As

As around the sun the earth knows she's revolving
And the rosebuds know to bloom in early May
Just as hate knows love's the cure
You can rest your mind assure
That I'll be loving you always
As now can't reveal the mystery of tomorrow
But in passing will grow older every day
Just as all is born is new
Do know what I say is true
That I'll be loving you always

Until the rainbow burns the stars out in the sky (Always)
Until the ocean covers every mountain high (Always)
Until the dolphin flies and parrots live at sea (Always)
Until we dream of life and life becomes a dream

Did you know that true love asks for nothing
Her acceptance is the way we pay
Did you know that life has given love a guarantee
To last through forever and another day
Just as time knew to move on since the beginning
And the seasons know exactly when to change
Just as kindness knows no shame
Know through all your joy and pain
That I'll be loving you always
As today I know I'm living but tomorrow
Could make me the past but that I mustn't fear
For I'll know deep in my mind
The love of me I've left behind Cause I'll be loving you always

Until the day is night and night becomes the day (Always)
Until the trees and seas just up and fly away (Always)
Until the day that 8x8x8 is 4 (ALWAYS)
Until the day that is the day that are no more
Did you know that you're loved by somebody?
Until the day the earth starts turning right to left (ALWAYS)
Until the earth just for the sun denies itself
I'll be loving you forever
Until dear Mother Nature says her work is through (Always)
Until the day that you are me and I am you (Always)
Until the rainbow burns the stars out in the sky (Always)

We all know sometimes lifes hates and troubles
Can make you wish you were born in another time and space
But you can bet you life times that and twice its double
That God knew exactly where he wanted you to be placed
so make sure when you say you're in it but not of it
You're not helping to make this earth a place sometimes called Hell
Change your words into truths and then change that truth into love
And maybe our children's grandchildren
And their great-great grandchildren will tell
I'll be loving you

Until the rainbow burns the stars out in the sky - Loving you
Until the ocean covers every mountain high - Loving you
Until the dolphin flies and parrots live at sea - Loving you
Until we dream of life and life becomes a dream - Be loving you
Until the day is night and night becomes the day - Loving you
Until the trees and seas up, up and fly away - Loving you
Until the day that 8x8x8x8 is 4 - Loving you
Until the day that is the day that are no more - Loving you
Until the day the earth starts turning right to left - Be loving you
Until the earth just for the sun denies itself - Loving you
Until dear Mother Nature says her work is through - Loving you
Until the day that you are me and I am you...
Now ain't that loving you

"As" - Stevie Wonder

Happy New Year to all three of you that read this. Just looking at the last minutes of January and realized I hadn't written anything all year... As predicted 2011 would start off a busy one... started things off with closing things off with my old company, and transitioning into another role 2 blocks down the street - an incredible opportunity for me where I have learned a lot in just two weeks (that new paycheck isn't too shabby either!)

Last week I was driving into work and Soultown on Sirius Satellite Radio had me jamming into the job with this classic Stevie Wonder song... had me thinking back to days when it was all so simple... before Nia Long and Taye Diggs had their "moment" in The Best Man, you could find that album being played on South Gordon Street in southwest Atlanta on a Saturday morning... after the cartoons have gone off and it was time to clean up my room and wash clothes, and mop the kitchen floor... Listening to Youngblood talk all over whatever record he was playing... me just trying to hurry up and get things done so I could go outside and ride my bike.

I was talking to a good friend this evening and she was telling me how much she enjoyed her 20s. I tried to sit up and think about what part of my life I enjoyed the most, and to be honest I must say the best time of my life was before I was even 10 years old... didn't have to worry about a light bill, or wonder where my next meal was coming from... and all I had to do was clean up the house a bit? Wash the car? Childs play. Literally.

I hope my newly arrived nephew appreciates how easy he has it right now... when he starts complaining about doing some menial task, send him my way and I will show him what some hard work really is (I already heard my sister yelling out "Hell naw" after reading that last sentence).

Anyway, it's way past my bedtime... until Mother Nature says her work is through...

You Learn

I recommend getting your heart trampled on to anyone
I recommend walking around naked in your living room
Swallow it down (what a jagged little pill)
It feels so good (swimming in your stomach)
Wait until the dust settles

You live you learn
You love you learn
You cry you learn
You lose you learn
You bleed you learn
You scream you learn

I recommend biting off more then you can chew to anyone
I certainly do
I recommend sticking your foot in your mouth at any time
Feel free
Throw it down (the caution blocks you from the wind)
Hold it up (to the rays)
You wait and see when the smoke clears

You live you learn
You love you learn
You cry you learn
You lose you learn
You bleed you learn
You scream you learn

Wear it out (the way a three-year-old would do)
Melt it down (you're gonna have to eventually anyway)
The fire trucks are coming up around the bend

You live you learn
You love you learn
You cry you learn
You lose you learn
You bleed you learn
You scream you learn

You grieve you learn
You choke you learn
You laugh you learn
You choose you learn
You pray you learn
You ask you learn
You live you learn

"You Learn" - Alanis Morrisette

Well, 2010 is thankfully coming to a close. If I never have a year like this ever again it will be too soon. At this point, it's time to cut my losses, remain silent, move the f#$k on, and let my life speak for itself as a friend of mine so eloquently put it. So as we move into another year, I reflect for the last time (publicly at least) about what will go down as one of the biggest years of my life. One in which I have truly learned a lot about myself, about people around me, and about life itself.

