Eclipse of a Star

She steady excels

on that tightrope to freedom,

everybody loves her

but you know she don't need em.

Survived a dark past

she now greets with a smile

and breezed through the first step

once known as denial.

She has love to give

and often too much

to people

too scared of the shine.

Every time

she raises the bar

always comes

the eclipse of a star.

Vacation of the Heart

Here I am
going to far
to know where I stand.
Forcing meaning
where emptiness belonged.
These words of charm
should raise alarm
but just puts you more at ease.

This relationship's arranged,
it is fabricated.
This vacation of the heart
is something I created.
The stage was set
right down to your reply
manipulating love
into just another lie.

But thing's changed,
I know I did,
studying spinning
highlights on reel
editing indifference
and insecurity.
I find I like what I see
and I love what I lost.

So with a will
there is a way
and this dog
will have his day.
Let me leave with a warning:
eager arms will look to console
and anxious eyes will wait until
you lose control
enough to think
you can find yourself
by cutting out the best.
You've furthered the memory,
you kept me cold.
You can leave now,
I am finally numb.

Vacation of the Mind

An elusive hour,

promoted and pushed

to daytime drinkers,

the social swills

who reminisce of 

when they were kings

with a body made prescribed 

to a heart that sings. 

Pour enough 

to enjoy,

without too much 

to lose.

Turning my glass 

into a centrifuge.

Mixing sip to rim,

rim to swig,

swig to comfort 

in feeling dim. 

Awake, 

fucking with fatigue,

dragged in drugged delicacy.

Swear to slow 

before it grabs a grip on me. 

Awake,

into another dream,

where everything is 

just as it seems. 

One less thing 

that a mint can disguise,

One more son’s 

failed attempt to rise.

Sunshine

Sunshine was born

on a day

much simpler than this,

delivered from love

and welcomed with a kiss.

The life of a light

has times of turbulence,

from flicker to fade,

too strong too young,

burns a little less bright.

Some take to being victim,

fall to abuse.

Stronger such as she

use it as an excuse,

to illuminate the room,

the source of a smile,

at just a glance,

made worthwhile.

She rises

the light I love;

this sunshine,

reflected in eyes above.

Pros Like Us Pt. 1

We love

like a waltz,

a rise

and a fall.

The start

signals with a chime,

we dance 

together

in 3/4ths time.

We began uncouth 

then found our legs.

Born to suburbs

of Vienna. 

Upsetting the masses,

what we do,

called obscene. 

In response,

our heads held up,

no dip in our chin. 

pulling you tighter

as we commit 

to this blissful spin. 

We loved life,

at least escaping it together.

But opposition faded, 

and the heat

once felt on the dance floor, 

now cold to the touch. 

Once beautiful outlaws,

turned old, 

antiquated;

made passe.

Now that it’s accepted

it’s no longer exciting

not much more to read

when they’ve given up writing. 

A romantic rise

with a familiar fall.

Leaving a man

dancing with shadows

in an empty hall.

Pros Like Us Pt. 2

We met, 

a bit creepy I suppose.

A life’s work,

made something no one knows.

We loved life,

at least escaping it together.

A demolition romance,

reduced to following prose. 

Golden hair 

with a silver stare.

The only answer

to a hopeful prayer.

The kind of love,

in simple silence expressed. 

The kind of girl,

to ruin you for all the rest. 

Let’s regress

to when it was good;

back on your bed, 

when lovers 

said what they should.

Back when passion

was a match

to set the sheets to burn.

Back when I loved,

and I was loved in return. 

From the start, 

I’ve been in this 

till the finish,

with a ring

in my pocket

and a lump 

in my throat. 

A proposed future.

A reply in tears. 

A reaction 

to erase all fears.

From flashing

to all of the lights,

keeping the beat 

to our sleepless nights.

Let’s kill

the lights.

Let’s let

two wrongs 

make a right. 

I’ll be the darkness,

you be the light. 

These are the

words I’ve never said.

To those

gone for hours,

keeping company

in my head. 

Some pray 

for the strength

to flip a new leaf.

Some scratch 

the surface

and never find 

the prize beneath. 

Not us, 

I’ll always 

be your exception

to every broken rule,

and you’ll always stay,

my beautiful jewel.

Rust

I may be young

and still thrive 

with a little

fire on my tongue. 

But if this bottle

were to shatter

and give me a choice.

