I got a place to live!!!

It's all coming together!
Yeah.
I'll be staying in Evanston, which is funny cause at first I didn't really want to.
And I'm also paying more than I wanted, but it's all good gee.
And I'm not moving in  until Aug 15, which is later than I wanted.
So basically I kinda got a place that I wasn't looking for.
My place is gonna be dope, hopefully.

I just don't have anything, well I have a bed, tv, and a dresser. But I don't have any furniture or anything really for my apartment. But to say the most I'm pretty excited, and ready to get outta this place.....like you don't even know........

I think about that place everyday, how it'll be my place, I know I can go to it and not be bothered with anyone. I'm just excited for the most part.......

--------
this summer I'm weirdly becoming a 'reading machine', at least when it comes to books. I've read a second book and now on my third.
I think I just need to find stuff that interest me. Novels do not. that's for sure. haha, more realistic, life applicable stuff works for me I think.
My second book is called Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea by Charles Seife.

It basically chronicles the history of the idea of zero (or the idea of void, nothingness) which also brings about the idea of infinity. But this books gave a pretty good history of not only the number zero, but also mathematics, which I think is really interesting for me going to be a teacher, because I didn't know this stuff at first. now I can share random tidbits with my students such as Pythagoras was part of a secret society of mathematicians/philosophers who totally killed a guy for talking about irrational numbers....or that Indians started Algebra, but it really didn't catch on until the Muslims took over the Western world..

This books is also interesting because it connects the idea of math, philosophy, and religion, which some people may see as separate things nowadays. I think this book just showed me that people were really invested in math, because it was closely connected to their beliefs of life, and that really why the stuff we study has stuck around for so long. Not so much that it's all actually true. I mean people had arguments over math.

Anyway I loved reading the book, it just showed me math is rooted in humanity and its not just this abstract stuff that came outta no where, which I guess is the point I would also like to demonstrate to my students as a result from reading this book.

--------
also Big Brother 13 started a week ago. This cast has 3 black people, one which got voted off today. yeah.
Started with 8 newbies, and 6 veteran returning to the house and tons of twists. I'm def not going to be updating here or anywhere about the show. Not as invested as I used to be, but I'll be watching.....

alright
Random Picture Time:

i thought this was funny...

tis all
PEACE & CHICKEN GREASE!!!

Stereotypes

I guess this post is gonna get a little serious on ya. like for real.

Recently when discussing with my academic advisor about the prospect of me doing a  senior thesis,
she encouraged me to do it, ya know to broaden my experience, and just in general she wants me to do research, because she feels I'm "gifted" ( I mean I am, what can I say)
but one point she made that struck me was that I should do it because I'm a
black male. 

After conversing with her, and thinking about whether I wanted to do the senior thesis, it really hit me, why do I have to do something because I'm black?, like that's kinda not the way I operate in life. And it made me realize how sometimes, which mean alot, I forget that I'm  a black male, and that I kinda came against all odds and whatnot to be where I am. It's really mind blowing.

Ya know I don't see myself as a black male the way other people see black males. When I look in the mirror, I see a guy who happens to be black. But this doesn't mean I dont recognize or take pride in my blackness, because I very much do. You know I'm proud of the history of black people in America and of my culture. But I guess sometimes I kinda forget that fact that I'm different than the majority of Americans, my langauge is different, my beliefs are different, my culture is different.

I'm thinking about it more today because in my Teach Ed class, today we talking about identity, and that's something that I guess I always wondered about concerning race. Just because I identify myself as something doesn't mean other won't view me as the opposite. Because there's stereotypes that exist about people who look like me. And me exhibiting some of those stereotypes only reinforces what people think to be true, so how do I explain to someone all people like me don't act like that, without you know totally disassociating myself from the group as a whole. I know all of this is probably general, but I'm blurting out stuff.

but more and more, each day I'm realizing how special my situation is (and it's only by the grace of God, that I've been able to do things I have done, and such). Like many black males aren't in my situation of being in college, & basically my life and career plan. and thinking about how if I were my brothers age and having someone who's going through what I will eventually go through,  that would have been so inspiring, yet, I did it all without that role model, without someone to be the model for me. You know now I get it ( and by now i meant when I first thought of this). That me living my life is actually less about me, and more about the legacy and the model I leave behind.

