Happy Holidays and Happy New Year

Current mood: hopeful

Over the past several days since arriving home from school, I've had the chance to do a lot of TV watching. HaHa. I saw Maya Angelou's Christmas celebration, where she had family and friends celebrate the holiday with her. And I saw Bobby and Whitney show how they celebrate the holiday. I was struck by something Maya Angelou said, she said that we should celebrate Christmas everyday. If you really think about it Christmas is a time to meditate on the birth of Christ, remember the importance of generosity not just in regards to material possessions, but also in regards to our spirit. I am a true believer that we only receive what is deserved, if we are generous to others, that is why I give so much of myself. I hope that everyone has the chance to enjoy the holiday with those who mean the world to you.

And I also wanted to wish everyone a great start to the New Year. I'm going away (haha it sounded so good, but I'll still be here in Baltimore), but I will be gone until after the New Year. I'm going to spend some time with my grandfather, and stay at his place for the first time since my grandmother died three years ago. The deaths of so many legends and pioneers this year made me realize that it is so important that we take into account the wisdom of our elders. My granddad is 77, and the best example of what a man is out there. So I'm going to take some notes.

Hmmm and so many people have announced their New Year's resolutions. I don't have any as of yet. I do plan to become a better person, but that isn't a resolution for a new year, but a resolution for every day we are able to wake up.

But in reflecting over the next several days about what things I should change in the New Year, I'll take into account the words of one of my friends E Hill who wrote on her blog:

"I’m giving the promise of my time. This year, my resolution isn’t even about me. It’s about my most prized possession though – my relationships with people."

And I'll also take into account the words of another blogger Will Bradley who has set out a game plane of things he will accomplish next year. His words as always are inspirations and food for thought.

"2006 Game Plan
Goals, Vision, Risk, and Success
If you don’t know where you are going, you will get there.

If you do know where you are going, you will get there."

Thanks to Erin and William for the food for thought.

Gosh, I'm being longwinded and wordy. I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Holiday and a great start to the New Year.

I hope everyone doesn't look back on the year that was with regret, but look forward to the year that will be with hope, faith, and optimism.

Be strong, be safe, be healthy, and be blessed. We'll catch up once the New Year begins.

Regards,
Christopher bka CNEL

I Can Cross Her Off My Christmas Wishlist LoL

I love my friends they are always so open, honest, and straightforward.

Mia(12:53:12 AM): i like to harrass you
Me (12:54:16 AM): lol a lot of ppl like to harrass me including my students but find me a nice lil petit woman to harrass me and then pet me up and i'll be forever grateful haha....its sad when all you want for christmas is a companion lol i'm making out a list to santa and that's at the top
Me(12:54:37 AM): haha sorry i'm a dork after midnight lol
Mia (12:55:13 AM): ill be your companionwithout sex.
Me (12:56:23 AM): lol
Me(12:56:52 AM): thanks for the clarification lol you have me laughing out loud over here

EXAMS ARE DONE (PRAISE HIM^^)

Currently Listening
So Amazing...An All-Star Tribute to Luther Vandross
By Various ArtistsSo Amazing (Beyonce and Stevie)

I'm finally done exams, and what has to have been the longest exam period ever, a whole doggone week.

So I came, I saw, and I conquered, well I think:

Here is what my finals week consisted of:

_X_Communications-The Creative Eye: Portfolio Due Dec. 14 at 3:00pm
_X_Communications- Writing, Rhetoric, and the Media: Project Due by Dec. 15
_X_Philosophy: Final Essay due Dec. 15 at 10am
_X_Theatre: Final Essay due Dec. 16 (?)
_X_Sociology: Final Exam Dec. 20 at 1:00pm

I think I dodged a few bullets so far I have 1 A, 1 B, and 1 B-, with two grades yet to be determined. One of them grades I feel I'll have a minimum of a B- and the other grade will be either wonderful or horrid LoL. Hey got to have a sense of humor. I hope this man is generous and in the giving spirit, and that he will give me a break.

WISE WORDS FOR THE WEEK

WISE WORDS FOR THE WEEK

Sunday- "Saying thank you is more than good manners. It is good spirituality."-Alfred Painter

Monday-"The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings."- Eric Hoffer

Tuesday-"Appreciation can make a day, even change a life. Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary." -Margaret Cousins

Wednesday-"Think of giving not as a duty but as a privilege."- John D.Rockefeller Jr.

