Meeting of the Minds

Can our minds say hello to each other? Even if we haven't. They can talk about where they've been. Mine has been in California. On a beach thinking about a past life where we knew each other and we talked all night about where we wanted to go. Then it went to Paris and waited for you to join at the Eiffel but you never showed. Where has yours been? On a boat or maybe in New York? Or maybe sitting on that same beach next to mine. Just wasn't the right time. In my mind I can look to the right and see you there. You're magnificent and the water barely touches your feet. Even in my mind you're more beautiful than I could imagine. All I need to do is say hi and get you to talk to me. Then our hearts will follow and lead us to that beach just in time to watch the sunrise. 

Last of the Mohicans

Sometimes I like the attention and the praise.  I'm a black male married w/ 2 kids and I'm an excellent father, niggas ask me questions like I'm Uncle Phil (a month ago I woulda said Cliff Huxtable).  But then there are other times when I feel ashamed, often I wonder am I the only dude in my age range living this almost "sitcom" life.  I thought back to when I was younger and realized I was one of very few guys who's parents were happily married.  It seems as if black dudes just don't want to do right.  I could go into facts and statistics and say how bad environments are killing of the strong black man but that won't fix shit.  All in all I'm going to make this a short post and promise to do my part and teach my sons how to treat a woman, how to communicate and how to be strong.  So if 15 or 20 years from now your daughter tells you she's dating someone named Carter Powell or Levi Powell, she's won the jackpot.  

Pain

Have you ever thought about how pain affects you? Any type of pain whether it's emotional or physical. How do you act after enduring pain? Physical pain may cause you to favor the injured area when performing any type of activities. In doing so you can neglect the area and not let it fully recover. Or you can work on that area so much that it's stronger than it was before the pain. You can heal and be just fine with proper care. In most cases you don't carry the effects of that type of pain for the next few years. Emotional pain is way different. You lose a loved one and you hurt forever. A kid gets hurt emotionally bc their dad leaves hurts forever. Your significant other breaks your heart and it might not hurt forever but it feels like it at the time. No matter the situation that type of pain stays with you and constantly bothers you. How do you get away from it? Surrounding yourself with friends just delays it. Thinking about something else just delays it. Trying to replace what you lost doesn't make it better. I've recently been dealing with pain from a relationship and after almost 32 years of living I've realized I have been closed since a relationship that ended almost 10 years ago. I don't need to say what caused it but I've carried that with me ever since. I never sat and thought about it but that has to be it. It's just weird how we carry emotional pain around for years and never know until you meet a situation that causes you to look inside yourself and say you should do something about it. The mind and inner workings of our brain can be as strong or as weak as we let it. You just have to find your own way of dealing with it. Don't let it consume you. Pray about it and realize you can always overcome it. 

Change Comes from Within

Last night we set ourselves back. I mean I get it. People are outraged over the decision to not indict a white police officer for murdering a black youth. Regardless of the circumstances surrounding it Mike Brown shouldn't have been killed. It seems like everybody is ready to point the finger and ready to tear down a city that they have to live in and maybe even rebuild. At some point we have to ask ourselves what can we do as a people to prevent this type of injustice moving forward? I love the passion shown during these types of times but we need to display that same passion and need to protest against blacks killing each other. It's crazy how the robbing and killing of another black man gets celebrated but it's war when a white person does it. We have to be smarter and more aware of the traps that we fall into. This is modern day slavery and the way we overcome it is to stop all the bullshit. I've seen so many people say they fear for their sons. Why? I don't fear for mine or my son's life because I act accordingly and I'll teach him the same. I'm not saying racial injustice won't happen but it definitely reduces the chances. Now I'm seeing everybody saying they're boycotting Black Friday. What exactly is that going to do? I say stop the looting which does absolutely nothing for the cause. People are looking like fools and I'm sure MikeBrown's family isn't pleased. That's not going to bring him back. That's not going to end racism. That's just adding to the problem. If the people want to take action we need to start at home and in our own neighborhoods. Start at home and let your children know they're just as valuable as the white kids across the street. Let them know they can be anything and do anything. Make sure they're being properly educated. Help them to understand that violence isn't the best way to go. Now is the time to come together as a people and say we value each other. We need to look out for each other. Realize who the enemy is. It's not the white man. We're slaves of our own minds. If we're never taught there's a better way how will we ever know? I pray for the everyone involved in the tragedy in Ferguson and I hope it gets better but violence and looting isn't the answer. We need to open our eyes and use our minds to truly be free. 

