…make me glad that I’m a Morehouse Alumnus….

I come in from class and the lovely Rebecca (a senior at Spelman and deputy director of homecoming this year!) hits me up with the following link: www.utopiahomecoming.com (make sure you have your speakers/headphones on and a pretty good connection)

If I wasn’t already excited about Homecoming, with Morehouse playing one of arch-rivals Clark-Atlanta University and the return of the joint homecoming venture with Spelman, before I sure am now!!….I HAVE to be there….without question!…with camera in tow!

This is big news though….for people that enjoy the conversations that me and OJ have, we got something just for you….

A new site hosted by OJ and myself called Shootin The Gift….you can get to it by entering www.five27.com/STG (make sure the last part is in all caps!)….or you can just click the link above (or on the side)….

The rumor mill is funny….good news travels slowly….”Oh such and such got married 3 months ago eh?…you don’t say”….meanwhile bad news travels at M.A.C.H. 3 (three times the speed of sound for my non-scientifically inclined readers)….”You heard such and such just broke up 5 minutes ago?!?!”….

And so it goes with my old classmates and the step-1 results….I’m hearing through the grapevine that people are having one of two possible outcomes….they are either blowing it out or they are failing….

What is step-1 you say??….I’m glad you asked, it’s the first of three tests that prospective doctors have to take in order to get licensure (and you thought it was over after the MCAT??…no sirree bob!…that’s a piece of cake compared to the step exams!)….the first step exam tests the students knowledge of the basic sciences….the basic sciences include: Gross Anatomy, Biochemistry, Neurosciences, Microanatomy, Physiology, Microbiology, Pathology, Pharmacology, Behavioral Sciences, Biostats/Epidemiology/Public Health, Physical Diagnosis, and Genetics….that’s a whole lot of course work if you aren’t aware!

So what we’ve been finding through the rumor mill is that unless you’ve been doing consistantly above average (A’s and B’s and high subject board scores) you are probably NOT going to do well on the step….

The Killa Cal cannot afford to not do well on the step exam!….I want to go home and practice in the state of Georgia….you can take the Step as many times as you can afford to sit for it, but to practice in Georgia you have to pass your step exam the FIRST time….not only that, but The Killa Cal also wants to practice anesthesiology…..anesthesiology is a HIGHLY competitive field and you pretty much have to blow the step out to get a residency in that….

I say all of this to say, I have been bullshitting too much good people….I spend too much time on this computer….too much time at parties….too much time drinking beer….too much time watching sports….all of that has got to stop….

I’ve called people all sorts of lames and things, but those people are gonna knock the step out while I’m sulking and considering my life in Idaho or some other state where you can have multiple sittings of the step exam….that’s not the kind of life I want to live….that option isn’t even being considered in my life plan….so folks, I’m going to have to shut it down a little…

I mean I’m still gonna write here (not like anyone was going to be tremendously upset if I didn’t)….but other things are gonna have to be curtailed seriously….I am going to have to be more disciplined than I’ve ever been….I’ve already started a little, going to the gym and things was a huge step for me….now I do push-ups every morning and again at night….the diet that I was on for awhile is another small step that shows me I CAN discipline myself…but it’s going to be hard….

Sometimes I honestly wish I had taken some time off from school to get my act together….get all of this partying and whatnot out of me….but what’s done is done and I KNOW I can still do this….it’s just gonna be a little harder than I thought….

I gotta get my act together….

It’s always great when an old friend from the good ole days comes into town….with the kind of memory I have, I can sit back and shoot the shit and recall old events all day and night….and that’s pretty much what I did last night….

The homie Dwayne (Killa Weezy) was in town for the weekend….he and Andrea came by and scooped me up and we headed to Houston’s….I really don’t too much fuck with Houston’s to be honest….I like diverse menus because even though 9 times out of 10 I will eat the same thing, I like to be fed the illusion that I have options….but on Saturday it’s a different story….on Saturday they have the BOMB ass Firehouse Chili on the menu….I don’t know why it’s not on the menu EVERYDAY…I guess they don’t want the “chili element” present all of the time, you know that certain demographic more likely to order chili….who knows, either way it’s stupid…

So anyway me and Killa Weezy laughed it up about old times….he was one of the first people I met when I got to Morehouse….he was present and accounted for during the imfamous summer of 1997….we talked about EVERYTHING that happened then….we talked about what had been going on since graduation….we talked about women problems….we caught up….and it was great….

