Cool Factor

There's two types of cool people: People born cool or people who realize their coolness in time. I think I belong in the latter category. However, aside from some musicians and movie stars, innate coolness or developed coolness reaches critical mass or levels off with age. If you are between 25 - 30 years of age and want unequivocal proof that you are no longer getting cooler, look no further than VH-1. Make no mistake, I LOVE VH-1, which, ironically, is reason enough alone to show that I'm not getting any cooler.

THINGS

I was thinking about going back to get some more schooling lately. As a matter of fact I'm pretty sure that I'm going to enroll in a university and study something. I just don't know what that something is right now. Its not like college, where I used up a good deal of my time imagining what it would be like to be out of college and into the real world. This time there's no TIME to waste on mickey mouse classes to occupy my time during my hours of sobriety. This time, I want to learn what it is I'm studying, this time I want to remember what I'm in class for. No friends, Joni Mitchell does not lie when she told us that we don't know what we got til its gone. Little did I know that my college moments were some of the most truly blissful times I will ever have. I spent all my time wishing I was here making money. Well, fast forward to the real world of business where the pressures being applied to my heart and mind are crushing me into submission.
THEY want things, and by THEY I mean your boss, your clients, your supervisor, your colleagues, the investors, the consumers, the clergy, the deacon, the priest and the pope too.
They want things now,
They want things done yesterday.
They want explanations
They want results.
They want results NOW.
They want things CHANGED.
They want things to be more EFFICIENT.
They want things immediately.
They want things thorough.
They want things thorough AND immediately,
They want things signed, dated, notorized and stamped.
They want it delivered the next day,
They want certain things done all the time,
They want certain things done sometimes and certain things to never be done.

Then --- you get paid. Yay!

By the time we get to the "you get paid" part your brain is frazzled, your spirit is crushed if and when your work is not your passion. I'm trying to find what it is I am passionate about these days which brings me back to the question of what I want to study in school again. I'm a dreamer but as I get older even my dreams get trimmed down closer to realism by the realization of my own limitations and assets. Arrgh! Right now, I think the only thing I figured out is that I'm going to do something! That's good enough for this minute.

Ain't That What Women Want?

YEah, I been working out. No big deal, some light cardio and some light weights. As I go careening into my late 20's, I found that my body was way ahead of me in the entropy process, so I decided to try and slow it down a bit. So this is what's funny, I was at the gym today and I noticed that there are lots of men who are quite more massive, muscular and better defined than me -- and for those who have seen me in person, thats not such a revelation I'm sure. I look at these guys and for a minute I feel inadequate and somewhat angry that I'm not in such form... after all, ain't that what the ladies want? As I stew about this situation, something hits me square in my eyes: ALMOST all of the guys who are freaking huge are REALLY SHORT. Instantly, they pop out into the foreground like those damn posters w/ the hidden picture. I'm 6 foot tall and about 170lbs. and these huge short guys are about 5' 7" and under.... many of 'em are quite jailhouse jumbo, proudly flexing and posing in the mirror w/ their 19 inch arms, barrels for chests. I look at myself... slim, slight, sticks for arms, chest like a bird. I give them another glance and then I see their overall stubbiness. I look at them, I look at me and I have one sick and jealous yet surprisingly self-esteem affirming thought "Work all you want you bastards...you won't get any TALLER. "

HEAVY ROTATION

The following tracks are receiving mad spins on my mp3 playlist :

"One Minute Man" – Missy Elliot Feat. Jay Z: This song has a hypnotic beat and a has a nice flow to it. I try not to imagine Missy trying to seduce me, because that’s just wrong. The Jay Z verse is yet another classic as he bucks the strong women trend prevalent in R & B these days, he spits : I’m not trying to give you no love and affection / I’m trying to give you sixty seconds of affection / Get yo’ Independent ass outta here – Question?

"Superwoman" - Lil Mo feat. Fabolous: Futuristic beat w/ a nice hook, it has a retro - space gun twang that some may find annoying however. I find Lil Mo endearing because she has this underdog appeal in the song. Fabolous' 2 verses are nothing special... some stuff you would expect from Mase in his prime.

"Hanging By a Moment" - Lifehouse: Take one listen to this song and you will genuinely believe that the singer is head over heels in love w/ the chick. Not the type of love that makes you content...the type of crazy love that makes you throw things away and follow where the road takes you. Instant classic in pop music terms.

Maybe some of you gave thought to my two questions and some of you didn't but here's my thoughts on them.

1) What does it mean when you or I say "I AM" - This has bothered me for a long time. Well, at least ever since I've gained knowledge of self. This bothers me the way the Matrix did Neo...its inside my head but can only be seen in the perpheral vision of my mind's eye. I think I know what it means but when I try to explain it, words escape me. When I try to focus on it in my head, it shifts and divides into many different ideas. The only thing I'm sure of is that it has to do with God and us humans. God refers to Himself as "I am who is" ... does that mean we share his divinity when we say "I am"? See? More questions and thats the way it is....

2) Are we ultimately alone in life - I say yes, we're seperate essences connected by five senses...hey, that rhymes. This is because someone once said to me "We live as we dream...alone". It sounds sad, but its really not. It makes us all the more unique and special and no matter who we encounter in life, whatever they teach us, or however they love or hate us .. those lessons are for us alone.

Anyways, yal that's why I entitled my blog "A Life Less Ordinary" (Not just because I liked that movie). When you see a person, it's easy to think that they are just "extras" in the movie that is you're life. The truth is, they carry a whole universe behind their eyes just as you do. There aren't any ordinary lives... and everyone has a story worth listening to, even me. Big ups to my blog mentor Voodoo Child who showed me thusly.

Hi all, welcome to JJ's blog spot (a place where I can register my thoughts when my whim compels me). To begin, I'd like to get all the heavy handed, profound, introspective stuff out of the way before I get into the silly details of a life less ordinary. You know, pseudo-intellectual crap that we spout off when we're bored. Okay, so here's a couple of questions that I want to ask you to think about.
1) What does it mean when you or I say "I AM"?
2) Are we ultimately alone in life?

With that out of the way, welcome to the contents of my head... don't expect to find anything useful in here.