Just another day in Portland

Earlier in the day on Halloween I went to a Sushi restaurant in Downtown Portland for lunch. It was my first time at this particular restaurant. Seated behind me was a woman with a nose ring that was a hoop which was large enough to put my fist through. She had a yellow wig in the style of Marge Simpson. She wore yellow and black plaid daisy dukes, a white tube top, black open-toe combat boots and a leather jacket. And she was the normal one. The guy seated at the table with her had the left side of his head shaved bald with a black cross tattoed on the head, the other half of his head in blonde cornrows down his back. He was wearing a superman costume and red stillettoes, and in each nostril he had a diamond stud and two small hoops. In the right ear he wore a hoop earring that was connected to his right nostril with a silver chain that hung below his chin. Like the dog spot in the Little Rascals, he had a dark circle around his left eye and a red star around the right eye.

The waitress ( wearing a snow white costume, her light blue hair in a bouffant) knew them:

Waitress: Hey, can you guys stop by at 730 instead of 8? I wanna make it to the mall to get my costume.

Woman with Marge Simpson hair: Okay, but you gotta be ready to walk out the door at 730 sharp. We gotta get home to put our custumes on too.

Waitress: Ok. Yeah, I was wondering why you guys didn’t wear your costumes out.

Guy with half-shaved head: We didn’t want to get it all sweaty and wrinkled.

Waitress: Yeah that makes sense. Okay, see you guys later! Thanks!

“For every minute spent in organizing, an hour is earned.”

--Author unknown.

This quote reminds me of a conversation I had with a friend of mine earlier today. She was upset because at her company a new computer system was thrusted on her and her department without the benefit of the system being tested thoroughly by a representative of the department that would be using it. Those were the days. I remember when we bonded over the same situation at an insurance company in Pewaukee Wisconsin about 5 years ago. Since it wasn't tested in the background while we worked with the old system in the foreground, the new system required more time and labor (and frustration) to fix the bugs, resulting in backlogs, re-work, and working extra hours (when you're salaried, those extra hours are not overtime). The old system was leased to us, and the company let the lease expire since we had developed this new system ( that didn't work).

Today. Not tomorrow, or the day after, or the day after that...

“Now is the accepted time, not tomorrow, not some more convenient season. It is today that our best work can be done and not some future day or future year. It is today that we fit ourselves for the greater usefulness of tomorrow. Today is the seed time, now are the hours of work, and tomorrow comes the harvest and the playtime.” -- W E B Dubois


I found this quote when I was looking for something  inspirational to send to my nephew to read, when he called and asked  if I've ever heard of W E B Dubois.
 I'm very proud of him. Despite his siblings, he's growing up, and according to my mom and sister, he's been a great help to them and he's becoming to be a good young man. I don't refer to him as a boy anymore. At 14, he's a young man, and I will do everything in my power to make sure he doesn't put off for tomorrow what can be done today, with regards to whatever he wants to be, because W E B Dubois says, Now is the accepted time, not tomorrow, not for some more convenient season.

That applies to me as well,

even at my age.

On October 29, 1969

U.S. Supreme Court said school systems must end segregation "at once" and "operate now and hereafter only unitary schools." In Mississippi case, Alexander V. Holmes, the Court abandoned the principle of "all deliberate speed.   courtesy of http://www.blackfacts.com/

Quote of the day

"One with God is a majority."

--Billy Graham

Quite often, at social gatherings here in Oregon,

I feel self conscious, being the only person of color in a room of white people all the time.

It's still taking some getting used to because it's a bit different for me.

Prior to my move here, my world was about 97% black, latino, indian, asian, arab & persian, and about 3% white, from my job, my church, the gym, the mall, the grocery store. I was like a fish in water. 

Now I stand out. At times I feel like all eyes are on me.

Because Oregonians are amongst the friendliest, coolest people I've ever met, I forget,

then by the time I feel comfortable sometimes a friend will say,

"do you realize you're the only black person here?"

(as if I didn't know)

But one with God is a majority.

Funny thing is, though my job brings me alot of joy, I can't get my nephew to understand why I would uproot  myself to live in Oregon!

Over the weekend,

I did a good deed for a friend.

I showed up at IKEA as requested.

