Country Ass Question of the Day

I'm from Augusta and my parents are from Lincolnton, GA. So there's a fair amount of country in my veins. I try to play it off sometimes. The accent is back in check. The clothes don't necessarily say Augusta. I've developed some fine dining habits. But sometimes it's just too apparent to ignore. I have a million stories about this. On to today's country ass question of the day...

The Setup: Friday Afternoon at the Wall Street job. I'm still in class in training nonetheless. My mom calls my cell and I pick it up whispering, thinking it may be an emergency... oh but it was

Me:Hello?!
Mom:HEEEEY BEH BEH!!!!! HOW MANY POUNDS IN A BUSHEL?

So at this point I'm immediately thinking - what in the hell are they buying that is still measured in bushels?

Me:I honestly have no idea. I can look it up real quick. What are y'all buying?
Mom:Crabs!

Country Grammar

Anybody out there still read this thing? NO? Good.

Anyways, I've always prided myself on my accent or lack thereof.. If you know a Georgia boy then you are aware it can get a little thick at times. Last summer in New York was my first real test and I seemed to pass ok. I'd go around to meetings with my manager and introduce myself and people would be like "You're really from Georgia? I'd have never known." And then my manager would say, "Just wait a while, it'll come out."

Well apparently there's no waiting for it to come out now. Several people have told me the twang is in full effect. There's nothing like asking a question in a room of 200 during training only to hear some Russian dude go "WTF did he just say?!"

Who to blame? My country ass roommates of the past year. Preciate it fellas. But on the bright side, I think the accent can actually get you some play up here. We shall see..

Falling Down

So I've fallen off the blogosphere yet again, driven away by the stress and chaos of moving to the last place I ever thought I'd end up - New York City. That alone is enough to drive someone crazy. But its been everything else in the past few weeks that has combined to nearly push me over the edge. I've visited places within myself recently that I never knew even existed and that I would rather never glimpse again.

What do you do when everything that you knew was - suddenly isn't? What do you do when you've spent your whole life having everything come so easy - and in a span of two weeks everything is so wrong that you feel like it may never be right again? What if you tried to live life never depending on someone else for fear they might let you down - and then when you felt you needed them most they did just that? What then happens if you've tried to go at everything alone - and then when you really are alone you have no one to turn to? What happens if you mess up and instead of stopping and fixing it right then - you just close your eyes and keep running to the point of no return? What if you missed out on the best things life had to offer because you were afraid to completely let go?

In a span of a few months, I went from the highest highs to the lowest lows and every point imaginable in between. If you read all of this and think the kid is going mad, no need to worry. I think the impending quarter-life crisis tends to do it to even the best of us.

What i've come to realize is that you can't make it through life alone and you damn sure can't trying to hold everything in and by playing it safe. So with a new station in life, I find it necessary to adopt a new attitude. No more safe choices. We run away from the familiar. More selfishness. We make shit happen today, damn tomorrow. Less logic, more emotion. Let the chips fall where they may.

So I guess I'll finally be getting some things off my chest. And through it all, maybe I'll share a story not about falling down - but about getting up.

Hello World

Anyone still out there? I doubt it.. Someone remarked a while ago that the blog trend pretty much seemed to have peaked and the blogspot landscape over the past few months seems to bear that out. Last Update: March, April, etc. - and mine was no different. So if anyone is reading this - Welcome back. If not - then this will just have to be somewhere for me to post my thoughts on the internet so I can feel important.

Where has your boy been? Didn't have anything that interesting to say. Didn't want to be shown up by some people who were really doing the damn thing (more on that in a minute). Too busy reveling in the amazing final few weeks of what has been the longest six years of my life.

And now it's over. And after sitting around doing absolutely nothing for a few weeks (I really wish this never had to end, maybe I'll hit the lottery) - I seem to have regained the swag. I got shit to say. I think I was too PC before, so within reason (gotta not offend the folks at the job) I'm sayin more of what's really on my mind in the future.

So let's catch up real quick:

1. I just realized that I never posted after I got back from Jamaica. Jamaica was 100% DOPE. The people, the land, the attitudes. Maybe I'll devote an entire blog soon to the splendor of Montego Bay, Negril, and all points in between.

2. I graduated!!!! Hells Yeah!! Everyone who saw me said I was smiling all week like crazy. May 7 - May 14 is easily in the top 2 for the greatest weeks of my life. I simply can't do it justice with words. Thanks to everyone who made it happen and for the crew who made this semester the best post-Morehouse. You know who you are.

