Allow Me To Re-Introduce Myself...

Why wasn’t that just rude of me? I never considered the followers and continuous readers of the CB Publishing blog when I just up and started posting entries without the formal, “Hi, my name is...” I was so caught up in The Game season premiere last Tuesday, that I encroached on this blog’s territory. Well, in all honesty I am not exactly sorry, but this entry is just an excuse for me to take part in one of my favorite past times: writing about myself. Below is the excerpt from the autobiography that I am currently drafting with the working title, AWE: Amazingly Wonderfully Excellent: The True Documented Accounts of the Great Lisa B: Inside the Inside Story

....On a bright June 12, 1980-something day, the world got a little brighter around 6:30/5:30central as a new vibration of sound hit the ether causing a centrifugal force to spread throughout the atmospheric space. And yes, I did not look up any of those words to back up the validity of that sentence. Anyway, it is said that someone may have possibly not quite but maybe saw God’s teardrop fall into Lake Michigan causing the water to overwhelmingly tide over the shoreline of Gary, IN. His best work yet was being delivered not to far away at Methodist Hospital. After 3 seconds of painless labor, God’s bundle of grace was handed over to the joyous first time mother. Well, the mother actually had two other children, beforehand, but after cradling this angel, “the last shall be first” made sense to her. It is also recorded, but not really written down, that when the nurse smacked the baby’s bottom to hear the first cry as a sign of oxygen hitting the lungs, there came no sound. Instead the baby pointed to a nearby pen and pad. The nurse handed it to the Gift from God and to everyone’s amazement, watched the child write down, “Waaahh Waaaahhh Wah!” while humming Journey’s Don’t Stop Believing. Then the finger of that same small baby reached up to wipe away the lone tear that slowly trickled down the face of her mother. “Shhhh,” the baby comforted, “I’m here now. Everything will be alright.” The mother named the baby girl Queen Elizabeth Beasley. However, the same nurse who recorded the baby’s first authorial moment, misplaced the birth certificate and the child was hereby known by her nickname, Lisa B...

I know you’re dying to read the rest of my autobiography. For now, I’ll tell you all you need to know and the rest can be found on my facebook page. I write, act, sing, and dance. I’m a professional performer, spoken word artist, graphic designer, and lover of Jazz History which I believe tells the story of America. I’m in every relational position that a woman can be in, except wife, mother, and/or mistress. I started a company called Lifted Soul, INC in 2009 and so far, so great. I hope you check back often to read my factually based opinions.

Also, I’ll keep you posted on the autobiography that I am currently drafting with the working title, AWE: Amazingly Wonderfully Excellent: The True Documented Accounts of the Great Lisa B: Inside the Inside Story

Here are a few of the critiques I’ve gotten:

Trust me, you’re not gonna wanna put down this Almost but not really kinda sorta true story down. 5.6 stars.

-Nu Yurk Times

I’m turning into a movie.

-The Guy Who Made Avatar.

Lisa B.

www.liftedsoul.com

www.youtube.com/lisabpoetry

www.thegamerecap.blogspot.com

So Vividly Alive: HBCU Poetry Anthology

Submission Dates: January 15th to February 15th

Requirements: Poets must be currently enrolled in an HBCU and be in good standing at the school of enrollment.

Guidelines for submission: 1 copy of the poem. The poem can be a maximum of 42 lines. Line length can vary and poems can be either free verse or written in meter. The poet's submission must include the name, year (Freshman, Soph. etc), e-mail, College/University, major, website. If your poem is accepted you will be contacted and asked to send an e-mail version of your poem to increase the speed in formatting the book. You can submit up to 3 poems. All poems will be considered.  Poets can not have been published prior to submission. Self-published poets will be considered.

Poem format: The title and poem should be left justified. All information listed above should be stapled to a separate sheet of paper.

Content: Topics should discuss and pertain to an array of topics. Vulgarity is not recommended, but if purposefully used and relevant, poems with cursing will still be considered.

