Musical Monday: Seasonal Songs

Today is Memorial Day. If you are anything like me, there is one thing that is for certain. At some point in the last four days you have heard "Summertime" by Will Smith. That is just one of a handful of songs that will withstand the test of time because they are now associated with holidays and events. Other songs you can add to that list include: "In Da Club" - 50 Cent (Birthdays), "Anniversary" - Tony, Toni, Tone' (Anniversaries), "Family Reunion" - O'Jay's (Family Reunions) and "I'll Always Love My Momma" - The Intruders (Mother's Day). These songs will never go out of style. Even, as in the case of The Intruders, the song can only apply for a week, its still one week out of the year that you can expect a really large royalty check. Can you think of any other songs that you can associate with anything or a song that you are guaranteed to hear in a certain situation? I'm sure there are others out there.

63 Hours: Memorial Day Weekend

I know the weekend isn't really over, but I wanted to stay with the pattern of posing my weekend wrap-up on Sundays. So far, this weekend has been good. A little bit of this, a little bit of that. Keeping busy, but at the same time finding time to relax and chill. I have no major complaints with the way things have gone at all.

Friday after work, a few of my co-workers and I went out to dinner because of few of us were having birthdays in the next couple of days. We went to Cabana's in the South Street Seaport (which is my favorite restaurant in New York City). It was five of us that went to dinner and another three joined us just as we were about to get the check so we have a few more drinks with them. After leaving the restaurant we went downstairs to Sequoia's for more drinks. I reached my limit and watched as the rest of them continued on. When we finally decided to leave the Seaport, we stopped to listen to a latin band that was performing outside. As it turned out, one of the musicians was a friend of mine so we watched until their set was over and spoke to him for a while.

I didn't sleep long Friday night because I decided to go into the office Saturday morning. Seeing as I am going on vacation next week, I wanted to get as much work done as possible to make things easier on me when I return. It was about 7:30 when I arrived in the office. It was just me and the top twenty countdown with Big Tigger. Other people started straggling in around 9 and I was out of there by 11:15. When I left work I went to J&R Music World. I decided that this year, my present to myself would be a portable DVD player so I went and picked it up. After taking that back to the house I headed back to the city and met up with a friend of mine to give her a tour of New York City.

Sunday, it was off to church. My little cousin was being baptised so we had to be there extra early. Her parents were there, as were her step-parents. Even family members who don't normally come to church came out to support her, which was a nice gesture. After service, I did some quick shopping before going to my cousins house for dinner. After dinner, I returned some phone calls and now I am typing this post.

Tomorrow, I am having breakfast with my cousins then going to see the ships at Fleet Week. A nice ending to a pretty nice weekend. Hope your weekend was just as enjoyable, if not more. Now I have to try to figure out a way to focus at work on Tuesday. Hit me up and let me know how your weekend was.

Fill In The Blank Friday: May 24th

I know, I know. It's a little late. But what can I say? I went out last night (more on that in the next post). Luckily, I missed last week because SOMEBODY choose not to post one this weekend. So without further delay, I give you last weeks FILL IN THE BLANKS.

1. "Kings Of Comedy", "Coming To America", "The Five Heartbeats" and Bruce Almighty" are movies I can watch over and over again.

2. If I had the chance to play the part of any movie character [past or present] it would be Harper Stuart from "The Best Man" because his situation is something that I can relate to.

3. The top three things I'd do if I were to hit the lottery tomorrow are:
1. Pay off my debts
2. Purchase a house for my mother in North Carolina
3. Buy a car

4. My thoughts on pornography are simple. They serve there purpose, but there's nothing like the real thing.

5. When it comes to making my partner happy I'm down with anything BUT anything penetrating me or watching someone else be with her.

6. Having experienced with it what I have to date, if something happened where I wasn't able to have intercourse ever again I'd become a serious vouyer.

7. Scheduling meetings that start after 2pm on a Friday, scheduling meetings without an agenda, unnecessary e-mails and talking business in the break room are all things I consider "workplace dont's"!

8. My thoughts right now are of a very sexual nature.

Tell'em How You Feel Thursday

This is my last gripe session on my 20's **insert dramatic pause**. Nothing too serious, just some things I need to get off of my chest before I start the weekend.

1. You were always the worst driver in the family.

2. I will give you my undivided attention if you ask for it, but you better do something to keep it.

3. You mean to tell me you can chat all day, but you don't know how to navigate a website well enough to purchase a ticket for your grandmother?

4. Maybe you should check your voicemail before returning a phone call every so often.

5. Checking your calendar before scheduling meetings would be good thing, don't you agree?

6. Some things are too serious to discuss over text messages.

7. You came to work wearing the wristband they gave you at the club last night . . .

7a. Then have the nerve to fall asleep at your desk.

8. You cease to amaze me.

9. I'm down, but I don't know whether to be excited or concerned.

10. You will put up with anything just to have a seat on the train, won't you?

11. What happened to "the truth shall set you free"?

12. If I tell you what I want from you will you give it to me?

13. How long have you been working here? They are NOT going to take the Whopper off of the menu.

14. I'll give you credit. That was creative.

15. Can we just take Atlanta off of the schedule?

That's all I have this week. As always, you can comment on these or get some things off of your chest. I hope everyone has a good weekend and I want to wish BK a very happy birthday.

I.S.T.S.G.

