FATHERHOOD FRIDAY

So I took a trip to Philly for business that turned out being pretty successful (thank u Jesus). I was donned in my grey Alfani two button suit and these nice black Stacey Adams shoes. I wore a white bcbg dress shirt with pink and purple subtle stripes and a navy blue diagonally striped (pink) necktie by Express design studios. Needless to say I felt, well, dapper. Not pimp dapper, (I don't take that term pimp as lightly as most I am close to loathing it) but business dapper. So after successful business dealings I went to pick up my son from school. There's nothing that compares to seeing your child overjoyed to see you. It's more than flattering, it feels awesome.

As we made the journey back to center city to take the Chinatown bus back to NYC I saw a young brotha trying to holla at a young lady on the train. I love silently coaching/observing these ordeals from a distance. I critique the miscues and toy with the perceptible shifts in energy, comfort, perspective. Anyway after the young bruh gave her his number he started to seek my approval...asking me if it was quick enough or what have you. After seeing that I approved he asked me: "have you ever seen the pursuit of happiness?" (yes). "y'all remind me of that.". Whoa. What a compliment! Will Smith, Pursuit of happiness? I was floored.

Fatherhood Friday is a time for us to reflect on what it means to be fathers of various contexts. I'm challenging you all to become students of life and, at times, allow your kids to school you. There's a purity that is present in them that we shouldn't envy but seek to harness. Kids don't get as excited over race as they get over age, or spiderman/Dora. They want to meet each other, talk and be liked. Not necessarily for what they do or where they're from, but because they're kids and what better thing is there than the possibility of meeting other kids and having some fun.

As a NYer raised by a family with southern hospitalistic (yup made that word up!) tendencies like greeting strangers, and please and thank yous I find it hard to understand why we're so standoffish and publically reclusive. Not just fathers but NYC can learn from my son and the little Asian boy who saw him today. They were happy to see another kid. Their parents wouldn't dare speak on any other terms but for te sake of childhood they connected, if only for a moment. Connect with someone.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Thankful Thursday

I'm challenging myself to jump on the blogosphere bandwagon of Thankful Thursday. I had a rough start this morning, but I feel like finding a way to appreciate the small stuff will keep me feeling a little sane. I'm thankful for a nose that's not ridiculously keen and sensitive. I'm writing this blog from a seat on the Chinatown bus from NYC to Philly.


For those of you who are recessionisto/as you know that you can go to Philly roundtrip for $20. The catch, you may have to throw or receive some elbows in order to score a seat, and you never know how clean or smelly the bus will be. Today I crapped out. Not only is the bathroom smelly (it's an unwrittten rule that you only use the restroom in the case of extreme emergency, like your bladder is about to burst because you haven't "gone" in over four hours, or you have mudbutt and need to make sure you don't get it on the seat. Lol. Mudbutt. Otherwise, you hold it.). But some man's bag smells like his cat's #1! Yeah I said number one! Human crap and cat crap is a bad combination. So I'm thankful that my nose isn't k9-esque. Which means that my nose isn't burning, just irritated.


Last night I spent almost an hour looking for parking in Crown Heights Brooklyn. Parking sucks because of street cleaning. So I chose a spot that needed to be vacated by the 8:30, ahem excuse me, 8:35 deadline, thanks to a useless law just passed in NYC that gives drivers a five minute grace period after the time listed or on the meter. (a man is walking into the bathroom. I'm mad. He's breaking the unwritten chinabus rule!) I got up this morning and went to pick up my dry cleaning and then back to finding a parking spot that won't get me a ticket or worse towed. This took another 45 minutes! Let me clarify, I don't own a car. I was borrowing one just to take care of some fashion/travel related errands. So I'm also thankful that I don't own a car at this moment. "Parking is not a problem when you use that public option!" wise words MC Carter! That's why subway bus or walking is my anthem.