*Only 20 poets will be selected.*

Reason for this anthology: In this digital society, the student has become maligned and all the problems of the culture sit at the feet of young men and women who are encountering a world that none of us have had to face. Hidden in Facebook, Twitter, text messages, and countless YouTube videos are the ideas of a new generation. They have learned to TTYL, LOL, and IDK, their opinions in rapid fire flicks of the thumb, but at the core of it all there seems to be something missing. There is something that is not as concrete in this digital world. The words and images in cyberspace can be manipulated, misunderstood and in a day's time, easily forgotten. This collection of poems is going to give words that can be read and considered longer than a random abbreviated text message. In time, these poets may become the next August Wilson, Octavia Butler, Richard Wright, or Gwendolyn Brooks. The title is an allusion to the words Ralph Ellison stated in the introduction to his book of essays Shadow and Act. After working with students at the high school and collegiate level, I don't think they are a lost generation.  I think they have something that can't be explained, I think they are vividly alive.

Submissions should be sent to:

Prof. Christopher D. Burns

LeMoyne-Owen College

Fine Arts and Humanities

807 Walker Avenue

Memphis, TN. 38126

Book Cover Submissions: Open to all art students at HBCUs. Ideas for the Cover Art can be sent to the above address. Cover Art should be created in png, jpg, gif format. The drawings should be 6x9. Artwork should be submitted to cdburns@cbpublish.com 

All artwork will be considered for publication in the book. Please include all relevant contact information with your e-mail submission. Including the title of the art. Your e-mail should have a subject line of: So Vividly Alive: Artwork.

Poets and authors will not be compensated, but all poets selected will receive a complimentary copy of the book. Partial proceeds from the sale of this anthology will be donated to the LeMoyne-Owen College Fine Arts & Humanities Department.

Part 2: Stages: A Handbook on Men and Relationships - Chapter 25

Chapter 25

I told you to bear with me. Now aren’t you glad you did? The whole engagement thing went over without a hitch. If I don’t say so myself it was smooth, just like me. Come on now, you know I’m smooth... Don’t front.

I truly hope you understand where this came from. I just felt a need to give you my story in the best way I knew how. I knew if I would’ve just told you about the Stages you woulda been like, “And who are you?” Sometimes a story has to be told. This is just the way I see it, but every man has a story, if you ask. But if you fail to ask then you’ll never know. In other words make a brother talk, before you give him your soul, make sure he’s willing to give you his. Who says all men are dogs? Whatever.



Who says we're not reading?

Speaking of reading, some organization polled America that revealed the latest statistics about the decline of readers. They developed this poll by researching how many people checked out library books and the sales of books in closing stores such as Barnes-n-Noble. People still go to library? If I had the tools, I would do a follow up research on how many people now read from Kindles, Nooks, iPads, download books from mobile apps, and other electronic devices that they didn’t include in that poll. Don’t let them start making us feel like our intelligence is on decline because of the rise of technology. After all, I make it a point to read my newsfeed on facebook every single day.

Futhermore, I just read the first two chapters of Stages: A Handbook on Men and Relationship written by the creator of this blog. Who just added that to their research? I am not only a lover of physical books, but a lover of reading...period. Whether it's curling up with a page-turner or a scroll-downer, I read every single day.

Ladies, in order news, according to chapter two of the book, men ease drop on our conversations and then plot to get us into a debate (because we all like to argue). What did I learn from this? To look over my shoulders when I'm talking to my girlfriends to see if any men are around who I want to easedrop on my conversation and before you know it...it's date night!

Lisa B.

www.liftedsoul.com

www.lisabpoetry.com

Part 2: Stages: A Handbook on Men and Relationships - Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Stage Four isn’t approached without trepidation. It’s an awkward time for any man. Making a commitment is one thing but saying to a woman that you want to live the rest of your life with her is an entirely different monster. In other words Stage Four is the final phase before you leave the Stages behind altogether and graduate.

