The New Year: Prologue

Well...
The new year is almost here.
What a year 2007 has been! Unfortunately it has become the year that you almost want to forget. If there was a perfect analogy for the year 2007, it would be compared to: Having just woke up from a long night of binge drinking and come to realize that the one night stand you thought was hot...wasn't really hot. And that she (or it) left you a morning surprise in the crotch area.

That in a nutshell is how 2007 has been.

2007 had a lot of those moments that made you scratch your head and ponder..."For real...this is the most important [thing] affecting my life at this moment."

Personally, 2007 was nothing new. No rocking the boat moments. Besides not getting into any of the graduate schools I had applied for (which put me in a foul funk for a while there). I pretty much remained stationary, no new job (working on that), did not move (working on that also). Just stayed the same old Greg.

Now I thought about listing a bunch of New Year's Resolutions...but decided against that. Not because I don't believe in them, only that my New Year's Resolution are always the same every year, with a minor adjustments from time to time. If there are two things that I hope to accomplish by the end of 2008 would be: to travel (preferably out of the country) and win the lotto (which is apparently hard to do).

Well so long 2007...and hello sexy 2008.

Until next year

[photo source]

Christmas Office Party

So last night I attended my work's annual Christmas Party. And no matter how many time I attend these work gathering, I feel always awkward and uneasy. Meeting the owner (and signer of your paycheck), the people who work at the corporate office (who you mostly know through the phone and not face-to-face) and people that you have no idea who they are and where they came from. And on top of that, being the only person of color at the party....whew talk about standing out. hahaha

This year the party was held at the Outback Steakhouse. In previous years we've either dined at a fancy restaurants or had one of the finer restaurants cater us here at the Hampton Oaks Clubhouse, (which of course was transformed into a great dining hall before all the guest had arrived). But going in I thought that it was going suck.

So the party started at 5:30PM and of course I arrived around 6:10PM. I never like being on time to these kind of party, fashionable late....right! First thing I had noticed while driving was that I had forgotten to put the new sticker on my license saying that my tag was update (so basically I was riding around town with an expired tag...and that would suck big time if I got pulled over). When I arrived at the restaurant, I of course went around and did the customary greeting, handshakes, and hugs for everyone that was there and relaxing. The spread of appetizers that they had out was nice (not great but nice): cut up pieces of steak in some mushroom sauce, bang bang shrimp, stuffed mushroom, and other stuff that I don't remember.

And that was pretty much it...well I stand corrected. There was that moment when I felt someone's wife eying me up and down. Talk about Extremely Awkward.

After everyone who was invited arrived, it was like High School all over again. Everyone receded to their little cliques. Which was fine by me, I felt more comfortable chilling with my co-workers that I basically see 24/7. And luckily this time I did not go booze crazy (upon hearing open bar) and had ten plus shots of something. Only thing I had that night was a Jolly Rancher Shot, Pineapple Upside Down Cake Shot, and a shot of Peppermint Chocolate martini.

And now on to the conclusion of the night...

The conclusion of this night had to be what everyone was most looking forward to. The handing out of Christmas bonus. If anything it means alot of things to different people. (i.e., finish up the last of that Christmas shopping, pay off some bills, or save up for some trip). Instead of opening my check at the party I waited until I was inside my car to see what type of Christmas I was going to be having. Suffice it to say...it will be a good Christmas holiday this year.

There's one more office party coming up. Where it will just be us employees at this Apartment complex. We plan on having a pot luck dinner (always like to see what people can cook up) and the Secret Santa Gift Exchange. I have no idea what to get the person who's name I picked, but it shouldn't be hard....Right!!!

Well that's about it.
Hope it gets cold in time for Christmas, would hate to have a Christmas where I'm sweating it out in my apartment.

[Photo source]

Hyping Fear

Seems someone here had an eventful evening.

Around 5:40PM or so last night I receive a call from my sister informing me that her job and the mall was on lockdown. She did not know what the specifics of what was actually happening, only that there were twenty cop cars outside her work and near the mall. From what she knew, was that a "gunmen" was inside the mall. In reality we both came to find out that two kids were fighting and one possibly had a knife while the other kid possibly had a gun and were hiding a good hundred yards away from the mall. Still a threat to everyone's safety.

Some truly scary shit there for a while. Especially since our apartment is close to the Mall.

This is not the first shooting to occur at the mall here in Gainesville. Just a few weeks ago, two men were fighting outside of a restaurant near the mall, when one of them pull out a gun and shot the man in the chest.

With all recent shootings in Nebraska and in Colorado people are starting to feel on edge. I sure as hell know I am. Who wants to enter a mall thinking that might be the last thing you do.

Well hopefully things start to calm down a bit as Christmas draws near. But I have one of those feelings that there will be a crop of copycats popping up. As long as we have mentally unstable people who have this mindset where they believe that there's nothing to live for and that they only way to make an exit is to go with guns blazing. This trend of random meaningless shootings will continue.


Blog entry photo source

Tis' The Season...

...to finally get my lazy ass off the couch and assemble that damn Christmas Tree.

What was taxing about this early Christmas season is that not only did I have to decorate my tree, it seemed I was the only one who bother to take the time and decorate the tree at my work. Besides getting some help stringing up tinsel and ornaments. I had to literally fix up two Christmas tress. Not saying I don't love Christmas tress and what they store beneath its little spindles, just the thought of de-tangling lights and trying to remember where everything went last year drains a person out. And don't forget that come January 1st [or weeks following January 1st], some people will either repackage their trees in the box or lug it outside so it can be chopped up in to wood chips.