To stay stunted in self

and place this poisen

back on the shelf,

or a limited lifetime

of headaches and heroics.

I'd stare

at the broken pieces 

of the shatter,

and I would always

confide in the latter. 

With cherished words like,

'I'd rather be ashes than dust',

Well,

I'd rather burn out,

than be confined 

to the rust. 

Time, doughnuts, and realizations

“Time has little to do with infinity and jelly doughnuts”. 

This quotation has always meant something to me. It is from the title of the first episode of the last season of Magnum P.I., “Infinity and Jelly Doughnuts”. This is the episode picking up from the season 7 season finale where Magnum gets shot and almost killed. When he awakes from his coma, he utters the phrase, “Time has little to do with infinity and jelly doughnuts”. 

I first saw this episode when I was a kid. It baffled me. I was so brilliantly curious by the quotation. I didn’t understand it. I still don’t. I like to believe it means that infinity seems so vast and great to us but it’s really just as insignificant as a jelly doughnut, which opens up so many questions. But then what does time have to do with it? Apparently, little. I always feel like I am on the verge of wrapping my head around this phrase and it escapes me. 

Now it could just be a crackpot quotation and means nothing, or it could be over my head and understood my a smarter man. But I find that my fascination with that line explains so much about myself, even if the meaning isn’t entirely clear. The fact that I can obsess over ten potentially meaningless words shows, at least to me, that the pursuit of knowledge is that paramount. 

I feel the need to Google everything I don’t understand, and yes I have tried that approach with this quotation. I couldn’t find an answer. No message board explaining to me what I wanted to hear. No article I could reference to find clarity. I was wonderfully lost. 

Although I still do not fully understand what these words mean, I do know it means something and has taught me more about myself. If only to discover a question that Google can’t answer. This conundrum I face has taught me more about myself than a quote I can truly relate to and understand. What more can you ask of ten words?

 I have spent my whole life trying to be grounded through facts and meaningless trivia to help keep me grounded in the world I have become accustomed to. The truth, is I need to not figure out what this quote means. I think it’s unintended lesson was to teach me that I can’t define every little thing. As much as it irritates me, I need to find peace in not knowing. Because if I don’t know something, well that just leaves a potential for so much more to discover. 

Epiphany in 993 words

The writing process is a funny thing. My editor tells me to write about an artist, a sculptor. I instantly agree to it because art is a particular love of mine. I look at the artist's work later and I found it pretentious and one of the few styles I couldn't summon much respect for. Just very abstract, modern material. I moaned and groaned about having to write this article, especially after just writing about my father and it being the most fun I've ever had writing. So, I pour a drink, call the artist and commence the process.

Very sweet woman, she told me about herself and opened up to me about her art. This can be a personal thing. She told me about her artistic process and what inspires her. She told me how music influences her above all and when she sculpts, choice songs play as a soundtrack to her creation. I felt that her process was very akin to mine. I wasn't expecting to relate to her, so I was surprised when I began to love her art after she broke down the story behind each piece.

I do the article in one day, because my deadline was of course the day I wrote it. Each paragraph gave me a new momentum as I gained respect for what I was writing about. I send the artist an early draft. First time I've ever sent a source a copy before print. But in this case, she was my sole source and my article kind of falls apart if I get a fact wrong. Being that I had just wrote this on a day when I slept in, and still managed to fit in a nap. I didn't expect a glowing response. But I got one. She loved it. She told me that out of all the articles written about her, mine was her favorite because I captured her as person and defined her art the way she wanted it seen. I took this as the biggest compliment because with any artist, in any form, they won't be very receptive to someone defining their work. She wanted my permission to print it on a flyer to publicize her work. I gladly gave it to her. My material being read by as many people who will take the time, is what I'm all about.

While this is a charming writer's anecdote, I chose to look deeper. I see now, after writing 993 words about an artist I chose to put a stigma on, that the cliche' to never judge a book by it's cover is a cliche' for a reason. I thought that I saw through what she had created by looking at photos. But in getting to know her and the labor an meaning she put into each piece, I found there was so much I missed at first look and the joke was on me.

Bummer and Zommer

Diseased thoughts
can infect sound mind.
Final solutions
of a kindred kind.
A patient prison,
a place where numb grows
and time slows.
A place where breath is a clock,
your constant reminder,
numbered thoughts
of a life once kinder.

