Vote ’08

Current mood: pissed off
Category: News and Politics

OK. This election officially has me pissed off. Not with black people, women, republicans, white people, Hispanics, or any of the other groups of retards (I said it-that's how upset I am) who pretend to know about politics all of a sudden every four years. I'm pissed at America in general. I'm upset with the public that doesn't read (or read into things). This new America chooses to be spoon fed information by popular news outlets.

Last year, everyone was so excited to have two such strong and original candidates. The country seemed committed to a regime change. Hell, a few real estate agents were absolutely certain that the housing market would get an upswing in 2009 because of the new democratic president. We actually had some hope of our armed forces returning home even if it was in 2009 when the new president came to office.

This year, today to be specific, some people are afraid for Obama to continue running. Today, democrats are fleeing to the other party to escape all the in fighting. Today, there is no end in sight for this war. Now we seem committed to FOUR MORE YEARS. Four more years of the same shit.

Why?

Four years ago, a young senator from some random assed midwestern state impressed his party enough to be asked to speak at their national convention. He spoke. He was so moving, pundits predicted him not only running in for years but also winning. Hillary Clinton did not want to run following this senator's speech. Four years ago, they never mentioned his nationality. These are all facts. I would say look it up but Americans don't look stuff up. Just wait for your children (alive or unborn) to mention it from their history books during a commercial break from American Idol.

A few days ago, a friend of mine declared that she not only refused to vote for Barack Obama if he won the nomination, she was voting for McCain. She could at least vote for Nader. The "conspiracy theorists" are absolutely certain that Obama will be assassinated if he is elected president. None of these people had any idea who Barack Obama was three years ago (I'm speaking of one year after his historic convention speech). All of a sudden, I'm sondering what happened to the independents. The independent voters. The independent thinkers.

I want to jump and yell and slap people around. But that won't teach them anything. I can only hope. I can hope that Nader does actually come into the race. I'm wishing Bill Maar wasn't so "flawed" that he couldn't run. At least then, we would have someone to blame other than ourselves. Why are we experts only every four years? How can we proudly only guess at it the other three? When will our faith be strong enough to extend past religion to ourselves, to our country, to our countrymen?

If we truly cared to pay attention, we would see ourselves being manipulated. We would know who it was doing the manipulating. And we would catch ourselves in enough time to still make an informed decision that is going to effect the rest of our lives. America cannot lose focus. CHANGE '08 PEOPLE! Change!

Maybe it's not too late…



Let me add: I don't care who people vote for. I don't even ask or engage in those discussions with people. I DO CARE about us being manipulated. It is our decision. Let's make sure we keep it that way.

Bill Maar lmao. Damn Athiest!!!

JR

Sometimes I like atheists over Jesus freaks. Atheists are more honest.

What I Learned In Church

Current mood: inquisitive
Category: Life

Yesterday was first communion and baptism day. Accordingly the verses pertained to Jesus preparing the Holy Spirit to live in us. "On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. ..."

The Holy Spirit or (The Spirit of the Truth) CAN live in us. Catholics take communion. Muslims pray five times a day. Buddhists chant. All so that we can accept that inner voice speak.

Then it is our responsibility to always speak that truth in the gentle and reverant manner of Jesus, Gandhi or Buddha.

I am going to butcher William Cross' Five Levels of Nigresence (If you want to check out the real one - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professor_William_E._Cross,_Jr.) and turn it into the five levels of SELF. In terms of self awareness, we do the hard part and realize our inner selves but many of us stop growing after the realization. Using the five stages, that leaves us at only the second or third stage.

Stages of Self

1. Pre-Encounter Stage
In the first stage, individuals downplay the importance of self in their lives and focus more on their membership in other groups (e.g. religion, social class, sexual orientation). Here we identify ourselves through our associations with the outside world.

2. Encounter Stage
The second stage of the Self experience in which individuals encounter an experience that causes them to challenge their current feelings about themselves and their interpretation of the condition of the inner self. The experience is often one in which individuals face a life examining event. The encounter experience is one that is so foreign to individuals' previous view regarding self that it forces them to rethink their attitudes about self.

3. Immersion-Emersion
In the third stage, individuals immerse themselves in the inner self and feel liberated; they have more positive feelings toward themselves. Despite this immersion into the inner self, individuals have not psychologically committed to a new identity.