The Universe is Your Friend

I'm a firm believer in the type of energy you put out will be the energy you get. Not necessarily the definition of karma everybody warns you about. I don't think every action will yield an equal action, but I do think when you purposely do bad things with the intent to hurt or when you do good with no expectation of receiving anything you will get in return what you deserve. I watched a film called "The Secret" a few weeks ago and it dealt with the Law of Attraction. It simply states the energy you give and what you ask the universe for will give you what you ask for. Positive thoughts become actions and manifest themselves into something great. You just have to do your part which is nothing when you think about it. If you got a dream or goal all you have to do is grind it out and believe the universe rocks with you that much to where you can want something so bad you'll actually get it. I said before we don't know how much power we possess. A dream can easily become a reality with a few positive thoughts and actions to match. If this post inspires anybody to take that step then it served its purpose. Whatever you ask for it shall be yours.

Are You Pretty Enough?

“I see so many looking for validity, that’s the wrong search if what’s lost is dignity” – Joe Budden; rapper

How many likes did your last IG picture have? How many selfies did you take to get that perfect one? What woman did you see with your hairstyle before you got it? What does your ex boyfriend new girl look like? Are you pretty enough? Are you sexy enough? Do you ask yourself these questions too much? More than likely you do!

This week the hot topic has been the Kim Kardashian naked pictures for Paper magazine… of course everybody has an opinion. The two most disappointing things about it is that she showed that this is a generation of controlled minds because she hashtagged #BreakTheInternet when she uploaded the pictures and the internet proceeded to discuss them nonstop for 48 hours like we haven’t seen her sextape and like 30 celebrity nude photos didn’t hit the internet in one week a month ago. Secondly it shows that beauty is more important than life in this generation as it will forever get more tweets than Ferguson. But the pressure is more on women than anything and no one is really focusing on how demoralizing it is to them.

I’m not a feminist or a blind man that doesn’t enjoy the female body so I’m not opposed or as judgmental when it comes to nudity, but I understand diversity. Like I feel Beyoncé and Jessica Biel are both tremendously attractive. Jennifer Aniston and Sanaa Lathan. My point is too much these days women are trying, at their detriment, to fit a mold of what all men supposedly want.  But as unrealistic is that is if you get enough tweets from males about this woman, this type of woman, or this body part of a woman… women believe they need that. It becomes programmed into their thinking. So the slim woman feels like she needs this “fat ass”. The brown skin woman feels she needs to be light skin with long hair so she perfects her make up and filter combinations. This contemporary woman feels she needs to wear short shorts or skirts and show off her legs and half of her butt. This well dressed sexy woman feels she needs to be naked sexy. The girl with the “fat ass” feels she has to be bent over in every picture or avi. All of this just creates insecurity and misdirected focus. Honestly most men like what they think other men want too so it’s a dangerous cycle. The expectations become unreachable.

You then add in the companionship façade equation. These women with the “fat asses” and no clothes on become the ones always “with” a man. Always taking the exotic trips. Always getting their bills paid. Getting all the retweets and followers. Always getting the husband, kids, divorces, and loads of child support because of the façade of what is an attractive woman they created. All because of how she looked and how much of those looks she nurtured and exposed, in essence, is why men wanted her so bad. To a woman who has been trying to find herself, and find love, and has little guidance from a good father or father figure, this is what she sees. She doesn’t focus on the fact that these females are losing as many men as they are getting because they only see that they are getting opportunity after opportunity to stand next to a man while she being regular and not being naked up and down social media can’t garner that same attention.

I see all of this and I sympathize with it. I also realize how unattractive to me a woman that thinks just being typical attractive is. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” of course but beauty to me is more than looks. I wish more females realized that men out there that feel this way are the ones that really want the woman over the trophy. A woman can be sexier to me in hospital scrubs and glasses than in a club outfit because not only is her body in tact, her mind is also. Her focus is. Her ambition is. Her comfort with herself appears to be in tact. That’s attractive to me. Can you hold a conversation? Can you educate me on things? Can you still interest me after sex? Does your life revolve around gossip? Can you properly take care of home? Do you prioritize family over “fun”? Do you work hard? These questions normally go unanswered today because they go unasked, all that seems to matter, and at a growing rate, is are you pretty enough? Do you dress sexy enough? Is your ass fat enough? Media pushes it, social media adapts to it, women sacrifice far too much for it! Kim Kardashian has been married three times with that same body. Halle Berry has been married multiple times with the same body and face. Beyonce’s high school sweetheart dumped her. The regular lady, my grandma who is beautiful inside and out, has been married over 30 years. It’s more than what meets the eye and no one rule for beauty will always apply.

