Delilah’s Responsibility

Samson-and-Delilah

I wonder if it was a spiritual experience
wonder
if blades covered their eyes against the war to which you had grafted them
wonder
if angels had taken the time to whisper to strands of hair of their coming demise
I wonder if they saw laughter dancing in your eyes
and if they had prepared themselves
with breastplates
and helmets,
and knee pads,
if they held their hands up
wonder if the blade hesitated against the strength of the strands
that rubbed against each other
like
lovers
strands of hair that were intimately entwined
hair that made a covenant with the earth
hair
that had promised to protect him since birth
that clung onto one another
like Samson clung onto you
strands of hair that loved
like Samson loved you.
But I wonder if it was spiritual for you
Did you see them as Kings planted inside the throne of private follicles
and fighting battles there
or was it just
hair?
was it spiritual?
for you?
When you touched it,
did you shake hands with angels,
did truth shoot through your body like electricity,
did your fingers grow numb
Did you feel it?
Did your stomach back flip, turn your tears into rivers
Did your mind leave you
Did it purchase attorney’s to plead mercy on behalf of the war you had begun
the moment you looked into his eyes and said “I love you”
Did the spirit find you guilty of conspiracy
to commit the world’s greatest terrorist attack
or did the Philistines just want their money back
I wonder
if you noticed that at that moment your hands were weapons,
heavy and strong
locked and loaded
weapons of war and your heart were choir directors
and yall played
Oh so softly the music of deception,
you sung ballads on his scalp
And immersed his enemies in your lap
I imagine you had bullets beneath your cuticles
You see, I wonder what your life was like
But most of all,
I wonder about the events that lead up to your iniquity
I wonder
Dearest Delilah… about your responsibility.
Wonder if my brother saw righteousness on top freshly painted nails
I wonder if 7 dread locs are added to your scale
And I pray…
I’m not presented with such a responsibility
I wonder if foresight blessed you with the image of Judas
without his consequence
wonder if his betrayal was your inspiration
to get through this
wonder if you are our warning to learn from the past
so that the present’s truly
a gift.

Movie Night Friday – A Beautiful Mind

MNF

Good Day everyone and welcome to Movie Night Friday, where I list some of my favorite movies and why I love them. So today’s pick was actually not next on my list, but I decided it was a good time to include it since John Nash just passed.

BEIJING, CHINA - SEPTEMBER 28: (CHINAOUT) American mathematician John Forbes Nash looks onduring day one of the 2011 Nobel Laureates Beijing Forum at the National Museum on September 28, 2011 in Beijing, China. The 2011 Nobel Laureates Beijing Forum will kick off on September 28 and last to September 30 with the theme of Innovation and Development. (Photo by ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images)
The real John Nash (Getty Images)

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“A Beautiful Mind” is one of my favorite movies and as the winner of four Oscars, apparently a lot of others love it too. What I didn’t know is that the movie was based on the life of the real John Forbes Nash Jr. who recently died in a car accident with his wife. Despite the movie however, there are some who say that it was not very accurate with his life and that the book was way better. For what it’s worth, even if the movie was not very accurate (movies usually aren’t exactly the same as the books they are based on because every page is money to a production company. Therefore, sometimes they have to eliminate some things and even make up some things. But since I’ve never read the book I cannot give an opinion on the matter. Needless to say the movie is good) the concepts involved are still very much profound if you understand the spiritual side of things, but I digress.

I do find that this movie is challenging to explain because it’s easy to give away the good stuff. But I will do my best to explain the plot to your interest without spoiling it for you:

 

A-Beautiful-Mind-DINash is an anti-social man who seems to exist in a different world, often seeing things in the form of mathematical equations and would much rather spend time solving them than socializing with people. While Nash does befriend a college roommate named Charles, instead of attending class, which he says “dulls the creative mind”, John would much rather analyze pigeons in a park with his own thoughts. A child prodigy, John Nash is a mathematical genius at Princeton University struggling to come up with his original idea. And his mind’s ability to decode numbers and letters and see formula in everyday occurrences is simply remarkable.

 

242532After graduate school, Nash begins teaching where he meets his wife Alicia who is a student of his. The turning point happens when the government asks his help with breaking Soviet codes, which soon gets him involved in a terrifying conspiracy plot. As Nash and Alicia marry, things begin to unravel for John as his world jumps from his head and into the real world. He eventually grows more and more paranoid until a shocking discovery turns his entire world upside down. Ironically, John’s mental strength is tested against the very brilliance of his mind. But there is still a beautiful thing left: Alicia. I love the portrayal of the bond between husband and wife and the way Alicia’s strength is needed to help get her husband back on track.

Trailer:

Funny Movie Mistakes:

a-beautiful-mind_03When John’s wife is in the bathroom she drinks all of the water in a cup, but when she throws it the cup is full again.

Watch the movie and see if you can spot the knot!

 

“What’s your favorite movie? Why do you love it?”

A Year in Reflection

I’ve done a lot of thinking the week leading up to this day about yesterdays, childhood, adulthood, change, and progression. And as the sun drifted into sleep, I could hear the whispers of the wind as the storm walked around Shreveport last night. I stood on my porch and thought again about this past year and whether or not I’ve grown any. The night was a peaceful calm despite the loud conversations going on between thunder, waving trees, and rain drops. They had a message for me I knew, and had been sent as the first to give me a birthday shout.

Thank-You

As I continue to build and to network and socialize with all of you talented people out there, I would just like to give a special S / O to everyone in the blogosphere who has supported this blog, continues to support this blog, and contributed in any way to its growth. I really do appreciate each of you. I’m twenty-eight years old today and as I grow, I hope that you can grow with me and together increase in the productivity of our writing / blogging goals. If the number eight is symbolic of new beginnings, who know what this year has in store. Perhaps I’ll live long enough to tell you about it.We’ll see.

