Jealousy has finally got the best of me

Yesterday, I was luck enough to spend most of the day out doors. I had a light breakfast at the Breugers Coffee shop downtown and was amazed to see the number of runners. I felt abit guilty mothing down a sausage egg and cheese bagel while so many others were trying to slim down.

I then when to work for my firend's landscaping business in the east side of the city. For hours I watched as joggers, dog walkers and speed walkers enjoyed the beautiful weather in their shorts and t-shirts, and with every passer I felt more and more jealous of their fitness achievements.

I know that a few weeks ago I blogged about my self made promise to get back in shape, but since, I have made little effort in make it come to fruition.

Today is the day I start!

I devised a serious plan, consisting of eating right, cutting back on vices and exercises to achieve the body that I had a year ago.

Lets see how long it lasts...

It's Strange Being In A Good Mood...

Though I did not get into work until this afternoon, I am feeling pretty happy for some reason.

Could it be that I submitted my resignation to my current employer yesterday to take a job at a larger, more prestigious organization?

Naw...that can't be it.

Maybe because I just got accepted to be a freelance writer on BGB, a blog that I have been reading everyday for the past year or so?

I'm still scratching my head.

Maybe because its such a beautiful day outside?

Ohh...its raining...

Well, I guess we all have days like this.

A New Take On The Super Friends

For many Cincinnatians, as children, I would pass the Union Terminal on my way home and beg my mother if we could go for a visit. Not because of the museum that is housed in it, but because the building bared a striking resemblance to the Hall of Justice used by the Super Friends.

Hall Of Justice

(Somewhere Over The Rainbow)

Union Terminal

(Cincinnati, OH)

As my mother drove past, I would look wondering at the building and try to imagine walking in and finding Superman having a latte with Batman and Wonder Woman, while Aquaman feed the fish and the Marvin and Wonder Dog were in a heated game of Yahtzee.

Needless to say, when I found the following video on YouTube, I could not stop reminiscing.

Mother of a teenage boy accused of having sex with son's school mate

According to nky.com:

A Hollywood makeup artist and wife of a one-time Bengals player was arrested Monday on charges she had sexual contact with a high school student during parties at her Villa Hills home.
Jeni Lee Dinkel, 51, pleaded not guilty Monday to one count each of third-degree rape and third-degree sodomy after turning herself in to authorities. The Class D felonies each carry a penalty of one to five years in prison.

When I saw this story in the Cincinnati Enquirer on Monday, I was floored. i went on to read that her son attends school with her accuser. Could you imagine going to school and have your mother being called a "you-know-what"? For this reason, I started to feel sorry for the son attending the private all boys school in Northern Kentucky.

I guess that is just what Dinkel's defence wants you to think. Just read what the defense attorney, Phitzer, put out today in nky.com:

"...Tragically, this is not the biggest problem in their lives," Pitzer said. "Five weeks ago, I was in Mexico with Jeni Lee Dinkel. She got a phone call, and she crumpled to the ground, and I held her while she sobbed uncontrollably, getting the news that her son, Alex, had been diagnosed with a brain tumor. She was immediately back in Cincinnati, did not leave Alex's side for the entire time he was in Children's Hospital, where he spent 11 hours on an operating table.

"Thankfully, he is back in school," Pitzer said of Dinkel's son. "It's miraculous but his recovery is dependent, more than anything else, the surgeons tell us, (on) his psychological attitude. And Jeni is doing her level best, as is her husband, Tom (a former Bengals linebacker), as is Alex's sister, Taylor, as are all his friends, to try to keep (Alex) feeling as good as he can, so he can, in fact, survive.''

Question 1: Why was Dinkel's attorney vacationing with her?

Question 2: Why can't a make-up artist perform pro bono work our her council?

Thoughts of a Younger Me: Definition of Maleness

Maleness, masculinity -- the properties characteristic of the male sex

Masculinity
[n] The trait of behaving in ways considered typical for men
[n] The properties characteristic of the male sex

Manhood
[n] The state of being a man; manly qualities

The three definitions above are all textbook definitions of the terms that we were assigned to define for today’s assignment. Even after reading the definitions, I don't feel that I still have a good idea what I think that these words mean, so I am going to come up with my own definition for each.