Last few weeks I have been literally bummed out. After receiving news from UCF, of not getting into graduate school. I am literally surprised at how introverted I had become. There was a point where I was just going through the days as if I was just sleepwalking, and wanting people to kind of bugg off and leave me alone [kind of hard when you work in an office]. Now with it being December and the thoughts of missing out on graduate school, doesn't infuriate me. I've decided to apply one more time, apply myself study my ass off for the GRE and apply for UF and UCF. If I don't get in this time, well than that's it. I move on to something else. Just have to realize school isn't for everybody and that there are other ways to make a difference in this world than getting your Masters and Ph.D. I do know that I will be looking and scouring very hard to find a better paying job and a new place to move to. If I have to stay in Gainesville, might as well make it an enjoyable stay.

Now with about 18 days of until Christmas. My sister and I have decided to buy gifts for one another, like we did last year. The dollar limit $150.00. I know...a lot to be spending on someone especially if that person is your sister. But she deserves it. Last year she deserved it the most, because she finally started dieting and lost a lot of weight and being an overall healthier person. This year, she gets the prize for not being as annoying as past year and being the few people I actually lean on. LoL [someone needs to come up with something better than LoL...]. Haven't figured out what to get her, thinking a toss up between a PSP, PS2 or something with some wow factor to it. As for me, I know what I want...well more like need. I already have plans to get a new computer monitor and camera with my Christmas bonus money. And plan to put the rest in my saving account which is aptly named: The Greg's HDTV Funds [of which I am a third way there...with plans from my sister to contribute to this account as well].

Well I think this is a good time as ever to end this entry. Below are some before and after photos of the Christmas Tree my sister and I assembled in our living room. The pictures make it look puny when in reality it looks really beautiful.

What A Difference A Year Makes

What a year!
I almost let the one year anniversary of starting this blog go unnoticed. (The actually one year anniversary was November 10th).

So what has this year taught me? What have I learned and will carry with me onto next year? I wish I knew that answer. Mostly looking back at my blog enteries, some of the enteries were good and reflected my mood, thoughts and ramblings at that time. And then there are the others entries...where the topic matter seemed more filler than informative. The entries where I rant and complain I feel comfortable with them, because they show that I am still human and that there will be days where I feel like utter shit and frustrated. Nothing wrong with feeling like that, but it's how one decides to deal with it shows what type of person that man (or woman) is made of.

So onto 2008...

This has to be the first time with a new year approaching where I am uncertain of what's going to happen. In years passed, I knew there would be heartache, happiness and all of that. But in the end I knew that within my circle of people, things were going to be okay. But for some reason, 2008 is like looking out into a void and I don't know what to make of it.

Who knows? But I guess it wouldn't be 2008 or a new year without a bit of uncertainty.

"Uncertainty and mystery are energies of life. Don't let them scare you unduly, for they keep boredom at bay and spark creativity" ~ R. I. Fitzhenry

Girls and Phone Numbers

Here is how the situation went down that pushed me to write this blog entry...

It's Saturday night/ early Sunday morning. And I'm at the bar with some of my friends. A beautiful drop dead gorgeous server strikes up a conversation, being all pleasant and such. Now with the night winding down for it's conclusion, and it's time to pay up those horrific bar tabs (Damn you shots of Patron). My friend (female friend mind you) says I should leave my phone number on my receipt to get the girl to call me. The look on my face...not priceless but more like "is that the best we can do?" Well I did not write down my phone number on the receipt, because if I want a woman's phone I rather just ask for it instead of writing my phone number and running out of the place.

Now I do not claim to be an expert on women and what goes on in their mind. But I would think the above aforementioned story ranks high on their list of basic DON'TS when trying to get a date.

Confessions of a Leasing Consultant

It's not easy...it never is.

Being a leasing consultant, that is. Now that's not to say that being an officer, a firefighter or a mail carrier is easy. But there are days that being a leasing consultant is just not worth the trouble. Day in and day out, it is about dealing with people. It's about listening to their problems with that fake smile of sincerity. Giving the illusion that you are deeply concentrated on every word that is spoken, when in reality you are thinking about how soon this day will come to an end. If the day is not spending on listening to a five minute narrative as to why their sink doesn't work or the epic novelization as to why a boyfriend's car got towed. It always boils down to some stupid shit that I don't really give a damn about.

I look at my paycheck every two weeks and literally sigh at how meager it is. I would think poor Bob Cratchit makes more money than me. I have a college degree in Political Science, I had big dreams, big ideas and goals. And now all that degree is good for is to gather dust in my bedroom closet.

It is a shame that after all this time I still have yet to buy a frame for it. Maybe properly framing my college degree might bring some luck my way.

Instead of spending my days in the halls of justice and law arguing policy and issues that effect the world. I walk through muck, through piss drenched carpets and fridges being overrun with maggots and flies of people who live in absolute filth. Believe me when I say that, women are by far the most filthiest apartment dwellers I have seen. Instead of reviewing court cases and resolutions, I am thrown Move-out reports and other meaningless items to preoccupy my time, work that seem so mind numbingly stupid that I feel my so mentally drained and feel my mind just slipping in to some type of nothingness.

