Hope you and yours had a lovely day.

Dad.

He danced. He shouted. He cracked jokes.

When he got excited he rubbed his hands together as if he were chilly and opened his mouth as wide as could be.

Sometimes he would say the wrong things at the wrong moments and gave people nicknames, uniquely his own.

He still drained three pointers with ease. He enjoyed cheesy science fiction movies.

Great dinners were his thing and he got a kick out of watching people savor good food.

He got cold easily and worked tirelessly through hot summer days.

He couldn't keep a secret.

I watched him snorkeling one afternoon, flipping around in the ocean, in all his glory.

He gave the perfect speech at our wedding and cut an immaculate rug.

If he was in a room he was the center of attention, simply by being there.

He was gentle, strong, smart and hilarious.

He knew his stuff about Motown, I never once stumped him.

He was still very much in love with his high school sweetheart.

He was a hero to my Brother and I and our best buddy.

He was kindred spirits with my Wife.

People knew him wherever we went and people came in droves to pay their final respects.

He lived life everyday and loved unconditionally.

Two weeks, the longest I've gone without talking to my Father. I can't really say I miss him because he is still here. His scent lingers in the house, his voice is alive and boisterous as ever in saved messages on my cellphone. I dream of him every night. I get scared though, thinking of the day I do begin to miss him. I get angry thinking about my own children and how they were robbed of an awesome Grandfather. Most days I'm just sad.

Then I think about what he would say to me. In carefully chosen words, short and to the point. I won't share them but I replay them over and over again in my head. It makes all of this a bit easier to get through. Perhaps that was his final gift to me, maybe the greatest.

The patience and inner strength to take it day by day, to keep on trucking. I've never been so uncertain about what lies ahead but what I do know is my Father gave my family and I more than a lifetime of fond memories. I will do the same, in his honor.

We never did say these words much to each other but I love you Dad. You will always be with me.

A Xmas tune to check out if you're a bit tired of the standards.

Perfect background music when consuming copious amounts of Yuletide booze this afternoon into this evening.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays...celebrate whatever it is you celebrate, but make sure you have a good ass time while doing so. Be safe.

Peace and Much Love.

"Maybe I'm just a helpless Hiphop romantic."

It came late in the fourth quarter but just like another Chi Town legend, Common messed around and took over the game. With a simplistic approach of raw beats and sharp, precise lyricism, the Hiphop legend stayed true to the culture he loves and easily dropped the album of the year.









Now if you can't feel that, perhaps you should light some candles, run a bubble bath and pop some Drake in.

Peace.

Heavy D.

'

It was 2005 and I was living in Los Angeles when Heavy D came into the Blockbuster Video I worked at. I can't be sure if it was simply the crew's immunity to seeing celebrities or that it was way past Heavy's time to have customer service representatives doting on him. Whatever the case was, only two out of the seven of us on the clock were truly excited to be in the presence of this legendary figure in HipHop and all around stage performance. The majority of the crew seemed more intrigued by the fact that Halle Berry was sitting in the passenger seat of his shiny black Escalade, waiting for him out in the parking lot. Yes, Heavy was rolling with Halle.

The man was as nice as any celebrity, or for that matter any customer that I came across in my eleven months there, could possibly be. I was always entertained by Heavy, especially by the fact that in his prime he was not a small man but ripped a stage like no one before or after him. He had a combination of rapping and dancing that was uniquely his own. But after seeing him in person, his down to earth demeanor combined with a nonchalant approach to buying out the store and what we could come to find out was his courting of Ms. Berry, he won me over for eternity. He was simply the man from there on out.

Not even a month ago I tuned into the BET HipHop Awards to see what the kids are into these days. I wasn't impressed by much of anything other then a slimmed down Heavy D straight up showing these youngsters how to command a stage. On that night I tweeted "If Heavy D isn't trending, he should be".

I'm sure he'll be trending tonight, unfortunately it's for the worst of reasons.

