth of daycare. Now thats crazy considering when I last blogged, the cost of a barrel couldn'y even get you a decent pair of shoes.

R Kelly got aquitted:

*insert not amused nor affected face here*

Micheal Vick went from the most promising talent in NFL history to a bankrupt booty house bitch:

I'm not mad for doing what you want to do when you are rich. However, I am a little upset that you didn't surround yourself with anyone that would tell you what a reckless, careless ass you were being while doing what you wanted to do. Anyone reading this please forward it to the next greatest undereducated change the league prospect that comes out. PAY SOME ONE TO TELL YOU WHEN YOU ARE FUCKING UP!!!! You cats pay people to shoot up strip clubs. Pay people to watch your back in the hood. Why not pay someone to have the common sense that you lack. I guess in order to do that you must first posess common sense. Nevermind.

A Texas redneck gets off for shooting two minorities:

Literally the jury is out on this one. When I first heard about this I was upset. After then analyzing the situation, and you will be shocked by what you read next, there are few people that I would rather have as a neighbor than that texas redneck the put buckshots in those thieves. By the letter of the law he should go to jail, however I hope the don't convict him on the primary charge and possibly convict on something lesser. In order to get back to the community structure that made this country great we have to have more of dealing with life as it comes, for ourselves. Stop blaming others and waiting for others to do for us what we can do for ourselves. Now I'm not advocating becoming vigilantes, but I would like us to adopt the mindset that this guy displayed on the phone with the 911 operater. That mindset being: "Nuh Uh buddy, this ain't right. I'm finna stop em"

I make what my pop died making:

I love you Dad. You were and continue to be an example in my life. The footsteps for which I follow. Your shoes are to big for me to fill but I'll buy a smaller pair just like yours.

I don't know if I'll blog forever, but for now.......I'm back!!!!

Immagitatcha!!!!!

Jigsaw Quotables

2006-06-06T19:53:00.000-07:00

I dig movies. I've seen alot of them too. I find myself quoting movies to people, in conversations, and they never have full effect because that person hasn't seen the movie. Still, this is something that is engrained in my everyday speech patterns. So Imma just throw some out there. Some I use alot. Some are deep. Some are just good ass quotes from movies.

"You can. umm, barbecue it, flambe it, boil it, broil it...."
"The shit's Chess, son, it ain't checkers." "They killed cornbread!!!!!!"Yeah I know where Vietnam is...it's on T.V." "Imma make it do what it do, baby" "Either they dont know, don't show, or just don't care about whats going on in the hood!" "So they pay your tuition to run track? And they take your scholarship if you don't race? Well, run nigga run!!!" "...there's umm, shrimp cocktail, shrimp gumbo, shrimp stew...."

"Doctor said I need a backeotomy!" "You all are as useless as a cock flavored lollipop!" " You're my boy Blue!!!" "You was drunk? Now I'm drunk with revenge muthafucka" "Oh but no, see, I know we ain't talking bout faces, cause yours is cracked, and on the ground!" "Were they built for speed or for comfort? Did ya motorboat? I bet you did you motorboating son of a bitch!!" "I loves Harpo, Lawd knows I do, But I'll kill him dead if he ever beat me!!" "Hello? Morpheus?" "Yeah, we boycottin' Sal's famous until he get some brothers on the wall" "Shrimp and potatoes, Shrimp kabob, fried shrimp, baked shrimp..."

"Say what again, muthafucka I dare you, I double dare you, say what one more god damn time!" "See that's cause you don't know the game. the game is all about, Guns and butter" "Concentrate, you must" "Hello, Sidney." "You think water is fast, you should see ice." "When people say the romance is gone, what they mean is they have exhuasted the possibilties." "Feed me Seymor!!!" "This is my rifle, there are many like it but this one is mine!" "I would tell you to kiss my ass Beeny but you probably couldn't find it you blind muthafucka!!!"

"There's ummm, shrimp sandwich shrimp burger, and .....umm thats about it"

Immagitatcha!!!!!

Addictions

2006-06-05T14:51:00.000-07:00

I have been gone for a minute. Alot has changed since I left. I've moved, started a new job, and I've realized that I have a few addictions. Some have been there always, and some are new found entanglements, of which I seem to continue to get caught up in. I should be wary of things like this. I've always thought I was too learned to fall prey to such things but it wouldn't be an addiction unless it was addictive, right? Makes sense to me.