What brought on this sudden loathing of my current job...I honestly don't know. Maybe I just overheard some character on a show say how life is short and that we should not waste the time we do have wasting away. The usually yadda-yadda. Or maybe it was that other show where they showcase people who are my age actually making a name for themselves. It doesn't help that the Amazing Race is on the television at the moment, my only window...so far...to visiting different parts of the world. Or maybe when it was that close friend [Diana], asked me, "What do you want to do for a living, that would make you happy?" And I would be damned that the first thought that popped up, was to be a writer [oddly enough the following professions that did not popped up in my head: politician, professor, publicist, or pimp].

Me a writer....
Well being a writer has a better sound to it than being your local leasing consultant.
For a long time I had at my disposal a juiced up imagination. But like the Ark of the Covenant being stored away at a warehouse somewhere, that is how I treated my rich imagination. Keeping it bottled up, never seeing the light of day and never using it properly. That's not to say I have a brain full of story ideas just waiting for me to write them down. I have a few, but with a strong plot and point to the story, it becomes nothing more than rambling.

Leasing Consultant...
A job that I hope to never have to encounter again in my lifetime.


end.

The Circus is Next Door!

So I wake up today and what do I see through my patio screens...The Circus [Cole Bros. Circus]. That's right! Literally in my backyard, in The Oaks Mall Parking lot, the circus tents are being pitched.

I don't have to say how awesome this is. To have the circus in your backyard has to be every kid growing up ultimate fantasy. [well either having the circus in your backyard or being able to fly...it was usually one of the two].

So while at work today [for those that don't know I live in the same apartment complex where I work...so it makes my morning commute literally a breeze], we power up the golf cart and drive around the perimeter of the circus and try to see some of the animals.

The only one we were able to see where the elephants [picture right]. We think there might be horses, but we couldn't see them.

I have to say, looking into the eyes of an elephant [especially one that is chained up] is a bit heart-wrenching. Even though the seem at ease, tossing bits of hay on their back, their eyes almost say they are just really really sad.

Well I should get back to work, luckily today is one of those days where it is gloomy outside and traffic coming into the office is at a standstill.

until next time,

My Birthday

"Twenty-seven years ago, in the middle of a cold, dark and dreay night in Newark, NJ. A man was born...no, no a legend was born. And when he was born, it was said he would go on to do sort-of Great things!~Greg"

That is right today is my birthday and I pretty much (favorite catch word of mines) got what I wanted. Peace and quiet and a time to rest up and play with my sister's dog (I say this because Bubba-the dog doesn't pay attention to me when she is in the room) all day today. I didn't have to worry about work, answering phones, doing copies, fax or listening to tenants bitch/complain about something not working right. I called today the Ying of my birthday celebration, because tomorrow night will be the Yang. I have sushi, drinks, dancing and hopefully some macking (I think that what the kids these days are calling it) of the ladies who are out tomorrow night.

Being twenty-seven really feels weird. Not in the sense that I woke up this morning and screamed at the horror of being another day older (I liked Dexter's reasoning behind birthday celebrations..."celebrating another year of being alive."), but that I truly don't feel any bit of the slightest different that when I turned 18. Actually me at twenty-seven compared to me at seventeen is like night and day. First off I am 50-lbs lighter, and living a more healthier lifestyle. Only thing twenty-seven year old Greg envies about seventeen year old Greg...seventeen year old Greg had a girlfriend. But that is a problem that can quickly be fixed...usually with a bottle of rum/vodka.

Well I'm going to get going, go back to my night of relaxing, and reading. Plus got to rest up for tomorrow, because who know what will happen.

Change Is Coming

For today's entry, I must admit I kind of wrestled with the thought of how to present this blog entry. As you may have figured out I am not the expert when it comes to blogging (even though more and more of them pop up everyday). First I thought about having the title of each of my entries be like Chapter numbers. For example having this entry go like: Chapter 1: Change is Coming. However, after thinking about it some more, I soon thought that if I blog regularly than my chapters might be up in the thousands. (Chapter 1125, doesn't seem pleasant).

So I settled with having my entries (not all of them mind you) have a quote that kind of reflects what I am trying to get through in the blog entry.

So today's quote has to deal with Change. Odd that I would write about change since for a good part of my life I feared it. Growing up change was the norm. There was a time I felt that my family were a bunch of nomads, moving from one place to another. And I was use to that, once I get use to the local scenery, I have a feeling so deep inside that screams out, "Time to pack up and get the F out of here!" So what's changing? Don't want to say right now (even at this age I still believe in jinxes), but if anything it has to do will all facet of my life: personal, relationship, education, and financial. Or I could be total BS'ing right now just to throw everyone off what the real news is.

Well when I get the news I'll make sure to share it.

Change your life today. Don't gamble on the future, act now, without delay ~ Simone de Beauvoir

Free Fallin'

Free Fallin'...how odd that one of my dreams would begin with me free falling. Being that I am afraid of heights, it is not the most logically thing I would want to dream about. But when have dreams ever been logically to begin with.

What struck me as odd, was that I wasn't afraid as I started to free fall from some platform high above, peering over an empty abyss. Feeling the sensation of flying through the air, don't tell me there's not one kid out there who wrapped a blanket around their neck and jumped off something thinking they could fly...

But the one thing I took away from this dream, since most dreams are littered with hidden meanings, was how I [my dream self] had to will my body to stay afloat.