I would teach my daughter that your beauty isn’t based off of if everybody wants you or if your body is made for a magazine, your beauty is based on your heart, your intelligence, and your confidence. Your body is a work of art but the most revered art pieces are the ones that most people can't get. Be comfortable with knowing you're beautiful so you don't have show off your nakedness for validation. I’m not oblivious to the fact that every one wants to be physically attractive but don’t let that be your calling card or your downfall because every attractive woman with nothing else but a man will eventually be an attractive woman with nothing else. Don’t worry about being pretty enough for every man, be woman enough to attract the right man, a good man, and to keep your identity when you’re with that man.

Just My Thoughts           

Can We Do Better?

“You’re totally disconnected from reality, don’t believe in dreams… Since when did black men become kings?” -Jay-z; Rapper

Is this Martin's dream 

Every night a different crime scene

Kids killing kids

Men leaving wives

We putting money over everything!

Is this what Malcolm wanted? 

When he said we could reach greater heights... Did he mean blunted? 

By any means necessary 

But we don't do what's necessary 

We only pro black when a white man kills one of us... & in February 

Is this the best we can do

Positive blacks are few 

Think about it

Oscar Grant or Trayvon Martin

Could've been you 

Oprah too

What do you aspire to be? 

They gave us guns and drugs 30yrs ago 

We still on a killing spree

Am I real enough? 

Do I care too much?

I mean shouldn't more cross my mind

Than my last fuck.... & my last buck

Or the next of each 

Fuck giving a speech 

But I have a dream to make it better for my son

I can't control the world 

But for him, it starts with me

Is this the change Barack promised

Gas prices been high the last 6 summers 

My pops job still temporary

This economy took his pride from him 

Sometimes I wanna cry for him 

Wake up everyday with drive for him 

Thankful everyday that I can provide for him 

Lord knows I would die for him 

Rosa Parks sat down to take a stand 

Not so black girls can fight over men 

Or for attention, social mentions 

Baby girl it's more to life than that bottle 

You know your daughter gone finish what you started? 

Good or bad, better or worse 

Don't let your beauty be a curse 

Don't leave you drive in a hearse

If you know better will you do better

I just got to believe 

Despite how much you like what's between your knees pleased 

You should want to really succeed  

In the end we can blame politics 

But in reality we allow the shit

I don't know what's killing us quicker

Reality tv or gun clips

Maybe I'm overthinking

Maybe I'm channeling Lincoln 

Cuz I hate to see us still slaves 

Cuz we let them beat us 

Just my thoughts...

I'm A Black Man: The Face of Adversity

“You’re totally disconnected from reality… Don’t believe in dreams… Since when did black men become kings?” –Jay Z; Rapper, Mogul

January 1, 1863…. Was the beginning. On this day, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Extremist look at it as what abolished slavery. Pessimists will gladly point out that it actually didn’t completely and that it was nothing more than a strategic war tactic. To me, it simply was… the beginning! It was the beginning of a marathon we still have yet to finish where black men were to start being held in equal regard as all men in America.

It freed between 3 and 4 million slaves and would be followed by the thirteenth amendment in December 1865 that freed the rest. Quick history lesson to let you know how deep these roots run. Sure, there were female slaves, and they faced immeasurable pain at the hands of the slave trade, but no oppression domestically measures up to that of the black man.

Fast forward to 2014, a lot has changed but a lot has stayed the same also.  For over 300 years if you were a black man in America you metaphorically bore the mark of the beast. We have always been looked at as unruly, uneducated, and underwhelming villains. The problem is, in yester-century and the one before that, that opinion was only shared amongst our Caucasian counterparts, now the disdain slaps us in the face, at home. Not close to home, AT home! Today, our black women perpetuate that same sentiment. Far be it for me to speak for every black man, but for me it hurts. I asked a group of my well educated, established, and travelled black male friends a question. “What do you think the single greatest struggle of a black man in his life?”. While they all gave different perspectives and examples in essence they all agreed that it’s finding his identity. Being good enough. Most of us, myself included, struggle or have struggled with being good enough for ourselves, our society, and lastly and most discreetly… our women. It’s a psychological warfare that we try quietly coping with daily. Quietly because no woman wants a “Complaining ass weak ass man”. In the midst of “reality” tv that paints all black men as lying, cheating, deadbeat fathers and a social networking phenomenon that make it far too easy to peek into the windows of a bad relationship… who loves us?? In a country where black young men can be shot down by citizens and police officers and those murderers be exonerated because our very skin is threatening, who’s defending us?

