Where Do People Get Off?

So the other day while in St. Louis which has now been ranked the most dangerous city in America, I saw a guy wearing black face and an Afro for his Halloween costume. Thank God members of the group I was with saw fit to say he was "tacky" even though I wasn't unafraid to say the R word. There are days when I'm like hmmmmm most people see fit to judge me based on character and not by race. But then I read stories like this one.

Pure craziness.

Back from STL

So I'm back from STL.

It was an interesting week.

I got there on Monday afternoon, and got back to Baltimore this afternoon.

I went to attend the annual College Media Convention and to complete a training project for NPR. As part of the project I had to create a story idea, research the story, complete interviews, then prepare the edit and layup before it could be mixed by an engineer. I had the help of a mentor whose a producer for NPR in Washington.

My story was about how WashU in St. Louis gave its students all access passes for the city's Metro (mass transit system) so that they could access community service activities all across the city of St. Louis.

Completing the project gave me much to meditate on:
Grad school or no grad school?
TV or radio?

It was a great couple of days. I got to see one of my best friends albeit for a brief time. I also got to see the famous St. Louis Arch.

Here what I know for sure:
Eating out six nights in a week is a little too much for me, but in the spirit of Jameil I'll rank the eats.
Hannegan's
Charlie Gitto
Pho Grand
Roper's Ribs
Hannegan's
Kitchen K

Toasted ravioli was delish at Hannegan's
Charlie Gitto's lasagna was on point
Lettuce wraps and curried chicken were very good at Pho Grand's

Smoking cancer sticks (cigarettes/menthols) and drinking coffee (Starbucks) or from other places are such stereotypical facets of journalism, but the young guns seem to believe in it. Boo that.

Cinnabon's are excellent, it'd been like four years, no joke.

I probably should invest in a laptop.

Oh yeah and I love visiting places on other people's dime, so liberating. Ha.

But yeah, back to the reality of life at LoCo.

The countdown to Seattle is in full effect.

My Friend Loryn and I at her loft in St. Louis 

Me w/ My Best Friend from High School Kendrick at WashU 

View of the St. Louis Arch from my hotel room 

Words of the Week

Sunday- "As I give, I get." -Mary McLeod Bethune

Monday- "You don't have to teach people how to be human. You have to teach them how to stop being inhuman." -Eldrige Cleaver

Tuesday- "Truth knows no color; it appeals to intelligence." -James Cone

Wednesday- "The past is a ghost, the future a dream, and all we ever have is now." -Bill Cosby

Thursday- "Every people should be originators of their own destiny." - Martin Delany

Friday- "Don't feel entitled to anything you didn't sweat and struggle for." -Marian Wright Edelman

Saturday- "When I discover who I am, I'll be free." - Ralph Ellison

In the STL

I'm in St. Louis, Day 2 of the trip and it has been
interesting.

I did get to see part of Washington University in St.
Louis, where one of my two best friends is a student.
Another one of my close friends also attends WashU.
It's a nice campus, kind of makes me feel like maybe I
should have applied there. HaHa too late in my life to
be thinking about yesteryear!

So I'm here working on a story about MetroServe which
is the community servce initative that WashU has
started because the Metrolink(light rail) has been
expanded.

I hope to see parts of the city.

My schedule is not my own, my life is not my own. I
guess it's the price we pay to build our resumes.

Smile.

To see a pic of yours truly:
http://www.npr.org/about/nextgen/college_media/index.html

Oh and this is a sad but random note: a go go song,
and an old go go song at that is my song of the week.

UCB's Sexy Lady which can be heard at the site below:

http://www.myspace.com/301gogo

Italian dinner tonight, Ciao ciao. LoL

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com

Up, Up, and Away

Up, up, and away, I am gone til Sunday.

I'll be in St. Louis.

I'm going from Saint Ignatius of Loyola to Saints of a different kind the Cards and Nelly's crew.

Pray I don't become a lunatic, I will be working in the home city of the world famous St. Lunatics.