With all the things that is going on around, I took it as that my unconscious self was maybe somehow telling my conscious self that if I truly want something and want that badly, that I need not only apply physical hard work towards it, but I must believe with every fiber of my body that I can attain it.

Maybe my unconscious self knows what my potential is and is helping me achieve the goals it knows I am capable of accomplishing. Who better to know you than yourself.

Well my dreams were either telling me that, or that I should be on Heroes.

Georgia Not On My Mind

Well I'm finally back in the city of Gainesville. After spending three long days in Suwanee, GA for a class (a one day 8 hour straight class) on how to better use the computer software at my job. I thought I was going to have a miserable time there....well the miserable time I had was the driving part and the "incident" that happened on my way back to Gainesville.

First thing I notice upon entering Georgia, was how bad the traffic is. The traffic I experienced there is no where compared to what I had faced when driving around Orlando (let alone the type of traffic I faced in Ft. Lauderdale). If my driving companion (my boss and property manager) and I did not have our GPS device, we would of surely been loss around Atlanta and the surrounding cities.

We had stayed at the Fairfield Inn at Suwanee. My expectation of the place before getting there were real low (show that it sometimes pay not to listen to online reviews....sometimes.) But when I got to my room [King size executive suite--way to hook a brotha up at work], I was pleasantly surprised...really! I had a couch, a fridge [knobs were broken], a microwave [burnt my popcorn--but that's my bad I was focusing on the Ravens vs. Bengal game], and a king size bed. And luckily there were a few resturants around walking distance to the hotel that made eating out a breeze.

The class was alright, it was nothing to lament about. I did learn a few things that I didn't know I could do with the software at the office and it will be a great help in cutting the amount of time and confusion between the Leasing Office and Corporate Office.

But to the ride back home. Now I don't know what part of Georgia, but at some point I was going 22 mph over the speed limit. I think the cop had said he clocked me going 87mph in a 65mph. And all I got was a warning...talk about lucky [knock on wood]. Trust me, I am more surprised than anyone that I got away with that...or am I [evil laughter].

One more odd thing before I end this blog entry tonite....when did Subway added pizza to their menu? On our way back to Gainesville, stopping at a lil' store either in Jasper/ Jennings, FL there was this subway resturant that was serving...pizza. Well, I had to order one and see what it taste like, and I loved. I have yet to see the local Gainesville Subway stores selling them...guess I'm going to have to wait.

well I think that is about it.
I added a video below, I was thinking about this Dave Chappelle skit when I had gotten pulled over by the cops and was thinking how funny it would of been if it had gone down like that.


until next time,

Haitian Kids Forced Into Slavery.

Instead of blogging about my daily life. Today's blog entry is a news article that was on MSNBC.com about children in Haiti who are forced into slavery. These kids who are referred to as "restavek", and are beaten and are treated basically like shit while doing heavy manual labor (cleaning, tending to the crops, and anything else their owners want them to do). This article hits a little bit close to home, being that my parents are from Haiti. Especially being that my Dad is from the poorer areas of Haiti, where as my mother grew up in the capital city. I have included the link to the article, for those that want to read a bit more in depth about what these kids go through.

Article: Kids forced into domestic servitude in Haiti [source: msnbc.com]
[picture source: msnbc.com]

On The Midnight Train To Georgia

Ohhh...what a great unwanted surprise today when I came into work.

On September 9th, 2007, I get the opportunity to travel to Georgia. Am I going up there for fun or pleasure? No, no, no...I have to go up there for some class on how to use a new computer system that we use here at work. Now what probably sucks is that either my manager or myself are going to have to drive (probably in a rental car, since there is no way in hell I'm taking my car up to Georgia) ourselves up there and stay at a hotel. If there is a high point, gas and the hotel fee is covered by my company. It looks like a definite that I will have to make the trip.

well I keep you posted about my trip to Georgia...(maybe).

Singly Dating

The life of a single man...

Not a tough thing by any stretch, if you believe me on that. The only thing tough about being a single guy is when you don't want to be single anymore. When that happens, a single guy will need to go out into the wild and find that woman that you want to date (for a while...maybe). It use to be that, with the right combination of cologne, clothing and tasty breath a guy could stroll (stumble) into their local bar and find a woman who was willing to give out her phone number. However, now that we live in the twenty-first century, everything is digital. So now we pick our potential mates by dating sites (which at times resemble retail catalogs) and ask for emails (or myspace URLs).

After months of refusing to give in to the demands of my friends to join a site...I'd decided to go ahead and sign up for them....well all of them.

My thoughts were that each website offered a different experience, even though each website was about connecting two single people together in hopes that they will be the perfect match for each other.

Match.com: It was an okay website. The one thing that annoyed me about this website was that all the matches never panned out. And don't get me started on the fake profiles that litter the site. I was continuously having to report profiles, because the profiles never added up to what the person wrote or where they were from. Also, (in my opinion) it seem very hard being a single black male on this website. Slim pickings when it came to women who were interested in single black males, especially in this town. Verdict: I've completely deleted my profile and will not rejoin Match.com in the future.

