Condolences

We all know that death is a certainty. People are born, they live their lives and they die. Some live full lives before peacefully slipping away. We are no less sad but these deaths are somewhat easier to handle. Not so the death of children or adults in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, or even 60s; people who still have so much life left to live. This is the case with M’s friend, Cory, who recently passed away from cancer. At age 31. For those of us who haven’t ever been in that position, we can’t begin to imagine what anyone close to Cory is going through at this time. But I am certain that Cory is gone too soon and is surely missed by his friends and family. R.I.P.

A Charge of Racial Profiling

Lately, I have been so enmeshed in my own pathetic life that I completely missed the news about an affront to prominent black scholar, Henry Louis Gates Jr. (thanks to C. for telling me about it). The story goes as follows: Gates returned home from a trip to find his front door jammed. He enlisted the aid of his driver to help him to force the door open. Apparently, while this was going on a neighbor called the police and reported that two black men were breaking into the house. The story should have ended once Gates produced identification with his address thereby ascertaining that he was in fact a resident of the home but instead he was arrested, allegedly for disorderly conduct. Now I can imagine that Gates had some harsh words for the officers and I can’t say that I blame him. If you were accused of burglarizing your own home (added to the stress of traveling and fighting to gain entrance) I’m sure you’d be a little upset too.

Racism is such a messy topic and I really hate to revisit and rehash but sometimes we really have no choice. I do believe that racism is alive and well in America. It is visible and ever present. More than anything, I’m really tired of the automatic dismissal of people who believe that they have a legitimate right to claim that they were targeted because of their race, simply because we now have a black president. Give me a break! Finally, after dozens of white men before him, a black man was finally elected to the highest position and racism suddenly becomes a non-issue? That’s an easy enough statement to make when you haven’t ever been a victim of racism. Unfortunately the history that this country was built on cannot be wiped out simply because of one act.

Personally, racism is the very last option that I allow my mind to consider whenever I encounter anything that seems foul for no good reason. But incidents such as the one involving Gates are not uncommon throughout America. As I read about it, I was reminded of another incident in Boston where blacks were essentially stripped of their basic rights and were treated as criminals. All because of a white man’s accusation that a black man killed his wife. Ironically, it turned out that the ‘grieving husband’ was the was the killer but police action sent a message that blacks are and will forever be second class citizens whose rights could be stripped at will. America still has a long way to go but that’s just my opinion. Read some of the comments that follow this article to see why I still worry.

TV: New Shows

With a massive move on the agenda, this was quite a busy week at work. All activities not directly related to the move were put on hold for another time (I finally have a minute to breathe- at the end of the work week). Outside the office, work was definitely on my mind but I still found time to think about the potentially good news that I received regarding an extracurricular activity. And of course, I tuned into some of the new shows (and some not-so-new favorites) that TV networks have been trotting out all week. Most notably of the new crop are Lifetime’s Drop Dead Diva, TNT’s Dark Blue, and Bravo’s Miami Social. First, Miami Social totally sucks and is in no way DVR-worthy. The show follows a group of friends in their professional and personal lives. Predictably, there’s lots of “heartfelt” discussions about relationships. We’ve seen so many shows like this (think Housewives of ...), do we really need another? I don’t think so.

Both Dark Blue and Drop Dead Diva, on the other hand, delivered all that they promised and more. The former is the latest from Jerry Bruckheimer (CSI franchise) and centers around a special team of undercover agents who infiltrate criminal enterprises on a regular basis. The storyline is great and so far, it seems like the characters are well-written. I can’t wait to see how they are developed over the course of the series, although I suspect that this particular show will be much darker than any of the CSI series. Drop Dead Diva by contrast is light comedy fare featuring a size two, unemployed ditz-type whose soul leaps into the body of a plus-size lawyer when they both die around the same time. One interesting fact: the main character still has her old memories but is now smarter than she’s ever been thanks to her new brain. How could that be? Still, from the first episode and from the preview of the entire series, this comedy promises to be heartwarming and is actually funny. Happy weekend!

From PC to Mac?

I’ve always been a PC person. I’ve never really been tempted to use a Mac over a PC and given the choice between the two, I’ve always chosen PC. I have nothing against Macs but I am most familiar with the PC interface so it makes sense that I would make it my choice. However, that might be about to change.

I’ve owned a Sony VAIO for close to five years and for the most part, have enjoyed it very much. When I can get a decent connection (often) it runs very fast and the graphics are great. There have been many minor issues involving my VAIO but I can only think of one MAJOR problem: the ac adapter input (and the input jack) unraveled making it hard to charge the PC. However, that problem was resolved with (costly) repair to the input jack (although it shows sign of reverting to its previous state over time) and purchase of a new AC adapter. Sony is not exactly known for extensive battery life so I could not ignore the problem if I wanted to use my PC for any length of time. There was also one or two times when I could only see a black screen even though the PC had completely powered up. However, I chalk this up to lack of use over several months (before the abovementioned repairs) as the problem seems to have corrected itself. But every time a new problem crops up, the thought that I need a new computer would inevitably follow. The latest incident (last week) involved liquid and I was in a frenzy to quickly find its replacement because I was sure that my computer would not recover from that one. But within a couple days, it did. Still, I am pressing on with my search for my next computer.