Give Me Life

Backgrounds_Windows_7_-_Source_of_life

Your words are beautiful
the way you paint them.
Tie descriptions around waterfall,
Walk us through frowning mirrors and smothered air,
And then auction them off to our fondest senses.
Touching us gently enough to resurrect imagination,
you have talent and you know it.

Cracking open heaven so that we may feel
what it’s like to sleep on top of clouds
or rightly discern what a teardrop taste like,
for we glide along in the melting pot of your splendor.

But your words do not live,
nor do they bring forth life.
I can hear the sirens of an acrylic woman
drowning in her own salt water…
Can you help her?
Will your words assist her in their beauty?
Your words suck the breath from our lungs with its daintiness
the Picasso of Poems,
A hanging Mona Lisa of walking glamour…
Except what I see
are lynched portraits
pretending to swing delicately
from the trees you attached them to.
A jump rope fantasy of tree houses and hopscotch.

I can smell the sizzling fragrance from miles away,
But beauty is just simply not enough for me.
I need to know that before time hugs my flesh,
before the gravediggers begin their song
Can I count on your words to CPR me into its arms?
Or perhaps,
I’ll just remember how beautiful
you are.

25 Minutes a Day

I’m excited to report that I have begun work on achieving one of my long overdue goals: Exercising. I’m just so excited because I’ve wanted to get back into the swing of things since Billy Blanks and I fell out. This time however, I decided to take it up a level and try my hand at Sean T25. I’m on Week #2, Day 4 and so far so good. But instead of 6 days a week I have limited myself to no more than four. Here’s why I think you should too:

For those of you who really wanna get back into an exercise routine, be realistic about your goals. Implement something you know you can dedicate yourself to and most importantly, incorporate into your everyday life. My mind says to go the full six days, but I know the chance of keeping up with that kind of schedule is slim to none. This time around, I don’t want to just stop after a few weeks, but I would like to make this a daily part of my life. To do this, I have to set goals that are realistic and reachable. Just like in life, an exercise routine can have short term goals and long term goals. For instance: My short term goal is to work out at least 3-4 times a week. My long term goal is to strengthen my heart, endurance, tone up my stomach and maintain a certain body weight; though I’m not so much bent on that part so much as strengthening my breathing. A lot of people think exercise is just for those who are overweight but the truth is that thin people are likely a lot more unhealthy than their big boned brothers and sisters because they think they don’t have to do anything. But it’s not about being skinny vs. being fat, it’s about building strength so that you’re not out of breath after walking a block or up a flight of stairs; this is not characteristic of a healthy heart.

So, here’s my idea for those who would like to get back in the gym, and get back in shape:

25 Minutes a Day

Set aside 25 minutes a day dedicated to exercise. It doesn’t have to be to a workout video or gym even, but you can walk, you can run, or you can move your leg back and forth. Whatever you do, try to give yourself at least 25 minutes a day for a certain number of days. Last week I did 25 minutes for three days, this week I am trying for four. Each week, try to challenge yourself to do a little bit more.

Keep a Success Journal

You’ve seen my re-blog of an idea Timothy Pike had on keeping a success journal. This doesn’t have to be restricted to life, but get one for your workout plan. Every day, record what you did and what you ate. This will push you to achieve those short term goals because you’ll be so excited to write something down. Remember: short term goals are the baby steps to long term goals. So whether you want to lose weight or just tone up, you have to start by taking steps to achieve those short term workout goals.

Substitute

Another idea for those looking to implement more exercise into the day is to substitute some things you normally do so that they become little exercises! For instance:

• instead of sit down at the computer, stand.
• instead of drive to the store, walk (instead of push the stroller, carry the baby a few blocks!)
• instead of use the washing machine, wash on your hands.

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Now, for that last bullet point, in addition to the washboard, here’s a fun way to get your arms going: Using a plunger and a bucket, fill it with water, detergent, and some light clothing, like socks, underwear or washcloths (it also helps to drill holes at the bottom of the plunger around the base and to use a bucket that has a top to it for suction. Also make sure the bucket is deep enough). And…plunge! Switch it around, move your arms up and down, swirl it, just plunge. Here, you become the washing machine. You’ll get some workout in and your clothes clean at the same time.

Your Own Pace

Whatever you do, stay focused on your own pace. The key here is not faster; it’s longer. If your using a workout video and you feel like you’re about to pass out it’s OK to slow down, just don’t stop. Keep going through to the end even if you have to walk in place. Just keep moving. That’s what I think we miss when it comes to working out. Everyone wants to focus so much on weight loss and fast results that we forget to pace ourselves. Of course, you’ll eventually have to challenge yourself to that next level as you gain momentum and get stronger. But also remember that the victory does not belong to the fastest or the skinniest, it belongs to those who endure to the end.

• Map out your daily routine for the week (Be realistic, what are you going to really  dedicate yourself to?)
• Do the routine for at least 25 minutes a day
• Chart your progress, feelings, changes, foods, etch in a success journal (or your blog!)
• Substitute daily task so that they work some kind of muscle
• Slow down, keep moving, just don’t stop

To help us to motivate each other, I will start doing more posts like this to update you all on my experiences and you can too. In this way, we can help each other with fun ideas. Teamwork makes the dream work!

Henry Maybury (#Featured)

The re-blog fun continues! Check out Lauren Marie’s first ever interview, with Henry Maybury, a new up and coming artist with a twist. Henry set up a charity following the death of his brother, who lost his battle with alcohol addiction and all proceeds of his music goes to this charity! Check it out!