The Mind of Elz

Sunday Afternoon Ramblings

4:36 PM. Emblazoned On the Couch.

1. I can’t wait for the Knicks-Pacers game.

2. Marriage scares me just as much as it intrigues me (I admit it).

3. It’s Spring Break and I’m in Berrien Springs for the 6th straight year.

4.  Us men REALLY need to start holding each other accountable so women can trust us again.

5. Words with Friends is a MARVELOUS game. Wonder how many points I’d get for “marvelous”.

6. I’m hungry.

7. I can’t complain though because hundreds of families in Japan don’t even have their fridge anymore.

8. I need to write more.

9. It’s hard being from Harlem and smiling all the time.

10. With God on my side, I SHOULD be smiling all the time.

The Sun Shines On Snowy Sabbaths

It was as if 9:33am was the time the overnight marriage between bed and I

was meant to be.

A minute of prayer time with the Divine, followed 

by an hour of phone time with the woman I called mine

was NOT a good measurement.

The elements of my mind just wanted to be in church, but as

my brown eyes gently flirted with the outside, I saw

nothing but white work.

Atmospheric tears making earthly advances

Precipitation building resumes on branches.

Like someone shot the sky and now shards of wet glass 

Fell harmlessly to the ground.

You see, the elements of my mind just wanted to be in church,

but as my brown eyes gently flirted with the outside, I had to leave 

suit and tie on its perch.

It’s ok though, because though my heart has winced, I’m 

convinced that the Sun still shines on snowy Sabbaths.

That though the first few floors of this earth we live on 

allow cold crunches beneath our feet.

Somewhere up there the Sun waits for its share to

shine down from its penthouse suite.

Colorblind

Had I walked out of

Taco Bell, turned the

ignition keys

and Maxine

taken a breath,

I would have never been engaged

in intellectual conversation.

Such optimism dripped from 

aging minds, that for

the hint of a moment,

two african-american students

and four caucasian veterans

were the same ethnicity. 

-Da L!ngo

The Adventures of Maxine: Six Tapes in Seven Hours

All I wanted to do was study, I thought to myself as I set the borrowed GRE book back down on the sofa, and got up to take a shower. 

My phone rang, and my professor had shot me three simple questions and statements:

1. Are you busy today?

2. I need a HUGE favor if you don’t mind.

3. Are you able to drive/is your car working?

Now when you normally hear three statements and questions such as the aforementioned in rapid succession, RUN! But I couldn’t in this case.

My White ‘97 Maxima (by the name of Maxine) hadn’t logged an 100+ mile trip since I brought her over here from New York in January, and I was a bit scared. Whenever she came off of the highway on short trips, Maxine would sometimes sputter and cough up some smoke after turning her off. I thought a nice oil change would do the trick, but even after that and a bit of surgery, nothing seemed to change Maxine’s conundrum. 

To make a long story short, my professor (and supervisor for the summer) wanted me to take six show tapes to Great Lakes Adventist Academy to be edited by my friend, Stephanie. First off, the rain outside wasn’t helping me with my decision, and secondly, I wasn’t so sure if Maxine could handle the trip. I sensed the urgency in his voice, so I thought, why not? He was providing the gas anyway, and I always wanted to say I’ve been to GLAA, even though it was an academy and I was preparing for my first official semester of grad school.

So I prayed and asked God to be with Maxine and myself as we made the arduous log out to Cedar Lake in Northern Michigan. It actually wasn’t that bad - the rain cleared up, and so did the normally crappy reception I got from my wireless iPod tuner. Two and a half hours later, I arrived without getting lost, dropped off the tapes with Stephanie, and after a quick Burger King lunch, made the trip back home. I was out from 11:30am to 6:30pm, but carrying a great disposition helped make 7 hours seem like 3.

I was asking God what would be a great verse to attribute how I felt for the day, and within 10 seconds, He responded with this one:

The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.  -Proverbs 13:4

Sometimes we need to be there for others when they can’t be there for themselves. Yes, I had to study for the GRE, but I realized that I had done a great deed, and without the Lord nudging me, and telling me to go, nothing would have gotten done. My professor would’ve have felt dejected, and maybe I would’ve learned another 30 vocabulary words. Either way, my soul definitely felt “supplied” after helping out.

