Still the most powerful poem til this day

I read this poem during my early college days in English class and I never could forget how depthly powerful the words in this piece really are. Read it when the chips against you, it never fails to inspire. 

Still I Rise by Maya Angelou

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I’ll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don’t you take it awful hard
‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I’ve got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise. 

 

The Red Sox must lose on purpose…

I swear. This is the only way they CAN win I think, after winning 13-1 in game 1 of the World Series because I know they are promptly going to lose the next three. Boston just loves those 3-1 holes for some reason, it’ s probably some sort of Red Sox fetish. Heck, I’d say it’s their postseason game plan:

1) Humiliate the opposing team in the first game of the series. By double-digits preferably. Oh and at least let them score 1 run for pity’s sake. Let them feel good for 1/3 of an inning.

2) The opposing team is naturally going to be fired up afterwards but, hey, it’d be more of an excuse for us to lose the next 3 games. Relax, chill, break out the margaritas in the dug-out, go nuts.  David Ortiz will be flashing his Fox Sports described “Jack O’ Lantern” grin, Manny Ramirez will still have the gayest nickname in professional sports (THE MAN-RAM..god) and both Youkalis and Varitek will still look like the Brawny Man (pre-2004).

3) Wake up in the morning, get out the ice cold cans of whoop ass out of the cooler and proceed with winning games 5-7.

4) Smile, wave, on victory floats. Repeat. 

The Red Sox don’t make history….they pre-plan it.  
 

Some library in Fairfield, NJ

So, I out of curiosity I looked up to see where the local library was in the area and I go to their website http://www.ffpl.org/html/contact.htm and, the first thing I notice in the left hand corner is “FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY”. Hm,  I wasn’t aware that some libraries charge you to borrow books, I thought it was always a free public resource. (Unless, they make you pay a 50 cents toll before letting you enter the library, which I wouldn’t be surprised knowing how things are runned around here…) . Or, maybe people here are just not interested in reading, a lot of times I pass by a Barnes & Noble here and there would be only a few cars in the lot, and I’m guessing most are the employees working there. So I’m thinking that by the library “advertising” itself as a free public library, they’re targeting the frugal sort that don’t even know books can be borrowed without hidden charges… and most likely because they’re illiterate to begin with.  Oh, and don’t get me started on the “Adult Crafts” (learn how to make home-made blow up dolls or erotic cakes…just kidding, actually I don’t know) and ”Turn off the TV” (WHAT ELSE IS THERE TO DO, BESIDES WATCH TV???) events. Man, they’re fishing BIG time.    

The Serbian Gangster

Darko Millicic is fast approaching Ron Artest-like infamy with his latest diatribe directed at FIBA refs. Check it out here and you will discover one of the most savage one-liners that would make the FCC ban him til 9999 AD.  Oh, and before he and the rest of the Serbian National team got crushed in the European Championships going 0-3, here is what he had to say:

“We’ll destroy them all – Spaniards, Greeks, Lithuanians, Russians, Frenches, Italians… All of them! They’re good, but we can demolish them all. Spain is not unbeatable. I like to play against Pau Gasol, he’s soft. If we win Gold medal in Spain, I’ll take my shirt off and then I will jump from Parliament terrasse. After that I dont need anything else in my life”.

Maybe he lost his mind while warming the bench in Detroit…

 

Games have become too powerful for their own good…

I just read about the game “Bioshock” which is so bada$$ and extreme that it literally can blow up your computer and even X360 owners have had their systems die because of this game! The original post is here:

http://kotaku.com/gaming/some-dude-says/bioshock-killed-my-computer-292046.php

Now that’s next-gen…when games are so realistic they can literally kill you while playing them haha.

Some things cannot be seen differently even through change

The other day I was at my aunt’s place in Edison and she looked at me and said even though I’m an adult now she can only see my as a little boy because she hadn’t seen me in fourteen or so years. “Even right now you’re drinking beer, I still can’t believe you’re drinking that bottle of beer…you will always be 10 years old to me” she said. I laughed and I remember a similar feeling when I saw our family’s old house for the first time since I was little kid…going back there a lot of what I loved most was gone. A lot of the oak trees that were in the backyard were cut down, the bridge my dad built was falling apart, my playground was gone, a new 3 car garage was built, and they painted the house.  But even though things had changed so much, I remember staring at certain spots around and I could feel my past, all the fun I had, the big birthday parties, watching the fireflies at night, not a worry in the world. It was the most peaceful and joyous time in my life and I’ve always wanted to find that feeling again. Of course, now just beginning to find my niche in the world I probably won’t have the opportunity to live such a care free life until I retire or become financially secure. In a way, it made me sad inside knowing that I would have to wait for that kind of harmony again. Perhaps, it could come sooner rather than later and that’s all I can hope for. I’ve dreamt of that day many times.  I guess it goes to show how strong memories remain in the present even after so many years , especially beautiful ones that you can’t let go.