“Show no love, love can get you killed!” that quote from Get Rich Or Die Trying movie loosely based on the life of rapper, 50 cent, is the underlying and number one most taught rule amongst men in general to an extent, but I believe more so amongst black men as kids. We’re taught about sex before love, dealing with pain but not happiness, taught to show aggression but never weakness. We always have to be the toughest, the most rugged, and the most unaffected species even though life doesn’t give us any more breaks than anyone else. That’s why we don’t go to doctors for checkups or psychiatrist. That’s why we don’t prioritize openly love over sex. That’s why we don’t know how to express our feelings or show humility as easy. We also are taught from experience that the bad guy wins more often, even with the very women swearing they want a good one, than the good guy does. How do we recover from that? This goes back being good enough. Trying to find our identity across the board. Everybody needs a cheerleader at some point. When you look at all the misguided perspectives we get growing up it’s hard to ultimately survive for a black man in America. Our women used to be and still have to be our cheerleaders. I wrote about our black women needing similar support from us but a coin has two sides. I know it’s not easy but love us because most of the time we don’t know how to ask anyone to but we suffer without it. More than we ever imagine or will admit to.  Help us because we’re not trained to ask for it. Forgive us if you see we genuinely are trying to be better. Understand us. Understand that the when “they” see us they might not see a man, so when you see us we need to be treated like men!

Just My Thoughts,

Travis Cochran

“As men we were taught to hold it in, that’s why we don’t know how til we’re older men. If love is a place, I’m gone go again. At least now I know to go within” –Common; Rapper

9/11

Today marks the 13th anniversary of the September 11th attack on The World Trade Center and the United States. I remember waking up headed to my first class in college and seeing the news in disbelief. When I finally made it to class everybody was just sitting there and I don't think anybody really understood the magnitude of it all. Once they let us leave class I was glued to the TV along with the rest of the world. Thirteen years later I still find myself glued to the TV when the replays are shown. I went to New York City a few times and I went to a makeshift morgue and to just be there was so powerful because I could feel life and death there. So many people lost their lives and lost loved ones it's just crazy. We've come so far and done so much since then so today we should all reflect and be thankful for how we've grown in 13 years and show respect for the people that never got the chance to. 

Little Gem from Carrma

Okay so there's this theory that I've been thinking about. People are going to mess up and disappoint you and hurt you. It's really inevitable to be honest. Even if they try as hard as they can, they'll probably still unintentionally do something to upset you. It's in human nature. Because none of us are perfect or even close to it. Thats why forgiveness is such a major theme in Christianity. I think that relationships with people aren't about who is going to treat you right or who isn't, it's about learning. Because when people hurt you, there's always a lesson behind it. And I think that the more forgiveness that you're willing to give the easier it is to get through life. It's harder for things to hurt you when you're forgiving. And people have made it seem like a weakness when really, accepting the bad and still loving someone is a really strong thing to do. Forgiveness is saying "you messed up and you hurt me, but I'm still here for you." Forgiveness allows people to grow and see the error of their ways and possibly make better choices. 😄

http://Carrmaisanobody.wordpress.com

Power

It's a few things in life I've realized. One of the latest is that most people don't realize the power they have within themselves. What I mean by that is we always limit ourselves to what we think we are or can become. The main source of the limitation is fear, mainly fear of failure. I admit I've let that fear control me for a while but I've decided that fear is easily the most ridiculous reason to not go after what you want out of life. Failure is just a step in the process that we have to go through in order to reach the heights we dream of. Failure could be large or small but it's definitely not powerful. We don't realize how much power we actually have and I think it's because we're scared of it. As crazy as it seems we often push away great things in front of us and take the easy way out. Belief in the power that you have will lead you to the road less traveled and ultimately to the rewards of achieving your goals. Embrace the power you possess and make it happen! 

