Self,
Well this morning on my way to work, I heard a news snippet that the R&B star, Sly Stone of the group Sly & the Family Stone, is currently destitute here in the Los Angeles area. It's reported that he is living in a camper in the Crenshaw district, where a retired couple makes sure he eats atleast once a day and allow him the use of their shower.
My reason for posting initially was that I saw this as a tradgic example of people (ok and specificaly Black people) coming into a whole lot of money and not knowing how to properly handle it, which eventually leads to it being squander. Helping to educate people on how to make better choices is why I am working in the financial industry. It's my belief that we would do better, if we know better.
When I got to a computer I did a google search, really looking for a picture to use in my posting, but I found an article that I read in stead to get more info. The article partially confirmed my suspicion, in so much as it was reported that Stone bought numerous, "toys" like cars and motorcyles. Stone also states that his situation stems from drug addiction, and a problem with what sounds like corrupt management.
The article also annoyed me due to the fact that it's opening paragraph states that Stone isliving in "a rough Los Angeles neighborhood," and the second paragraph states that "parks his motor home in the Crenshaw section of L.A., the brutal neighborhood where the movie "Boyz n the Hood" was filmed." Now I don't know if the movie reference is true or not, but either way it certainly paints the area with the images from the MOVIE and not neccesarily the full reality. For all we know, he might be parking his camper in the pocket where there are homes worth upwards of a million dollars? It certainly does not paint that community fairly as the Over-worked and Under paid citizens that live there. I ain't saying that the place is paradise....but I don't think they should envoke the idea of hell on earth either.
Sincerely,
Pharoah
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Messing With A Broke N****H
Self,
Well yesterday, a friend made a comment as he said in jest, but it was a badly timed joke and it struck a chord that trigger a nearly two hour venting session on my part. And before I go any further I want to thank him AGAIN for allowing me that moment.
I had to vent because....I recently got to a point where I'm starting to feel that I'm going to end up in the poor house due to my relationship and my other obligations. I guess it became most frustrating just two days ago when KB mentioned what he wants to do for his birthday in October....He wants to take a trip to Catalina Island here in the So Cal area. I'm sure we would have fun. I think he's a sweetheart, but KB is even more uppity than I am and that trip is not going to be easy on the wallet, and I'm not made of money! I think I made mention that he wants to go to ATL to hang out with his best friend for Thanksgiving....I'm sadly going to have to inform him that he's dealing with a broke negro who can only afford to do one of those trips.
I don't want to seem selfish, but I had a plan (and most important - a budget) when I moved back in with my family. All of our outings (by no mean am I saying it is all his fault) has led me to a point where the amount I was saving towards a house has decrease to a quarter of what I was saving just a few months ago before KB and I met.....THAT is a HUGE drop!!! This is particularly significant because based on the schedule I had made before getting involved with KB at this time I would be INCREASING what I'm saving by about 25%.
I know he and I will have to talk about this REALLY soon (Today, most likely) because I would feel like shit if at the end of the two years my parents gave me to save I have to move back in to an apartment because I didn't save enough and essentially squander this opportunity. (And dare I say that I would feel even worse if for some reason KB were to break up just as that deadline my parents gave me came to an end.)
Yeah, he and I really need to talk.
Sincerely,
Pharoah
Well yesterday, a friend made a comment as he said in jest, but it was a badly timed joke and it struck a chord that trigger a nearly two hour venting session on my part. And before I go any further I want to thank him AGAIN for allowing me that moment.
I had to vent because....I recently got to a point where I'm starting to feel that I'm going to end up in the poor house due to my relationship and my other obligations. I guess it became most frustrating just two days ago when KB mentioned what he wants to do for his birthday in October....He wants to take a trip to Catalina Island here in the So Cal area. I'm sure we would have fun. I think he's a sweetheart, but KB is even more uppity than I am and that trip is not going to be easy on the wallet, and I'm not made of money! I think I made mention that he wants to go to ATL to hang out with his best friend for Thanksgiving....I'm sadly going to have to inform him that he's dealing with a broke negro who can only afford to do one of those trips.
