What a year it has been! (I would have said that another year has passed, but someone freaked out last year thinking someone had died.)
School has been going good… Only three more semesters to go, and then I’ll be a Juris Doctor. I have decided to pursue International Development Law, focusing on Sub-Saharan Africa. My goal is to help bring Africa into the 21st century. With this in mind, I’ve been taking as many international courses as I can fit into my schedule. I’ve also recently written a paper on Kenya’s economy which I’m going to try to publish.
I’m still working at Paychex, as a Senior Client Service Advisor. They announced this summer that that my job title will cease to exist between 18 months to 2 years after the announcement. I see it as a blessing, because that falls around graduation. So really, they are saving me the trouble from having to resign. And depending on what the severance package looks like, I might be able to live off of that for the 8 weeks I’ll be studying for the bar exam.
In January, my grandmother, Katherine Wiggins, went home to Heaven after being sick for a long time. I was blessed to have had the opportunity to say goodbye before she passed. For years, my sister, Bonnie, had been trying to arrange to get all the grandchildren together for one holiday or another with her, because she had never had all 6 of her grandchildren in one room at the same time. Bonnie was finally successful, when, in the early morning hours on Martin Luther King Day, all of Nana’s living children and all of her grandchildren gathered together in her hospital room as she left this world. Nana even held on until the National Guard released my cousin Issac to come say his goodbyes.
While it is always sad to lose someone you love, I am comforted by the knowledge that she is in Heaven, and that she has reunited with her husband, and the two children whom she had lost. I was blessed to have spent time with family I don’t see very often. I was also blessed by all the support I got from everyone I know. You prayed for me and my family, and we cannot thank you enough for the support that we received. It was a difficult time, and you helped us through it. Thank you for your love and prayers.
We’ve had a couple of non-human additions to the family. Otter was adopted as a kitten, and lives with Bonnie and Frank until I can get a place of my own. She tolerates the torture that Kaylee and Christina inflict on her - she’s such a trooper! Hansel and Gretel are a pair of parakeets who live in our dining room. Hansel is the tamer of the two, and will sit on your finger, shoulder, head or wherever you put him. Gretel is a little more skittish, and she still likes to bite whoever is handling her. Christina and Kaylee love them so much that one of Kaylee’s first worlds was “Bird!” If the girls are at my house when I get home, Christina will take me by the hand and lead me to their cage so that I can get Hansel out for her. Buddy, the corn snake, celebrated his 10th year in our family. We found a boyfriend for Rio, and hopefully we’ll have some spotted puppies in a few months. The other dogs, Amos and Malachi, are doing fine… Amos has decided that my bed is where he needs to spend the winter, which is fine until he tries to claim my spot for himself.
We didn’t do a whole lot of traveling this year. We spent a week in Alabama for the funeral. I went to visit college friends in Apple Valley and Santa Barbara on Spring Break, the rest of the family went to California in May for my cousin’s wedding. Mom and I took a road trip to see the big presidents’ heads in South Dakota, and Mom and Dad went to India and Nepal in October on a medical mission.
I guess that’s about it… I hope you are well, and that you have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!
All my love,
The Christmas Wig
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
To attend or not to attend
Do I go to my 10 year reunion?
There are two reasons why I want to go...
There are two reasons why I want to go...
- I want to see if Ryan Avery got fat (I really hope that she did)
- I want to see what everyone did with their lives...
But I don't know that I'm ready to explain to everyone what I'm doing with mine. I won't be done with law school yet... And unless Mathew or Peterson shows up on my door tomorrow and invites me to Vegas for a quickie Elvis wedding, I'll still be single...
Hmm... Not a decision I need to make tonight... What do you all out in cyberspace think??
Finals Insanity
- Friday night I took my Ethics final. I feel I got in the B- range, which is perfectly fine with me.
- Thursday I have my Admin final. I have not yet begun to study for it... But it's open book... But I slacked all semester long... But it's yet another law school exam... Which is pretty intense... Maybe I'll study at work tomorrow.
- Parents out of town this weekend
- Human Rights paper due 15th. Not even begun.
- Trade paper due 16th. A complete draft is finished... Will let it stew for a few days, then do final edits...