The first one is power. This one is fairly new to me. I think most people are addicted to the feeling of power but in the abscence of it, most just lean on thier strenths to give the illusion of power. Until now, thats what I've done. I'm a wordsmith. Always have been. In the educated world these people are educators, lecturers, clergy, and politicians. On the street they are hustlers and bullshit artists. Most oft its just one wrong turn that changes a world reknown lecturer to a street corner hustler. I've always had the ability to articulate how I feel and impose those feelings onto others. Thats power, but it's only faux power. Now it's different. Now I don't have to talk the talk. This is because my new career is one of which I now walk the walk. I hold a small number of working class individual's 8 hour life under my scrutiny. For those hours of they day they walk, act, talk, and breathe the way the company wants them to. It is my job to be the company. If its not being held up to that standard then I inflict the punishment of which a vast majority of working america loaths...The Write-Up!!! "Get right or get written up!" Thats the new creed. Thats my new power. Thats my new addiction. I need a program with some steps for this.

Another one is fights on the internet. I watch fights. Real fights, street fights, Chic fights. All are a prime source of entertainment for me. There are several websites that I find my addiction. Those url's seem to populate faster than others in my address bar on IE. I've seen and watched all sorts of brawls, one-on-ones, gang brutality, and others over the course of the last few months. I am actually part of a yahoo group and have new ones emailed to me on a daily basis. I don't know why I've found this to be so interesting except for the obvious. Everyone watches a fight if it's in front of them. I have just found a new technical way to put random fights in front of me. It may seem juvenile but hey, it's my thing. I look at it as, "Hey, I used to download and watch porn by the Gig!" I guess I'm a glutton for raw carnage in any form. This too, is a new addiction. And, for this too, I need a program with some steps for this.

Yet another new addiction is damn Starbucks. My father, was an alcoholic. As far as I knew this was only in ritual because by the time I came around I never saw him drink a thing. That never mattered though because his chant at every A.A. meeting reassured the world and himself that he and his friends recognized thier illness. There are several constants at A.A. meetings. One, is nice people. These are some of the nicest people that I had ever met in my life. Two more constants are, coffee and cigarettes. And I mean by the boatloads. And in between the fog of cigarette smoke and haze of coffee steam and breath I had, at an earlier age, developed a keen dislike for both. I hated the smell of cigarettes. I now smoke about 3/4 of a pack a day. I'm gonna quit one day. And, I had distain for the taste of coffee. But Starbucks isn't coffee. I don't even think it says the word coffee on the menu. The menu is littered with sexy sounding words. French words, like latte, mocha and expresso. Who doesn't want to be sexier? Then, if not but to only infatuate us more, they don't super size if you wan't more of something. They "add a shot". As in, "lemme get a Quad Vitti Iced White Chocolate Mochiato" (just typing it and I'm reaching for a tissue). It's bad. It's an addiction. And I for damn sure need a program with some steps for that shit.

However these addictions also signfy a different time in my life. It's a time I'm willing to embrace. A time that means I'm growing as a person. As a matter of fact, I hope to need programs with some steps for some more addictions that I plan on acquiring, including, fine wristwear, shoes(moving from Air force one's and tims to rockports and stacey adams), and clothes among others. I hope I have time to make it to all these meetings!!

Immagitatcha!!!!!

March on Mi Hermano, BUT....

2006-04-01T11:10:00.000-08:00

Youth are getting involved. I LOVE it. Since the beginning of time people have been sparked to action for a cause. The Civil rights movement has come to define a couple of generations of my people. We have come a long way ans still have far to go. Womens suffrage has sparked an equal gender campaign that was loooooooong overdue and women still have far to go. Apartheid, Haitian suffrage, Nazi Germany, the list goes on and on.

Here we are at the beginning of a new century and now Taco Bell are not the only one's making a run(or march) for the border. It's a great thing to see and I'd rather see that go on this summer as opposed to the random murders in order to receive membership into a gang that went on last summer. Or the blindly following a corrupt father figure in mass murdering from the inside of a caprice classic that went on three summers ago. These young Latino and Chicano men and women have found something they beleive in and they are cause a ruckus on behalf of it. It is what this country was built on and I think it is the healthiest thing to happen to a sector of american youth since the late 70's when Hip Hop(pure Hip Hop) spread across the inner city like the plague.

As I understand it, congress is split on border reform. Basically they are making it a felony to obtain residence, or aid in obtaining residence illegally in the United States. However there is a bipartisan back bill to go to the floor next week that allows for the legal acceptance of law abiding immigrants with aid to learn English and be placed in jobs. Now apprently these youth are up in arms because, a vast majority of them are too young to vote on the leaders that will determine thier "American" future, and most of thier parents are ill equipped to help because they themselves are illegal citizens. And here is where my BUT comes in.

