Esta Es Mi Vida

Alright so i’m going to have to make a slight confession here…..I on occasion watch American Idol. Normally I only stick around long enough to see the carnage that takes place during the auditions, and like most of Americans get a big kick/laugh out of it. But it’s perhaps something about the contestants this year or maybe the utter lack of quality programming on TV due to the writers strike motivated me to watch….and watch like it’s season 2 I have.

So last night the contestant (already a star) David Cook did a cover of one of my favorite song by Michael Jackson called ‘Billie Jean‘, but decided to do Chris Cornell’s version of this legendary track. It was pure gospel, music in it’s raw form, this kid can blow. Not only did he own a song that isn’t really “his own” and was made legend by the King of Pop, but performed it for an audience of a lost generation of listeners that don’t have a clue what good music is and they loved it.

Hands down it was the performance of the season so far, and the best rendition out of many others. Even though he wasn’t the first to perform it, I think he took absolute creative control (unlike some of the other contestants) over his performance a made it his own.

Okay, so over the past 9-12days i’ve heard this phrase coined over four times…

“A lie can travel halfway round the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.”

Never had I heard this phrase before, but it touched me deeply and holds a lot of meaning to me because of drama related to gossip and backbiting that I had to endure over the past year, and even in the course of my short life itself. I personally don’t believe that this isn’t your everyday phrase/word of wisdom that you’d hear, as a matter of a fact it’s probably the most distinct phrase i’ve heard all year. What was most personal/signifigant to me was that not at anytime was this stated to me in a sententious manner, which would’ve without a doubt been a complete turn-off and subsequently made me defensive and or suspect of the connotation of it’s meaning.

Sources:

1st) Random person in the local greasy spoon engaged in a conversation with another person

2nd) Conversation with a former co-worker

3rd) Highly respected family member during one of our “sessions”

4th) Evangelist on TV using it in one of his sermons

How do other people feel about this? Is it true? Does it hold meaning for you? Why does this happen? Examples? Thoughts? Gripes?

…and your nudity at the gym….

So i’ve been hitting the gym for the past four months or so, not like I should but whatever, i have a membership and i’m there so that’s what’s important. In starting at this new gym, the first week (day really) I get there I notice that most of if not all of the patrons there are caucasion. Not that there’s a problem with this, i work with them, call them friends, even break bread with them.

But I’m coming from an all black gym for the most part in my native PG county where the music, the tv stations, and the people are different. It’s this last thing: the people being different, that i’m going to touch on. I don’t know if it’s a pre-programmed rule of thumb from birth, the particular gym I was going to, a respect thing or what but BLACK MEN (at the local gym) DON’T WALK AROUND IN THE LOCKER ROOM (with the exception to ball players) BUTT NAKED! I’m sorry, we don’t.

Now grant it, i’m not saying that during the course of your time between the shower, and your locker that you wont “be naked” but we don’t walk out of the shower, bare feat (i’m going to get to this too) air drying, strolling back to our lockers with the towel not where it should be, i’m sorry we don’t. This isn’t a movie with Tom Cruise and Cuba Gooding, we aren’t teammates playing professional sports getting showered and ready to get back on the bus to head home, and it sure ’nuff isn’t an exhibition of some sort to show off to fellow members (no phun intended) of your gender.

It never fails that when i’m in there it’s usally me and one (literally, one) other brother who see the white guys proudly walking out of the showers naked, and bare in route to their lockers. We turn to eachother and shake our heads in non-verbal unison, noone wants to see that! Seriously, and if you are proud of what you’ve got, great for you but i’m a hetrorosexual man and I don’t enjoy seeing your junk, or pale ass as i’m getting ready for my workout, or ready to leave. Mom didn’t teach you to cover up? You aren’t at home buddy, you are in a public place, act like it.

What gets me more is that I can almost guarantee that if a female were to walk thru that locker room ALL of them would be covering up, making a big stink. Where as if I did shower at the gym (my house is <25min from the gym, i’ll be alright until then) that’s when i’d be the most comfortable with my nudity. So my point is, I’m not interested in seeing your parts swinging around the room, there’s nothing special going on down there, in fact why would you assume anyone will want to look at it? Please cover that ish up! I don’t want you standing/bending/walking next to me while i’m lacing up my shoe and then I look up and see *you*, and for the love of God don’t stop getting dressed in order to sit there and carry a conversation with me while you are naked.

PUT YOUR TOWEL ON!!!!

Signed 

-blprice a.k.a frustrated black man

We (in the DC Metro area) were robbed of what arguably feels like one of the best seasons that we have here.

Fall, Summer, not even Spring can hold a match to Winter. Let me explain why.

Spring - Pros: all the birds are out, march madness, the mornings are short and sweet with the crisp of the mornings dew in the air, flowers are in full bloom, the nights are crisp and cool, no humidity, everything being new and fresh.

Cons: Allergies, nats, bugs emerging, animals mating in random places, cutting grass, ragweed, complete and utter lack of holidays, thunder storms, pollen, yard work, overlap of cold/warm weather & day light savings time (lose an hour).

