Derrion Albert

This mix of sorrow and outrage cannot be ignored. The last time I felt so horribly was when I was driving home from an Atlanta suburb in rainy conditions on a dark country road. I was taking it slowly when a huge raccoon came from nowhere and crossed my path. Being the animal lover I am, I truly wanted to slam on brakes or swerve to avoid killing the critter. For all I know, it could be a mother rushing off to her babies. But I was stuck in a curvy, slick road in a dark area. The only viable option I could choose was to proceed to take the life of this animal. I heard and felt the impact and was devastated that I ended an animal's life. But what else could I do: risk ending my own life in the woods because my car could've swerved where no passerby would've seen me? I prayed for forgiveness and felt better by the next evening.

The life or death choices surrounding Derrion Albert do not compare to my experience, but the contrasts outrage me. A 16-year old black male honor student in Chicago was senselessly killed on his way home from school. Not by a bus or a car but other young black boy involved in gangs. Derrion's violent end was captured on video that mortified me as well as thousands of other YouTube users. I cannot imagine what it was like for Derrion to endure strikes and blows to the head by fists, feet, railroad ties, and large wooden planks.

Worst of all, help did not come to him until he was knocked unconscious for a second time. There were people that appeared to try to help him, but it seems other gang members were ready to beat up anyone trying to get near Derrion. When it was all over, a group of people picked him up and tried to help him. They called his name in vain attempts to wake up the young man, but his bright future, like so many others before, was snuffed out.

I want to cry, scream, and wish prisoner-style justice on these young thugs. The kind of justice they reserve for men who beat women and child molesters. I've heard of this type of violence before, but this was the first time I've ever seen anything so violent with my own naive eyes. If you haven't seen it, I have a graphic video below. The censored version is disturbing enough, so there's no way I could post the uncensored version.


http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/metro/video_derrion_albert#

I pray that Derrion is able to rest in peace and his death may actually lead to a turn around on Chicago's Southside. So far, people have come together to hold a vigil in Chicago. The cops will reported be present for a couple of more days and longer if needed. However, what will hopefully happen is more people on the Southside will be more personally involved with raising their children better and providing positive reinforcement even if the children are not their own. Maybe more people will just give a damn and come together to end the foolishness that plagues our nation. Just maybe.

And maybe Oprah will try to have an impact on the Southside of Chicago. My friend who lives on the Southside says she has nothing to do with that side of town, but we all know how worldwide Ms. Winfrey is. Maybe President Obama will also address this in some way since he used to serve that area. I would hope he could just speak to the people while he's busy addressing the International Olympic Committee to get the 2016 Summer Olympics into Chicago. Talk about poor prioritizing by a city...

Even after expressing myself, I still need to have a good cry.

News Article from LA Times http://tinyurl.com/yclncbg

Very appropriate music thanks to the suggestion by my friend in Chicago:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxyYP_bS_6s

Don't tell me God ain't real because I PASSED!!!

After entering the gate without hitting a curb possibly hitting a gate, the examiner asked me to stop the vehicle, park the truck, and meet him inside. No indication of a pass or fail. I waited and waited about 30 minutes on pins and needles. I felt confident that I passed the driving portion because the pre-trip went well, and the backing maneuvers were flawless as I earned no points. When the examiner came back with that sealed envelope with my test results, I nearly tackled him as I rushed to receive my reward and embraced him. I hugged errybody in the room!!! I squealed with delight as the fruits of my labor and sacrifice were finally completed.

I'm very much so on my way to being a pretty trucker, and all the praise goes to God. I prayed so much in the past 24 hours, and I kept encountering scriptures that would speak to my situation despite the worry. Today, I visited a site and found that Mark 11:24 says, "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours (http://www.christnotes.org/dbv.php?d=2009-03-23)". Oddly, I prayed and request prayer that I wouldn't have to perform parallel parking because it proved difficult for me as I was often hit or miss on completing the maneuver. However, I also prayed that if I received parallel, then I knew God would guide me through it because He already helped he obtain the knowledge and skills set; I would just have to apply what I know. I prayed from Him to be with me again when I had to perform the task, and I pretty much KILLED it. It was perfectly in the box, and I knew I had passed the maneuvers...with no points!!!