Dwight Arrington Myers

May 24th, 1967 - November 8th, 2011

Have we lost our way?

In the last week I've watched as the state of Georgia executed a possibly innocent man, read about a fourteen year old boy that took his own life because of bullying, sat disgusted as the crowd at the Republican Debate booed a soldier and just recently had to sit here and just shake my head after reading about a hockey fan that tossed a banana at a Flyers player.

What the hell is going on out there? It's gotten to the point where I'm actually considering quitting my attempts to stay up on the news because I'm quite certain every time I check into one of my sites or turn to one of my channels, I'm going to be bombarded with ugly stories of my fellow man.

I'm not perfect, not even close. But I know in my heart that I try to stick to common sense values when it comes to this group that call ourselves humans. I respect someone, regardless of skin color or sexual orientation. I respect someone even more if they're also an active solider stationed in Iraq, fighting for the very freedoms that allow me to write this blog and those people at that debate to sit there and jeer him.

Regardless of your political affiliation or feelings on the death penalty or the messages in some archaic book, there comes a time where you have to look inward and think to yourself that we are all granted a very short time on this rock. Let's at least try to be nice to one another, it's simple, it's what our parents should have taught us in grade school. If this came off preachy, so be it. Sometimes I must vent through the written word. Peace to all and good luck.

House of 1,000 Costumes

My wife and I decorated our house for Halloween a week ago, but since today is officially the last day of summer and gravestones are starting to pop up in other families' front yards besides ours, I think it's socially acceptable now to make this post.

Every year Jamie and I can't help ourselves, it's one of the many lovely elements about our relationship. Our mutual appreciation for not only Autumn but the magic of All Hallow's Eve. I'll never forget our first trip to Spirit together to find some decorations for our new apartment. I was a bit nervous that my own fondness for the macabre wouldn't jive with hers, since all I knew about women and this particular holiday was twofold, my mother's choice of decor (smiling scarecrows) and the unspoken competition between young ladies on who could sex up an otherwise non-sexy character or occupation the most.

To my surprise Jamie was not only going to accept disgusting ghouls and mutilated zombies around the apartment as the norm, but was going to pick out the most disturbing things herself. Most notably the large hook and severed head connected to a giant chain, that is hung across our living room as I type this. Of course with the season comes the costumes and since our first Halloween together we've tried to something fun an unique as a duo, this year will be no different as we go back in time and break out a classic monster movie couple. Until then check out our past endeavors...

2006

Beetlejuice and Lydia

Too bad we came out of the gate with this ensemble because I'm afraid we may never top it. Not only did Jamie do my makeup perfectly (complete with real moss) and we payed major attention to detail (Lydia's old school camera) but we embodied the characters themselves perfectly.

2007

Mario and Princess Toadstool

I'll always remember this because of Jamie's insistence on having the dark hair instead of blonde and being referred to as "Toadstool" instead of "Peach". Major cool points awarded for that decision since I'm a man of tradition and Princess Peach is some newb shit.

2008

No parties. :(

2009

Freddy vs. Jason

Our return to dressing up after an off year was a lazy one for us. Not that I didn't enjoy seeing my wife as the cutest Freddy Kruger ever, I just think this one lacked our usual zest. Especially me, with my beard hanging out of my dollar store hockey mask and borrowed overalls, which I don't believe Jason Voorhees ever actually wore.

2010

Ghostbusters + The Devil's Rejects

After a couple of slow outings, a few parties last year gave us a chance for a double header and Jamie a real chance to flex her makeup muscles on me.The first time around we went nice and friendly, with Stay Puft and the little known fifth Ghostbuster. The second time, we went downright nasty as two members of the notorious "Firefly Family", Baby and Captain Spaulding. Jamie wasn't as excited as me at first to get into the garb of a homicidal maniac but eased into her role quite nicely as the night progressed, as you can see here...

Stay tuned and happy hauntings...