Whoosah…..

Whew….these last two weeks have been a BLUR.  I’ve been so busy that I haven’t even had the time to talk with you.  Okay, first I guess I have to somewhat post a retraction…but really not a retraction more like I need to clarify my stance about the last post I left….hahahaha.  I took a tad bit of backlash for Chronicles of a Booty Bandit.  People, I do not go around at church staring at women tails.  I am not a pervert…hahahahaha….yes, someone called me a perv, but I know that they were somewhat joking.  Now that we have that out of the way…what has Dew been up to…

Hmmmm, lets see…first off there are only two days left in the Summer Term, so this weekend I think I need to celebrate.  I don’t know what I’m going to do, but after these last twenty weeks of school, I need to release something.  I don’t do clubs or bars, so this can be slightly complicated.  What do you suggest I do?

Ya’ll know I DO NOT condone drama in any sense.  Dew does not function well in drama, so usually when drama comes my way, I either de-escalate the situation or I just get the hell out of the way.  I love simplicity in its purest form.  I don’t know what that form is, because I haven’t met it yet, but when I find that bliss, I’ll let you know. 

#1 had a birthday party this weekend.  It was cool I guess.  It got kind of emotional because I purchased my wife a necklace before she passed.  She never got a chance to wear it…well she did for a few hours.  Lemme give you a backdrop real quick.  When we first got together, I told her that I don’t do Hallmark Holidays…meaning Valentine’s Day and Sweetest Day.  I mean what is the purpose of both of them anyways.  I feel like if you don’t get a paid day off for it, then it is not a holiday (I know so more backlash is coming).  These are women holidays.  What I did was tell her to pick one.  I compromised.  That was cool the first year our two, but after that we just really didn’t even acknowledge the days….at least as far as going out buying stuff.  We would maybe go out to eat, but no buying all these lavish things.  This past Valentine’s Day she was really sick, so I decided to buy her a small necklace with a pendant on it.  It wasn’t anything extremely expensive or even big (wifey was not a flashy, jewelry type woman).  It fit her demeanor.  Well I decided to give #2 the necklace at her party…so you can imagine how that one went…

We went to Kings Island Sunday, so my body is still re-couping from that.  We had a great time.  #1 is not really a heights type of dude, so that was kind of funny to see him get on some rides…..but #2 is just a beast, she just turned 10 and she got on stuff I really wasn’t feeling…she got on these.. Invertigo , Son of Beast , Drop Zone , I can go on…but you get it.  #1 got on Adventure Express , Congo Falls , Fairly Odd and Viking Fury . So you make the comparison…mind you that #1 will be 12 next week..hahahaha.

I think I might blog twice today…maybe something more profound…hell I dunno.

It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe. - Muhammad Ali

Dew

Chronicles of a Booty Bandit

From the author of “The Zebra Cake Caper” and the award winning “Confessions of a Pizza Thief”, Dew would like to bring you the next installment of Confessional Friday’s….Chronicles of a Booty Bandit.  Okay people, I might get blasted for this one, but everyone has done this before….man…woman, it doesn’t matter….

Let me put out the disclaimer out there first and foremost.  When I go to church, I go for the Word……but every now and then I somehow get sidetracked by booty.  I mean, I can use the excuse that I am a man and this is true…..see let me clarify myself…here me out first….

I go to a fairly nice size church.  Maybe a thousand members, but only 500 or 600 might be there on a given Sunday.  I’m not sure so don’t get me to lying.  Well I sit in the same section every service…..to the far right of the church and somewhere around the middle rows.  Saying that, there are alot of people that sit in front of me.  Okay, this is where it gets a little dicey.  I’m not a traditionalist by far….but I’m not a radical.  I won’t wear jeans or shorts to church…..but I don’t always wear a tie….feel me?  I really of the belief of “come as you are”…..it is just a matter of preference how I dress…..BUT, I do think it should be some sort of standard to what women wear to church.  I haven’t seen women wear something that they would wear going to a club or whatever…the problem I run into, I just think that women should wear things that are….how can I say this tastefully….wear something that is appropriate for their capabilities.  What I mean by that is…if you have a rotund tail….then please wear some looser clothes…..this is a big distraction to Dew sometimes…

My confession, I guess you figured it out.  Sometimes at church, I am guilty of looking at an occasional booty.  I don’t intentionally do it.  I PROMISE to you (not joking)….but if a woman that is sitting DIRECTLY in front of you stands up, you can’t help but to see it….I get so distracted…sometimes I instantly have to go into prayer…”Father, please forgive me….deliver me from these wayward eyes.”

