While the holidays are filled with the usual jolly and merry making (tinsel, baking, lights, malls?!?) for me, Christmas is also about making peace with the invariable craziness that occured throughout the year. I've been reading The Prophet and found a passage that I particularily found enlightening on the merits of forgiveness through understanding trespasses:
Oftentimes have I heard you speak of one who commits a wrong as though he were not one of you, but a stranger unto you and an intruder upon your world.
But I say that even as the holy and the righteous cannot rise beyond the hightest which is in each one of you,
So the wicked and the weak cannot fall lower than the lowest which is in you also.
And as a single leaf turns not yellow but with the silent knowledge of the whole tree,
So the wrong-doer cannot do wrong without the hidden will of you all.
Like a procession you walk together towards your god-self.
You are the way and the wayfarers.
And when one of you falls down he falls for those behind him, caution against the stumbling stone.
Ay, and he falls for those ahead of him, who, though faster and surer of foot, yet removed not the stumbling stone.
-Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
I wish peace and joy to you all.
It's been some really hectic weeks here as I'm sorting out my life and getting ready for the holidays. I've had a great deal of fun hanging out with Betty and finally getting a chance to catch up with all of my dearest friends.
I've been wearing many different hats lately and getting dressed up for work is fun. I would like to however present my formal apology to anyone I've teased for ironing (namely Karriem and a few scattered others). It took me 45 minutes to iron two shirts this morning : ( I may just stop washing my clothes.
I still have a lot to get done before I leave for Knoxville on Thursday but it'll all be worth it to spend some time with Jon, Richard, and Max, and then buzz back to DC to spend Christmas with Karriem.
I hope the season is treating all of you well and I look forward to hearing from you all soon!
Just for shits and giggles, I present to you the following two items for your review:
an album from my gallery taken last year
and
this post from my brother's page from last October
Now tell me that aint some shit!
I'm open to advice here folks.
(I should clearify a few points:
a.I'm not concerned about any "idea stealing" situation as it is a funny platform that should be enjoyed by more people
b.I was working within 5 blocks at the time my brother was in town
c.As it appears Greg has seen my sight, he knows I live here)
So far, Barbara has weighed in with her vote; tally one for the "do whatever causes you the least grief" camp. Supportive but possibly lacks direction.
What a sight it was to watch our neighbors kicking themselves after having paid $300 to $450K for condos just across the street from our house. We were able to witness this from our front porch because our disillusioned neighbors were describing events of the evening to the police on our street. Unfortunately, the events were sad;
“The violence began at 11:10 p.m. Thursday when the 17-year-old was shot at 14th and Chapin streets NW, police said. The youth, identified as Norman Jenkins of the 2300 block of 15th Street NW, was shot several times when he refused someone's order to remove his ski mask.”
-see washingtonpost.com for the full story
“The violence” this Post writer is refering to involves 4 unrelated killings late Thursday/early Friday within 6 hours of eachother. Ours was the first of the evening followed by a shooting between two guys smoking PCP in NE, and two killings in SE.
I am quite aware of my neighborhood's situation with crime and gentrification, but my question to the disillusioned is this: If you don't smoke PCP, and you scoff at living in SE, why would you pay to live here? And even if you didn't do your research before shelling out that kind of money, and you didn't know that 14th and Chapin could be catagorized with such other crime scenarios, wouldn't you have at least noticed that you can smell urine on the street in the morning?