Fate insisted.
Persisted.
Slipping below a safety net.
Grip weakened to grip lost.
Alarm sounding with a call;
gravity is reality,
like flies we fall.
Leaving it at ‘I love you’s’
through what lacked,
wheeled out
entrance to a known pact.
Travel to what was,
to what needed to be.
Epiphany just too late.
Requiem for another
casualty of fate.

Masses gather to remember,
some work to forget
the silence made final.
A statement,
a warning in red.
No message more meaningful
than one written in blood.
Some can’t see the forest,
they’re blinded by trees,
but where love lies,
fear sits,
and can bring the cherished to their knees.
Remember where you were
when the few have fallen.
Mind the journey,
not the last dance,
and let them waltz
above us,
a storybook romance.

Mrs. Angeles

Excuse me Mrs. Angeles,
but when you said you saw me,
was it the me I always wanted to be.

When we met
it was love,
you can't deny.
Walking down these mean streets,
you made me feel above
the fray,
and all the rest.
Setting me up
to put true talent to test.

Here's to you,
it's all for you,
for never letting me touch earth
and letting me buy
what you sold
about my worth.

You're not a stranger to beauty,
it walks all over you
on their way out,
rushing to that dark blue.
But you're protected
through past protege's
that speak through symphonies and epiphanies
put up high above my feeble attempts
to reach them.

So although I'm selected
I get there's no sure thing
in life
or on your streets
but your belief in me is new,
happens to be all I got.
Of you I ask one more:
To not letting me settle for the forgot.
I'm outside that bubble
with that lucky few.
So I'm just writing and waiting
until I wake up
and hear from you.

Don't spend stolen money, invest it

Revenge is a drug,
a sick abuse
that I've learned to become accustomed to.
But I found more
than you can ever buy
So this is goodbye
Goodbye

It is time
to get what we deserve,
to steady this shook hand
and sign that dotted line.
Just try and take my memory
attempts will stay in vain.
I will never back down
if one thing's for sure,
you raised a fighter.

Just come looking for that closure,
you'll find me unsympathetic,
yes you are pathetic.
Brace yourself,
I will run this to the ground
if it means you'll feel it.
Oh I know you'll feel it.

Build me up by tearing us down.
Oh I bet you wont regret
raising this prodigal son.
Was I even a son?
Or just a gap to fill the silence.
Your last inmate,
tunneled out,
skipping that life sentence.
Leaving you a shawshank warden
to pull that trigger.
I'm sure it was surreal,
finally having to feel.

Fight or Flight

Knowing sterilizing the sick

will just make them endure,

trapping this doctor 

into finding a cure. 

Patients pulse fading fast,

wheeled in,

he doesn't think he can last. 

His eyes stand alone

in showing sign of fear.

His body lies ashamed:

of becoming too accustomed 

to this now forgotten world,

always having to be the rock,

and allowing himself to sink. 

Too young to be here,

is the last thought

in this broken brain. 

The guardian has left

with the hope

there is no more pain. 

Another victim,

counted, 

with the sad and the sick. 

Regret with every breath,

fight till the final tick. 

You can't mend a man 

that has lost the will to live,

opting out, 

of every cured plan,

convinced he gave

all he could give. 

Life's ups and downs 

are shown on the screen. 

He believes he's found

all he could seek, 

allowing himself, 

one final peak. 

This doctor, 

no longer in search

of this cure behind the curtain. 

This disease took shape

to make his suspicions certain. 

Torn between struggle

of wrong and right,

forced to decide, 

fight or flight. 

Valentine Vertigo (Romeo Realized)

He killed love
and its boastful beats
to hear his own
divine indication of inspiration.
Quieting his inner above
by writing about fictional love.
He grew accustomed to finding meaning
in every song,
to finding beauty in every dawn.
But those lumps in his pockets
were just rocks
claiming to be jewels.
He was just tired of failing
not the falling.

Romeo realized
love can't be worked
like a poem
climbing through verses
on the scaffolding that surround them,
struggling to reconstruct the meaning.
Love cannot compare
to those great heights.
That sudden rush of
valentine vertigo
can only be reached
by falling from that balcony.

No celestial body
could compare to hers,
twilit among the aspiring superstars,
set apart from all the rest.
But little did he know
every ounce of his love
would be put to the test.
Those stars were crossed,
starting the ignition
of a love so pure;
even death could endure.

