I’m Back! (Hopefully for good this time)
I’m sure if you’ve visited this site in the past, you’ve noticed the lack of posts over the last year. I love blogging, but it takes a lot of time to put together and the last year has been pretty crazy. I have so much I plan on posting, but I never quite get to it.
Well, that’s about to end. Life is no less hectic, but I want to commit to doing better this year. “Random thoughts about everything and nothing” will become less of a motto and more of a reality. While the posts may not be as lengthy as I’d like, I hope to share some quality thought-provoking topics with you.
Here’s to a new start.
The Fires in Bastrop County and How You Can Help
Filed under: Blog Entries, Business, Community, General, Society & Culture
I received this information from one of my fraternity brothers who used to live in Bastrop. If you haven’t seen the news the people in Bastrop County are in need of help in a major way. More the 25,000 acres have burned and 476 homes have been destroyed. Currently, there is zero containment of any of the fires. In a press conference with Rick Perry, he said this is one of the biggest fires he’s ever seen.
Press Conference: Bastrop County Judge Ronnie McDonald
If you want to help or if you know someone near Bastrop that can help, please forward this information:
Bastrop County Office of Emergency Management ( Like them on Facebook)
Financial needs are great and donations can be made through the Bastrop Christian Ministerial Alliance: 512-332-8661 or 512-332-8977.
Donation needs - Supplies needed at this time- new pillows, bed sheets, blankets, towels and toilettries. These donations are being accepted at Trinity Zion Church @ 151 Shiloh Rd., accepted until 7p tonight then beginning at 9am Tuesday. Call these numbers for donations information: 512-332-8661 or 512-332-8977.
VET HELP!! - A vet in Bastrop trying to do triage out in the fields for the Bastrop animals and she is in desperate need of help. She needs vet or medical people to help her, bandages, meds, whatever she can get. Please contact Christy at 512-796-0327 Pls. leave a msg. if she does not answer!”
Angel Care Ambulance - In need of non-perishable items, ex: can foods, bottled water, diapers, personal hygenie items, blankets, etc. If you would like to help, please drop off items at Angel Care Ambulance. 1105 W. Corpus Christi. We will deliver the items by this weekend. Any questions please contact Micki @ (361)542-9117, SHOES AND CLOTHES OF ALL.
For additional news coverage on this situation visit:
http://austin.ynn.com/content/top_stories
Please pray for all the leaders, emergency crews, assisting crews and people in Bastrop County. This is a devastating fire and the dry weather isn’t helping the situation. If I receive any additional information, I’ll post it here.
Change
Filed under: Black Blogger Postings, Blog Entries, Business, Community, Education, Entertainment & Sports, Family, General, Health, Laughable, Legal, Life, Monday Motivation, Music Reviews, My Thoughts, My Utterz, MyBlogLog, Obama, Our Rights, Personal Finance, Photo Phinish, Podcasts, Podcasts - Tha Brothas, Politics, Relationships, Society & Culture, Technology, Think Global, Twitter
It’s been a while since I’ve posted on theotalks.net and I’ve had it on my task list to do this for a while. I’ve been debating it for some time, but I really think it’s time to start fresh. I’ve mentioned in other posts that blogging is hard work. If you’re not dedicated to the cause, you can easily suffer burnout. I’ve seen it before from some of my favorite sites and if you look at the last date I posted, you’ll see it here.
But despite the lack of posts, I still get a decent amount of hits and readers are still leaving comments on some of my older posts. I’m not the most prolific writer and I don’t consider myself to be well-versed in a lot of the stuff I blog about. But there’s something about this blogging thing that keeps sucking me back into it. I’ve grown to love the black blogger community and it has allowed me to meet some amazing people. There are a lot of people out there with some strong opinions about society and the world as they see it. Those are the people who I like to showcase and support.
I’m making some changes to the blog and what I blog about. I love the current theme and focus of theotalks, but I want to remove the restraints and give myself the opportunity to be all over the place. The new theme of the site is “Random thoughts about everything and nothing”. While it may be a little vague, that’s how I want to run the site from now on. My current theme of focusing on the black community is great, but there are so many other great bloggers out there consistently doing it. It takes time to put those posts together and right now, I’m at a different place in life.
