Dangerously Funny
This past weekend I ventured to the “Land of 10,000 Lakes” (Minnesota) to take a brief but much needed vacation. Specifically I went to go to see comedian Aziz Ansari. I know what you’re thinking, “why in the hell would I make a 7 hour drive to Minneapolis?” and “if he performed in Minneapolis, wouldn’t he perform in Chicago?” Well, he did two shows in Chicago and they both sold out shortly after they went on sale. They then added 2 more shows, which I didn’t find out about until after I bough the tickets for Minnesota, and they sold out. I’ve seen him in Adam Sandler’s “Funny People,” I watch “Parks and Recreation” every Thursday and have send his stand-up on TV and wanted to see him in person. Plus, I’ve never been to Minnesota or the Mall of America (the country’s largest mall) and don’t mind driving long-distances. And as I previously stated, I needed the vacation.
A friend made the trip with me so the little over 6 hour trip (Mapquest said should have been closer to 7/7.5), wasn’t all that lonely. The opening act, whose name escapes me, was pretty good, and did a good job warming up the crowd for Aziz. Much to my surprise when he left the stage less than 5 minutes later, Aziz came. Normally when the opening act says “(enter artist/comedian’s name here) will be out shortly” it means you have enough time to go to the bathroom, the bar, grab a smoke and post on Twitter and Facebook that you’re at the Aziz show. I don’t know if he was in a hurry to get the show over and done with or if does that all the time, whatever his motivation it was greatly appreciated.
What further surprised me was the fact that Aziz allowed us to take pictures before his act started. When we walked in the ushers warned us about taking pictures and that we needed to cut off our phones. Of course, I didn’t listen. I don’t turn off my phone unless the Secret Service tells me too. But I did politely put it on silent. So he walks out, tells the audience he’s going to allow us to take pictures for a couple of minutes while he mimics being in the middle of his act. He then proceeded to do hilarious poses like he was literally in the middle of his act. Perhaps my favorite poses, were the ones where he pretended to yell at audience members and then jump off the stage to kill some guy. He didn’t have to do it and I’ve never heard of a comedian doing it before. So 2 Thumbs up for Aziz.
The only problem was that after Aziz told us it was cool to take all the pics we wanted during this 2 minute window, there was this annoying usher walking around threatening to take our cameras if we didn’t turn them off and put them away. First of all sir, you’re an usher at a theater. You have a job, because the theatre employs you; they can afford to employ you because they have acts that come and attract audiences. The act in question, Aziz Ansari, said we could take pictures, so I think it’s ok. He makes your yearly salary in one show and can afford to pay you if your psycho boss decided to fire you for not doing your job. But I digress.
The moral of the story is, is that I cried laughing (seriously) during the show. I’m glad he lived up to the hype and I look forward to seeing him again. If you get a chance I implore you to take it! He’s a really funny guy and appears to still be pretty cool. Aziz Ansari’s Dangerously Delicious Tour is Dangerously Funny!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Don't Push Me
"Don't push me because I'm close to the edge, we're trying not to lose our heads."
-Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five- “The Message”
This statement has never been so true for me than it has been lately. The problems that I've been experiencing have been ongoing for a few months now and quite frankly I'm tired of them. The Diplomat in me took note of the problems and hoped most or all would be resolved by management. When that didn't occur I took diplomacy to another step and voiced my concerns with my co-workers to see if I was the only one who had a problem; I wasn't. After that we brought them to management. After months of waiting on management's excuses, and them telling us to "grin and bear it" and to "stop whining" and "bend over and take it" (all real quotes) I decided to take it a step further.
First and foremost, I haven’t bent over and taken anything since my last butt whooping by my parents as a kid and I'm not working for my parents right now and I'm damn sure not taking that from anyone else. When an office full of people voice a concern and you choose to ignore it and your response is to shut up and deal, you're asking for trouble; trouble in this instance being me. I'm not going to mow down the office like a disgruntled postal worker or start stealing things (other than pens and post-it's) in protest. I'm going to have the talk with the management above the immediate supervisors because they obviously don't have our backs the way they say they do.