Garden of Hope

He had life
his body couldn't support.
He had heart
the heavens had to break.

It took me seven years
to see through the tears,
enough to pick up this pen,
thinking if I did
I'd be signing his notice of eviction.

He chose a wall
to knock upon
knowing who sat across
thinking I was the best carrier
for this dire message
but it fell on the way
I wasn't strong enough to carry
or fight this angel on earth,
after all,
he was here as a courtesy
since birth.

Pounds to his chest
rhythmically corresponded
to the desperate sirens
I remembered knowing
I would never forget the
flashing lights.
They say now he is gone
from the world we know,
pounds to his chest,
but he is all I know.

We used to play on the grass
and now we are separated by it.
We were caught by an unfair surprise
as I wait for his quiet reprise.

It's time for living
and loving memory.
For not losing
but taking what he left.
I see now why I need art,
hand to chest,
we have the same heart.
Maybe mine will be the next to break,
maybe then I will finally wake.

A Known Enemy

Pick a necessary poison
to match how you feel.
Knock em back
and knock em dead,
resisting to deal.

This dedication
to self medication
is the last thing
left to hold.

Clean the mirror,
finally see clearer.
Plunge into the so unknown
to find your second face.

The sun rises with dependability;
a sudden reason.
The only fear I have left
is that I will forget to live
in this waiting room,
sealing my fate
in a private tomb.

That someday
pretending to fill the good guy
would flood into
my whole life becoming a lie.

Until I shed these
counterfeit clothes
to eventually expose,
I wait in a patient prison.

The moon replaces,
fear is pulled away;
a sudden treason.
I'm only high on the highways,
and only interesting on the interstate.
Not happy motionless,
so I make cars stand still,
closing in on the kill.

Living fast
when dying is irrelevant.
Ignore such great heights
you're only proved wrong on the fall.

It's true its a prison
because I keep falling from the gate,
dividing the fine line
between love and hate.

Until my number
calls out,
and I can finally be made whole,
I stay partitioned
until it takes its toll.

September Showers

I know it will always be hard
to be happy,
easy to fall into yourself,
convinced you cannot stand.

But beauty is found in the heart,
a simple place to start.
Deceived by simplicity,
we enter the abyss.

September showers may seclude you,
to the only world you think exists.
The tide will rise
as you call for a boat,
forgetting you can float.

Through completion of rejection,
lies the truth;
that you can never find that beauty
until you find it in yourself.

Outside the Fray

(Due to my recent "update" my loyal subscribers got a flurry of my blogs. So as an act of sincerity, I'm giving them something new; throwing a bone if you will. Because Kevin doesn't get writers block, he just waits till the world is ready for it.)

The best way to start what I'm trying to convey is to tell a tale.

Months ago my friends and I went to The Roxy to see Hot Hot Heat, The Deadly Syndrome, and The Shys. It was great, but it was greater than it could have been. I met two members of The Deadly Syndrome (my 2nd favorite indie rock band, next to The Killers) and I still keep in touch with the drummer. I pointed out to my friends this amazingly hot girl by the bar at least 6 years older than me, and later she was all over me (if you don't believe, its cool I hardly did, check my pictures as proof). How did all of this happen? I stayed outside the fray.

I decided to strip myself of all the negativity and nerves that go with everything and be true to myself. I went in wanting to meet The Deadly Syndrome so I did. I went to the gift shop girl and asked her incessantly to see the band. She seemingly blew me off but while Hot Hot Heat was on, Jesse (drummer) tapped me on the shoulder. I freaked out to be honest with you. We talked, (well yelled because Hot Hot Heat was very loud) and I asked him every question I ever wanted to ask about lyrics and my aspirations to be a vocalist and pursue music. He gave me tips and told me way down the line when I'm established I can open for them, barring any complications.

The hot girl comes into play. I told my friends how beautiful she was, and I guess I made it clear from my body language I was talking about her. Then later she came up to me, drunk, and told me how pissed she was at me because I was "talking shit". I was flabbergasted and told her I didn't even know her. Then I realized she thought I was mocking her earlier when I was talking about her. I stayed "Outside the Fray" and went for broke and told her that I was just saying how beautiful she was. The rest can be told in a thousand words by my pictorial evidence.

