times are ruff, but i really want to take her out...

...worry not, my friend. i know, shes very cute and sexy and you absolutely have to take her out. there just so happens to be one problem: youre a little broke.



its alright, i think most men have encountered this issue at least once in their dating lifetime. things happen sometimes. there might have been an issue in payroll and they didnt put on the right amount of hours. theres identity fraud, unexpected automatic charges, or maybe you simply dropped it on the way to see your local herb specialist. whatever your reason may be for dwindling funds in your account, i have your back, son. let us explore our free and cheap options.

the brooklyn museum of art



every saturday the brooklyn museum of art has first saturdays. the first saturday of each month is free admission. ALL. DAY. LONG. with the exclusion of the more higher advertised exhibits, the entire museum is up for your viewing pleasure. they also have 2 cafeterias that serve wine. YES! it may get a little crowded at times, but hey, its free man.

picnic



ive heard once that the picnic is lame, overly mushy, and just plain weaksauce. this may be true, but sometimes you have to go out on a limb and make things happen. make some fried chicken (or buy some from popeyes) and potato salad, bring a nice looking sheet, some refreshments, throw all those items in a backpack, and BAM, youre done son.

dallas bbqs



a negro favorite and black people haven with all the fried foods you could ever desire. their cornbread is good for the price and they give a nice hefty, down south similar portion of food. AND you can get this boss sized drink for nine bucks. chillin.




get sensual and take a walk



you need to get to know the lady youre taking out, so this way you can talk to her personally and closely. ask her about her life and heres the secret fellas....LISTEN. yes, it works. you listen and respond. simple.


lurk at barnes and noble

show her that you are a very avid reader and that your intellect knows no limits. your brain is always thirsty for knowledge, yearning to be quenched by something informative and relevant. or you can just look at magazines for free.

take her to the park



remind her how fun it was to be a kid. its a nice thing to look back at the nostalgic items of our childhood. a nice swing ride is simple, inexpensive, and the joy it releases is pure.

just get lost in an excursion of nothingness

dont take it this far,


but sometimes the best thing to do is just to go. pick a direction and move to the beat of the ocean. or street traffic.

thats all the tips i have for now. Remember: to ALWAYS take her to her front door. you always want to make sure that she gets home safely and you are not too busy to go the extra mile to make sure of that. word up.

meet the homies, vol. 1

growing up, ive never been close to my family. outside of a select few of my relatives, the only people ive ever offered any kind of love to have been my friends. many have come, some have gone, but ive had many good times with damn near all of them. i just wanted to acknowledge some of them.






one of the closest homies i have right now, nikios is, in fact, that dude. here he is shitfaced at union square. somehow this man still had the balance and coordination to land majority of the flatground shit he attempted. like i said, that dude.



nikios' chest hairs. yes, they deserve their own picture. those strands are of epic proportions.



i give olu a very hard time because hes a slacker. he's blowing it. but he does have the potential to be successful. hes always very respectful and tries to look out. just chill on the mooching, my man.



the homie ricardo. smooth ass style and has the og antonio banderas hair. antonio was hot back in the day.



i am very proud to say that dean is my 3rd filipino homie. im moving up in life.



baller ass lexie. she fired me. i hate you. kidding. i love this woman and her realness. plus, todd is the man. peep their blog too, http://www.himandherinthestuy.com



could never write about lexie and not include her fresh.

i know, i left a lot of people out. that is why this is titled volume 1. worry not homies, i got yall.

the flowers bloom in the dead of winter

here's to me wishing it was spring again





i hate cold weather, yet i love to layer clothing. weird.

the black male professional athlete: the new court jester of proper conduct

i am pretty sure most of you are well aware of the current issue concerning Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas. if you do not know what i am referring to, allow me to inform you on this matter.



in the beginning, Gilbert had a bet with teammate Javaris Crittenton. Arenas lost. he apparently refused to pay his debt, and the two drew guns on each other. no shots were fired, thank heavens, but these are professional athletes acting as if they are still in the ghetto. during the second altercation, i believe Arenas was the sole firearm toting millionaire to unleash his hammer. he has already admitted to keeping a number of firearms in his locker. in his defense, he insists that the weapons are not loaded. yes Gilbert, we believe that the guns are not loaded, but do you really think that we would be that naive to not expect you to have a pack of bullets in your locker as well?



so now the limit has been reached. the nba has suspended Arenas indefinitely, citing that "he is not currently fit to take the court in an NBA game". see what you did to yourself, my friend? yet somehow, Arenas does not take any of these troubles seriously. why? because he's already rich and he is a professional athlete, which obviously means that he is more important than all of us regular job having folkies.

the reason this post title is specifically directed and targeting the black male is because black female athletes generally steer clear of media and legal issues, with the exception of Marion Jones. The white athlete, male or female, stays out of the negative spotlight, minus the major league baseball steroid scandals. these athletes are role models, whether they want to be or not. they all have agents for a reason. they are not only there to help them maximize their fiscal worth. they are also being paid to maintain their clients' public image. why these young, talented, and heavily rewarded men refuse to let go of the hood mentality, i have not the slightest idea. let's explore this further with more examples.




Cincinatti Bengals former wide receiver Chris Henry is now deceased. He also had many legal troubles in his unfairly short tenure in the NFL. somewhere along the way, he found himself and realized that once you are in the public eye, you can no longer do as you please and know that only the people in your immediate circle will find out. once you are on the international stage, the entire world will know of your misconduct. Henry began getting his life in order. he had his longtime girlfriend, his children, his family, not to mention that i used to abuse my opponents with that man in Madden 07. Sadly, his life was taken far too early. These men should use him as an example. do not postpone getting your life in order. you never know what will happen to you tomorrow, no matter how many digits are on your checking account receipt.





excuse my french, but Pacman Jones is just a fuck up. let's see how many different pictures i can find of him in court.


on his way to court






i'm over it, but for his finale, the mugshot






i believe you are already aware of what happened with this guy. he just did not learn his lesson. for the record, as a black man, i can honestly say.......he did that shit. sorry, Mr. Orenthal James, but you are a dummy.


i could go on and on about this. i guess i just want these men to take their image more seriously.

just to say, Peyton Manning is that dude



beware the play action
LETS GO COLTS!!!!

so it's a new year

...so as i let 'thriller' rock in the background, i wanted to jot down a few things. i do not have any new years resolutions. don't really believe in those anymore. resolutions are just a way for you to know what you need to correct and you'll dedicate 4 days towards that goal, before the dream of obtaining that you wanted fades into obscurity. this year, i just want to set a couple goals for myself. things that are realistic and attainable.

- i need a second job

right now, i'm pretty broke. i wasn't always broke, but with the holidays and lack of hours, it just caught up to me. so yeah, mo' $ mo' $ mo' $

- i need to move from this dungeon

i've been living in the same basement for 2 years and about 4 months. it could be a lot worse, but i'm just over it. this room renting shit is weaksauce. jay needs an apt. so, the plan is to either move with the homie jen or with the homies ricaro and paris. we'll see what happens.

- i need to get back in school and, more importantly, STAY THERE

uncle sam, stop being a damn cheapskate. the issue here is that federal financial aid is difficult to hold on to for me. now that i'm 23 and since i don't break bank, hopefully the government will help out a little bit with something that has nothing to do with the overseas war.

basically, i just want to progress in life and not be a bum for the majority of my life. so with this, i will say happy new year to you sucka ass fool. don't get into too much trouble, think of others, don't be afraid to love, and stay true.