To Save.... Or Nah

"It's just money, you can't take it with you!" - People everywhere 

First off let me say I hate the phrase "or nah" but I felt it was appropriate here. How many of you feel this way? I know a few people who live by this. Are they expecting to die soon, do they have a Scrooge McDuck money vault to backstroke in, or simply think you might not need money tomorrow if they were blessed enough to wake up? I get that you can't take it with you but what about while you're here? Yeah I know I know that stripper really had you thinking you could take her home if you just blew $200 more on her. And I know that new whip or that condo downtown gonna get you some Instagram likes. And I know you wanna wait in line for them Jordan's to look just like the other 100 dudes that's about to walk out of Finish Line too. I wanna do that too... Well maybe not the stripper I mean I'll blow some money but not nearly enough for some action. Saving money is hard especially when you don't make 50k or better. I tried to save making 31k before taxes and the only thing I saved was about $20-30 in change! After I while I just said f--k it ima spend it and worry about it later. Even the 401k which is made for saving for retirement is a joke because more than likely you're gonna need it way before you can retire. You spent hours at work taking shit from your boss might as well take that 2% they matched out and blow it when you quit right? That's what I did... Twice! Should I have been more responsible and saved? Yes. Was I thinking that at the time? Absolutely not! I need to do a better job at saving even if I don't make six figures a year. Until then my dilemma every single morning will be do I take these sandwiches to work or hit Steak 'n Shake... It's only $3.99!

Diary Of A Black Girl

Wife… you deserve the label… but you’ve been hurt before so you sore and don’t feel you’re able. Tried that, didn’t work, got impossible standards” –Wale Folarin; Rapper

One of the most disappointing things to me these days in my community is the loss of hope in love. Most black women have actually given up on the dream of being a wife and having a good family. And it leads them to “Think like a man”. I know the premise of Steve Harvey’s book wasn’t for women to become emotionless love dodgers like most men but somewhere his message got lost in translation with black women. I’m 26 yrs dumb and most of the black women in my generation really don’t believe in marriage anymore. Mostly because they didn’t get it right the first time with the first love. Or they know too many cheating men. The irony is in accepting this discouraging fate they play into the hands of the very men that they, in essence, say they want no part of by not wanting to be married.

It’s sad. To me once a woman stops believing in the beauty of love, she’s dead. That’s when most women come up with unrealistic and superficial standards. “Well ain’t none of these niggas gone do right so I might as well get me one with money”. They start believing that living a lifestyle that society accepts for men is acceptable for women. Those are the type of men that want you to be cold. Discouraged. Affectionless. No priority for marriage or commitment. They prey on that. They smell it like a shark smells blood in the water. The minute a female gets that mentality she’ll get as much attention she can handle. Until the boy matures to a man and achieves some financial success he’s more than likely not looking to settle down. He wants the one that has no expectations so he can do as little as possible yet receive the physical part of her. And no matter how much women try, most of them deep down are wired emotionally. That’s why they still end up being loyal or caught up into that same guy that’s giving them nothing while he’s using the excuse that “I told you I didn’t want no girlfriend from the beginning and you was cool with it”. I’m sorry to state the obvious, but we live in a double standard society. We always will. Don’t think like a man, think like a woman. Live like a woman. Carry yourself like a woman. Love like a woman. Because if you don’t, those same men will one day want more, and go get it from a woman that didn’t lose sight of those things. I’ll say it again, Life without love is death! Don’t stop believing in it, don’t stop wanting to be married…. Just choose better men and look at what you’re attracted to. I’m not saying every girl should be trying to fall in love at 13, or that there’s an abundance of men out here ready to settle at 21, or that males and females should never have a carefree period where marriage isn’t their priority but don’t lose sight of the finish line. Who wants to be 70 and alone? If you do what you’ve always done then you’ll get what you’ve always got!


Just my thoughts, 

Travis Cochran

Is True Happiness Attainable?

I wonder what true happiness means. Have I already felt it? Will I ever know what it means? Do you know what it means to be happy? I guess it depends on the person really. I always hear people say when you love what you do for a living then you're truly happy. Some people base their happiness on how happy they are with someone. Of course we all have heard that true happiness comes from your relationship with God and I'd probably need to work on mine a little more I think. One of my good friends says he's happy when he's on the porch in the summer with a drink in his hand. I guess happiness is when your mind wanders away from whatever is bothering you at the time. (Dope this is the first time I ever thought of that lol). They say all good things must come to an end and when you think about they almost always do so you have to always search for something that makes you happy. This can either lead to you finding whatever it is or you just keep searching and that'll keep you alive. 

