Author: Auzzy

Last month my parents were able to go on this cruise as shown in the image.  It’s amazing that my mother was actually able to talk my dad in to going at this age and his condition. He finally gave in and decided this was his last time to get away like this.

After flying 14 hours they landed in Livorno, Italy taking a train ride to Pisa. Rome ( more pics )where they were met by our cousin  Madi, and her sons.  The first meal they had just had to be sphaghetti which I heard was really good.   The next major stop was Barcelona. After leaving Spain they traveled to Casablanca in Northwest Africa and then back to Cadiz, Spain. After a short trip in Cadiz they moved on to Lisbon, Spain. Once Spain had been trampled upon they were off to Le Havre, France.

I have not heard much more about the trip yet, but will edit this post when I do.  I just wanted to say they inspire me to keep working and striving for more.  You know the American Dream for middle class Americans is still possible when you can take a trip like this.

I have not been blogging due to several reasons. Non which should truly keep me from writing my thoughts down every once in a while, but never the less they are apparent.

One reason is that it takes me a long time to write something good.  I would often find myself editing my words until they were neat and structured.  Being, that I never really exercise my writing muscle this became a pain in the ass.  So now I am going to just concentrate on short entries that are sweet and to the point. Not only to help me fit blogging into my schedule, but to just get me writing again which should hopefully help with the pen stamina.

Another reason I have not blogged is because my life is in such transition it has been hard to admit the turmoil. I am not saying I am unhappy with life, but with some of my relationships I am in need of some heartfelt spillage. So how do I reveal the juice without hurting feelings and burning bridges.  Is this why the pen name was born or why they post that little notice about changing names? I guess so…

Third reason… I suck!

So after noticing blood in jada’s urine the past couple of days I took her to the vet.  I have never been to this clinic, but since they are literally right across the street from my work it’s pretty obvious why I switched.  The doc said the same thing the last vet said concerning Jada’s frequent urinary track infections so we are back to square one.  They sent off some urine for a culture and did a few x-rays to the sum of $350.  We also found a small amount of arthritis in Jada’s back when looking at the x-rays.

I truly love my dog… the last year we have spent over $9000 on her medical bills or from things she has destroyed.  Sometimes I really don’t know what the limit is. I mean when do you just put a dog down bc they are killing your pockets?  All I can say is that I… no SHE is lucky I don’t have any kids.  Figure that one out…

My mom emailed me this video about Negro spirituals.  I thought is was pretty interesting so take a peek:

Just wanted to post a link to some information about my grandfather: Arthur J.H. Clement, Jr.

Arthur J. H. Clement, Jr.
– Business Leader

Promoting positive race relations, spurring community development, and enhancing business incentives in his hometown of Charleston, S.C., were goals and achievements of businessman and community leader Arthur J. H. Clement, Jr. Born in Charleston, S.C., in 1908, his life later became a beacon for business savvy, political skills, and philanthropic support as he worked to promote goodwill among the citizens of his state. Upon Clement’s death in 1985, Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr., cited him as a pioneer among African American business leaders, ìduring a time of changing attitudes of the white race toward race relations. Riley credited Clement with helping to hasten ìthis positive change which improved our community.

Clement prepared himself academically by attending Charleston’s Avery Institute, which was founded in 1865 via the philanthropic support of Charles Avery and the American Missionary Society, to provide elementary through ninth grade education. He then attended Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, N.C., earning his high school diploma from its high school department in 1926 and his baccalaureate in 1930.

Highly motivated and determined to excel, Clement’s work experience began with North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company, founded by John Merrick in Durham, N.C., in 1885. He soon moved up the ranks. His hard work, continuous acquisition of knowledge, and positive disposition resulted in his being named manager of the Savannah, Ga. district in 1937. In 1942 upon his father’s retirement, he became manager of the Charleston, S.C. district. His outstanding achievements led to his opening new district offices as manager in Newark, N.J. in 1955 and Los Angeles, Calif., in 1961. He returned to the East coast as district manager in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1963. Clement’s outstanding career with North Carolina Mutual ended in 1967 when he accepted an appointment as Director of Admissions and Career Counseling at Voorhees College in Denmark, S.C., a position he held until 1973.

Arthur Clement had a basic interest in politics, which was closely allied to his enduring concerns for racial equality and social justice. He was an active member of the South Carolina Progressive Democratic Party. It was organized in 1944 to provide African Americans with an opportunity to participate in state and national elections, which were then controlled by the all-white South Carolina Democratic Party. In 1950 Clement opposed incumbent Rep. L. Mendel Rivers in South Carolina’s First Congressional District, becoming the first African American in South Carolina to run for Congress as a Democrat. In his later years he was involved with the South Carolina Republican Party.

An avid writer, and collector of copious records on race relations, politics, and community issues, Clement’s vast array of papers is housed at the University of South Carolina’s Caroliniana Library.

As a public servant and community organizer, Clement’s extensive civic activities included the Board of Trustees of Johnson C. Smith University, Board of Visitors of Clemson University, Advisory Council of South Carolina State University, the Charlestowne Montessori School, Porter Gaud Academy and the M.U.S.C. Area Health Education Center. He was president of the Charleston Branch of the NAACP and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, and local district chairman of the Boy Scouts of America. Among his extensive honors and awards is the Boy Scouts of America’s Silver Beaver Award. He was an active member of the Rotary Club of Charleston.

A true philanthropist, upon his death in 1985, Arthur J. H. Clement, Jr., bequeathed money for the creation of a trust fund which makes annual gifts to the YWCA of Charleston, the Coastal Carolina Council of the Boy Scouts of America, Hospice of Charleston, the Charleston Salvation Army, and the Hope Service, Inc.