Summer - Pros: warm days, less clothing, sunshine, beaches, tops down, cookouts, hot summer nights, parties, caramel tans, tank tops, ballin’ on the black top, no school & of course summertime

Cons: HEAT; stoke & wave, humidity, drought, less clothing, it’s hot, sunburn, tourists, demand for A/C, drain on power/power consumption, lack of rain, enormous amounts of traffic, open toed shoes (busted feet), & less clothing.

Fall - Pros: foliage, the emergence of leather weather, basketball, the colors of fall, re-emergence of work holidays, octoberfest, cool break from summer’s fury, the re-start of man sports

Cons: Dead (brown) leaves everywhere, wet leaves on the road, allergies, unpredictable weather, & day light savings time

Winter - Pros: man sports playoffs, holiday parties, turkey, s n o w, fires in the fireplace, holidays, bundling up, soft blankets, hot chocolate, getting close/cuddling with that special someone, CHRISTMAS, holiday movies, thanksgiving, sledding, the “spirit of the season”, getting snowed in, religious celebrations, snowball fights/battles, open fires, highest concentration of federal holidays & family gatherings

Cons: Snow, shoveling, ice, blizzards, increased number of car accidents, wind chills, & bitter cold

Clearly the season of Fall is right on the heels of Winter, but there’s really no comparison for Winter v Summer/Spring because the weight of the pro’s clearly trump the weight of the con’s when doing the comparison. I do welcome comments and others input. I’m also well aware that I will probably stand alone in this assessment that i’ve made, as well as I do realizes the many advantages and benefits of the warmer months. Even with that said, i hands down enjoy winter the most.

Winter @ the White House

Winter @ WWII Memorial

Spring @ the Tidal Basin

Summer at the Smithsonian

Fall on the National Mall

Monument/Mall during Fall

Ok, so unbeknownst to to me I’ve apparently conducted an experiment of sorts with “a few people” at my workplace over the past 4.5 weeks or so. Allow me to elaborate on the experiment.

Being a black man I, like many in my race have relatively short, dark (black) hair that i keep shaped up, and brushed (combed when it’s long n’ nappy). Well for about 4 1/2 weeks in February I didn’t get a hair cut, not for any reason other then me not making to time to get up early to get into the barber shop on Saturday so that i didn’t have to sit there the entire day…..early meaning like 0630 early.

No one at work really “said anything” or gave me any looks that I noticed or were aware of, but it was getting to the point where I was developing a slight bush and that’s not really my style. So I took off a little early on a Friday and got it cut. I come back in on Monday and literally it was as if I wasn’t the same person. I’ve been witness to the differences in people’s response from changing my appearance and people complimenting me on my haircuts but this was something new altogether.

It was as if wasn’t me who had walked into the office that day, and even up until now people have been commenting on how “it” looks as well as subtle flirtatious activity as well has increased. Don’t get me wrong, i’m a heterosexual unmarried man so I have no issue with then attention. It’s just odd that after 2yrs of working here and coming into with a haircut twice a month that hasn’t changed since the first day I started that this time it would be a big deal that gets me this much attention.

So the haircut plays, and will be kept in check from now on.

Ok, so maybe it was during my downtime last year recovering from surgery, house hunting these past six months or something along those lines that caused me to miss it, but where did these words come from?? Like out of the blue they drop onto the scene and I hear people everywhere using them.

Ok, slore i’ve used recently when it deemed necessary and I found it to be very appropriate and useful under the correct situation. It fits well with when trying to describe a person or persons that otherwise would fit the description of both of these words but normally would have to use either or. I commend the person that came up with this simple, but cleaver combination of the two.

DMV: Ok, this circulates mostly in my (black) community and has becoming increasingly popular over the past i’d say 6-10months and bothers me sort of. Why? Because we already had a good word for this area, it’s called chocolate city. The term chocolate city refers to a positive, harmonious image of a predominantly African American city, Chris Rock was really one of the first from our generation to say it out loud in 1996 on his HBO special “Bring the pain” and has pretty much stuck with us since then. The word’s meaning referred to ‘DC Metro Area’, it was adopted for the entire area and was a commonly used term of endearment when talking about where you were from.

The term DMV; from anyone that remembers back that far was an acronym for The (Maryland) Department of Motor Vehicles, which in turn was changed a solid 10+yrs ago to the MVA because some politician said so. People had a hard time swallowing it because it had always been called the DMV but people eventually accepted it. Or at least it seemed….Now the acronym has found new life, but due in-part to it’s lack of originality I resent the term being used and believe that either another acronym should of been applied/created/stolen or the one that we had (have still?) should have been kept.

I personally will not be using the DMV term anytime soon, and only time will tell if it has the staying power of chocolate city.

Good Morning,

yours truly Mr.Price signing in for the first time on a new blog….i’ve now got a couple of these things out there but most are either private, restricted, or my identity is masked (i’m strongly considering reversing that decision). So anyway, i’ve been promising a few people my take or “review” rather on 2007. Alas! I’m almost finished this task,that has been extremely time consuming in a life that surrenders little to no free time.

A little info about me….*Moved to ‘About Me’ by popular request*