It’s good to have friends, it’s bad to be away from friends, and it’s great to reunite even if it’s just for a few hours….

You know on the comic strip Peanuts (featuring Snoopy and Charlie Brown)….when old Chuck is going to kick the ball and Lucy pulls the ball away….and good ole Chuck KNOWS this is going to happen, but keeps trying to kick it anyway on that off chance that one day she won’t move the ball….well that’s my philosophy on life right now….

I keep chugging along, hoping that one day the ball won’t be moved and I can kick that muthafucka right through the goal posts and life just keeps on snatching the ball when I kick my hardest and then pointing at me as I lie on the ground hurt….

Puffy had a good quote on Making the Band 2 this season (and I miss that show already!!!)….he said, “Everyday I have to wake up and do *expletive deleted* that I don’t want to do. If I had my way I’d get up and make a turkey sandwich, watch movies, and have sex all day. But instead I have to go to meetings….”….well that might not be an exact quote but that’s the gist of it….and DAMNED if I don’t feel Puff in that statement….

Everyday I have to wake up and see people I don’t really care to see (no offense to anyone reading this of course ;-))….I have to trudge over to this school and sit in lectures I don’t like (I really like Path though)….and I have to spend my loan money on electricity, rent, laundry (and $2 a freaking load) and stuff like that….I’d rather have a fully stocked refridgerator and a maid (like the nanny Naomi Campbell played on Fresh Prince) and watch movies all day laid up with somebodies daughter….

I damn sho don’t feel like taking these tests on Thursday and Friday….and I don’t feel like studying for them….but sho nuff another window is open with microbiology lectures….they say it’s all going to pay off in the end….we’ll see….

Tony Montana….Antonio Montana….best friend to Manuel “Manny/Manolo” Ray and brother of Gina….husband of Elvira Hancock….

Why is it that people of my generation relate so much to this guy? By the end of the movie he was a shell of a man, head buried in a mound of pure Colombian cocaine….his disgrunteled business partner having dispatched mercenaries to kill him…yet Tony Montana makes a last stand that Custer surely could only dream of….

He busts through….Al Pacino in his most noteworthy (although not his best) role saying in his thick cockamamie Spanish accent, “Say hello….tomylilfren!!!” as he unloads his machine gun….

In 1983 Brian De Palma (director) and Oliver Stone (writer) released Scarface….there was controversy from the start….the Motion Picture Association of America wanted to give the movie an X rating….with all of the illicit drug use and the bloody chainsaw usage who could blame them….not to mention Pacino’s foul mouthed character….and when the movie hit theaters it was deemed a disappointment….

But the VCR saved this movie…it became a cult classic, and soon every hip hop artist had to have a Scarface-esque interlude or some soundbite from the movie inserted into a song….on Criminology from Raekwon’s “Only Built For Cuban Links” album there is a short soundbite of the pivotal scene where Tony and Sosa have their falling out….

And who could forget the world’s introduction to Jay-Z with Pain-In-The-Ass quoting the exchange between Tony and Omar Suarez that gets Tony into the cocaine game….

Omar Suarez: Okay, okay, BIG MAN!…you wanna make some big bucks!!…let’s see how tough you are? You know something about cocaine?
Tony: Jew kidding me mang?
Omar Suarez: There’s a bunch of Columbian’s coming in Friday, new guys…they say they got 2 keys for us for openers, pure cocaine….I want you to go over there and if it’s what they say it is you buy it and you bring it back…if you can do that you get FIVE GRAND….meet at Hector’s bodega noon Friday, you get the money then…oh and Chico….if anything happens to the buy money, propercito (sp?) I’ll stick your heads up your asses faster than a rabbit gets fucked!!!

