The sun, Family, Free beer.. These are a few of my favorite things. This was my first real weekend in NYC without a parent around. And it was a good one.
So God being God, he worked things out so I got 3 weeks in NYC (Staten Island to be exact) for a “working” vacation. This trip was so perfectly timed. My first weekend was Memorial Day weekend. #3dayweekendsdontsuck. Saturday afternoon I caught the Staten Island ferry (currently one of my favorite things about New York City) to Manhattan.  I met up with my sister, and we walked over to the world financial center. We grabbed some food at Southwest NY in the complex and just chilled and talked as the sun set on the Hudson River. An absolutely gorgeous sunset if I don’t say so..oh..u don’t believe me? Don’t take my word for it.

Anyway after that we caught the train to Brooklyn to her newly rented gorgeous apartment.

We spent the night reading [Her: Voltaire’s Candide & Me: The Alchemist: Paulo Coelho] while Phoenix played.

The next morning we woke up, did a mini-yoga session and grabbed flapjacks (yea I just wanted to be different) and omelets at the Coffee Bar in Union Square with Jessica. The food was cool but the time spent just relaxing was dope.
After breakfast we headed to Governors Island for a brew fest that Jessica told us was going down there. On the way onto the ferry we got the bad news that the brewing festival was SOLD OUT. We were crushed because..
1. It was hot as Hades
2. It was hot as Hell
But we decided to swing by Governors Island neee-ways, mainly because Keeks hadn’t rode the ferry before and neither of us had gotten the chance to visit Governors Island. So we hopped on the terminally-ill-social-security-recipient-driven -slow  ferry which didn’t help the heat. Really, I feel like Jesus could have walked past us if he was out on the river that day. We finally arrived and we were walking around Governors Island enjoying the shade where we could find it and just about to give up and go home because the Sun had obviously decided to relocate to 3 feet away from the earth, when suddenly God intervened.

An angel was walking by, and happened to look up and see us. She must have seen the sweat dripping from our elbows or maybe she just noted that we were beer drinkers by the brewski (yea.. brewski) we were sharing because she stopped us and asked if we were interested in some free drink tickets as she and her fiancé/boyfriend/husband were about to leave.
Interested?
Kiki tackled the lady while I snatched the tickets and we ran for the festival which was thankfully just over a hill and through a clearing.
We arrived at the festival right on time – the final pour was in like 15 minutes. We gave the finger to drink Nazi who was checking for wristbands and we found a way to exchange our drink tickets for liquid gold and found a spot in the shade.

Kiki proceeded to try to down a whole cup of pale ale by herself. Bad decision. Lol. After we finished as much of our beer as we could we bolted to the ferry to try to beat the crowd back…FAIL. lol.
The line was long as Methuselah’s hair.
The line was so long and the sun so enthusiastic that people started pressuring security until they finally buckled and let everybody onto the ferry, at which point the crowd cheered like we had been liberated from a concentration camp by the allied forces.
By this time me and keeks were exhausted from the sun and pleasantly tired from a gallivanting around the island. We decided to call it day.
But what a day it was.

“I would hate to be an almost n**ga
I call ya’ll that, ’cause you gossip like y’all almost b***hes
You know, went to school with Jay, and was almost Jigga
Or hooped against LeBron and would almost get ‘im
Y’all n**gas make me realize how good almost isn’t
Would hate to look back on my life and say “I almost did it
F*ck that”
-Big Sean – “What Goes Around”

Almost…. one word that sums up the biggest fear of my life.
To be almost a millionaire. To almost be great. To almost win the heart of the most amazing woman I’ve ever met. To almost have led an amazing life. To almost have enough to Jet set to the south of France on Vacay. “Almost”..A vicious tease. A beautiful stripper with a “no touch” policy. A walk through the mall with no wallet. Your high school girlfriend?

I’m away from home at the moment. In a land where all I have is my work, my dreams, and the will to win. Its good, and it helps me to realize that as soon as I get back home I need to get my own apartment. I don’t know how it works for other people but when I’m at my parents house – I just don’t have the same drive. And there’s just not enough time for me to waste on Netflix or tired because Mom’s cooked enough pancakes to feed the Russian FlapJack Brigade and the ‘itis’ has hit me. I need to spend a large majority of the next year in GRIND MODE. Which is what I would prefer.