Cupid.com: This website was like dealing with a water-down version of Match.com. Almost all of the same problems I had encountered with Match.com were present with this website. One frustrating thing was the limited amount of single women who matched up to what I was looking for (and that was even after I made my general search broad trying to encompass any woman that came close to it). Another thing that I had noticed were the fake profiles again. Now I've heard rumors of dating sites using fake profiles to entice customers into getting a subscription for these paid dating websites. Usually these fake profiles have a model looking woman, who has bad grammar, and doesn't live anywhere close to you (like in Belgium)...but still wants to go out on a date. Again, I was disappointed with the offering of single women in my area that this site had to offer, but I guess there's no changing that. Verdict: I've completely deleted my profile and will not rejoin Cupid.com in the future.

eHarmony.com: Out of all the dating websites I have tried, using this website was a bit refreshing. Unlike the other websites where I would have to go out and practically hunt down a woman that comes close to what I want to take out on a date. eHarmony.com would have a few matches (some days I was lucky to get one) that in their opinion matched up to what I was looking for. As far as fake profiles go, I had only encountered just one fake profile (compared to the 3-4 fake profiles of the other websites). The only drawback about eHarmony.com is the amount of single who actually take the time to do the whole "Guided Communication process." I've had people that would start out the process and just kind of trail off, where I never hear from them again. Sometimes it does feel like you are filling out questions for the SATs. I have met so far one person from the eHarmony website, the date didn't go as well as I thought it would, but you have to use it as a learning process and move on. Verdict: I enjoy using this website. Just wish more of the matches would respond. Still not getting a whole lot of matches in my city, but that's no surprise. I'll stick with this website for a while longer (maybe another 3-4months).

Well I'll keep posting updates as the quest to get a date continues.

Addiction: Soda

It has been a long long time, since the taste of sweet corn syrup, fructose and all that other stuff past my lips. I had decided that on July 8, 2007 I was going to give up soda for that week. Well that week has now extended to more than a month. And I have to say that I am really proud of myself. I thought soda, was going to be one of those things that would be hard for me to give up. I usually had a soda (diet soda mind you) with every meal and always scoffed at the idea of drinking water. But now that about four weeks have passed by, I cannot get enough of water and have disposed of every last can, bottle of soda that remained in my pantry. Also, I have notice that I have lost more weight (10-lbs pounds worth) after giving up my diet soda in favor of water and juice.

I don't recommend this for everyone. Since everyone needs to find their own path on how healthy they want to live. I am just glad that this is one addiction that I don't have to worry about for a long long time. Not as bad as other "addictions" but an addiction that could of had major health risk for me down the road.

Here is an interesting article that I had read a while ago about the health risk of drinking soda. [Doctors Debate Soft Drink Ties to Heart Disease, Health Risk]

Harry Potter and the Great Addiction

As the title of this blog states: The Harry Potter books are worse than a crack addiction...and I don't mean that in a bad way either. I love the series and applaud the author [J.K. Rowling] for reigniting everyone's need to pick up a book and to read.

After spending this past weekend, reading the 700+ page novel that is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Now I will not ruin the ending for those who have not gotten to the end of the book (i.e., my sister who last time I checked was around chapter 17). Great Ending though! I just wanted to note that how over the weekend everyone from kids to an elderly man were waiting in line to get their copy of the coveted seventh book and final book in the coveted Harry Potter series.

Almost like a crack addiction, people needed to get their fix about how the story of the Boy Wizard would end. And fortunately I needed to get that fix too. I could say it was a close friend/ co-worker at the University of Florida Bookstore who got me into reading the book. I was probably with the few back then who thought a book about a boy wizard was stupid and childish. But after reading Book Three at the time, I was really hooked and thought the story was simple yet complex at the sametime.

The day before the book came out, my father and I had a conversation about the hype surrounding the book. He thought it was stupid (what compels someone to stand in line for a book?) He also thought a book about magic and wizards was stupid. My only counterargument was, "Hey it making kids and adults alike read. Haven't you notice dad that people nowadays just don't sit down and just read a book?" Alas, he agreed, still holding on to the thought that the media coverage about a kids book was getting too much hype. That's true, Lemony Snickets didn't get this much fanfare.

Now that the book is done and sits on my bookshelf as an amazing feat of my AWESOMENESS. I wonder what else is out there that I can conquer....hmmmm, sounds like that would be something worth writing.


Until Next Time.

Haiti comes to the video game world

Today while watching G4TV's Attack of the Show, it was revealed that setting/location of Capcom's Resident Evil 5 will be everyone's favorite forgotten Caribbean island: Haiti.

Now being Haitian myself (well my parents are from there, I'm really from New Jersey). I don't know if I should feel a bit elated that the tiny nation is being mentioned at all [beside the whole Grand Theft Auto: Vice City]. Or if I should feel a bit worried that this great game that deals with zombies and death, will shine a poor light on the Caribbean nation.

There's already that stigma that Haiti is all about voodoo (which I am wondering if that will play a part in the game as well). Or that the country is extremely violent. Which is not entirely true, but I won't sit here and paint the country as a paradise resort either.

What I will do is hold off judgment and wait until the game comes out. No rushing to prejudge a game that hasn't been played or seen beyond the trailers shown at this years E3. Will I play when it comes out? Sure why not. It's a video game and nothing more. If someone who plays a video game is unable to separate fantasy from reality has no business playing a video game. To those who had no problem playing Medal of Honor games, Call of Duty games, or the Grand Theft Auto series. However, they start to all of a sudden have a heart because the game hits a little bit close to home, tell me how the people of color in those games listed above felt when they had to point the fictional gun at their countrymen, and how come you weren't there to raise your voice when it was. I do hope that the game setting is done tastefully. And that even though it is a poor island nation, they show that there is some good amidst all that evil.