What wannabe gangsta WOULDN’T want to emulate Tony Montana’s “My Balls and My Word” bravado….what aspiring thug wouldn’t want to proclaim that “the world was his” and tell a crowded restuarant that HE was the reason they could live their humdrum lives….he was the bad guy after all….they could all point to him and say, “Hey, that’s the bad guy…”….

Scarface is being re-released on DVD on September 30th….I have the original Scarface DVD in my collection, but I WILL be purchasing this special edition, becaue even guys like me who don’t have an ounce of gangster in them have an attachment to Tony Montana….

Today was…..well it just was….

It was a good day overall….but I feel something on the horizon….this feeling that something is brewing….and i don’t know if it’s good or bad for me….then again maybe it’s nothing….

I had a great lunch at Red Lobster, worked on my Physical Diagnosis skills with my partner Ericka (who also was my companion for said lunch), got in a little bit of studying for Microbiology, downloaded some old exams, and then ran into the beautiful A.K.A.’s of Meharry who were taking their yearbook picture on my way out….I also got an autographed copy of a magazine article on the Journal of Minority Medical Student’s runner-up for Campus Rep of the Year….he’s a frequent reader here and a fellow Morehouse grad, Luther….I think I should have gone around autographing the magazine ads I was in….too bad that idea didn’t hit me at the time!

Now I’m sitting here listening to Maxwell’s Urban Hangsuite and thinking about when I was a freshman at Morehouse….the very first weekend after New Student Orientation me and a few of my friends from the summer went walking on the strip trying to mix and mingle with the AUC women we had just met at Operation Olive Branch….the whole time I was out there I was upset because I knew I’d be going back to my dorm room to listen to this CD by myself….not only because of my chronic lack of game, but also because of Morehouse’s archaic dorm visitation rules….we couldn’t have female guests until the week of Homecoming….by that time I had another CD for the purposes that Maxwell’s CD (and the Love Jones Soundtrack before that) was supposed to serve….

Anyway I need to take this CD out now….I have no visitation restriction here, but that doesn’t mean I can actually trick some girl up here….

I’m so cyclical….I go from nostalgic, to wistful, to depressed, to manic, to random, rinse and repeat….don’t believe me, go through and read this shit chronologically like i did this past weekend….

Anyway it’s time for me to be random….

This chick that I used to be cool with did one thing that will always keep her near and dear to me….she turned me on to one of my favorite songs ever….the girl I’m talking about will remain anonymous (wouldn’t want word getting back to her that I was talking about her behind her back or something….God forbid that!)….but the song is “Dangerously In Love” by Destiny’s Child….man….that song there is CLASSIC….I can’t believe they never made it a quiet storm single or something….it’s perfect for that….

In other news, this was the WORST football weekend for me EVER!!!….the college games were bad enough….but the Falcons and Raiders each took one on the chin and looked BAD in so doing….then to make the murder complete (yes I’m biting that from you….you know who you are) one of my running backs on my fantasy football team who I can usually count on for 2 TD’s got hurt….but not before stabbing me in the eye by throwing an INTERCEPTION!!!….for those not into Fantasy Football a running back should NEVER throw an interception…under any circumstances….needless to say I had my first loss of the season….and it’s only going to get worse as almost half of my roster is having a bye week now!

More randomness….I’ve been kind of hush-hush about the Braves….unlike some people, I know what it’s like for my team to win….so I have quietly taken the season in….going into the playoffs I really don’t know how I feel about this squad….they could either win it all or lose in the first round….hopefully we’ll draw the Houston Astros in the first round and not the pitching strong Cubs….

The gym is STILL kicking my ass, but I’m hanging in there….I’m starting to see AND feel results….sadly I can’t say the same for the diet which died Saturday as soon as I walked into the Olive Garden off of Bell Rd…..R.I.P. low-to-no-carb diet….it didn’t stand a chance against the new 3-meat ravioli and breadsticks at the Garden of Olives….