I don't have any jobs lined up yet because things will take time and have some other things I have to accomplish first. However, I hope to be working in the field quite soon. I will stay with God on this part of plan as He has already proven He is the one to be with on this thing called Life. I'm so blessed today, and I hope this has blessed someone, anyone who wants to be a trucker or anything else they dream to be. It's never too late, and it's never too much if you go with God. He never left me and was just waiting for me to come to Him. Look what happened when I did. I will be a pretty trucker in the very near future. God is sooo cool. :)

NOTE: I found this awesome graphic at http://www.girlscantwhat.com/2008/03/05/meet-trucker-pamela-febbo/. Found it today, and LOVE IT!

Such a truckin' lady

Excitement sounds like a pretty good word to describe how I feel about the end of the third week of the rest of my life. I should throw in anxious, eager, sore, surprised, (damn near) discombobulated, and spent. That's where some of my classmates are as we're currently learning our backing techniques. Offset backing is a bitch, and I bet her sisters, parallel parking and alley backing won't be nice either.

But taking my life in a brand new direction with my Commercial Truck Driving course far outweighs these initial frustrations. This change is HURGE (yes, big enough for an extra letter) when you consider I'm trying to stay sane while balancing my full-time job and marriage while worried about trying to get healthy. Unfortunately, I have to sacrifice my previous weight loss efforts to balance 40 hours of work, 30 hours of school, and fitting in 5 - 6 hours of sleep. Most days, I honestly don't know if I'm coming or going, but that's the sacrifice I'll make for my sanity in the long run.

Today has a bittersweet element to it. My brother would have been 38. I can't help wondering if he would look at me with surprise, admiration, or confidence at my attempt to seriously pursue the career I've dreamt of since I was 18. Of course he would have some jokes because that's just who he was, and everyone would laugh. Who would have thought his zealous little sister that drove our mom's blue Dodge Dynasty like "Dukes of Dynasty" would want to drive for her career? I don't think he'd believe this same sister that wrecked cars as a hobby and collected speeding tickets like a baseball cards would want to be a professional operator. He'd be cracked up at that career move, but I like to think he'd be impressed that I was choosing a career path outside the box for most women.

My brother made his own interesting choices in his short time here, and I am still making interesting choices in my 31st year. Actually, getting engaged after 3 months of dating, marrying after 6 months of knowing the man, and deciding to pursue a career that takes a woman out of her house and away from her loving husband of one year might be way more than just "interesting". Oftentimes, I can't help noticing he had a family, a home, loads of friends, extreme confidence, and great finances before he was taken too early at 27. I'm still not there at 31, but I'm hoping I can make myself and my family proud in the next weeks and months.

Old school shout out to my brother Eddie Cooler. We'll never forget you EVER. Whenever I hear this song, it makes me think of how cool he always was.

MC Shy D ~ "I've Gotta Be Tough"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mY2oHSIBhqQ

To leave or not to leave...that is SOOO the question.

A former colleague once told me I shouldn't put so much reality into my blog. Well, I guess if my entries deal with co-workers, then her advice makes sense. Otherwise, what I type must reflect me and the things in life that are affecting me.

Like the 7.2% unemployment rate and how it's affecting my rationale in the midst of my euphoria before I start my 10-week Commercial Truck Driving course.

Lord knows I have prayed before walking into a job in the past, and I still find myself doing that in my current position at the company I label as "a terrible place in [a suburban area north of Atlanta]". Prayers will definitely cross my lips on Monday when I walk into work after a nice weeklong vacation. More like drag myself through those transparent doors and fighting back tears when I press the up button for the elevator.

More than anything, I want to walk away from that job without a second thought. Just leave behind the insanity disguised as commerce. Well, not all is terrible at my job because I sincerely dig my manager. If it wasn't for her, I would not have taken off the very first week of the year, but she understood why I had to. But even with her being supportive and understanding, I really, really want to leave that place behind. The idea of quietly resigning fascinates me even more as my future in truck driving is only 10 weeks away from being my reality. If the image of me drooling like Homer Simpson at the idea of resigning comes to mind, you're not too far off.