So from here on out, expect the unexpected. As I feel moved, I’ll post about whatever is on my heart at the moment. I’ll also be showcasing some of my favorite bloggers and will work to get some of the guest writers back (you know who you are) to help a brotha out.
I haven’t decided if I’m going to start the podcast back up, but I might try my hand at video blogging. Only time will tell. Thanks to everyone who supports and reads this blog. It definitely keeps me motivated to stay at it.
God Bless.
Theo
Calling All Physical and Occupational Therapist in Houston
Filed under: Blog Entries, Business, General, Health, Personal Finance
Every so often I receive job postings and if requested I try to post them on the site. While the economy is still not where it needs to be it does seem like companies are hiring more. Things can’t change over night, but I do see signs of improvement.
If you are a licensed OTR, COTA, PTR, PTA or Speech Therapist, APS Therapeutic Touch Services, LLC is in need of your services. They serve the Houston, Missouri City, Richmond, Rosenberg, Sugar Land and outlining areas. For more information, please call the number below or email ajohnson@apstherapeutictouch.com and/or asegosebe@apstherapeutictouch.com and tell them Theo sent you.
APS THERAPEUTIC TOUCH SERVICES, LLC
12711 Alyssa Avenue
Missouri City, TX 77489
Office# 832-295-0406
Fax# 281-499-6130
Note:
OTR – Registered Occupational Therapist
COTA – Certified Occupational Therapist
PTR – Registered Physical Therapist
PTA – Certified Physical Therapist Assistant
Old School Jet, Ebony and Black Enterprise on Google Books
Filed under: Blog Entries, Business, Community, Education, Entertainment & Sports, Family, General, Politics, Relationships, Society & Culture, Technology, Think Global
When Google announced the release of Google Books, I rushed over and was pleased to see that they’d scanned in some of my favorite magazines. The best part was that I could view them all online for free.
In my searches I was able to find issues for Jet Magazine (1950-2005), Ebony Magazine (1950-2000) and Black Enterprise (1970-2000). While they don’t include the most current issues, it’s great that I can see what was going on before I was I born. If Google keeps this up, I can’t imagine the kind of information my kids will have access to.
This will give those in my generation and forward the ability to research our past and learn more than we’ve ever had about entertainment, politics and society, than we’ve ever had. The odds of me getting my hands on a volume 1 Jet Magazine is one to impossible. But thanks to Google, I have access to it.
We are in the Information Age and I hope everyone is ready to get on board. In 2011, I plan on increasing the number of black history books I read and I’m going to use Google Books to do this. There are a lot of good free books out there for us to read. I as I finish them I’ll blog about them here on the site.
Here’s to a New Year in books.
Sign Petition to Keep Willowridge HS and Christa McAuliffe MS Open
Filed under: Blog Entries, Community, Education, Family, General, Society & Culture
Last week, I blogged about the potential closing of my middle school and high school. While still upset, I’m glad to see the alumni and current students move to action. No one in the community wants this to happen and you can help. Even if you aren’t associated with the schools in ANY way, those of us who are can use your help.
An online petition, identifying alternatives to closing either school, has been started and are we looking to collect as many signatures as possible. I’m asking everyone I know to sign and show their support in keeping these schools open.We need to let the Fort Bend ISD board know that people support this cause. Thank you in advance for your support.
Click here to sign the petition
Potential Closing of Fort Bend ISD Schools
Filed under: Blog Entries, Business, Community, Education, General, Life, My Thoughts
It starts out slow and you tend not to pay much attention in the beginning. A business here, a business there, vacated houses and little economic growth. Then you look up and see what’s left around you. It’s not what it used to be, but it had a hand in molding who you are today so hurts you to see the changes that have transpired over the years.
