Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Just a few thoughts

I am not married, but I have been. However, over the years I have come to conclude that there are things that are genderless that everybody can do if their desire is to make it last infinitely. Now I’m not trying to give advice or be Dr. Phil or Judge Judy. But here goes.

Sex is nonnegotiable. Without hesitation, it is the obligation of either partner to serve and take care of the other whenever they require such, unless existing circumstances of the medical variety presents otherwise.

Be Spontaneous, however it may manifest from having sex in a bathroom in a public restaurant to going for coffee and looking at magazines. Even a walk in the park (free) to blow a fat one or have a wine cooler is cool.

Don’t criticize or patronize. Whether it is starting an argument over a cd being put in the wrong place or him making all your problems seem simple and easy to solve, one cannot harp on petty things that make no real difference. In addition, you cannot always simplify what another say when they come to you with their problems. What may be simple to you may not be simple to them and no words may be the best words to say.

Find daycare. Don’t laugh, if you have children especially two years or younger, it is essential to find daycare or else quality time will be reduced to work which may result into petty disagreements that become interpersonal over time.

Fidelity. Just act as if your vows is to yourself as well as her men especially. Being unfaithful implies deceit and deceit is the wedge in trust. You loose trust either you forgive and move on or loose the relationship.

Show value, respect and appreciation for one another. To give one worth in action is more valuable than the words “I love you.” Meaning the goal is to look each other in the eyes and hold hands as friends for life.

Just a few thoughts from a Memphis Mac.

Sunday, October 15, 2006

mindless boy sports


Be truthful, do those who program television and news broadcasts really think that I am going to be interested in the war on terror, the Pope’s remarks regarding Islam, the ramblings of a known racist — Senator George Allen of Virginia or the death of Anna Nicole Smith’s son, when it is NFL Sunday, week two?

Well, I am not interested and I actually wish it were on first thing in the morning, beginning immediately after CSPAN’s “Washington Journal.” That would be perfect timing, particularly when there was no expected sighting of Tiger Woods in his traditional red shirt, kicking a$$.
In addition, my progeny like football, too. Particularly my baby girl, who at 15 months, pulls her little portable chair up, places its back against the sofa, sits down with her bottle and proceeds to look at the games with the same fervor as her brother and I do. She is certain to make a great wife one day for a real man.

So women, get off your high horses. Who cares if football is a game for boys? No matter what, regardless of our ages, we are still children at heart. I would likely look at something newsworthy on the weekends if it were of interest to me, such as the human rights disgrace in Darfur, Sudan. However, until then, be comfortable that you at least know where your man is, and be thankful for mindless boy sports.

Monday, October 09, 2006

the last 4 letters

Truth, trust, hurtThere are some things that are nonnegotiable. Most of these are esoteric, but nonetheless important and invaluable to mankind. However, I have come to learn that many of us have not accepted these esoteric concepts as being worthy of practicing, especially when it comes to being truthful and telling the truth.

It seems that many people are comfortable with being dishonest and would prefer to withhold the truth or even lie for whatever reason. If a person lies to you, they have no respect or value for you or themselves. I feel that all I have is my word, and that my words should be backed with action. In other words, if I state I will do something, I will; and if confronted on any subject, I feel obligated to tell the truth, regardless of the outcome.

No matter what you do when you interact with other people, be truthful and honest. By doing so, you can’t go wrong. The least of your problems is keeping up with your lie and your actions will leave other people with the observation that you deserve respect because of your truthfulness, despite the fact that it may hurt others. But then again, the truth hurts, and it is no coincidence that the last four letters in the word truth can be used to spell hurt; meaning it will always be better to be told a hurtful truth than to be told a comforting lie.

Thursday, October 05, 2006

add it up

Over the past few decades there has been a severe decline in academic achievement in the children that have been matriculating through both our private and public school systems. This is consistent for all academic disciplines including reading, science and math. However it is math, and the curious disdain that we have for this subject in particular, that I would like to discuss.

A recent report released by the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) has documented what we have been seeing occur all along — American students are poor at mathematics. The study was conducted over a three-year period and concluded that the United States ranked 24th out of 29 countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. As a state, Georgia also ranks among the lowest in average SAT score (1477) at 46 out of 50 states and remains last among all states in math.

Without math there would be no money, no calendars, nothing. Students from Finland and South Korea were the top scorers on the survey. We need to have a true understanding of the importance of learning information. Math, specifically. Sure you won’t be asked to do axiomatic set theory in the workplace (albeit I do, with regards to some forms of regression analysis). But it is still nice to know.

One day, you won’t have the skill set to make the batteries that go into the calculators we will use to do our adding, subtracting and division. What then? Oh, my fault, math is stupid and we hate it.