The Paw Print

The journey of life is perhaps the most unexpected or unpredictable series of paths that life can provide. Sometimes the paths we select are wrong and they take us down a road of regrets, worst of all failure. Other times we succeed, but the success comes from the hope that we receive during our moment of failure. In that moment we learn that any person’s day or frown could be turned around. Instead of us feeling scared and threatened by our mistakes we realize that there is a bigger lesson to be learned.  The lesson to be learned is that darkness has no answers. Darkness makes it impossible for you to see which way is left, which way right, which way is up, which way is down, and most of all what is erroneous and what is precise. Your only answer is light. At times it is hard for us to see the light once we are deep within the darkness but you have to believe in yourself more then you did or will in order to see your true path in the journey of life.

From the moment you are born to the moment you die, life throws obstacles; occasionally these obstacles leave you in a stage of confusion and self doubt. However, obstacles can prepare you for the superior and the dreadful moments in life. Every now and then you have to keep in mind that courage is the most powerful tool towards the insecurities and the ignorance that an individual might face.  Maya Angelou once said, “One isn’t necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can’t be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.” In my personal moments of darkness this wonderful quote by this wonderful person has given me hope. It showed me that every person is capable of exceeding excellence.

Although in order to exceed excellence you must believe in the greatness that you have within yourself. The inspiring quotes like the one of Maya Angelou did give me hope, that hope helped me get through some though days. However in spite of all the hope, there are times in my life where I find it hard to believe in myself. The majority of time that I felt this way was because of people and pressure. The moments in which I didn’t believe in myself were mainly because of people who do not consider happiness as a form of living. These people only admire hate, jealousy, and pain. Hateful people only go after one thing and that is to make others feel less of themselves, these individuals want their victims to feel as if they are not worthy. These individuals criticize you on your flaws and on the things that make you different. However to all the people who feel unworthy, believe me when I tell you your flaws or whatever makes you different is nothing to be ashamed of. In matter of fact, you should be blissful about your flaws because they are a part of who you are and what makes you unique. Sometimes people see different and think it’s a bad thing, but it’s not, if anybody is willing to be your friend, or be your love interest, they are going to be with you for the things that make you unique.

If any person that you know is making you feel worthless or is saying things that make you feel insecure, I would advise that you ditch this person before they ditch you and leave you with the pain in your heart or that sudden feeling of emptiness in your soul.  This person could be a friend, a love interest, or sometimes even a family member, it hurts to leave behind the person that erases your empty days on a calendar but you have to consider that it’s your feelings that are on the line, it is your feelings that are being played with. Some people stick with what they have because they feel that there is no one else, other times people feel that it is easier to be with someone that’s ok rather than search for better because they’re afraid that if they don’t find it they’ll be left with nothing but themselves. This could be an opinion or a fact but it is said that the only thing harder than being in a relationship is being alone. 

Six Flags Great Adventure had probably never seen anything like what happened on July 10, 2010.
Thousands of West Indians, Trinidad and Tobago being the prominent country, invaded the amusement park and brought along some of the best talent the countries have to offer. Machel Montano, better known as the King of Soca, “mashed up the place,” as Trinidadians would say. He sang many of his old hits such as “Music Farm” and “Big Truck” without forgetting to sing some of his more recent songs such as “Bumper to Fender” and “Woii Gyal Woii.”
Soca is a genre of music indigenous to Trinidad and Toabgo. It is also referred to as the modern break off of Calypso music. Machel Montano is the most widely recognized soca artist in the world.
The concert opened with Montano’s latest Road March Contender from Trinidad and Tobago Carnival 2010, “No Behavior.” The crowd went absolutely wild to see Montano come on stage. It was exciting just to be in his presence. Some people, however, were a bit too excited. The concertgoers could not stand and simply watch Machel Montano perform. I am of Trinidadian decent so I completely understand the need to jump and wave when you see your favorite soca artist. I felt, however, that the behavior of some adults was just out of control. They were pushing and shoving. The unnecessary wildness may have been that they considered “dancing,” was becoming a bit unbearable. Therefore, like many other concertgoers, I took a few steps back and allowed them to behave wild by themselves.
I can still say that this was one of the best Machel Montano concerts that I have ever been too. He sang many songs that brought me back to being that bad behaved 3-year-old sitting in a stroller sucking on an orange creamsicle pop. That was a concert for a “True Machel Montano Fan.”
Other soca artists such as Lyrical, Patrice Roberts, Farmer Nappy, Shal Marshall, JW & Blaze performed as well. Lyrical is a local Brooklyn artist who performed songs such as “All Over De Gyal” and “Ramajay.” It seemed as if the crowd was disconnected to his music. I think it was because he was popular among Brooklyn partygoers and not everyone was familiar with his music. Patrice Roberts and Farmer Nappy are a part of Machel Montano’s band ‘Machel Montano and the HD Family.’ Farmer Nappy, had a particularly great year for Trinidad Carnival 2010, and he sang many of his popular songs such as “Pavement” and “I Pay For This.” I could feel the energy and exciting pouring from Farmer Nappy’s performance. Patrice Roberts sang many songs alongside Machel Montano. However, she was able to squeeze in some of her own songs such as “Roadshow” and “Wuk it.” Shal Marshall, Trinidad based radio and TV personality/artist , sang his major hit “Police.” Lastly, JW & Blaze sang the biggest soca song to hit Trinidad Carnival in a few years “Palance.” As expected, the crowd began running from side to side as instructed in the song. I expected them to steal the show, yet I do not feel that their performance topped Machel Montano’s well-executed show. It was, however, an exciting way to end a fabulous show full of great performances.