Earlier this week, my mom told me Fort Bend ISD is considering closing down the middle (Christa McCauliffe) AND high school (Willowridge High) I attended due to low enrollment. After hearing that, I hopped on to Facebook to see what my friends were posting and sure enough I found some articles discussing the issue.
Two of my schools could potentially be shut down and there’s nothing I can do about it. Now that I no longer live in Houston, I wouldn’t be able to participate in any of the meetings and initially I felt pretty bad about it. But I remembered that I do have this blog and in the past have seen some amazing things happen when bloggers come together to support a cause.
The closing of either of these schools will have a major impact on the community at large. I remember a time when you couldn’t keep students away from The Ridge. I remember the good times in the Mighty Eagle Band and the work we did in Student Council on Eagle Lane. There were so many lessons that taught me how to be a good leader and follower and I thank God for that period in my life. Neither of the schools were perfect, but they had a major impact on my life, which is why I’m writing this post today.
The Board has not made their final decision on the issue, so there’s still time to get involved. Here are some things you can do to spread the word to Save our schools:
- Attend planning meeting on Monday, 12/13 at 5 p.m. Board Members are deciding on the best way to deal with low enrollment issues. The public is allowed to attend but cannot speak; however, being present can send a message.
- Comment (intelligently, please) on the proposed recommendations. It will be updated after the 12/13 meeting with what was discussed.http://www.fortbend.k12.tx.us/about/zoning.cfm
- Attend 1 of 2 public forums in 2011 to speak out about the impact that closing these schools will have on the community. Exact dates TBD (mostly like in January)
- Contact members of the School Board to make sure they know your opinion. We need to flood them with communication!http://www.fortbend.k12.tx.us/board/meet.cfm
- Invite other WHS and CMMS alumni to join this group!!
These schools provide a great service to the community.
Get Out and Vote – Midterm Elections
Filed under: Blog Entries, Community, Education, General, Our Rights, Politics, Society & Culture
I just thought I’d post a little reminder for everyone to get out and vote. The midterm elections are just as important as the the presidential elections. As Americans it’s our civil duty to vote in who we believe should run our government. But as a black person, I feel it’s a show of respect to those who placed their lives in harm’s way for me to vote and have the many civil liberties I take for granted. We haven’t had these rights for a long time, so let’s make sure we take care of business.
Early voting in Texas is open. For more information on voting in Texas, go to http://www.votexas.org.
Join the Conversation on Race and America’s Future
Filed under: Blog Entries, Community, Education, Entertainment & Sports, Family, General, Relationships, Society & Culture
Always open to new experiences and the search for good discussions, I wanted to share this email I received from, Angela Glover Blackwell, Founder and CEO, PolicyLink.
We are launching the Race and America’s Future Virtual Book Club – a six-week project we hope will promote an open, honest, and constructive conversation on the challenges and opportunities facing our changing nation.
As I have told you in earlier emails, the book club will be based around Uncommon Common Ground: Race and America’s Future, a new book I had the pleasure of writing with Stewart Kwoh and Manuel Pastor.
This week’s inaugural installment asks the question, “Are We Post-Racial Yet?” And, really, is “post-racial” something America should strive to be?
Sign up for PolicyLink emails here to keep up with the latest on race and equity in America!
We hope you’ll join us today and every Wednesday through Election Day at www.UncommonCommonGround.org to chart a positive direction for race in America.
You Go Bina48!
Filed under: Blog Entries, Education, General, Society & Culture, Technology
Now this is impressive! Bina48 is a human-like robot that lives at the Terasem Movement Foundation in Bristol, Vermont. A replica of the real Bina Rothblatt, who is also the Vice President and co-founder of the Terasem Movement Foundation, Bina48 is the future of what can be done in the world of artificial intelligence.
While it may be a little creepy to have a conversation with a robot, I’m excited to cool advances like this in technology. In a way, Bina48 reminds me of a mix of the Terminator and 2001: A Space Odyssey. While watching the video, I also found myself rooting for Bina and I’m sure the time will come when Bina will be able to have a full conversation with no glitches in speech.
Check out the video and let me know what you think.
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