The five o five : Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Practice What You Preach

<sub>[1]<- What's This

Watching: Barry White (Practice What You Preach) [I was unable to find this video or mp3 of this song anywhere. Can somebody help me? Email me tigga76 at gmail.com. Thanks]</sub>

How many of us know that guy? You know, the one that no matter how much you say you have done or no matter where you say you have been he (or she) has done more or been further. How many of us have "that guy" as our best friend? How many of us have "that guy in our family? How many of us are "that guy"?

S P E A K T H E T R U T H
"
Think about it. Why are there so many sales men in clothing stores to tell our wives how pretty they look in the $200 dress they are trying on? Why does every food service person smile at us when we get our food and then tell us to have a nice day? They don't like you. They are just doing there job. We like the lies though. They make us feel good.
"

A lot seems that a lot of people want to be more than you they are which is perfectly fine by me but the people that bother me are the ones that always wanna be more than you are. I have encounter a few of those "that guys". You can't really make heads of tails of their stories and you can't really ready the truth tangled within their intricate convoluted lies. You will start the conversation out simple enough by asking a single question like, "How was your weekend?"

They will go on and on about family coming over for thanks giving and Mike Tyson getting sue d by their mom because he got in a fight with their cousin T.I. over the last piece of turkey so someone pulled out a gun and the police came they went to jail for no reason and they just got out this morning and are still kinda sleepy because they couldn't lay down on those hard beds.

After their long (often times pointless yet ultimately entertaining) story you stand there questioning whether or not to call their bluff or just move on. Most of the time we just move on. WHY DOESN'T ANYONE JUST STAND AND SHOUT LIAR LIAR PANTS ON FIRE? Why can't these people just be honest!?

Maybe its the world we live in. I just watched (with my fiancé) I Love New York [I Love New York 2 VH1.com] last night and I just realized that T.V. is becoming "that guy" too. Not like it hasn't been already, but the major difference between T.V. shows now and T.V. shows from back in the day is that things used to be clearly labeled as Fiction and Non Fiction.

Fiction: Sitcoms, Cartoons, Soap Operas, Movies.

Non-Fiction: News, Documentaries, Talk Shows, Sports.

Theses days they all mix together in one giant stew of "IhavenocluewhatI'mlookingatrightnow" stew. For example.

Non-Fiction: News, Documentaries, Talk Shows, Sports.


Fiction: Sitcoms, Cartoons, Soap Operas, Movies, News, Documentaries, Talk Shows, Sports, News, Documentaries, Talk Shows, Sports.

You see what's going on here? You can't trust anything anymore. I used to wake up every morning just to watch Good Morning America [GMA on ABC.com] but that started to feel more and more like a "show" and less and less like the news. Maybe "that guy" is being influenced by the mess that is the media. Maybe even worse yet! "That guy" has taken over the T.V. station! I already don't fully trust the news I see, read or hear. They can no longer tell the basic story. In the media its called "spin" but in real life its called "lie".

Maybe "that guy" is now the CEO of a major television network and he finally gets a chance to share his fantasy world with the masses. His stories have gotten even bigger since then. He used to come in and tell you how over the weekend he had a foursome with two midgets and three super models but now he'll show you Flava Flav [Flavor of love casting] [you tube Flavor of Love] groping and tonguing 20 women all competing for his affection. Before he would sit around at break time and tell you that he lost 15 ponds by doing 400 crunches and 600 push ups this morning but now he can show you 13 out of work D list celebrities [Celebrity Fit Club] losing 300 pounds in 2 weeks. "Take that you ney sayers," he thinks. After all that what do we do? We drink it all down. We discuss it amongst our friends. We make bets on the outcome. WE LIKE TO BE LIED TO.

S P E A K T H E T R U T H
"
We know "that guy" isn't telling the truth but we keep going back to him. His stories are exciting. You secretly wanna be him (or at least the fantasy version of him). He is a god. He draws crowds. People love him and you wanna know something? I do too.

