"my hair is..."

EDITED: 9/30/2011

(I'm being a tad facetious here but I had the urge to write and the words just spilled out!)

Thick as the jungle

Smooth as milk
Black as the night
Soft as silk

Wild, untamed
With the depth of a mane

It's brilliant, it's classic
You with me? Fantastic

Magnetic hands
Pulled in to touch
Curls upon curls
Don't you love it so much?

I know that it's true
But one thing that's new
You won't get to know
My hair like I do

It's natural, it's mine
With me all the time
And life is much better
Since we've been together

In case you were wondering, I do not consider the above an afro.

underestimate me

EDITED: 9/30/2011

I like when you do that for two specific reasons:

#1. You clearly don't know me
#2. You can be the first person I laugh in the face of when I've proved you wrong

I know that I hold immense power. It may be tucked away behind my inner need to laugh at life and a friendly smile. It is sometimes stored in my heart and mind, places with passwords that only I have access to. Don't forget that it's there, though... I will become fearless at a moment's notice.

And like Rocky Balboa, a Timex watch, or perhaps Rocky Balboa's Timex watch, I will take a licking and keep on ticking.

This is just a word to the wise.

mosquito bite -or- the new Gap commercials?

EDITED: 9/30/2011

Which would you rather have?

They're both highly grating to my eyes and ears, painful to experience, inherently ugly (yes- I'm talking about your clothes, Gap), and move at a speed too fast to keep my attention.

Oh... and I want them both destroyed. Who's got the pesticide to spray Gap?

Exhibit A

 

While I can appreciate the shout-outs to the Winter Solstice (since that day of the year is SO underrated and all), Kwanzaa, and other obscure holiday season events, everything about this feels disgustingly tacky. And that's after ignoring the clothing in the name of objectivity.

Exhibit B

OK, I admit: This is cute stuff. That said, there's something about it that bothers me. Could it be the little girls are cheering their sassy, grade school behinds off to the talk of "I love my comfy sweater!" and "How cute are these boots?" Maybe so. I support advertising but don't support materialism-driven brattiness so much. Commercials like this may be sowing the seeds for the future. Just a thought.

While this campaign seems like it was created to give the Gap brand a zap of energy (and much-needed sales) using "wholesome" and "innocent" fun, this sugar rush is far too intense for me and my money. I'll pass.

time is like the ultimate contradiction...

EDITED: 10/1/2011

How can there be so much of it - we measure it in seconds, minutes, hours, days, years, decades, millenniums - yet it always feels like there's never enough?

Can I get a person to make me a formula and explain how something so abundant could be so limited? I need someone who can do the inexplicable; the ones who created things like financial derivatives. That makes no sense and either does "time."

The worst part is that "time" never feels wasted at the moment. It's always after you realize that what you had before is gone and the shock and frustration hits. It's that moment when you look out of the window, see the first hint of sunrise, and a little piece of your body and/or withers away.

I'm waiting for the day when I accept that time is like spilled milk: You're always ready to drink it up but, as the cup crashes to the floor and your brain processes the word error, what's often left is a mess to be cleaned up.

Unfortunately, I've spilled many a cup in my day. I guess I should work on getting a better grip.

what's in a name

EDITED: 5/21/2012

Maniel

Legend says my name was discovered in a book and that it is maybe, probably Spanish-based. If I remember the tale correctly, "Maniel" was the name of a mountain depicted in this book. Mount Maniel, I take it. As for the title of this book, that information was forgotten. A likely story...

I think Judge Judy would dismiss this case. "If it doesn't make sense, it's not true," she often shouts, and the truth is that they know it was made up. I was supposed to be Mario but, in a spurt of creativity, instead my name became one that Microsoft Word indicates is incorrect.

With that has come years of baffled explanations and pronunciations along with vowels and consonants being added and taken away without my permission. Manuel, Manwell, Emmanuel–you know, names people have heard of before. I even took on a nickname to save others grief. Anything for my fellow man.

"Maniel" has taken the majority of my 22 years to get used to but a change has come. I see my name in a different light now:

It's unique

It's interesting

It has flair

It's ethnic

It's memorable

It's a little odd

All of the above are qualities I consider myself having. 

Maybe my parents made up a creative name because they knew they birthed a creative son too. You never know.

Some say, "What's in a name," but I think names can act as an extension of you as a person. You won't ever see my name on a mug or a magnet because it's not a commodity. Neither am I.

new year's resolutions

EDITED: 10/1/2011

If you couldn't tell by now, I love lists. I'm not the most organized person in the world but they help me to control my tornado of a mind. Speaking of lists, I was thinking about New Year's Resolutions today and how I never make them, much less commit to them. 

These annual plans for a positive year seem more like wishful thinking done during the same time each year. It's nothing deeper. When you get right down to it, everyone's resolution is the same: Make Year [X] Better Than Year [X-1]. Even if yours is "to win the lottery" - a horrible resolution that I would wish you the best of luck with - the point still stands.

From afar, life looks really, really, really good... but what about when the day comes to act? Do we remember what we said on December 31st?

The real question I have is why do we wait for one, specific day to suggest the changes we should make in our lives? I would hope that more people learn from their mistakes and adjust as soon as possible. This is a skill I have been working desperately to perfect. Nothing motivates me more than real, honest-to-goodness, experience. That's probably why New Year's Resolutions don't work for me. I would normally insert an analogy here but I'll spare you.

To those that are passionate about resolutions, I end with this: If you need to make one to keep yourself on track, do it, but realize that the opportunity is actually available 365 days a year...

My New Year's Resolution:

Improve at everything.

what is it about christmas...

EDITED: 10/1/2011

It transforms people. Could it be:

The snow?

The gifts?

The time spend with family?

The time spent away from work?

The eggnog?

The feasting?

The mistletoe?

The music?

The decorations?

The lights?

The stories?

The movies?

The big man himself: Santa Claus?

The Christmas tree?

The birth?

"What is Everything," Alex.

Let's face it: There is no.better.holiday than Christmas and I am so happy that it's here once again to bring joy into people's lives.  

Now go spend money!