The Great Orator

Like more than 38 million other people, I watched Barack Obama make his acceptance speech. One thing that nobody can deny is that he is a great speaker. No matter what you think about his views, you have to give him that much. That speech was so much more than an acceptance speech. He had to start giving specifics about what he planned to do once he got in office. I think he accomplished that. Now he has to get ready for the real heavy lifting as we get closer to November 4Th. I just don't see why Obama hasn't run away with this election. Even Republicans are tired of the Bush administration and four more years of McCain would be the same thing, probably even worse. So why hasn't he run away with it? There are many things working against him. Obama's inexperience is a cause for concern. Until Thursday, he didn't clearly say how he was going to bring change. And of course, he's Black. I'm not naive enough to say that his race is not an issue. He's White also but we all see Black when we look at him. I'm not voting for him because he's Black and I think there are so many people making that mistake. His race doesn't matter to me. He's still a politician and I just don't trust politicians. I'm proud to see him get this far, but he can't let himself be considered a Black president. He has to make himself an extraordinary president. So I hope he makes that happen. Eight is enough....

Running Out

So The Lowe's has started an automatic enrollment program for the 401-k. I can't knock them for doing it. Sometimes we young people don't look to our future. We are having too much fun in the present. I have known about all the different ways to gain wealth from my younger years. I see my dad as a business man so I've had to hear about ESOP's and mutual funds since I was in high school. And don't forget that I went to school for management. So I know enough to know that I should have enrolled in the 401-k a long time ago. Social Security will be gone by the time people my age are ready to retire so we have to have a back up plan. It's hard not to spend, but you always have to put something away. This election is so important because the economy is in such bad shape. Four years of McCain will put us deeper in the hole because he has many of the same ideas that Bush had and we all see how those turned out. The cost of living continues to go up but it seems like the average salary keeps going down. So how can we save when we are spending so much of that check that we impatiently wait for every other Friday on necessities? Don't even get me started on taxes. I'm putting all this money into Social Security and I won't see a dime of it. That's a very deflating statement. There is no easy answer to this problem. The Bush Administration has done such a terrible job handling government spending that we are fighting an uphill battle all the time. They spent so much money on the war in Iraq and raise gas prices, but they don't spend any money on the educational system. With all the money they're wasting, we should have a cure for cancer. With the recent passing of Gene Upshaw and my own great aunt, it's obvious they haven't found one yet. Something has to change. But what???

Tyler Perry Presents...nothing different

I better watch that. He might try to steal that title. Anyway, I'm not a Tyler Perry fan. It's crazy how he has this huge cult following. I don't understand it because all of his work seems to be stereotypical chitlin circuit plays, whether it's on the big screen or small screen. True he gives jobs to people, but only because he doesn't want to pay "real" actors. So he'll pay these no names who can't act. It doesn't matter anyway. He will always have two or three roles for himself anyway. How can I watch a full two hours of a movie that's supposed to be funny and not laugh one time? Is that even possible? Of course it is. That's what happened when I watched one of his movies. For years I've heard how funny his plays were, then it was his movies. So I gave him a chance and didn't laugh one time. I'm funnier than he is...seriously. Maybe I have to dumb myself down to watch his material and ignore the stereotypes he perpetuates for a cheap laugh. You know the stereotypes; there's a crackhead in every family or we are all loud and ignorant. Of course he touches on more than that. So why is he celebrated only and rarely criticized? I don't know. His story is good one. He's a made man. He got on by taking advantage of our ability to laugh at ourselves. Now he doesn't have to do that. Make something different. Where's the creativity? Or maybe Perry is just use to making money doing the same thing and afraid to try something different. It's funny how we support someone who makes fun of us right to our faces, but won't support Spike Lee. What a surprise....

Summer Games

I remember back in '92 when the summer Olympics came around. I was only ten but I remember the Dream Team. Ever since then I've enjoyed watching the Olympics. But something is missing this year. They aren't showing anything live. I want to see the track and field. It sucks to find out the results before you even see it on tv. NBC is doing a terrible job of covering the events. It's cool to give some shine to the events that we don't normally see, but put them on USA or MSNBC. Don't put that on NBC. It seems like the only thing they've been showing is gymnastics, swimming and beach volleyball. I don't want to see that every night and I know I'm not the only person who feels that way. It would've been nice to see Tyson Gay not make the finals in the 100m dash, but I heard about it before it happened. To make it worse, the prelims for track haven't been shown unless something the network feels is important happens. Show events live, even if it's three in the morning. I've lost some interest in the games. It's so much easier to just turn on the computer and find out the results. That's how I've find out about almost everything anyway. Go USA!!! Whatever......

Family

So I had a family reunion this weekend. Just like any other family, I have many talented people in my family. I'm a very prideful person, so it's hard for me to listen to all these things that they have going on. I don't have nearly the same amount of things going on, but I have the potential to. So I'm now trying to convince myself to go ahead and start doing what I want to do. I've said that too many times. I'm like the boy that cried wolf. Who believes me when I say these things? I don't even believe it myself anymore. It bugs me that I have to look at my pops and wonder if I wasted his time, even though he feels like I'm on the right track. They support me in whatever I do. But I'm not happy and haven't been for a while. As much as I try to live for myself I can't help but put pressure on myself because of the sacrifices that were made for me. How else can I feel? I have to do more than I am now. This should have been an enjoyable weekend for me and it was. But at times I couldn't ignore how my ego made me feel. I'm probably blowing this all out of proportion but maybe I'm not. Something or somebody has to light a fire under me. I can't seem to motivate myself anymore.