I thought I was just going to help him carry heavy packages from the store to his car

and from the car in to his house,

but

I

also had to help build a closet from the contents of the packages.

When I thought I'd be home about 2 hours later,

I

got home 9 hours later instead...

tired and sleepy.

(I don't mind. I like helping people).

You put good things out in the universe, and good things will come back to you

in my fortune cookie tonight-

                                       "You will receive unexpected support over the next week. Accept it graciously."
                                     

                                       I’m reminded of when I was in college. I was the editor of my college paper, and I visited The Middlesboro Daily News building. I spoke to the editor regarding a few sections of the paper, most notably, the astrology section - I wanted to know where they get their fortunes every day to put in the paper.

 I wasn’t prepared for the response he gave.

“Words are randomly selected from the dictionary and divided into 12 groups, and I use them to compose 12 groups of sentences or two, one group for each zodiac sign.”

I appreciated his honesty.

I don’t take fortune cookies seriously, but I wonder if the origin of each fortune is similar to what I learned at that newspaper office.

Happiness

On October 24, 1935

Langston Hughes' play 'Mulatto' became the first play written by an African American to become a Broadway hit. One of the literary stars of the Harlem Renaissance, Hughes used his production to explore the experiences of mixed-race blacks.

50+ great things to pray for EVERYDAY

http://elev8.com/daily-offerings/50-plus-great-things-to-pray-for-everyday/

I don't know about you,

but I love to see kids that are happy and giggling and smiling, with not a care in the world.

These are my friend Faisreh's two boys, Iskinder and Dawit. The last time I saw Dawit, he was 4 months old.

On October 23, 1911

Three organizations- the Committee for Improving the Industrial Conditions of Negroes in New York, the Committee on Urban Conditions and the National League for the Protection of Colored Women merged, under the leadership of Dr. George E. Hayne and Eugene Kinckle Jones, to form the National Urban League. Eugene Kinckle Jones was named executive secretary. Sixty Blacks reported lynched in 1911.

--courtesy  http://www.blackfacts.com/

I got my first after-school job through the National Urban League, in 1976, when I was 14. I worked in maintenance, cleaning bathrooms, picking up trash, sweeping and mopping floors, etc. My mom and I were grateful for the added income. I could buy my own clothes for school, and the 10-speed bike I had my eye on for a while, and bought (but never got the chance to ride because a drunk driver hit my sister while she was riding it, breaking her leg and destroying the bike)

The power of prayer

It works!    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avf6mGkUz64

Thank GOD it's Friday!

Nothing more to say.

Funny quote

" When I die, I want to go peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car."

I came upon this today

while looking for something else. I forgot how much I love this song

Employee of the month

A friend emailed this to me, I thought it was funny, and I had to include it in my blog;


A man from Wisconsin moves to Beaverton and goes to a big everything-under-one-roof department store looking for a job.
The Manager says, 'Do you have any sales experience?'
Alieux says 'Yeah. I was a salesman back in Wisconsin.'
Well, the boss liked Alieux and gave him the job.
'You start tomorrow. I'll come down after we close and see how you did.'
His first day on the job was rough, but Alieux got through it.
After the store was locked up, the boss came down.
'How many customers bought something from you today?'
Then Alieux says, 'One.'
The boss says, 'Just one? Our sales people average 20 to 30 customers a day. How much was the sale for?'
The man says, “$101,237.65.”
The boss says, “$101,237.65”? What the heck did you sell?'
Alieux says, 'First, I sold him a small fish hook. Then I sold him a medium fishhook. Then I sold him a larger fishhook. Then I sold him a new fishing rod. Then I asked him where he was going fishing, and he said down the coast, so I told him he was going to need a boat, so we went down to the boat department, and I sold him a twin engine Chris Craft. When he said he didn't think his Honda Civic would pull it, I took him down to the automotive department and sold him that 4x4 Expedition.'
The boss said 'A guy came in here to buy a fish hook and you sold him a BOAT and a TRUCK?'
Alieux said, 'No, the guy came in here to buy Tampons for his wife, and I said, 'Dude, your weekend’s shot, you should go fishing.'

Time

"Don't watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going."

--Sam Levenson

The Juggler

Who are you when no one is watching?