I don't want to seem selfish, but I had a plan (and most important - a budget) when I moved back in with my family. All of our outings (by no mean am I saying it is all his fault) has led me to a point where the amount I was saving towards a house has decrease to a quarter of what I was saving just a few months ago before KB and I met.....THAT is a HUGE drop!!! This is particularly significant because based on the schedule I had made before getting involved with KB at this time I would be INCREASING what I'm saving by about 25%.
I know he and I will have to talk about this REALLY soon (Today, most likely) because I would feel like shit if at the end of the two years my parents gave me to save I have to move back in to an apartment because I didn't save enough and essentially squander this opportunity. (And dare I say that I would feel even worse if for some reason KB were to break up just as that deadline my parents gave me came to an end.)
Yeah, he and I really need to talk.
Sincerely,
Pharoah
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Something Else I've Been Feeling.....
Self,
Since I already wrote a post this week about what pisses me off....I might as well stick to the theme and write about something that is perplexing me at the moment.
Well truth be told this is something that has been on my mind and I just didn't know how to address it with the person it involves. I'm not going to name the person here because I still want to discuss it directly with that person. However, I must admit that I'm not sure if I'm just crazy and making a mountain out of a mole hill, or is there really an issue that needs to be worked out.
So here I go;
Ordinarily I would say that my friends are very supportive of me and I am equally supportive of them. Rather that means just being encouraging with a high five and a "You go, Boy/Girl"....and yes maybe even a "YOU BETTA WORK!" Of course being supportive of each other may also mean putting our money where our mouth is and gettin' up off our asses and helping them to "do the damn thing!" Either way....as friends we're there for each other. Sounds good so far, right?
So my dilemma is that a while back a particular friend asked for me to support an endeavor that fell in the category of "put my money where my mouth is" because a simple "You Betta Work," really wouldn't get this friend very far. And I did, not a problem.
Not too long afterwards, I asked for this friend's help with something. No, I wasn't just asking for help out of a "tick for tack" or "quid-pro-quo" mentality, because I actually saw an opportunity under the circumstances where my request could actually be a benefit to both of us. Therefore, my friend would essentially get double help. The response was basically: Let me think about it and get back to you.
Okay, I can understand needing time to process things in order to figure out the logistics of making the request a reality. However, I still haven't heard anything. Frankly, this isn't the first time I made the request and got the same "I'll think about it" type response. However, I thought this time I was more concise and clear about how it would help me and that the request would be received even more favorably (beyond just the "I'm your friend, so help me" stuff,) considering I figured out a way so that it would be a benefit to us both.
So I've been feeling slighted for a while and I'm not sure how to bring it up to this friend. Honestly, I feel more than just slighted - I feel hurt and frustrated. I don't know if the problem is that I'm crazy for having expected this friend to help in the first place. I don't know if I'm feeling as if this friend has taken advantage of me. I don't know if I'm feeling betrayed from all the times that I have stood in support of this friend and now I can't get any reciprocation. I don't know if this friend simply lacks confidence or faith in me and my abilities and therefore doesn't want to lend a supporting hand. Or is it that I've been a poor judge of character for the duration of this friendship and this friend is really the type that wants to keep me on what they feel is a lower status, therefore this friend won't be supportive because they think it would propel me to a point that surpasses this friend's reach.
I mean I really just don't know.....?????????????????????
Sincerely,
Pharoah
Since I already wrote a post this week about what pisses me off....I might as well stick to the theme and write about something that is perplexing me at the moment.
Well truth be told this is something that has been on my mind and I just didn't know how to address it with the person it involves. I'm not going to name the person here because I still want to discuss it directly with that person. However, I must admit that I'm not sure if I'm just crazy and making a mountain out of a mole hill, or is there really an issue that needs to be worked out.