Yes, I want to walk out on faith that God will be with me as I study to drive trucks professionally as a full-time student. But reality smacks me in the face when I watch CNN or read articles like the one above or this one about job security. God may want us to walk out on faith in some situations, but I'm sure He doesn't want any of His children to be foolish in this economy. As much as I despise and abhor my job, there are literally thousands (if not millions) of people that would love to sit in my (rather spacious) cubicle, answer the litany of calls and emails from not so bright customers, and earn my rather decent paycheck and benefits. As much as I can't wait to get away from that place, I have to wait and personify the virtue of patience. I must.

After all, the economy has affected so many industries and downsized thousands of employees. Trucking was also affected. So, it would honestly be a decision of tomfoolery to leave now. But I will continue to fantasize about it as I play Megamillions... and endure the next ten weeks of an intense schedule.

Pray for me, people.

2009 is gonna be sooo divine

will be my year. After all, I made it through 8 years of Bush. If I can survive that with God's blessings, I can survive anything after that. The same is true for any and everybody else. Tears damn near came when I realized the year of Obama had arrived after all the time under Bush.

But so much more is yet to come for me. After all, I ended 2008 by earning my CDL Class A Permit. Truck driving school will start on January 12, and I'll be striving full-steam ahead towards my future and my goals. The road ahead is guaranteed to be interesting with a full-time job and nearly full-time school, but anything worth having will be very much worth this sacrifice. Anticipation is high for the weeks ahead.

In the meantime, I've figured out just some of the things that will rest next to the 2008 stop sign as I keep on truckin' in 2009. Thanks to my homie, "Chyna", for the inspiration.

• Procrastinating in developing my relationship with God. My delay has more to deal with the fact that we're always told that God is always there with you. Always. Even if you turn away from Him, He's always there for you whenever you turn back to Him. In theory, you can just hang out in the devil's playground until I start collecting on my 401K. Trifling but honest. I know my relationship with Him can be so much more, especially since He's been so good to me in 2008, so I'm gonna stop putting off my efforts.
  

• Trifling neighbors with no concept of time or courtesy. Hubby and I love the downstairs unit we're renting in a duplex, but it happens to come with ignant PhD. candidates not from the US who just turned off their music at 3:55 AM. I don't know if the cops ever came or not, but they're more ignant than any of the neighbors I had in those shoddy townhouse units my brother, NOPI, and I rented in East Point. Translation: These European kids are more ignant than my ghetto-fabulous black neighbors.

• Weight gain. I'm trying to lose right now, but there will be no additional gain.

• Tolerating the friends/family that do not have any concern for me

• Dispair over the people in my life that don't get me. There's great people that get me for real.

• Self-pity and self-doubt
  

• Being stressed by my job...that doesn't get stressed by me

• Hubby's hangups that have nothing to do with me. I will not keep banging my head into the wall when I've pointed out the obvious that should dismiss his hangups.

• Any of my residual hangups that have yet to be determined

• One of my credit cards!!!
  

the "are you kidding me?" lesson

I saw my younger brother NOPI get married on Friday, and that was pretty extraordinary considering he and the bride almost missed the ceremony. Their little family was well-dressed and commented on highly for how attractive they were. I'm still fascinated that my younger brother who has always vowed to never grow up is a father and now a husband.

With such a monumental event in the fabric of life, I should've known something would unravel a bit. Saturday morning is going pretty well. Just another early morning rise where I'm happy to not report to work because I'm straight chillin' in my cozy good with my hubby. The Good Life indeed. Then, my cell rings.
The caller ID only shows "private no." which probably only means one thing: don't answer. Only one person's number would show as private, but my devil's advocate kicks in. Why would Christopher Columbus call me after the last conversation we had where I cruelly but honestly advised that any other pursuits of me were a waste of his time and energy because he and I would never go any damn where? I even hung up on him four times to drive the point home. So no self-respecting man would chase a bitch like that again. Never. It'll be nothing to this phone call.

I answer in my cold business demeanor, "This is sunshyne."