Words of the Week

Sunday- "Life is short, and its up to you to make it sweet." -Sadie Delaney

Monday- "The workings of the human heart are the profoundest mystery of the universe." -Charles W. Chestnutt

Tuesday- "There will always be men struggling to change, and there will always be those who are controlled by the past." -Ernest J. Gaines

Wednesday- "I can accept failure. Everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying." -Michael Jordan

Thursday- "Defining myself, as opposed to being defined by others, is one of the most difficult challenges I face." -Carol Moseley Braun

Friday- "Freedom is never given; it is won." - A. Philip Randolph

Saturday- " I still have my feet on the ground, I just wear better shoes." -Oprah Winfrey

I Love...

So, D Sands posted on Ten95 a bit about his love affair with books. It's a common thread which I think binds many of us budding intellectuals, we love books! I didn't have to go far to see evidence of this in my own life.

These are books I've cracked open that I should probably finish:
Black Journalists: The NABJ Story by Wayne Dawkins
A history of the NABJ.
Eats, Shoots, and Leaves by Lynne Truss
A guide to punctuation.
The Covenant with Black America by Tavis Smiley
Highlighting some of the problems in the Black community.

These are books I own, in my dorm room, that only the Lord knows when I'll begin them:
About A Boy by Nick Hornby
A 36 year old man acts like a boy, and meets a boy that could make him discover manhood.
An Italian Education by Tim Parks
A non-native Italian writes about life there.
An Ordinary Man by Paul Rusesabagina
A memoir of a survivor of Rwanda's genocide.
Dead Man Walking by Helen Prejean
A nun reflects on how she sees the death penalty up close and personal.
Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza
A Rwandan woman tells of her survival of the genocide.
Member of the Club by Lawrence Otis Graham
A corporate lawyer goes undercover as a bus boy at an exclusive country club.
Our Kind of People by Lawrence Otis Graham
A book about the black upper class.
Seeing A Color Blind Future by Patricia Williams
A book about race, and how it matters.
Taking Liberties by Aryeh Neier
A memoir about a civil liberties activist.
The Body of Jonah Byrd by David Leavitt
The story of a well-known novelist, his friends, and his crazy ways.
The Death of Innocents by Helen Prejean
Once again the nun tackles the death penalty, and the injustices of the system.
The Italians by Luigi Barzini
A guidebook to Italia.
The Rooster's Egg by Patricia Williams
A work about social justice and social law.
Yeah, I Said It by Wanda Sykes
A book of humor from the comedieene.

From the Mouth a Babe

There are days when I'm having a bad day, and I'm given reason to pause.

Convo
Me:
J, you're so smart you know you're parents first and last names, and how old they are.

J:
Wisdom, I tell you, wisdom.

J continued to tell me about his relationship with his parents and how at one point he was homeschooled.

"My father teaches me wisdom."

He spoke to me about what he'd learned from his dad, Ghandi who "fought for India", and about Martin Luther King who fought for "civil rights here."

Then he said:
"The secret to the world's greatest truth is to see everyone in you, and you in everyone else."

Going to See a Man About a Dog

I hate being asked by anyone where I'm going.

I hate being asked by anyone what I'm doing.

I hate being asked to explain, why I do things.

That doesn't translate to the most friendly facial expressions for the roomie sometimes, nor does it translate into pleasant conversations for some others.

I don't know it's just the way I am.

Sometimes I want to scream you're not coming, you can't do what I do, and I'm doing me and flying free!

I remember when I used to pepper my grandparents with questions.

Me:
"Grandma, where you going?"

My Grandmother:
"I'm going to see a man about a dog."

Mind you she used this for years, and we never once saw a dog.

Me:
"Granddad can I go with you? Can I go for a ride?"

My Grandfather:
"I'm not coming right back."

So now I rarely ask questions. I guess I saw how annoying that could be.