Thursday-"We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them."-Kahlil Gibran

Friday-"The secret of joy in work is contained in one word - excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it." -Pearl S. Buck

Saturday-"Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy."-Thich Nhat Hanh

Study Break

Current Mood
Tired

Currently Listening
Purify Me-India Arie

3-0-2 ?

I am done three final papers and or projects.

I have one additional paper to do for Theatre History which is my worst class this semester.

And my last final is on next Tuesday in Sociology.

So I'm taking a study break and so here is what I get

Some things are better left unsaid
Other things are better left undone
I couldn't go on hiding who I really am
I had to say what was on my mindI had to speak the truth
I am ashamed
I am disappointed
I am angry with myselfS
ome things are scared
Other things we should value too
Some of what we value least is what should matter most
Other things we need not worry ourselves aboutI am learningI am livingI am feeling
© Christopher Nelson 2005 All Rights Reserved

What was before a desire
Finally came to be
What was before a fathom
Became reality
What was before a dream
Came to life
What was before a prayer
Came to life as a prayer answered
What was beforeWas andIs Now Gone
© Christopher Nelson 2005 All Rights Reserved

Seconds maybe minutes of pleasure
Hours and days of pain
Days and months of reckoning
Wondering what went wrong
Asking, why me?
Seconds maybe minutes of pleasure
Hours and then days of silence
Days of solitude
Months of frustration
Wondering where the family has gone
Asking, why won't you see me?
Seconds maybe minutes added to a life
Hours and then days of smiles
Days and months of laughing not crying
Wondering why I felt so doomed
Asking, who in the end defines me
H.eroes are
I.nvaluable and
V.irtuous
_
A.ll are
I.n need of
D.riven people whose
S.pirits are of a noble nature
© Christopher Nelson 2005 All Rights Reserved

So yeah, I think that that's all for now.

Melodies of the Heart

"Tempation"
has me really liking all that's happening, I'm
"Feeling U, Feeling Me"
I just hope you can
"Believe"
that I'll be a
"Good Man"
because I have
"25 Reasons"
why
"Last Night"
you were my
"Superstar"
it's all about the
"Here and Now"
with you because you are
"So Amazing"
you are
" My First Love"
the reason I
"Love"
"And I"
am
"So High"
when I'm with you that I tell the world that
"This Woman's Work"
has
"At Last"
gotten me to admit
"The Truth"
your love is powerful enough to
"Purify Me"
and has me writing
"A Song For You"
cause
"Hypothetically"
it could all end up being a
"Sweet Memory" of the (Beautifully Young)
but this love is real and
"Love Won't Let Me Wait"
I'm so longer saying to cupid
"Love, I Thought You Had My Back This Time"
cause I'm sure that it's real
I'm not afraid to be
"Cursed"
with loving you because I can't
"Be Without You"
I just
"Can't Let Go"

Thanks to Destiny's Child, Alicia Keys, Raheem DeVaughn, India Arie, Nivea, Anthony Hamilton and Sunshine Anderson, Luther Vandross (2 times), Anthony Hamilton again, Keyshia Cole, Ciara, John Legend, Maxwell, Etta James, India Arie again and again, Donny Hathaway, Lyfe Jennings and Fantasia, Vivian Green, Luther again, Keyshia Cole again, Vivian again, Mary J. Blige, and Anthony Hamilton whose artistry contributed to my artistry!