I want to live my next life backwards: You start out dead and get that out of the way. Then you wake up in an old age home feeling better every day. Then you get kicked out for being too healthy. Enjoy your retirement and collect your pension. Then when you start work, you get a gold watch on your first day. You work 40 years until you’re too young to work. You get ready for High School: drink alcohol, party, and you’re generally promiscuous. Then you go to primary school, you become a kid, you play, and you have no responsibilities. Then you become a baby, and then…You spend your last 9 months floating peacefully in luxury, in spa-like conditions – central heating, room service on tap, and then…You finish off as an orgasm. I rest my case.

Yep, that would be a great life right there. Unfortunately we get to grow old and lay in a casket for the finale. So it’s February 21st of 2007 and I have not made an entry for almost a year. Wow! Time sure does fly when you are having fun!

I am still in Oregon and so far so good… or so good so far… whateva! I was recently hired as a PHP developer for Alpine Internet Solutions (www.alpineinternet.com) here in Bend. I was really fortunate to have come across the web design shop as there are barely any big technology firms in town. I am new to the PHP side of programming, but I think I can get the swing of it in the next few months. My first client is www.asukabook.com. I am currently programming the backend to accept orders and process the payments. The system they have built at Alpine for web development is pretty sweet. It makes things a lot easier if something goes wrong with your website. You can just roll back the code and start from a working point.

So the job is cool. The peeps are cool. I just have to get used to being around computer nerds all day. It was bad enough when it was just me talking to myself… My hours seem to be pretty flexible. I can work from home if I need to and I can also take some working vacations.

SEPTEMBER 11
1) New York City has 11 letters

2) Afghanistan has 11 letters.

3) Ramsin Yuseb (The terrorist who threatened to destroy the Twin
Towers in 1993) has 11 letters.

4) George W Bush has 11 letters.

This could be a mere coincidence, but this gets more interesting:

1) New York is the 11th state.

2) The first plane crashing against the Twin Towers was flight number
11.

3) Flight 11 was carrying 92 passengers

4) Flight 77 which also hit Twin Towers, was carrying 65 passengers.
6+5 = 11

5) The tragedy was on September 11, or 9/11 as it is now known. 9 + 1+ 1 = 11

6) The date is equal to the US emergency services telephone number
911. 9 + 1 + 1 = 11.

Sheer coincidence..?! Read on and make up your own mind:

1) The total number of victims inside all the hi-jacked planes was
254. 2 + 5 + 4 = 11.

2) September 11 is day number 254 of the calendar year. Again 2 + 5 + 4
= 11.

3) The Madrid bombing took place on 3/11/2004. 3 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 4 = 11.

4) The tragedy of Madrid happened 911 days after the Twin Towers
incident.

Now this is where things get totally eerie:

The most recognised symbol for the US, after the Stars & Stripes, is
the Eagle. The following verse is taken from the Quran, the Islamic
holy book:

“For it is written that a son of Arabia would awaken a fearsome Eagle.
The wrath of the Eagle would be felt throughout the lands of Allah and lo,
while some of the people trembled in despair still more rejoiced: for
the wrath of the Eagle cleansed the lands of Allah and there was
peace.”

That verse is number 9.11 of the Quran
Still uncovinced about all of this..?! Try this and see how you feel
afterwards, it made my hair stand on end:

Open Microsoft Word and do the following:

1. Type in capitals Q33 NY. This is the flight number of the first
plane to hit one of the Twin Towers.

2. Highlight the Q33 NY.

3. Change the font size to 48.

4. Change the font type to the WINGDING

Well, the decision has been made and I am beginning to feel the weight of friends and family wondering if I have gone insane! lol! If you

don’t know I will be moving to Bend, Oregon at the end of March. At this point I am not sure how long I will be there, but I do know that it is something I have to give a try.

I will be keeping my job and my house which is more than enough reason for me to ride out. Being able to work from home is a blessing I can’t ignore and I already have a friend renting out my house in my absence.

Why am I going? New opportunities, new experiences, new people, and the beautiful Oregon country. It really is like God’s country out there. The mountains are like gateways to heaven and the powder stays fresh! Look see I am already talking like Seth up in this shit. Ha Ha!

So I’m off to new horizons and new adventures. I plan on working even harder out there though so it definitely will not be a vacation. I really just need a breath of fresh air and it looks like this might be as fresh as it gets.

As long as there’s – drugs to be sold I ain’t waiting for the system to plug up these holes, I ain’t slipping through the cracks, So I’m at Portland, Oregon tryin to slip you these raps, The first black in the suburbs, You’d think I had extasy, percocet, and plus syrup, The way the cops converged, they fucked up my swerve, The first young buck that I served, I thought back to the block, I never seen a cop when I was out there, They never came out there, And out there, I was slinging crack to live, I’m only slinging raps to your kids, I’m only trying to show you how black niggas live, But you don’t want your little ones acting like this, Lil Amy told Becky, Becky told Jenny And now they all know the skinny, Lil Joey got his do-rag on, Driving down the street blasting Tupac’s song (Thug Life baby!), But Billy like Snoop, got his blue rag on Now before you know it, you back in Nam, Now the police, got me in the middle of the street, Trying to beat me blue, black and orange, I’m like hold up, who you smacking on? I’m only trying to eat what you snacking on

Ya’ll don’t like that do ya? F%CKED up the hood nigga right back to ya!

– Jay-Z