Four Women

Nina Simone.

My Hope Has not Faded

I wanted to talk about this speech and my thoughts on it, but I AM STILL AWESTRUCK. My cynicism about political candidates has taken a backseat to my hope for the first time in 17 voting years. I am looking forward to watching this presidential hopeful's inauguration.

Words still mean something. They can change hearts today as easily as God used them to create the universe. I refuse to give away my hope. My hope is not for sale, for lease, or for rent. I apply it as I deem its placement proper and just. My hope today is that this author/parent/senator/speaker/speechwriter will one day serve as leader of my nation. I support Barack Obama for President.

A Pun a Day... from My Friend Martha

BUY THIS BOOK ======>>>>>






A Pun A Day, makes the rain go away...

1. Energizer Bunny arrested. Charged with battery.
2. A man's home is his castle. In a manor of speaking.
3. A pessimist's blood type is always b-negative.
4. My wife really likes to make pottery, but to me it's just kiln time.
5. Dijon vu. The same mustard as before.
6. Practice safe eating. Always use condiments.
7. A Freudian slip is when you say one thing but mean your mother.
8. Shotgun wedding: A case of wife or death.
9. I used to work in a blanket factory, but it folded.
10. A man needs a mistress just to break the monogamy.
11. A hangover is the wrath of grapes
12. Is a book on voyeurism a peeping tome?
13. Dancing cheek-to-cheek is really a form of floor play.
14. Banning the bra was a big flop.
15. Sea captains don't like crew cuts.
16. Does the name Pavlov ring a bell?
17. A successful diet is the triumph of mind over platter.
18. A gossip is someone with a great sense of rumor.
19. Without geometry, life is pointless.
20. When you dream in color, it's a pigment of your imagination.
21. Condoms should be used on every conceivable occasion.
22. Reading whilst sunbathing makes you well-red.
23. When two egotists meet, it's an I for an I.

Needed a Walk Down Memory Lane

Dig some good music from my good old days.

Scenes from a Moving Picture

Happy Thursday.

You're only a day away from Friday, working world.

Enjoy something beautiful in this oft-ugly world.

Settling the Questions

In case you had any remaining doubts about Barack Obama's ethnicity, please examine Exhibit A:



WHERE I'M FROM, a Black man gets his point across in just this sort of way. For a split second, I thought I was walking through downtown AnyCity, listening to a brotha gettin' SOMEBODY told. Dig that.

I understand that Americans love a good brawl, a tense drama, and a hero/heroine who stands on ten toes firmly planted on the pavement. My countrymen love a good show and a better comeuppance. Think about it: a group of rich men have managed continuously to start/participate in over 200 major revenue-building "conflicts" in just a 20-year span, and those scoundrels managed to convince an easily-sated public that each loss of life and waste of tax money was "the right thing to do...for the country and for democracy." When the media's anesthetic barrage of images and pundit-talk begins to wear off the American public, these same men pay for new advertising and "news shows" that spit the same lies in a brand-new wrapper all over again. It works every single time.

Obama is no idiot; Clinton & Co. simultaneously salted on his campaign and gave him an "attaboy"-- an easy way to look "polite" in front of the Mississippi voters while "steppin' on the brother's shoes." Let's tell the truth: the Clintons are hoping to give anyone who has a touch of "slowness" and the last remaining racists in Ole Miss'i a good excuse to vote for the White guy. Think I'm wrong? Think back to Bill Clinton's attempt to toss a "race card" for his wife's campaign less than a month ago.

Beware Southern men who pull your chain too quickly. I should know; I'm a Southerner. Mississippi, get online and get informed. When you're done researching candidates, vote your conscience. Clinton, stop playing "Sybil" and concede the candidacy with grace. Just my thoughts...

For My Sweet

Remember that question about your blog, babe? It's this easy, as easy as posting a song that shares your thoughts. This song shares my thoughts, so take this as a little work-time inspiration.

Brand-New Old Gifts

Have you ever listened to an old favorite song again and found something new and exciting (shout-out to Morris Day) in the words or the melody? A vocal run, a drumset roll, a guitar riff, or a piano stroll that blew your mind, perhaps? I am listening to an album that made no sense to me when I was a youngster, and God knows that I am finding nuances and textures in it that my tender ears missed years ago. Stevie Wonder's JOURNEY THROUGH THE SECRET LIFE OF PLANTS has me wide awake right now (sorry, Sweet) and amazed. The term "genius" is often overused and oversimplified in our world of short attention spans and even shorter vocabulary, but Mr. Wonder (he could be my pops, after all) EARNED that label.

Do yourself a favor: pick it up, download it, or borrow it from a music lover who trusts you (and won't break your kneecaps if you get too attached to the "gift" and keep the music). PLANTS may just change your musical tastes; you have been warned.