One of my friends told me they want to go to more shows with me because it was there best time at a club. This made me think that in order to be truly happy in life and with yourself, you need to stay outside the fray and do what you want. Define what it is you need and just accomplish it. It doesn't matter if you get rejected or if someone looks at you weird. What matters is can you look at yourself?

No Regrets

The path we walk
is too short to be retracing our steps.
If that road less traveled
begins to wind,
then walk in the blind.
If you find that light burns out,
find your own way in the dark.
Look to your own star,
we can't all look to the North.

No regrets
and working to regress.
No more looking back
with unfulfilled emotion.
I won't turn my head,
no matter what is said.
Yes this is no regrets.

Go with the wind,
throw caution to it.
There is nothing to be lost
by surviving your own maze.
Take those leaps,
don't fear the fall.

THE SONG FOR A WRONG GOODBYE

I know we've been down this road before
and i'm sure this will end up on the floor.
We're walking down this road unknown,
but we don't have to walk alone.

The more that clock's allowed to talk,
the easier it is to listen
to its logical prayer.
I can't define love,
but I know I feel it.

Patience is a virtue;
one that i don't have.
I could get over you,
but don't let me make that mistake.

You'll never get that happy ending
when you're afraid to turn the page.
This is a warning.
The sirens are wailing.
Evacuate this life
into my arms.

Fight

For the poetry haters out there I got another blog to add to my compendium of vast knowledge that is not in poem form.

I believe we need to all fight more. I in know way mean this in a Fight Club sorta way and start wailing on strangers. I mean it in a fight for what you believe in sorta way. Events in my life recently made me see clearer that people just hold back too much. So many people out there want something but refuse, to what?....That's right, FIGHT.

It could be fighting fears or speaking up to someone and confronting them if they need confrontation. We almost always know what the right thing to do but we are to afraid way to much. If I sound vague, that's because it's different for everybody. I just need to be reminded sometimes that we all have fight in us and it needs to be heard or else you're never really known.

Often times when I (or people like me) speak up and fight, I am told I should have just kept it to myself. These are the kind of people I find pathetic. To quote Maya Angelou,"If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything." So in your everyday life just try to remind yourself that a little fight is worth the pain. Sometimes that's all we have to rely on to feel alive.

Atheist Prayers

Good night,
rest your head
and recall what was said
as he broke
and spoke
to somebody new.

Fighting dreams of demise
he knew it was wise
to resort to a lie.

With a toss and a turn,
searching for words
to replace what he feels
but refusal to kneel.

Between the sheets
lie the truth
that he had from the start;
he finally heard from his heart,
that life to be lived
and not to be found
by chasing a crown.

So a force to be guided
but never defined
lined the path
he will walk
but won't have to talk.

The Pugilist Pianist

Tale told of two sides
to every tragic ending
to a story that must be told.
Ghost of pleasant past,
reinforcing with every step,
that he fills the footprints
properly placed
on marble tiles and alleyways.
Against ropes
or on the bench,
he exists and persists
on both sides of the coin.

Enter the concert hall.
Know, he does not belong.
Cutting the silence, built in his mind
with a jab
at keys of ivory.
Notes and scales
float around in a composed mind.
Know, he can do nothing else.

Enter through ropes
that divide him.
Spilled into the ring,
until a ring is all that's heard.
Great expectations,
hitting through past vindications.
Without a glove to lean on,
beating the very hands that carry him.

Sold out
to stadiums
to be made idol.
Secretly stable
in his pursuits,
he is made stronger
through isolation.
Know, the perfect persona is
The Pugilist Pianist.

Amantes sunt Amentes

I'm so tired of watching the disease
clutching the cure.
Silhouetted by streetlights,
absent of happiness.
Repressing reaction,
studying what I lacked.
I know I would step down
if he could live up.
He cut into the dance
and they waltzed away,
snatching words from tongue's tip,
made obsolete.
Not spoken since memory serves,
but I'll speak of it no more.
quippe haud etiam quicquam inepte feci

D.E.B.

When the good go young
and leave a son
without possibility to forget,
all that is left is regret.
It does not seem fair
forced to greet with a silent prayer.
I walk alone
to him,
but all I see is stone.

Muse

You are my muse
o not to be confused
with a significant
other than you,
so not to accuse
the power in
just a word not
to abuse
the muse.

Hats off to the muse
and keeping me from losing me.
Inspiration pulls to surface
where people can gawk
and talk
about my time spent
and if its worth theres.

