I met this girl a few months ago.  Shortly afterward, we became friends through chatting online through facebook.  Anyway, this isn't a story about a crush.  Until the other day, it had been about a week or two since I had talked to her, and she messaged me right before she went to bed.  She said that she wanted to say goodnight, and that she was sad that we didn't really have the chance to talk much anymore. 

You know, maybe she just said it to say it.  She doesn't know this, but that made my day, if not my week.  I don't really hear from people that I have an effect on their life very often, so it kind of takes some of the life out of you; you kind of stop trying. 

So I wanted to say thank you to this person, I appreciate you.

So since I've gotten out of school, I've been pretty lazy and laid back.  So here are areas I need to change in my life right now:
1)  Exercise
2)  Healthy diet
3)  Business
4)  Read
5)  Piano

I recently attended a motivational speaker's event (I apologize for not remembering the speaker's name) and he said something I thought was very profound.  He is an advocate, as am I, for serving the community and helping others.  He used the spoon as a metaphor.  When you hold a spoon in front of your face, with the scooping side toward you, your reflection is upside down.  When the scooping side is facing others, then your reflection is right side up.  Simple, this means that when the spoon is used to feed you, or when you are concentrated on feeding yourself, your world is upside down.  But when the spoon is used to feed others, your world is right side up.  This is very true.  You cannot live a fulfilled life being selfish and looking out only for self.  Whether it is the community, your family, your kids...your world and your goals must be for these people.  Please remember this powerful metaphor in your life; it will make your life worth living.

These are a few of my favorite videos from Spoken Word artist Rafael Casal.  He pushes political boundaries and questions the social norm in his works of art.  His words are very powerful.  Respect the technique.

This is a throwback blog that I wrote a few years ago:

So I was playing Tetris the other day, the old version. And it was funny, I was killin' it. Like, every single block was falling into place exactly how I wanted it, and the next blocks that came fit the scheme of things perfectly. I was feelin' so good, and then all of a sudden, the wrong shit started coming, and what I thought was a perfectly built tower eventually became a tower with holes and huge gaps that were almost impossible to fix. Funny ain't it, how Tetris can resemble our lives. One minute, you're feeling so good, everything in your life fits perfectly, there's a mold for everything to fall into place, and then suddenly, life throws shit at you that you don't expect, and that you can't handle, at a rate that is too high. And then while you're trying to rush through this shit, you create gaps in your life that shouldn't be there. Guess you just gotta keep tryin until that "You Win!" pops up. But until then, keep trying, 'cause there ain't nothing else u can do.

I would like to say thank you for taking the time out to read my blog when I'm sure there are plenty of other things that you could be doing right now. 
There is a lot to be said about appreciation. All human beings, whether criminals or corporate workers or artists, act in specific ways to elicit positive feedback from their peers; every soul thirsts for appreciation. But sadly, many actions and deeds are taken for granted. We assume that people already know that we notice their helpfulness, their voluntary efforts. We walk passed the janitors in the hall without so much as a smile, we take a seat as a passenger in a person's car without an offer of gas money, we ridicule our friends in a joking manner to replace the thank you that should be said, we don't acknowledge that person in our life that brings a smile to our face, we take so much and yet we don't even once think to pay them back or say thank you. If we would just learn to show appreciation for people in our lives, I am sure that the divorce rate would decrease, fewer friendships would be broken, more employees retained. So the next time that you notice somebody doing something for you out of their good will, smile at them and say thanks. It could just make their day.

Dreams and goals are what keep the life in the souls of individuals.  Without a dream, we have no purpose, and therefore lose ourselves.  I have recently found that by setting many goals that aim toward adjusting some parts of my lifestyle, I have hopped out of my slump of feeling like shit.  I set goals like committing to making my bed every morning, keeping all my belongings tidy and clean, staying groomed, not dressing scrubby every single day, getting started on planning my business (which is finally taking shape!  Yayyyy!), and changing how I interact with others to a more productive approach.  Given deadlines, I am now more motivated to achieve them before the due date comes.  Even things like that can motivate you and give your day a sense of a purpose. 

By the way, here are some pictures of some individuals that I have been recently studying.  Their commonality is that they are extremely successful at what they do, and I wish to attain their skills in their field of expertise.  One is a very successful businessman, one is a very talented clothing designer, one is a master pick up artist, and one is an extremely successful artist.

Within the past year, I changed a lot.  My views, my beliefs, my dreams...a lot of the things that I found stable turned out to be rocky and unfortunately precarious.  Adjectives and verbs that I attached myself to turned me into a fake me.  I think that I lost who I really was, because in reality, I was scared to ever let myself be fucked up like that again.  So relationships that arose thereafter were many times artificial because I wouldn't allow myself to be vulnerable; trust wasn't being handed out.  Nope, fuck that.  But I guess I should just really say fuck what they think and be myself. 

The sun seems to rise more leisurely on Saturday
Shadows stretch like yawns awakening, they point to where the pioneers did
Vibrant city colors fade to a soft pastel
Not lifeless, just tranquil
The sunlight whispers through the blinds that are draping on the window
Quietly nudging the late night prowler
Smiles stretch as arms and legs do to chase away the drowsiness
Time just strolls on by, laziness his companion
Baby, lightly brush off the past week
You came just in time
Saturday

Everything will be okay in the end.  If it's not okay, it's not the end!  The end.