Now if you haven’t looked at a man or woman in church please tell me…..but I am willing to bet you do too….Now it is your turn….I’m listening…

I  hate to see you go, but I LOVE to watch you leave. - Caster Troy (Face-off 1997)

Dew

Iron Shaprens Iron…

Okay people, I really haven’t been blogging like normal because this is the end of the Summer term, which means….FINALS.  I actually only have one legit final which is in Algebra (yuk) and my second final is a connection paper in Eng/Lit.  I have to connect a short story, poem and a play…then present it.  Not a problem.  I love PowerPoint.  Man, I had an Algebra test last week and I had the biggest brain fart ever!  Has that ever happened to you?  I KNEW the material, I had been over it, we reviewed it…and it seemed to be embedded.  I get the test and everything was like…whoosh….a big tidal wave and all that knowledge was gone.  I was so pissed.  I don’t make excuses, but it had really been a stressful week.  It was #2’s first birthday since the passing of my wife (5 months ago) and I had to explain somethings to her.  I had a paper to do and a ton of work at my job….so my brain was zapped.  My doctor told me that my brain is working on overload right now (hahaha).  Maybe it’s not funny, but sometimes I have like a million and two things going through my mind.  It was so bad that I couldn’t even remember my pin number for my ATM the other day.  It took me a day to detox I guess, before I was able to remember it.  I’m at the ATM and I tried so many combinations.  I promise it was upwards of 20 of them.  Finally, I just gave the ____ up (insert your appropriate adjective here).

A couple of weeks ago I was talking to one of my friends…actually it was Brain.  You remember Brain, from the Qwest for World Domination post.  He had an open challenge for me, Bertha  and our blogs.  I know at times it doesn’t seem like I am the most religious person, but I actually am.  I am a God fearing Christian man.  I love worship and fellowship.   I know if it wasn’t for God intervening in my life, Dew would not be here or incarceration would be probably the second flavor of choice.  I’m not about to get into a sermon, but I have dedicated Thursday’s to become Motivational Thursday’s.  If someone has an inspirational story about how God has moved in their lives…maybe you have a scripture….whatever it maybe…Proverbs 27:17 (NIV) states that….as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. 

I really hadn’t plan on blogging today.  I have a ton of work and I need to finish a paper by 6p today, but I was reading Brain’s blog this morning and I had one of those epiphany moments again.  I know Brain will forgive me (also it is a shameless plug for his blog) but I want to kind of piggyback off his his blog. 

My son is also playing football.  It is actually his first year of junior high ball.  He has been off the past two seasons because of my wife’s illness, so he has to get acclimated to everything again.  Well the first few practices he didn’t struggle, but he was just frustrated.  He has a ton of talent, he has no choice because of genetics (hahahaha just kidding), but he was just a step off.  I mean a split second off on everything.  After the first few practices I could see the frustration.  For one, the coach was playing him out of position and for two, he is just rusty.  Okay, this is where I toot my horn a bit….no I’ll get to that in a second.  #1 and I have been spending a ton time together lately.  I even had a friend tell me yesterday, that we actually need some time apart because we were arguing like brothers.  If I don’t go to class, I stay at his practice and just observe.  I’ve coached football for several years and also I was a pretty decent player myself (you hear the horn).  Anywho, at practice Tuesday I seen a few things that I thought that he could improve on.  So after practice we were talking.  I could kind of sense that he really didn’t want to talk with me.  The thing is, he really wants to make a name for himself.  He is my name sake and he loves it….EXCEPT for when we travel in the city.  Just about everywhere we go someone is telling him about his father.  They tell him stories about games I played in…they tell him how good I was….then I have players that I’ve coached that tell him that I was their best coach…dude literally rolls his eyes like he is saying, “enough already!”  I can’t blame him, because it does seem like it is actually all the time. 