Secondly, for those of you who know me, you know there are several sides to me. The business side, which is all about getting the job done; the playful side, which still pulls pranks and cracks jokes; the family-man side; the quiet reserved me and The Rottweiler. Now don't mistake the "numerous sides of Clinton" as a cry out for help for my schizophrenia or multiple personality disorder. We all have different sides to us and my therapist said that if I take my meds everyday that the voices would be quiet. (I kid, I kid LOL!)
Real Talk, we all have different sides to us that we show/hide depending on the situation and the crowd. Some people only bring their hoe side at night or with their significant others, some people are hoes all the time (no disrespect, when I use the word "hoe" I do so interchangeably with men and women). The point is, is that it's not always imperative or proper to show everyone every side all the time.
The problem at hand is that when I show the reserved side people who don't really know me take it as a sign of weakness. I'm far from weak and don't make the mistake of taking my situational meekness as weakness. Just because I don’t tell you I’m angry or bust out of my dress shirt like The Hulk doesn’t mean you can’t get it, because you most certainly can. I’m tired of the B.S., the backstabbing, the gossiping, the scheming, everything and there’s only one straw left that need be placed on me before you break this camel’s back and I’m forced to show my hood (305).
In conclusion, I’m one of the nicest people you’ll meet and will bend over backwards for friends, family and co-workers. But for those who don’t fit into any of these categories and choose to Push Me, there’s an ugly side I’m sure you don’t want to see.
I hate to end this post on a negative note so I’ll say something positive. I love all God’s children, some a little more than others, and I will continue to go to work with a smile on my face and as much joy in my heart as I can muster during these dark times. What God has ordained NO man can change! Stay Up, Stay Blessed!
-Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five- “The Message”
This statement has never been so true for me than it has been lately. The problems that I've been experiencing have been ongoing for a few months now and quite frankly I'm tired of them. The Diplomat in me took note of the problems and hoped most or all would be resolved by management. When that didn't occur I took diplomacy to another step and voiced my concerns with my co-workers to see if I was the only one who had a problem; I wasn't. After that we brought them to management. After months of waiting on management's excuses, and them telling us to "grin and bear it" and to "stop whining" and "bend over and take it" (all real quotes) I decided to take it a step further.
First and foremost, I haven’t bent over and taken anything since my last butt whooping by my parents as a kid and I'm not working for my parents right now and I'm damn sure not taking that from anyone else. When an office full of people voice a concern and you choose to ignore it and your response is to shut up and deal, you're asking for trouble; trouble in this instance being me. I'm not going to mow down the office like a disgruntled postal worker or start stealing things (other than pens and post-it's) in protest. I'm going to have the talk with the management above the immediate supervisors because they obviously don't have our backs the way they say they do.
Secondly, for those of you who know me, you know there are several sides to me. The business side, which is all about getting the job done; the playful side, which still pulls pranks and cracks jokes; the family-man side; the quiet reserved me and The Rottweiler. Now don't mistake the "numerous sides of Clinton" as a cry out for help for my schizophrenia or multiple personality disorder. We all have different sides to us and my therapist said that if I take my meds everyday that the voices would be quiet. (I kid, I kid LOL!)
Real Talk, we all have different sides to us that we show/hide depending on the situation and the crowd. Some people only bring their hoe side at night or with their significant others, some people are hoes all the time (no disrespect, when I use the word "hoe" I do so interchangeably with men and women). The point is, is that it's not always imperative or proper to show everyone every side all the time.
The problem at hand is that when I show the reserved side people who don't really know me take it as a sign of weakness. I'm far from weak and don't make the mistake of taking my situational meekness as weakness. Just because I don’t tell you I’m angry or bust out of my dress shirt like The Hulk doesn’t mean you can’t get it, because you most certainly can. I’m tired of the B.S., the backstabbing, the gossiping, the scheming, everything and there’s only one straw left that need be placed on me before you break this camel’s back and I’m forced to show my hood (305).
In conclusion, I’m one of the nicest people you’ll meet and will bend over backwards for friends, family and co-workers. But for those who don’t fit into any of these categories and choose to Push Me, there’s an ugly side I’m sure you don’t want to see.
I hate to end this post on a negative note so I’ll say something positive. I love all God’s children, some a little more than others, and I will continue to go to work with a smile on my face and as much joy in my heart as I can muster during these dark times. What God has ordained NO man can change! Stay Up, Stay Blessed!