Take time out of your day to forget about yourself and remember someone else. Only then, will it make the most strenuous parts of the day mean something.

Goodnight, not Goodbye

Somewhere around 11:30pm last night…

Opens door….. Hug…. Small Talk… Hug…. Opens door…..

The parabolic moment happened so fast, I barely even got a chance to fathom the mere fact that this would be the last time I’d see her in The Springs for a LONG time. I walked her to her car and within a matter of seconds, the silver Volkswagen took off into the young night, leaving some liquid drops behind that gave off the appearance of tears. I said “goodbye” to a great friend of mine not too long ago.

I should have just said “goodnight”.

Goodbye makes the indefinite separation between individuals seem so formal, as if opposing parties had valuables for each other and they were going to make a trade-off at a certain point. Goodbye is the break-up, the giveaway, the voice I used to hear once someone inadvertently knocked out the phone cord on my AOL dial-up system. It is rarely used as a term of endearment and has has an abrupt air about it. And even if it is said with a smile, the recipient isn’t always receptive.

That we often use goodbyes rather than something less conclusive is a reason why some of our friendships seem to be more filled with air than care. We say it because we don’t often have them on our minds after we part from them - there’s no hope or yearn for seeing them in the immediate future. Whenever a mother tucks her child into bed, she doesn’t say good-bye. She says goodnight, a brief verbal parting with the assurance that she’ll see them again in the morning.

My friend Cassandre is amazing. There’s never a time I walk into her apt and think, gee this is gonna be a melancholy visit. She has the innate ability to pull rabbits out of hats, ie, fun out of thin air. I must’ve done nearly everything with Cassie, from shooting bb guns, to visiting “special” churches, to Nip/Tuck episodes, to cooking, to intense Wii Sport matches, to… well you get the idea. Somehow, no matter what, I always leave with a smile, laugh, or some unique concoction of the two.

Cassie, as you head back to your hometown, you’re definitely still here. If it’s a beach visit, you’ll still be here. If it’s a worship or game night, you’ll still be here. Why, you ask? Because NONE of us, especially myself, will have said good-bye. It’s way too final and pernicious.

I’ll say good-bye to my garbage, my finished deodorant, even the flies I catch and happily flush down the toilet. But to you, sister, homie, friend, I say….. goodnight.

iShuffle

First 15 songs on my iTunes (shuffled):

1. Bid Me To Come - DeWayne Woods

2. Going Under- Evanescence 

3. Amazing Grace (A Capella) - Boyz II Men

4. You Are Great - Juanita Bynum

5. Iwannabe (ft Damian Marley) - Musiq Soulchild 

6. Anything - Jaheim

7. War of the Minds - Flame

8. Right Now - Smokie Norful

9. Lo Que Paso Paso - Daddy Yankee

10. No Ways Tired - Kim Burrell

11. Never Gonna Break Up - Ryan Leslie

12. Ringa Ringa - A.R. Rahman

13. It’s Gon Be Nice - Yolanda Adams

14. I Was Made To Love Her - Boyz II Men

15. Grateful People, Grateful Praise - Kurt Carr and the Kurt Carr Singers

Inception: Not to be Slept On

We are the music-makers. And we are the dreamers of the dreams.

Though this was said decades ago and in the middle of a ginormous chocolate factory, it still renders some truth. 

Inception is one of those movies that you don’t necessarily think about before you see it, but AFTERWARDS? The thought of it leaving your mind is as incredible as the “dream within a dream within a dream” concepts birthed throughout the movie. From start to finish the storyline is action-packed with great construction, as it takes you on a journey with a man named Dom Cobb, played by Leonardo DiCaprio.

Separated from his family and the US by legal charges Dom (a man known to extract ideas from powerful people through a dream device known as Inception) will try to pull off the ultimate job to come back to his family.

The ending is what gets you the most, you REALLY wish there was another two or even three seconds to the movie. But were you REALLY watching the movie? Or was it all just a DREAM?

I am surely enjoying this great movie streak. Hopefully Angelina doesn’t disturb it.

Rating: 5 out of 5.