I have a nephew that starts varsity for the high school where I live.  He is really a beast…when he applies himself.  One thing I like about him though…after every game or practice that I go to…he is picking my brain.  He asks me all types of questions from technique and performance to the recruiting process.  He told my son the other day that he had an advantage that probably alot of kids on his team doesn’t have.  He has a father that was extremely good and was a good coach.  He told him that, “if Unk was my dad, I would be in his ear everyday.”  Nephew actually changed his football number to my old number…made me feel good.

Alright back on track now.  I gave #1 some advice Tuesday about some of the things I felt he was doing wrong.  I was not over-bearing, we had a good talk.  Wednesday when I picked him up from practice, he didn’t even say hi, all he could say (his face was lit up), “daddy EVERYTHING you told me worked.  It was so much easier and I had so many tackles in the backfield.”  Right at that moment I was just in awe of the power of God.  He used this time for my son and I to bond.  He did it through an athletic forum.  On the way to pickup dinner….he could stop asking me questions on how to do things.  I really feel like my son think it is a good thing to be like his daddy.  He even tried to get my old number, but someone in 8th grade already had it.

God will take the most inopputune time, to help you realize what is important to you.  All that comes to mind now is a song that #2 sings all the time.  It is actually a song that her mother taught to her when she was younger…just a quick line…”God has smiled on me….He has set me free…God has smiled on me…He’s been good to me”…. man that is awesome.  Be blessed.

Love your children - Dew

Dew

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow

Your latest installment of Rewind Wednesday…

Man, it’s been along time since I have blogged…..Just over 5 months to day.  Things have been kind of hectic over my way.  Between my family, job (I got a promotion a few months back), school and other things I just haven’t had the time to devote to write like I used to. 

I was on my way to work this morning and watching people drive.  We have a little snow on the ground, so folks seem like they have lost their minds.  Watching people slip and slide wasn’t funny because I know the potential of an accident….but what it reminded me of is when I was a kid.  I couldn’t wait for it to snow.  There was a park directly behind my house and there was a hill that seemed like it was 30 ft. tall.  You know all things seem bigger when you are a child.  We used to get some make-shift sleds…actually it was only a big piece of cardboard (I grew up in West Dayton, Ohio….the inner city), we used to make a dollar out of fifteen cents people.

I would go up and down this hill hundreds of time each snowfall.  The cold really didn’t matter to us, all that we cared about is having fun.  After daydreaming for a quick second at the stoplight, I came back to reality.  It made me think that why do we as adults sometime make things so complicated.  Sometimes we just need to be a kid.  Sit back and have some fun once and awhile.  Enjoy life and live life to the fullest.

Man, I know that it is kind of weird since I’ve been preaching growing up and responsibilities and all that good stuff.  Where am I at after this initial post…I’m not sure.  It is such a delicate balance between work and fun.  I think that lately I’ve had less fun and have experienced a more tedious lifestyle.  Sometimes I wish that I could just drop everything I’m doing and just take about a two week vacation.  I was talking to a friend this morning and we got on the subject rest and fun….I guess I am having a problem with balancing the two.  My doctor tells me that this has got to change.  I really need to take some time to myself and re-charge.  My question is to you is how do you do that with so many responsibilities? I dunno, what do you think?

Confessions of a Pizza Thief

When I was thinking about this next installment of Confessional Friday, my mind kind of wondered what I really wanted to confess about.  I mean, I have done my fair share of dirt.  Okay, I don’t mean like rob a bank dirt, but growing up I was your typical boy which became your typical teenager and then eventually you typical man until I had that thing they call an epiphany or my heart got hurt (I’m not sure which one).  I really don’t have this grand confession today, just a little goofy one that I did all the time….and I know I am not the only person that did this before….

Ya’ll remember when Domino’s Pizza used to have that deliver in 30 minutes or less, if not the pizza was free.  When I was in middle school we (my brothers and sister) used to call Domino’s when our parents weren’t home and order pizza’s to our next door neighbors house.  We would watch out the window for the delivery guy.  If it was after 30 minutes we would sit outside until they arrived and tell them that they were delivering to the wrong house…we were the one’s that ordered the pizza….hahahaha man that was so ignorant….