I want to be a high performer. I want to accomplish more. I want to Jump Higher, Run Further, Work and Play Harder.
I want to whisper in the ear of my dreams. I want to slip my hand up life’s skirt and dirty dance until I look up and Death asks for my hand on the dance floor.

Almost Fly = Fall.

Cool title huh? Well it has absolutely nothing to do with this post…well almost nothing.
Speaking of focus; it is the one thing that I haven’t be able to do. Then again it hasn’t really been on the top of my priority list ..although it should be.
Why you ask? Because I have the last big test I have to take coming up in about a month or so. So I need to buckle down and really jump into the books. I know that I’ll settle down and really tackle the books as soon as I get on the road to New York.
Oh..you didn’t know I was going to New York huh?
Let me bring you up to speed.
So..I’ve graduated. *Confetti flutters* which is cool. Mainly because now I can really get on my path to my ‘destiny’. *cues the heroes theme music*. Nah, really. I’ve always felt like my life has a purpose. I know I’m not the only one .. *looks to the audience for support*.
So now is my chance.
My big break.
My first freeee uninterrupted time where my afternoons are my own. Where my passions either get disciplined and grow everyday ..or they die. Leaving me with just my plan B. Corporate America. A life spent accumulating loads of money. Soulless hours spent plotting on how to make millions.
I’m in an interesting position. I feel a little like a passenger watching God drive. I’m interested to know what he has planned. I feel like my main job at this junction in life is to avoid distractions, focus on his will, and take every opportunity to grow as a human being. That and work really hard.
So ..things worked out where I get the chance to travel to New York for 3 weeks [everything paid for] and work. So I’m trying to prepare and get everything in order. [And by prepare I mean do absolutely related to preparation, then try to squeeze all my preparations into my last 2 days before traveling]. Typical Nigerian.
Anyway..back to the present.
Also.. Buried in my heart is a mustard seed that is growing with each moment spent with a certain young lady. We’ll see what it grows into.
This post has been random..and scattered..and unfocused..but I guess its cool..been away for a min.
Here’s to being Distracted!

Fly or …Cheers!

So this video is of a song by Blitz the Ambassador. Its so amazingly dope..I can’t even trust myself to use words correctly…and then John Forte…murders it. I feel like this song changed my life.

Exquisitely done Hip-Hop has no parallel.

*exhales* Enjoy.

What prayers are not:
1. Mumbled words that have no effect on the real world.
2. Repeated pretty poems
3. Useless.

Prayers are:
1. Wildly effective.
Recently I’ve seen a couple prayers that God has answered and it has really given me insight that prayers are not just me throwing words at my ceiling fan. Prayers, as I imagine them are like little hammer thrown by the Hammer Bro.’s in Super Mario. They kind of chip away at the obstacles blocking you from your goal..as long as its something that God has ordained for you.

Prayers are instrumental in my life, because more important than alerting God, that I want/need something..they really serve to reorient my heart and refocus me in the right direction and for the right reasons. This may be their most important function. Sometimes prayer is more of an exercise in getting you into the right posture..and less of a nudge to God reminding him that you could use some new Jordans.

2. Mind Blowing.
Its really dope when something you’ve been praying for ..comes into fruition. Through no real effort of your own. Makes you realize why being patient and having faith is really tough..because there really is no indication that your prayers are making it past the stucco ceiling, or if they’re all just piling up in the attic b/c they just ran out of energy halfway to heaven.

Today I had to be reminded of a fundamental truth. How did it happen?
How it usually does: A conversation. A connection. A revealing of a dream. A sharing of resources and ideas.

Today while working at my Clark Kent, I met another superhero posing as a regular joe. He told me about the hours he put into his art. The lack of sleep. The progression. Big ideas that have only been realized in the mind’s eye.

And honestly it’d been so loong since I’d got the chance to feed off the energy of other’s dreams that I’d forgotten how important it is to have someone who you can share your energy with. I’d been feeling beat up by life and [a lot] a little defeated. Felt a little Langston Hughes’d. Raisin in the sunnish.

But Thank God I bumped into someone whose been catching the same sun rays and has been able to wield his umbrella like Captain America to protect his dreams. I realized that I’d been focusing a little too much on the discipline part of my dreams..and not enough on the having fun part.

I need to find a balance. And I think that I will.

Thanks God.

Fly or fall.

When you come to a junction in life where you have the choice to either:

1. Do something easier. Something that wouldn’t really tax you.
2. Do something harder. Something that may backfire. Something that may overwhelm you.

Go with #2.

Fly. Or Fall.