Life is about balancing. Sometimes, it's like a high-wire act.

I'm a juggler.

I'm the same person, trying to juggle 12 balls in the air at once- Love, Truth, Giving, Charity, Faith, Humour,Empathy, Humility, Coping, Resilience, Sadness, and Happiness, all while breathing and trying my best to live a Christian Life. Sometimes one or more of the balls are bigger or heavier, requiring more attention than the others. Sometimes some are smaller and not even noticeable.

 In reality, I can't keep them all in the air forever.

Sometimes they fall and I have to pick them up and start all over again, but the point is, that I do get back up.

Quote of the day-Maya Angelou says

"When people show you who they really are, believe them."

On October 20, 1904

The matriarch of the NAACP

Born October 20, 1904 in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, Enolia Pettigen McMillan became the first female president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

On October 19, 1943:

"As an artist I come to sing, but as a citizen, I will always speak for peace, and no one can silence me in this."

-- Paul Robeson

Oct. 19, 1943: On this date, Paul Robeson opened in Othello at the Shubert Theater in N.Y. City. The show ran for 296 consecutive performances, setting a record for a Shakespearean drama on Broadway. (Source: www.BlackFacts.com)

Perspectives- on being grateful

              "When you are grateful fear disappears and abundance appears. "
                                            -- Anthony Robbins

               This morning was fuel tank was beyond E. I had planned on getting gas on my way to work, and I forgot. Then I had planned on getting gas during lunch, but today I walked to a restaurant with a coworker, and then I was going to get gas right after work on the way to meeting friends after work, and I forgot. After meeting with my friends I ran a few errands, and when was about a mile away from the  gas station closest to my place, my car was making sputtering sounds before suddenly stopping on the side of the road. I was angry. I didn't feel like walking a mile down the road to buy a container to fill it full of gas and then walk back to my car.
                 But I did.
                 I made the long trek to the gas station. I was angry with myself for forgetting to get gas earlier in the day. It was dark and cloudy and it was chilly. I didn't have a jacket on.
                Then on the way back to my car with a container full of gas, I saw a young boy in a wheel chair, being pushed down the street past me by a woman I guessed might be his mother. The boy had no legs, from the knees down. I felt stupid for complaining.
             Suddenly, thanking God for my legs, I was grateful for the ability to walk to and from the gas station.

Kaonohiaweaweokala says

“Wisdom is being wise in your dominance of your negative thoughts”

A da Vinci Quote

    

        "One can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery of oneself."
                                                                  — Leonardo da Vinci

A quote, in response to the previous quote-

"That's right! I've heard of Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday but I never heard of Someday."
                                                       --Tyrone Goldsby


                     I had to post it, as a reminder to myself, to remove 'someday' from my vocabulary.

My New Personal Quote-

                    "Someday’ is a disease that will take your dreams to the grave with you."

--Timothy Ferriss

I came across this quote tonight and I saw myself in every word of it. I’m guilty of sitting back, putting things off and thinking ‘someday’. The problem with that is, time isn’t sitting back and waiting for me. As I write this, I’m reminded of a really close friend who, over 20 years ago, tried to convinced me to apply to law school with him since I shared his dream of being a lawyer. I graduated from college about 4 yrs earlier, and he was a senior in college, and I wasn’t interested in going back to school yet, but I thought maybe, ‘someday.’

Funny how time flies…

I almost blinked, and he had gotten his law degree, and had become a successful attorney, and was making 2.5x what I was making at the time, and I began to regret that I put it off.

I’m happy doing what I do, but I used to wonder if I hadn’t put off law school. I did consider law school about 10 years ago, when my friend insisted I would hate it, as he was wishing he had taken another career path…

I’m working on a collection of short stories (Designer Strait Jackets & other Short Stories), trying to publish a collection of poems (The Love Experience Pt.1), and am about 30% done with a novel (Notes from An Accidental Life).

Today.

A different drug problem...

A co-worker sent this to my email- I just had to post it in my blog.

