Recently I have learned the following truths; some discouraging, some enlightening, some encouraging:
A man's (or woman's) ways are right (and justifiable) in his (or her) own eyes - it doesn't make it good or just, but it might be legal.
Not everyone in church on Sunday is there for God's glory, in fact, most are there for their own.
Not everyone who cries Lord, Lord will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, any questions see previous comment.
The people you love can lie to your face and then disrespect you and call you an idiot for believing them, but no matter what, love believes all things and never fails to be given. That's why lies hurt.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man (or woman) because He is love, therefore He never fails to give of himself for our benefit and hope. People can't be implicitly trusted.
Even when the whole world hates you, and sometimes it will, God never leaves your side - no matter what the outcome happens to be.
All stones can spout flowers and fruit trees under the right conditions, even the ones around our hearts.
When ever your heart hurts really, really bad, two things are certain: 1) God feels it too; 2) God is still keeping more hurt away from you.
I knew all these words for the longest time, and knew what they meant. I could teach on them. But now I have understanding.
"Knowledge is a mighty thing to have in the hand, but I would trade it all if I could only understand." -- Author Unknown
Lots to think about today.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Interesting World This...
So, I am very new to blogging. I did it once before on MySpace, but I have been informed that reestablishing a blog on that site is not as respectable these days. On the other hand, this blogger world is pretty interesting. It is not the stories so much, or the random comedy, or the waste of space pages where people write poorly researched opinions. No, the unique and most interesting facet of this world is how I see people connecting and disconnecting in the real world.
Take for example the story of random cross country acquaintances coming together both physically and virtually all to cheer up friend whom many have never met. People coming together to meet and greet and share common interests and fellowship. I love it.
Now let's take a look on the other hand. First, here's a little mood music.
How many times have walked down the street, sat in a pub, or fast food restaurant - been anywhere for that matter - and seen someone passionately pecking away at a blackberry, updating facebook or twitter or blog posts while they are in the presence of real physical company? I know that I have witnessed on more than one occasion the hapless crackberry addict deny his or her companions the benefit, privilege, and courtesy of their full attention.
It is with this in mind that I offer the follow suggested rules PDA Etiquette. Suggestions are welcome, but these are just my opinions:
At the Movies:
1) If your virtual friends are really following your tweets and messages, then they should know that you are in the theater. So send your updates about the coolness of the movie when IT'S OVER!
2) Your screen is bright and distracting. Just because you have turned off your ringer doesn't mean that you aren't disturbing the rest of the movie patrons. Show a little respect. And if you have to ask why, then refer to point #1.
3) Don't piss and PDA. If what you have to say is so important that it can't wait until you've finished in the bathroom after the movie is over, then stay outside let someone else have the stall ladies. Gentlemen, come on... You should know better. Keep your mind on your mop.
At Work:
1) Seriously...need I say more? At work...you are at work, so WORK!
On a Date:
1) Now if you've gone it alone and the date starts to go poorly, send a text to your friend to bail you out. Don't post a tweet about how bad it's going. It shows poor judgment on your part both in choosing a date, and not having a real back-out plan before you started.
2) If your date ends up describing you to his friends as having, "the most beautifully chiseled black, shiny, square face," then you are not only holding your phone too high, but your are holding it too much. Put it down and look the guy in the face to make sure he's worth friending. Guys...if she's breathing and hasn't left yet, count your blessings.
Social Events:
1) Ladies, you are the masters of multitasking. We humbly bow to you and acknowledge your greatness, but do you really need to tweet, text, blog, and facebook from the dance floor or dinner table? For that matter, how do you do it with a drink in one hand and your little purse in the other? Some of your phones don't even fit in those little purses. Where are you keeping that ph...nevermind.
2) Gentlemen...I will say this once. YOU ARE NOT ASHTON KUTCHER! No one really wants to know what you are doing right this second. It's probably not that interesting. If it is you should be enjoying it!
Well, that is a concise list of the PDA abuses that bug me most. What are yours?
Again, I think it's great how people come together. But turn it off sometimes. Unplug! detoxify your senses so that you can practice connecting face-to-face in the real world without the acronyms and abbreviations. FTW!