The last two days after work I've walked back to school from campus though I could have possibly gotten a ride from a co-worker or taken the school's shuttle back to campus. Instead I made the 10 minute walk back to campus. Yesterday it was just dumb cause it was chilly. I used the time to talk to one of my bestfriends for a few minutes, and then to just clear my mind. Today it was a little muddy, but I used the time to talk to my mother. There was something freeing about walking, stretching my legs, allowing my legs to carry me where they may.

Weekly Words

Sunday- love is patient, love is kind. it does not envy,it does not boast,it is not proud. it is not rude,it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered,it keeps no record of wrongs. love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. it always protects,always trusts,always hopes,always perseveres. love never fails.-1 corinthians 13:4-8 -THE BIBLE

Monday- "Love is not blind, it sees more not less but because it sees more its willing to see less"-Unknown

Tuesday- If you don't define yourself for yourself, you'll be crunched into other people's fantasies of you and eaten alive-- Audre Lorde (ala "The Best Man")


Wednesday-"My new philosophy 'focus on faith, have faith that you can focus, and have faith in family and friends' "- Christopher E. Nelson

Thursday- "You have to go deep sometimes, because beyond the surface is where the truth oftentimes lies."- Christopher E. Nelson

Friday- "Worrying doesn't empty tomorrow of it's troubles, it empties today of it's beauty."-Unknown

Saturday- "Fear is a disease that eats away at logic and makes man inhuman."
Marian Anderson

See Ya Round Downtown

Friday was "Fall Break", this random day off in the middle of the semester.

I had a meeting at my old high school. It was fun seeing some of the kids, but they make me feel like a geezer. I hear my name and I wonder, do I know you? Sometimes I do, and sometimes I don't. When I don't, I smile and say hi. It just seems like the polite thing to do.

After I left there, I went to Best Buy to get my "Grey's Anatomy" replacement and the first disc of the first season still refuses to work on my DVD player. I'm a little heated about this.

Saturday was "I Don't Care Day" which meant that I just didn't care. I didn't stress about anything. I went downtown to pick up a gift from one of my bestfriends who turns 18 next week. D-Lovely as I call her is someone I consider a "sister."

For me I purchased myself a winter coat, which has been pictured.

I had a late lunch with my little cousin (little as in 11 months younger and treated like my little sister) and her boyfriend.

Then I went to visit my two little cousins.

Finally, I came back to school to chill and clean my room.

But since I'm beat that'll probably happen in the A.M.

Oh:
I need to take a camera with me at all times, I see the craziest things.

Friday: Cabs with spinners on them.

Saturday: A bus driver who pulls over at a Rite Aid, exits the bus, and goes to the door to hail someone who is buying her something to drink.

and

Baltimore Dress

My coat is a 4X and that was the smallest they had.

The t-shirts were as big.

BTW this was post 300, damn I talk a lot!

My "Drug Dealer Coat" and The Wire DVD in my dorm room 

The Makings of ...

You know how you get a new c.d. and you're stuck on one or two songs?

Well I got Monica's "The Makings of Me" because I am a huge Monica fan, about to buy albums 1-3 cause I lost 2 and 3 and never had 1.

Anywho I like "The Makings of Me" but friends of mine did point out that none of them are like the Monica from 12 years ago that we grew to love because of "Just One of Them Days" or "Don't Take it Personal" or "Why I Love You So Much." I guess it's because the teenage Monica is now the grownup mother, and fiancee Monica. Since she's evolved I guess her style does too.

Below one of the tracks I'm feeling right now.

Google it for a Mp3 download from somewhere LoL.


Monica
Getaway Lyrics
(verse 1)
started as a little girl
singing soul changed my world
flipped my world upside down
i got lost and i couldn't be found
so much on my shoulders
and so much on my mind
seems no one can help me
i think i just need some time

(Chorus)
sometimes i wish i could have a way
looking for a place to getaway
get away from all the heartache and pain
that life can bring
i really dont wanna sound
like i cant hold my ground
but everybody need some time
that they can getaway...

