Blessings, affirmations, grace, and reflection

Another night of only 4 hours sleep and a full day of work...plus some. We had our regular staff meeting and then I had to head over to my new obligation, uh, commitment for a couple of hours. I had some time to kill between meetings, so I went into a Starbux across the street. I really dislike that Starbux. There are some really scary, sketchy characters in there who just sit there all day long. Any time of the day or night you go there they have a table front and center. They often don't even buy anything. This is one of the problems with gentrification. What these folks need a regular old school coffee shop or diner. But the neighborhood is trying to get too fancy for that so they pile up in Starbux. I left out reeking of coffee. My coat still smelled of coffee when I finished over at my obli - I mean commitment. I grabbed a (gross) sandwich because I hadn't eaten in about 7-8 hours at that point. My lunch period was totally interrupted. It is the only "peace" th...

I am still very disturbed by the imagery of this situation . I couldn't imagine loving someone enough to give up my own life. Talk about being a loyal younger brother! What is particularly haunting are his final words, "Love ya' bro." Within an hour he was dead. How on earth does his brother live with that for the rest of his life? Was it worth it? He still has to go to jail and he no longer has his loyal little brother to pal around with. It couldn't have been worth it. What does the rest of the family think of this selfish individual?

I woke up this morning from a nightmare about a gang shooting up a house where I was. I realized that it was a result of reading this article and hearing news about robberies like this that triggered the sub-conscious fear. It can't help that it's fourth of July weekend and all the pop pop popping is disconcerting. I'm also troubled by the fact that Newark, NJ has multiple shooting on a daily basis. My friend invited me to go to a film festival over there Wednesday night. I might have been game if it wasn't for the fact that the last time I was over there (last weekend) a woman was mugged right in front of their office in broad daylight on a Sunday. On a busy street. The door was propped open because it was a warm summery day. That was too close for comfort. Needless to say, I have no plans to visit Newark until they can get their crime under control. It could have very well been me walking from my car several blocks away who was mugged. Thank God it was not and th...

My stomach is churning today. While most days are spent just going about my business, unperturbed, there have been days where it all seems to come crashing down in one violent heap. Yesterday was one of those days. While eating lunch and taking advantage of the free internet service at a local eatery, I look up to see a vehicle that apparently had been pulled over. No big deal. Next time I look up however, the parking lot of the restaurant was surrounded by police cars and all weapons were drawn and pointed at the vehicle. Slowly, one by one, three black females emerged from the car, hands raised, walking backwards. I was shocked and horrified. I pulled out my camera which I carry with me now for documenting such occasions and started snapping away from inside the restaurant. The whole incident seemed excessive. Naturally, the women were unarmed and as it turns out, a baby was left in the vehicle while the women were being arrested. It was a nightmare to watch this whole incid...