Brand new week, Brand new attitude

Good morning and Happy Monday. Brand new week. Brand new attitude. The past is the past. The future is unlimited. I was just going over some things that never meant anything to me before but now they are important terms. See in 2010 I was laid off and took a online skills class through the unemployment offices in Illinois. If I completed the classes I would not only get a computer, a laptop but also a printer. Of course I passed and was one of the keynote speakers at the luncheon for the people who donate to keep the program alive. I have certification in Microsft Word and now know other phrases. Like what is a gigabyte. Before I got my computer I never knew what that was. My friend Ms. Angela Francis has a broadband stick that I she let me use before I moved into my apartment. I have been downloading digital copies of movies to my laptop so I can take them anywhere. I want to do skype or oouvoo but have no one to do them with. I am the host of my own internet ...

Good morning and Happy Friday. As we get ready for the weekend I think back to when I was a teeenager. Before FM radio was popular my friends and I used to listen to music on the radio. Among my favorites was Smokey Robinson and the Miracles who sang Love Machine, LTD who sang Concentrate on You, and Rufus featuring Chaka Khan singing Sweet Thang. I grew with a Mother who sings incredibly and I love music. So as I grew up I have listened to rock and roll, jazz, funk, country, hip hop and straight gangsta rap. Although I had a eight track ( yes I had a eight track cartridges, ) and cassette tapes when I was younger I used to love the radio. Even as I eventually listened to FM radio there was something the radio offered that the tapes I had could not give me. One of them was the disk jockey who played the song and also gave you the name of the record and who recorded it. But the other reason I used to love the radio was because I could hear my favorite songs throughout the who...

Good morning and Happy Monday. Brand new week. Brand new attitude. The past is the past. The future is unlimited. My theme for the month is Winning in July and our base scripture for the month is Joel 2:18-27. So as I was think back to when I was younger I always had a fascination or a fear of things. I was fascinated by the smell of the bakery that we used to smell as we traveled to the West Side to go to church. I was fearful of doing wrong because my parents did not spare the extension cord. I was fascinated at how much information I thought schools had on Black History. I was fearful that one day I would not achieve all my dreams. I was fascinated with comic books and baseball cards. I was fearful of my Grandfather when he drank. So this was a common theme for me but one thing I was fearful of and fascinated with was a bridge. I often wondered how the people would put their trust to walk or drive over a bridge and would love to look down and see the water as we pass over. In this...

Good morning and Happy Friday. As we get closer to the end of the month I had been doing some thinking about the past. My Father used to work twelve hour days almost 7 days a week. He was not one for watching television as he either slept or did his crossword puzzle when he got home. Sure he asked how we were doing and also kept tabs on my sister Lisa and Gloria as they stayed on the West Side with their Mothers, But one memory that me and my sister Angela share of my Dad is that he loved one particular TV show. This show was Perry Mason. Perry Mason was a fictional lawyer who defended those who were being tried for murder. Perry would more times than not get his client off the hook for murder. He only lost 3 cases in looking up facts for this blog. His nemesis/foe was the Disstrict Attorney named Hamiltion Berger. When Hamilton or Perry Mason were questioning witnesses if they thought one was going over the line the yelled, " I Object ". Today in this blog I have some thin...

Good morning and Happy Monday. Brand new week. Brand new attitude. The past is the past. The future is unlimited. Growing up we used to love to take pictures. Maybe not myself because I had a self confidence problem, but everywhere you went there was someone taking pictures. In grammar school we took pictures every week. In high school we took them every year. At church we took pictures. In the club we took pictures as a group to show we all went to a party. Most of the pictures we took were with a Polaroid camera which had great quality then. But if you wanted the best pictures you wanted the photographer to take your pictures. This was one of the coolest professions back then because all the ladies who wanted to be models or actresses had to go to the photographer to get that photo to take to the different agencies to show how they look. So in order to get the best quality the photographer had to go someplace where he could get the best results. It was his Dark Room. This is the na...

Good morning and Happy Friday to all. As we move towards the middle of the month I have finally moved to the city and it seems a lot different from where I moved from. In Homewood Illinois which is a suburb of Chicago the neighborhood is a quiet as a mouse on a Friday nignt. There are people out and about but they are driving or riding in cars because public transportation is non existant this late. Going to the Subway sandwich shop you can place your order and lean on the counter as you look at what you want on your sandwich. There are wild animals as you may see deer, rabbits and when it gets cold out there was a raccoon that came in to the attic area and made his home there. I would sometimes just sit on the porch and could fall asleep if I was not careful. One night while sitting on the porch I heard a sound but I could not see where is was coming from or who it may have been. By me having a background in security I quickly rose to my feet and asked , " Is there anybody out ...

Good morning everyone. Brand new week. Brand new attitude. The past is the past. The future is unlimited. As we begin the second week in July I think about some of the things in my past. I used to have me a pet rock and it did nothing but sit there. I painted the pet rock different colors and gave it a distinguished look among my friends who at that time also had a pet rock. Before I had gotten my pet rock there other things that were important in my life such as comic books, baseball cards and even penny candy. My sisters, Gloria Jean and Angela Michelle and myself would pig out on nut chews, lemon cookies and wine candy. But as what happened with the pet rock, the comic books the baseball cards and other things of the past in my life they had been replaced by newer things. When we accept the call as being a Christian there should be a change in your life. No matter if you accepted and was baptized when you were younger or on yesterday, there should be a metamorphisis ( Uh oh big wo...

Good morning and Happy Friday. Well today I want to tell you a little about myself. I grew up in a house and a enviroment where we loved to laugh. Laughter was part of my houeshold, my school and my peers. My Mom loved shows like Carol Burnett, Laugh In or Flip Wilson. As a child I liked the Three Stooges, the Little Rascals and could even watch Laurel and Hardy,  Abbott and Costello or even the Marx Brothers. As a teen and growing up I laughed at Pee Wee Herman Rudy Ray Moore, Richard Pryor, Bill Cosby, Eddie Murphy and one of my favorites being Robin Harris ( I aint even the man sitting next to the man, I love it still ). As an adult I loved Friday and  Beverly Hills Cop. My sons and his generation love to laugh at Kevin Hart, Adele Givens and Bernie Mac and watch movies like Think like a man. Although some of the comedians I mentioned have some raunchy material I know that for all of us laughter is good for the soul. It at times is a...

Good morning and Happy Monday. Brand new month. Brand new attitude. The past is the past. The future is unlimited. I am so excited about the month of July. In America we celebrate our indepedence this month. In Illinois there are a lot of state fairs going on in the smaller more rural towns. In Chicago it is the first full month of summer for the youth to be out of school. This is actually the first full month of summer as well and the days get hotter and the activities are more focused on outdoor things like softball, running, biking and even sailing. For most of us this is the time that we show off our body to others to see how we kept in shape or how we got into shape. This is aslo the beginning of the second half of the year. The first 6 months have probably been trying for some as death, layoffs, health issuse and other setbacks may have arose. For others it may have been just a great 6 months as marriages, births and graduations may have happened. But no matter what may hav...