Among the computers I looked at and am considering are: Toshiba Satellite, Dell Studio, HP Pavilion, and Apple MacBook Pro. By far, the MacBook Pro is my favorite due to its sleek design, extensive battery life (~8 hours), and numerous features. Before I knew anything about it, I wanted it at first sight. It is the only one of the listed four that I wanted to take home with me with few reservations. So what’s holding me back? The cost for one. At over $2000, it is definitely not something that I would buy on impulse- I can wait a few months for the price to drop (hopefully). Another thing that worries me is the fact that the battery is built into the computer and so not easily switched out. Also, I am not familiar with the Mac interface so finding my way around it has not been the easiest task. But I can learn to adjust. And considering all of the problems that I’ve endured with my PC, these are truly minor issues. I am definitely leaning towards making the switch from PC to Mac but the decision is far from made. I’m open to suggestions either way.

Pastimes

I spent a good portion of last night walking around downtown. M and I started with dinner around St. Marks place but since we had not planned beyond dinner we wandered around a bit walking in the direction of LES, came back up to Union Square and eventually ended up at West 4th. I haven’t gotten that much exercise in a long time and boy did I need it! But all that mindless walking around in a quest to find something to do lead me to think about the neighborhoods I frequent and what I do when I’m there. In no particular order, St. Marks Place, Fort Greene, downtown Brooklyn, West 4th, and Soho are some of my favorite places to chill. And when I say chill, I really mean eat (mostly). That’s another thing I realized: most of my outings usually include food. Even when I go out to see a movie, a concert, or perform some activity, I will ultimately end up at a restaurant/bar. And, although I don’t like/crave food enough to consider myself a foodie, I spend way too much time thinking about what I’m going to eat for lunch. In any case, the following is a sampling of places that serve tasty, reasonably priced food and/or provide decent entertainment: Burrito Loco(Mexican), Galanga(Thai), Café Orlin, Yaffa Cafe, Milon(Indian), and Groove(American bar). Happy Friday!

No Sympathy for Steve McNair

I’m listening to a local radio station and I’m surprised and appalled at how callous and unforgiving some people can be. The radio deejay asked listeners to write in or call in and tell her their opinion about the recent slaying of former football star, Steve McNair. The majority of callers seem to believe that because McNair stepped outside his marriage and was engaged in a relationship with the woman who killed him, he was not a good father to his sons. And, he got what was coming to him. Since when does cheating justify murder? I’ll usually take the moral high ground in most situations but the punishment does not fit the “crime.” These people go too far. Even if we don’t factor in the fact that he was separated from his wife at the time when he was engaged in this deadly relationship, how can anyone believe that murder is ever justified? It is not our place to judge the deeds of others. Besides, the circumstances surrounding McNair's death does not take away from who he was as a person--good or bad. I really fear that our humanity is slipping down the drain when I hear about things like this.

So Sad I Almost Cried- But This is Funny!

I’m still a little sad about Michael Jackson’s death. It occupies a great portion of my thoughts and I’ll still watch any TV program having to do with his life and music. The memorial that was held in Los Angeles yesterday is probably as big as its going to get and was a fitting tribute for someone who’s as big as MJ was. It was while watching the outpouring of grief from MJ’s family and celebrity friends that I felt something stir within me. Now, emotional displays are not my modus operandi—I prefer to grieve inward— so when I felt that sudden urge to cry, I knew Michael Jackson’s death had affected me more than I had originally thought. So, is it bad that I find this Chris Rock sketch and this Eddie Murphy comedy bit so darn funny?

What!? A Cell-Phone?

A little earlier this morning I received a call from my adorably cute niece. She was calling me from her after-school/summer program just to see how I was doing. She was calling from her cell-phone. At one point in our brief conversation, I heard her telling some of the other kids to be quiet. Why is it so noisy, so early in the morning at her program? More importantly, why was she on her cell-phone? I’m still reeling from the shock that her mother thought that my six-year-old niece is responsible enough to have a cell-phone. Last Thursday, her father called and told me to write down a telephone number before dropping the bombshell that it was my niece’s number. Since then, my niece has called me almost everyday just because. It’s cute how excited she is about owning a cell-phone but this is one of those instances where I believe she’s too young. At this point, I can only hope for the best and be happy that someone is helping me to use up more of my anytime minutes.

Happy 4th of July

I love holiday weekends! I love the idea of barbeques, overeating, shopping the sales, catching up with friends and family. I will definitely make time to do all of those things in addition to sleeping in (an extra 30 minutes), laundry, cleaning and because it’s Independence Day, watching fireworks. This year, because the actual holiday falls on a Saturday, many of us have been fortunate to get the preceding Friday off from work to get a jump on our plans. Usually I would use such an opportunity to wait in long lines to catch the bus down to the DC/VA area. But after being away a week ago, I wanted to stay close to home. Besides, I distinctly remember missing home every fourth of July that I’ve been away. There’s just some about being at home (in NYC) during a major holiday. There is always so much to do and the excitement is something to be experienced. If only the rain would ease up for the next few days... Happy fourth everyone!