This Is Getting Ridiculous

Okay this is getting ridiculous. On Sunday night I hosted my weekly radio show Chris Has Issues (www.chrishasissues.blogspot.com or www.wloy.org ), you've got to love the plugs. On the program I talked with Tracy Sanna, a student volunteer who is involved with community service work here at Loyola College in Maryland through the college's Center for Values in Service. We were discussing Tracy's involvement with Care-A-Van (a program where students make sandwiches and distribute them to homeless individuals in downtown Baltimore). We also discussed how the city stopped Loyola from distributing the sandwiches because they didn't have running water, and because of a new city ordinance which required that the college have a license to do so. We first learned of the issue about two weeks ago. So imagine my surprise when I read in the paper today(click on the title of this post for the link to The Sun article) and saw that the issue has not been resolved. Now the paper is saying that the students though they are acting independently of the college are still breaking the law. It's winter for goodness sake, and one homeless man has already died, it is believed due to hypothermia. So instead of allowing these young people to distribute sandwiches and hot chocolate, the students may very well be threatened with the possibility of arrest the next time they do so. I for one am very much upset. Given that the services for homeless people in this city, and many cities across America could be a whole heck of a lot better, I can't quite understand why the city would be actively engaged in trying to stop anyone from assisting those who are disadvantaged. It strikes me as being a questionable practice. Now I know that at the heart of a health ordinance is a desire to protect the well-being of all involved, but shouldn't more of an effort be made to help the students get the appropriate means to continue their good works. As a student at a Jesuit institution for the second time in my life I understand that the Jesuits work hard to compel students to become compassionate individuals committed to becoming "men and women for others." Living in the times in which we live there is a definite need for servant leaders, for people willing to work hard to assist others. I am embarrassed as a voter and as a taxpayer (eh I could do without that duty) that the city government has not worked to rectify this issue. It's not just the job of the police to protect and serve, but of the whole government, to protect, serve, and guard the best interests of the people, and not just some of the people, but all of the people. I'm about to take another break from my final exam prep and write a letter to the powers that be asking that they address this issue on behalf of citizens who do in fact care about the well-being of others.

In a season of giving, I hope that we could give more hope than despair to those in need.

Two Things

Fill in your answers

Two names you go by
1. CNEL
2. Sherman

Two things that scare you
1. Failure
2. Never finding the one

Two of your everyday essentials
1. Shower
2. Music

Two things you are wearing right now
1. Turtleneck
2. Jeans

Two things you want in a relationship
1. Acceptance
2. Respect

Two Truths
1. I am a tad too emotional
2. I am somewhat shy

Two things you hate
1. Disrespectful people
2. Being told what to do

Two physical things that appeal to you
1. Eyes
2. Breasts

Two of your favorite hobbies
1. Reading
2. Writing

Two things you want really bad
1. Her
2. To earn a postgrad degree, and begin working in a career I love

Two places you want to go on a vacation
1. South Africa
2. Senegal

Two things you want to do before you die
1. To have been in a fulfilling relationship
2. To have known that I changed someone's life for the better

Two ways that you are stereotypically a chick/guy
1. I have a big feet
2. I like to watch sports LoL (women's basketball, volleyball, and track)

Two things you wouldn't normally admit
1. I eat a lot of chicken salad
2. I don't want children

Two people I would like to see take this quiz
1. Don't know
2. Don't care

Wise Words

Currently Listening
A Donny Hathaway Collection
By Donny Hathaway
Someday We'll All Be Free

Sunday- "The only thing to do with good advice is pass it on. It is never any use to oneself."- Oscar Wilde

Monday-"Freedom lies in being bold."-Robert Frost

Tuesday- "Let us not look back in anger or forward in fear, but around in awareness."- James Thurber

Wednesday-"Don't compromise yourself. You are all you've got." -Janis Joplin

Thursday-"The main thing in one's own private world is to try to laugh as much as you cry. "-Maya Angelou

Friday-"Our feelings are our most genuine paths to knowledge. "-Audre Lorde

Saturday-"Whoever said anybody has a right to give up?"-Marian Wright Edelman

This Day

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Currently ListeningThe Love Experience
By Raheem DeVaughnBelieve

Okay so today has been a very interesting day.

I didn't go to bed until 2am this morning because my apartment was bombarded with refugees excuse me evacuees from the dorms next door. It seems some bright future military man decided to hang his uniform from a sprinkler thus setting off sprinklers and flooding a series of apartments. This meant that the school effectively evicted students from their apartments overnight, and our couch and living room floor became bedrooms. After all the commotion I turned it in.

Then I woke up at 7:30 for my 8am and 9:25 classes. I grabbed a pop tart and headed to the 8am, thank God my adviser is a great teacher, and an insightful and entertaining person, or else my motivation would be shot by 9:15 every Tuesday and Thursday.