You too good now?

Who the fuck do you think you are? Made a little money now you too good huh? Red Lobster, 2 for 20, Cheesecake.... When did we become too good to eat a sandwich? $200 date my ass! If you expect that off the rip go find a twitter nigga for that. Let me get back I got knocked off my pivot real quick. I remember when I was younger a sandwich was the perfect meal no matter what! Even a struggle sandwich (ketchup and bread) was like a 3 course meal. Everybody too good for bologna now but had hella red string in the trash can from eating it back in the day. Me and my mom used to go in on a pack of ham with the little cheese pieces in it. Bottom line man food is wayyyy too expensive these days then you got gas prices and Nikes to pay for. My suggestion is get them sandwiches poppin for lunch and even dinner. Date night tell her y'all doing sandwiches and a picnic at the park. Even the most basic chick will be throwing you the box like she work for FedEx trust me. Try doing this for at least 2-3 months and see how much you save! 

WYV?

Sitting here in a random moment and some Jordan shorts the word vice popped up in my head and kept repeating itself. So I thought about what it really meant. It's a bad habit or a sin basically. But to me it's something that grips you and turns into an inner struggle.  Could be big or small tho. A bad habit could be peeing on the seat. A vice could be that 24 year old bartender your wife don't and can't know about or that $50 that go to the Georgia lottery at 4:32 pm every Friday. I wonder how people who let drugs take their soul feel... Like something can be so strong that it alters the way you live or could've lived. You've lost everything and most importantly the ability to even tell yourself to stop. Crazy right? Think about that for a minute and think about something that just had a grip on you. 

Black Panties

"Ms. mother nature I pray that our daughters carry and favor your genes

And when you take off your jeans you get all the me that you need!" -Wale; Rapper

Damn girl, how you feel when u got them on?
Out the shower and the towel, smelling good
Nothing but black panties on
Looking in the mirror you even turning yourself on
So sexy it erects me and makes me helpless from
What you exude, even when you're no longer nude
Cuz truly being sexy is an attitude
Ya mentality is grabbing me
You want me grabbing you
It don't make you less of a woman cuz u want me inside of you
In your presence I can't help it
You're like a Christmas present
The fact that you love the eroticism
As much as the next nigga
Doesn't mean you don't deserve the best nigga
Only we expect our women
To be perfect women
Like our existence didn't come from
A man sexing a woman
I just wanna caress you woman
I wanna have you in a dressing room.... And undress you woman
I want us at church
And them black panties a mess for me woman
I know you think about it often
I think women should fantasize about it often
Every fantasy u desire
With me is possible
Nymphomaniac
Let me explore your climax
Cuz in this mirror
All you have is some sexy black panties on
Turning yourself on
And I'm helpless from
What you exude, even when you're no longer nude
Cuz truly being sexy is an attitude


This was inspired by the misconception today that women that are super sexual have to be hoes. Couldn't be further from the truth. There's a fine line between being sexy and real sexual and being a hoe with her ass out all the time. Women embrace those sexual thoughts. Act on them. Feel sexy. Dress sexy. Just leave something to the imagination and be careful who you let run wild with that imagination of yours.

Jesus Christ the Copycat?

     I grew up going to church 4 times a week. My father is a preacher and I believed beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus died for my sins and that not believing in him would land you a life of eternal fire and brimstone...boy was I gullible, and you are too.


     I struggled about how to write this blog but I decided to just drop a few facts to open up your thinking. I don't believe in any religion but I decided to focus on Christianity since I believe this is the faith of most of the readers.

     The cornerstone of Christianity is Jesus Christ so that's gonna be my focus.  The Jesus we know from the Bible is a direct replication of several pagan stories from his immaculate inception to his resurrection .  Dionysus was born of a virgin on December 25 in a manger at that.  The Egyptian god Horus was born of a virgin mother (Isis) and was the only begotten son of his father Osiris.  At age 30 Horus was baptized and the person that baptized him was beheaded, doesn't that sound familiar? He also walked on water, cast out demons, was crucified, descended into hell and was resurrected in 3 days.  That's just out right plagiarism.

     I was going to write more, and was even encouraged to but I think that should be enough to spark your inquisition.  Just because something is common or the norm doesn't mean it's the truth. Research and self-educate.