Then on the 20th, I start my new job at the shooting range... and 4 weeks of no education... Classes for the fall include
- Evidence -- I can't believe I've waited this long to take it
- Trusts and Estates
- Human Rights Clinic
- Trial Advocacy -- waitlisted, bummer, dude. Also, need to get approved for an overload, so I turned in the paperwork today.
Wish me luck!
Sunday, November 9, 2008
A Barenaked Apology
So, as you know, I've been upset with Steven Page and the disastrous cocaine bust in July. Well, he's been granted a reprieve by the State of New York, and has apologized to his fans, me included. Here's what he had to say:
To our fans...As you know, I have been granted an Adjournment In Contemplation of Dismissal, which, in six months time, will hopefully result in full dismissal of my charges.I am grateful to Judge Miller and to District Attorney Fitzpatrick for this opportunity to further prove myself as a productive and law-abiding member of society. I look forward to the next six months as a period of healing and growth. I thank my lawyers, Mark Mahoney and Len Glickman and my manager Terry McBride. Special thanks also to my bandmates for their love, compassion and support through this difficult period.The past several months have been especially hard for all of us, and I sincerely thank my family, friends and loved ones as well as all the fans who have shown their love and support; it has meant a great deal to me to be shown the impact I have on others’ lives. From people on the street who have stopped me to show their support and encouragement, to those friends and loved ones closest to me who have opened their homes and their hearts, I am deeply moved and thankful.The greatest gift a person can know is to not go through their life alone. I am fortunate enough to have been afforded that gift.I also apologize to all of those I have hurt or embarrassed during this episode. The respect and responsibility I have earned over the course of my life and career thus are important to me, and I am moving forward from this with gratitude and hope.Steven
In light of this, I've decided to forgive him. The Barenaked Ladies are officially my favorite band again.
To our fans...As you know, I have been granted an Adjournment In Contemplation of Dismissal, which, in six months time, will hopefully result in full dismissal of my charges.I am grateful to Judge Miller and to District Attorney Fitzpatrick for this opportunity to further prove myself as a productive and law-abiding member of society. I look forward to the next six months as a period of healing and growth. I thank my lawyers, Mark Mahoney and Len Glickman and my manager Terry McBride. Special thanks also to my bandmates for their love, compassion and support through this difficult period.The past several months have been especially hard for all of us, and I sincerely thank my family, friends and loved ones as well as all the fans who have shown their love and support; it has meant a great deal to me to be shown the impact I have on others’ lives. From people on the street who have stopped me to show their support and encouragement, to those friends and loved ones closest to me who have opened their homes and their hearts, I am deeply moved and thankful.The greatest gift a person can know is to not go through their life alone. I am fortunate enough to have been afforded that gift.I also apologize to all of those I have hurt or embarrassed during this episode. The respect and responsibility I have earned over the course of my life and career thus are important to me, and I am moving forward from this with gratitude and hope.Steven
In light of this, I've decided to forgive him. The Barenaked Ladies are officially my favorite band again.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
I thought I was the only one who felt this way
But then I found this essay while surfing online. Note the race of the reader...
My name is James Nazarene. I'm a tall young black man living in the city of Boston. I moved to America from the Republic of Haiti a few years ago. Recently, I graduated from Northeastern University with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice. Someday soon, I'm going to be a police officer. I've already gotten accepted into the Boston Police Academy. I know I will make it. I am physically fit, college-educated, and I have no criminal record. I'm a goal-oriented Haitian man who's going places. I just wish my black brothers and black sisters from the African-American community were taking note.
Where I come from, black men and black women who are smart, and work hard can accomplish great things. I know it can be done. My father was an engineer. My mother was a college professor and administrator. My brother is a lawyer. My sister is a dentist. We did alright for ourselves back home. I was sent to America to get my college education. And so I did. I made my parents proud. I just wish more black men and black women from America were living up to their full potential instead of tearing each other to pieces and blaming all of their problems on the white man.
