Speaking on Our Thoughts...

I am currently in the city of Angels, rocketing toward a BET reception and meet and greet. yeah, my thumbs are poppin' cuz i'm typing on my treo. consequently, I won't take long on this entry. just wanted to let ya'll know i'm alive and scooting around the country promoting The Second Chance.

shoutouts to: Paul Crouch, Jr, Clifton Davis, and the TBN Gang for a real neat segment that aired yesterday worldwide. it was a lot of fun and my first time kickin' it with 30 million viewers. also to all the L.A. media, who didn't chew up a country boy and spit him out. :-)
i'd love to hear some feedback from the wonderful peeps I met. click on the messageboard link to the left and stay in touch.

i'm out for now. thanks for checkin' in. my thumbs hurt.
obafemi

...he used to let the web smoke. now he slams it when he's done and makes sure it's broke. (all due respect to Rakim, i had to just borrow the lyric to describe my webmaster. he's da man, believe that).

people, friends, enemies, romans, africans, countrymen, countrywomen, and just anyone who stops by with righteous intent, if you look to the left on the site, you'll see a link to a discussion forum. i'm glad to have a place where we can all dialogue now. i've got a few topics set up already, so dive in and lets rock.

we can rap about what the crew talks about on News and Notes with Ed Gordon, what happens on Freestyle, what's going on with The Second Chance movie, what you may have heard--or thought you heard--me say at any number of public places, or what's going on in the world at home and abroad. it's my hope--if we can avoid the malicious folk--to keep up a solid dialogue with everyone who stops in and makes a comment.

with that, i'll be blogging a little more often, so keep stopping by. i'm in the WHIRLWIND with traveling for The Second Chance. Keep me in your prayers and thoughts and i'll keep you in mind.

ever available and striving to keep it real,
joc

i just got out of a rigorous counseling session that saved my relationship.

it was tough, frustrating at times, honest, uncomfortable, but in the end...necessary. it took me a long time to get to a counselor who could help me on this level, for my relationship is a little more complicated than the average joe's--at least, so i'm told. but through it all, i believe i'll be able to stick this thing out, because of the salvation that came on the other end of the phone line, after an emergency call i put in just after 6 this morning. a few hours ago, a Sprint Level 2 technician saved my life.

you see, i have a Treo phone, and yes, i am married to technology.

but last night, i almost had to consider the unthinkable...ahhh...it pains me to think of the "D" word, but i will be honest and say that i did consider Deactivation. sure, it would've been painful. i'd have lost access to all my emails and contacts, to my schedule and photos, but i really considered giving it all up for the sake of some sanity when i couldn't get into my vision package.

then a voice from Tech Heaven (that sounded, remarkably, like my Bass Player) saved my phone. i'll never know her name, or even if she was speaking to me from a call center in Bangledesh, but she kept me from sweating and talked me through getting things right in my tech life again, and for that, i'll be eternally grateful. ok...maybe not eternally (something invariably will happen again as it goes). but for now, she eased the sting of a chink in a technophile's armor, and i'm ready to lose some more sleep staying in touch with the world.

the day opens with a realization that things are starting to really change these days. i had a meeting last night with my manager and, if things go well, i'll be on the road at the end of next week to start spreading the word about the movie. i'm hoping for a really good showing the first weekend of release that will catapult it to the next level. i'm not into the "fame" thing, but i sure would like to be able to open up some doors for all the insanely talented people i've met over the years who just need an opportunity to shine and soar. and isn't that what it's all about? sharing the talent God has given all of us with anyone who'll dare and care to warm themselves in the glow of the fire?

i actually considered going back to bed for a while, but i think i'll throw "Remember The Titans" into the laptop's DVD player (mmm...more technology) for the umpteenth time and see what comes out of the old noggin. or, better yet...

i think i'll make a call or two on my cell phone. it may be you that i wake up...
;-)

joc

resolutions and revolutions. who knows what this year will bring. as for me, i'm just excited that i'm not under a rock somwhere after not having a cup of coffee for three days. i don't know if you'd call it a resolution per se, but i had to do something about that daily cup of Starbuck's. i only had one a day, but i wasn't always a coffee drinker that sought out that green sign in every city i was travelling in (those who do, you feel me).

i really think it started after my Pops made his transition to The Ancestors. he was a fo' real coffee man, as was mymaternal grandfather (hmmm...one of my few memories of him is sipping coffee from his saucer when i was a pre-schooler; could that have been the start of something?). every day after Pops took ill, i'd get him a cup of true hot mud from the Krystal hamburger restaurant. immediately after he got his wings, my brother and i had a cup or two and since then, i started just drinking regular coffee (as opposed to decaf, which i used to drink for taste and smell).

however, i had to come to the conclusion that caffeine ain't a great thing to be addicted to on many levels. african-american men have a tendency to have all kinds of stress-related health problems like heart disease, prostate cancer, etc., and although i'm not a cat that trips on mortality, i do want to stick around to make sure i get a few things done in this lifetime and look out for my little one who is getting SO tall these days.

so the holidays ended up pretty good. i travelled to a couple of cities and re-connected with some old pals. i went ahead and got an ipod nano (man, it's cool) for a multi-purpose use, including tracking How Blak Kin Eye Bee for travel. i also got a 1 gig chip for the treo because my phone was freaking OUT!! i also received the blessed gift of TWO pairs of blue jeans, replacing the ragged, tattered pairs i've been holding fast to for the last year or two. so, God blessed a brotha real good.

i'm gonna jump on some house cleaning and organizing--the "cleanbeforethenewyearcomes" thing is out the window--and get ready to hit the road to promote "The Second Chance." i start sometime next week, if i'm not mistaken. i hope everyone out there had a slammin' holiday season.

may your dreams flourish in '06 like never before.

your brother in the pursuit of it all...

joc