And thinking about my career as a math teacher, I will be a representation for students,  especially black male students, that black males can do math. and again thinking about if I had a black male math teacher, at least one time in my schooling, what would that have done for me? but still then I made it without that teacher.

This brings up the question of  thats why I "forget" I'm black, have I assimilated so much in to the dominant culture, that I subconsciously am unaware of race in my situation. was this because no real black role models in education were present? I don't know.

This is the problem with identification of self, ya know do I identify myself with how other people view me, or should I go with what other view me as, since these stereotypes are going to forever exist. Or am I just an exception to the rule? I don't know.

But I do know I will forever be a black man.and I have to realize I'm different, I'm gonna be viewed as different, different things are going to be expected of me just because I'm a black male. and that will affect all aspects of my life. and it's something I gotta deal with.......FOREVER...
yeah............

*sorry I got really deep and typed so much, maybe you read it all, maybe ya didn't it really don't matter......this was more for me........even though there's no way to really answer any of this........*

PEACE & CHICKEN GREASE!

Hey, hey, hey, hey

What's up, world? (omg! I'm talking to the world right now)
here's updation on things...

Dreamgirls on Live and on Stage

WAS AMAZING! yes! I loved it.
Effie was played by some lady who was in the lion king musical Moya Angela (i looked these up after the fact)
Deena by some girl from American Idol  Syesha Mercado
Curtis played by Chaz something or another......Chaz Lamar Shepherd

but the best character (I don't know if it was the way it was written or just his portrayal) was Jimmy (Eddie Murphy's character) played by some guy Chester Gregory . He was so hilarious, but he could actually sing, like really, as could everyone in the musical though, but he was basically star (after Effie of course).

I found this ten times better than movie, like there's things you can do in a live production that you just can't do in a movie because of time, money, and general presence of a tv. and there were so many things that I never got in the movie that totally made sense in the musical (weird).

speaking of the term musical, this was an actually MUSICAL. there were very few actual lines. and even things they could have probably said was sung. and I liked it all!.
I kinda want to see it again.....but that requires money (and ME probably going by myself...cuz people are lames)

k3 STRIKE UPDATION

apparently the teachers and the district have come to a tenative agreement, they will vote tomorrow on whether it will become the new contract. if so, class will began again on Monday (i'm so jealous a whole week off of school.)

Top 4 Reasons Why you don't scare black people




so basically you gon get "KNOCKED THE F#$% OUT!" as Smokey would say.

(Let this be a warning to anyone trying ot scare me, I am a black person and will therefore probably react in a similar fashion to those black people in the above video )

alright that's it....
Have a great day/weekend/week/month/year (whenever is the next time I update or you happen to read my blog again)

PEACE & CHICKEN GREASE!!!!

Youtube Mania: Mixing it up.

Just some favorite I saw over break.

1. Darin Atwater - "He's Got the Whole World in his Hands"



Remember those videos with Soulful Symphony, forgot to post this one last time. Just the choir and piano this time. Beautiful rendition.

2. "Emmanuel" - UAPB Gospel Choir



Although Christmas is over, I loved this version of this song! I had chills, and felt exactly what they felt in that video. Amazing!...

3. Never Steal A Fat Black Kids Ramen Noodles!



Sorry for all the F words (change of pace from the gospel videos, i know). But this was way too hilarious to me! Had to post it. I know how he felt though, dem Ramen Noodles be the shizznit. And I would put it on everything (including my grandma's grave, jk) if someone stole my noodles. hahahahah omg!

4. Weird Water Experiment



Kool, sciency thingy. So what, I'm a dork?!. I got to Northwestern.....

5. The Clark Sisters -"Jesus is a Love Song"



This song is a least in my head once a day....most of the time it's just that long note she holds around 4:45,
Love this song though.

Last post before the New Year,
so enjoy the last days of '09,
and welcome with open arms those of 2010.

PEACE & CHICKEN GREASE!!!!