4. Internalization
The fourth stage is described as a psychological change wherein individuals learn to balance their inner self with their outer image.

5. Internalization-Commitment
The final stage of the Self model, in contrast to previous stages, this stage involves commitment to a plan of action, and individuals begin to live in accordance with the new self-image that they have developed.


How often do we stop to check out our inner self development? Are we satisfied with the progress we've made so far? Are we in harmony within ourselves as well as with the rest of the world?

What I learned...

Current mood: anxious
Category: Life

What I Learned .....

Mr. Magorium said - You've got to believe in something. Why not believe in magic. And the church says:
"Lord lay your mercy on us as we place our trust in you"
Has your trust led you closer to your faith? Is your life constantly leading you towards your faith?
You never know where you are going when you answer the call.
Our journey of faith is sometimes pleasantly surprising. IF you stay pleasant!
You in journey will always have the protection of God. Never forget you are a blessed and chosen people
If you believe in anything, believe in yourself. If you believe in nothing, still believe in yourself because you are nothing.

So that was church Sunday. What's REALLY been on my mind is hating. Or specifically haters. I do what you're supposed to – I make my hater's my motivators. I know if someone is hating, I must be doing something right!

But I'm worried about the haters. It's becoming quite sad. I'm seeing grown stable men hating on homeless crack-heads. That has to be about rock bottom when you have to hate on a crack head. Is that how low we feel? Putting down the lowest just to feel better? What the world?

I was asked to pray for my aunt and my father, but once I got to church, I was compelled to pray for the haters. The world needs a hug. Too many people are suffering from low self esteem and turning to hate. There has to be another way to boost these people's egos.

These people need our help. These are our co-workers, friends, family, church members, that one lady who always likes to sit by you on the train. You helped them stop drinking. You got them a job. You cleaned up their mess when they were detoxing in your basement. Help them stop hating.

For my part let me add a little boost to the hater's reading this.
You are a good person! People like you!


BTW – If anyone knows why Suga Free is not with DJ Quik, I need to know what's going on. They got me caught in the middle. I'm still happily bumping Suga Free's last two albums, oblivious to the fact that DJ quik is nowhere to be found on either. WTF! Suga Free's last album was so great, it would have been a breakout for him with a larger distribution. Black people. We got to do better!



LMAO!!! That is all I gots to say. I wouldnt even have waisted my time or entergy!

JR

Trying to Fail

Current mood: confident
Category: Life

Steve Harvey went off on a tangent this morning so had to find something else. I came upon the local "People's Station". A lady was getting advice from the special guest. (No idea who the special guest was, but she had a British accent so she must have been smart.) This lady was a stay at home mom with about six kids. The lady kept saying nothing was working. Everything she had been trying was failing. The guest gave her options and the lady kept saying I tried. I tried this. I tried that. Try. Try. Try.

All I could think was - she can tell her children she tried when they get knocked up, knocked out, and knocked around. Steve Harvey already called trying - failing with honor. Is that the best our children can hope for? To fail with honor?

I had already been thinking about how much lazier we are than our parents. And maybe this is why. The baby boomers, rich or poor, DO things. We don't do anywhere near as much as they did or do now. And half the shit we say we do we don't actually do. We only try to do those things. We try everything.

When it comes to trying, we got the Baby Boomers beat. We might have it backwards. Some of us try a lot of things and all we end up doing is recreational. We try school, we try occupations, we try marriage, we try to make a living. But we do dates. We do drinks. We do drugs.

Perhaps we should turn it around. Let's do a whole lot of living. Try dating. Try drugs. Try anything we don't plan on doing forever. Let's do the things we don't mind doing forever.

We are the "Just Do It" generation. So just quit trying to fail.


*Standing ovation* and the crowd goes WILD!!!! Ok I guess u got ur muse back, that was fantastic...love this blog!!! 5 kudos!!!
Since I've gotten older I've definitely been in "Do it and Get it Done" mode...Is it b'cuz I feel I have less time to do it and no more playing around I don't know....but great piece Jason.