But this book is about the Stages not the graduation, so allow me to give you the specifics of what Stage Four is:

The road that has been traveled had so many obstructions in what lay ahead, that you can barely believe that you made it this far. You have finally accepted the fact that life is meant to be shared with the woman you care for, honor, and above all respect. Love comes after all of these other things. At Stage Four the words I love you are small compared to the feelings that you have for your lady. When you said those words in all the other stages it was a word that conveyed what you thought you felt. In Stage Four you no longer think it you live love, breath love and share it: that it being a commonality, sexual and mental connection that heightens each day that you are with her.

At the point when all of this has finally come together, you take the last step and ask her for her heart in marriage. You have doubts, but those fears soon subside when you realize that your relationship has survived the strains of ex girlfriends and major arguments. You buy the ring and become a part of a life circle. A never ending connection of souls that when completed will have no beginning and no end.

THE GAME

Why do we love The Game so friggin much? Maybe because it's one of a very few shows that features a majority African American cast that doesn't make us feel ashamed (or is it just me that can't sit through an show of Tyler Perry's episodic let downs?)

The spin-off to the hit show Girlfriends, is finally coming off of it's two year hiatus and the media says that the fans are part of the reason for bringing the show back. After they took Girlfriends away from us in a conclusionless season, we wouldn't allow that to happen again.

Regardless of the behind the scenes and business end of why the show change networks is really irrelevant to us. All we wanna know if, what happens after Kelly and Jason got a divorce? Who keeps Britt-Bratt? Is that really Derwin's Baby? Who Tasha snappin' on next? (They say I'm lous, brash, and ghetto. They forgot BALLIN') Is Malik ever gonna change? How is Melanie juggling her career and being a wife.

After two years, I am so geeked and people I don't even know on facebook, comment under my status (which have been devoted to the hit show). I've changed my profile pic and everything.

Part 2: Stages: A Handbook on Men and Relationships - Chapter 23

Chapter 23

I’m still trying to figure out a few things. If a relationship can be as good as it was with me and Janice why in the hell was I so afraid to try it before? I know the trauma from the first girlfriend thing was my excuse, but it was just that, an excuse. I should’ve done this relationship thing a long time ago. I’ve done things with Janice that you only do with a girl that you know and trust. Everything we do seems to be more fulfilling.

There are things that she does to keep our relationship fresh. She sits down on certain days and maintains a book, kinda like a log of all we do. The log has pictures, silly letters and other little things that we could look at and laugh at. That seemed so small to me when she started the book. Now that book is like an intricate part of who we are, it grew. All of the little stuff like catching a movie or walking and talking about things that we want and have dreamed about is something that I obviously hadn’t done with anybody else, except maybe Laney. I once thought that settling down meant you run out of things to talk about in a year or two. That can happen if you stop doing things. But the hobbies that we have always gives Janice and I some kinda conversational pieces. She reads a lot of books, which always gives her something to say and it’s not just meaningless little words to fill quiet space. Each word is meaningful, unless we’re just trippin. Janice is a dream come true for me, and Tina is a dream woman for Flip. The closer it came for me to propose though, the more nervous I got. I started feeling like I was doing this proposal thing more for myself than I was for her. Maybe it was a new experience that I wanted to have. I didn’t know. I just started feeling uncomfortable.

Part 2: Stages: A Handbook on Men and Relationships - Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Life becomes a habit if you don’t start doing something in your spare time to keep you sane. I had continued with my music, but I’d picked up another trade in my spare time, something I’d come to enjoy thoroughly, writing.

Flip had added more speakers to his house and bought a new amp for his system. He even bought a four track machine to record some stuff he and Tina had started doing. She played the piano and sang. Flip played the guitar, not well, but he was getting there. We would spend our Saturdays going to the beach or barbecuing in Flip’s backyard. Oh, Janice learned how to shop more efficiently and less over the course of the year, which was a really good thing for her. I guess clothes had become her hobby. She had even begun designing some skirts and other things. She hadn’t done anything with the designs, but she really got into it. Some of her stuff was really flyy.