Monday, June 14, 2010
Perfectly Imperfect
They say the first step to solving a problem is admitting that you have one, but who wants to admit that they have a problem. Who wants to admit that they’re an alcoholic? Who wants to admit that they’re a sex addict? Who wants to admit that something they do a regular basis, consciously, and likely without regret, is wrong? No one and understandably so. However, it begs the question, how is one to solve a problem they’re unwilling to admit they have or may not even know they have. Addictions and problems don’t cure themselves by accident; they’re fixed with a conscious effort to resolve the problem.
Sometimes it takes being called out by family and friends before you realize that you have a problem. Sometimes it takes a failed relationship or losing your job to prompt the self-evaluation needed to make that change. Whatever that impetus is, it needs to happen before change can happen.
I’m not perfect by any stretch of the imagination and contrary to popular belief I’ve known it for quite some time. I do however, strive for perfection every day. Knowing that I’ll never attain the lofty feat doesn’t deter me from reaching towards it. Realizing imperfection and trying to correct it is part of life’s journey of trying to be better than we started. Self-evaluation is sometimes the best evaluation. If you want to improve the image people have of you, you must first look at the image you’re putting out and be willing to make changes, if necessary.
None of us are perfect and we never will be. We need to be comfortable knowing that, because no matter what we do, no matter how hard we try we’ll still be imperfect. It’s not difficult finding someone to love us for our good qualities; your hair, your nails, your smile, your intelligence. The key is finding someone who loves you for all of your good attributes and who can live with your imperfections. Nicotine, alcohol and drug addictions are bad. Love handles, foot odor and obsessive compulsive disorder, while not desirable, aren’t necessarily deal breakers. Love handles aren’t all that bad, if they were they’d have an uglier name, like fat clamps, plus some people don’t mind a little extra around the mid section. At any rate, they can be fixed with a gym membership and a diet. Dr. Scholl’s and Gold Bond have great solutions for foot odor problems and a little OCD ain’t never hurt anybody. Lol.
The moral of the story is worry about the things you can control and leave the rest to God. Changing some things you don’t like about yourself is fine and dandy but do them because you want to; not because someone else wants you to. Learn to be perfectly comfortable with your imperfections. Stay up, stay blessed
Sometimes it takes being called out by family and friends before you realize that you have a problem. Sometimes it takes a failed relationship or losing your job to prompt the self-evaluation needed to make that change. Whatever that impetus is, it needs to happen before change can happen.
I’m not perfect by any stretch of the imagination and contrary to popular belief I’ve known it for quite some time. I do however, strive for perfection every day. Knowing that I’ll never attain the lofty feat doesn’t deter me from reaching towards it. Realizing imperfection and trying to correct it is part of life’s journey of trying to be better than we started. Self-evaluation is sometimes the best evaluation. If you want to improve the image people have of you, you must first look at the image you’re putting out and be willing to make changes, if necessary.
None of us are perfect and we never will be. We need to be comfortable knowing that, because no matter what we do, no matter how hard we try we’ll still be imperfect. It’s not difficult finding someone to love us for our good qualities; your hair, your nails, your smile, your intelligence. The key is finding someone who loves you for all of your good attributes and who can live with your imperfections. Nicotine, alcohol and drug addictions are bad. Love handles, foot odor and obsessive compulsive disorder, while not desirable, aren’t necessarily deal breakers. Love handles aren’t all that bad, if they were they’d have an uglier name, like fat clamps, plus some people don’t mind a little extra around the mid section. At any rate, they can be fixed with a gym membership and a diet. Dr. Scholl’s and Gold Bond have great solutions for foot odor problems and a little OCD ain’t never hurt anybody. Lol.
The moral of the story is worry about the things you can control and leave the rest to God. Changing some things you don’t like about yourself is fine and dandy but do them because you want to; not because someone else wants you to. Learn to be perfectly comfortable with your imperfections. Stay up, stay blessed
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Sacrifice
Sacrifice is doing the things you have to do today so you can do the things you want to do tomorrow.
Everything worth having in life requires some sort of sacrifice; relationships, career moves, success. If you sit back and think about it, every great thing you’ve ever accomplished in your life was precipitated by a decision to forgo something you wanted to do, to do something you needed to do to attain your goal.