     My mother was strict with me and my sister. And when I say strict, I mean S T R I C T, and as a child living in the projects in Brooklyn before moving to Racine Wisconsin (what a culture shock-but that that's for another blog entry at another time), of all places, I didn't understand the reason for her strictness. I always thought the extent of her strictness was unnecessary, that perhaps she was a bit of a control freak. seriously, I did. I used to wonder why my mother needed to know who our friends were, who their parents were, and whether my sister and I were home alone when she was at work. It used to annoy me to no end, considering we both tried to do everything my mom asked us to do. If we talked on the phone, she always wanted to know who we were talking to. If my sister wanted to go to a friend’s house, my mom made sure to call the friend’s mom, not just to be sure it was okay for my sister to visit, but also to be sure that that was where she was really going to be, and my mother would insist on driving her to the friend’s house, and picking her up from that friend’s house at an appropriate time. Since my sister was more the social butter fly than I was, she was always trying to outsmart my mother, but my mom was always one step ahead of her. I remember my sister being frustrated with my mother being aware of her plans. My mother told her, “ Girl, I was sneaky as a kid, just like you. The things you’re trying to get away with, I did them all. You can’t fool me!”

My mother used to have me mow the lawn, trim the hedges, and shovel the sidewalks and driveway of the church property next door when we lived in Wisconsin, not to mention our own property as well. And, she insisted that I do the church property for free, and mow the lawn for an elderly couple, that it's the right thing to do. I hated it. When there were about 20 boys my age in the church, and the Pastor had an able-bodied son my age as well, I resented my having to do it all by myself. And I only got one 'thank you' from the pastor. After that, I don't know if it was assumed that I would always do it, or maybe my mother told him I would always do it, but throughout my 4 years living in Racine (I attended a college as far away as I could) that was my duty, along with my education and working three part-time jobs before college.

It didn't occur to me until I had grown up, that that's what you do when you love your children. You care about the people in their lives, and you want to be sure that they're socializing with good trustworthy people that are looking out for their best interests. You also teach them to not be lazy and to do good things not just because you might get paid for it but because it's the right thing to do.

I have a 'friend' and I won't reveal her name, who used to be very lax with her kids. She used to allow them to come and go as they pleased, any time of day and night. She had no idea who was in her house when she was at work or in her bedroom asleep. She didn't know her children's friends or their parents. She had the same type of mother my sister and I did, and she decided she wasn't going to be strict with her kids the way her mother was with her and her sister.

My sister and I grew up, graduated from high school, got college degrees, moved away and didn’t cause my mother any heartache, and didn’t have any kids that my mom had to help raise….and my friend?

She has three daughters under 17 years of age. All of them are pregnant and don't know who the father might be. Three sons 19 and older are in jail. One son is awaiting sentencing. Another died from a botched bank robbery, another paralyzed from the neck down from jumping out of a window (from the 3rd floor) to escape a drug raid at the front door of their apartment, and now she wishes she was strict with her kids.

Quote of the day

"having a head doesn't always mean you have a brain"

--Kaonohiaweaweokala

A Chinese proverb

                                                 “If you stand straight, do not fear a crooked shadow.”


this is a repost

Lost & found

I found a wallet once.

It was 1985. Fresh out of college, I was a temp at an insurance company in Madison Wisconsin. It was my last day at my assignment, and the temp agency didn’t have another job lined up for me. And I found a wallet in the bathroom. I counted a hundred, fifty, seventy, ninety, two hundred ten, thirty,fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty, three hundred dollars! I needed to pay my rent, but I said to God, “ you know I need this money, but I gotta do what's right.” I looked at the driver’s license and I found the owner of the wallet and I gave it to him. He saw that his three hundred dollars were still in his wallet.

It was my last day there, and I happened to look at an internal job posting on the bulletin board. I met all the qualifications for a particular customer service job that was posted, and though I was told that company employees would be considered for the job first, I applied for it anyway. Guess who was the supervisor?

The owner of the wallet.

I got the job, and not only did I not even have to interview for it, but he said that when he reviewed the applications, he saw my name and he didn’t interview anyone for the job. He told me that he knew all that he needed to know about me from my giving him his wallet with his money intact--

the ABCs

This arrived in my email in-box this morning, and I had to post it;

"Whoever came up with this one must have had some Divine guidance!