Quite a few black men and black women from North America can and have done great things. Look at Senator Barack Obama. Billionaire businesswoman and TV mogul Oprah Winfrey. Former United States Secretary of State Colin Powell. Secretary of State Condi Rice. We can accomplish great things. We're a people that's hardened and toughened by what life has thrown at us. We've got strength, courage and dedication. We can be stellar athletes, students, entertainers, businesspeople and all that. The world can be ours. All we need to do is stay away from crime. Don't do drugs. Don't sell drugs. Don't get locked up. Stay away from violent men and violent women. Avoid haters. Fight against the dark forces which want to take us out. Go to college. Graduate. Get into the business world. Create successful and happy families. Achieve the American Dream. The world can be ours. We've only got to take it. There is a right way to do it, though.
What I find appalling is when I see young black men and young black women doing what they're not supposed to. Walking around with their pants hanging below their butts. Fighting in the streets. Becoming parents before their time. Cussing on the subway. The world doesn't give them second chances. So they have to walk on the straight and narrow. Most of them don't realize that. In order to succeed, the black man and the black woman have to work three times as hard as white men and white women. We have to be stronger, faster and more intelligent. We have to adapt to new situations and new people. We have to deflect, and sometimes confront, treachery. We can do it all and succeed. But we need to stay away from crime, get into college and make it. Pure and simple.
I don't know when manners went out of style in the African-American community but nobody gave me the damn memo. Why are black men and black women acting so damn rude? Many black men I meet act like savages. They don't have to be. There's nothing sexier than a black gentleman. It's official. All black women are chicken-heads. I don't care if they're living in mansions, or in a damn shack in the hood. I think there's something genetic inside of them which makes them rude and obnoxious regardless of where they are or where they come from. I say this quite reluctantly. I really wish it weren't true. Seriously. When a decent, intelligent and college-educated, heterosexual black male spends time looking for a mate, he naturally thinks of a black woman from a similar background. Unfortunately, quite often these black men are discouraged from dating black women because most black women are stuck-up, rude, crude, obnoxious and downright vicious.
Years ago, the black woman was the foundation of the black family. She supported everything and everyone. Her strength kept the black man going and kept her sons and daughters solid citizens. Nowadays, these so-called ladies are bigger whores than the men. You can see it on television shows like Maury and Jerry Springer. How many black females show up on the show, with similar stories? They've slept with a dozen men in one week and can't figure out who their son or daughter's biological father happens to be. It's mostly black women who have this predicament.
For every black man out there who sleeps with two or three different women outside of his supposedly monogamous relationship, there are five black women sleeping around with as many as six men each! Every time I'm on the bus and I hear some woman in the back making noise, cussing or acting rude, I close my eyes and hope she isn't black. Eight times out of ten, it's a black woman acting rude, cursing and making noise. And they think behaving like this makes them seem tough. If you ask me, it just makes them look like the cheap, common whores we all know them to be. Why do black women think it's okay to act like this? It's not an example of black female empowerment, it's a damn bore!
Every time you run into a black woman say at the lineup in a grocery store like Shaw's or Stop & Shop. They're the loudest, meanest people in the entire damn line. They take up a lot of time. That's just the way they are. And their loud voices, rude mannerisms and bloodshot eyes scare everybody. Black men. White women. White men. Asian men. Asian women. Latin men. Latin women. Middle-eastern men. Middle-eastern women. Everyone is deathly scared of the mad black woman. Like the snarling banshee of Irish mythology, she's the scariest thing in the cosmos.
I really wish I could take all the young black men and young black women in the big cities and place them in specially designed, black-oriented, all-male and all-female schools. Strict, paramilitary-type schools which would demand academic excellence from them. Schools which would teach them some manners and give them much-needed guidance. Then maybe they'd get into college instead of getting into county jail. In a single-sex school, black males and black females wouldn't become parents before they're mentally, physically and financially ready to embrace fatherhood and motherhood. Maybe that would enable me to save the race. But that's just wishful thinking. We need a miracle.
My name is James Nazarene. I'm a tall young black man living in the city of Boston. I moved to America from the Republic of Haiti a few years ago. Recently, I graduated from Northeastern University with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice. Someday soon, I'm going to be a police officer. I've already gotten accepted into the Boston Police Academy. I know I will make it. I am physically fit, college-educated, and I have no criminal record. I'm a goal-oriented Haitian man who's going places. I just wish my black brothers and black sisters from the African-American community were taking note.