Time passes
and words come from drought
not to be without
the company of the muse
whose so worthy of admiration
but it doesn't know it
so in me we'll show it.

The talent is to the inspired
but the gift is to the inspire
such latent words and phrases
that electrify the
ink through ball point
into the work of
the muse.

The Road to Familiar

Think of thoughts wasted
When she never gave you one.
Leaping out of your shell
And unknowingly jumping into hell.

You are so overrated,
And I wasn't appreciated.
You cut clean, we never fought.
So you wanted what you got.

Bomb dropped
In car
Going in reverse.
And momentum
still can't break the curse.
Oh I try
While you lie
So don't bother angel
I'm fine on the road to familiar.

But now I know
that every feeling of desire
was just fuel to set on fire.
I stopped pleading,
couldn't help the bleeding
Thanks to the venom thats got me healing.

All Kaught Up

I got a ring
on a sure thing.
I walk with confidence and pride,
but confidence I've tried.
Ace Of Hearts to my sleeve
and a smile on my face
I enter.
The lights and smoke intoxicate
to invincibility.
Without need of thought
I'm all in
on a sucker's bet.
The dealer,
left smiling,
said,"Come again real soon"
I can take the House
"No son, the House will take you"
I got a ring
on another sure thing.

Tails up. Shoulders back.

In flipping channels I came across a show called, The Dog Whisper. Now there was this particular dog, Earl, that had no confidence. He was probably the weakest in his liter, so he was never able to get the confidence that he needed. This almost destroyed him.

This got me thinking about people. People need a healthy dose of ego to live. Without it, a person is rendered in their own personal hell. Think about going along with the rest of your life, never having had a relationship, or never doing what you've always wanted. With a healthy level of confidence, a person can live their life to the best of potential. Confidence allows a person to be crazy enough to live life. If a fireman lacks confidence in himself, how can he trust himself to run into a building when the foundation is ready to collapse. With confidence, that same man can trust himself to do what he must. You should also be strong enough to let a blow to your confidence not slow you down. Instead of resorting to self pity, one must love everything about themselves and change what they don't.

Back to the dog Earl. The Dog Whisper forced the dog's tail up and made him walk into a pack of dogs. This allowed a bit of confidence, however forced, to follow. With this, Earl was proud and filled his "Puppy Potential". So walk into a crowd with your head up and command attention. People want to feel like you are worthy of their time. So show them they are lucky to be in their presence. Life is too short to live it wishing you were in another. If you don't like something about yourself, fix it. Just don't be the one to put limits on yourself. Regrets will occur, but a life without confidence is sure to go unnoticed.

Charity for the Charitable

Everybody goes to her for dish,
but within, is vacant for a wish.
She always has a story to tell,
excluding facts of her own private hell.
She throws her hat up;
she is complete.
As it tumbles down,
she knows defeat.
Hiding marks on her face,
knowing pain cannot erase.
She sits awake in bed,
running through her mind, is what's been said.
It's been a while
since she felt allowed to smile.
Forget her.
She knows what she has done;
traded her life, for four years of fun.

Do not throw baked goods

I was at Universal Studios the other day, and for those who haven't been there, here is the setting: There is this giant escalator. There are four of them in a row, separating each one is a cement walkway. On the side of each escalator there is a walkway lining its way to the top. I was with my friend and he got a cookie, we start to embark on our first escalator going up.

First Escalator

My friend is eating his cookie and we see this one guy trying to prove it to himself that he can walk up the stairs. We came to the conclusion that it would be funny to throw a cookie crumb at this person, I never claimed to be mature. He wouldn't do it, so I take the crumb into my own hands and I throw it. I immediately look away and we have a good chuckle.

Second Escalator

A guy makes his way to the top and confronts me. He asked me if I threw a cookie at his brother. I had to be honest, the jig was up. So I said that I did and, then I apologized for it. Then, expecting it to be over, and being terribly wrong, he says," Well, that's not cool man, you cant do that to my brother". With nothing else to say, I said, "you're right ". Hoping to evade this crazy experience, my friend and I head to the next escalator.