Anyway December 3rd, Flip and I went to the mall to start looking for Christmas gifts. He had to buy things for his folks and I was looking for another gift for my sister and something for my mom who has everything already, except me at home.

Part 2: Stages: A Handbook on Men and Relationships - Chapter 21

Chapter 21

I was on top of the world after that night. My life seemed so perfect. We shared our first week with each other talking and feeling excited about us. It all seemed like a dream. I never expected to be this happy. The second week passed and Flip and I had talked about everything. About how I had adjusted and how he and Tina were doing. I knew that the day we went to church together that everything had changed in Tina and Flip’s lives. I could see it in her confidence and in the way he said her name everytime he had a chance. For the first time since Flip and I had been boys we shared the same thoughts about women and relationships. I remember saying that if there were three men, one would be Stage Four, one would be Stage Three and the other Stage Two. In all honesty I’m not sure how that one works. But I can confirm how Flip and I were, Stage Three all the way, the right way.

The wrong way would’ve been decisions to be with the ladies strictly for our own personal reasons. We laughed and joked at work and it made the days fly by. Our spirits seemed to affect everyone. The guys on the line seemed to be pushing out the equipment just as fast as we could inspect it. Even the engineers upstairs were coming down to the floor and inspecting stuff, at least trying to inspect stuff. Work was good and life was great, life is great.

Part 2: Stages: A Handbook on Men and Relationships - Chapter 20

Chapter 20

We made it home at a little after 10 pm. I instantly walked in and turned on the radio, which was routine for me. Janice walked over and turned it down.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“I really can’t stand loud music late at night.”

“That wasn’t loud.” I turned the radio back to where it was.

“It’s loud Terrence.”

I knew we were headed into argument territory so I backed down. Sometimes you have to back down, but not all the time.

“I’m going to leave the radio on, but I’ll turn it down okay?”

“That’s cool,” she said confidently.

“Don’t think you’re going to win every little fight we have.”

“I don’t expect to. I don’t plan on fighting over too much, do you?” She slipped her shoes and socks off.

Get to Know: Fashawn

Hip-Hop has had a black eye for so long that often emcees who drop an LP get love although they are actually pretty mediocre. Now I'm not saying that guys like Wiz, Currensy or Wale aren't dropping new age gems, but they are not quite there yet in terms of dropping classics. An album that dropped in 09, may be the best Hip-Hop album that has been made in recent years.  This is a big claim, but definitely needed.

Fashawn's name is highly regarded in circles that respect the art of the emcee, but is often overlooked when discussions of the best new emcees are dropped. I understand that longevity is the key but when Drake is hailed as the second coming, I guess it is in regard to mainstream. Fashawn at an early age has learned to weave narratives, and lines into a quilted pattern of blankets that cover the tracks like black ice on streets in the winter. The flow is a fulid slippery slope of metaphors that pull the listener into their own adolescent struggles and makes you remember your first fight, girl, failure and success. Boy Meets World is a modern classic and earns the right to be compared to Nas' Illmatic. I just hope people will actually begin mentioning this emcee more often. The Ecology will drop in 2011 and I'll be watching for it; you should do the same.

Part 2: Stages: A Handbook on Men and Relationships - Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Stage Three Amendment Two: When everything is stated and it’s honest and sincere, there is a feeling that comes over you that makes you shiver. It isn’t a small thing. It’s very noticeable and you remember it. It is the moment you realize that maybe you’ve found the right person.

I had to place in maybe because we have not, I repeat have not, made it to Stage Four. After that Saturday night at Flip’s house Janice and I went to our own homes. I didn’t push anything. I wanted to let everything settle down for a while before I tried to make love, or have sex, or relations, whatever you wanna call it. I wanted to give her time to reconsider and make sure she made the right decision. I also waited, for the same reason. When we left Flip’s place we all felt relieved, I think. Maybe the feeling wasn’t relief, it may have been something closer to true happiness. I hugged Janice and walked her to her car which was parked further down the street.

