2012 : Looking Forward

Wit is on guard, I challenge you to a duel

Who needs a chain when every thought's a jewel

God bless the weirdo when everyone’s a fool

F_ck a genie and three wishes

I just want a bottle, a place to write my novel

I am like heroin to those that hear a rhyme and think

How do you find this upper echelon this time?

Let’s toast to better days, a beautiful mind, and a flow that never age

Greg Porn from The Roots – Kool On

2012 is here and I am starting it off when one of the worst colds I have had in my adult life. I have the most miserable cough that wakes me up out of a dead sleep. I’m tired and full of medicine which I hate. I don’t know how people drink cough syrup or pop pills for recreation. It makes you feel off balance. Give me a glass of bourbon or brandy any day over a pill. All I need is a ham sandwich with mustard and a large glass of water before bed to get over a few glasses of Crown. It’s going to take two weeks to come down from this cold syrup high.

I wish the calendar was powerful enough that when it reset so did your life so you could change course faster. I don’t do New Year’s resolutions but I do rank years and try to see what I could do differently going forward. 2011 wasn’t like 2005 or as frustrating as 2007 was to me but in my view it wasn’t the best year. I'm sure I didn't have the right energy last year. My favorite post of the year was the 20 things I hate. Work was draining. I felt tired and uninspired. So many people seemed to be stuck in cement when it came to progress. Black men in New Orleans wouldn’t stop firing weapons at one another. I lost two close family members which made me less and less concerned with things going on around me. I checked out a bit on following the news and the happenings in the community. Those are the things people blog about so in turn the page suffered because I wasn’t in the mood to pay attention.

Now the pages turn to 2012. Work doesn’t seem as draining as it was this time last year. I shouldn’t have to do so many things on my own. I have a good crew and I like how things are going. People are still stuck when it comes to progress but it’s easier to deal with when you are engaged. It help clears your conscience. I’m at a lost about what to do about black men in New Orleans firing weapons at one another but we have to keep fighting that too even though it’s going to come with lots of frustration and disappointment on the way to fixing it. As far as my family and friends go, all we can do is pray for good health and prosperity and deal with whatever happens.

Life isn’t that complicated when you really get down to the basics. Most people just want good health, a safe place to live, and enough money to pay their bills and have a good time every now and then. Some people add a lot of extra things to that list and some don’t but between all the extracurricular activities we all come back to the same thing. In 2012 I’m going to work on my basics and try to add a few extracurricular activities to the mix. Hopefully next year in 2013 my first post will be talking about all the fun we had and how everything is changing for the better. If not at least we can toast to our efforts in trying.

Clifton