I recommend biting off more then you can chew to anyone
I certainly do
I recommend sticking your foot in your mouth at any time
Feel free
Throw it down (the caution blocks you from the wind)
Hold it up (to the rays)
You wait and see when the smoke clears

Caring what others think about me has led me to doing a lot of biting off more than I can chew... trying to make sure other people are happy is the fastest way to making yourself unhappy. For the record, that perceived "happiness" as determined by the media, our friends, and our material desires is 100% bullshit. Happiness is what you make it - how you live your life and treat others around you will determine your happiness. If you want to be happy, making others around you miserable is definitely the wrong way to achieve that goal. I was walking through the Minneapolis skyway this week and came across a sign that read, "Happiness is a how, not a what. A talent, not an object." I literally sat in front of the window with this sign and read it at least 10 times. Partially because it was my next tweet, but otherwise because I was blown away by the knowledge in that statement. We spend our lives going on about how we're not happy about this and that, and blaming others for our condition, when it's our own fault for not being happy. At the end of the day, no one else can control your happiness but YOU. I can do nothing but get up and do what I need to do that day. If you're not happy with that, it doesn't change the fact that I still need to do what I need to do that day.

Sooo, as I live and learn... letting loose a lot more is definitely on the menu. 2011 is going to start off with the arrival of my nephew to this world, and he will soon find out how off the chain his uncle truly is! My opinion will not be silenced - and I no longer care what you think. Consider yourself warned.

Since it doesn't look like I'm going to get the Christmas cards out in time, consider this your Seasons Greetings - Please have a safe ending to 2010 and I look forward to seeing all of you on the other side! Thanks for reading and putting up with my ish this year!

Hmmm... "Give It To Me Right" - Really?

Okay, okay,
He's got my number and
You can't, you can't
Warn me baby here I am
Either you make the time
Or just forget me

I'm not, I'm not
Tryna run your life
That's why, that's why
I'm nobody's wife
But when I want, when I want it
You gotta be ready

I don't want it all the time,
But when I get it,
I better be satisfied
So give it to me right,
Or don't give it to me at all

I don't think you understand,
How real it is for me to find
A man who thinks he can
So give it to me right,
Or don't give it to me at all
yeah yeah

On time, on time
I expect you to be
Oh my, oh my
Baby in my fantasy
You can't get it right,
Then just forget it

No ways ok
For you to go around
uh uh, today
You better make a touch down
You know what I like,
Won't you accept it

I don't want it all the time,
But when I want it,
You better make me smile
So give it to me right,
Or don't give it to me at all

I don't think you understand,
If you can't please me,
I know someone who can
Give it to me right,
Or don't give it to me at all

This is the real life baby
This is the life that makes me say
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeahh

This is the real thing baby
When I'm alone I can make me say
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeahh

I don't want it all the time,
But when I want it
You better make me smile
So give it to me right,
Or don't give it to me at all

I don't think you understand,
If you can't please me,
I know someone who can
So give it to me right,
Or don't give it to me at all

Give it to me right
Give it to me right

Give it to me right,
Or don't give it to me at all

Give it to me right,
Or don't give it to me at all

"Give It To Me Right" - Melanie Fiona

I think that I have come to the realization that a certain ex-wife of mine doesn't feel obliged to extend some sort of apology to me for wasting two years of my life, and while it disappoints me to no end, it further demonstrates the type of person she is, and I know that she will reap what she has sown.

Since I already had gone through the trouble of finding the lyrics to this song, I will tell you the background on my connection to it, and why it is now on my list of banned songs.

For starters a year ago, I was coerced into using my frequent flyer miles to go to Seattle and visit a good friend of mine for the weekend (another opportunity for her to screw around with this dude). During the trip, I spent most of the time thinking about her and writing her a long winded letter about how I was sorry things have been going the way they were and a bunch of other crap, but more importantly, while hanging out with my friend and his brother and running around in the streets of Seattle, I was given a couple of opportunities to what I now know to "return the favor". Wanting to honor my marriage and my wife, I chose to do the right thing, and had I not, I would be the one vilified by everyone regardless of if my ex-wife's infidelity had ever come out.

What's the connection with this song, you ask? Sorry, I got off on a tangent... this song was pretty popular on the radio around that time, and my ex seemed to walk around humming it or singing along (let's not get into how well she could sing) whenever the song came on... Personally? I have always thought the song lacked any real character, was a bad representation of the song the main melody was sampled from ("The Time of the Season" by The Zombies), and overall didn't speak well for a beautiful black woman starting her musical career.

Give it to me right,
Or don't give it to me at all

Really? Outside of that lyric being yet another microcosm of my failed marriage, I would smack my young daughter if I heard her walking around singing that. Another glowing example of our society being over-sexed and relishing in our own instant gratification. If you can't get what you want right now, keep it moving until you find someone else who will. I will be the first to admit that I listen to things far worse on the quality scale musically, but I have learned to maintain the difference between Reality and Reality TV. Rarely have I kept or truly appreciated anything that was given to me without some hard work or sacrifice. If everything is disposable to you, you become disposable yourself. We are all more than what we can provide for others.

No disrespect to Melanie Fiona - at the end of the day, she did what she needed to do to sell records. Fortunately the CD got better after you skip track 1 - "Give It To Me Right" is officially banned.