Y'tube Mania: WTF?!

I don't know what's going on in the world today,
but lately, the only videos I have been seeing
give me the reaction to yell out: "WTF?! 
Are you serious, what is wrong with you? who is yo' mama, cuz I will call her up right?....etc... "
[you get my conkerdoodle]

1. 13 Most Ridculous Things About I am....Yours



So over thanksgiving break, I watched Beyonce's lil' special and there was definitely some moments I was like WTF? is this chick stupid? (I've come to that conclusion she is). I think this talks about the whole DVD in general, which I haven't seen, but it has some parts that were showed on television, and that made me say WTF?!

2.  How to Eat Chicken Wing



I was to busy staring at how good them chicken wings was lookin, fo' real, [I'm still droolin] to think that this video actually exist. If you need help on how to eat a chicken wing, you don't be hungry. AND WTF?! how you gon' tell me how I eat chicken wing is wrong (even though you get all the meat his way, i mean in fact it makes sense). Plus I don't be havin time to do all that  when I be hungry, I just want food.

3.  Jamaican Video Dating



I have no idea what this dude was saying, cuz I was too distracted by how he was looking. WTF?! do you know brush yo teef. and you might want to see a dentist. Also what's up with the hair. You might want to get those things checked out before you start dating, just fyi.

4. Screamgirls: Whitney Houston, Beyonce, Jamie Foxx



Okay. Hilarious. Etta James' voice:  I LOVE. If only the real dreamgirls had been like this. hahahaha
what made me say WTF?! (besides all the crazy things happening in the actual video) you can make videos like this, like the people looked just the celebrities it was kinda creepy, but kool. So this is not a bad WTF?! it was just like omg! you can do that.

5. Hey Mister Jackson: Diana Ross & Debbie Rowe




Another video like Screamgirls. Loved this one more though. My WTF?! why did they have Joe Jackson looking like that. That was all.  (btw I love the dancing in these videos)

6. Crazy girl on Train- Original Subtitles



WTF?! I think this girl was high on sum'in, why you gon talk to an old lady like that seriously?. But then again we don't know how that old lady was looking at her.......also I was like WTF?! is Soulija Boy really that popular? that people sing all his song like that...damn. oh did I mention this was hilarious.

Okay that's it.
PEACE & CHICKEN GREASE!!!

Blackface.

 IS NOT COOL. for any reason. people find it offensive. so you shouldn't do it.

If you haven't heard two NU students dressed up in blackface for Halloween, or should I say as black people, not sure of their intention, but it definitely came off as blackface.

I don't think they should have done it. I would like assume that those gentlemen didn't know about the history of blackface, and maybe that's why they felt it was alright. I would hope that it wasn't supposed to be a stereotype of black people. But this just demonstrates the  lack of awareness people have about race on the NU campus.

I myself am not that upset at the incident. I just hope people know that blackface not cool. And I expected people, especially the black community, to get upset about something like this. I think it was kinda stupid for them to post the pictures on the facebook. but hey.

there's supposed to be a discussion of the blackface tomorrow, educating people about it. I myself didn't know that much about it. If you want info now you can check wikipedia, as I did.

yes this was a serious post. I will do that from time to time.

PEACE & CHICKEN GREASE!

Youtube Mania

I think I should totally stop watching youtube videos, 

but that'll never happen as long as they exist.

But here's some I found rather hilarious/interesting. 

Hope you do too! 

Don't Ever Scare Black People

Yes, Please don't scare black people, cuz they will kill you punch you in the face.

A Goofy Movie: Stand Out + Eye to eye

I watched this, and it just made me want to watch this movie. This is one of my favorite Disney movies of 

all time, besides all the usual (Lion King..). Oh, the actual person singing is '90s R&B singer, Tevin Campbell. 

Piano stairs - Rolighetsteorin.se - The fun theory

This was really kool. I think though I would still take the escalators. I mean, I really like escalators. When I get my money, I'm gon have them instead of stairs in my house. 

 

Wrong Hole with DJ Lubel, Taryn Southern and Scott Baio

My Friend, Sean, showed me this video. Quite hilarious. btw Loved the random black lady!

aight that's it. 