So here I go;
Ordinarily I would say that my friends are very supportive of me and I am equally supportive of them. Rather that means just being encouraging with a high five and a "You go, Boy/Girl"....and yes maybe even a "YOU BETTA WORK!" Of course being supportive of each other may also mean putting our money where our mouth is and gettin' up off our asses and helping them to "do the damn thing!" Either way....as friends we're there for each other. Sounds good so far, right?
So my dilemma is that a while back a particular friend asked for me to support an endeavor that fell in the category of "put my money where my mouth is" because a simple "You Betta Work," really wouldn't get this friend very far. And I did, not a problem.
Not too long afterwards, I asked for this friend's help with something. No, I wasn't just asking for help out of a "tick for tack" or "quid-pro-quo" mentality, because I actually saw an opportunity under the circumstances where my request could actually be a benefit to both of us. Therefore, my friend would essentially get double help. The response was basically: Let me think about it and get back to you.
Okay, I can understand needing time to process things in order to figure out the logistics of making the request a reality. However, I still haven't heard anything. Frankly, this isn't the first time I made the request and got the same "I'll think about it" type response. However, I thought this time I was more concise and clear about how it would help me and that the request would be received even more favorably (beyond just the "I'm your friend, so help me" stuff,) considering I figured out a way so that it would be a benefit to us both.
So I've been feeling slighted for a while and I'm not sure how to bring it up to this friend. Honestly, I feel more than just slighted - I feel hurt and frustrated. I don't know if the problem is that I'm crazy for having expected this friend to help in the first place. I don't know if I'm feeling as if this friend has taken advantage of me. I don't know if I'm feeling betrayed from all the times that I have stood in support of this friend and now I can't get any reciprocation. I don't know if this friend simply lacks confidence or faith in me and my abilities and therefore doesn't want to lend a supporting hand. Or is it that I've been a poor judge of character for the duration of this friendship and this friend is really the type that wants to keep me on what they feel is a lower status, therefore this friend won't be supportive because they think it would propel me to a point that surpasses this friend's reach.
I mean I really just don't know.....?????????????????????
Sincerely,
Pharoah
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Learning Something New
Self,
So they say it's good to learn something new everyday. I also heard that you grow as a person as you discover new things about yourself.
Well I'm happy to say that I've learned something new about myself. I've learned that there is a new way for people to get on my last good nerve....AND that there is something I have to work on so I am not doing the same thing to others that I find to be annoying and disrespectful to me.
I have found that I am becoming increasingly frustrated with people and their cell phones.....particularly when they are sitting across from me at a dining table. Let's be clear, I'm not that bothered when I'm sitting across from someone and their phone rings and they answer it......as long as they keep the call to a minimum, I mean really that's the point of cell phones.
That said what I am discovering is that I feel really upset when I'm sitting with someone and they keep staring into their phone because they are either texting or are on their Facebook account. This is even more upsetting to me for some reason, when this is occurring while we sit across from each other in a restaurant.....rather it's Ruth's Chris Steakhouse or Denny's......yes even Denny's. I guess I can understand one or two text messages as possibly being business or work related and also family...I mean we all have to make allowances for family so I get that. The worse to me, is someone on their Facebook account. I mean I don't currently have Facebook but I can't imagine why on earth anyone would need to access FB on their phone....I mean isn't that what computers/laptops are for anyway. WHY would you even want to look at that on a screen that's only 2 inches wide! Either way, I'm realizing it is all just extremely disrespectful to the other person(s) with whom you are sitting.
Fortunately, this isn't something that KB has done, (atleast not that I can recall. No, I don't think I have a selective memory....but to be fair, I'll try to be aware of it in the future to see if he does it too.) Although at this point KB has not done this to me, others have. My most recent experience is probably what prompted this post. KB and I was hanging out with a friend of mine and he stopped in the middle of relating a story to us to respond to a text that his phone JUST indicated had arrived. While we sat there waiting, I had a flash back that he did it that last time the three of us were sitting at a table together. I guess it wasn't as upsetting because I had KB there as a distraction so I didn't focus on being upset.