Mystery voice says, "Heyyy!" It's a deep voice that sounds pretty sexy. Damn if it ain't Christopher Columbus! I grow colder trying to confirm the suspicion. Then, I figure I should throw suspicions out the window when dude has not identified himself after 10 seconds. I hate the "I just wanna hear your voice game".

Click. And it's over. Damn, forgot to tell him I'm married. Then again, Christopher Columbus called earlier in the week, and I know he heard my new last name on my voice mail.

The irony that is my life. I knew a former flame (or idiot) would be calling because I had a dream that I spoke with an old flame on the phone in my dream the night before. It was a different guy that I would've enjoyed talking to just so he can be reminded again that he wouldn't have to call me to hear my voice if he would've done right by me. Between the dream and the actual phone call, I remember all the bullshit I went through before meeting my wonderful husband with his perfect imperfections.

I put my phone down, walked over to hubby, and gave him kisses and hugs to show him again how much I appreciate him and the best decision I've made to date.

Blogger's Block has struck...somewhat

I finally found a nice groove in my writings and such. Then, my job gets wacky...to put it mildly. So, what's a woman with aspirations to do? Get on top of making those aspirations happening.

For the past two weeks, I've been studying in the Georgia CDL manual to get ready to take the General Knowledge test. I've been highlighting in five different colors, writing little side notes that help me, and taking a practice tests online at CristCDL.com. Challenging is not the word for it considering that my memory is shaky. However, would it really be worth it if there weren't some type of challenge involved? If I could just memorize the answers to a test, sure that would get me closer to the goal of being behind the wheel of a eighteen-wheeler all over the Southeast. But would I be one of those ill-prepared drivers that causes tractor trailer wrecks that tie-up interstates and pisses off soccer moms and commuting corporate cogs trying to arrive on time to their spot in the machine?

Naw. I'll just study and therefore limit my blogging time. It makes me sad to limit my blogs, but I have a dream to achieve. Thanks to my friends who have been impressed and so encouraging when learning that I'm working hard to make things happen.

PS GOOOOOO DAWGS!!! That was a tough game against those nasty Gamecocks, but a victory is a victory. 3-0! Woof woof woof!

It's 1908 in Ponce de Leon, FL....

Principal's outing of gay student roils Fla. town

updated 5:57 a.m. PT, Thurs., Aug. 21, 2008

PONCE DE LEON, Fla. - When a high school senior told her principal that students were taunting her for being a lesbian, he told her homosexuality is wrong, outed her to her parents and ordered her to stay away from children.

He suspended some of her friends who expressed their outrage by wearing gay pride T-shirts and buttons at Ponce de Leon High School, according to court records. And he asked dozens of students whether they were gay or associated with gay students.

The American Civil Liberties Union successfully sued the district on behalf of a girl who protested against Principal David Davis, and a federal judge reprimanded Davis for conducting a "witch hunt" against gays. Davis was demoted, and school employees must now go through sensitivity training.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26316235/

My real friends that really know me would know that this pisses me off. I've always been straight, but I'm also a supporter of my gay friends. If one of my dear cousins would have come out to me before he died, I would have embraced him exactly as he was, even if I would've been the only family member to support him. Honestly, one of the things I regret not doing in college is joining a campus group called "Straight but not Narrow", but I didn't know how supportive I was of my gay friends at that time. Honestly, I wholeheartedly believe that gay people are born that way. If I encounter a person that has a different opinion of homosexuality, we can express our opposing POVs, agree to disagree, and move on with our lives. It's not like the outcome of our discussion will instantly change the sexual orientation of all gay and bi-sexual people at that moment - that if that's what they wanted anyway.

So, in 2008, someone being gay should no longer be such a big deal considering that gay marriage is legal in two states. Hell, it even impresses me how much some Americans love El.len DeGen.eres regardless of the fact that she's an out lesbian. Even when I taught 9th grade a few years ago, I was impressed that most of the kids who knew they had gay classmates did not seem to be affected by the sight of rainbow colored jewelry. These kids were not perfect, but they represented the idea of judging based on character pretty well.