Part 2: Stages: A Handbook on Men and Relationships - Chapter 18

Chapter 18

I thought about what I would say to Janice on the drive to the house. How would I begin? I had been practicing certain lines like, “I want this thing to work but it’s gonna take both of us.” Nothing seemed real. It all sounded rehearsed. I figured when I saw her I’d know what to say. We pulled up in front of the house, I didn’t see her car. The garage door was open and my car sat next to Tina’s inside. But Janice’s car was nowhere in sight. I felt kinda depressed when I saw that.

I had really changed and I couldn’t believe that it had happened. Over the course of putting this down on paper everything I thought was going to happen didn’t. I converted and the funny thing is Clyde my barber said it would happen soon. He was right. When I asked him to give that card to old girl at the shop, he said something that I declined to say. That day in the shop went down like this, I hope you remember:

Stages: A Handbook on Men and Relationships - Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Stage Three amendment: When a man has come to a fork in the road, he can’t sit and take his time. He has to choose and accept what may come. No turning back and going to look down the other road. Keep straight and accept it. Allow God to do his job and all things will turn out fine.

I thought long and hard about what had occurred. I knew that I’d made a mistake and that I’d blown my chance at stepping up. What I didn’t know was that I’d blow it in an attempt at moving up to Stage Three. That could’ve caused a bigger problem in the long run if I would’ve acted on my emotions and called Ros or Laney. The thought had crossed my mind. But I knew I had to reconsider. I wrote in my journal and it finally came to me. I had to get Janice back. I knew if I got Flip to talk to Tina then I could get back in there, but I had to fix this one. I had to take responsibility.

I didn’t talk to Janice for a week. That next weekend I had to help Flip move to his new place. He didn’t have much stuff, but the things he did have weighed a ton. We rented a truck and started with the living room. He refused to put his CD player and stereo stuff in the truck even though he still had the boxes for it all. There is nothing like a man and his music. Without a good stereo system a man is only half the man he could be. The same thing holds true for a man and his car. Flip saved all of his stereo equipment to move last. He put all of his stereo equipment into his SC. We filled the truck with all of the stuff and began cleaning the apartment. We didn’t have much to do considering Flip had stop spending the night at his house. He was staying with Tina at her crib, which is normal I guess. It’s that whole process when you start dating seriously. You spend one week at her house she spends the next week at yours. It eventually gets to the point that you question why you both have a place to stay. The normal progression is to make the next jump, moving in together. I guess that’s why Flip was asking me about it that day.

Stages: A Handbook on Men and Relationships - Chapter 16

Chapter 16

A reflection can be found anywhere, or it can come at anytime. Two of the most important reflections I’ve had in my adulthood happened because of a conversation with a brother three years younger than myself. Flip, like he said about Tina, was brought into my life for a reason. People coming into your life can happen guy to guy, just as it does with men and women. I knew it and I thanked God for bringing me a brother.

What I didn’t appreciate was his Stage Three whining. I just wasn’t in the mood for it. But he was my boy so I had to listen. Do you recall when I said that this book wasn’t going to change me, and that it was just a handbook? I guess by now you realize it’s more than that. It’s therapy. I’ve been listening to myself and actually paying attention to everything that’s going on around me. And for once, I’m willing to say that I would like to find a little peace.

It would be nice to wake up next to someone, without saying, “Damn, Damn, Damn,” like Florida Evans. It would be nice to know who’s calling when the phone rings and it would be nice to have consecutive birthday’s with the same woman. But there is always some unfinished business to take care of, so until I finish I won’t make that move. I’ll continue with what I’m doing.

Video for Night Catches Us

Night Catches Us

Night Catches Us: "In 1976, after years of mysterious absence, Marcus (Anthony Mackie, “The Hurt Locker”) returns to the Philadelphia neighborhood where he came of age in the midst of the Black Power movement."

Stages: A Handbook on Men and Relationships - Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Sometimes the Lord puts people into your life for a reason. Why question everything? Then again why not? I’m not saying doubt, or that I don’t believe, but you have to wonder. I still was bothered by what Flip told me and I just couldn’t make sense of it all in my head. Why would she choose him to, “come out of the closet,” so to speak?