Where I come from, black men and black women who are smart, and work hard can accomplish great things. I know it can be done. My father was an engineer. My mother was a college professor and administrator. My brother is a lawyer. My sister is a dentist. We did alright for ourselves back home. I was sent to America to get my college education. And so I did. I made my parents proud. I just wish more black men and black women from America were living up to their full potential instead of tearing each other to pieces and blaming all of their problems on the white man.
Quite a few black men and black women from North America can and have done great things. Look at Senator Barack Obama. Billionaire businesswoman and TV mogul Oprah Winfrey. Former United States Secretary of State Colin Powell. Secretary of State Condi Rice. We can accomplish great things. We're a people that's hardened and toughened by what life has thrown at us. We've got strength, courage and dedication. We can be stellar athletes, students, entertainers, businesspeople and all that. The world can be ours. All we need to do is stay away from crime. Don't do drugs. Don't sell drugs. Don't get locked up. Stay away from violent men and violent women. Avoid haters. Fight against the dark forces which want to take us out. Go to college. Graduate. Get into the business world. Create successful and happy families. Achieve the American Dream. The world can be ours. We've only got to take it. There is a right way to do it, though.
What I find appalling is when I see young black men and young black women doing what they're not supposed to. Walking around with their pants hanging below their butts. Fighting in the streets. Becoming parents before their time. Cussing on the subway. The world doesn't give them second chances. So they have to walk on the straight and narrow. Most of them don't realize that. In order to succeed, the black man and the black woman have to work three times as hard as white men and white women. We have to be stronger, faster and more intelligent. We have to adapt to new situations and new people. We have to deflect, and sometimes confront, treachery. We can do it all and succeed. But we need to stay away from crime, get into college and make it. Pure and simple.
I don't know when manners went out of style in the African-American community but nobody gave me the damn memo. Why are black men and black women acting so damn rude? Many black men I meet act like savages. They don't have to be. There's nothing sexier than a black gentleman. It's official. All black women are chicken-heads. I don't care if they're living in mansions, or in a damn shack in the hood. I think there's something genetic inside of them which makes them rude and obnoxious regardless of where they are or where they come from. I say this quite reluctantly. I really wish it weren't true. Seriously. When a decent, intelligent and college-educated, heterosexual black male spends time looking for a mate, he naturally thinks of a black woman from a similar background. Unfortunately, quite often these black men are discouraged from dating black women because most black women are stuck-up, rude, crude, obnoxious and downright vicious.
Years ago, the black woman was the foundation of the black family. She supported everything and everyone. Her strength kept the black man going and kept her sons and daughters solid citizens. Nowadays, these so-called ladies are bigger whores than the men. You can see it on television shows like Maury and Jerry Springer. How many black females show up on the show, with similar stories? They've slept with a dozen men in one week and can't figure out who their son or daughter's biological father happens to be. It's mostly black women who have this predicament.
For every black man out there who sleeps with two or three different women outside of his supposedly monogamous relationship, there are five black women sleeping around with as many as six men each! Every time I'm on the bus and I hear some woman in the back making noise, cussing or acting rude, I close my eyes and hope she isn't black. Eight times out of ten, it's a black woman acting rude, cursing and making noise. And they think behaving like this makes them seem tough. If you ask me, it just makes them look like the cheap, common whores we all know them to be. Why do black women think it's okay to act like this? It's not an example of black female empowerment, it's a damn bore!
Every time you run into a black woman say at the lineup in a grocery store like Shaw's or Stop & Shop. They're the loudest, meanest people in the entire damn line. They take up a lot of time. That's just the way they are. And their loud voices, rude mannerisms and bloodshot eyes scare everybody. Black men. White women. White men. Asian men. Asian women. Latin men. Latin women. Middle-eastern men. Middle-eastern women. Everyone is deathly scared of the mad black woman. Like the snarling banshee of Irish mythology, she's the scariest thing in the cosmos.
I really wish I could take all the young black men and young black women in the big cities and place them in specially designed, black-oriented, all-male and all-female schools. Strict, paramilitary-type schools which would demand academic excellence from them. Schools which would teach them some manners and give them much-needed guidance. Then maybe they'd get into college instead of getting into county jail. In a single-sex school, black males and black females wouldn't become parents before they're mentally, physically and financially ready to embrace fatherhood and motherhood. Maybe that would enable me to save the race. But that's just wishful thinking. We need a miracle.
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