Blog Title Change

I admit, using my name as an acronym is one of the stupidest blog titles ever so I decided to change it to something more incoherant but at least a little more original and philosophical. I’m not going to waste time to explain it but a second of thought is probably enough ha.

My past weekend in Willysburg

Nien and I decided to meet up for dinner and drink at the nice hip/artsy neighborhood of Williamsburg in Manhattan. I took a few photos which I will post later on. Anyway, I thought it’d be nice to take some time to reflect on what I learned before and during my little excursion:

(1) Williamsburg is at the Bedford Ave stop on the subway’s L line. Don’t get confused with the G Line which takes you to Bedford/Nostrand. I did that and I winded up in the middle of Brooklyn with a cop at every corner and only a Dunkin Donuts to provide me a safe haven. Oh, a conversation with Nien once I got got there:

Me: Nien, I just got off the Bedford stop.
Nien: Where at?
Me: Lafayette and something.
Nien: I don’t see it…are there any landmarks?
Me: Yea..a Dunkin Donuts..and a lot of black people..
Nien: What?!?
Me: I’m scared…you said Williamsburg was hip and trendy…this is not hip and trendy…

(2) All the Asian girls I saw in Williamsburg were hooked up with a white guy. But then I saw Asian guys hanging out with white girls so that was a relief. And then there was me and Nien, yes we’re different.

(3) Music can be racist. After eatting dinner, Nien and I followed what sounded like a concert. After walking quite a few blocks we ended up in a park but even before finding the source, the music just stops as if it knew two curious asian men were in the area. We stood around puzzled for a few moments and decided to just grab a drink(s) at a bar nearby. We start plodding away and the music (not surprisingly) picks up where it left off…

(4) I had one Long Island Ice Tea for the night. Nien out drank me with two beers. Probably the first time ever since I got here that I felt like I didn’t have to throw down the gauntlet. Hopefully this is a continuing pattern, tired of those hangovers.

(5) Oh, stopped by Times Square which is quite beautiful at night..at least as beautiful as a bunch load of colorful and glowing ads can get, not to mention a chubbified Spider-man amongst the throngs of people. HE’S NOT REAL DANG IT, WHY DOES EVERYONE STILL WANT TO TAKE A PICTURE WITH A FAT GUY IN A SPIDER-MAN COSTUME??? HE JUST WANNA TAKE YOUS MOONIES!!! That was in my head anyway.

(6) While walking through the massive crowds of people there are certain moves you must know. Which includes the sideways chest rise, the multiple side step, and the swinging elbow (Nien was made an example hahaha…you know Nien) 

 Well, that’s all the things from the top of my head. Roaming around NYC has been a great experience so far and I hope to see even more.

Celtics land KG!

Welcome back to legitimacy Boston! Not only do they land Ray Allen on draft day, they now have arguably the best PF playing in the NBA today. Pierce, Allen, and Garnett= best trio talent-wise in the league (other than the Spurs’ Parker, Ginobilli, and Duncan).  The funny thing is, they practically traded their ENTIRE team for a soon-to-peak KG. Trading away Al Jefferson, Gerald Green, Ryan Gomes, Sebastian Telfair, Theo Ratliff, two future conditional 1st round draft picks, and some cash considerations for a Mega-star player  is like burning down the entire house and praying to god that whatever is left plus the major upgrade on the master suite will last for years to come. They’re definitely rolling the dice on this one but if they can fill-out their bench with volunteers then they’ll be alright. 

Pirates of the Caribbean 3: End of the World

This movie was actually ok in my book, better than Spider-man 3 by far BUT the one thing that I really had a gripe about was that 75% of the time I had no idea what Calypso and Sao Feng were saying. Subtitles would’ve made the overall experience better since at least I would know what was going on in the beginning but damn, it was if the director told Naomie Harris to do her best Sylvester The Cat imitation because her lisp was more unbearable in POTC 3 than POTC2. The whole time i was screaming in my head “THIS IS AN ENGLISH MOVIE RIGHT?!?!?!”. Nice CGI effects though. Only movies I’m looking forward to at this point would be “Transformers” (which I admittedly laughed at last year) and “Ocean’s Thirteen”.

Still thinking of maybe checking a movie or two at SIFF since i missed out last year but haven’t go the chance to see what’s good….