PEACE & CHICKEN GREASE!

Once Upon a time...

there was this guy named Adrian

who had this blog

and he really didn't know what to update about....

and he really didn't want to update...

but he rather update this do his homework

because he was a procrasintator and also very lazy

he'd rather think about doing homework

than actually doing it

because that would take too much work

but as he began to type

thoughts came to his mind about what he could update about

and this is what he wrote:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

The Cleveland Show

it just watched the pilot episode.
it was okay, closer to being on the side of  really terrible.
It wasn't really funny, not really like family guy...
but I give it some slack since it was the pilot episode...
I'll probably watch one more then if it's still terrible I won't care anymore...

but ya know you just don't see cartoons with many black people in it (like most tv shows)
so I have to give it a try.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Classes.....

Suck ass! a literally they are a pain in the butt (like they give me hemorrhoids). I just wish they were over, but the funny thing is....that it is only week 2 (hahahaha). I mean for one, I don't want to wake up and listen to you talk to me about whatever the hell you be talkin' bout ( I mean I don't be listenin). And for B, I don't want to do homework or read anything. Really I don't want to do anything but chill. But that's not possible so I'm just gonna complain about it until it's all over (that means never..)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That's it,
I guess I'm off to do homework (or at least think about doing it).
Until then,

PEACE & CHICKEN GREASE!!

WTF?!

so you probably know about Kanye crazy self at the VMA's &

also Lil Mama. I'm not gonna give my opinion on that foolishness. I'll just say

WTF?!

though here's some funny parody pics of both of their antics.....

(btw RIP Patrick Swayze, I just wanna watch Ghost right now)...

okay this last one is really hilarious.....

another WTF moment. ....

Serena Williams threatening people. WTF?!....control yo tempa woman............

....whoa.....I mean I'm just saying I would never want to have moment in my life where Serena would be screaming at me the way she is in this video....I'm just saying have you seen her....whoa..

okay one more...

First, I hate Ohio State (because it's not Northwestern) so this make this video even more hiliarious. What's sad about this is this is probably the highlight of this tuba player marching career, and dare I say

college career. WTF?! where you really moving that hard that you had to knock on the cameraman seriously.......

that's why Ohio State lost that game....dumbass....hahahah jk...

until next time...

PEACE & CHICKEN GREASE!

WTF?!

Found this on Mediatakeout.com

an Instant Rapper kit, complete with grills (haha). The only reason this is an WTF?! moment is because the guy in the picture is white, so they're definitely targeting white people. This is actually really funny.

*wait another WTF?!: this ish cost 10 bucks! bump that!*

========================================================
Usain Bolt breaks World Records 100M craziness




9.58 Seconds! WTF?! How can you run that fast! You have to run for a living or something (duh).

Question:Why do black people run so fast? (one of life's many unanswered questions) Will this mystery ever be explained? Probably not.

=======================================================
Chi-Town shut down for a day

WTF?! I have never heard this in my life. And they're supposed to do this a couple more times this year. It's was just weird when a whole city shuts down. All I know they need to get the financial stuff together...for reals....


yeha

PEACE & CHICKEN GREASE!!

Youtube Mania (yeha you know the deal)

1. song (video?) of the day: "Chillin' " Wale ft. Lady Gaga

I gravitated to this song because of Lady Gaga. But I really like Wale the more I listen to the song.
Couldn't get this outta my head today:

DC chillin, PG chillin
My name WALE and I came to get It
Came to get it, came to get it
My name Wale

(although it wasn't these exact words, but you get what I'm saying)

*Note: Why does Wale have a miniature Lady Gaga in his hand? What craziness!*

2. Granny Biscuits.



Found this on Brittny's blog. Too hilarious, I love Biscuits though....


3. Whitney Houston- Million Dollar Bill (FULL, PERFECT MP3)

Here's Whitney new song from her anticipated comeback album: Million Dollar Bill. Definitely old school-ish (it's all in the bass) . Chorus is catchy, if I listen to it enough times I'll definitely like it more.

