The musings of a madman...

People, we have been trained by a vague understanding of what exactly defines a leader vs. a follower... In the shower, I got to thinking, and a couple of metaphors came to mind… [Phlip note – “in the shower/car/office/torture chamber" is how a great many of these might find themselves beginning] Why is it that we allow ourselves to let our heroes and their sidekicks define what we think of as a leader versus a follower? Stay with me here… As anyone who knows me knows, I am MADLY a basketball fanatic and while I can concede that the combination of Cheese Eyes’ on-court contribution and off-court influence combine to make him the best player we have yet seen, I am STILL of the opinion that he was as much a co-leader of that team than he could have EVER been the hands-down leader. Stick a pin in that, it will come up later in the post. Okay, with that said, I am sure that some of you are thinking “well what in the blue hell is he talking about? Think ab...

There seems to be very few questions on who some players in the NBA are compared to most times… Kobe is compared to Mike, whether Cheese Eyes himself or any of his minions will admit to the validity of it. [ Phlip note – we can leave it to the nice folks of bleacherreport.com to explain their argument for the validity of comparison] Carmelo Anthony has a lot of George Gervin in him, in the sheer number of ways he can find (and make) his shot. Kevin Durant is Larry Bird; not a freak athlete like his peers, but more than makes due with effort and the use of the skillset he does have. I could go on and on, but I would rather get to the point. LeBaron James… [ Phlip note – yes, I know it feels like I am picking on the guy… well I am] I am inclined to compare him to Dominique Wilkins more than I am the first person that people try to compare him to; Magic Johnson. Perhaps it has a great deal to do with the fact that I am a Lakers fan since my Granddaddy was and Magic is a legend in Laker...

The more I hear about some peoples’ relationshits, the better and better I feel about my own… As a great many of the two of you may have been informed via text message – or notice from wall postings on FaceBook – I was given my Christmas present early this year when The Katie bought me a PlayStation 3 two weeks ago. The first night I got it, a Monday, my brother and I hooked it to the Vizio, set up PSN accounts and profiles and all that goodness, but I did not play the damned thing until Wednesday after work… I took notice, though, some mention of the short-sighted of the world questioning the wisdom of her decision to give it to me. The question was of the gift in general, not of the time frame of the giving of it. I would go on to hear stories that were always of one of two extremes… Male: man, it got to the point where I only play after she goes to bed or I am home alone, she complains about me playing any time I LOOK at it. Female: I don’t know WHY she gave you that thing, you go...

Thought of this one in the shower a few days back, then forgot to post it for 2 days at least… Just thought to do it from the phone just now. Curiosity fully piqued, I figured that I would ask the people… “Question of the day… What is/are your guilty pleasure/pleasures?” Yeah, this one should be EXTRA fun, provided the people actually play along. First respondent was former coworker/longtime friend-of-a-friend Lynette, with… "Cheeseburgers...smh..." The next response was from the homie/forum member Mel , with… "The Twilight Series and Vampire Diaries." Next respondent asked to remain anonymous, and came with… “You know what? If it is truly a pleasure then I am not guilty about it. I correct people on the most minor of things. I wait for people to show an opinion on something, then disagree vehemently even if I do so while claiming to have no real opinion. If anyone is enjoying anything that I happen not to, I must tell them how stupid they are for it, even if I si...

[ preemptive Phlip note - I know the title of this blog is made ironic by its very location and medium... I got a chuckle out of it] Not that 31 is “old,” but I know I had more time to read when I was younger… Strange thing, that, seeing as how up to about 25 years old, I easily doubled the number of hours “worked” (counting being in class from 8am-1:40pm, then working 8-10 hours a day 5 days a week and 4-5 hours two others – overtime is a BEAST) compared to right now. Another thing I had more time and money for at the time was music, so much that the two hobbies’ time spent would more often than not intersect. No worries about many other things, considering the internets still sucked at the time as it were. All we HAD was music, Playstation and books. I moved into my house last August and closed on it in October (see previous blog for details on how that worked out), but I had not moved all my stuff in until damn near April of this year. Even now, one year and almost 2 weeks afte...

So, I am pulling into the lot on lunch just a few minutes ago… It is Monday so the lot is full of course. This will mean I have to park in the back. Once there, I notice a peculiarity… Well, we all know I don’t like peculiarities, so I had to adjust where I had positioned my car as a result. I would hate for this guy's 'Vette to get all lonely in the corner of the parking lot. Hey, at least I parked MINE in one space, a real space at that. If I wake up one day afraid to be a dick to those who deserve it, I will be terribly disappointed in what I’d become.

Yeah, I been seeing those credit repair/"fix your credit thingies" in different flavors around town for a LONG time, and I actually gave a little thought to using one of them last year, the vagueness of them worried me out of blowing my cash. Here’s the thing, though… Like a great many colored folks, I was once young/dumb and in such kinda loose with my credit. All I knew is that I was given some payment devices and I would go on to use them without thinking about who would pay them and when. I have learned the error of my way. I set about the task of fixing the problem and making proper decisions and building proper habits. It was also an effective deterrent that I was made deathly afraid of credit by my prior fuckups. As a great many of the two of you know, this approach – with some luck and an assist from a credit card company that has since closed their doors – led to my repairing that magic number that too few understand properly well enough to score a deed to some prop...