But the above article reeks of a backwoods town that thinks it's 1908 instead of 2008 and probably has no interest in progressing with the rest of America. It's as if the young student watched encouraging and insightful daytime talkshows like "The Ty.ra B.anks Show" and listened to the lessons on compassion, acceptance, and diversity. This generation of kids are taught that bullying is punishable and should not be tolerated. Instead of internalizing the issues and just accepting the taunts as a regular part of childhood, these young people are supposed to find a trusted adult (teacher, counselor, or administrator) in their lives to help them. This poor student really trusted their principal to help them out because that is what s/he has learned is the right thing to do.

Instead, this trusting child has to be bullied and subjected to tomfoolery perpetuated by an adult that has Masters and/or Doctoral degrees that probably includes "Leadership". Maybe "Decision Making" classes and assessments should become a part of becoming an administrator. The saddest part is that the former principal probably thought he was really doing a good thing in the interest of the children and the community.

This is just some hot mess in 2008. So the moral of the story is we can possibly elect America's first black president in 2008, but we cannot accept the idea of young people who know that they are gay. *sighhhhhhhh*

Barefoot in the summer at CAU

Just 15 years ago, I was in the SCOPE/FTMS Summer program for 6 weeks on the campus of Clark Atlanta University. I honestly had hopes of being an 8th Grade Algebra teacher, so it made sense to try to become a Future Teacher of Math and Science. Thank God I found out that I couldn't handle math and science, but it was a fun summer. Thank God that I learned a lot about the good and the bad of Greek life before going to college. This experience lead me to one definite decision based on an idea that all Greeks should live by.

Those 6 weeks were my first time away from home...even though my family was a 25 minute ride down the interstate. Living in the dorms that college students live in and sneak around in. Eating that campus dining hall food -- I mean not having a lot of tasty choices in what to eat because a lot of the food was..... Meeting other students from southern GA and other East and West Coast states across the country. Learning a lot about how crazy life can be because young people in the midst of their formative years can be straight up fools. But I did make some friends there that were just regular girls like me. Not popular, not complete nerds, but just making it through puberty.

One of the highlights was being mentored by some of the college students. There were 2 guys and 2 girls. One guy and girl were just regular students who taught us valuable lessons. To this day, I can't remember the guy's name, but I remember him telling a small group of us in a casual convo, "If y'all [the couple] have to hit on one another, then y'all ain't supposed to be together." If a man or woman has to get their point across with fists instead of conversation, then they shouldn't be together. That simple idea has never left me, and I still pass that on to others.

The other guy and girl were members of two of the Divine Nine fraternities and sororities. I don't recall the guys name, but he was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha. Looking back, he fit the stereotype of an Alpha very well: scholarly, arrogant, and fun to be around. He expected a lot of all of his mentees, and we lived up to those expectations for the most part. I'd bet money that several of those young men in our program were influenced to become Alphas. The female mentor was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha. She completely fit the AKA stereotype: attractive, full of arrogant "pretty girl" attitude, excelling. She had a lot of expectations of us as well, and most of us lived up to her standards.

The Greek mentors decided to teach the 40+ students how to step. After attending classes and being enlightened to what the world held beyond our middle class teenaged lives during the day, the students were taken to on campus locations to learn stepping. Our mentor happened to have her chapter soror and Step Mistress on campus. She worked with us very hard and never made us feel bad about what were doing. They also "bonded" the 20 - 30 young ladies by making us "duck walk" from our dorm to the step practice location and back for the return. They even modified one of the pledge songs so we can sing together about striving to be number one. I'm sure that part of this experience was the first exposure to greekdom for some of the girls just like it was for me. The stepping was fun and made me want to have the fun side of greekdom, but our mentor told us about the community service, etc. so we knew it wasn't just singing and stepping.

But one night while we had part of our step practice in front of the dorm, another pivotal event happened. Our mentor, the attractive AKA, had all of us doing one of the first parts of the step routine. Girls from the Upward Bound program were looking out of their windows and making suggestions as to what we should do. Our mentor ignored the comments and kept us focused. She reminded us that all kinds of things will be shouted during a step show, and you have to remain focused to put on a good show.

