Chrismas Cheer

Well it's Christmas Time in Hollis Queens,
Mom's cooking chicken and collard greens...
But that's a post for another day.

Christmas time this year was bitter sweet. For only the second time in my life I did not spend Christmas with my family. I did spend it with good friends though and that was cool. But nothing replaces your family. I say bitter sweet though because I look back at what all happend this year. I've had three friends get married, and one pair get engaged. I've had a friend buy a house and one move that much closer to finishing law school. I have a friend making her way up in the EPA while another happy to finally find a job. Many of my friends have found success whether it be love, work, or just personal fortune. For that I am grateful and feel blessed.

Personally, not much has happend this year. I slowly started working my way past my fear of flying. I got to keep my job. My family made out pretty well post Katrina. Other than that, it's been a pretty stable year. No fortune, fame or love came my way this year. Just stability. I guess that's all some people need sometimes. Guess that is my Christmas gift from God is the ability to start the new year no lower than I started last year. Can't complain about that. Do I want more? Of course. I want fortune, fame and love. But stability aint so bad I guess.

2006 Here I Come.

Who is the Underdog?

For years now I've been trying to fihure out who I am, who the real underdog is. I've thought I was many things, but it all comes back to the same things. And I guess that's ok. I am who I am and nothing's wrong with that. I also realize that I'm a work in progress, an ever changing piece of art. Morphing into the person I will be tomorrow, but maybe not next week. It's always good to understand that. So who is the underdog?

Well...

I'm a pretty nice guy if I say so myself.

I try to help the next man if I can.

I like to take care of people, guess I got that from my family.

I like to protect the women in my life. Call it that Southern gentlmanly instict that's been engrained in me since 1980. I want to make sure the women in my life are well taken care of, even if they aren't the women in my life.

And speaking of women... I like white women. Yeah I said it. I like white women. Does that mean I don't like black women? Hell no, that doesn't mean that. I love my Nubian sisters just as much as any one of my other human sisters. So yeah, I like white women...black women, asian women, persian women, latina women... all women. So get over it.

And I like em thick. A little meat never hurt anyone. Lord knows I have some extra chunck I'd like to lose.

I like video games. Sports games, action adventure, role playing. All of them. If you think I'm too old for them then F-you!

I like wrestling and ultimate fighting (watching, not participating). If you don't like it, see above.

I love sports, especially football.

I'm a fun loving guy that lives by the people that are around me. That'a a fatal flaw if you ask me, but it is what it is. I had some good people around me back home, but now things have changed a little. Got a couple good ones here, maybe even a great one, but nothing like back home. Home stays with me though, and I know those folks are still there.

I like to smile.

I like to laugh.

I love my family.

I Love Family.

I love God, and even the thought of other gods...hey you never know.

All in all, the underdog is a nice guy trying to make it in a world gone mad. And you know what they say about nice guys....they finish. Wait a minute. That's what i say about nice guys. Nice guys finish. They may not come in first, they may come in last, but they finish. And sometimes, finishing is more than some other folks do. And that's what the Underdog intends to do.

FINISH.

I'll be who I am for the rest of my life. And as of now, I kind of like me. Nothing special. I just like being a nice guy. Feels right.

I like to make other people smile, even if they don't know I'm doing it.

It feels right giving myself to the You.

Now it's time for the Underdog to finish...at least this post anyway. :)

Nice guys finish....I like the sound of that.

Oscar Snub

I finally had an opportunity to view the movie Crash and you know what?

I think it's as good as everyone said it was.

An all-star ensemble cast, none of whom got to steal the show, except I thought Don Cheadle was great as always and Ludacris did a good job, though it didn't stretch him.

It brought out the many racial issues facing this country, one being the lack of communication. In many of the mini-stories, which were tied together beautifully I might add, had that element of miscommunication between the races. Not being able to understand a foreigners dialect, thinking you know someone's motivations because of their skin color. Communication played an interesting role in this movie.

But it wasn't the display of how miscommunication can have an effect on a situation, but how the unspoken communication can also play a role. The story involving Thandie Newton, Terrence Howard and Matt Dillon was extremely dynamic where the males played both sides of the coin at different times. Believe me, I've never been in that specific situation, but I know how Terrence Howard felt. Black man's burden I guess.

All in all, a great movie. I'd recommend it to anyone. And by the way, what was up with that look Brendan Frasier gave ole girl the black chick at the end? Anyone catch that?

Oh yeah, by the way...STOP PASSING DON CHEADLE OVER FOR THE OSCAR!!!!!!!!!

Michigan, Notre Dame and the Racial Divide

Celtics vs Lakers...
Magic vs Bird...
Michigan vs ND...

It's all the same it seems. One day I was thinking about why I like Michigan and not Notre Dame. Why I was a Lakers fan and not the Celtics. Loved Magic, not Bird. Shaq fan, couldn't stand Christian Laetner. I think I'm coming to the realization that race played a major role in my youth and formatice years. I've always been a Michigan fan; for as long as I can remember. But I'm from Louisiana and hadn't been to Michigan until a few months ago. But for as long as I remember I've hated Notre Dame. Couldn't stand them, but didn't know why.

Now I know...

Seems that I think that ND was the epitamy of all that was white in the 80's. Yeah, I have no clue why I thought that but I did. And the fact that I still don't like them for that reason makes me think I've harbored that for years. Don't know where it came from. Maybe my inate sense of black and white learned from television, and years of schooling. I don't know but I just believed, and still believe, that ND is the last refuge of white America.

This isn't to say Michigan isn't a hstorically white school. But for some reason I lumped them into the "Black" teams. Could it be the cool uniforms, especially the helmet? Could it be Desmond Howard's flashy Heisman pose? Could it be the 5 brothers dominating basketball for 2 years without winning a title? Maybe even Charles Woodson (by the way, one of my best friends, white guy, and I still argue about Woodson vs Manning and the Heisman Trophey of 97. Of course I had Woodson).

And I know ND had Rocket Ismail and "the Bus" but I can't shake my picture of ND. Maybe it's because they are always on TV and get favorable treatment from pollsters in America. I tried to like them when Tyrone Willingham was their coach. I did actually, but more so for him and not them. But when they dumped him for the next great white hope, I cut all emotional ties to the school. Now I only hope they plummet next year and see what the reaction is.

But this brings to mind other issues in sports too. I've always liked Magic over Bird and the Lakers over the Celtics. Marino over Elway (hey Marino was tan and Elway just seemed to All-American white). Now it's Reggie Bush over Leinart, mostly because Bush made USC who they are.

Will this always be the case with me? Probably so. But I guess it's not about not liking white folks, because I do. It's mostly about me wanting my brothers and sisters to succeed. There's nothing wrong with that. At least not in my world.