Take for example the story of random cross country acquaintances coming together both physically and virtually all to cheer up friend whom many have never met. People coming together to meet and greet and share common interests and fellowship. I love it.
Now let's take a look on the other hand. First, here's a little mood music.
How many times have walked down the street, sat in a pub, or fast food restaurant - been anywhere for that matter - and seen someone passionately pecking away at a blackberry, updating facebook or twitter or blog posts while they are in the presence of real physical company? I know that I have witnessed on more than one occasion the hapless crackberry addict deny his or her companions the benefit, privilege, and courtesy of their full attention.
It is with this in mind that I offer the follow suggested rules PDA Etiquette. Suggestions are welcome, but these are just my opinions:
At the Movies:
1) If your virtual friends are really following your tweets and messages, then they should know that you are in the theater. So send your updates about the coolness of the movie when IT'S OVER!
2) Your screen is bright and distracting. Just because you have turned off your ringer doesn't mean that you aren't disturbing the rest of the movie patrons. Show a little respect. And if you have to ask why, then refer to point #1.
3) Don't piss and PDA. If what you have to say is so important that it can't wait until you've finished in the bathroom after the movie is over, then stay outside let someone else have the stall ladies. Gentlemen, come on... You should know better. Keep your mind on your mop.
At Work:
1) Seriously...need I say more? At work...you are at work, so WORK!
On a Date:
1) Now if you've gone it alone and the date starts to go poorly, send a text to your friend to bail you out. Don't post a tweet about how bad it's going. It shows poor judgment on your part both in choosing a date, and not having a real back-out plan before you started.
2) If your date ends up describing you to his friends as having, "the most beautifully chiseled black, shiny, square face," then you are not only holding your phone too high, but your are holding it too much. Put it down and look the guy in the face to make sure he's worth friending. Guys...if she's breathing and hasn't left yet, count your blessings.
Social Events:
1) Ladies, you are the masters of multitasking. We humbly bow to you and acknowledge your greatness, but do you really need to tweet, text, blog, and facebook from the dance floor or dinner table? For that matter, how do you do it with a drink in one hand and your little purse in the other? Some of your phones don't even fit in those little purses. Where are you keeping that ph...nevermind.
2) Gentlemen...I will say this once. YOU ARE NOT ASHTON KUTCHER! No one really wants to know what you are doing right this second. It's probably not that interesting. If it is you should be enjoying it!
Well, that is a concise list of the PDA abuses that bug me most. What are yours?
Again, I think it's great how people come together. But turn it off sometimes. Unplug! detoxify your senses so that you can practice connecting face-to-face in the real world without the acronyms and abbreviations. FTW!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Mixed/Other
A game for those who seek to find...wait...that's probably copyrighted material and not the best way to start off a blogging relationship with you. So instead, allow myself to introduce...mys...sigh.
If you haven't realized it by now, I love movies, films, cinema (whatever you like to call it) and basically I am in love with entertaining. There is no greater joy than bringing great joy to others through laughter or drama. But while these things - and others yet to be revealed - indicate a margin my delightfully twisted character, let's talk about se...um...why this blog is called Mixed/Other.
To answer this question I must tell you that I am Mixed/Other. I am he and he is me...or it is I? or...nevermind. M/O is my identity and my preferred race/ethnicity.
As a latch-key, mixed race youth brought up by interracial, mixed race parents and step parents, I found that I lacked the basic cultural proclivities that would allow me to blend seamlessly into one social construct or another. I speak no Spanish. I have light skin. I choose eloquence over Ebonics. I have dark curly hair. And not to put too fine a point to it, I am also a bit of a square - you know, a prudent, straight arrow who believes in goodness and accountability etc. etc. So I could never really hang with the bad boys. I never really fit in with the black people who felt I "talked too white." The white groups were always rather tentative to have me around, and the Latinos and I just couldn't relate. What's a lonely American high school student to do? Sing!
That's right - singing, performing, playing instruments, acting, debating. Taking part in activities where black and white related only to the colors of ink on the pages of music or script. It was through this prism of creativity that monochrome notes and words on the page scattered into colors of hope, love, peace, perseverance and joy, attracting each of his own color into and through the prism into a world of unity and fellowship. A world made just for all of us.
I digress.