Third Escalator

He catches up to us, obviously looking for a fight. He starts going in to," I'm from Hawaii man, we don't pull that shit there." I so desperately wanted to point out just how stupid this sounded, I have heard to beware of guys from Compton, East LA, and Brooklyn, but never Hawaii. However, I bit my tongue and kept trying to ignore him, and at this point all the whole population of the escalator is staring at me. At this point I already apologized; there wasn't anything left to say. At the top of the escalator he shoves my back, barely causing me to sway, but I knew what this was a prelude to. So I say to him sternly," Do not touch me", and I continue to walk. Approaching the final escalator he full on pushes me from behind and I stumble a couple steps and through my hands up as if to say,"what the hell". Saved by the bell, an employee sees this and gets in front of him, separating us. We take this as our time to head up the last escalator.

Fourth Escalator

The employee does his best to keep him away from me on the escalator, but he gets past him and starts making his way to me. At this point he had watery eyes caused from sheer anger, and he was trying to tell me off. The employee told this lunatic," if you have a problem, go to the security center and they can settle it." He says the only thing I didn't want him to say," No, I can settle this right here." The escalator reached summit, and I start walking briskly, hoping to avoid a brawl in front of Back to the Future: The Ride. Then I realized that I should hold up for my friend, so I go off to the side, bracing myself for attack. My friend caught up and walking behind him was Hawaii-thug. He approaches me and says that we are cool and he grabs my hand and pulls in for a pat on the back.

First of all, I don't see why we were suddenly cool, but I rolled with it and continued walking. Second of all, I know that I did initiate it with my baked good throwing, but was that response completely necessary? Should I have hit him when he pushed me? Possibly. Would I have ended up being beaten up or kicked out of the park? Yet another possibility. There are honestly these people who just can't wait for a reason to fight. I always was told this, but never believed it. So morale of this Story Of Lunacy: Watch out for people looking for a rumble, they won't last long in life if they piss off the wrong person. And: Do not throw baked goods.

The way they were

Lets say that, god forbid, someone close to you passes away. Then, imagine all of the pain you might feel. Then, what if someone who never even met that person tried to console you by telling you how great that person was. Is this really a positive thing? To me, a person trying to pretend they knew the person you spent a lifetime trying to understand, is just insulting.

So, is it any different when a celebrity dies? When a famous person dies, is their really any reason to think of it as a tragedy? You can be sad that a fellow human has lost his/her life, but in most cases, you never even saw that person. You became enamored with an image on a silver screen. In my opinion, it insults the person because they were more than the image they projected. A person worth mourning is a person who should be above what they showed an audience.

Just because a person is deceased, doesn't mean we have to have the knee-jerk response to say they were saints. It may honor a person more if you love and remember them as they were.

I'm Black, I'm White

I write this blog with the utmost sensitivity and enough political correctness to fill a room. And, to quote from Jerry McGuire, "I LOVE BLACK PEOPLE".

First, let me throw something at you. Look at BET (Black Entertainment Television), if there was WET (White Entertainment Television), there would be riots in the streets for days. Staying on the TV note, there is a channel called Starz InBlack where they show movies with black actors. Now I love all movies, but why do we have to have a whole different channel set aside for African Americans. Right now I am looking at the schedule for Black Starz and the upcoming programs are: "Kinky Boots", "Nora's Hair Salon", "Repos", and (the epitome of intellectual films) Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo. To me this is an insult that they would only air C-rated movies that lasted 4 days in theaters, to later be showed as a symbol of a race.

Does this really represent the height of black pride? If we insist on having this channel, then can't we debut brilliant actors like Don Cheadle, Forest Whitaker, or Denzel Washington? Not one of these award winning actors is on this channel. But of course, watching Marlon Wayans hiding from the law by pretending to be a baby is so much more stimulating.

To quote the wonderful Martin Luther King Jr., "I want to be the white man's brother, not his brother-in-law." Then why do we still separate ourselves from other races? It seems that we need to have a stronger middle ground in our media when concerning race, we are sending out the wrong message.

In People We Trust

It is always terrifying to realize that the people you once surrounded yourself with are not what you thought. You may grow accustomed to a certain way of life, so you fossilize the way you remember that person into an idealistic image. People are changing constantly and are influenced by their surroundings, so we can't depend on them to not change. We all do this because it is easier to rely on the past, then to depend on the future. This view of the world may seem pessimistic, but is the sad reality that you just may be the only stable factor in a world speeding by you.

It is naive to believe that a significant person or persons in your life will always remain. The more we try to depend on someone or something the more the universe throws us back in our place. We need to learn to be comfortable in our own skin and not put everything we have into something we've grown accustomed to.