Its weird, when I say I am half Irish people just laugh at me. For some the fact that I could have Irish blood in me strikes them as odd. They will never believe me until they see my grandfather or look at my family heritage.

Its weird, when I say I am half Irish people just laugh at me. For some the fact that I could have Irish blood in me strikes them as odd. They will never believe me until they see my grandfather or look at my family heritage. I can’t believe that in this day of age where we have come so far and have made so many advancements in life, that we still see people in color. For example, once when I was in the first grade my teacher made us play this activity called tell us something we don’t know about you. I was really excited to tell everyone that I was half Irish, so I jolted towards the front of the classroom so that I could be the first one to tell everyone something they did not know about me. When I was up in front of the class I immediately said that I was half Irish. Once I uttered those words out my month, my teacher said you must be mistaken you can’t be half Irish your skin is dark not light.

After school that day I told my mom and that teacher got fired later that day. For a teacher say that to a child, is just ridiculous. I don’t get how anyone could look like a certain race. To this day, it bothers that people don’t believe I have Irish blood in me just because I am not what they view as an Irish person. In this day of age, stereotypes like that should not be tolerated. I don’t know how as humans we have made plethora amount of changes, but still act so dumb and blindly towards race and color. I can’t change the world, but I can at least say this. I am an Afro-Euro-American male, and I am proud of it.

Its weird, when I say I am half Irish people just laugh at me. For some the fact that I could have Irish blood in me strikes them as odd. They will never believe me until they see my grandfather or look at my family heritage. I can’t believe that in this day of age where we have come so far and have made so many advancements in life, that we still see people in color. For example, once when I was in the first grade my teacher made us play this activity called tell us something we don’t know about you. I was really excited to tell everyone that I was half Irish, so I jolted towards the front of the classroom so that I could be the first one to tell everyone something they did not know about me. When I was up in front of the class I immediately said that I was half Irish. Once I uttered those words out my month, my teacher said you must be mistaken you can’t be half Irish your skin is dark not light.

After school that day I told my mom and that teacher got fired later that day. For a teacher say that to a child, is just ridiculous. I don’t get how anyone could look like a certain race. To this day, it bothers that people don’t believe I have Irish blood in me just because I am not what they view as an Irish person. In this day of age, stereotypes like that should not be tolerated. I don’t know how as humans we have made plethora amount of changes, but still act so dumb and blindly towards race and color. I can’t change the world, but I can at least say this. I am an Afro-Euro-American male, and I am proud of it.

Five Asian American elderly women have been violently abused and robbed in the Lower East Side for the past few months. Their age ranges from 50 to 71 years old. The issue of hate crimes has been an ongoing issue in this diverse melting pot of culture in the United States. Some minorities even the white majority has been attacked due to their race, color, gender, and or their sexual orientation.

Some residents in the Lower East Side were shocked. Some had no idea that the Lower East side contained this sort of hate crimes violence. Some were never exposed to the violent hate crimes that occurred to the five Asian Americans that were attacked in Baruch Houses.

The Asian American community has been silent till a month ago when one of the Asian American elderly came forth sparking other confronts. This showed how one voice and one push would uncover hidden cases of civil rights violation.

Community activist and City Councilwoman Margret Chin has been urging the community to speak up more. With more cases and vivid descriptions, the Asian American community would break the silent stereotype that was imposed on them. Some Asians dislike getting themselves into police affairs and would do little when faced with attacks and threats. We will not be silent anymore! We will not fight with fists but with words and education.

Some hate crimes happen because of peer pressure, lack of materials and services, economic barrier, but most importantly, the lack of strong leadership to attack the issue of hate crimes correctly. It is easy to say “don’t do this” “don’t do that” “it’s not right” or “leave them, they are a bad influence,” but it is hard for leaders to resolve the issue without understanding their reasons. The questions, why people do certain things, and why do people join certain groups and demand certain things are all questions that gets a strong leader to think about what they have to offer to those individuals to substitute what other “bad” sources offer-support system, protection, materials, etc.

If you’re not from NY, you probably believe that its a mecca for almost everything fun. You probably talk about how you can see a great show and watch a good baseball game. Or you probably like that you can see the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building all in one day. Well in this city of late shows and broadway plays, the only way you can really enjoy NYC is if you are visiting NYC.
See if you already live in New York City, you can’t have as much fun as you would have visiting New York City. Why, you ask? Well, its simply because to a resident of the city everything has been seen before. Its like when a lion is in the jungle, he is not as excited to be there as a tourist would be. Reason being is because, to the lion everything is normal and not new. Other though, a tourist would be excited since its a new environment he or she is experiencing.
Now don’t get me wrong, NYC is a lovely place to visit and enjoy as vacation. Other than that though, NYC is really not all its cracked up to be. You can’t move here and expect to have as much fun living here as you would if you were visiting here. Its just not the same. So if you plan to move here just remember that NYC is the place to visit but not the place to be.

This halloween costume is very confusing to me. http://bit.ly/bCumYD