Wrong is wrong and I understand that. But you have to go about righting wrongs in the right way. Furthermore I can't help but be a little selfish in saying that there are Black people, who are already American citizens who wrongs need to be righted. If congress can bring things like the border to the table and table discussions about how Blacks are on the border of systematic extinction, then something is wrong.

However I envy you young people. I urge you to stand up for what you believe in or you will fall for a lot less. I wasn't blessed to be born into a time where a major movement occured. Rappers have turned my major movement into Bling Bling, bitches, hoes, nice cars, and 'snappy' dances.

Ya'll keep on marching. I'm with ya'll in spirit. Well I'm with the soul of revolution. Even if the brain of this revolution hasn't thought things out too well.

Immagitatcha!!!!!

Back to civilization

2006-03-29T20:14:00.000-08:00

I am a home body. I enjoy staying in, playing on the net and watching television. Most people I chill with think that they are home bodies until they really peep me on an everyday basis. All of them said they were home bodies but what they really meant was, 'that being that they don't have the resources to exhaust possibilties away from home, they have adapted to being content with staying home sometimes.' The difference with me is its the exact opposite.

My woman hates this about me. However we meet in the middle and I actually enjoy doing whatever with her. (that was so cute I can't stand it) My frat including my lb never really understood why I'd rather watch movies on HBO, than to go to a party or club.

Several things are needed when you are a definite homebody. One of those things is cable television. Preferably with movie channels. Give me that and high speed internet and I REALLY don't have to leave the house for entertainment.

Well recently, due to inflated expenses in our house coupled with a negative progression of income, our cable and net was shut off for about a month. I almost died. No, really. I was in blockbuster 4 times a week renting movies. They say my name when I walk in like Norm from Cheers. At one time I counted and I had 16 movies checked out at one time. SIXTEEN!!!! I had to pick up internet wheever I could. The library, my fiance's house, sistergirl panda's house, stealing wireless using my roomates laptop. I was a scavenger, but a nigga had emails to check.

I realized one thing during this trumatic period. One can only be comfortable if one can posess that which makes them comfortable. Trust, it's not as easy as it sounds. I need my cable. Even moreso than some people need new clothes or shoes. Or extra money to drink or smoke. More than some need extra money to be able to go out a few times a month. My cable bill, from here on, will be part of my monthly fiscal necessities.

The hiatus from civilization wasn't all bad though. I caught up on some movies I had wanted to check out but never did because I had cable. I also found a few new shows that I now love and won't miss because of thier spectacular first season disc that I rented and watched in one sitting. Those shows are House MD, Lost, and Grey's Anatomy. All excellent shows. Even though I've found that they lose a little zeal when you have to sit through commercials.

Since I've been back to civilization I had a friend of mine tell me that "our friendship hasn't been the same since I got my cable back" Due to me catching up on my show watching and net browsing. To that I say....well I won't say nothing. Wait till my show goes off to get a response from me.

Immagitatcha!!!!!

White Jersey Blues

2006-03-18T11:49:00.000-08:00

I really don't know why people hate on Duke so much. I mean, don't get me wrong, if you are a fan of another team (UNC or State or maybe even Wake) then I can see why you would have a little anomosity. However, this blatant Duke hatred has got to stop.

Let me preface all this by saying that I'm not a fair weather Duke fan. I'm there for the ups and downs. I've been to alot of their home games and I just am all around a fan of Duke basketball.

Now I've heard fans of the cross town rival try to say everything explaining the success. From , UNC has better athletes Duke just gets ref help. I've heard them even bash the professional careers of Duke alum in contrast to UNC alum. And of course, they have the ultimate trump card with the skinny bald dude from Wilmington, NC. Well I'd like to say, regarless of all of that, you still have to play the games. And who is it, at the end of the season, that can be found wearing thier white home uniforms because they have been that dominant in and out of conference all year? That's right, DUKE!!!!

Hate if you want but it's a fact, Duke is a CONSISTANTLY dominant team. A Dynasty in the purest form of the word. And that my friends is bigger than any one man or a couple of good athletes. From Coach K to the sweat wipers. It takes a well oiled machine to have a program accomplish what Duke has accomplished over the last two decades. With, I might add, no end in sight.