The first definition that we will look at is Maleness. The above definition states that maleness is the characteristic of the male sex. Characteristics of the male sex are determined by the culture that one has grown up in. In my culture and in my background, some characteristics of being male are being tough and unafraid. Men and boys are not supposed to be afraid of the dark, and we are supposed to kill spiders and other little critters. Men are supposed to help the female sex and never lay a hand on them in violence. Men are also supposed to be smart and help others when they need help. Men are also supposed to be the head of your household and make more money than thier wife. Men are supposed to have kids and live with a woman. That is my definition of maleness.

The next definition that I want to look at is the definition of masculinity. The above definition states that masculinity is the trait of behaving in ways considered typical for men. The definition also goes on to say that manhood is also the property characteristic of the male sex. I feel that maleness and masculinity are synonyms with each other. They mean the exact same things in my eyes.

The last definition that I am going to look at is the definition of manhood. The definition above states that manhood is the state of being a man; manly qualities. This term seems to be very similar to the term of masculinity, but I think that it is a little different. Manhood is a state of being which is different from masculinity. Even though the definitions are very similar in my eyes, the way that you talk about each one is very different. Manhood is a way that you carry yourself, more like an ego. Masculinity is simply just the traits to describe your manhood.
I do feel that being make is a privilege. I don't feel that I am privileged because I am a male though. I think that being male is a privilege in our society because men are stronger then woman, but on the other hand, woman are considered smarter than men. I think that being male is a privilege because our society tells us so. Look at college basketball. The men's college basketball teams at our University get so much more publicity and a greater turnout than the women's teams. Not that girls are any less athletic than men, it's just because I feel that men are privileged.

Thoughts of a Younger ME: Why People Are Racist

In cleaning out my old 3 1/2 inch floppy disk and converting all the needed information onto my flash drive, I came across a number of my writing assignments when I was an African-American (AFAM) Studies major at the University of Cincinnati during the years of 2002 and 2003. I thought I would post a few of those old writings just as a reminder of my progression (to the eye of the beholder) in my writing ability. After reading this following piece, I would like to know if you think I succeeded in getting my point across. After I re-read this piece, I am not sure that I did.

Why People Are Racist
People have been trying to analyze the reason why people are racist for a number of years now. They have also tried many different ways to measure the level of racism in schools and in the workplace. The conclusions from these types of studies have lead to many different hypothesis. One of those hypothesis has lead to the answer of hate. Other hypothesis have lead to other causes of racism such as ignorance of the unknown. I believe that the arguments that has lead to the figuring out of both causes are valid, but there is a prevailing reason that I feel which stands out more than all of them and that is the struggle for power.

Mankind has an undeniable history of struggling for power. Many scientist even believe that the struggle for power is an innate thing that is embedded into the psyche of the human mind.

Whether it was the struggle for power over land, natural resources or simply the human mind. These people that were trying to gain power thought that it would be easier to do so if they justified their reasoning for gaining power and why the other group did not deserve to have any. This way it would be easier to make the lower class people believe that they were not entitled to the power, making the power hungry people's job a lot easier. Some groups in power looked at many different criteria to justify the haves and the have-nots, like class designations, living conditions, living areas, family lineage and physical characteristics.

This determination to the accessibility to power, today, has manifested into the designation of power based on race. We commonly call this racism. Through out the history of the United States, we have seen the group with a lot of power (whites) continue to persecute those with seemingly no power (African Americans) so that power could stay in the hands of the whites and out of the hands of the African Americans.

The first evidence of this accrued during the slave period that was witnessed in the United States. During this time period, it was illegal for slaves to be given the skills that would enable them to gain power later on in life. African Americans were not allowed to learn how to read, or even go to school. They were banned from having their young masters and mistresses teaching them the things that they learned at school, and were beaten and even killed if they were found to be learning to read. A reason why slaves were persecuted for learning how to read because it was very easy to tell whom where not able to partake in these adventures because the difference in skin color in whites and African Americans were so noticeable.

Another area where evidence of whites being racist because of their need for power is seen during the Civil Rights Era of the 1950’s and 1960’s here in the United States. African Americans implemented a massive effort to gain power with the right to vote and the integration of schools, but were continually thwarted because whites did not want them to have the power to do so.

Racism can be many things. It could be name calling, discrimination, have a person purposely give you incorrect information, but the underlying thing that makes an action racist is if it is done primarily because of your race and it causes you to not have power and the other person to have power.

Nazi's In OTR

You have got to be kidding me!

Did the City of Cincinnati not learn anything with the (pho) riots of 2001? What about the incised distrust of Cincinnati's finest by the city's African American community?

