A Reminder

ONE: 'You shall have no other gods before Me.'

TWO: 'You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.'

THREE: 'You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.'

FOUR: 'Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.'

FIVE: 'Honor your father and your mother.'

SIX: 'You shall not murder.'

SEVEN: 'You shall not commit adultery.'

EIGHT: 'You shall not steal.'

NINE: 'You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.'

TEN: 'You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.'

"I command thee..."

Below I have comprised a short list of commandments. Not quite as good as God's I admit. He did in ten what I could not do in 34 (and counting). But since I am not submitting these for admittance into The Bible, I figured they would be ok for this little web-journal of mine.

Hope this helps.

01. Learn to enjoy the sound of music.
02. No matter what anyone tells you, quitting in the right situation does not mean you are a loser. It means you are smart.
03. It is better to make things happen than to have them happen to you.
04. Play with children.
05. Always tip.
06. Marrying for love is a very post-modern concept. Prior to this time period the majority of marriages were for wealth, admiration, or political gain. (secretly they still are).
07. Reconnect with friends over social networking sites. Those memories will carry you much further than you can imagine.
08. Your parents are invaluable. Their love, compassion, concern, and guidance will remain with you throughout your years.
09. Visit your mother's grave site.
10. Believe in God. I do not care which God you believe in, but believe that there is a higher power that placed you here and is concerned about your well being. The comfort will do you justice when you feel the world has failed you.
11. Do not let those who cannot find happiness in their own lives try and pass judgement on the happiness in yours.
12. There will time in life when you will be faced with great adversity. Furthermore, there will be time that you place a great deal of obstacles there yourself. Lock in, grit your teeth and fight through. You may take some bruises but you learn the value of a fight.
13. Let go when it is time to let.
14. Hold on to what's worth holding on to.
15. Take part in your children's lives. While you cannot totally shape their actions and decisions, your prescence in their lives can yield great outcomes.
16. Positivity. Have a plus sign everyday.
17. Always have an umbrella handy. It may rain.
18. You are not alone. In fact far from it. There are millions of people on this planet that are experiencing the same thing that you are. You may never find them, you may never know who they are, but there is a support group dedicated solely to you.
19. Attempt to learn another language.
20. Buy cheap potatoes chips, but splurge on the vodka.
21. Hang out with friends.
22. Do not underestimate the value of being broke.
23. Sit behind pretty girls in class. It will pay off. Everytime.
24. There are people who see the cup as half-full or half-empty. No matter which side of the fence you fall on, please find a way to fill the cup.
25. Read.
26. Enjoy art. There is something out there for everyone.
27. Do not make love. Let it make itself. It's better that way.
28. Let all of your crushes know that you liked them. Not for a chance to get a date, but for the confidence boost it provides.
29. Fight uphill battles full-steam.
30. There is no such thing as being overly optimistic. If you can believe it, with the right amount of hardwork and dedication, you can surely achieve it.
31. Increase your web-prescence.
32. Write and record at least one song before you die.
33. Always wear clean socks.
34. Express yourself every step of the way. If your name is John, then your shoes, shirt, pants, socks, underwear, house, career, etc. should say "I am John." Do not get lost in the shuffle of your own life.

If this doesn't make you smile. Pretend.

So I was doing my normal check of www.teganandsara.com and tripped across this. Straight from Sara's mouth, ermmm fingers..

Hello!

Tegan sent a telegram from the cruise ship, she’s pleased with my performance as Captain Correspondence, and I’ve been given permission to continue. The first order of business:



We’re happy to present the album covers and track listing for SAINTHOOD which will be released on Oct 27.


Front cover


Back cover





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Me again.

And just like that I found a reason to smile again today.

".... and that should be just enough for an explosion."

If you are reading this. Thank you. Also you should know by now, this blog has nothing to do with Graphic Design.

My parents named me "Jamaal." It was their right to do so. I am not certain of the conversation that took place that caused them to land on this name. Nor am I sure what were the other potential names. I am certain that Keith Jr. was tossed around the conversation. It was in that moment that my father possibly did the best thing he could ever do for me. He said "No. I want him to be his own person." That is one thing I admire about my pops. While so many parents want carbon copies of themselves floating around, he wanted me to be an entity unto myself, fully equipped with my own thoughts, emotions, fears, aspirations, insecurities, and ideas about what life is. Jamaal it was.

And while I often wonder what exactly it is they had envisioned for me, I realize even more that I am the "Jamaal" they asked for. I am, like many of us, like you even, a lovable fuck-up. My mistakes are as frequent as highway mile markers. My hang-ups are many. Just ask anyone close to me, I shun any all ideas that many consider fun (try getting me into a club without a fight...it ain't happening). A friend of mine always tries to get me to see my accomplishments. I try but the truth is; I rarely feel as though I have accomplished anything. Roc says that I should be the face of all that we do. Sometimes I think that he believes my accomplishments overshadow his. He'll never realize that I have only made it this far by following in some of his better laid footsteps. And while I have a Bachelor's from a university I feel as though he has Mastered life. I look to that guy for so much. I chalk up a lot of what I am to what he always said we should be. So when he told me "We want more than the world has to give us." I listened. I adhered. I acted out.

I'm not certain it is ok for a man to be as sensitive as I am. Not sure where that come from. I used to think that I had my mom's sensitivity but then I thought about it. Mom was pretty fucking tough. I'm not "cry-baby" sensitve, though I will drop a couple if the situation calls for it.

I don't know what brings me before you tonight. The usual I guess. A war about nothing. You would think I'd learn by now. I haven't. Sorry.