Moreover (never have a reason to use that but I'm using it right now), I'm grateful just to be alive, to be intelligent, and to be employed. Though my current location (stinky seat under stinky bag on stinky bus on stinky jersey turnpike) isn't the greatest, I'm at least at liberty to make the decision to handle business in other cities and to be able to afford it. Thank God.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Meatless Monday...(crossing my fingers)

 This is huge!  I've decided that I was going to try to begin lessening my meat intake.  I know, thats type crazy. Especially considering that when I was a sophomore at Temple University I was part of a facebook group called "I eat meat with every meal..."  My affinity for all sorts of meats has been ongoing for as long as I can remember.  I used to daydream of days where I could make a whole bowl of meat sauce (from 2 pounds of ground beef, herbs, spices and Pasta sauce) and eat it all by myself. So here I am taking a challenge, to start my work week off without eating any meat.

This is going to take discipline.  I've already made it half the day, hopefully I can report back at the end of the day...

For Breakfast:
Cornmeal porridge, biscuit, Water.

For Lunch:
2 clementines, PBn J, Orange Juice, Water

Snack:
More clementines!....

PS: This is not some sort of starve myself diet, this is just a challenge to begin ridding myself of the horrible eating habits of daily american comfort food that has plagued our bulgy country (especially in the black community)...

PPS Maybe una Tica can join me...

Subway, Bus, or Walking...my new anthem (until i buy a car!)

So Apparently Joell Oritz has a song called "Beamer, Benz or Bentley".  Its a lyrical ode to some of the cars we all love and dream of having (even the most anti-capitalist would drive a BMW M5 anyday...). I heard it in my boy's new Nissan Altima.  Congrats Ty, you bum!
As an urbanomad I make many of my decisions on where to go based on the availability of public transit.  I live in BROOKLYN, we have so many trains in NYC and so many people, trying to drive, find parking and pay tickets is just an unwanted headache at the moment.  So, I want to introduce y'all to a youtube that I caught this morning by Malik-16 & Brandon Carter  called "Subway, Bus Or Walking".  It's hilarious...enjoy.
"i'm calm/i'm fresh/i always try/to make it to the bus before it rides by..." classic!

PS. I found this on Khal's Rock The Dub check him out...

Fatherhood Fridays!!

I must apologize for the tardiness of this post.  Friday is almost over.  But I will still look out for all my fathers out there (and mothers who love them...)

I'm learning that resources are very important for fathers looking for places to take the kiddies during the weekend.  Often times we do the most dismal, boring things because we are not in the "mommy-know" circles.  As opposed to forming an alliance void of the opinion of mothers, I challenge you fellas to reach out to moms and ask them which valuable events do they take their tots to so that they have a great weekend.  You don't have to always sacrifice fun for education and vice versa, there are some venues that have found a way to very creatively weave education and fun together to create a win-win situation for all parties involved. The perks, there are several, I'll name a couple though.  If you get your kid going all day saturday, you can get them to bed earlier.  Also, you'll find your little prince or princess making some great observations, connections with that experience and by extension, with you.


Example, I took my son to an event at John Jay College: LITTLE ORCHESTRA SOCIETY-LOLLIPOP CONCERT SERIES .  The ending Lollipop song gives him a hearty laugh and is a great cheering up tool, a moment that only he and I share.  These moments grow to be defining ones for some of our youngsters.


Below I have two great resources for finding kid friendly events, check them out:


1. TIME OUT NEW YORK: KIDS 
From Time Out New York comes the kids edition, giving you everything from free events to helpful articles.  Time out NY is my first choice for figuring out great events for my son and I. The interface is very user-friendly and pretty easy to navigate. 


2. NEW YORK METRO PARENTS 
The layout isn't as attractive as TONY:KIDS, however, it is categorized for your convenience.  With polls, articles, questions of the week and a calendar of events this is another hot website to use to plan those weekends for the kid(dies).  


Last but not least you know I gotta put something up for my fellow iPhone users:


3. BlueLeo.guide New York City 
It's a website and also an application.  The application is awesome because they use your current location to find things close to you.  For those of you who are out of state and you come to visit NY with the kiddies, this is a great app to get, even temporarily. BTW I found out about this resource through the TONY:KIDS dedicated emails.  


Now get out there and be the life of the party, the yeller of the audience, the audience of the musician or the dance partner of your toddler, I know that many of you would rather be watching March Madness, but if you work the kids out all day you can at least enjoy the prime time games...

iPhone blogging/ Brookyn Springlove Pt. 1

This is my first blog using my iPhone. I knew there had to be an app for it. There's an app for everything...recipes, restaurants, even restrooms. Alliteration aside I'm grateful for this app because it allows me to post on the go. That's dope.