The girls from Upward Bound were distracting, but then another college-aged woman came outside through the front door of the dorm. She wore a t-shirt, shorts, a head wrap, and no shoes. This young lady said she wanted to show us something. This young lady proceeded to step in front of us for 10 seconds. With no shoes. HARD. The young girls in the windows cheered wildly for the young lady who must've been an Upward Bound mentor. As she left, our FTMS mentor had the most unamused look on her face as she slowly clapped and encouraged us mentees to clap for her so we can get back to practice.

That incident was my first introduction to that sorority. That first introduction lead to my first impression: I don't want to be one of those sorority girls. Whatever the 1993 equivalent of "ghetto" was, that's what that young lady lead me to believe about her sorority. She broke a cardinal rule of Greekdom: always represent yourself to the utmost at all times because you never know who will meet you and therefore meet your organization for the first time. She was so busted that I knew I couldn't consider an org that would include a woman that steps hard on concrete inthe middle of the night. Therefore, I barely considered that sorority for even a split second when I started my long journey to greekdom.

Shredded Papaya + _____ = who the hell knew that???

These papayas make me wish I was in another environment involving a beach, cocktails, and my man with Christmas songs playing on a small radio.

Instead of snuggling with my sweetie on Christmas Eve, I actually wound up hanging out with my brother, NOPI. His pregnant girlfriend was helping her mother with Christmas cooking and wasn't leavng the house at that point. So, in a not so completely odd move, NOPI invites me to an "Asian birthday party" with one of his homeboy's friends.

"Everybody's cool," NOPI assures me. "If you're cool, then everyone's cool with you."

I had nothing else I was doing, so I rolled out with NOPI. I hadn't been on the passenger side of his driving skills in a while, and I forgot THE most critical and salient rule of riding with NOPI: don't look up or out. The second you look up, he's pulling one of his moves, and you're finding anything to hold on to that'll keep you safely upright and that scream in your lungs. He knows what he's doing. The only major accident he's had lately was because his passenger said, "WHOA!" for no reason, and NOPI was hit in the side.

We get to extreme south Atlanta and find a standard recently-built apartment complex with several Asians hanging out around a grill on the bottom patio. There's more people inside just chilling. For all I know, more than one of them might be 30, but everyone looked between 18 and 26. I was probably wrong, just like most folks are wrong about my age. I just decided to fit in and just have a cool time.

I was shy like I normally am in the beginning because I'm soaking in the atmosphere. Like NOPI said, everyone was cool and welcoming. They made sure we had enough to eat and drink. Even the birthday boy was grilling all kinds of meat awaiting his 30th birthday on the 25th. I still envy that dude's Farrah Fawcett tresses that reached past his shoulders.

Eventually, I was offered a He.ineken. I've had it before and did not appreciate the watery taste. Who da hayle likes that stuff? Dude was insistent, but I politely declined. Then, he offered St. Pauli Girl. My mind starts working and asks where is the soda? I don't have to get drunk because it's a party. But that inner social butterfly in the cocoon eeks out, "Why the hell not?" It's Chrimmah, and I'm with some friendly Asians that seem to mostly be from Laos (that's what NOPI thinks). That one bottle was delicious and hit the spot. Somewhat sweet but definitely has a bite to it. That says a lot for a non-beer drinker to be all excited about it. I now have a new beer to imbibe in! That and Icehouse.

Someone insisted on offering weed, but that's not my style at all. Besides, I've smelled weed in the past.... That was some special Rastafarian superstar marijuana that I'd imagine a group of Rastas might share in the spirit of Kwanzaa because they don't celebrate no fake Christmas holiday. I politely declined and assured my new friend, "I need to keep my job on Wednesday." Come to find out, this dude owns a body shop. No random testing for him, and that's good for him.

But everyone and everything was so cool. Even the little kids were adorable and running between the kids' room and the living room. It really was all love, and I think I'd hang with them again.

12 AM comes while Birthday Boy is grilling, and we all wish him a Happy 30th Birthday. Then we wish each other a Merry Christmas. No gift exchange. No carols. But I did assure Birthday Boy that 30 will be the best year yet. It will make you forget how great you thought 25 or 20 was.


Unless they break out the shredded papaya.