We spoke about it again that night on the phone. I was about to meet Janice at her place to talk. But I was somewhat intimidated by what a conversation would hold after hearing about Tina and her problem. I’m sure Janice had gone through it all with her, and held the same feelings that Tina may have had about men. Maybe that’s why she wanted to really get close to me. She probably assumed that Flip and I were at the same Stage. What’s kind of buggin me right now is how Flip stepped up and accepted what had been put in his face. He thought about the whole situation and decided to stick it out. I know I would’ve ran away. I’m just not at that point in my life where I can handle that kind of situation.

I said when I started that I would remain honest throughout and I will. I would’ve ran away because to stay with her after that kind of info would’ve placed me into serious commitment territory. A place I’d been avoiding for a long time, but it was a place that was slowly beginning to seem like the right thing to do. But how am I to know when I’m supposed to settle down? For Flip, everything kind of lined itself up in a nice package and dropped into his lap. He was frustrated and tired of being by himself. I don’t mean physically by himself. He explained it like this a few weeks before we met Tina and Janice.

Stages: A Handbook on Men and Relationships - Chapter 14

Chapter 14

This is where everything gets odd. In a handbook that details the circumstances, or patterns, that a man might go through in reaching the “promised land” of a “perfect” relationship, that handbook should remain somewhat reliable.

I had the best damn date a man could have without having sex. I wanted Janice so bad that night, I had to turn on some freaky deaky movies when I got back to the house. I thought getting next to Janice wouldn’t be a problem and that I’d be able to pull the whole thing off as I had with Laney. It just didn’t work that way, but that’s later.

For me to remain a reliable source, I have to say that I actually felt like shit after I cut Laney off. It wasn’t so much that my conscious was bothering me as it was that I saw her a few weeks after with some tall, White guy. That shit ate at me for more than a minute. I wondered if I drove her to that. I wondered if she would ever date a brother again. It was almost time for me to call her and see how she was doing, but ironically I didn’t know if I could handle it if she said she was already over me. I wouldn’t have appreciated that at all. Selfishness is not a good trait to have, and I think I’m guilty of being the most selfish guy in the world at times. Well, you reap what you sow. If I was indeed doing wrong, then it would come back on me, right? Then again, no it wouldn’t, the bad guys always get away with murder if they have the right defense, which I have. My defense is the truth. It ain’t my fault if women never ask the right questions. If a woman can honestly sit down and live her life without having to have a man then I wouldn’t go in and out of relationships because there wouldn’t be any one to go in and out on, you dig? You have to keep your eyes open. There are signs that a man is a Stage One or Two brother, clear signs. Allow me to share with you these pieces of info about the male psyche:

Movie Review: Don't Let Me Drown (2009)

Most movie viewers are hedonistic in their approach to film. Unless the film satisfies some base connection most people only watch what looks like them. Often this leads to a skewed perception of what a great film is and can be. I find that to truly watch and care for film is to seek out cinema that can entertain, inspire, educate and generate discussion. Shameless Netflix plug.... now, Netflix is the perfect launching pad for young aspiring screenwriters and directors.  Netflix has so many titles available immediately that a lover of films can spend an entire weekend watching films from almost every culture in the world. Recently I've caught a couple of films that I highly recommend. One in particular resonates with my longing to see well developed characters with depth and complexities that can't be simply defined.

The film Don't Let Me Drown, directed by Cruz Angeles and co written by Maria Topete (2009), stars E.J. Bonilla and Gleendilys Inoa. These young actors form an unlikely couple in post September 11th New York. I guess the statement shouldn't be unlikely because they are both Latino. However, what many people fail to realize is that intraracism, or racism within the same groups, has a more harmful effect than basic racism. While race is only slightly shown in the film, which is set in New York in Brooklyn and Manhattan, for an African-American writer to witness the verbal attack from a Mexican mother on her son's Dominican girlfriend raises some interesting questions.

