Street. Smart.

OK, Finally going to dive back into throwing words into cyberspace. Normally, the time I spend away from blogging comes from my life getting a little too hectic to jot anything down... I wish that was the case this time around. Truth be told, there were a couple of things that took over my thoughts for a while... every time I sat down to write it ended up being about the exact same topic. No matter how hard I tried to pen something witty or interesting, the product was depressing and (admittedly) a little bitter. While I'm never sure anyone is ever truly interested in what I write, I know that no one wanted to read about what was on my mind then. Let's hope that this comes out a little bit differently.
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At work the other day, a guy was joking around and made a crack about how he wasn't "smart," he was just good at memorizing things. If he were smart then he'd lose all his street cred. Not going to front, I laughed... it's funny because it's true. Later on I took a step back and gave that statement some serious thought. When exactly did it become cool to ride the short bus? Think about it for a bit. Think back, way back to when you still had recess... think about the smartest kid in the class... now think about how much shit that kid got. Ever wonder why?

When I was in college I got the chance to hear Spike Lee speak ( but not at my school, because we were too busy dropping cash on Lil' Wayne) and he mentioned that way back when, [music was music, and soda was only a nickel, blah blah] there were 3 guys that were always respected: The athlete, the mac, and the genius. So at which point did being smart become so uncool? Jump-shot? Yes. Pipe-game? Yes. Full-ride-to-an-ivy-league? Not in my hood. Interesting mentality isn't it?

Most folks figure out somewhere down the road that being intelligent isn't a hindrance after all. Of course, by the time they figure it out there isn't any hope for that 1.7 GPA. Nothing left to do at that point but grab a squeegee or an apron. Saddest part of it all is that with a bit of motivation, and maybe some acceptance, things could have turned out entirely different for a countless number of people. Don't misconstrue these statements. I know that every neighborhood of every city is full of intelligent individuals; they know it, too... I'm just wondering when being bright will come back in style.

... ah well, maybe there will be room after skinny jeans.
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Twenty. Ten.

Haven't written in quite some time... Though that's not really unusual for me.

I'm not going to make resolutions for the new year (because I can't remember a single resolution I ever stuck with). . . and I'm not going to make any promises or anything to the like, but I am going to challenge myself.

One thing I truly admired about some folks I met in '09 was their ability to continue doing things that made them happy -- regardless of what anyone else thought. The more I look out into the world, the more I see a ton of people all doing the same thing. Far too many of us are drones. We continue to live based solely on the expectations of those around us.

Challenge for 2010 -- Do something that makes you happy. Do something that others said you could not. Do something regardless of the blank stares you get when someone else learns of your plan.

The world is full of experiences yet to be had. . . why wait?