I also had one friend tell me days later, that he felt slighted and deprived of his time with me when I took a phone call in the middle of an ongoing conversation we were having in a car on our way back from dinner. Yet, not more than 30 minutes before he was picking up his phone to text every 2 minutes...and had even stop talking mid-sentence to read and respond to a text during the same conversation while we were waiting for the server to bring our meals.
As much as this seems to frustrate me, I also don't like double standards and I will admit that I am aware that I have also responded to texts in the past while sitting across from other people...and this is the REAL point of this post. My goal is to be conscious of my actions and not do this to other people.
As for other people, I think I'm set a 3 count rule...if you pick up your phone 3 times I might snatch your phone....and I'm giving permission to do the same to me.
Sincerely,
Pharoah
So they say it's good to learn something new everyday. I also heard that you grow as a person as you discover new things about yourself.
Well I'm happy to say that I've learned something new about myself. I've learned that there is a new way for people to get on my last good nerve....AND that there is something I have to work on so I am not doing the same thing to others that I find to be annoying and disrespectful to me.
I have found that I am becoming increasingly frustrated with people and their cell phones.....particularly when they are sitting across from me at a dining table. Let's be clear, I'm not that bothered when I'm sitting across from someone and their phone rings and they answer it......as long as they keep the call to a minimum, I mean really that's the point of cell phones.
That said what I am discovering is that I feel really upset when I'm sitting with someone and they keep staring into their phone because they are either texting or are on their Facebook account. This is even more upsetting to me for some reason, when this is occurring while we sit across from each other in a restaurant.....rather it's Ruth's Chris Steakhouse or Denny's......yes even Denny's. I guess I can understand one or two text messages as possibly being business or work related and also family...I mean we all have to make allowances for family so I get that. The worse to me, is someone on their Facebook account. I mean I don't currently have Facebook but I can't imagine why on earth anyone would need to access FB on their phone....I mean isn't that what computers/laptops are for anyway. WHY would you even want to look at that on a screen that's only 2 inches wide! Either way, I'm realizing it is all just extremely disrespectful to the other person(s) with whom you are sitting.
Fortunately, this isn't something that KB has done, (atleast not that I can recall. No, I don't think I have a selective memory....but to be fair, I'll try to be aware of it in the future to see if he does it too.) Although at this point KB has not done this to me, others have. My most recent experience is probably what prompted this post. KB and I was hanging out with a friend of mine and he stopped in the middle of relating a story to us to respond to a text that his phone JUST indicated had arrived. While we sat there waiting, I had a flash back that he did it that last time the three of us were sitting at a table together. I guess it wasn't as upsetting because I had KB there as a distraction so I didn't focus on being upset.
I also had one friend tell me days later, that he felt slighted and deprived of his time with me when I took a phone call in the middle of an ongoing conversation we were having in a car on our way back from dinner. Yet, not more than 30 minutes before he was picking up his phone to text every 2 minutes...and had even stop talking mid-sentence to read and respond to a text during the same conversation while we were waiting for the server to bring our meals.
As much as this seems to frustrate me, I also don't like double standards and I will admit that I am aware that I have also responded to texts in the past while sitting across from other people...and this is the REAL point of this post. My goal is to be conscious of my actions and not do this to other people.
As for other people, I think I'm set a 3 count rule...if you pick up your phone 3 times I might snatch your phone....and I'm giving permission to do the same to me.
Sincerely,
Pharoah
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Labor Day Weekend
Self,
This was a very active holiday weekend for me.....probably one of the busiest Labor Day weekend I've had in a long time.
I kicked off this weekend by seeing Janet Jackson in concert with KB and another friend of mine. It was fun. This tour was billed as "The Number Ones: Up Close & Personal" and really....I had forgotten how many chart climbers she has....no everything didn't hit #1, but there were folks slightly dissappointed that they didn't hear ALL of their favorite songs by her. That said she still have so many #1s that she didn't perform the whole song for some of them.