3. Shoutouts to JSC and What Fresh Hell Is This!?! - There were a couple of weeks about a month and a half ago when yall were on like the blog equivalent of Kobe going for 80. Masterpieces day in and day out. Thank y'all for the great reads.

4. The I'm In Luv with a Stripper remix with Pimp C, Paul Wall, MJG, Too Short, and R. Kelly became the absolute greatest club song to get worked over to since the Whisper Song. Guaranteed fun everytime - Thanks T-Pain! Although R. Kelly's verse is really really disturbing.

5. What's old is new again - announcements coming soon perhaps after I check with someone.

6. I really need to find an apartment before I come home from work to my deluxe cardboard box. If you know somethin, pass it along.

7. Enigma started bloggin again! We gotta talk soon! And start working on our secret society! lol

8. The link below needs no introduction - you probably have already seen it. So hot that they went back and changed the last X-Men movie just to throw this in. You'll either love it or hate it. Starring someone many of us know and love (we'll call him Frank), as the Juggernaut.

The Juggernaut

Until next time.

Innocence Lost

Went to see Curious George yesterday with my nephew since he's always a good excuse to see a kids' movie that I want to see. Cute movie overall. A few thoughts...

1. Will Ferrell is the man! Even in a cartoon.

2. I walked out of that movie really wanting a monkey, although I'll settle for a dog.

3. Here cometh the rant - what the hell is up with product placements in a cartoon? Is nothing sacred anymore? I read a bunch of those books when I was little and not once do I recall George only eating Dole bananas. Really?! And The Man in the Yellow Hat drives a VW Jetta? Who knew? If I'm a 7 year old in about 10-15 years, I'll be sure to remember that when I'm looking to purchase a car.

4. Following up on 3 - what's good with Disney pimpin all of their classics on straight to DVD trash? The Lion King and Aladdin were fire, but Aladdin 3 and the Lion King 2 on DVD were absolutely not. And when I saw Bambi too, I lost all respect....

On that note, your boy is on vacay - hopefully back at you next week a few shades darker. A month plus til graduation!

Being a New Age Negro Is...

Growing up in Augusta, GA I eventually realized that there were essentially two types of black men around me:

1. Those who were doing something and would get out of Augusta (usually went to school, played ball, or joined the military)

2. Those who weren't doing a damn thing (and would end up stuck in Augusta, working at the mall, Wal-Mart, on the corner, etc.)

The absolute best part of coming to Morehouse for me was that it introduced me to an entire spectrum of black men that I never knew existed or at least that I would not have had the opportunity to interact with otherwise. Intellectual black man, preppy black man, militant black man, fake militant black man - you name it, he's at the House. Can't imagine who I'd be if I had chose Duke, Princeton, (or God forbid) Georgia Tech instead.

So anyways, over the 6 years that I've spent at and around Morehouse and the AUC, I've managed to pick up the mannerisms of a number of different people. Upon journeying home, the new me would inevitably raise eyebrows and draw greetings of "Hey Kanye!" or "What up Pharrell!" If nothing else, a good landmark for my drive towards FGB (a topic for another time).

I've managed to come to grips with the quirks and occasional contradictions that now compose my personality and describe them by jokingly calling myself "A New Age Negro." (It's a work in progress, please propose something else if offended by my use of "Negro") Anyways - I will be sharing them from time to time. Enjoy.

Being a New Age Negro Is:

-Wearing a lilac-colored shirt to a party, but being afraid to get gas in the West End lest somebody look at you funny.

-Riding down Ponce listening to the new Project Pat Gangsta Grillz mixtape while sipping a peach yogurt d-lite smoothie from Smoothie King.

-Finally getting over the fact that they changed Structure to Express for Men.

-Discovering Brooks Brothers for the first time.

-Realizing it's been over 3 years since you bought anything made by Roc-a-Wear, Enyce, or the like.

~W2

Driving 55 in ATL

Something that those of you who've enjoyed a stay in Atlanta can appreciate...

A group of Georgia State students entered this film in the Atlanta Campus Moviefest and won Best Comedy. The five-minute film explores that happens when a group of drivers obey the posted 55mph speed limit on I-285 aka "the perimeter."

A Meditation on the Speed Limit

BTW, you're definitely from or went to school in Atlanta if you know there's a HUGE difference between ITP and OTP.

~W2