As I grew and learned from my family, I began to understand that there was more to living in this country than being an easily categorized statistic. There was the art of being an American. There was the understanding that no matter what happened, no matter where I went, no matter what anyone else could ever try to persuade me to believe, I am an American, and I love my country and it's history for better or for worse. This is the land that my fathers, grandfathers, and great grandfathers fought and bled for, and none of them shared a common ancestry besides respect and pride for one another and his country.
This is the land that gave them a home. It was muddy hills in western South Carolina. The rivers of Richmond, Virginia. The hard winters of the Great Lakes. The tough streets of Brooklyn. The Cherokee lands of Georgia. The touch of this country on every root and branch of my family tree that is unlike that of ANY other country I know.
It's for that reason that I have always placed my allegiance and pride in the United States of America. Regardless of pitfalls and prejudices, we are unlike anything the world has ever seen.
So it has always been with a sense of pride - and comedy at the frustration my response will cause - that I mark everything from census and medical forms to employment applications and voter registration cards with a bold circle or check mark next to Mixed or Other. For to me, there is but one category that truly defines and encompasses me and various branches of my immediate family tree, and that is American.
Well, I am sure that by now I have splintered the soap box beneath the girth of my garrulity. So let me close by saying this: Welcome and God Bless!
You know something about me now, so let's hear from you. I can't wait to see what we learn from one another, and I'm especially eager to hear from more of you who mark off Mixed or Other.
If you haven't realized it by now, I love movies, films, cinema (whatever you like to call it) and basically I am in love with entertaining. There is no greater joy than bringing great joy to others through laughter or drama. But while these things - and others yet to be revealed - indicate a margin my delightfully twisted character, let's talk about se...um...why this blog is called Mixed/Other.
To answer this question I must tell you that I am Mixed/Other. I am he and he is me...or it is I? or...nevermind. M/O is my identity and my preferred race/ethnicity.
As a latch-key, mixed race youth brought up by interracial, mixed race parents and step parents, I found that I lacked the basic cultural proclivities that would allow me to blend seamlessly into one social construct or another. I speak no Spanish. I have light skin. I choose eloquence over Ebonics. I have dark curly hair. And not to put too fine a point to it, I am also a bit of a square - you know, a prudent, straight arrow who believes in goodness and accountability etc. etc. So I could never really hang with the bad boys. I never really fit in with the black people who felt I "talked too white." The white groups were always rather tentative to have me around, and the Latinos and I just couldn't relate. What's a lonely American high school student to do? Sing!
That's right - singing, performing, playing instruments, acting, debating. Taking part in activities where black and white related only to the colors of ink on the pages of music or script. It was through this prism of creativity that monochrome notes and words on the page scattered into colors of hope, love, peace, perseverance and joy, attracting each of his own color into and through the prism into a world of unity and fellowship. A world made just for all of us.
I digress.
As I grew and learned from my family, I began to understand that there was more to living in this country than being an easily categorized statistic. There was the art of being an American. There was the understanding that no matter what happened, no matter where I went, no matter what anyone else could ever try to persuade me to believe, I am an American, and I love my country and it's history for better or for worse. This is the land that my fathers, grandfathers, and great grandfathers fought and bled for, and none of them shared a common ancestry besides respect and pride for one another and his country.
This is the land that gave them a home. It was muddy hills in western South Carolina. The rivers of Richmond, Virginia. The hard winters of the Great Lakes. The tough streets of Brooklyn. The Cherokee lands of Georgia. The touch of this country on every root and branch of my family tree that is unlike that of ANY other country I know.
It's for that reason that I have always placed my allegiance and pride in the United States of America. Regardless of pitfalls and prejudices, we are unlike anything the world has ever seen.
So it has always been with a sense of pride - and comedy at the frustration my response will cause - that I mark everything from census and medical forms to employment applications and voter registration cards with a bold circle or check mark next to Mixed or Other. For to me, there is but one category that truly defines and encompasses me and various branches of my immediate family tree, and that is American.
Well, I am sure that by now I have splintered the soap box beneath the girth of my garrulity. So let me close by saying this: Welcome and God Bless!
You know something about me now, so let's hear from you. I can't wait to see what we learn from one another, and I'm especially eager to hear from more of you who mark off Mixed or Other.
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