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
Once Again It’s On!
Filed under: Blog Entries, Community, Education, Family, Health, My Thoughts, Obama, Politics, Society & Culture, Technology, Think Global
Earlier this morning President Obama began filing papers to seek re-election for President in 2012. The first thought in my mind was “here we go again”. I was surprised the first time he sought election and shocked when he beat out the Clintons for the Democratic nominee. But watching him over the past couple of years has shown me Obama can handle the critics and is willing to complete the tasks he promises to those who elect him.
Sure we don’t have our American utopia critics felt he promised in 2008, but let’s remember the downward spiral our country was going in before he was elected. Money was being thrown all over the place to fund the Iraq war, the housing sector was trash and companies who were too big to fail were in the corporate welfare line waiting for their share of the taxpayers’ money. It wasn’t pretty and I til this day can’t understand why he wanted to run for office in the first place. But he won and the country has never been the same since.
Our previous president told us that holding the office of Commander in Chief is hard work and I agree. I couldn’t imagine having to be responsible for making decisions that affect millions of people, but I feel President Obama has done what he feels is best for America and deserves a second term. I feel confident that despite all the political bickering, he thoughtfully considers every decision and moves after he’s heard all the options. Yes, not every decision is effective. But what president, CEO or executive can make the claim that all of the decisions they’ve made have worked? In the end, he’s the one held responsible. So let’s give him four more years to see if the laws he’s implemented work.
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.
The Justification of Joseph Stack
Filed under: Blog Entries, My Thoughts, Society & Culture
Source: http://twitpic.com/13yxsb
On my way home from work, I was listening to talk radio and was truly disgusted by the people who called in with the “it may not have been the right thing to do, but I understand” attitude. How can these people attempt to justify Joseph Stack’s actions? Why is it that the democracy we hold so true and dear all of a sudden not good enough? Why are people so upset and moved to react violently because they feel their voice isn’t being heard? When have our voice ever been heard! Joseph Stack plain and simple committed an act of domestic terrorism. I don’t care how upset you are with your current situation or “the system”, there’s no reason to attempt a mass murder of innocent people.
People have been reading a lot into the manifesto he wrote and many are attempting to use a bad situation to prove a point about our political system. Stack is not the first person to have issues with the IRS and he definitely isn’t the only one going through hard times. He’s not the first to work hard to achieve a dream and have it taken away from you. He’s not the first to feel taken advantage of and hopeless. Nothing Stack wrote in his manifesto was new and I’m sure there have been others who’ve felt the same way. But they dealt with it, as most continue to do today.
What he did IS NOT bringing attention to a greater issue that needs to be addressed. The issues he had were far greater than his frustration and mistrust of the government. For those who would like to read the Stack manifesto, is can be found here.
Happy New Year 2010
Filed under: Black Blogger Postings, Blog Entries, Business, Community, Education, Entertainment & Sports, Family, General, Health, Laughable, Legal, Life, Monday Motivation, Music Reviews, My Thoughts, Obama, Our Rights, Personal Finance, Photo Phinish, Politics, Relationships, Society & Culture
It’s hard to believe it’s already 2010. But we’re here and there are still new things in store for this blog. When I started blogging, the main goal was to share information and hopefully open up dialogue on issues that affect the black community. I think I did that in some way this year, but it wasn’t to the extent that I’d done in previous years.
The goal for this year is to continue on the track of keeping the site informative. I plan on opening it up to others who are interested in sharing their point of view with the readers of this site. There are some talented, well-written people out there and I want to showcase them and get some real discussions going.
Late in the year, when I got swamped with projects for work, I fell off the blogging scene for a couple of weeks. Blogging can be a daunting task and coming up with things to write about can be time consuming (especially when it isn’t one of my strengths). So this year, I’m going to solicit your help. If you or someone you know are interested in blogging, but don’t want to manage their own site, email me at info @ theotalks.net. I’m always in need of someone to write and it usually turns out to be a win-win situation for both parties.
This year, I also want to focus more on minority small businesses. In these turbulent economic times, a lot of people are turning to owning their own business. I think that’s great, so I decided to start a list of some of my favorite small businesses. I’ll be highlighting small business owners throughout the year, so contact me if you’re interested in participating.
Finally, here are some websites that you need to keep an eye on for 2010. I’ll be blogging a lot about them and hope to be visible on most of them as time permits. Check them out when you get the chance:
Have a Happy New Year and God Bless!
Worlds AIDS Day 2009
Filed under: Blog Entries, Community, Family, Health, My Thoughts, Society & Culture, Think Global
World AIDS Day, observed December 1 each year, is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection.
HIV/AIDS has been a global epidemic for more than 27 years. Most of today’s youth have never known a world without it. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently published national HIV incidence (new infections) that showed much higher numbers that previous estimates. The time is now. Together, we can prevent the spread of this pandemic – through awareness, care, prevention, education and research.
The Red Ribbon is the international symbol of support for people living with HIV. Wearing a red ribbon is a great way to raise awareness about HIV as well as to break down stigma and prejudice, so make sure you get yours in time for World AIDS Day!