I received a text message yesterday from a friend of mine that read as follows:

"Isn't it ironic? We ignore who adores us, adore who ignores us, love who hurts us and hurt who loves us."

For me, it was definitely ironic. I can't speak for the rest of you, but I can definitely say that I have been guilty of all four of those statements. Some as recently as last night. Life is funny sometimes. We take things for granted and assume that certain things are always going to be in place. Then we have something happen where we realize that we hurt someone, neglected someone, disappointed someone or disrespected someone when we didn't have to.

It could be a parent who works overtime or hangs out all the time while their kids just want to spend five minutes with them. Instead, that child grows up neglected and becomes resentful. It could be the man or woman who stays in a physically or mentally abusive relationship because they are "blinded" by the "love" their partner gives them. It could be the person who stays in a one-sided relationship. It could also be the person who takes a friend for granted when all they had to do was pick up the phone every so often just to say "hi".

Regardless of what it is, if we fit into one of those situations, or know someone who fits into one of those situations, its time to change. Life is too short to settle for the hand that's being dealt to us. Its time we stop settling for what people give us and demand the things we want. No friendship, relationship or family bond should be a struggle. If we make it that way, the only person that gets hurt in the end is you, and personally, I feel like crap right now.

TMI Tuesday - 5/20/08

1. How many credit cards do you own? Are they paid off?

Right now, I only have one and I am making sure that I hold on to it. When I was in college, I had four and maxxed them all out. It was so bad that I knew the credit card representative on a first name basis. When he called he used to ask me how my classes were going and everything. What made things worse was the fact that at one time I was a finance major. I'm glad I recovered from that.

2. Can you be in love with someone you don't trust?

Sadly, I'm going to have to say yes to this one. Only because I've been there before. . . One of the main reasons I am not a big fan of long distance relationships. Then again, the trust thing has much more to do with me than it did the person I was in a relationship with.

3. Should prostitution be legal?
I may be in the minority with this one, but I'm going to say yes. Do you know how much money the government can generate just on taxes? Besides, people are going to do it anyway. It is the "oldest profession".

4. On a scale of 1-10, how good of a lover do you think you are? (1 is lowest, 10 is highest)

What kind of question is this? Of course I'm gonna say I'm good. I'm not gonna say a 10 because that's just putting a lot of pressure on me, but I'd definitely say an 8. If you don't believe me, I can refer you to a few people, or you can find out yourself. :-) . . . Seriously, I can't put a number on it, but I will say I'm good. Very openminded and her satisfaction is my primary concern. No sense in me getting one if she doesn't.

5. What are three mistakes someone could make on the first date with you that would automatically make you turn down a second date with them?

1. Not being able to hold a serious conversation.
2. Not dressing with respect for herself.
3. Not be a good kisser (if it gets that far).

Bonus (as in optional): Tell us about your worst date ever.
Short version: It was blind date. She laughed through the entire meal then drank so much that she had to go to the bathroom every five minutes. It was so bad that I lied about the time of my train and went home.

Bellrose 11427: First Day of School

Last week, I promoted a happy hour here in the city. It was a pretty decent turnout, especially for a Wednesday night. I had support from many different parts of my life. There were co-workers who came out, bloggers (shout out to Karrie B. and Yellow Rebel for coming out), as well as people I went to college with. The biggest surprise though, was how many people that I went to high school with came out and supported.

Thanks to myspace and facebook, we are able to keep in touch, but for the most part, this was the first time some of us had seen each other since before graduation, way back in 1996. We were able to catch up on old times and get caught up on what's going on with everyone. We laughed and joked, and even took time out to think about those who are no longer with us (its sad that we are only turning 30 this year and I know of at least 3 people from high school who didn't make it to see their 30th birthday). Since then, I have spent all weekend thinking about memories from high school and decided that from time to time I'll share some of them with you. Today, I'll take you back to where it all started. September 1992.

I woke up early, excited about finally being in high school. I had two cousins who had gone into high school before me in the previous two years (both went to F.K. Lane) and they made it seem like so much fun. Now it was my time. After breakfast, I ran to the bus stop to get on the first bus. Once we reached the transfer point, it hit me that I was not in Junior High School anymore. It seemed like a thousand kids were waiting to get on this one bus that went past our school. A few went by before one stopped that I could actually get on, and that was only because the driver opened up the back door (I have no idea why people who are standing on a bus refuse to move to the back). A few people that went to my church (seven to be exact) had been accepted to the same high school, so we all agreed to meet up at the McDonalds which was not too far from the school. I was there by 7:30, of course I was first. I picked up my breakfast and sat down waiting for my friends to show up. Once they got there and ordered breakfast, we were on our way. We walked the last four blocks to the school and it all started.

When we reached the school, people started staring at us. Freshman didn't ususally roll eight deep on the first day of school, so needless to say, we had the schools attention, whether we wanted it or not (we did this everyday for about a month until we started getting into our own things, but not only did the eight of us remain friends the entire four years of high school, we are still friends to this day). In addition to that, we also knew members of the basketball team because they also went to our church.

Once the bell rung, we went to our respective homerooms and started high school. Filling out program cards and attendance cards, meeting new teachers and making new friends. Things went rather smoothly for me for the first week or so, but even for a shy guy like me, it didn't take long to find out that high school was going to be a very interesting place. More on that, in a future post. In the meantime, I want to know what you remember about your first day(s) in high school.