Provided below is the trailer for the game [which is slated for a 2009 release] that was shown at E3 2007.
Also another news site talking about the game Resident Evil 5 [source: E3 - Preview of Resident Evil 5]

The Future...

It is finally done...

Just finished filling out my graduate school application for the University of Central Florida. All I can do now is cross my fingers, do a lot of praying and probably investigate who do I need to pay off in order to get myself enrolled for their Spring 2008 semester. Now before applying to UCF, I had applied to both the colleges of the University of Florida [my alma mater] and the University of South Florida. Both of which I did not get accpeted in. Now I could of been upset, depressed and a bunch of other emotions about not being accepted. But the blame is rest squarely on my head. Before turning in my Personal Statement to UCF, I did a final proofread and I found a lot (and I mean A WHOLE LOT) of mistakes and grammatical errors. Hopefully, the corrections I caught were good enough to get those advisor's and department heads attention at UCF to take me in to the program.

Well feeling tired, so I'm going to go on and head to bed.

God of War...whew!

Just something kind of different today.

After obsessing over this game for the past few months, I have finally beaten GOD OF WAR 2. Talk about wanting a cigarette after beating this game [no I don't smoke, but if I did I would of smoked a pack that day]. It was THAT GOOD! Now I could of been bummed about how the ending of the game went down. But, I was not. It just has me psyched me up for the eventual sequel to the game and has me already craving the prequel that will be coming out for the PSP later this year. [Luckily I am one of the few that will be getting a demo of the game in the mail...sweet!!]

I would say that GOD OF WAR 2 [and the original GOD OF WAR] were the only games that honestly kept me glued to my chair for more than 30 minutes. And that is a feat upon itself.

Why is this game so popular or so fun to play? Beside the great visual, the sick looking combos, and very solid story. It is a great feeling to come home after a long day and just zone out for a while and play a game that requires not a whole lot of thought...talking about you Sudoku.

So those at Sony, thank you for making a great game and I look forward to what you got up your sleeves next.

The Past Apocalypse Story

I am always amazed at what I find when I do a bit of late summer cleaning.

Case in point, an old journal of mine from my senior year at High School. Well...I should not say journal, it was more of an attempt by me to write a novel [epic at that]. Briefly flipping through the pages of my handwritings, I saw that I had a lot of potential...but mostly a lot of head rubbing, with thoughts of "What in the hell was I thinking!"

Here is a bit of a rundown as to what I was writing, and don't worry I will not torture anyone with actual passages from my attempt in the writing department. The book was titled: "Apocalypse: Dream Wars" Don't know where I came up with that title, but that's what I had picked when writing this story. The story was suppose to be about a young guy named, Malcolm, who is unable to separate his dreams from his reality. In the beginning chapters it actually starts with the world coming to and untimely end [this is way before watching the movie or ever hearing of the book: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. So if I had attempted to write that book I could of probably been brought in for plagiarism...glad I didn't,even though I didn't mean to on purpose].

If there was any good thing that I saw in my writings was that I wanted to write in a unconventional way: 1) Having the hero be someone who doesn't want to be THAT hero 2) The Good guy doesn't win all the time and innocent people get hurt, you hate to say that but it happens...read the last few Harry Potter books to see where I'm coming from. 3) Having the lines between "What's Right" and "What's Wrong" blurred so much that everything is just a gray area. What I mean by that is, if you go the movies or read a book, you know who the good guys are and who the bad guys are. [side note: bad guys usually dress in all black, live in/near/around a volcano, explain their plans in details to the "good guy" just to have it foiled, and they always have the craziest laugh]. What happen if the people you think you are fighting with are good, but turn out to be bad? What extreme is an individual willing to go to ensure their survival? What if a battle that normally happens on a barren-like wasteland happen in their own backyard? Those were just some of the questions, I wanted my story to incorporate.

Hmmm...Maybe in finding that old dusty notebook with notes on characters, plots, developments, and such was a sign, that I should get back into writing. Now that I am older and a little bit more seasoned, that I can craft a better story. Well I know one thing that would change...that's the Title for damn sure.

Well, I'm off...

Until Next time,

Soul Rain

Nothing poetic today.
But everything always seem to have a poetic tint to it...doesn't it.
Today it's raining, the rain pouring down hard against the ground.
More than a billion raindrops, together to make the sound of a million footsteps. The sound of million footsteps that seem to echo in the air.

There was an old saying, that I had once heard about the rain.
Yet that memory starts to fade...doesn't it.
"When it rains, the rain washes away your sins."
The rain washes much more than your sins, it blurs your past, erodes your memories and cleans your soul.
I walk through the rain.
Your footsteps drowned out by the the other million footsteps. The rain washes away everything.

When the rain falls, it calms me, soothes me.
When the rain falls, it quiets me, and stirs me.

When the rain fall, and the raindrops touch the ground, it begins
An odd way to End to something that was not meant to be poetic...isn't it!

About today's blog: I thought that today, since it is actually raining outside, to try and write out a poem. Now to be honest I have not written a poem since my Senior year of High School. I normally just wrote poems to show off in a competitive way for a couple of my classmates in English Lit who took poem writing seriously. By how long it took me to crank this one out, I can see that I still have some lingering rust on my writing ability. As for the picture, I did not take that picture, I Googled it and the perfect picture was there waiting to be used. [picture source: Violent Rains].


until next time,

Bush Says Good-Bye To Blair

Came across this video while browsing through the Keith Olbermann website. It's a music like video of a long song between President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair. Since Tony Blair has announced that he will be stepping down as Prime Minister effective June 27, 2007, everyone is left wondering what type of relationship the United States and United Kingdom will have.

eNJoy!