*For some strange reason, vid is 5 mins long, even though the song is only actually 3 and something...too lazy to change it...so yeha..




4. The Whitest kids u'know-Dear black people



Searched Youtube with "black people" (see black people is bolded) and this was one of the resulting videos.
Too funny for words. This just cracked me up!

5. Funny Black People (Black Nerd Tribute)

My eyes saw Black Nerd, so I clicked on it. Dude is pretty good impressionist. Funniest one was def Whoopi. yeha...watch it.



That's it!
PEACE & CHICKEN GREASE!!

Who actually needs a title? just read...

BB Updation

so ol girl, umm Laura , from the Popular clique went home. Ironically I thought she would be the most likely to win (see how wrong I was), but this was before the first episode. cuuz there was vids of all the cast online, and I watched them. She just seemed the most determined, and was like she came to win soo I thought she would. But she went home mainly becasue she ran her mouth too much, she was talking smack about the HOH, Ronnie, not such a good thing. So she went home, NOT Russell. I think that may come to bite back Ronnie in the butt, actually I think he might be going home next week but who knows, crazy big brother.

Yeha, he might not go home, because Jessie is HOH (again, ughhhh)..and they're supposed to be in a alliance, but who knows well see. Most def on Tuesday.

=================================================================

VBS Updation

Last day was on Friday, it was an okay program, not as many children came back that was there doing the week. That seems to happen every year, but what can you do?. ummmm it was good though. I'm definitely glad it's over, cuz it was kinda stressful, but not THAT stressful. It was also TIRING. but now I don't have nothing (ooo double negative) to do per say...but I'll figure that out. I'm thinking about joining the choir thing for a musical at my church, but I don't know if I want to...we'll see....but for VBS that's it....

===========================================================

Eagle Eye

Saw this movie today, one word: CRAZINESS!!. Omg! This movie was ridiculous in the beginning, got kinda boring, predictable towards the end. I won't reveal to much of it. but Shia LaBaeof and this other lady (Michelle Monaghan...???) are seen as terrortists, and are basically running for their lives. Basically it's a set up. But by who? Pretty good movie, got and kept my attention.


==========================================================

Black In America: Part 2.

Watched the first part of this. and I guess it was better than the last one, can't remember what "Part 1" was like. But you know there was def a theme this time: Tommorrow Leaders. Basically showed people who are preparing and those becoming those Leaders. There was a small shout-out ,if you will, to NU. One of the people from the show who was of main focus, is (went?) to Kellogg, so that was really kool to see. I think it also gave a more diverse specturm of what it means to be black in America than what I remember from the first one. pretty kool, I guess.

They're supposed to be doing a Latino in America also....interesting.....my question is should they do a White in America? Or do we all already know that story!

===========================================================

NU Football Season

Just wanted to say I am so excited for the upcoming football season at NU! (for the 70th time). triggered by a football game. the Big Ten Network showed the game '08 against Illinois (our rivarly, and interestingly the nearest Big Ten School to my house). We won this game. and It just got me so excited to watch the game and see our football team winning (all that purple), and also to faintly hear the band in the background....it's just way to amazing. I saw a clip of the band once, like 2 second clip of the band, and I went crazy!

Here's highlights of the game, awesome!



Just mucho excited! AHHHH!
GO 'CATS!!!

Movie Rambling...

so since I haven't been up to much
I have been watching tons & tons of stuff,
including movies (with On Demand and such).
Here's a list of ones I thought was worth mentioning...

*sidenote: Don't think I updated about this on here, but me and my friends decided to come up with a Black Movie List ( I think the official title is Black-tackular...). A Black Movie is movie where the main character(s) are black...basically (at least to me) there has to me 3 or more main black characters...but anywayz some movies will be Black-tackular worthy...so that's what that means.*

1. Double Platinum

this movie stars Diana Ross & Brandy, came out in the '90s. Anywayz I found this movie highly enjoyable (more than I expected I guess). I mean there was singing and even a little drama. oh, the plot, so Diana Ross is Brandy's mother. Diana Ross is a star, and Brandy is an upcoming one. (yeha so they get to sing). But I enjoyed it. I think it's definitely Black-tackular worthy.