But, if you have the blues don't fret. We can't wear those home jerseys forever.The blues goes away and dynasties always come to an end. When it does, I'll still be a fan, you all will still be haters and Duke would have represented an era of basketball that will come to define what college basketball will be.

Until then, here's a lil trumpet playing for ya blues....

Immagitatcha!!!!!

Whats in a name?

2006-03-09T20:07:00.000-08:00

How could I truely use the handle Poetic Justice and never spit any poerty? Fact is I couldn't so here we go.

This poem is set up by first giving the inspiration of it. Which is none other than Paul Laurence Dunbar. Poets and black folks reading this if you arent familiar with that name ya need to goolge it and read about him and his works.

We wear the mask

We wear the mask that grins and lies,
it hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,--
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties.

Why should the world be overwise,
in counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them only see us, while
we wear the mask.

We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries
To thee from toutured souls arise.
We sing, but oh the city is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
But let the world dream otherwise,
We wear the mask.

Great poem by a great man....He aint the only one...

My mask don't smile no more!

My mask dont smile no more
It has stagnated on a stone faced expression
Associated with depression mixed with
years of suppresion translating into the regression
of an entire race.
It now sees the inner soul of which it once disguised
the lies it told are no longer necessary,
by any means.
It seems as if my mask is tired
Tired of having to smile
in the face of fallacies that are as
easy to see through as the visitation window
that seperates families
Our past is as vivid and brutal as almost any in the
history of the world
We weren't the only group of people to have ever been treated this way
but what we are, is the most recent
Decency, kindness and respect
were traded for entire family rapings and hangings by the neck
killings of the strongest men just to keep slave quarters in check
public beatings if labor quotas weren't met
My mask still smiled

Disenfranchised by the capitalist demise of we.
under the disguise of being free
Eighteen hundred and sixty five would see
the birth of the Freedmans' Bureau
Broken Promises
or was it broken promiscuity
because for years their foot was ONLY in our ass
on our neck
most any prepositional phrase would do
but now, seemingly, all of that was through
all they did was free 22 million people that
didn't have a clue of how to live and what to do
Slavery slid from physical to economical
40 acres and a mule mutated into a pipe dream
and Spike Lee's production company
and we were free to be...in debt and owing the very masters
that previously owned us.
My mask still smiled

Things haven't changed much.
As a matter of fact, according to Chinua Achebe and The Roots
"Things Fall Apart"
And whereas before that may have been a bad thing
now I'm inclined to say, it's about time!
We can't keep running in the same circles we have been
We're dizzy
We can't keep gnawing on the bones they throw us
We're not getting full
And we cannot keeping wearing
the mask that grins and lies

Immagitatcha!!

Social Etiquette

2006-02-27T18:51:00.000-08:00

I have the wonderful and distinct pleasure of working in the service industry. As a server I have gained knowledge of a few things that I will gladly share in a polite way on this blog. Call it an insider's view to eating out.

ALL YOU NON-TIPPING CHEAP MOTHERFUCKERS NEED TO STAY HOME AND COOK!!!!

First and foremost all businesses run on a standard business model. Sales-Expenses=Profit, with that being said certain business change the way this equation is arranged and accounted for. This process is simply called managerial accounting(makes sense don't it?). In the resturant industry, the price of food is based on an equation of how much it cost to buy from the supplier plus employee wages which gets your price. So if they pay $8 for a steak and they pay $8 per hour to the cook and they charge you only $18 for the steak that leaves the server out of the equation leaving them to fend for themselves with tips.
To put it plainly, you are able to afford to eat out because they DO NOT PAY the servers. Period. Honestly if they paid servers what they are worth then a date at Chili's, Applebee's, Longhorn, O'Charley's etc. could cost you $65 or $70 for two instead of $35 or $40. So a tip is and should be required. Social etiquette says that MINIMUM tip is 15%.
Which brings me to my second point, 15% is not negotiable. It's what you are supposed to pay. If the service is below average, you tip at least 15%. Feel free, however to tip more if you feel the server was good. For those that don't know how to calculate percentages, 15% is the ten's column and to the left plus half that amount. An example would be a $60 check warrents a 6+3=9 dollar tip. That's at the least. If its $150 check then 15+7.5=22.50 dollars is what you should be leaving. Also, when considering how the service was consider how many times you asked them to refill your drink when it wasn't empty and how many times you sent them for ranch dressing. Also you cant get mad if it takes twenty minutes to recieve a well done steak.
Which brings me to my last point, even though I can go on. Why do people get a well done steak? Then they smother it in steak sauce. For those that don't know steak has a flavor in and of itself. If you didn't order it over cooked then you would probably enjoy the taste of great beef as opposed to a textured slab of A1 steak sauce.