The main character Lalo (Bonilla) is the son of a janitor who has to clean up the debris at Gorund Zero. Lalo's mother is working hard to pay bills and is frustrated because her husband, a migrant, is not being paid on time. He is also progressively growing ill throughout the film from what he is inhaling on the job. However this subtle storyline is not developed in detail, but it does create texture and pathos for those watching. Lalo's love interest Stefanie (Inoa) is a young Dominican Girl beng raised in a household with an opressive father, who is genuinely the most attractive abusive character I've seen in film, which is an oxymoron obviously. His complexities derive from his oldest daughter dying in the collapse of the WTC. In him you find an opportunity to analyze abuse and control from a man attempting to understand how, and why his first daughter is gone. His emotional fragility in lieu of his wife's strength is compelling and makes for a character who in his attempt to control something becomes a destructive force. Tyler Perry should take note and learn to develop such complex characters.

Coming of age stories seem to be prevelant in the NYC film culture. Don't Let Me Drown follows suit with a perfectly paced narrative of the City and one of the many stories that are sure to be told for years. If you have a little time watch this film.

Stages: A Handbook on Men and Relationships - Chapter 13

Chapter 13

            “You look beautiful Janice.”

            “Thank you.  Your hairline is kinda crooked.”

            “No it isn’t.”

            “It is.  The right side is a little higher than the left and a little bit is still over the ears.”

            “For real?”

            “I’m just messing with you about the hair over the ears, but your line is crooked.  Come to think of it, I’ve never seen your line crooked.”

            “I tried a new barber.”

            “Who Stevie Wonder?”

            “You know that’s wrong.  Why you making blind people jokes when you wear glasses?  You didn’t think I noticed that little bifocal line in your glasses either did you?”

            “I do not wear bifocals.”

            “And Stevie Wonder didn’t cut my hair.”

            “I was just kidding.  You’re sensitive today.  Don’t blame me for your bad hair cut.”

            “Alright, alright, I didn’t go to the barber shop.  I just bought these new clippers-”

            “What?  Speak up I can’t hear you.”

            “I just bought these new clippers and I tried to give myself a line this morning and I took it back too far.  You’re the only person that noticed today.”

            “You sure no one noticed, or did they just keep quiet?”

            “No one noticed.”

Stages: A Handbook on Men and Relationships - Chapter 12

Chapter 12

So, if the easiest thing to do is lie, what is the second hardest thing to do? Maybe the hardest thing to do sometimes is tell the truth. I guess if telling the truth is the hardest thing to do then remembering what your lie is must be the second hardest. One of the bad things about Stage Two is the fact that you can no longer be completely honest. In Stage One you can tell the truth because you really don’t give a damn, you dig? When I began dealing with Laney and Janice. I had to lie. Not big all out bull, just small ones like ‘the overtime thing’ and the ‘I’m with Flip thing.’ I could use both of these with Laney but Janice was a different situation. I always said that I would never date a woman whose girlfriend was dating a friend of mine and here I was doing just that. I had to be extremely careful with what I said because from the day after Flip and Tina met, they were inseparable. The funniest thing in the world happens when a best friend goes to Stage Three, they stop calling their boys. Flip had started to cut down on the phone conversations and stopped coming by the crib so much. We spoke at work all the time but it wasn’t the same.

If you ever ask a man if he’s jealous of when his boy thinks he’s found the right person and he says that he’s not, it’s a lie. I was jealous like a kid watching that rich guy in the neighborhood ride his new big wheel down the street. I was jealous because it felt like Tina was taking my best friend. I should’ve been happy for him. Hell, he even stopped worrying about everything that bothered him at work. I was cool though, I pretended not to mind all of his antics and speeches about what he and Tina did over the weekend.