23 kudos!!!!!!! Excellent Blog! I see u did get your muse back lol. Just because she had a British accent doent mean that she is necessarily smart. Very true statement bout the systematic teaching of our children to "FAIL WITH HONOR" as if u are already knocking yourself out of the game before u even play. lol

JR

Don't try, DO IT.

My ODE to LA

Current mood: adventurous
Category: Travel and Places

I was chatting online with someone the other day and they mentioned how much they hated LA and wanted to leave. It brought to mind my old poem about coming home. It's
dated now so I won't share it.

Instead, I have to defend my home more directly.

My defense is really a defense of big city living.

I realized after being in Atlanta for a few months, I am not a small town guy. The reason why is simple. There is NO ESCAPE in a small town. Even in a city like Atlanta where everything is so spread out, you can't get away from certain people. You can go to the other side of town and escape a particular person or persons but you can't escape those type of people.

In a BIG city (A real big city ATL-not where you claim the surrounding cities to boost the population), the other side of town is REALLY the other side of town. In Los Angeles, for instance, I have been known to shift my scenery completely and hang in a different venue, with a different crowd at the drop of a hat. OR, I can hang in the same spot with different people and get a totally different experience. I've been on Sunset with so many different crowds, I couldn't even count the various perspectives from which to experience that one strip.

The same can be said for my neighborhood. I have met people who lived around the corner or just down the street after living there for years and seen a WHOLE different scene in my very own neighborhood. It's like - You live where? You know who? And they live here too? WTF!

In smaller cities. There isn't much to find after a VERY SHORT while. No matter how far away you go. In Atlanta or New Orleans or DC or even Vegas (all the places I've lived so far) if you want to avoid people, you just have to ignore them. There is no changing the scenery.

I always remember an add for Los Angeles that said if you want to go to a small town, see movies made, ski and surf all in the same day, there's only L.A.. I'm sure New York, Chicago, and Houston all have those widely varying communities. Me, I love L.A.. I love the Lakers (even though Kobe Bryant is the devil). I love Venice. I love Hollywood. I love West Hollywood. I love Long Beach. I love Santa Monica. I love my block. I love my neighborhood. I love my High School.

In Los Angeles, I had a classic American upbringing. I went to school in my neighborhood. My parents were on the PTA. I walked home from school. At UCLA, I used to get out of trouble because I went there (on any side of town).
All my experiences have left me in a great place. Some has been good. Some has been bad (Damned Kobe!). But I am truly happy with where I am. I'm glad I left and I can't wait to get back.

I owe everything to being able to step outside of labels. To being able to step outside of my environment and choose any other I wish. I owe all that to Los Angeles. The biggest city in America. Sorry New York, you may have more people, but I don't want some of those people to touch me. How can you "back, back. Give me Fifity feet" when fifty feet is the other side of town? (crowded assed town) California my be hippie central but shit, we don't hug all the time. Great to visit though!

For people itching to get out of L.A., LEAVE. I wish you could have had my experiences there. But any place is as great as your imagination will take you. In a city like Los Angeles, phrases like "stuck" and "same shit" shouldn't exist. With so many options, being stuck is a state of mind. And if you keep seeing the same shit, it's because you keep doing the same shit.

Perhaps, L.A. is not for everyone. Everyone doesn't have the big enough dreams or imaginations for a city like L.A.. Some people are perfectly comfortable in a smaller setting. My imagination will allow me to live anywhere because L.A. is always in my heart. Also, I know Los Angeles is my ultimate destination.
So if you want to stay in L.A., but it's getting you down. If you don't dig your experiences, if you want to change, change yourself, change your perspective. But PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE:

Don't blame it on my town.


Tight!

MA NINJA....SPOKEN LIKE A TRUE "G"...SHAW DOG TO THE FULLEST....WEST UP MY MAN...

AND NOW I MUST COPY THIS AND PASTE IT IN A BULLETIN...YOU JUST SAID EVERYTHING I ALWAYS SAY....

ROB GREENIDGE AKA OG HOT SAUCE FROM DA W/S.....

If they don't like L.A., they can move. More space on the freeway for everyone else.

It's just like my cousin who is destined to got o jail no matter what state he is in. how many of us know people like that?