In conclusion. if ya can't act like ya got some gotdamn sense stay ya raggedy asses at home.

Immagitatcha

And the winner is...

2006-02-17T11:55:00.000-08:00

I see a pattern developing in the media landscape and how they protray us as black people and I dig it. Before, there wasn't a whole lot of positve back story to the people that the media embraced. And, on some level I think that could have affected how our people view success (basically thinking that it's more "who you know" or stirring up trouble to get acclaim) I mean from Biggie, to Tupac, to R. Kels, trouble has surrounded our talent.
It is a new day.
The last two years have been flooded with positive black star power. Let's start with the obvious. Denzel, Halle, and Will. Denzel and Halle of course won oscars and Will, commands the second most(behind Mr. Pitt) for a male lead in Hollywood.
I would have been happy with that, but here comes straight laced Kanye West, classically trained Jamie Foxx, and Ivey league graduate John Legend. It's important that we consider the backgrounds both socially and educationally of the people we support. We aren't in the civil rights movement or anyting but we are still thought of as being the exact same as the people who are in the know.
I can dig being compared to these people. I hope and wish them many more years of success.

Immagitatcha!

My alias ( all of em)

2006-02-10T08:43:00.000-08:00

It was said to me that women have split personalities. It went much more in depth than that and was actually quite profound but the jist of it was summed up in that sentence. It made me think, 'Why is it that women have split personalities or many different faces'. I've come to the conclusion that women are simply too complex to be enveloped into one face. Makes sense right?
So then that begged the question why are men so simple? Well that one I don't have an answer for just yet. But wouldn't the Irony be that I'm too complex to figure out why I'm so simple. Fact is I do have different faces. It just only comes up when I have entered into certain arenas. For example, the net.
The net has given us a way to be more than we are. To be more efficent, more savvy, more communicative, in short, more of us than we could be without it. In this 'more' comes more faces to us as individuals. A brief synopsis of who you can find me as on the net are as follows:

iced OWt intellect: I started using this one first. I just adapted the 'out' to 'OWt' to incorporate my fraternity. I even wrote a short poem explaining it. Wannahearit hereitgo...

I've always had the ability to retain.
Guess it comes from always being asked, "What did you learn in school today".
I had to say something cause "nothing" wasn't an acceptable retort
So of course
I had to learn!
Now I yearn to become engrossed in a book.
Or to politic with others to see thier outlook.
I can see why people with clout 'ice out' thier chains
Why they purchase 22's when factory rims are just too plain
I can see where the parallel between my brain and thier chains lies
Why should I have regular intellect when it can be accessorized?!?!?!

Others include: ScottFree63, Poetic Justice(Which is my Iota name and and the namesake of this blog) and one of my other favorites Illtellectual Property.

These are the faces of me. All small parts of me but all also give insight to who I am. I too have many faces. And I am, by no means, a simple creature.

Immagitatcha!!!

And so it starts....

2006-02-08T18:23:00.000-08:00

"... hmpgh, Sophia home now. Thangs gon change round hea, pass me dem peas ova thea!!!"

I haven't kept a journal or diary or anything of that nature in years. The closest thing to it has been my poetry. I'm sure this blog will get it's fill of that. I would like to take a page out of the hip hop award show chronicles and give a shout out to my Fiance. I love you baby. And to the people that I surround myself with. Ya'll my crew and my niggas if we don't get no bigger. Last but not least, due to the bad and good that has come into my life I realized that the bad has been weathered and the good has been celebrated all because of the existence of God. Having faith back in my life is the biggest change to come and I am convinced that whatever life brings I will be prepared. My life is on a better plain now than its ever been and I owe that to my peoples.

I'm not a writer but I type alot, and here's why...

Why is tv sitcom theme music not as good as it used to be?
Why is the Boondocks able to say what needs to be said in today's society and keep me in stitches at the same time?
Why is Cam'ron beefing with Jay Z but wants it to seem legitamatly more than a marketing ploy?
Why did I just but an apostrophe in Camron's gay ass name adding to his ploy to make him seem tougher?

That's Why!

"Why?" is a segment of my blog that will crop up from time to time. Pay it all or none of your mind.

I think I've exhausted my fun quotient for the evening. Im gonna grab something to eat.

Immagitatcha!