Now this doesn't mean that a you can't love or trust someone, all this means is that we need to always be prepared for change. It just so happens that the last change you expect, is in the people we decide to invest in.It may seem like a tough pill to swallow, but eventually we all come to the same conclusion, one way or another.

I'm as mad as hell

I'm as mad as hell at:

People who spend their time to waste others. Example, people who send out useless chain mail. What do they exactly hope to accomplish with this act of annoyance? Fame. Glory. Everybody knowing your name. Write something meaningful that people will remember.

Anyone who puts themselves in a group. Bros, hoes, bro-hoes, etc. They are a sad substitute to actually having to find who you are.

People who don't know what they are talking about, yet insist on joining in on a political debate. Either open up a newspaper, or close your mouth. To answer your question, NO, "Bush is gay" is not a valid argument.

(Yes, I will divide my audience) People who do drugs to escape their life. If your life sucks, then fix it. And if you are doing it for any other reason, refer back to paragraph 2. People need to work hard to find out what makes them "high". Call it corny, but I honestly believe that finding what makes you happy is a better pursuit. Drugs don't work.

(And, sadly, the most common) People who never live their life. People who go through the motions as if they have a second chance. Just wake up and realize that every person, even the ones on this list, all deserve to be happy. At the end of each day, what did you really do?

A long way to go

Women's rights in Iran have fluctuated over the last century.

Currently, women in Iran make up 12% of the Iranian parliament. There also has been many victories in the courtroom for women who are looking for divorce. Crimes against women are taken very seriously, and enforced with harsh punishment. Just recently a man got a lashing sentence for sexually harassing a women. Also many women hold positions such as a taxi driver and law enforcement positions. One Iranian women was quoted as,"When there is equal opportunity, we have proven the women can in fact be superior to men, unfortunately this is not something our men readily accept".

But women are still being denied into popular soccer stadiums. Just recently, at a film awards ceremony, an actress kissed the forehead of a male director. She caused serious controversy and her career will never be the same.

A women has never served as a president or a judge in Iran. After a divorce, a women can never gain full guardianship of her children, under any circumstance.

President George W. Bush singled out several countries that still suppress women's rights, among them was: Iran, North Korea and Burma.

Iran has covered some ground when it comes to women's rights, but we remain to have inequality for women there. We still have a long way to go.

Beyond the Veil

Beyond the veil,
the newly formed earth is shaped around me.
I enter nothing,
to become something.
Without remembering an instant,
I cannot forget a moment.
Born with total knowledge,
waiting for the world to claim it.

Beyond the veil,
her eyes show nothing but promise.
I pledge mine,
as she hers.
With hesitance,
but without regret; I do.
Tonight and the rest of our lives,
we are complete.

Beyond the veil,
the departure from life.
Easiest for you,
and hardest for them.
My time,
to remind someone of life.
Apparition to the celestial skys,
beyond the veil.

The 10 Things I Learned from Pulp Fiction

1) Don't run into a pawn shop unprepared.

2) Always know how to give an adrenaline shot.

3) If you hit Marcellus Wallace with your car, keep driving.

4) In the fifth, your ass goes down, and it should stay down.

5) If Mia asks you to dance, you better dance.

6) If you are not romantically involved with a girl, don't give her a foot massage.

7) If you are ever in a sticky situation, call Winston Wolfe.

8) If you are pointing a gun at someone you do not intend to shoot, put the safety on, trust me.

9) Always keep a valued watch in a safe place, at all costs.

10) If the Gimp is sleeping, don't wake him up.

* Also, don't tell Jimmy how good his coffee is... he knows.

Going to the mattresses

Going to the mattresses

" Going to the mattresses", is a phrase used in the Godfather to depict going to war. In the Godfather, it never turned out how they hoped. Corleones made a hit on a family, then that family kills the Don's son. They try and get even and it goes round and round until they are left with nothing...unless someone calls a truce.

Unfortunately, this applys to real life too. As important it is to always be right, you can't always go to the mattresses when you face a challenge. The hardest thing to do is walk away knowing you made the right choice. Recently I faced a similar experience when I felt the compelled need to go to the mattresses, but I resisted. It is hard to fight back your overwhelming pride; but often times you can come out the other end unharmed by doing that.
So, if you feel the stakes are getting to high, you need to know when to fold. Because you never know when you'll pick up a flush.