The Differed Dream

Current mood: blissful
Category: Writing and Poetry


The Differed Dream


Should I even still be having this dream?
How much would chasing this mean today?
After all these years playing my tears away
After a million tryouts never making the team

Life is still all about the possibilities
And love is still possibly meant to be


LMAO, u must of had one of those weird dreams last night lol

Aww you didn't like that?
It's all good. My muse is back. I'mma write something epic!

please do cause that aint it! Sorry

LMAO!!! If ur friends won't be honest with u...who will?

That's why I keep them around

Love is life and life is love. All of it

That was one of those I ned to write a blog but I have nothing significant to say.

Does it always have to be significant? This was just meant for her and I.

Letting Go

Current mood: sad
Category: Life

"Pearlicia", I'm going to do the best I can with this one. So many people have a problem with letting go of the past. I don't. The problem is. I can't really tell you why I don't have that problem.

I can forget people at will. I don't really know how I do it.
I do know that without that skill, I would be a very angry man. Or repressed. Or just all around sad. It's sad when you can't break up. It's really sad when you can't forgive. And it's a got-damned shame when you can't grow anymore because you keep going back to the shit you used to do.

Having a good memory is great for learning and growing. If you are learning math and you have to go back to chapter 1 to be able to understand chapter 4, more power to you. But if you go back to chapter 1 and get stuck there, then you are retarded. By definition. Life is the same. Once you get stuck, you are retarded. If you want to stay back there, go ahead and get yourself a helmet and a drool bucket and kick it in retard ville.

Know that mentally retarded individuals try to learn and grow and can't. Us who hold on to old shit all the time are not trying. We CAN grow. Yet we refuse. How sad is that?


The optimist is crazy!! lol Well another great blog. I think that it is human nature(its sad) to consistently think and live in the past especially when it comes to people who left a footprint weather a positive one or negative one. I'm so guilty of this behavior. To this day I still hold resement towards people from high school even though I have grown to be friends with a lot of those same people today. I don't know why! At times I can look at them with a smile and internally think about what that person did or said to me when we were in 10th grade at Bernard's. If u have an answer GURU, comment.

BTW please erase the first post! Spelling

Aaahhh yes the blog I requested..(ur gonna have to give me one to blog about)....when u talked about no growth b'cuz of the shit we use to do....damn that hit home. I wish I could tap into ur ability to "jus forget"
I really think when there's a connection that we form (sometimes in our heads) that we try to hold on to that and still, if not anything else, have somewhat of a friendship which still feels like ur being cheated b'cuz inside you want it to b "something" else.
As for ur friend and the shhhhty ppl frm his past...that's an easy one to let go. F@$ em. They didn't mean shhh then and they shouldn't mean shhh now. My issue is with ppl you have cared about....
So much to say but I'm gonna leave it that.

A Hans Conzelmann Quote, Christianity and Being Christian

Current mood: cultured
Category: Religion and Philosophy

"The church lives on the fact that modern research about Jesus is not known amongst the public."
Hans Conzelmann (German theologian and New Testament scholar.)

"Good Girl...", the church lives on a lot more than that. In fact modern religion, ANY ONE (Tagalog, or that one with the puppies), lives off the people's lack of esteem. Knowing the real Jesus would be like knowing the real Buddha or Mohammad. The truth will set you free but free people don't build churches.

We just spent lent improving ourselves. Some of us finally went to church for the year (at least until Christmas) two weeks ago.

Now what?

If we continue the journey we began, it's entirely possible we could leave our churches. Jesus did.

So they pimp us. From the pulpit, from the prayer/chanting meetings, from Venice Beach to Miami, from Jonestown to wherever people gather claiming to have the key to life; the goal is a captive audience. CAPTIVE.

If we accept the common rhetoric - "Man is weak", "We are all sinners", "We are not perfect"; we begin to internalize these shortcomings and lose self esteem. With low self esteem, we go right back to our religion, or we back slide and self destruct until we end up back to religion.

Take a look at the different clubs and groups within any religion. The focus is temporary fixes, socials, Vegas Trips, and investment clubs so we can get more money give. Show me the focus on lasting joy and life satisfaction. In virtually every modern religion a focus on getting the bills paid has led us away from learning to be complete individuals.

We are broken and leaking dollar signs and all the "modern gurus" are chasing after our pockets.

Just a thought.


It's rare that I comment on blogs anymore, given that I dare not do it while working, and if by some abnormal way or reason, a coworker winds up reading this comment, uh...I'm on a late lunch.