After my 8am and 9:25 it was back to the room to shower, change, skim reading for the 1:40 class, and then it was work off campus. That is where I was forced to stand outside for close to a hour in temperatures somewhere around 30 degrees, and trust me it felt like I was going to freeze. I don't get why kids want to play in bitter temperatures, but it's my job to make sure they don't hurt themselves or each other, yay me!

I grabbed a ham sandwich, ate some BBQ chips, and drunk some pineapple soda. (No I'm not being funny) And now I'm at my on campus gig at the radio station.

Today about five days before the end of classes is when it seems I have realized that I probably overextended myself just a bit this semester. Umm that may in part be due to the fact that my 9:25 teacher was giving out status reports as it regards to grades and all he felt fit to say to me was, "You may want to consider doing something else (the optional final exam/paper) because I know you do better than that. I know you understand all this stuff." Umm Theatre History isn't as simple as it seems, and neither is our teacher. Ah he just reminded me that I have four other teachers who I have to attempt to please before next week. Ummm yea it's finals time. The only good thing about finals is winter break, which means the halfway mark for sophomore year. Ummm yea I'm bout to be on my grind for like two weeks, and then I'm breaking. After the 22nd I will be incognegro until after the new year. Ummm yea dats how it is.

Aiight time to play DJ and voicetrack here at the station.

To who all who have finals, papers, and projects best wishes go head and beast em. You're in my thoughts and prayers too!
-CNEL

P.S.
Raheem DeVaughn's "Believe" is the song of the week. Check out these lyrics it's like whoa:

Artist: Raheem DeVaughn
Album: The Love Experience
Year: 2005

Title: Believe

With affection like a dreamer
with patience and understanding like a teacher with a student,
vice versa promise not to hurt you,
not to leave not to lie, not to cheat,
not to fuss not to stress, like the rest in your past

Believe me I ain't like most men
I ain't like them others
you then dealt with in the past
just have some faith
that is all I ask, believe in me
(repeat)

why go searching, else where lurking
when you been hurtin for the real thing
since I'm here before your eyes
lets make love to survive

I be something like the rebirth
of love with a twist
it started with a simple kiss
what could be more precious
then the rebirth of love

Chorus (repeat)
Believe in me
Believe in me, just try...try
believe in me Chorus (repeat)

I got another way I want to tell you

lately I have been thinking
about this crazy world,
being one step away from war
So tonight baby, I want to make love to you
Like this world is coming to an end
and if we should die tonight, In the next life
I'm gonna love you the same
Ain't nothin gonna change

MeStripping 

Me in High School 

WISE WORDS FOR THIS WEEK

Sunday- I believe in prayer. It's the best way we have to draw strength from heaven. --Josephine Baker,Entertainer

Monday-I imagine that one of the reasons that people cling to their hates so stubbornly is becaue they sense, once hate is gone, that they will be forced to deal with the pain.
--James Baldwin, Author

Tuesday-Art hurts. Art urges voyages--and it is easier to stay at home. --Gwendolyn Brooks, Poet

Wednesday-No individual has any right to come into the world and go out of it without leaving behind --George Washington Carver, Scientist

Thursday-Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young. --Henry Ford,Businessman

Friday-Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose. --Bill Gates, Billionaire

Saturday- A fashion is nothing but an induced epidemic.
--George Bernard Shaw, Writer

Cleaning Off My Desk

Mood: Contemplative
Music: Hezekiah Walker : Calling My Name

I hate this, I hate writing down stuff and forgetting to attribute it to the source. I was doing my weekly thing of cleaning in, on, and around my desk and came across the following which was written on a stickey note.

Who are you?

What do you want to accomplish?

Where do you want to accomplish it?

When are you going to accomplish it?

Why do you want to accomplish it?

Those are all questions I probably ask myself once every day. LoL. Though I'm pretty sure I know how my life is meant to be spent, it never hurts to seek further clarification. But those are all important questions, because once we know the answers to those questions we can really begin to be true to ourselves, and live our lives with purpose, and intent, because as Oprah once said, "Intent is everything, it rules the world."

And written next to those questions was this: "We can stand and applaud those who came before us, but we must also realize that we too are soldiers, and our weapon is our gift."

