Monday, February 28, 2011

UP ALL NIGHT LONG

SLEEP DEPRIVATION



Chrysler has more cool ‘Detroit’ commercials for the Charger. One of them looks like it was shot in the Detroit/Windsor tunnel and the other IS of the Charger rolling down Jefferson Avenue.


Personally, I am cheered to see the ‘little sister’ of the old Big Three doing better. I may even put a little bit of money where my mouth is and start buying stock in the company. It has kind of mystified me in the past decade or so that sales have been so week for the Pentastar. They have great looking vehicles … oh, maybe that is it. They look good but when it comes to function, they may have been lacking a bit. I know the Sebring was constantly being gigged when it came to performance. I guess there weren’t enough auto buyers like me, who would buy a car simply because it looked nice.




My last car was a bonnie wee BMW 320i. It was also the worst performing car I ever owned. I had the MOST trouble with that car and it was always expensive, nothing ever seemed to be priced routine! What I remember the most about it was AKA helping me to put on the brakes for the car… boy howdy! Of all the out of the box things I have done in my LIFE, getting dirty and EFFICIENTLY putting the brakes on that car was prolly the least likely thing I have ever done in my life!




THE GIRL LEAST LIKELY TO


The only ‘image’ problem I have is that I did not fit into the fantasies that I had of being a basketball star or boxing legend. When it came to the former dream, I wanted to be a power forward, smooth around the hoop on offensive and intimidating on defense. To have accomplished that, I would have had to grow to at least 6’7, hopefully a towering 6’9 or 6’10. That did not happen, obviously. As far as either being a football player … I only ever ‘liked’ to watch it… while I got pegged with ‘did not play well with others’ as an adult (because of some cat goofin’ with me), I could not get ‘in’ with the other boys who were playing on the football team… and I am nothing if not anything, a team friggin’ player! The only slight that I have ever has a struggle with is one made of by a limited, superficial observation about me regarding my sexuality.


Regular readers for the past few weeks should be aware that I don’t think that I will be dating anyone much younger than me, at least not intentionally. How that postulation is relevant here should be clear after I am finished with this entry.


In addition to that superficial observation on which way I ‘dressed’ in my slacks, I had to deal with the same question that Schoolly D asked of America… ‘Am I Black Enough for You’, only the questioner in my case was a BLACK person. Now if that is a WTF moment, having to qualify my “blackness” to another “brother” or “sister”, particularly a sister-girl. When I was more carefree and could take the extra ‘hits’ from being in the ‘run-n-shoot’ or from swinging and missing has kind of taken its toll. There are only so many hits in a body and only so many times making outs at the plate before you can do neither any more…


…BUT ALL REALLY GREAT ATHELETES HAVE ONE GREAT PERFORMANCE LEFT IN ‘EM…


…or a playoff, or tournament, or maybe a full season, who knows? Kurt Warner was considered over-the-hill when he led the Arizona Cardinals to the Super Bowl a few years ago. And the NCAA basketball tournament is chock-full of surprise teams winning more than a few games. While it doesn’t happen in the NBA’s grind of a playoff, the NHL’s playoff history is dotted by bottom seeds making deep runs towards the Stanley Cup. When it comes to boxing, let me tell you, Rocky is less fiction than many people realize. In fact, that is where I am taking my lead from, IF I decide to pursue anything while I am in Omaha.


Watching the Oscar’s in all of its pomp and circumstance has reinforced my designed withdrawal from social exchanges in the analog world. I have not been able to see the kind of movies that I have like since I decided to get back into the game, albeit with a strict ‘engagement’ policy. When I am by myself I have the freedom to go out and see the movies that I liked without want or


I can’t imagine that there is a big pool of open minded enough women in my current local area for me to reasonably expect that I would want to be bothered enough to overcome the inevitable ‘friction’ that is present when people get to know more about a person on beyond the surface. Those ‘strikes’ I have taken and ‘hits’ I have received when I am outside the pocket trying to make a play, have built up. And now all the “you are the only person I have met that ever would say this” or “I don’t know another black person who thinks that” have taken their toll because in this case, the ‘this and that are very much related.


There are a lot of ‘outsider’ and ‘I was a nerdling’ stories around for a person to pass the time (until I get to pass the time with you) with if that is what someone is looking for. Whatever it is that makes me come across as ‘eccentric’, I celebrate and like the most about myself. ‘Living out loud’ doesn’t have to be about coming out to declare your sexuality. It can also mean that you are not afraid to be who you are and to live.


I don’t want to be distracted by an intimate relationship with someone who confuses shared ethnicity with a shared belief about society or what constitutes individuals standards or morals. Also I don’t want to ‘corrupt’ anyone has drank the metaphorical kool-aid and believes in the memes that are rooted in an inconvenient history that is transforming before our vary eyes…


Nope. I am really, really good (even if I am doing poorly) without the distraction provided by letting in some random anomaly via a ‘relationship’. And that is that with that.

8 comments:

Toon said...

I don't see movies in the theater anymore because of the level of noise and rudeness that seems to be the new norm now,

Sarcastic Bastard said...

‘Living out loud’ doesn’t have to be about coming out to declare your sexuality. It can also mean that you are not afraid to be who you are and to live.

Well said and so true. Very wise.

Love,

SB

betty said...

I have heard BMWs can be notorious for very expensive repairs, kind of like Cadillacs (what my son drives, older one)

Buying stock in a car company could be a very good investment I do believe Mark

betty

SweetAngelAsh17 said...

Happy Tuesday Mark! A few words...

1) Mopar's glory days are of the past until they improve long term repairs/history. They have made some progress but the 300 and Chargers have electrical issues.

2) People thought you were gay?!?! That's shocking to me

3)"I don’t want to be distracted by an intimate relationship with someone who confuses shared ethnicity with a shared belief about society or what constitutes individuals standards or morals." DING DING DING!! It's funny how this works on both sides of a relationship, whether or not it's a mixed race relationship. It's entertaining to listen to person's perspective about stereotypes as well. I like to say "I"m white, not flavorless" ;)

DB said...

I'm with you Mark. I would love my horse, if I had one. Meanwhile I keep my sense of humor snugly tucked in my saddle bag along with my humble disreagard for jerks, past and present.

It is a blessing to live one's life without having to make excuses or explanations for who one is. I please some, delight some, annoy some, bore some, whatever.

As for the other gender, I would rather be a friend than a favorite.

D

Babz Rawls Ivy said...

My dearest...rather than think of falling in love as a distraction...think of it as an enhancement. See meeting someone as an adventure. If your heart gets broken it just proves you have a heart. Nothing ventured nothing gained.

Come, you are one of the most intellectually astute Brothers I know...besides you are desiring companionship. Yes I hear your declaration...me thinks you protests too much.

A glass of wine sitting across form a beautiful woman no matter what color she is (nod to Star Trek) is an evening well spent.

I am often considered eccentric and I relish it. I am half Auntie Mame (Rosalind Russell version) and half Florida Evans...Yeah Good Times!

Get out there and be wooed.

Babz Rawls Ivy said...

FYI so what if people think or thought you were gay. People always thought that about me. I am not Gay. I am flattered by it.... folks thinking about my sexual choices...makes me more interesting than I am HA HA HA!

There is a lovely someone out there waiting for you to show up. Go show up!

Ken Riches said...

Every thing in its own time, and yours will come again.