According to templeofthai.com, "Green papaya has a very mild, almost bland, taste, but it is the medium through which robust flavor ingredients take body and form. It picks up the hot, sour, sweet and salty flavors, giving them a unique crisp and chewy texture unlike that of any other vegetable. When made into salad, you wouldn't know that it was mild and timid; you remember it only as bold and spicy." How fine and dandy. Even more culinary delights. Now, the fried rice dish with the pork, fresh herbs and maybe more papaya was off the chain!!! Will I ever find that in a Chinese restaurant? Probably not.

But the papaya salad... After mixing the shreds will all kinds of seasonings using a mortar and pestle...

...

...

It smelled like a menstrual cycle. Very. Heavy. Cycle. Where the kids better fend for themselves because Mama can't take these cramps and needs to just lay in bed with a heating pad waiting for the drugs to take effect. I can't make this stuff up. I actually believed it was me for a moment, but then I had to consider why am I just smelling this right now. I tried to be polite and eat the papaya salad on my plate because I could taste the boldness and spiciness. Then, I took a second bite, and all of the papaya salad returned to the plate before making it to the best spot for it: the trash. I'm all for diversity and new experiences, but I never would've imagined all five of my senses being flooded by such a "unique blend of flavors".

Vick sentenced to 23 months for
dogfighting

RICHMOND, Virginia (CNN) --
Michael Vick, once one of the highest paid players in the National Football League, was sentenced to 23 months in prison for financing a dogfighting ring and helping to kill pit bulls that did not fight aggressively.

Vick's stunning downfall from NFL superstar to disgraced dogfighting defendant culminated Monday in a 90-minute sentencing hearing in federal court in Richmond, Virginia.

Vick was dressed in a black-and-white striped prison suit and apologized to his family and to the judge.

"You need to apologize also to the millions of young people who look up to you," U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson retorted.

"I am willing to deal with the consequences and accept responsibility for my actions," Vick continued, as about a dozen of his friends and family members looked on.

But Judge Hudson appeared to be unmoved. "I'm convinced it was not a momentary lack of judgment on your part. You were a full partner," he told Vick.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/12/10/vick.sentenced/index.html


I blasted Michael Vick when he first got in trouble because he was experiencing a clear example of bad decision-making. I swear "bad decision-making" must be the overall theme of 2007 that no one seems to escape. Hopefully we can shake that matter in '08.

At this point, there's really no matter of kicking him further. He's already down for the count while facing 23 months in prison - maybe less with good behavior. The man is a shining example of all that can go wrong with one bad decision leading to another and another in a cycle whose viciousness can rival a down and dirty dogfight ending in a mauled animal. Even as he's preparing to do his time, he'll have to face the very real possibility (not necessarily a likelihood) that he won't play in the NFL because no one wants a public relations nightmare because they signed a talented quarterback associated with a violent and disgusting "past-time" like dogfighting. Vick's got enough troubles, so he doesn't need me or anyone else riding him. He isn't at rock-bottom, but he's pretty far down.

Hopefully, he'll see this as a beginning instead of just an end. His life really can turn around from here. He doesn't have to have a place in history as the fastest-falling celebrity. Maybe he'll become a symbol of forgiveness, reflection, insightfulness, growing in your walk with God. Just maybe. There are thousands (probably millions) of people that strongly dislike him, but there's thousands that will support him. Not just as an athlete but maybe as a human being that slipped, fell short of God, but had the god sense God gave him to finally do right and PUSH (pray until something happens) forward.

So many of us should be able to see ourselves in this kind of parallel. I know I've made some bad moves in the past. Who says I'll be done making bad decisions? The bad decision may not be so widely broadcast, but I pray that any of us that makes a bad decision has a support system: Mom, Dad, any relatives, our spouse or lover, life partner, pee wee basketball coach, best friend from elementary school, the matronly church sister with the biggest hats. Anyone that can see past the mistake and bad decision and stand by you.

P.S. I tried to find an image for redemption, forgiveness, faithfulness, regret, etc. Nothing quite worked - not even a cross (because what if Vick finds Buddhism, Judaism, or Islam to be his religious foundation...?).