Look What a Polite Request Can Get Ya!

Before I begin this post, let me say something for the transgender people in San Diego: pay your plastic surgeons well if you want to look like your fantasy image of yourself, and don't get mad if I call you by your OBVIOUS gender's title of respect. I don't care if you have enough silicone to fill an E cup; that Adam's apple is too easy to notice, bruh. Man, when did Starbucks become Drag City?! Thank God that my wife is sitting here to remind me to keep my mouth shut.

But I digress...

Okayplayer laced my eyes and ears with some recent footage of a surprise weekend Erykah Badu performance in Dallas. Lady Badu's "Tyrone" is a favorite of rock/psychedelic soul/country/a ton of other music group My Morning Jacket (I don't make the names, I just report them), so much of a favorite that the group covered the tune on their recent project (click here to listen) and respectfully requested Sistah Badu's presence at the Dallas show to put some stankonia on the track. According to the Okayplayer story, Badu initially opted not to show, but the band and the fans got a great surprise when she strutted onstage just as the fellows started their version of the song.

Who says politeness is never rewarded anymore? Enjoy!

New (Old) Music Monday: Kim Burrell x Walter Hawkins

Solomon, the man listed in the Bible as the world's wisest man, wrote in Lamentations that "time and chance happen to all" of us on this beautiful planet Earth--and my life has shown it. Name a catastrophe, tragedy, conflict, problem, attack, threat, or fear at random, and I will easily raise my hand like a schoolchild roughly 95 percent of the time to announce, as Dr. Dre would say, "Been there, done that."

Am I alone? Hardly. Each of us has a list tucked away in mind, a list that carries memories of near misses and impossible escapes, of crippling sickness and miraculous recovery, of troubling hurts and remarkable forgiveness. Life AIN'T always easy (Mom, don't beat me), but doesn't if feel great to live it? Monday is the day when I feel ready to skip sunrise, sleep late (if I can sleep at all) and pretend that the world will stop for my laziness, but my thoughts have no effect on nature and how God makes it work.

The weekend had some scary moments, but my family survived and are alive and whole. My mother's mother is still here despite her memory's fight to leave her. My brother and his family are in one of the hottest places on this side of the globe and managing to keep cool, safe, and fit like personal trainers. My wife still loves even the ugliest parts of me, and I still love the way her everything sounds, feels, looks, and smells. Life is full of the unexpected, but none of life's woes can top the good things in my life.

Be grateful for your good things. Why don't you take a moment to share a few right here? I would love to hear them.

Change IS Gonna Come

Enjoy a classic.