Something(s) to think about...

When will people realize ALL their news -- yeah, even that stuff you read on blogs -- came from a media outlet first? This week, I had two people tell me about stories they'd read about online that I'd reported on. The stories were later discussed on blogs or message boards or something, and ya boy got NO CREDIT!

Is it wrong that I put the puppy on top of the washer when she's bad?

If I have MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn, why in the hell would I join something else?

What the hell is a Twitter, anyway?

I stayed up late every night this week talking on the phone (yeah, the conversations were THAT good) and watching a friggin ticker online so I could see if Venus was winning in Acapulco (which she is, btw).

I need a maid twice a week, for $50 total, to tidy up the place. I'm just not motivated.

Is there anyone else out there who feels there aren't enough hours in the day?

Thanks for letting me share.

daddy issues...

I'm going to come home to find my dog dead, on her right side on the floor by the balcony, part of a lamp cord sticking out of her mouth.

She. Eats. Everything.

So far, the casualties are still able to be counted: The cord on my desk lamp, the top to my tennis ball canister, the metal clips from my ace bandage, a piece of dried lasagna noodle, a pair of Kenneth Cole shoes, my New Balance running shoes and the last Sonic Blast ice cream shake I had from Sonic before I began my whole "no junk for Lent" ritual.

Now I know why some animals kill their children. They don't behave as soon as you want them to.

Charlie's come a long way since I picked her up on Nov. 21. She's tripled in size, and she showers me with random affection I knew I'd love her for.

But for every time she snuggles up next to me on the couch, there's a spot on my carpet to show her disobedience. And for every time she sits, gives me paw or claws my leg when she's excited to see me, there's a hole in the wall where she tried to dig to China through my laundry room.

What's a guy to do?

What say you? Do you put up with the ones you love simply because you love them, or do you attempt through repetition to make them do better?

Blogging...

I began my first blog nearly four years ago because I'd taken a gig as a copy editor, and it didn't look like I'd have the creative outlet I longed for.

Then I got a reporting job.

The blogging slowed until it came to a halt last spring.

It's not like life's not hectic anymore. I'm still living those "Mary J. Blige from the 90s" days. I'm just not sharing like I once was.

All that to say I'm taking a break from Facebook to devote more time to my beloved blog.

What say you? What's gotten in the way of the things you love doing? What's holding you back? Will you correct it?

The Obama effect

I celebrated cautiously the election of Barack Obama as our newest president. I'm a 27-year-old black man who's been called a nigger, told that he would be great as an athlete (like there were no other options), and nearly coaxed into leaving school early for a job that would've trapped me.

All by white people.

Do I blame them? No. I blame them only for forgetting that I come from a race of people put down for so long that many families no longer hold things like a college education and self-respect as "givens" in society.

Yeah, I'm actually disappointed in my race. I'm disappointed that my 36-year-old sister said she was voting for Obama, and didn't know anything about that for which the man stood. I'm disappointed that we still hold the size of our wheels, the length of our chains and the fatness of our wallets as symbols of esteem.

I'm disappointed that blacks have allowed others to tell them how far they could reach. It's evident with all these stories where white reporters are seeing a change in the momentum, prompting "Obama's gonna make me do better" stories.

We should've been doing better in the first place.

I watched on Jan. 20 with the rest of the world when Obama and John Roberts fumbled through the oath of office. But I watched it with hope -- hope that because most of us for some reason only look up to the images that have been pushed into our psyche through television watching. Maybe watching someone succeed on television -- who isn't named Huxtable -- will allow some of us to stop what we've been doing wrong and finally realize that we've always been on equal footing.

We're the ones who made the distinction that we weren't.