Happy Birthday...

Today is May 17, 2009. This blog post is dedicated to my family members whose birthdays fall on today.

First is my older and only sister Omolara. Today she turns 36. Happy birthday big sis.

Next is my cousin Oluseun. He is 28 today. He is probably somewhere bench pressing a Chevy Nova. lol.


Last but certainly not least actually the most are my two more of my brothers (twins), Taiwo and Kehinde. Today they turn 26 years old. They were probably at some club last night inebriated and they'll probably be out again tonight hitting some club.

Happy Birthday to all of you. I hope you enjoy your special day. :-)

I Remember

I have a great memory. The people who make Ginkoba might have used my brain as a template for how they wanted their pills to work. If I develop Alzheimer's Disease (AD) in my older age it will be very unfortunate.

I remember a lot of random facts. I remember dates and events. This is why history was always one of my best subjects in high school I even took AP European History and college. I wish my great memory worked on the verbal section of the SAT and GRE. lol. I remember birthdays of friends from elementary and middle school. I remember anniversaries of ex-girlfriends (today would have been an anniversary of an ex). I remember when I was three how much I hated my baby sitter. She used to make us eat spaghetti o's mixed with chicken noodle soup and she smelled like moth balls. She also kept the television on the Golden Girls.

Having a great memory kind of sucks sometimes too. It makes it hard to forgive people who have wronged me. I still vividly remember that boy who pushed me down in the 2nd grade and I scraped my knee real bad. His name was Reginald by the way. To this day I have this issue.

Are you the type of person who forgets a conversation you had five minutes ago? Do you have an equally impressive memory? Are you a mix of the two?

A Few of My Favorite Things

My homegirl Ms. Minx did a blog post a couple weeks ago and I told her that I was going to bite her idea (good look on the shout out too).

So these are a few of my favorite things.

Websites

Facebook- I haven't been on facebook as tough as I have in the past (I have twitter to thank for that). Facebook is cool because it allows me to keep up with my friends from around the country/world.

Twitter- I really like twitter. Even though it has its haters out there. You should follow me. :-) http://twitter.com/TAUT_7.

Pledgepark- Its not as good as when it was kazodiass but I still like the site. Keeps me updated on the latest music, random thoughts, entertainment, etc.

Blogger- Since you're reading this you already know I like to blog.

Check out the rest in my blog roll to the right.

Music (just a few)

Rap/Hip-Hop
Kidz in the Hall
The Cool Kids- download their new mixtape (Gone Fishing) here.
Drake
Fabolous

R&B
Keyshia Cole
Ryan Leslie
Vivian Green
Raheem DeVaughn

Rock
Maroon 5
Linkin Park
All American Rejects
Fallout Boy


TV shows (in order)

Heroes
Lost
The Office
Grey Anatomy
Private Practice


So what are some of your favorite things?

5/3/09-Dream

Last night I had a dream that I was at some conference at some hotel. I was there with one of my close female friends Patricia and my mentor Dr. S. We were getting ready to leave the hotel and we were up on some like on the 20th floor or something (i remember looking out the window beside the elevator). So as we all get on the elevator Patricia pushes the button for the 9th floor for what ever reason. At this point the elevator starts to free fall and my life flashes before my eyes. Just as the elevator was about to crash to the ground my cell phone rang and I woke up. It was like 5:40 in the morning. As I cursed facebook mobile and went back to sleep I drifted right back into same dream. Patricia, Dr. S and I were walking out the lobby. These homeless guys were out in front of the hotel and they started harassing us. I ended up in a fight with said bums and then I woke up and it day time outside.

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Falling Elevator-Going down in an elevator is a common metaphor for entering into deeper levels of subconscious awareness. Elevators that fall reflect feelings of being out of control.

Homeless Guys-May not be the negative it appears to be. It may pertain to a journeyer, one who continually progresses along a life path.

HBCU's

This post is not to start a debate about Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) vs. (Predominately White Institutions) PWIs. I feel like that argument has been beaten in the ground, spit on and burned. Anyway I decided to write this post to big up HBCU's (mine in particular) since they have been getting such negative press lately.

I remember as a high school senior I was torn between what schools I wanted to apply to. I had superb grades and participated in lots of extracurricular activities. I also had decent SAT scores. I had my mind set on attending a HBCU. My neighborhood consisted of mostly minorities. My high school was about 98% African American. So in my mind I saw no other option. Then my guidance counsel stepped in. She suggested that I think about applying to upper tier schools since I was smart and talented enough to get accepted (she really pressed Ivy league schools). In the end I applied to the University of MD, Howard University, North Carolina A&T, Temple University, George Washington University, Hampton University and the University of MD Eastern Shore (UMES). I got full academic scholarships to all of them with the exception of NC A&T (partial). My counselor was upset I didn't apply to Princeton. lol.

So now to my AP US History teacher, Mr. Shabazz. He was probably my favorite high school teacher. He really inspired me. He made us memorize the poems Excuses and Invictus and then recite it in front of the class. He was an alumnus of Hampton University and member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. Mr. Shabazz took me on a trip to Hampton University and on the way down he explained that I should go to Hampton so I could follow in the rich tradition of great scholars that went to Hampton. He also explained to me that Sigma was the only way to go right?. When he found out my top two choices were Hampton and UMES, he was like why would I want to go start my own tradition when I could be one of many in a long line of great scholars. What he didn't realize was that his argument was pushing me towards UMES.


So in the end I decided to attend the University of MD Eastern Shore. I'm so glad that I decided to go to UMES. I had the time of my life at UMES. I became a man there and it helped shape me into who I am today. I've also met lifelong friends there. Shout out to Club2300 (I wonder if we still have our Blackplanet page w/ the campus dimes of the week).

I'm an advocate for HBCU's and I urge anyone who feels like they would benefit from going should. I have never regretted not going to a higher tier school because I know once I earn my other degrees, my potential employers won't really care where I received my bachelor's degree. I also feel like I received a high quality education. In my opinion no matter how good apparently the school you went to, it won't matter if you don't have an aptitude to learn.

Cool Guys Always Finish First

Shout out to Eighty81.com and DJ Cannon for putting out the 'Cool Guys Always Finish First' mixtape (click the link to download it). I'm loving it. It has a nice mix to it plus it talks about cool guys so you know that I can relate to it joking-but not really. Some of my favorite artists are featured on the mixtape. Nadledge, Little Brother, Wale, Al Fatz, etc.

Chilling With No Makeup On

Sweatpants, hair tied, chilling with no make up on. That's when you're the prettiest I hope that you don't take it wrong.

~Drake

Maybe its just me but I love it when a woman can lay around the house with her hair in a ponytail and she doesn't have to get all made up. If she looks better like that then its really a thing of beauty. Ladies, sometimes your man might just prefer you to just be you. Forget the glitz and glamor. The girl next door is a good look. Trust me.

Ne-Yo said it best in Let Just Be.

We can watch a DVD baby Sit up in the house and be,
just be there You ain't gonna get cute for me,
truthfully I prefer you with no make up,
in one of my t-shirts Bunny slippers on your feet, girl
And just try to be all up under me
On the couch in front of the TV
Baby that's gangsta