I wrote some Haiku’s in class….the kthxbi message board (link over to the left…I’m being lazy today) inspired me….actually it seems that EVERYONE is writing haiku’s lately….like they are coming back in style….I think it’s because it’s the easiest kind of poem to write….maybe I’ll post a couple of them here….the non-personal ones anyway….

I hope people went out and got that Outkast today….the more I listen to it, the better it gets….I’ve been singing the songs as I walk to and from class….it’s a classic….it got an A from the Atlanta Journal Constitution….and they are STINGY with the A’s….trust!

Anyway that’s enough randomness….gotta watch Playmakers!

I don’t know how I was supposed to feel when I found out that my old next door neighbor was pregnant….she is about 4 years younger than me….which means that she’s 20 now…

Damn….I think that realization just shocked me even more….

I am reaching that age where alot of people I grew up with are getting married and starting families of their own but it never ceases to make me stop in my tracks and just think, “Damn….I remember when such and such was __ years old…”

I’m getting older….even if I don’t always act like it….I think I’m trying too hard to hold on to my youth and immaturity….

I was talking to this girl woman who goes to school with me….she went to high school with me and graduated 2 years after I did….I was telling her how I’d re-established communication (sort of) with a couple people and the whole time I was talking with her I kept thinking, “High school feels like it was just yesterday”….but in reality I will be attending a 10 year reunion in less than 4 years….

Not a day goes by that I don’t wonder about the fate of at least one person I went to high school with….some days it’s my old friend Christal….some days it’s her buddy Elenda….I think about all the girls who I never had the guts to approach and let them know, “I think you are really cute and I’d like to get to know you better”….damn that list is long….I wonder if I’m the only person who is so wistfully nostalgic….

I wonder what going to Westlake High School is like for the students there now….do they roam the halls trying not to make eye contact with the resource officers?….do they borrow a dollar twenty-five to get a Prime Time Pizza at lunch?….do they sit in the senior section of the cafeteria?…does the drill team still have the finest girls and do they still pop their heads and arms really stiffly?

And what about the friendships….does Nikia still kick it with Natalie and Anyah?….do Ira and Montee still hang?….I know people would be surprised (but not too surprised) to find out me and Nile fell out….

Then again maybe I’m the only sap that cares about any of that….

Once again, the Titans and the damned NFL blackout rules have prevented me watching the NFL game of the week, which just so happens to feature the Atlanta Falcons in a crucial early season divisional battle with the Tampa Bay Bucs….instead I have to watch the Tennessee Titans and overrated 3.4 yards a carry averaging Eddie George versus the New Orleans Ain’ts….I’ve taken affirmative action and turned to TBS to watch the Braves….

In other news I have a new way to sublimate my frustration….I have started doing push ups pretty regularly when I get upset….like when the Bulldogs lost I dropped and did 10….I’m about to do 10 now because I can no longer rely on listening to the games on nfl.com….

I_Boogie wanted to know what made Roses so special….here’s a sample of the lyrics….Outkast is GREAT for providing the lyrics!

Big Boi: Well she’s got a hottie body, but her attitude is potty/When I met her at a party she was hardly acting naughty/I said, “Would you call me?”/She said, “Pardon me, are you ballin’”/I said, “Darlin, you sound like a prostitute pursing”/Oh so you’re one them freaks, get geeked at the sight of ATM reciepts/But game been peeped, dropping names she’s weak/Tricking off this bitch is lost, must take me for a geek a quick way to eat/A neat place to sleep, a rent-a-car for a week, a trick for a treat/Now go on the raw sex, my AIDS test is flawless/Regardless, we don’t want to get involved with no lawyers/And judges just to hold grudges in a courtroom/I wanna see ya support bra not support you/Better come back down to Mars/Girl, quit chasing cars/What happens when the dough gets low/Bitch, you ain’t that fine no way…no way….no way….

and the hook is as follows

Andre 3000: I know you’d like to thank your shit don’t stank/but lean a little closer/see them roses really smell like boo-boo/yeah roses really smell like boo-boo

And yes I like it because I’m a bitter, bitter man….