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Man of Many Names: Except for the One that Really Counts

I’ve been known as the boy next door, best friend forever when you need a shoulder to cry on, reassurance man when you wanted to hear “yes, we guys are dumb”, the comfort guy at the dance club when you didn’t want to dance with strangers, the hair holder guy at the end of the night (I hate holding hair btw), the human shield blocking you so you can pee in public and the supporter holding you up so your drunken queen can pee in a tub because the toilet was broken. Can’t you come over just to cuddle guy because boyfriend / girlfriend broke up with you, had a fight with family members or just because you were lonely. The latest title I’ve encountered is FBF (fake boyfriend); you love having the male attention, enjoyed me taking you out and paying for everything however do not want to be in a relationship or is it just a relationship with me?

I could continue with the list of ‘a.k.a’s and alias but the reality of it is this: “I just do not want to be known as just these.” I’m not writing this stating I want to get married right now; I’m saying I want to be given a chance. I want the same chance you gave the ‘bad boy’ you wanted to “change,” Mr. Wrong that treated you crap and ‘Mr. Not Right Now’ who only wanted to a relationship with you between the hours or midnight and 4am.

Stop trying to convince me “it’s you, not me.” Deep down inside, I know it’s me. It’s my fault for having a sweet mother for raising me to be a man and not a boy. It’s my fault for never wanting to treat a woman the same way I saw my mother treated while I was growing up. Maybe my flaw is not “moving in for the kill” quick enough. But as one of my friends put it in her blog today “I enjoy stages.” I wonder if it “enjoying stages” has backfired in my face though.

Though I enjoy knowing that I could pick up the phone and find someone to hangout with me pretty much whenever, it would be nice to only have to call one number and know the women on the other end calls me boyfriend.

Project 365: Update

So I know that I do not have a photo up for everyday on here, but I keep up with it on another site. If there is an interest, I think that I'm going to just post an update once a month for those who would like to see me grow. So that means, you will have to leave me some love and let me know.

I will admit, I slacked off A LOT the last couple of months, but I want to finish these next 4 months off strong. One problem that I had in the last couple of months is work was very demanding. So most of that time, my days consisted of me waking up, going to 1st job, lunch, then 2nd job, dinner and home to sleep; rinse, repeat, rinse and dry.

Like I said earlier though, I want to finish the year out strong. So no more excuses

Photo of the Day: Future Leader

I feel like I should start off by saying, this is not my baby. Though he looks very close to how I looked when I entered the world. However, I would like to introduce you to my BFF's new son Sawyer Lane. He was born @ 1:17 am today weighing in at 7lbs 12 oz, 20 inches long. Mommy, daddy and uncle EJ love you very much!

I wanted to just take a moment away from the world's antics to show why we work so hard to change the negativity in our society today.

Social Networking Experience

I know that the day is not over. But so far, it has been a great day. While I was catching up on some tivo'ed shows from the week, I decided to play on my Twitter account and see if I could bump myself up to 50 followers. It may not seem like a big deal, but to me it is or should I say 'it was." Why do we need a world to define what is the meaning of a friend to us?

I don't believe that every follow is going to be a friend, but it is nice to have people that are willing to listen to your random rants, view the funny photos, and add their opinions on the world events (just a few things that I share on Twitter). When I started on Twitter, I was conducting an experiment on how social networking was becoming more embedded into our everyday lives. In the beginning, I didn't get it. I wondered why people would spend their time updating their friends and random people on what was going on in their daily life. But then, isn't that what we do on Facebook and when we blog. With twitter, we are limited to 140 characters. So I guest the people at Twitter are helping us not ramble. (Blogger, do not get any ideas).

Only a few of my friends were let in to knowing that I had an account. Months went by and I was happy to see what was going on in two of my friend's lives because it seemed it was the only way I could keep up with what was going on in their lives. As we get older, move to different cities and states, it becomes harder to pick up the phone and make a call. I remember in high school, the few times I was grounded, my punishment was no phone privileges. Now, I see my roll over minutes building up month to month to a point I think that I could actually be on the phone outside of my free nights and weekends and not have to pay an overage charge for a week. (For those trying to the math on that, I have about 3500 minutes saved up).

During my research, I realized that there is/was so much more involved in Twitter than letting people know "what's on your mind." I'm not going to spoil anymore of what Twitter can do for those who don't have Twitter. You really need to experience it for yourself. But what I will tell you is that I have met some very interesting people through it and hopefully some new friends.

Personal Twitter goal #1: getting 50 people to follow me... complete. Now, can I get another 50 people to follow me by next Friday?! I guess only time will tell.

iPhone 4 Release Day

Yes, so I decided to spoil myself and get the new iPhone. But in my journey of getting the phone I was lucky enough to not have to deal with the crazies that decided to suck up all of the parking at the Brea mall. There were 1000s of people that stood in line all day to try and get the phone. What I do not understand is why not just order it online and have it delivered to your house like I did. I got my phone when they said I would and as you can see from my pictures, I walked right by people who were so desperate to get the phone they every waiting outside in the sun for over 6hrs to get the phone.

Stampin' my thug card... officially!

For the doubters and the haters, you didn't believe I would ever do it. Well here you go. I actually like them very much. It took about 2hrs and my head is not sore. Yes, my head feels cooler. If you have any other questions, just ask.

A bit of a history lesson for you about 'cornrows.'

Cornrow braids are not only widespread in Africa, they are also quite ancient. Dating back to at least 500 BC.

Cornrow hairstyles in Africa also cover a wide social terrain: religion, kinship, status, age, ethnicity, and other attributes of identity can all be expressed in hairstyle. Just as important is the act of braiding, which transmits cultural values between generations, expresses bonds between friends, and establishes the role of professional practitioner.

Like many other “Africanisms” in the new world, knowledge of African hairstyles survived the 'Middle Passage. Heads were often shaved upon capture, ostensibly for sanitary reasons, but with the psychological impact of being stripped of one’s culture. Re-establishing traditional hair styles in the new world was thus an act of resistance; one that could be carried out covertly:

"The slaves that worked inside the plantation houses were required to present a neat and tidy appearance… so men and women often wore tight braids, plaits, and cornrows (made by sectioning the hair and braiding it flat to the scalp). The braid patterns were commonly based on African tradition and styles. Other styles Blacks wore proved to be an amalgam of traditional African styles, European trends, and even Native American practices (Byrd and Tharps 2001 pp.13-14)."

For the full and complete article, including pictures, please visit this site. I would like to thank Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for the story.


http://csdt.rpi.edu/african/CORNROW_CURVES/culture/african.origins.htm