So I'm compelled to respond, not add to some would be list of haters. Thanks for your insight with this one (you know i do enjoy your blogs, even when i don't comment :)), now here's two cents worth of mine just for the sharing. I'm inclined to defend the church. Not "THE church," MY church and others and Christianity, even as our "Next Step Sunday" approaches in two days - "Next Step" representing the next step my church has taken towards their land fund, which is hiring the architect, and "Next Step Sunday" being the one Sunday that the church's members, myself included, have prayed will be the Sunday that the church will have 100% member participation with the offering, all to go to the land fund.

Anywho, LA brings up valid points here, so readers, especially those unfamiliar with God, church, religion and denominations, take it and heed, but don't necessarily group these points into all religions and churches. Seekers and lost ones and buyers beware. These systems and cycles exist and lead to questioning are they really for the greater good or their greater pockets. But don't be led astray from the bigger picture. The bigger picture being that we need to be saved. God commands us first (and I'm not talking literal Commandments, so please, no corrections), rather teaches us in His Word, that YES, man is weak and are not perfect, and we ALL are sinners, and that in addition to that FACT, we ALL will go to HELL. Yes HELL is real. It is not a gimmick. Along with that, He teaches YES WE ALL WILL GO TO HELL unless we accept His son Jesus Christ as the savior that He is, not by works of righteousness, thus us being saved. (I am more than willing to share the Gospel and its detailed information for anyone who wants to hear it too)

Once saved, we are commanded to be baptized. If you are Catholic and more than likely at this point disagreeing with me, read up on the Word, not the missilettes. God says obey His Word and His only, only the Bible, the Living Word, aka Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life and no other doctrine. He tells Christians to test the spirits and other religions in this world against what the Holy Bible says. Do that. Anywho, once saved, be baptized - Baptism, being fully dunked in water, not trickled with it. Baptism being an outward expression of your inward decision of salvation. (Read the Bible.)

After baptism, we are to Go and spread His Word, as commanded in the Great Commission - look it up - it's in the Bible.

ALONG with, not before or after, but ALONG with all the aforementioned, God says.........da da na na........find a local church. Given LA's blog, how do find the right church and a good church. First pray. Prayer works and God answers. There's churches everywhere. Research them and test their doctrine against the Bible.

LA says to "Show me the focus on lasting joy and life satisfaction." I profess, you can find it in church - don't mistake my words - you can find that in a strictly Bible believing church that puts God first before it's needs, it's Pastor, it's money, it's members, because that church will in fact show you how God can be the key to all of that in your life. They exist. Las Vegans, visit mine - www.sh-baptist.com - Southern Hills Baptist Church.

I got more to say but "lunch" is over so if I get a moment, I'll continue. Until then, LA you know I love you. Readers, LA too, God Bless, and I pray you know Christ. I pray you are saved. Feel free to message me, if you have questions or concerns with your own salvation. I promise, I'll direct you to scripture, not my own opinions or ideas.

2k's for actually pulling me to write this time.

I didn't want to start rambling but I was headed there. There will be in any religion or belief system a right way and a a right assembly. I also believe that my church has gotten it right. The key in this blog is to be careful. The bible warns and its true no. The false prophets outnumber the trues. And they are EVERYWHERE! In my church (a la the pope [Yes I'm a catholic who doesn't believe in the pope]) In Christian churches. In Moslem temples, In synagogues. At the Kingdom hall. There is even some wiccan broad out there stealing money from her coven. I saw her on Maury!

We have to believe in something, just be careful

Read more: Dave Ramsey is the Man. I should devote a blog to promoting him. SO many of us need him

I'm not anti-religion but I agree with the idea that many people cleave to religion for all the wrong reasons.

And I especially zoned in on these phrase

"The truth will set you free but free people don't build churches."

I thought this was apt after seeing the news clips and photos of the HUGE white temple that the FDLS built on their compound guarded by armed security.

"the goal is a captive audience. CAPTIVE."

Yep, there are many religious captives in this country. There are the obvious captives like the adolescent girls of the FDLS. There are the captives of guilt. There are the captives of fear.

Religion should be about freedom, not captivity.