Okay your turn…..

Rewind Wednesday….the Remix???

I know that Rewind Wednesday is like a day of reflection…I guess.  I wanted to do something a little different today (and then next week we’ll go back to regularly scheduled programming).  I don’t have a blog that I want to reference per say, but I do want to pose a question.  I was watching CNN Monday night and they were interviewing a reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat.  He was at a John McCain rally and for some odd reason he was removed out of the media area.  I really would not have an issue with this…hell to each its own except for a slight detail I did not mention.  The reporter was the only black in the media area.  This is a short article about it. 

Thinking about this interview reminded me of a conversation I had with my email group a couple of years ago.  This is my question to you.  I guess it goes back to moral responsibility….

Can you with a sound mind sacrifice your life (I mean actual death) for the well-being of your ENTIRE race?  Regardless of your ethnicity (black, white, hispanic, asian, etc.)….knowing that in each race their are people who can care less about accomplishing things.

      “I try to live what I consider a “poetic existence.” That means I take responsibility for the air I breathe and the space I take up. I try to be immediate, to be totally present for all my work.” - Maya Angelou

Dew

You Gotta Control Your Smiles and Cries….

“You gotta control your smiles and cries, because that’s all you have and nobody can take that away from you”….that is a line from Training Day.  I remember when I first watched this movie and heard this line, I really thought is was just another line.  I guess to bridge the conversation for one character to another.  This morning as I struggled to sort through somethings in my personal and professional life, this line just popped into my head.  Now, I don’t believe in coincidence…never have and never will (you can add luck to that equation too).  I really didn’t want to get to thought provoking this morning.  In all actuality, I wasn’t planning on blogging today.  I have some homework (Algebra…ugh) and somethings at work I need to do, so blogging was the last thing on my mind.

I talk to ya’ll about the issues and situations I go through on a daily basis, because you never know if a word that I mention might encourage someone in a similar circumstance….. I keep repeating, “smiles and cries” to myself.  That is so true.  Going through the death of a spouse, especially for me ( not that my situation is any better or shall I say murkier than the next person’s) at a young age has made me address somethings earlier than I anticipated.  You don’t plan to bury your spouse at 30 years old, but you have to play the hand that you are dealt.  Not everyone is dealt a Royal Flush….sometimes 2 of a kind can win the game (for those of you that are poker fans).  There has been a lot of “cries” lately.  Especially this weekend.  I guess I am on these one-liners today…what’s that saying, “when the going gets tough, the tough gets going.”  I used to think that this was a bunch of B.S.  It is the truth though.  “Cries” are good for you though.  You can’t keep those emotions bottled up.  Sometimes, weeping is the best medicine.  I was thinking about my wife this weekend…that was a source of “smiles and cries”.  You gotta make it through the pain to see a brighter day (I think that was an old Tupac lyric…hahahaha)…..smiles….

…..I really don’t have a method to my madness.  Like today, I’m just rambling.  Well at least the thoughts in my head are going a mile a minute.  Sometimes that computes to the way I write.  You would think that since I am taking English and Lit classes, that I would try to write a little more traditional, but traditional is BORING….you see how I just go from topic to topic…hahhahahaha…..that is funny…..but back on track.

“Smiles” are a so beautiful.  I mean a smile can just brighten up a room.  Have you ever just been having a bad day and you go home and one of your children just smiles at you….man, just melts your heart and everything that you were crying about seems to fall by the wayside.  I also smiled alot this weekend.  #2 was out of town with my in-laws.  I think I at the point where I don’t even consider them in-laws…they are mom and dad to me.  I really didn’t talk to #2 too much once she left.  She called me to tell me they were on the road, then again once they arrived to their destination and finally when they were on the road back to the city.  #1 and I spent alot of time together this week.  That dude is so goofy.  He is going through his “girl” stage now, so the questions are coming fast and furious.  Some of the things he asks me are hilarious.  I always would tell my wife that #1 will not have sex until he is married because he is too goofy.  He is always laughing are cracking on someone.  After this week…aww man, I need to really re-access the situation.  I went over a few friends (actually adopted family) Saturday and Sunday.  I had alot of fun….man I loves smiles….and cries aren’t as bad either.  The truth be told…“You gotta control your smiles and cries, because that’s all you have and nobody can take that away from you”

