Food for Thought: The Questions, Ignant Edition

All this time blogging coupled with the fact that I have to stay censored in my new blogs is making me feel repressed a little. Therefore, my ignant (yep, not even the whole word) side is yearning to speak out a little bit. My inner goon has been 'patiently waiting for a track to explode on' like 50 Cent. So this blog is coming straight from the roots of my Riley Freeman. So if u're squeamish, can't handle adult content, or would rather believe that this side doesn't exist in me, this is where u should stop reading. It's about to get graphic. These are some of the questions that many people think, but no one is able to ask because of public opinion...

• How to fat people have sex? There just seems like there's too much damn meat in the way. So much work to get so little accomplished. Probably sounds like two walruses fighting too. SMH.
• Why can't a lot of these chicks just admit that they're slightly bi-curious? If u're a chick and u're 'intrigued' with the idea of going to a strip club, u wanna c famous female celeb nude pics more than I do, and say stuff like "Wow she's cute. If I was a guy, I'd do her" then something is going on. It's not a problem. U can't be real with others until u real with urself
  
• Y r the dudes who are the absolute worst at 'pulling out' the ones that swear by raw dogging; even with random chicks? If I hear one more dude who I know has had an unintentional kid (or multiple) or an STD (drip dick is no joke) say 'My dick don't like condoms', I may back hand him with my fingers open. Antonio Cromartie from the Jets got 8 kids by 7 women. Nigga, that's not a coincidence. Was is it worth it?
• If u have a high tolerance when u drink (like me), does that mean ur blood alcohol level stays low longer, or u're just better at functioning with a high BAC? I need to know this for possible DUI situations in the future.
• How nasty/kinky can you get with a chick you actually care about before it becomes disrespectful? As I watch porn sometimes (don't act like you don't), I wonder if u can keep a chick as ur main lady after u know she'll lick ur asshole or give me head after doing her in the butt. I just don't know if I can ever come close to kissing her again.
• Speaking of putting mouths in places, if u're a chick and I give u oral, y r u so reluctant to kiss me afterwards? If u don't trust where how clean ur pussy is, I probably made a wrong decision going down on ur nasty ass. I need mouth watch and a tongue scraper immediately. U may get a douche bag in the mail and may not get a call back.

Last one for the night, a lotta ppl wanna know the answer to this one:

• Why do wives/girlfriends have such a big problem with their dudes going to a strip club with the boys every once in a while? I could see if it was a massage parlor with the happy ending. Or if he was spending the rent money. If a couple times a year, he wanna see some new T&A and talk some shit over drinks with the boys, what r u afraid of? Dudes - well, most, well, some dudes - aren't stupid enough to leave their good situation over a stripper. Chill out, he just receive some rubs, a motorboat or two and he'll come home. The loving may even be amazing that night. Who knows...

Short and sweet, think on those a little once u stop laughin. Did I cross some lines? Maybe, who knows. Was I a little blunt or harsh in places? Possibly. The better question is what will you think after I tell this Bishop Eddie Long joke. A few years ago, Bishop Eddie "The Thundercat Seducer (Allegedly)" Long was on a song of Ludacris's called "Freedom of Preach" and used a line that has adopted new meaning in the last few days as this scandal arose. He said "I may have done what they say I did, but I'm not who they say I am." Not such a smooth line anymore. Game recognize game, Bishop, and u looking kinda unfamiliar right now. Am I a Jerk cuz that was too soon? Whatever, I've Been Called Worse. Kanye Shrug. Nah, fuck that, Michael Jordan shrug...

What Will I Tell Them??

I can't get the question from my international exchange application off of my mind lately: "What part of American culture do you hope to share with those you encounter in your exchange country?"

Next week, I will land in Malaysia (look for it on a map, I know I had to), where honestly I expect to get crazy looks of shock everywhere I go for the duration of my stay. I'm a 6'2 young Black American male who's typical casual look would be classified in America as 'urban' and in the rest of the world as 'hood.' I fully expect to be walking through an airport of preconceived notions, whether illegitimately star struck ("What NBA team does he play for?"), admirable ("I wanna party with that guy") scared ("I hope he's not here for crime"), or even testing ("I wonder if he'll get mad if I say that N-word I here in the rap songs"). I've mentally prepared myself for that because there's no benefit to getting mad at some foreigner's (foreign to me anyway)ignorance of my true personality and purpose in their country. But as some point legitimate conversation will arise about America whether with a Malaysian, my British co-worker, or someone else I happen to encounter in a deep conversation-prone situation. So as I navigate the many onion-like layers of my mind, I wonder how exactly I should answer the questions about my many often contradictory thoughts and interaction with my home country.