Stages: A Handbook on Men and Relationships - Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Considering all the things that come about in a matter of minutes, do you ever think that if given a chance you would go back and make all the things you’ve done right or better? I’m sure you do, I do to an extent. The people I may have hurt and the things I didn’t pay any attention to, the small things are the only things, I guess I would want to correct. Then again those two things pretty much cover the whole spectrum. What would you go back to correct?

I knew that night at the club, held an important time for Flip and I. The small things that occurred stuck with me, but they stayed buried for a long time. I didn’t accept any of what I learned that night, not one bit of it. Instead of looking around and truly taking in the atmosphere of the club, I continued to think about how I could get Flip to help me out with Janice and Tina.

There are always things that have to be stated as I move along with what I’m saying. Stage Two bore with it a change in the amount of time that I had to place into my relationships. Instead of two or three months to bring things to a conclusion, the time increased to six to eight months. It takes longer to find out about a woman to see if she is really your type. You had to plan it to make it work. Conversation, the first month, set things in motion if sex happened during the first month it’s cool. That’s something that can be considered a bonus. Once the friendship has been established and things are beginning to move past talking and towards sex everything can be played like Stage One. The problem with Two is in the break-up, that shit can actually hurt you as well as her, especially if she’s been accepting of whatever shit you’ve been pulling on her like: working late, ensuring that you have an argument every three weeks or so to ensure that you aren’t getting too close, things like that. I will admit now that it is probably the most calculating stage and the worst.

Stages: A Handbook on Men and Relationships - Chapter 10

Chapter 10

After placing the napkin in my pocket Flip looked at me like I was crazy.

“What did you just write?”

“Nothing.” I couldn’t let him see it. The things that went into my journal at the time were private.

I looked around the club to see who was in the house. I wanted to see if there may have been anybody that I might have known in there. I tended to forget that this wasn’t a club, club. The people that were here in all likelihood were college grads, or people who enjoyed jazz, real jazz. Not the contemporary fluff from saxophone players like Kenny G. Well, he’s okay, I just think he kind of goes against what jazz really is. He is not Jazz, he’s pop. Jazz is about experimentation, learning the old, discovering the new and finding the place where both past and present meet. I don’t think jazz was ever meant to be elevator music, or “put you on hold music.” But I love jazz and maybe that’s why I don’t understand how Kenny G is considered one of the greatest. Give me a fat platter of Trane and Bird and I’m a happy aficionado. That’s right aficionado. When I began going to the jazz clubs my reformation enabled me to broaden my vocab. My words began to fall in order like the lyrics to a song. I found myself talking without tripping over any statements. In a sense I was becoming elegant, smooth. Not quite refined as silk, but at this time leather was all I needed to compare myself to, rough in some places and smooth in others.

Stages: A Handbook on Men and Relationships - Chapter 9

Chapter 9

“In thirteen seconds the tape will flip itself over if nothing is being played.” Flip said.

I drove up to Flip’s crib in La Jolla to look at his new stereo system. He had bought a CD player and a tape deck that did a lot of technical stuff that we usually consider work talk. But because of the importance of electronics, computers, cell phones, Playstations and anything else that uses batteries or voltage, for Flip and I to stand and wait on the tape door to open, slide out, turn around, retract and play with the same amount of clarity as it did on the first side, wasn’t a problem at all. As a matter of fact it was like a religious moment when the tape flipped and began to play.

“Nice huh?” he said.

“It’s pretty sweet. My tape deck will just reverse the tape without doing all of that.”

“But when it does that, it stretches the tape and can ruin it. The sound gets muffled.”

“Who cares Flip? No one listens to tapes in the house anymore.”

“But it’s nice to be able to pull out an old collection of tapes and play them, don’t you think?”

“I guess. I’d just buy the CD to replace the old tape.”

“Check this out then.”

He stood up and walked over to his shelf. On it sat a glass container with a CD inside of it. The CD was facing out, instead of laying down.

“Watch how this CD comes out.” He waved his hand in front of the stereo window and the glass windows slid open. “Ha Ha, yeah boy, you like that don’t you? Tell the truth that shit was dope, right, right?”

Flip was excited as hell. So I went along with it.