I hope I'll be this deep one day, and that I will have a captive audience that will listen. Watch out Brian Williams, and Oprah Winfrey cause Christopher's coming.

-CNEL

Favorite Sayings from My Facebook and Other Profiles

"The fact that we are here and living and breathing and walking and talking and able to speak with some kind of intelligence means that we have already survived the trips and the traps and the tragedies of our times.Surviving is what we do."
-Bishop Vashti McKenzie

"If you don't define yourself for yourself you'll be shaped into other people's fantasies of you and eaten alive."
- Audre Lourde ala "The Best Man"

"A person can be imperfect and still do great things."
-Dr. Freeman Hrabowski, President of the University of Maryland Baltimore County

"A basic prerequistie for appreciating diversity is appreciating one's self." -Dr. Walter E. Massey, President of Morehouse College

"Know that with rejection comes acceptance."
-Halle Berry

"I'm like the government, I tell you what you want to hear."
-Gary Williams

"I don't need any drama in my life, I like my drama in books and on TV."
- (My Mother: She's off the hook I know)

"My life is more than an open book, it's masterpiece theatre with bits of drama and comedy."
-Me

"We have an open and honest cousinship." -Christina (my cousin and namesake)

"I'm sorry does it look like I give a F**K? My bad. Wrong Look. Gimme a minute. (Pause) Right Look. Now Leave."
-Me

"To put it simply I am unimpressed and uninspired, try again!"
-Me

"When you start to embrace your crazy, then people will stop talking about you behind your back"
-T-Win

"They city-class negroes."
-Kendrick
Okay it's bad but it was really funny the way he said it and when he said it.

"The more humble you are, the more the blessings flow."
-Ciara Harris aka Ciara, R & B Artist

Some Wisdom taken from the Page of the Future Dr. Gywnn
"P=MD"--Passing=M.D.
Because...
"What do you call the person who graduates lowest in med school? A Doctor"
--E3

That look was coldblooded.
-Ryan B.

I don't run my love like you run your love.
-Ryan B.

You'll try. (Pause) That's a no in my book.
-David L.

"Do You."

"You really do have stalker potential."
-Me

"I'm a journalist I have sources and resources."
-Me

"Being a journalist is not an excuse for being nosey."
-Unknown

"It's not being nosey, it's getting access to information."
-Me

"How do you know? Did you google her?"- Friend #1
"No, I facebooked her."-Friend #2

Not Just Another Day

For those of you who do not know today December 1, 2005 is World AIDS Day. Each December 1 groups all across the world work to increase the knowledge of the impact of HIV and AIDS on various communities. It is a day not to judge people based on who they are or what decisions they have made, but instead it is a day devoted to showing each of us that we can play a role in eradicating such a deadly disease which affects tons of people, innocent people, people who are just like us.
For more information go to the links below:
http://www.worldaidsday.org/default.asp

http://gbgm-umc.org/health/worldaidsday

http://thebody.com/

Also This......

Fifty years ago Rosa Parks took a stand which changed the way we all stand today. It was fifty years ago today that the late civil rights pioneer was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a public bus to a white man, as was expected due to the enforcement of Jim Crow laws at that time. That move sparked a 386 day boycott of buses in Montgomery, Alabama. Mrs. Parks case went to the Supreme Court, and justices would later rule that segregation on public transportation was illegal. Ms. Parks did not live to see this day but many are honoring her once again because of her courageous act which redefined a nation.
More information below:
http://www.wsfa.com/Global/category.asp?C=73588

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/01/AR2005120100601.html

http://montgomery.troy.edu/museum/

http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/par0bio-1

Remember this:
If you don't define yourself for yourself you'll be shaped into other people's fantasies of you and eaten alive. - Audre Lourde, Poet

A person can be imperfect and still do great things. -Dr. Freeman Hrabowski, President University of Maryland Baltimore County

Know that with rejection comes acceptance. -Halle Berry, Academy Award Winning Actress

A basic prerequisite for appreciating diversity is appreciating one's self. - Walter Massey, President of Morehouse College

Education is the birthright of every man. Afterwards, in payment he has the duty to contribute to the education of others. Jose Marti

Enjoy your day.
-Christopher aka CNEL