10 Reflections on 2007

As 2007 comes to a close, I take time to reflect on my life and make changes as I see fit.

This year, I made choices that I regret and choices that I wish I could take back. But until I finish installing the flux capacitor into my Delorean, I can't make those things go away. But for them, I am a better man.

I loved and lost and loved again... and lost again, but that's another story. In neither case am I bitter. Let's just say that however perfect a piece of a puzzle may be carved, it may fit together with a lot of other pieces, but it only works with it's intended matching piece.

I began to write again. Words began to flow into ideas and flood my mind with images that screamed that pen be put to paper (or fingers to keys in my case). Poems and novels and screenplays fought for the right to be discovered first. None of them have won their battle, but one is emerging as the front runner. But at any rate, I'm trying to follow Maslow's teaching. As an artist, I need to create my art. And until we get into a position where we create our own characters, shows, and entertainment from conception to production, we must still expect to see crap like Cavemen get green lit to primetime TV.

I made family a priority. I was able to visit my family in Chicago this year, whom I haven't seen in years. But I also made time to spend with my extended family. For my boys who have become like brothers to me over the years, I made time to spend with them. We celebrated Felton's Birthday, Roland's Graduation, My Birthday, Roland's Birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and a host of other occasions together. Family time is essential to help yourself not go crazy.

I turned another year older and realized that 30 really is the new 20. I still have time to live my dreams and to find the woman that will help me to realize them. Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you... ever notice that the first letters of ask, seek, and knock spell ASK? Guess I gotta get the courage to do that one first.

I still miss my mother. But after facing some things that I didn't want to face, I know that everything will be okay. I'm thankful to God and to the person that had the foresight to tell me to come home when I needed to. I was there not as much as I needed to be, but I was there when it mattered the most. Call your mom. Tell her you love her. After you hang up the phone, call her back and tell her again. Trust me on this one.

I tried to be a good wingman and in the meantime, I came up with the almost perfect way to explain to women how dudes approach them in a club. I give you in it's entirety from my earlier blog... My Theorem, copyright Corey Anthoney Cole, 2007. Ladies, please make note of this and pass it along to those who need it.

Ladies, we need a plan. See, for us, we may take 20 minutes to gain the courage to come talk to you. Now if we are imbibing in that "liquid courage" then the equation looks more like TA = (T)/(.5*D) Where TA is the real time to approach, T is the standard time to approach, and D is the number of drinks you've had. So if we would normally approach you in 20 minutes, in the club, with 2 drinks in us, that seems about right. With only one drink, it'll take 40 minutes to make that move.

Now when you have your girls (G) with you, that final number is multiplied by the number in your party TA = G*((T)/(.5*D)). It kind of explains why the first dude to approach you is normally drunk. They get less and less drunk as the night goes on. They also get nicer and nicer since the nice guys drink less and tend to wait out the standard amount of courage time. Keep this in mind when you realize that the first 10 dudes to approach have made you bitter to the last few.

I made a conscious effort to lose weight and it paid off... 40 pounds so far. I just needed the right motivation I guess. My goal is not to be skinny, but to get more healthy and back to at least my weight when I was in college.

I realized that in 2007, there are sill some ignorant people around, and that racism is still alive in America. America was built by it, so it's foolish for us to believe it will go away. We need to embrace the idea that this is where we are and make an effort to go forward by looking back. Why were there more black graduates in the 50's and 60's than there are today?
I celebrated the rebirth of hip-hop. Once again, she was the shining angel that soothed me with her lyrics. I'd like to thanks the paramedics that revived her, Messieurs S. Carter, T. Kweli, L. Lynn, and K. West. For the uninitiated, the would be Jay-Z, Talib Kweli, Common, and Kanye West. New music was released by all and I saw all but 1 live in concert. Let's hope they teach the hip-hop community how to rhyme without misogyny.

I realized that I am a complex individual. I am sometimes light and dark, dumb and smart, and every shade of both in between. I am a work in progress and I am the architect, or as Sean Carter says of the late great Christopher Wallace, "Then B.I. said Hov, remind yourself. Nobody built like you. You design yourself."

Now as I look forward to 2008, I make plans, the least of which is less procrastination. You will finally see the blog on being a good wingman, as well as my opus on being a hustler. And maybe after the country selects the lesser of two evils for a new leader, things will really begin to look up.