Of course I am speaking of the neo (new) NAZI groups petitioning to march in Over-The-Rhine. For those who are reading from out of town, Over-The-Rhine is a predominately African American section of the city, located downtown, and where the notorious Cincinnati Riots of 2001 took place.

Given both of these volatile events, we know what is going to occur. Do you think the residents of OTR are going to stand by and just LET this group walk their streets? How soon do we forget about the last time that this groups tried to spread their word in a predominately African American community. I thought hind sight was supposed to be 20/20?

The sad thing is, the same reason that I am able to place my thoughts in this forum is the same reason that Cincinnati may have to grant permission for this groups to walk the streets. Because of this, I call for a boycott of this group's march. Let's all ignore it. Let the fools march the streets. The only reason why they want to march in the heart of the African American community is that they know that they will cause civil unrest.

Let us not give them that satisfaction. Let them march peacefully through the streets and let us not bat an eye and let us not waste the energy to turn our heads. We should show them that the days of incoherent Rodney King beaten-like mayhem have passed and we have socially evolved to a people who can speak with our minds and not our fists.

I know that it may be an oxymoron for me to suggest this but still spend the time to place this matter on my blog, but the word must get out some how.

"Pride" Dive's Into The Running

I know what you are thinking...a movie about a Black swim team? Most of us can not even swim, and when we do learn how to swim, swimming pools are so far and few between where most of us live, that preparation to compete is out of the question. Not to mention the fact that the slightly extra bone density that African American posses is not conducive of producing a good swimmer. I just thought back to when I learned how to swim, and one of the exercises was to float in water. Needless to say, only my head stayed a float and I could not understand why.

So I could imagine what people thought of an all African American Swim team back in 1974. That is what Terrence Howard's current film is about. I ventured 'across the water' to AMC theatres at Newport on the Levee to see the movie Pride and was surprised when my friend and I were the ONLY PEOPLE IN THE ENTIRE THEATRE!

Most of the film takes place in Philadelphia, where Howard's character fights the odds by inspiring a Black community and a White elite swim team to embrace a poor African American swim team. By doing this, Howard's character manages to save a community center as well.

It was great to see Kimberly Elise (Set It Off and Beloved) play opposite of Howard, though her true acting ability did not shine through, safe for one emotional scene, it was good to see her on the big screen again. Bernie Mac, was true to is House Party days (where he played the wise-cracking Unle Vester), playing the older, wittingly cynical father figure who had has an uncanny knack for 'telling it like it is'. Tom Arnold makes a surprising appearance in the film as the rival swim team's coach. Kudos to Tom for taking on this project, it not like he had anything else to do.

Though this may not be a movie to go see on a Friday night, I would not recommend waiting to see this once its on DVD. Go out and support this feel good movie so that poor saps like my friend and I are not the only ones sitting in the movie theatre...lol

Another Great Opening Day Pitch

Of course I am not being truthful. I am talking about the off-kilter opening pitch performed by our fair Mayor Mark Mallory.

At any other game, this pitch probably would not have made some of the national blogs that I read, but because this is the Opening Day pitch here in Cincinnati, home of the Reds, the nation's very first baseball team, it is kind of a big deal.

When I read the Cincinnati Enquirer's front page story detailing the Mayors throw, I thought to myself that it could not be that bad, just a little to the outside, nothing more.

Yet again, I was wrong.

Make sure you watch Eric Davis' face after the mayor throws the ball.

Spring Is In The Air...

Spring is in the air, so we all know what is around the corner....

Swimsuits and pool side fun.

I have taken most of the winter off from the gym, so you could imagine the state of this so far. Today is one of the warmest days of the year (though the weather should be about 20 degrees cooler) so you can imagine the multitude of people showing off the work that they have done to their bodies during the cold winter months. (Show offs)

No matter, I will not let the ugly head of jealousy rear its head. I really can not complain too much, it my own fault that I have let myself go all winter long.

When I saw these pics from johnandersen.com, they were the proverbial "straw that broke the camel's back".

I am making a pact to get back in shape. Eating healthier coupled with normal sized portions will no longer be an oddity and my normal after work motif will be some sort of physical exercise rather than bellied up to the television watching the day's installment of Hollywood news. My vices will turn to more of an oddity than commonplace (come on now, a boi has got to live).

In this endeavor I may need some help. The good new is the most of the people around me are either vegetarians or are goal oriented in eating healthy. The only thing that may hinder me is that none of my friends that I hang out with on a regular basis are very physically active....I guess I can get past that.

Wish me luck!