“The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value. I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress and grow” - Thomas Paine

Dew

This is my next confession…

Going along with the new tradition of Confessional Friday  I must make another confession.  First off, I think that I actually might come clean on two offenses today.  I dunno though.  I might have to play it by ear.  It just depends, because one of them might taint the image of Dew.  That might be a case of TMI.  Okay, the first one.  It was about 1990 or 91…anywho I was a freshman it high school.  It was the beginning of the year, so it had to be ‘90.  I was sitting around at the lunch table with Bertha (he helped me pull off the Great Zebra Cake Caper a few years prior to this) and my dude Goldie (I miss you man).  We are sitting down eating lunch and we came up with hustle….I mean we wanted to make a few dollars.  I’m not sure who came up with the idea (I believe it was Bertha) to forge some lunch forms so we can be approved for free breakfast and lunches.  So we all do it…hahahaha.  We put down some bogus information, then a few days later we all had a book of lunch tickets for the entire school year.  Lunch was about $2 so we would sale the tickets for like a $1.50 or 5( a weeks worth) for $8.  That was so crooked.

 

My second confession might be a little raunchier.  I’ll change the names to protect the innocent.  This was back in ‘93.  I’m a junior now.  I guess you could say that I was a pretty popular dude.  I was an athlete, so you know how it is.  I was out with my partner James, his girl Monica and at the time my girl Destiny.  We decided to go get some pizza at a local establishment.  I think it was a Pizza Hut or something.  Well Destiny had to go use the restroom.  She was in there for a second, so I thought that she might be having some difficulties or boo booing…who knows.  I knock on the door to see if she is okay.  She tells me that everything is cool.  I told her to let me in because I needed to wash my hands (or something like that) it was someone in the men’s restroom.  For arguments sake…lets just say that Pizza Hut was defiled on that night….hahahahaha. What is your confession.  I won’t tell……

 

Revenge is a dish best served cold…

…..I was sitting here thinking in the middle of taking a break while writing a paper for my Lit class and I thought about revenge.  What if I had the oppurtunity to get back at everyone that has ever wronged me…what would I do?  It was like the angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other.  I promise I was cracking up.  I started to think about all the little stupid mess I would do.  Like I would kick one of my 5th grade teachers in the balls or throw rock salt in the eyes of that woman that knocked out most of my windows in my car years ago…hahahaha sorry about that one (I don’t condone violence towards any woman).  I’ll give you that story on one of the Confessional Fridays….anywho…what would you do if you had the oppurtunity…..inquiring minds wanna know????

The Rite of Passage….

……from childhood to adulthood is all together something many of us had difficulties dealing with.  I find it ironic that in my Literature class I am doing a comparison/contrast paper based on the rite of passage as I’m currently experiencing the identical thing.  The transformation from child to adult is not merely a physical and emotional journey, but more importantly, ones mental state plays a vital part in the process.  Just because our bodies have progressed from child to man or woman like characteristics and traits, it is imperative that our minds catch up with the evolution process (i like that, i’m putting that in my paper as we speak). 

Physically I’ve passed through (emotionally as well)….but I have stunted my growth by not reaching my full potential mentally.  This comment somewhat contradicts one that I made yesterday, but not exactly.  I am mature…I am better…I am stronger….but mentally all the puzzle pieces are not aligned perfectly (and no I’m not talking about being crazy).  I’m talking about mentally doing everything that is associated with adulthood.  I guess I’m kind of piggybacking off of  Rewind Wednesday.  We mentally make childish decisions that stunt the advancement of our lives.  We might not realize it at that specific moment, but when you sit back and reflect at some of the decisions that you have made, you can figure out why you are in the position you are currently in. 

Okay, enough of that….I think I was writing my paper on the blog today…hahahaha.  The purpose of the blog today was to show you all my tatoo and get suggestions on how I should cover it up. Well tell me what you think???  Please your input is valuable….

“You won’t realize the distance you’ve walked until you take a look around and realize how far you’ve been.”

Dew