Take for example law school. Law school sucked and anyone who tells you different is a LIAR. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed myself and appreciate the friendships, tools and experiences during the 3 year ordeal, but it still sucked. There’s nothing fun about going days without sleeping and when you do get sleep, at times averaging 4-5 hours of sleep. There’s nothing fun about reading hundred year old constitutional law cases written in a language no one speaks any more. There’s nothing fun about having your fate in one class riding on one test at the end of the semester and then having that offset/altered by this dreadful thing called a curve. But I did it and I’m in a better place because of it. There are a lot more doors that are open to me simply because I have that piece of paper and I am forever appreciative of the fact that I was able to stick it out.
Sacrifice is a thing I don’t think enough of us do. In my opinion, too many people expect things to be handed to them. In my line of work, I deal with way too many people who have a sense of entitlement; who feel as though the world owes them something. Newsflash: The World Doesn’t Owe You a Damn Thing—not me, not the government, not some stranger off the streets. The only things we’re entitled to are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Everything else is extra. Sure it would be nice to not have to work for anything, to be handed everything on a silver platter and never have to go without. But for most people that’s not reality. Reality is, is that life is hard and we all go through things sometimes. I’ve found that the things that I’ve had to work the hardest for I appreciate the most. When I received my degree, I sought out the nicest frame I could find to put it in. Why? Because there was a lot of hard work, sweat, tears (yes tears), sleepless nights and anxiety attacks that went into me achieving it, and because of that I wanted to take good care of it and display for everyone to see.
The best things in life aren’t free. Luxury cars, vacations and nice clothes cost money. Productive relationships, degrees, life fulfillment all require a fee. No it’s not monetary but it is a debt we must pay nonetheless.
Don’t fear making the sacrifice. Don’t fear doing the hard things just because they’re hard. Do the hard things keeping in mind that it won’t last forever and that it’s the next step towards reaching your goals and that you’ll be a better person for it. Adversity builds character and for every obstacle, hurdle, trial and tribulation you encounter and overcome, you’ll be that much wiser, stronger, and empowered to withstand the next tough test. Stay up and be blessed.
Everything worth having in life requires some sort of sacrifice; relationships, career moves, success. If you sit back and think about it, every great thing you’ve ever accomplished in your life was precipitated by a decision to forgo something you wanted to do, to do something you needed to do to attain your goal.
Take for example law school. Law school sucked and anyone who tells you different is a LIAR. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed myself and appreciate the friendships, tools and experiences during the 3 year ordeal, but it still sucked. There’s nothing fun about going days without sleeping and when you do get sleep, at times averaging 4-5 hours of sleep. There’s nothing fun about reading hundred year old constitutional law cases written in a language no one speaks any more. There’s nothing fun about having your fate in one class riding on one test at the end of the semester and then having that offset/altered by this dreadful thing called a curve. But I did it and I’m in a better place because of it. There are a lot more doors that are open to me simply because I have that piece of paper and I am forever appreciative of the fact that I was able to stick it out.
Sacrifice is a thing I don’t think enough of us do. In my opinion, too many people expect things to be handed to them. In my line of work, I deal with way too many people who have a sense of entitlement; who feel as though the world owes them something. Newsflash: The World Doesn’t Owe You a Damn Thing—not me, not the government, not some stranger off the streets. The only things we’re entitled to are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Everything else is extra. Sure it would be nice to not have to work for anything, to be handed everything on a silver platter and never have to go without. But for most people that’s not reality. Reality is, is that life is hard and we all go through things sometimes. I’ve found that the things that I’ve had to work the hardest for I appreciate the most. When I received my degree, I sought out the nicest frame I could find to put it in. Why? Because there was a lot of hard work, sweat, tears (yes tears), sleepless nights and anxiety attacks that went into me achieving it, and because of that I wanted to take good care of it and display for everyone to see.
The best things in life aren’t free. Luxury cars, vacations and nice clothes cost money. Productive relationships, degrees, life fulfillment all require a fee. No it’s not monetary but it is a debt we must pay nonetheless.
Don’t fear making the sacrifice. Don’t fear doing the hard things just because they’re hard. Do the hard things keeping in mind that it won’t last forever and that it’s the next step towards reaching your goals and that you’ll be a better person for it. Adversity builds character and for every obstacle, hurdle, trial and tribulation you encounter and overcome, you’ll be that much wiser, stronger, and empowered to withstand the next tough test. Stay up and be blessed.
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