Speaking of dope, I took a walk from my apt in Crown heights to the 3 train on eastern pkwy and, the spring weather is reminding me of why I love this borough. I mean i was blasting Mos Def through my headphones who is as Brooklyn as a Spike Lee Joint so that had to add to the sentiment (think of playing Beres Hammond while walking the swetering roads of Kingston, Jamaica).

Black on Both sides has a track entitled "Brooklyn" a triple beat track that makes lyrical love to the hippest borough of NYC.
"I love my city/sweet and gritty/inland to outskirts/nicknamed bucktown cuz we proned to outbursts/
Philosophy redefined/touch mine I touch back/Walk the streets like it's sweet and get beat like drum tracks..."

Though the face of Brooklyn is changing, seemingly more culturally inclusive, some of us see at as the opposite, progressively exclusive. But, sociological implications aside my four block walk past local new shops, eateries, and even the remodeled corner stores had me wanting to do what Mos Def captured on his track "scream GoBrooklyn! They representin it!" I love springs and summers in bk.

GO BROOKLYN! GO BROOKLYN!

PS: let me know how yall like the photog...I took the pic with my iPhone...I'm trying to get into digital photography as well...


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:St Johns Pl,Brooklyn,United States

FatherHood Fridays!!

It takes guts to step up to a challenge and it takes maturity to tackle a responsibility with confidence. I represent a piece of our community that isn't very well-represented these days. I represent the Father. My train of thought was to say that I don't fit the traditional role of a father, but it seems that the tradition of fatherhood in our community is slowly fizzing out...like the carbonation of an old bottle of Pepsi. The danger is that soon, the spunk and flavor of our community will flatten, and not only will we suffer because of a lack of family, but we may flatline. I don't want to live to see the flattening and flatlining of our community, I digress.

I represent non-custodial fathers. My son doesn't live with me. He lives with his mother in Philadelphia. In order for him to get some quality time with his father I must trek all the way to Philly after work and come back to NYC afterward so we can have a fun-filled weekend sprinkled with academics and lessons in discipline and self awareness. I'm aware that parts of this situation are purely part of bad choices in the past. But God has a way of redeeming us even when we don't deserve it, its called Grace! DJ, my son, is my redemption. Fatherhood is the vehicle by which I find myself working toward that redemption. The trek to the city of Brotherly Love to show my son some fatherly love in person is a bit poetic, and since I see God as an artist who has created a world of artists, fatherhood, as a vehicle, is also my creative artform (among others).

So, I'll be deeming this day every other weekend Fatherhood fridays. I'll be exploring issues facing Married, Unmarried, Custodial, nonCustodial, divorced or widowed fathers through my own lens. Some fridays I'll be sharing an anecdotal related to my own experience, nevertheless, Pops needs some love. This weekend I'll be celebrating my son's fourth Birthday, and I'm trying to decide which of the free events posted on Time Out New York 

to take him to, before the gifts, cake and ice cream!

How's this for legacy: The first step my son took was to me the one time I was able to make it to his school to pick him up (remember I work in Brooklyn, he lives in Philly).  The first time I heard him use the word congratulations in the right context was at my graduation ceremony for my Master's degree.  That, my friends, is legacy. I know it seems small, but when you have a baby and that youngin can say to you congratulations, after you've achieved something great, you'll understand my jubilation...

Fatherhood is divine. It's necessary, it is the balance of parenthood that leaves little girls and boys feeling protected, keeps them grounded and in some instances, a safe space to vent.  Fathers can be the heroes that comic books can't quite capture, the essence of a community, the backbone.  So, whether you're a husband coming home to your wife and kids, or you're a young brother getting off work about to go get your daughter for the weekend, I salute you, for your courage and audacity to do right by your child(r

en).

Below is a picture of my little boy playing his first note on his Uncle's trombone!! How could someone abandon that? Happy FatherHood Friday y'all...thanx for reading!