Hummmm, I dont know where to start, especially being that me and L.A. are good friends and we have never had a conversation about religion. Personally I think that salvation and what L.A. would refer to as lasting joy and life satisfaction(great quote) comes from within. Church attendance can be an excellent vehicle to self-realization of this concept. At the same time I dont think its the only way to grasp this concept. We have to look internally to find whatever it is that tells us to be good human beings(not just Christians, etc). Once this is accomplished then move on into the world accordingly, weather it be at church, the workplace, at home, with friends and family, etc. Gods word resonates in all of us from birth, not just when u become baptized(BTW im non-denominational). We have been systematically taught that salvation comes from going to Church every Sunday and that is not true. U can be saved at home, or at work, or on the corner. NOT JUST IN CHURCH! When I have more ill post a comment!

That's MY DOG!

All My Dreams Come True

Current mood: blessed
Category: Writing and Poetry

All My Dreams Come True
Today all my dreams come true
Today I find myself with you
My journey was long
Yeah, I finally win
I find you and I
Back together again

Plan To Be Surprised

Current mood: anxious
Category: Life

Life may not always go the way want to. But we can always be prepared and expectant for the pleasant surprises that life has for us.



That’s it...



Wait for the surprises


Oh believe that (everyone)....this is the year for change and definitely surprise (good and bad)...hopefully all good...

Will Dondre' Whitfield actually propose?

What I Learned In Church: 4/4/2008

Current mood: luminous
Category: Life


Announcements:
To everyone (Friends, family, and random strippers/whores and generally loose women) I got a chance to spend time with in Los Angeles, Thank You for providing one of the best birthdays and trips home ever. It won’t be so long before the next trip this time.

As luck would have it, while I was considering the logistics of attending my old church on Sunday, my sister mentions my Step-Mother is speaking at church on Sunday. What a pleasant surprise. I do enjoy the rare occasions when she speaks on more than the announcements. She possesses a wisdom I don’t think she even knows about.

A Word:
Church, the word for today is FAITH. The responorial Psalm is:
NO THING in the universe can negate the Good God has for me. Believe that. Live that. Let that make it easier for you to be yourself.
Repeat after me - "Here I am. As I am. Giving thanks THAT I am."
If you don’t know what to be thankful for, just look around. Be grateful.
Having faith means having the faith OF God instead of faith in God. Where is our faith? Are we faithful to God? Are we even faithful to ourselves? Mark Chapter 11 Jesus told a tree to die and it died. "If anyone says to this mountain, ’Go throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his/her heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. How far away are we from THAT level of faith? That’s Dalai Lama faith. That’s the Buddha’s faith.
If you say you have apply your faith. Live like you actually believe what you believe in. Ask and you shall receive. ONCE! One time quick hit and move. Pray, believe, work and wait. The key is working and waiting. We are most impatient and lazy when it comes to our blessings.
The time never existed for "believers" who don’t do shit. And pestering God won’t ever work. Who wants to help someone who doesn’t believe in them?
Anyone can attend a church but not everyone is a member. Anyone can pray but not everyone is a believer. And you can say whatever you want but not everyone has the faith their spirituality calls for. In fact, the faithful are few.
My step-mom always says practice the three Rs.
1. Release the past
2. Renew the relationship with God
3. Recognize the God power within you
No matter how much training, learning and studying, if you aren’t applying the lessons to your everyday life, you’ve only done half the work.
Take time to pray, love, live, be yourself, appreciate life and above all, believe in ALL of it.


Although I am not Christian I can see your Step-mom's advice being applicable to all people.

Release the past
Renew a relationship with the miracle of existence
Recognize the divinity within yourself

There....same concept framed outside of religious concept.

Yup! Good advice for anyone.

I don't just write for Christians you know. The truth and the light don't only shine in one's church. They shine at McDonald's, The Strip Club, Hooters, that one topless carwash in the secret location or where ever. You just have to want to see it

Pray, believe, work and wait.....I love this blog...jus recently I have been putting those 4 words into effect in my life and the results are incredible!!! To believe that you will recieve what youv'e asked for and take the responsibility of doing the work and "patiently" waiting on the results of the latter 3 is amazing and a joy....*sometimes the wait isn't very long either* Thanks for the affirmation and confirmation.

I'm working on the THREE