Should I tell them it's truly the land of opportunity where immigrants, poor people, and other underprivileged can find a way to make it to prominence and wealth? Or that the top 1% control 42% of the nation's wealth and in the midst of the financial crisis, the CEOs who ran the companies into the ground made multi million dollar golden parachutes for themselves while dismissing their everyday workers with nothing more than a pink slip?

Should I tell them that America is truly the 'Melting Pot' made up of immigrants, transplants, explorers and the descendants of slaves who all have been finding a way to coexist and mesh their cultures? Or that it's a place run by bias older white males who have made my demographic (young, Black males) the default criminal prototype and the most hated and feared demographic in the world?

Should I tell them it's a land of democracy where the son of a Kenyan can be elected President? Or should I tell them it's a land of little political transparency where the President is trying to fight through the maze of back door alliances, campaign contribution loyalties, and party-biased infighting?

Should I tell them it's a land of religious freedom and social choice where there is some level of tolerance for even the most eccentric and extravagant lifestyles? Or should I tell them its a land where fundamentalists of classic religions are constantly plotting terrorism as a statement against the secular social and sexual anarchy that our country has allowed itself?

Should I tell them about our land where education is free and available up until high school and very easily accessible at the college level? Or about how despite these great opportunities, Americans are dropping out in high numbers and falling behind the rest of the developed countries in education while foreigners come in take advantage of our education system right under our noses?

Should I tell them about the land that has gradually made progress as far as political forwardness and social tolerance? Or the country where even systems such as law enforcement, law making, and homeland security have tremendous problems with high-level corruption and untrustworthy practices?

Should I tell them about the powerhouse with the technological and financial might to develop the best medicines and alternate energy sources in the world? Or the country where these capitalistic greed speaks more than right or wrong so health care and other industries cost so much that they alienate most of those who need them?

I could go on forever, but the bottom line is: Do I tell them about the wonderful and glamorized America that I want to come back to and live in after my internship? Or the potentially corrupt and cut throat America that I left to experience another culture? I'm not sure, I feel that to tell one side without the other is being dishonest. America is honestly an elaborate blend of this yin and yang. Maybe I'll just wait til I have a few drinks and see which stories come out.

Food for Thought: Happy New Year, the Questions

Happy New Year Everyone, 2009 is gone and it's not coming back. We've entered a new year and a new decade. This is the fourth decade I'll be alive to witness (80s,90s,00s,and 10s) and I'm grateful for that. There are many who did not make it this far. I look at each New Year as an opportunity for each person and consequently the world to make themselves better. But unfortunately there is also the possibility for things to go the other way also. Which is why I'm always left with so many questions for the new decade: both glisteningly positive and darkly negative. Questions that both excite me and scare me senseless. If u r the type to be frightened by such dark questions, don't read any further; these are the "frightening questions" Samuel L. Jackson spoke of in the movie "Pulp Fiction":

From a personal perspective:

• I'm scheduled to graduate in May, will I make it there? Or will I be hit by a bus before I get there?
• Will I get a job doing something meaningful? Or will I become another paper pusher who resents their job everyday?
• Will I actually find love? Or will I stop believing in it all together?
• Will I remain optimistic in my everyday perspective and endeavors? or the 'real world' tarnish my values and view on things?
  
• Most importantly, will I become a man and role model that everyone can be proud of and look up to? Or will I become a disappointment to those who helped me to become the person who I have become?

From a political and global perspective:

• Will we make the breakthroughs in energy necessary to continue our way of life? Or will anarchy arise as the world fights over the last remaining resources?
• Will the US improve its healthcare and education systems to compare with the world's elite? Or will we continue to fall behind other developed countries in these important areas?
• Will we make big strides towards curing AIDS, Cancer and other widespread problems? Or will a new and adaptive epidemic threaten the health of our entire society?
• Will there be movement towards peace in the Middle East? Or will war threaten the most sacred lands in the world?
• Will we able to prevent terrorist and suicide bombers from killing more large numbers of innocent people and unsuspecting soldiers? Or will they have more extravagant tricks up their sleeves that we are not ready for?
• And most importantly, is this the decade that conflicted nations will find some sort of understanding with one another and work towards cooperation and peace? Or will some event spark the apocalyptic nuclear war that could threaten all of mankind?

These questions run through my head and obviously the answers are not available to satiate my curiosity. Therefore all I can do is try to uphold my responsibility towards giving these questions the positive answers rather than the negative. We have a duty before God (whichever is the center of your faith), my family, and everyone else to try to make the world a better place. We as a people must strive to achieve things in the 2010's that I could not in the 2000's or prior. As in the "Six Million Dollar Man" show from the 70s, "We have the technology." The question is, will we use it for the right things? Our future is waiting for the answers...