Last year I had the opportunity to post about Worlds AIDS Day and found a lot of interesting information about how it affects us on a local and international scale. I was amazed to find out how many black people were infected with the disease. It’s not something that’s always discussed in our community and this is why I appreciate the effort of those willing to blog about this important day.
HIV/AIDS can be prevented and there’s a lot of good information out there on how you can get tested. I won’t re-type it because you can find the information in the post I did two years ago.
Be safe and get tested. It’s the responsible thing to do.
Photo Phinish: Spring Into Change
Filed under: Blog Entries, Life, My Thoughts, Photo Phinish
There’s a passage in the Bible that reads “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat.” Psalms 19:1-6 NIV.
I made a promise to myself earlier in the year to spend more time outdoors when the weather got better. I spend the majority of my week in front of a computer, doing a job that I truly enjoy. But there are times when I get sucked in to my work and it’s easy to get stressed out when deadlines need to be met.
I’ve also found that achieving that home-church-work-life balance thing, is not such an easy task. One can easily get caught up in the rat race and lose focus of the little things. When that happens, it’s important that you take some time to step out of the race and notice the little things around you. You can take a minute or an hour. You can be by yourself or with a group of people. All it takes is a commitment from you to do it.
For the first time that I can remember I watched the sun set. I wasn’t at a beach on vacation and to be honest, it wasn’t even a planned event. I just happened to drive around the corner on my way home from work and thought, “that would make a good picture”. I never realized how fast a sunset occurred and I plan on seeing more from now on. The world we inhabit is an amazing place and there are many lessons about life in God’s creation. So take the time to stop, look and listen sometimes. You might be glad you did.
Staying Organized
One of my biggest issues is staying organized. With all the I have things going on, I’ve had to come up with new ways to keep my life in order. This next year, instead of using a day planner, I plan on going online. I’ve tried to keep from going there, but figured why not give it a try. My day planner will be replaced with Google Calendar and for general day-to-day tasks I’m using a website called rememberthemilk.com (RTM). Google calendar and RTM work with well with each other and both will integrate with my Windows Mobile phone.
The problem with my day planner was that I seemed to never have it when I need it. It would be in the car or at home and I was bad about checking it every night. I’m hoping the online solution will work a little better because I’m always on the computer and I always have my phone with me.
My plan is to enter events, appointments and important dates in Google Calendar. From there I will use Google Calendar Sync to copy my dates to MS Outlook on my PC. Outlook will sync the dates to my phone when I plug it in to charge. Daily tasks will be entered into RTM. I like RTM because I’m able to enter tasks using their mobile website when I’m not on my PC. They also have an application that will sync the website to your Windows Mobile phone or iPhone. Whenever a task with a specific time is due I get a reminder text message an hour before the deadline. I’m also able to enter a task using the RTM Gmail widget (I use this all the time).
While I’m sure I’ll miss my day planner, it’s going to be interesting to see how this works out. I spend a lot of time in front of a computer, so I’m sure it wont’s be too much of an additional hassle. What are you going to do to stay organized? Any tips are welcome.
Get Things Done with Google Calendar
Today is World AIDS Day 2008
Filed under: Black Blogger Postings, Blog Entries, Community, Education, Health, My Thoughts, Society & Culture, Think Global
Last year I had the opportunity to post about Worlds AIDS Day and found a lot of interesting information about how it affects us on a local and international scale. I was amazed to find out how many black people were infected with the disease. It’s not something that’s always discussed in our community and this is why I appreciate the effort of those willing to blog about this important day.
HIV/AIDS can be prevented and there’s a lot of good information out there on how you can get tested. I won’t re-type it because you can find the information in the post I did last year.
This time I wanted to highlight a new bill passed in Congress (HR 5501) that will authorize $50 billion for assistance to certain countries for combating HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis for the five-year period of 2009 through 2013. It was sponsored by Rep. Berman, Howard (D-CA) and was signed into law in July 2008. Due to the recent economic conditions, I’m curious to see if the money will be allocated. One thing that I like about the bill is it’s emphasis on educating people on ways to prevent the spread of the disease. While the message of abstinence is one to admire, you shouldn’t expect everyone to do so. For those who don’t, education is the key. You can find more information on HR 5501 at votesmart.org.
Spread the word and check out aids.gov to learn what you can do to get involved. For those who have an avatar in Second Life, there will be a new island created just for this day. Events will be happening all day and I plan to drop by to check them out. Visit this link for more information.
Thanks to Yobachi at blackperspective.net for making the effort in getting more bloggers to participate.
President Barack Obama
Filed under: Blog Entries, My Thoughts, Politics, Society & Culture
It’s done. Barack Obama is now the President of the United States of America. I never in my lifetime thought this would happen. This nation has gone through a lot. It’s time to rally behind the President and begin the healing process. This is America and Americans are used to surviving through tough times. Whether you supported President Obama or not, he needs your support.
I have so much more to say, but I’m truly at a loss for words. I’m still in shock and it’ll take a couple of days for it to sink in. Thanks to all who’ve supported the blog. It’s been fun. Now I need to find something to blog about.
Goodnight all.
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