My friend that went to see Janet with me and KB talked about how great of a show Sade gave when he went to see her, I had heard the same thing from Schehimazade, and Prince Esquire was returning to Cali in time to catch her last show in the USA. Esquire teased me with the idea that his mom would have an extra ticket for me but that didn't work out. So I went online and started looking where else she would be, which is how I discovered that the Sept 4 show is here last in the US becasue she's heading to Frankfort or Brussels (yes if I had the money I would have loved to made the trip to either of those places to see her!) However that was out of the question. What I did learn was that she would be at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, on Sept 3rd. Although KB doesn't like Sade, he was willing to go to Vegas with me to see the show. So we drove to Vegas on Saturday then drove back Sunday.
Sunday after making it back to LA, we met up with Schehimazade to see Colombiana....it was pretty good ...there's a couple scenes that are great.....I love a kick-ass girl! some folks will crititize about how "believable" some story elements are...but so what...it's just entertainment! After the movie, we went back to KB's sat in the hot tub at his new apartment for a while and although we were invited to another event that night, we passed out infront of the TV.
Monday KB's best friend and her girlfriend arrived from ATL for another visit, so KB and I met them at her mom's for BBQ and as we were about to leave there I returned a call from Prince Esquire who happen to be hanging out with his girlfriend's sister and brother-in-law that lived relatively close to where we were, so we went and visited with them for a while!
So now I'm at work....wishin I could have stayed in bed so i could still be sleeping and getting some much needed rest. However as I said despite the fact that some people thing I have my own US Mint in my bedroom, this NEGRO is BROKE and my butt needs to be here at work to start recovery process for some of the expenses.....I'm so broke I could afford to buy some fresh beef jerky from this place on the way back from Vegas. OMG, I had fun though!
That was my holiday weekend, I'd love to hear about yours!?!?!?!
Sincerely,
Pharoah
This was a very active holiday weekend for me.....probably one of the busiest Labor Day weekend I've had in a long time.
I kicked off this weekend by seeing Janet Jackson in concert with KB and another friend of mine. It was fun. This tour was billed as "The Number Ones: Up Close & Personal" and really....I had forgotten how many chart climbers she has....no everything didn't hit #1, but there were folks slightly dissappointed that they didn't hear ALL of their favorite songs by her. That said she still have so many #1s that she didn't perform the whole song for some of them.
My friend that went to see Janet with me and KB talked about how great of a show Sade gave when he went to see her, I had heard the same thing from Schehimazade, and Prince Esquire was returning to Cali in time to catch her last show in the USA. Esquire teased me with the idea that his mom would have an extra ticket for me but that didn't work out. So I went online and started looking where else she would be, which is how I discovered that the Sept 4 show is here last in the US becasue she's heading to Frankfort or Brussels (yes if I had the money I would have loved to made the trip to either of those places to see her!) However that was out of the question. What I did learn was that she would be at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, on Sept 3rd. Although KB doesn't like Sade, he was willing to go to Vegas with me to see the show. So we drove to Vegas on Saturday then drove back Sunday.
Sunday after making it back to LA, we met up with Schehimazade to see Colombiana....it was pretty good ...there's a couple scenes that are great.....I love a kick-ass girl! some folks will crititize about how "believable" some story elements are...but so what...it's just entertainment! After the movie, we went back to KB's sat in the hot tub at his new apartment for a while and although we were invited to another event that night, we passed out infront of the TV.
Monday KB's best friend and her girlfriend arrived from ATL for another visit, so KB and I met them at her mom's for BBQ and as we were about to leave there I returned a call from Prince Esquire who happen to be hanging out with his girlfriend's sister and brother-in-law that lived relatively close to where we were, so we went and visited with them for a while!
So now I'm at work....wishin I could have stayed in bed so i could still be sleeping and getting some much needed rest. However as I said despite the fact that some people thing I have my own US Mint in my bedroom, this NEGRO is BROKE and my butt needs to be here at work to start recovery process for some of the expenses.....I'm so broke I could afford to buy some fresh beef jerky from this place on the way back from Vegas. OMG, I had fun though!
That was my holiday weekend, I'd love to hear about yours!?!?!?!
Sincerely,
Pharoah
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