A Man of Fiction

A Man of Fiction... You know it is one of those day, when the most random of thoughts pop in your head and stays in there. For no reason (well probably as of late I've started to re-connect with most of my high school classmates) there it was. A thought of me back in high school, at English Lit class debating with a friend of mine that fiction writers/ novelists are better the poets. Why blog about it now? I still find myself at times jotting ideas, notes on a piece of paper about a story I wouldn't mind writing. Be it epic Sci-fi battle where the lines between good and evil are blurred. Or maybe a heart wrenching story where the person doesn't find love in the end. Now some may say, a fiction writers job is to write a story that follows the plan of begin-middle-end. But sometimes to get the whole story, you need to see how it ends in order to understand how it begins. Some people believe that endings are suppose to usually be of the happy kind, but look around. Look at the world around you and ask how many people you honestly know are living that Happily Ever After. Not that many huh?

Trust me, I understand that real life is, well real life and not made up. Our lives is don't follow an author's outline, we can't skip a few pages to see what's going to happen if we made that right turn instead of the left turn, no putting away the words written on the page, when things look like it's starting to get to dark and scary.

I still would like to write stories that interest me...and maybe this is a way to announce from time to time a short story to two on this blog. Don't know how that is going to work out, but it should be very interesting. Well at least challenging.

finally the picture you see above is from the TV show: The Invisible Man...again don't want people to think I go around stealing pics.


Well I guess that is all for now, until next time.

The Homeless Attack with Sharpies In Hand

Now, I am not the type of person that goes and makes fun of a certain group of people.

Let's just say that I can sympathize about being "the cover of the book" people are quick to judge about.

But I cannot help but comment on something that I see daily here in the streets of Gainesville, (Well actually behind the wheel of my snazy A/C Ford Taurus, but the samething) and that is the rampant amount of homeless people near the intersections, street lights, medians, etc. Now I am not writing this entry because I hate the homeless, but I do find them a bit of an oddity.

How come when someone even mentions the word homeless person. Their face contort as if you are describing the weirdest of sex fantasies of which involves a horse and a rubber tubing. Now let me get back to the point I was trying to make in this blog entry. Where are these less fortunate people of monetary funds (trying to political correct without using the term hobo, or bum) getting the permanent markers and pieces of cardboard to make these signs that I see most if not all hold up when asking passerby for money.

I somehow imagine a huge Cardboard/ Marker Store (almost like that Build-A-Bear store), where everyone knows your names, with attendants and sales people roaming the floor. They take their time in picking the right size of cardboard to use (not too small so that the person has to squint to read the lettering). Later on they listen to tutorials on the proper way to write a sign, (I bet the number one rule is not to use profanity, can't start throwing explectives at your potential income). And when they are all done, they have the perfect sign that fits their needs and expresses their personality through the art of writing.

Now I have seen some interested signs (well not including the picture included in this entry, that was some random picture from the internet) from: "I will use the money you give me to get beer" to "If you Love God, you will give me money--God Bless You".

Why write about the homeless and their creative signs...Well, after seeing their creative penmanship, I was thinking that how come some corporate entity doesn't swoop in and sponsor them (kind of how they do it in NASCAR). Maybe attach stickers or patches to their clothing. It maybe an far out of the ballpark idea, but if the homeless start flashing that the pen they just wrote with was made by Sharpie® maybe they wouldn't be homeless no more.

Well at least that one guy would have money to get a beer, and that's one right you cannot deny a man.

It's just a random thought.

I Have To Put Up With This

Now, it's not everyday a video comes along that neatly defines a group of people. However, after seeing this video and scratching my chin at the eerie similarities the type of people the video is making fun of. It's hard NOT to say that sometimes these clubs are just a gathering ground for douches (douchebag for the rest of you guys). The one thing that the video does poke fun at is this whole popped collar thing. Don't know who started it, but whoever you Mister Popped Collar Man, your invention has made it easier to identify which person is a douchebag at the clubs. Well enough jibbering, on the video.

I got the video from the website: Super Deluxe, and it was created by, I'm guessing here, a group called The Post Show.

So sit back and enjoy!

Fate

Fate...

What a funny word that is. People throw it around, praising it as if THAT word is the Holy Grail of vocabulary, expecting to make say, "You know what, yes I'll drop what every I' am doing because FATE, told me so."

All of this stemming from a conversation with dear old [crazed] uncle of the family. (Don't get me started on why the man has a pay phone in his home, or a coke/vending machine in the patio). I won't bore everyone with the word-for-word details. But it was mostly him talking, with me doing my normal "hmmm mmm; [repeat whatever the person said last]; and right, right". Every single time we talk, the conversations seems to always seem to turns to me and where I am going with my life. Apparently on that cold October night there must of been a office pool or some Las Vegas bet as to which child would be the breadwinner of the family.

And guess which person everyone seems to be putting their money on...[I'll give you one guess]

I would guess the one thing that upset me more about the conversation was that my uncle would say, paraphrasing here: "That it is my fate to be afraid to try new things. And that I was destined to be stuck in the middle never accomplishing anything."--yeah I know that first sentence did not make much sense to me either, when he said.

