When to speak, when to be quiet

I kinda see what they’re trying to do – folks like Rev. Wright, and now Rep. John Lewis, want to kind of speak up on behalf of Obama.  But sometimes, it backfires, and ends up just looking bad for Obama.  In the case of John Lewis, I think it kind of looks bad, but at the same time it seems like it worked – McCain’s acting a little nicer lately…

I don’t know – I’m rambling…  i’ll just be glad when this daggone election is over.. :)

Hooray for Presley!

Boxers Ruuuule!!!!!!!!


Presley & Travis won the Greatest American Dog show! I've been cheering for them the whole time.



Presley did such a good job! I know how high-energy Boxers can be. (as of this moment, I just finished trying to drain some of Kwali's energy with one of our tug-of-war games) He really did well to be only 16 months old. And I think it's fitting that a puppy would win the challenge - cuz really, don't all our dogs show their puppy moments all throughout their lives?



One of the best moments, I think, is when Presley did like a 17 minute stay! I was so glad for Travis when I he decided to release Presley from the stay, even though it meant losing that particular event.



And one of the most heart-warming moments was this one (left), where Presley buries his head in Travis chest while the judges talk about his lack of focus. As if to say, "I'm sorry, Dad... I tried.... I really tried...." awwwwww....



Okay, I know y'all are out there laughing at me, but so what - Boxers rule!!!!!

Hooray for Kwali!

This morning was a big morning for Kwali. These days whenever both my wife and I are out of the house, Kwali gets put in his crate until we return, to avoid him destroying the house the way dogs sometimes do. But, he's almost 2.5 years old now, so I figured it was time to start experimenting with new levels of responsibility. This morning when my wife and I went to breakfast, we let Kwali stay out of the crate, confined only to the lower floor of the house. We were gone for about 1.5 hours...

gulp.....

this was big test, but.... Kwali passed! We got back and started looking around to see what he had destroyed - nothing! We were so proud - gave him 2 treats for that one! Hooray for Kwali!

Can't wait!

I can't wait to see the new Batman movie - I know it's gon' be sweeet, I just know it!

Something for your DVR

Interesting info that I got in an email - I will be checking it out:

Sent: Tuesday, July 08, 2008 4:21 PM
Subject: FW: CNN - July 23 & 24... Mark your Calendar

Did you know that companies in the US have said they would hire awhite man with a felony record and no high school education BEFORE theywould hire a black man with NO criminal record and a 4-year degree?

On July 23 at 9pm and July 24 at 9pm ET, CNN will premier a series, 'Blackin America with Soledad O'Br ien' and I personally challenge you towatch it WITH your children, especially your sons, if you have any,uninterrupted. The aforemention statistic and many others will be revealed during theseries.

I had the privilege of meeting with Soledad O'Brien and actually SEEINGthis premier on Monday, and what I saw brought tears to my eyes andanguish, frustration, and a sense of helplessness to my soul.

On Monday the series will focus on Women and Families and Tuesday is dedicated entirely to the plight of the Black Man in America..

I beg and plead with you PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE watch and internalizewhat you see and hear; no matter HOW disturbing the informationrevealed...you can (and will) thank me later.Feel free to pass this email on or go here for more information: http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2008/black.in.america/

Rockwell...

I always feel like
Somebody's watching me......

Dinner in my backyard??

A month or so ago, I had this big plant growning in my backyard. Looked like a weed to me. When the guys that cut my grass came by, I told them to be sure to yank out that big weed in the backyard. One of them asked, "Are you sure? You don't want to eat that?"





What???!!! Ricardo does not eat anything growing in his backyard! That includes the grapes that grow from the vines on my pergola. Although I suppose they're all edible, I'm just not that type of person. That just ain't me... :)



Anyway, he went on to explain that what was apparently growing wild in my backyard was a plant called "poke" that some folks eat like greens! He yanked it out and said he was considering taking it to his uncle to have him boil it. I thought that was pretty weird, but I just now looked it up, and wouldn't you know he was right! :)

I still ain't eating it, tho..... :)

Landscape lighting

Tried to take some shots of my landscape lighting at night with the digital SLR and the tripod. The shots below were taken with no flash.

Man, I wish I knew how to do this photography stuff! I'm sure a professional photographer could've gotten a much nicer-looking shot than what I did. This one seems too dark in the dark spots and too bright in the bright spots:

On this one, the camera somehow found way more light than was even there in real life! Amazing! And yet, not the look I was going for:

I thought maybe Photoshop could help me tweak them to make them look more like real life, but alas I don't really know what I'm doing in that realm either. :)

The real issues...

from www.blacknews.com

I just had to post this...

Just saw this quote, and i had to post it...

"The war on drugs targets poor people experimenting with street level drugs,but is funded by rich people addicted to pharmaceuticals..."

-anonymous ?

Dim light shots

Well, I got myself a tripod so I could test out some of the non-flash or low-light capabilities of my camera. And Kwali as always was ready to help out. He’s such a good model! :-) He sat almost perfectly still while I took a no-flash shot with the lights on:

As well as one with the lights off:

I think the lights-off one looks a little more artistic with the light coming in from the other room. Way to go Kwali! :-)

btw – I also took an outdoor shot. Every year I have this one rose bush that blooms, but usually only stays alive for about a week before falling over dead (is that my fault???) So I try to take pictures of it before that dreadful day:

Here’s the same pic, zoomed in – I love megapixels! :-)

New camera

A co-worker convinced me to buy a new camera. Now that I’ve got it, I guess digital photography will be my new hobby. In particular, I’m developing a weird obsession for taking extremely close-up pictures (I think they call this macro photography):

And of course Kwali has graciously volunteered to model for me. I’ve already taken about 200 useless pictures of him just this weekend alone! As you can see he’s very patient with me. :-)

Gas prices 2008

It's funny - it's been almost three years since I last felt the urge to post something about the high gas prices. In my old post I put a funny picture that told the story pretty well, too - but this one really speaks the truth...

New local magazine

Hey, my homie and fellow DJ has just started a new local magazine call "The Taste of Mt. Vernon". He's got a website, too. Be sure to subscribe!

10 years and counting

May 2008 marks the 10-year anniversary of the Afrikan Student Union sit-in at The Ohio StateUniversity, protesting changes to the Office of Minority Affairs. At that time, it was called the longest-running sit-in in OSU history - perhaps it still holds that record.

Anyway, I was a part of that effort. Now that the 10-year anniversary is here, I feel like we should do something to commemorate it. However, I'm busy, and everyone else I know who was involved is also busy. Being a grownup sucks. :)

Well, at least I mentioned it here. If I'm lucky, I'll find the time to blog on the experience sometime this month. Stay tuned.