2.Final Destination

watched this one On Demand. I was looking for something with drama and thrill, and I thought this would be it. Okay, It Def was. so that airplane scene was crazy, wait the whole movie was crazy. I feel like someone has to be crazy/suicidal to think of different ways for people to die. Though, I do want to watch the rest of the series now. But I def had to watch something funny after this (even though it wasn't that scary)...just so I would think about it. It was actually a "scary" movie and not gory.

3.The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings

Yes, a long title = hilarity. Really enjoyed this film. Kinda old, came out in the '70s (as you see I don't try to get correct dates, who cares?). But it stars Billy Dee Williams & James Earl Jones (Love how it's their whole names) who are pretty young in this film, at least compared to now. It's basically a sports movie (baseball), but actually really funny. At first I didn't really get the humor (idk sometimes I'm really slow). But this is most def black-tackular worthy.

4. Fantastic four 2: Rise of the Silver Surfer

I remember seeing the first one, and I thought it was pretty awesome (at least what I could remember of it) but I found the sequel to be really lame (per usual). I don't know it wasn't exciting to me at all. It sucked. One funny thing: I forgot Kerry Washington's character was blind, I was just like what happened to her?! cuz she had such a funny look on her face. Then someone said something and I was like oh she's blind. Other than that really didn't like it. I know what it was. It got to outer spacey. yeha.......

5. Cube

Okay really enjoyed this movie. About seven people who find themselves in place full of cubes. And basically try to escape. That's all I have to say. It was a pretty good movie though. It really interested me, the math involved in the movie (cuz I'm geek......). If there was more black people in this movie it would definitely be black-tackular (i think one of the guys was mixed....maybe he might've been hispanic or something). but it's not soooooo.....

6. Waterworld

Also, another movie I really loved. Basically the polar caps melted and now humans live on water, no land in sight. Basically its like generation, and generations after they melt, so like people are used living on the water. In fact, people start to mutate to like fish-men. Stars some white guy (sorry not good with names). I had to look this up. Kevin Costner. Really enjoyed this movie though. I actually don't think there was any black people in this movie (guess we wouldn't surivive if the polar caps melted....hahaha...). I didn't think about that till now. Like I do watch movie without black people.


anywayz, that my movie rambling.
if you read all that, then you're amazing!!!
if you didn't, then you're probably not reading this right now.

PEACE & CHICKEN GREASE!!

Random Post

hey world,
who's ever listening out there....
u should read what i write here...

so i went home for Memorial Day weekend,
which also turned out to be my Dad's birthday weekend (but i forgot about
that cuz im a terrible son)
yeha my cousin also graduated on Sunday, so she had a party at her house...and
i saw all my fam and stuff...it was cool.....

oh my cousin told me this..
"omg! is a white phrase..
black people should start saying osn!
it stands for 'oh, shit nigga' "
(although i dont really don't like that word that much to use it in a daily phrase)
maybe i will...(probably not)

while at home, i watched the movie Obsessed

on bootleg...(yeha i did it)
i thought beyonce did a pretty good job, she's starting to come into her own i guess,
the movie actually made me sorta mad, but it did a good job. it was very predictable, but expected.

i also watched another movie today (whoa this totally made became a movie rambling)
called Watermelon Heist,

i saw it on Hulu (<---find it here), people thought it was really racist and what not,but i thought it was pretty funny....you should watch it, tell me what you think...

also couple days ago
I watched the pilot episode of a new Fox show that will air in the Fall,
Glee

i thought it was pretty interesting. the singing was great, and i see the potential for a great show. will definitely be checking upon this show come the fall. Should be interestin

what else can i update about? hmmmm....yeah this gonna be a long post (maybe)...

so this summer what am i gonna do?
im not sure.....really not.....i have this problem ever summer....
makes my life so more complicated....

(look it's a sunflower. it supposed to be a picture of summer, yeha sunflowers remind me of summer in some strange, country, farmer way. whew!! they rock the socks off my rocks!!)

okay i'm done....
catch you on the flip-side...
PEACE & CHICKEN GREASE!!!