(verse 2)
sometimes i wish i was invisible
cause then no one would know where i am
to ask me for anything
cause ive given so much of me
when is it time for me to receive
cause Monica has her needs
who's gonna look out for me

(Chorus)
sometimes i wish i could have a way
looking for a place to getaway
get away from all the heartache and pain
that life can bring
i really dont wanna sound
like i cant hold my ground
but everybody need some time
that they can getaway...

(verse 3)
you know im not superwoman
and im not made of steal
i try my best to handle
all i have to do is
not as easy as it seems
and to think this was my dream
now for everything i have im greatfull
but sometimes i wanna getaway

(Chorus)
sometimes i wish i could have a way
looking for a place to getaway
get away from all the heartache and pain
that life can bring
i really dont wanna sound
like i cant hold my ground
but everybody need some time
that they can getaway...

(Chorus)
sometimes i wish i could have a way
looking for a place to getaway
get away from all the heartache and pain
that life can bring
i really dont wanna sound
like i cant hold my ground
but everybody need some time
that they can getaway...

Words of the Week

Sunday-Memories matter, they are who we are. -Bob Dotson

Monday-Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.-Albert Einstein

Tuesday-Reality is the leading cause of stress amongst those in touch with it. -Lily Tomlin

Wednesday-Examine what is said, not him who speaks. -Arab Proverb

Thursday-Ask advice only of your equals. -Danish Proverb

Friday-Wait until it is night before saying that it has been a fine day.-French Proverb

Saturday-Fall seven times, stand up eight. -Japanese Proverb

Just When It Seemed

Just when it seemed I was ready to walk away...

Just when it seemed I was ready to make a hard decision.

I had finally convinced myself that someone had to be told "NO".

I'm giving way too much, exerting way too much effort, giving it all, and for what?

So on Sunday I was all but certain that I'd bid the station adieu in December, and come January I'd focus my attention on a new challenge the LSAT.

Then I got word I got accepted into a program which would give me even more training in radio.

And so now I'm unsure if I can make the leap of faith.

A bit earlier I watched part of the "NBC Nightly News". I had the opportunity to hear an interview conducted by Ann Curry who spoke with, an Amish midwife, Rita Rose a woman who'd delivered a few of the young girls killed yesterday had to say about the tragedy. At the end of her comments she said, "There's two things that happen with your faith, either you let it go and you get bitter, or you grow stronger."

I couldn't agree more.

Sometimes you've just got to turn it over.

And so I say

"Que sera, sera"

"What will be, will be."

Simplicity

Does anyone remember those days when making a decision came down to "the list"?

Remember those days when someone your mama or someone else's mama was going to tell you to make a list of the pros and cons.

NOTE: That is actually how I decided which college to go to, LoL, you tell me whether or not that was wise. LMAO!

At the end of the day all you had to do was go through the list of possibilties.

If the list of pros was more favorable, they said, you'd better go with that one, before your mind had time to change itself.

Why can't life be as simple as it used to be? Why can't it be simple like the days when you could sit on the front stoop and just "be", go to a cornerstore and buy penny candy, play an innocent game of hide and seek which someone would undoubtedly turn into hide and freak, have a lovely afternoon and get something done before the streetlights came on?

What happened to simplicty?

Does it exist anymore?

Words of the Week

Sunday-To have respect for ourselves guides our morals; and to have a deference for others governs our manners.
-Lawrence Sterne

Monday-The body is an instrument, the mind its function, the witness and reward of its operation.
-George Santyana

Tuesday-In the field of observation, chance favors only the prepared mind.
-Louis Pasteur

Wednesday-Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.
-Albert Einstein

Thursday-Competence, like truth, beauty and contact lenses, is in the eye of the beholder.
-Laurence J. Peter

Friday-Self-conceit may lead to self-destruction.
-Aesop

Saturday-Life-transforming ideas have always come to me through books.
-Bell Hooks