Nobody Will Listen Anyways

These gas prices suck!  People are trying to take our houses!  Taxes are sooo high!  The politicians are all liars.  "So why don't you do something about it?"  I ask.  "Oh...I don't say anything because no one will listen."  That's what it has come down to.  That's what most people knowingly or not, have been reduced to.  A powerless voiceless insignificant speck.  That makes me sad.  But the good news is they are all wrong!

I am convinced that if enough people, make enough noise, for long enough, our elected officials will listen.  They will listen because they won't have a choice but to listen.  Each of us has unimaginable power, and the key to unlocking that power is our belief that we do indeed have it.  

The changes that Martin Luther King helped to bring about were impossible.  The changes that Gandhi helped bring about were impossible.  The independence those rebels won from the mighty British empire that led to the United States of America was impossible.  It's a good thing these revolutionaries didn't care much for 'common sense'.  

We have a choice here in America.  We can be victims and let the crappy economy and uncaring politicians crush our spirit.  Or, we can stand up and defy convention.  We can tap into the awesome power that lies dormant in each and every one of us.  However, if you honestly believe that there is nothing we can do about the state of our nation and the quality of our lives, then you are right.  You are right by choice.  

As for me...I'm going to make another choice.  A choice that respects the power I know resides inside of me.  I am going to make a choice that will not let me give my power away to high gas prices, high food costs, a slow economy, John McCain, or Barack Obama.  The only limitation to what I can do is my vivid imagination.  Trust me on this one...that means there are no limits.

Stay Fly and Fly High!

KLH

Excuse Me While I Kiss The Sky

Yep...even though I still have my struggles...I am walking on clouds.  Why you might ask?  Because I set a goal for myself that was a little bit of a stretch, and I achieved that goal.  A couple of times I thought I might bale, but the bigger, better, and  greater part of me decided that I must press on...and press on I did.

I once heard Russell Simmons,  a very successful man, say that people don't usually fail they simply quit.  I might add that there are a lot of talented people (and a lot more people who could be talented) who don't lack ability they lack stamina.  The universe knows the difference between wishful thinking and dedication.  Dedication will make you stay up late at night, in a hot studio working on songs.  Dedication will make you call those last twenty names on your list.  Dedication will make you do things wishful thinkers will not do...and the universe knows the difference.

Success really is fairly simple.  If you do enough of the right things you will succeed.  Many of us know the right things, we just fail to do them enough.  We can know we have done enough when success is the result.  How long do you try?  You try until it's done.  

In the meantime I want to tell you the necessary building blocks are small victories.  If you put enough of them together you will achieve wonderful things.  More importantly you will feel good about yourself.  When you feel good about yourself it will give you the energy you need to go a little further.  The further you go the closer ultimate victory is.  

So, I am a couple of steps closer, and I must say it feels really good to say I'm going to do something that matters to me, and then get it done.  I can get use to feeling this high...so high I can kiss the sky.  Come on up and join me...it's beautiful up here.

Stay Fly and Fly High!

KLH

You Are Not The Boss Of Me

I am BAAAAACK!!!

That's right you are not the boss of me...the you being the Government.  We are living in difficult times.  Ridiculous gas prices that affect the cost of damn near everything else are making people feel victimized.  As I talk to people about the economy, politics, and what not, folks invariably say 'Oh well...there's nothing we can do'.  They think that politicians are always going to look out for themselves at the expense of the people they are supposed to serve...that's right SERVE!

I see things differently (there's a surprise).  I think things should and CAN be exactly as they were intended to be.  The United States of America is a democracy (at least it was). Rule of the people, by the people and for the people.  Over many many decades we as a people have willingly surrendered our power.  We let politicians create laws and policies that serve their own narrow interests. We let them spend this country into a black hole of debt.  We let them take us into an immoral war in Iraq, and we let them refuse to do SOMETHING to restrain the price of fuel.  

Our elected officials have no respect for us for the same reason that an abusive husband has no respect for the wife he brutalizes...we let them do it.  As long as we are apathetic, as long as we feel there is nothing we can do, as long as we refuse to get involved...our elected officials will continue to abuse and neglect us.

Now I can't lie...I've only written complaints to a politician a couple of times so this smack down is just as much for me as it is for most Americans.  GET OFF YOUR BEHINDS AND DO SOMETHING!!!!!  If you are not happy with the state of affairs write to your congressman or senator.  Go to a town hall meeting and let your will be known.  VOTE!!!  Talk to your friends and neighbors about empowerment rather than mass victimization.  We defeated the mighty British Empire...What happened to us???  We got intellectually fat, lazy, and pitiful!

But we can change.  The government is not our boss...I am the boss and you are the boss.  Want lower gas prices demand it.  Do you hate the pettiness of political campaigns?  Write to that person and tell them they are going to loose their job if they don't cut the crap and do the work of the people. We are the captains of our own destinies.  The politicians are the deck hands that we hire to cut bait and swab the decks.  

Stop thinking that you have no choice...it simply is not true.  You are the boss.

Stay Fly and Fly High!