All this time I thought FATE was this thing I could not control. This abstract idea that somewhere in a far away land, that there was this person, with a book who had everything decision I was suppose to make, mapped out. Apparently all this time FATE was just me acting like a wuss, and not wanting to invest in some crazy relatives scheme of condo sales. Bet he never knew that I had realized his true intentions.

As far as FATE goes, I am not much a believer in that. I believe that if my future is already written, than it is written in pencil. Meaning that I am the principle author about how My story should be played out.

I would of used Destiny, but I think both of those words are somewhat intertwined.

I was going to end this on some witty quote, but I couldn't find one. But I did find one from one of my favorite novels, The Alchemist (written by Paulo Coelho). A story that is all about a man realizing his destiny, and how he effects the destines of others that he meets on his journey. It is a great book, and if you are able to find it, to pick it up and read it.

"When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not ready. The challenge will not wait. Life does not look back. A week is more than enough time for us to decide whether or not to accept our destiny." ~ Paulo Coelho

until next time,

The Traveling Man

Everyone had that one dream, to one day get away from that little town and go see the world. (well if it isn't their dream it sure as hell is one of my dreams, ambitions to do in life). Surprising that people don't do more of that...go see the world. You have to believe somewhere deep inside if people actually took the time to travel a bit further than the boundaries of that block, or city limits. That we would have a better understanding of how we see the world and vise versa.

Even though I don't have the funds to do so, I think about the places I will one day travel (that's right I did say WILL, can't give up on those dreams that easily.) It is nice to sit back and think about backpacking through Europe, relaxing with a drink in hand on the beaches of Costa Rica, or mountain climbing in New Zealand.

Instead of working that 9 to 5 job, wouldn't mind walking through the streets of Amsterdam, or Zurich taking in the sights (and the women) and submersing myself in another culture. I would love to visit the west coast of Africa and walk the ground my ancestors did, talk about an intense experience.

A traveling man,
if that was a job, I would most definitely be putting in my application as soon as possible.
but for now, I'll just stick to the daydreams.

until next time

It Makes You Raise Your Eyebrows

It has been a while since my last entry.
Don't have any good reason beside lacking the energy to write and having anything of great substance to write about. Now I thought about coming online and writing about how my school (The University of Florida) Men's Basketball team won their second National Championship. Essential being the first team since, I believe 1991-Duke, to repeat. But during what should of been a time of great celebration was marred by the death of a cop by a drunk driver.

But just as that was happening than the whole Don Imus thing blew up. Now on this subject I had many conversation about what had happened, from my parents to my co-workers. I think the one thing that surprised me was that the comment he made on air was not that racist as it was sexist. Yet, all the cable news network could talk about was the Nappy-headed part of Don Imus comment and not the Ho's part. I guess they forgot that on the Rutgers Women's Basketball team (a team I love since it's a New Jersey school. A university I would of most likely attend if I had remained in New Jersey. Sorry Dad no Princeton for me!!!) that not only were there black players, but also white players. But surprise, surprise if Al Sharpton and the Rev. Jesse Jackson weren't quick to get in front of the cameras to talk about their disgrace about the situation. Again, don't get me wrong I have nothing but respect for these men and the work that they do. But to pick on Imus as a battle between sinners and the righteous seems a bit silly. Never saw Sharpton or Jackson out protesting a concert by The Game or Lil' John and the Eastside Boyz. However, I should give credit to Al Sharpton to protesting my favorite show (The Boondocks) and asking for it's immediate cancellation, over the episode where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. used the word Nigga. But I should focus back to my main point, before I go out into orbit like the other pundits did. Yes, Imus said something that was stupid, you could argue that he deserved his fate (no matter how much good he did, there are some things you can't get away from). I just felt it was a bit disappointing that in all that talk about race relations, and the nappyheadness that Don Imus's comment. Lost in the shuffle of it all, was Mr. Imus calling a bunch of educated women a bunch of Ho's. Guess no one had a problem with that, how sad.

Virgina Tech...
Not much you can write or say about this story, that hasn't been reported on already. A story that literally came out of nowhere. 32 lives lost. Families, a college and a nation left wondering how could this have happened. One does have to wonder what type of change in regards to policy, law enforcement, and government this will have.

And I'll leave it at that.

until next time...

UPBRAID : REPROACH :: GRE : ...

Well...it has been a little more than a week since I took the GRE. The standardize test that basically decides my future. Now, I did a whole lot better than the last time I had took the test (which was about two years ago, when I had just recently graduated from UF). How odd is it that I did better on my GREs than when I first took the test those many years ago.

Well the next step is to start applying and hopefully creating a compelling application packet that tugs at their heartstrings and persuade them to enrolling me into the Graduate School Political Science program. Compared to about two years ago when I first attempted to apply for Graduate school. I've narrowed my list of colleges I want to get into from about fifteen to about three: (University of Florida, University of Central Florida, and University of South Florida). I don't have a preference as to where I go, just as long as one the schools (it would be sweet if all of them) accepts me.

Well I'm just glad to have that part of my life over and that I can sit back (for a limited time that is) and relax a bit and have. One thing I will most definitely be up to will be to go out with some friends and watch the UF Men's Basketball team go up against Butler. Some might think it will be a game that the UF Men should sleepwalk through, but Butler is NOT that type of team. People are calling them this year "Cinderella team".

Well Until next time,