"

Think about it. Why are there so many sales men in clothing stores to tell our wives how pretty they look in the $200 dress they are trying on? Why does every food service person smile at us when we get our food and then tell us to have a nice day? They don't like you. They are just doing there job. We like the lies though. They make us feel good. We know "that guy" isn't telling the truth but we keep going back to him. His stories are exciting. You secretly wanna be him (or at least the fantasy version of him). He is a god. He draws crowds. People love him and you wanna know something? I do too.

For those of us that are that guy; don't let anyone stop you.

For those of us that know "that guy"; tell him that you appreciate him.

For those of us that have ever loaned money to "that guy"; you might not ever get it back.

This goes out to all the "that guys" in the world (including the ones I know and you know who you are) we love ya even if we refuse to say it?

_{POV: For more on I Love New York 2 check out this bloggers [Odarra POV]}

The five o five : Monday, November 26, 2007

Nine to Five o Five

<sub>[1]<- What's This

Watching: Mamma's and The Pappas, Monday Morning</sub>

M O N D A Y
"
The nagging thought of Monday gnaws at your conscious. It grabs you by the ear and drags you into the bathroom. You enter the cold chamber groggy and disoriented. You click the switch on the wall and the light bulb (sun) nearly burns your eyes out. You cringe at the torturous self inflicted pain but after a few splashes of cool water from the sink you begin to feel a bit more adjusted. Monday begins to settle in. Itineraries and plans (including four day weekend, unfinished business) enter the scene and take their place within the room. Monday begins to set up shop.
"

Well, it's Monday. Time to go back to work. Time to get back to the daily grind and grind out whatever needs to be "grinded". Its not that I have any problems with my job but you know how it is. You just had a four day holiday weekend. You slept till 12 on three of those four days. You walked around in your boxers and old tee shirts for the most part and didn't go outside unless it was absolutely necessary. You became a heaping pile of unwashed sloth and you enjoyed every second of it. You have a stack of unanswered mail. You have a collection of unreturned phone calls. Responsibility got evicted but you didn't like him anyway. Life was good. But now its Monday.

The 5am alarm screeches in your right ear, nudging you violently in your ribcage (or was that you fiancé?). The room spins as you stumble out of bed and in the direction of annoying morning pest of an alarm clock. You flick the switch on his back and he is easily silenced. You then pull on the comfortable unwashed attire of the four day sloth fest instantly settling into their nostalgic grip the moment they rub your skin. You pause at the warm familiar feeling, almost being lured back into the deep pit of soft, satisfying, slumber. Your eyes close and your forehead goes numb. The fluffy pillows and soft sheets call to you. Your fiancés wriggling body seduces you into Medusa's pit. You are more than willing to be turned into a statue. It feels so good. BUT NO!

The nagging thought of Monday gnaws at your conscious. It grabs you by the ear and drags you into the bathroom. You enter the cold chamber groggy and disoriented. You click the switch on the wall and the light bulb (sun) nearly burns your eyes out. You cringe at the torturous self inflicted pain but after a few splashes of cool water from the sink you begin to feel a bit more adjusted. Monday begins to settle in. Itineraries and plans (including four day weekend, unfinished business) enter the scene and take their place within the room. Monday begins to set up shop. He starts to write a to do list as you bounce down the steps. He makes long lists of things he wants for you to do and people he thinks that you should call. You cell phone greets you as you enter the living room. He delivers the list of unanswered calls to you as dizzy flashing names on his face. You silence him just as easily as the clock with just a simple flick and then you walk over to the main attraction.

Its Monday. The thought, the idea, the feeling, the realization all dance behind your forehead. For some its a relief ; For others its a burden. The morning air will soon be filled with grunts and sighs as the rest of the world is dragged out the bed in a similar matter.

The computer blinked to life as the thought was now vividly realized in my mind. My fingertips danced the words reluctantly onto the keyboard as I began this post.