KLH 

We Done Good

Well...it's 11:25 PM June 3, 2008...a historical date.  Tonight Senator Barack Obama became the presumptive Democratic nominee for President of the United States of America.  B-A-R-A-C-K  O-B-A-M-A  Are you kidding??? Oh my God!!!  I'm very excited but more importantly I'm very proud. Not just because my guy won, but because we as a country accomplished something grand.

Regardless of party affiliation a loud and wonderful statement was made.  We have come closer to the realization of MLK's Dream of a world where color is no longer an impediment. Even if Barack doesn't win the presidency we as a country won.  We as a people decided that the "content of our character" is what matters beyond all else.  

There is a lot  more to be done to heal race relations in this country.  For some of you it may be surprising to hear that racism is still alive and kicking...well SURPRISE!!!  But tonight when the magic number of 2,118 was surpassed by Senator Obama  I felt proud, and you should too.  

Now comes the real battle.  There will be harsh things said, and a lot of feelings will be hurt. The unity many see right now will soon melt away.  But tonight, we done good.

Stay Fly and Fly High!

KLH

The Law of Attraction

Warning!!!!  

Please don't read this post while you're eating....(I'm just saying)  So anyways...nature called and I had to answer.  By day I'm a mild mannered (yeah right) tile contractor.  I've been in this business for around twenty three or twenty four years, and I've used the 'facilities' on a number of occasions.  But never has it been like this.  

It was around 1 p.m. and my lunch was trying to makes it's presence felt.  Lunch has a way of making it's point regardless of what you might think about it.  My stomach was making every kind of sound imaginable.  For a minute I thought I was in Jurassic Park.  I fought the good fight...and lost...I had to go.  

So...off I went to the dreaded 'Port-O-Let'.  I try to never use them, but what I want rarely seems to matter during times like these.  The dinosaur sounds my belly was making literally 'moved' me to handle my biz.  So I lift up the lid and 'Thank God' it looks like the 'John' had just been cleaned, and I'd be the first to soil it.  (If you have to do soiling...it's always best if you're the first one in.)  

So I'm sitting there, with my t-shirt over my mouth and nose (I don't know if it helps, but it makes me feel better).  For whatever reason I think to myself, 'In all the years I've been a contractor using 'Port-O-Lets' I've never been splashed.  Two seconds later the first bomb drops and...AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! I got splashed.  DAMN!!!

My first thought was 'Am I sure I was the first one in?'  Was the splash a pure splash?  Or, was I sharing unimaginable waste with the carpenters, siding guys, plumber, AND electrician?  Oh my God...what does that deep blue water do to innocent buttocks?  I'm soooo afraid.

So kids...The moral of the story is this...remember that the 'Law of Attraction" is powerful and non-discriminatory.  Never think about splashing of any kind when you're sitting on a Port-O-Let.

Stay Dry and Fly High!

KLH

So Where Are You From?

So...I'm up in Rhode Island doing a very fancy tile job for a lovely couple in a VERY lovely summer home...yep.  The lady of the house makes us a fantastic lunch of pasta with homemade sauce, fresh salad,  a nice thick grilled steak, and a very nice red wine...I believe it was a cabernet...but at the end of the day it's all red to me!!!  Anyways...we're having a great conversation when I'm asked a very (what I consider to be odd) question:  "So Ken, where are you from?"

Let me fill in a couple of blanks for you, this lovely couple is from Italy...both of them born over there.  I am African American...as far as I know.  That is the dilemma 'as far as I know'.  I want to be clear the question was not in anyway out of line or rude, not in anyway.  However the question struck me as quite odd because to me it's obvious that I'm African American.  I have a very dark complexion and have course curly hair, that makes me African American right?

So my response to the question "Where are you from?" is "I'm African American"..."but where are you from?" they asked again, to which I replied  "Africa".  In my mind I felt uncomfortable because the fact of the matter is I don't REALLY know where I am from.  This is a problem that is quite unique here in America.  

ALMOST  everyone here in America knows where they are from.  Italian, Irish, Albanian, French, Puerto Rican, Mexican, etc.  I think the couple I was dining with assumed that I, like them, and most Americans, knew exactly where my heritage came from.  They were asking an innocent question.  The problem is that I and almost all African Americans have no idea what country we are from. Most of us say we're African American only because of the color of our skin and not because we have any idea whatsoever where our country of origin is.

I think that most "black folks" generally don't think about it.  As for me when I do...it hurts.  The legacy of America's 'Original Sin', the institution of slavery, is countless people with no roots.  Countless people who can only feel in a superficial way any ethnic pride.  Countless people who have a wonderful, colorful, and rich history that is beyond their reach.

Slavery has long since been abolished so why do many African Americans still have a chip on their shoulder?  Maybe...just maybe because when somebody asks us "Where are you from?' we don't have a good answer.  Perhaps you can understand why that makes me sad.

Stay Fly and Fly High!

KLH  

Those Ads You See at the Top

The ads at the top of my page are not generated by me.  Apparently Google scans my blog for content and then puts an ad that is the exact opposite of what I think and believe.  Lucky me.

Just thought you should know.

Stay Fly and Fly High!

KLH