Nerdy Athleticism

I resisted the urge to start my own blog for approximately 25 months. I first toyed with the idea when a couple of my boys from Temple University started their own. I knew that I had an eclectic voice that could make you run a host of emotions all before you decide whether or not you believed a word I said. I'm a poet, so writing is what I breathe, I think in prose...I suppose that in my mind the world is a beautiful rhyme, with metric balances and atmospheric alliterations, metallic metaphors and simple similes that have us all snapping in our souls. So why wouldn't I, being a poet, try to bring out the poetry of everyday life to all those sponges who seek to soak up all that is conceptually beautiful? It's called second-guessing and procrastination. Two bad things to develop as habits. The former I dabble in every now and then (except when choosing a restaurant, i swim in the ocean of second-guessing, Yelp has helped me ease the tension though) and the latter I've been known to do, especially when it came to writing papers in undergrad.

So, here we are...on the blog of yours truly, a blog that has a weird title, a post that has a title that makes one wonder where I'm going with this...

I guess I'll use this time to explain a little bit about the title of this blog. I'm a kinesthetic, energetic, cool guy. I know, it doesn't make sense, but it's true. I can do nothing and need to do something in my nothingness to feel like I can take the nothing that I'm doing. For instance, as I sit in meetings my mind sprints to other places like relay races from HS track & field, open-mics, or just a kitchen with more gadgets than an iron chef kitchen, while my mind races I'll use whatever's in my vicinity to keep my hands occupied, tossing a clementine right to left under the table so that it is barely noticeable. In order for me to get through a meeting I need to be doing all of that as well as taking notes, otherwise I'll go crazy...I have a Bobby's World/Scrubs sort of mind, a humor that is some weird mix between Dave Chappelle, Will Ferrell, The Office and Kevin Hart...i know, wow...

Back to the subject: the first part of the title Urban Nomad is literally what I began to call myself. I've lost count of how many times I've moved since I first left the next at the glorious age of 18. I'm approaching or may have surpassed 20. I'm being totally serious. It sounds funny, like an embellishment of some sort, but literally between the year 2003 and 2004 I moved a total of 7 times, yup, 7. I've lived all over Philly, numerous places in Brooklyn, I've even lived in Queens (I know I'm saying it like it's some far away place, but I'm a brooklyn dude, born, raised, left during hs and college, and returned, I've been teaching in brooklyn for three years now)...So, Urban Nomad is fitting. I'll use this blog as a time to chronicle (retroactively of course) some of my crazy journeys throughout the urban terrain.

The second part of my title comes from a poem that I've been working on as I ride the L train to and fro work. I live on my iPhone. My lady gets annoyed at how much I use it, I sleep next to it at times. Being the distractible, kinesthetic, energetic, cool guy that I am, I need something in my hands to keep me occupied so that I don't go crazy, the iPhone is that something. I will not use this time to sing the praises of it's superiority over devices that some may call subpar like the Blackberry, the MyTouch or the G1, I'm just simply pointing out how much I use my iPhone...

Anyway here is an excerpt from the poem that remains untitled at the moment where the term Dance the Tangent comes from:

"...I dance the tangent. Salsa my way out of the subject of the moment
and sway my hips to the memory that tickles my fancy. Breakdance under the
strobe light of childhood memories, pop n lock to the hiphop of hopskotch on the
block in Bed-Stuy, two-step to the smell of fried chicken and WWRL, Christian AM
station that my momma blasted from her kitchen radio. I live in and out of the
moment. Staring at the saturated clouds above me, remembering the salty
taste of polluted urban rain..."

I haven't quite worked out what this post will focus on fully, I love that there are blogs dedicated to things from travel to newly weds, but I can't call this a travel blog, or a Christian blog, it's an anomaly, an exploration of things that are beautiful, ugly, challenging, weird, humorous. It's a journey through the malaise of a man trying to stay sane as he grapples with the scruples he professes, the desire to be a great father (to my four-year old), son, friend, boo, teacher, worshipper and leader.

The poem that birthed the term Dance the tangent literally begins with the affirmation that I'm a nerd and an athlete..."i grab onto literary elements like batons/doing stick passes for a relay of rhetoric to students of life..."

Stick! Follow Me!