The five o five : MONDAY, November 26, 2007

I hope you all had a good weekend.

I hope you all have a nice week.

_{P.S. Wouldn't Monday Morning make a good Guitar Hero Song :)}

The five o five : Sunday, November 25, 2007

Remember the Magic

_{[1]<- What's This}

M A G I C
"
Time shuffles us down this long hallway handing us new tasks, responsibilities and even identities but who says that we have to accept them.
"

Do you remember being awake all night waiting for Santa to arrive? How about the first time you placed a tooth under your pillow; did you stay up all night waiting to catch a glittery glimpse of the tooth fairy. What about right before your big birthday party; did you endure a restless night in excited anticipation waiting for some big moment? When was the last time you felt that way? Six years old? Ten? Why is it that when we become adults things stop being so exciting? Isn't there anything still worth waiting for? Is there any magic left in the world?

For some reason, as a child, you think that being an adult is the coolest thing ever. You see all of the things your parents can do. All the special privileges and exclusive activities they can take part in and even if we don't understand them we know that we want to be a part of it some day. When we were kids adults seemed to do lots of cool things like drive, go to work, stay up late, drink alcohol, ride motor cycles, etc, etc [You Tube: HOME ALONE - loosely related]... I remember thinking it must be the bestest thing ever to be an adult.

Then reality starts to kick in. The closer you get to that world (that once fabled land of adulthood) the mask of imagination begins to be peeled off layer by layer. You start to see that the things you once thought were so great really don't hold all of the magic that you would imagine they would. You know what I mean. The big one for a lot of us (specifically males) was sex. You remember thinking that sex (like in the movies) can packaged with fireworks, confetti, streamers and a heavenly beam of light to shine down on the smiling satisfaction of two exhausted yet pleased bodies. Most of (those who remember) know that that's not how the first time ever goes [you tube Mean Girls]. Most of us had to deal with the fumbling, bumbling, "that's not the right place" or "What are you doing" scenario and if you didn't then good for you.

M A G I C
"
Who out there remembers raising your hand in school and telling the teacher that you want to be an astronaut / chef when you grow up? That's the magic I remember. You were capable of everything and anything (in your mind) because you were unbound by responsibility.
"

Where does the magic and anticipation go when we get older? Why does the world seem to grow a lot colder and un-entertaining. I remember all I had to have was a stick and a rubber band and I was good for hours. When I was younger I didn't even have video games so we definitely had to make due. There was magic everywhere. My brother and I would be in heaven (literally) right outside in the back yard. Do children even go outside anymore? Is the magic leaving even earlier now? The adult world is all about drowning you boring reality in mind altering substance so that you can have that "child like vision" again. Mind altering substance includes anything we do outside of our daily grind to keep our mind off of our daily grind and that includes not only just drugs and alcohol but television and religion as well.

Maybe the way we deal with the world is the method we evolved into in order to cope with the world. Maybe our ancestors with their fear of everything [The five o five : Scardey Cat] had to make up stories and explanations for things they didn't understand in order to finally confront them or at least deal with them. But why in our modern society are adults who are imaginative seen as childish? I was called that once and I'm starting to think that maybe that isn't such a bad thing. Why get offended at something that I really don't want to be anyway. Who says I ever wanted to grow up? Who says I have to. Time shuffles us down this long hallway handing us new tasks, responsibilities and even identities but who says that we have to accept them.

Who out there remembers raising your hand in school and telling the teacher that you want to be an astronaut / chef when you grow up? That's the magic I remember. You were capable of everything and anything (in your mind) because you were unbound by responsibility. Adults want to be children and children want to be adults. That's the way it has always been.

I'm about to be 27 in about a week and that means I'll be one step further away from the younger me and one step closer to the old, graying, pudding eating me. I don't want to grow up but I guess in the end we have no choice. My spirit is young though. I still believe the world has some magic left. Do you?

_{Happy Birthday Daylen...}