Although things are not perfect
Because of trial or pain
Continue in thanksgiving
Do not begin to blame
Even when the times are hard
Fierce winds are bound to blow
God is forever able
Hold on to what you know
Imagine life without His love
J oy would cease to be
Keep thanking Him for all the things
Love imparts to thee
Move out of "Camp Complaining"
No weapon that is known
On earth can yield the power
Praise can do alone
Quit looking at the future
Redeem the time at hand
Start every day with worship
To "thank" is a command
Until we see Him coming
Victorious in the sky
We'll run the race with gratitude
X alting God most high
Y es, there'll be good times and yes some will be bad, but...
Z ion waits in glory...where none are ever sad!


"I AM Too blessed to be stressed!" The shortest distance between a problem and a solution is the distance between your knees and the floor. The one who kneels to the Lord can stand up to anything. Love and peace be with you forever, Amen."

An Italian Proverb

   "Se ogni uomo avrebbe spazzato la sua porta di casa la città sarebbe presto essere puliti."

  "If every man would sweep his own doorstep the city would soon be clean."

     G. Torriano, 1666

      While looking through a collection of poems I had written when I was around ten, I found this quote, written in someone else's handwriting.  I saw it and had to post it on my blog.
       I was going to write a long blog entry about the meaning behind it, but I thought the quote itself was sufficient

An Irish Blessing

 
May you live as long as you want,
And never want as long as you live.

Negative people

I received this in an email this morning. I thought it was funny and I had to post it:

This is something to think about when negative people are doing their best to rain on your parade.

So remember this story the next time someone who knows nothing, and cares less, tries to make your life miserable.
A woman was at her hairdresser's getting her hair styled for a trip to Rome with her husband. She mentioned the trip to the hairdresser, who responded:
“Rome ? Why would anyone want to go there? It's crowded and dirty. You're crazy to go to Rome. So, how are you getting there?"
"We're taking Continental," was the reply. "We got a great rate!"
"Continental, "exclaimed the hairdresser." That's a terrible airline. Their planes are old, their flight attendants are ugly, and they're always late. So, where are you staying in Rome ?"
"We'll be at this exclusive little place over on Rome's Tiber River called Tested."
"Don't go any further. I know that place. Everybody thinks its gonna be something special and exclusive, but it's really a dump, the worst hotel in the city! The rooms are small, the service is surly, and they're overpriced. So, whatcha' doing when you get there?"
"We're going to go to see the Vatican and we hope to see the Pope."
"That's rich," laughed the hairdresser. "You and a million other people trying to see him. He'll look the size of an ant. Boy, good luck on this lousy trip of yours. You're going to need it."
--------------------------------------------

A month later, the woman again came in for a hairdo. The hairdresser asked her about her trip to Rome.
"It was wonderful," explained the woman. "Not only were we on time in one of Continental's brand new planes, but it was overbooked, and they bumped us up to first class. The food and wine were wonderful, and I had a handsome 28-year-old steward who waited on me hand and foot. And the hotel was great! They'd just finished a $5 million remodeling job, and now it's a jewel, the finest hotel in the city. They, too, were overbooked, so they apologized and gave us their owner's suite at no extra charge!"
"Well," muttered the hairdresser, "that's all well and good, but I know you didn't get to see the Pope."
"Actually, we were quite lucky, because as we toured the Vatican, a Swiss Guard tapped me on the shoulder, and explained that the Pope likes to meet some of the visitors, and if I'd be so kind as to step into his private room and wait, the Pope would personally greet me. Sure enough, five minutes later, the Pope walked through the door and shook my hand! I knelt down and he spoke a few words to me."
"Oh, really! What'd he say?"
"He said: Where'd you get the crappy Hairdo?”

Listening to ...Raphael Saadiq & Q tip & Norah Jones & D'Angelo

La Vie

"This is the life

Everyone has to be somewhere

I am here

Testing a dream

The pressure of dreams is the killer

Of dreams

And it only gets harder

This is the life..."

--The Life, Wendy & Lisa

A Quote regarding awards

 "My mother used to tell me man gives the award, God gives the reward. I don't need another plaque."
                                                                       
                                                                          --Denzel Washington

Do it

“Do or do not... there is no try.”

                       --Kaonohiaweaweokala

Quote of the Day

"The reward of suffering is experience."

                     --Harry S. Truman