Esta Es Mi Vida

This post is about my disdain for a disturbing and growing trend that will see a resurgence now that the weather is warm….Mandals. If you wear them and get easily offended by the raw and pungent truth then you probably should wait for my next post and skip this one.

First off, WTF. When did we start calling Men’s Sandals Mandals? Who came up with this? And why is it then when I went into DSW last weekend and told the cute sales rep that I was looking for some sandals she tells me “Oh the mandals are over in this section”……excuse me, WHAT? Did I not get the man memo about this new term or something?

Oh and don’t think I haven’t taken notice of my Caucasian (and every other race for that fact) brothern wearing these during the cold months…..Where in what book of man laws ™ or rule of thumb was it ok for us to start wearing these on the regular like it’s apart of everyday life (365 days a year with anything we want)? It’s gotten so bad THAT NOW THERE’S A NEGATIVE CONNOTATION ASSOCIATED WITH WEARING THEM!

Are you Egyptian, do you live in a climate that has more (appropriate) warm days then cold? Perhaps you’re a Spartan or of Roman decent…..No? Okay then it’s not kosher for you to wear these year round guys….it’s not kosher.

I use to rock the “mandals” hard back in the day when they were just called “mens sandals”, by “hard” I mean in the appropriate place and at the fashionably appropriate time.

For example

• WHEN MY FEET DON’T LOOK AS THOUGH I’VE BEEN WALKING ON RAZOR SHARP ROCKS OUT IN THE BUSH SOMEWHERE!
• At the beach
• While washing the car
• When rocking the fresh linen pants & or linen shirt
• Spring time @ a wine festival
• A quick trip down to the mailbox/grocery store/carry out/car (when to lazy to lace up some kicks)
• Summer BBQ’s & or cookouts
• A scorching summer day when shoes/socks just aren’t going to do

But now you can see guys rocking this look year ’round, proudly wearing them with jeans, at the club, nice restaurants, in the winter time, or with mens capris. I’m not saying that wearing man sandals during this time of year is bad, this is the time of year when you should wear them, and when it’s appropriate. Where my problem is are with the people that rock them hard all year, and those people that don’t follow the rules when wearing them around this time of year.

Here are three key rules that the dominate gender should ad hear to.

1. Socks with Sandals - No man should be caught wearing socks with sandals. But again, especially in the black community this has become acceptable. If you wearing sandals leave the socks at home please.

2. Flip-Flops - Honestly there really isn’t a necessity for a man to wear these type of sandals when there’s such a vast collection to choose from now days….But for those that do follow this rule: If not at the beach, then there is no reason for any man to be wearing flip-flops. Ever.

3. Pedicure - If you don’t know what that is or perhaps think this is for women please stop reading, go get your mandals and throw them in the trash. It’s a requirement, not an option. Look at it like this; would you go outside with your hands ashy and crusty? with your fingernails long and yellow??? NO! So don’t let your feet be in that condition. GET A PEDICURE!

/rant

It’s smack dab in the middle of April, and officially Spring Time! How do I know this you might ask? Well last week it got to over 70 degrees here for the first time in…oh about 180 days. When I walk outside to my car every morning (parked in the garage or not) theres a fresh coat, sometimes two, of pollen on the paint. The birds are chirping and singing me awake every morning should I leave my window open at night….these same birds are also doing bombing runs on my car whenever they feel like it.

Children are running around outside, playing, yelling, chasing, screaming at one another. Which is of course training that they will need much later on in life when working in corporate America, interacting with the opposite sex, operating a motor vehicle on major roads, and resolving their disputes with one-another.

Tourist are flocking to my city in drodes from all the corners of the earth to see some tree’s that originated from Japan….unbenounce to most, these tree’s can be found all over the DC metro area, and are common enough to find planted and growing in many residential neighborhoods (we had one in our front yard). These are the same tourist that can’t obey/read the traffic signs flashing at them in bright orange and white pigmentations, indicating when and when not to cross the road….a road in which automobiles in excess of two tons are using.

Ah….yes, good ole Spring time in DC

Long day at work today…..it’s one of those rainy dreary days outside that you should be spending inside your own dwelling not in an office on the first day following the weekend……on my way home with mild to light traffic, unseasonably cold and just all around dreary and gloomy day. Leave the parking garage (break out) after giving the man my 9+hrs, blow thru a few traffic lights to get onto the main road to take me home….while at the same time browse the local stations stored in the presents on my radio and what to I find? Garbage, straight up garbage.

Am I soothed, moved, motivated and liberated by the hypnotic sounds of instruments, melodies and smooth vocals?….Nope, my ears are assaulted by Mariah Carey belting about someone touching her body, Flo Rider talking about jeans and some girl’s boots, a drug addict going on and on about a lollipop, and User whining about getting some in a club? Seriously…..is this what we are calling music now? Disgruntled, and disappointed I cut the radio off, (didn’t even bother to look for a cd) and resumed the ride home.

I arrive at my destination tired, disappointed, and sapped of energy due in part because of the climate but mostly because one of the very art forms that i’ve come to love and appreciate above all others was utterly butchered and has at that moment failed me. I take it to heart just because of what it invokes in me, what I gleam from it….. the melody, dynamics, texture, structure of this art form just does something to me, especially on days like this.

Drop my bag, kick off the shoes, prep/begin dinner. Stop and take a second just as i’m about to turn on the tv, go for the Zune instead and put on some Marvin Gaye (1976; I Want You). This was 100% without question an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental and vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner. As I suspended the rest of my evening to absorb the mellotic tones of one of the greatest artists of our time one song inparticular comes on.

Track 1 (the device is set to shuffle, Track 4 ended up starting first) I Want You. The title track for the album, this is where my night stays….for the past four maybe five hours i’ve been absorbing art in it’s raw form from the soulful sound and equally romantic and erotic lyrics of this great song. I’m aware that not everyone loves this genre of music that I do, neither can the same song that impacts me in this very moment do the same to someone who might share my same love for this art form…but If you love, and know of what real music is then there’s no denying the greatness in this…Real Music, from this truly great artist.

I Want You (Vocal)

[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-266196747943131850&hl=en]

I Want You (accapella)

As I dive deeper into the blogging thing I want to begin intelligent discussion about various “Questions of the Week” that I have for my small but growing base of readers.

This week it’s in a form of one of my favorite songs by the Neo Soul/R&B artist Musiq. Give a listen and leave a comment about what you’d do if it were you in the situation. I personally haven’t been in that situation but if I was i’m not sure how i’d respond if I was put in this exact situation that he was given the fact that it was just the one time…..

The core part of the song is as follows for those that might be too lazy to actually listen to the entire song

So what would you do?

Guys: if a girl came to you saying what she says in the opening conversation

Ladies: if this was you, and the part of the lyrics were said to you by the guy you were involved with. Plus how would you tell him?

-B.Price