-Irvin J. Powell

Endangered Species

"If you take away what we love we all would be Joe Paterno"

That quote is a lyric from Joe Budden. Metaphorically or literally, throughout history we've seen this to be true. Whether in Joe Paterno's case, or a married couple who spent 50 years together and passed away a couple weeks apart, life without love is death. I take this into real consideration when I look at black women in 2014. The son of a beautiful black woman, the grandson of one, and the father to the son of one, its safe to say I love black women. So I look at the vast majority of them in my generation from that perspective. Not with blinders on at all, I know they're a handful and a half but sometimes you have to look deeper than that. Can you think of another group more abused and neglected than black women? You and I would both be hard pressed to do so. I think back to the slave owner abuse stories we've heard, to the domino affect of the crack era of the 80's that led to decades of fathers leaving families, to the promotion of black women being trophies more so than gifts and I kind of understand their plight. I'm not here for sympathy or pity, most black women, or victims period, normally don't seek pity. That's why rape and abuse victims normally don't tell anybody. They would prefer just for someone to try to understand their struggle. Someone to help the wounds heal. Someone to make them feel like they aren't alone. Someone to remind them what LOVE feels like. Black women are the lowest group of married women. That's a fact. That constant reminder only gives light to the disappointment that then turns into fear, that then turns into resentment, that then turns into anger! One of the first things you'll hear a hurt black woman say about a black man marrying an outside race is "He just couldn't handle a strong woman". Pure ignorance because the idea that being black is a requirement to be strong is wrong. Or that always arguing, being loud, stubborn, and using profanity no matter the time or place is being strong is also wrong. I don't agree with any of it. And on occasion I may laugh and joke on twitter about it but I honestly look beyond the mask of fake toughness and beautiful brown skin, smiles and intoxicating curves and see the pain. They say that because they see strength as the amount of pain and rejection they have survived. Pain that hasn't been nurtured by the world or the very black men that should protect them and I understand. The feel no one else is fighting for them so its them against the world. I UNDERSTAND. It takes a lot of work to love a black woman, I would say more so than any other race of women, because that pain is deep rooted, it's passed down to daughters of scorned and neglected women. Daughters that are fatherless. Daughters that develop their gorgeous shapes at an early age and are preyed on by men. Daughters who weren't taught the right qualities to look for in a man so they fall victim to the games of boys all too often. We rarely see that Cosby love in black families these days. It's sad but it's it true, but black women I'm here for you. Even a diamond has to be polished first! It's time we start back loving our women before the pain kills them!

Just my thoughts,

Travis Cochran

Twitter: @ImMrCochran

Naw bruh..

   It's something that's been bothering me for a while now so I felt like I needed to address it and try to figure out where to place the blame. I wanna know when did it become cool for women to start talking like dudes! It's crazy out here these days.  Men can't even be men anymore without females trying to take that away from us. I never realized it until I started tweeting but even then it wasn't that bad until the last few years. 

   I think somewhere along the way women really started to feel like we wanted y'all to be our homeboys. What we actually wanted is just for y'all to be our best friends outside of our actual best friends. I mean it's dope when your girl starts picking up little slang from you and using it from time to time. My problem is when they decided it was cool to start saying.... Bruh. I guess it's the young niggas allowing it but my god when does it stop!? I can't even scroll the timeline (I don't scroll past 10 mins ago) without seeing at least 15 girls say bruh. At first I thought it was a southern thing but it's everywhere! My question to the guys is what kinda nigga are you to actually want that in your ear when you squeezing the buns? Even if she don't say it during just picture her saying this to her homegirl, "shit bruh put it down last night!" I don't know about y'all but I'm losing wood just thinking about it! 

   No man really wants you to be his homeboy because he got homeboys for that. You already wear J's, hats, hoodies, know how to play 2k and claim he too emotional now. Not to mention the dykes who taking all the women! I'm sure if some of y'all could have interchangeable genitals you would but it's time to relax. Take some of that bass out your voice, get back to drinking Smirnoff wine coolers and while you're at it knock down a few shots of estrogen. Sincerely... A concerned citizen. 

He's Going to Cheat on You

I've been married happily for 4 years and I've got some news for you. The man that you like/love/want is gonna cheat on you.  Now let me explain.  Your man needs his space, you can let him have it, or he's going to take it. So you can let him chill with homies, you can let him play his video games, and let him watch his sports; or he's gonna creep around you and do it anyway. You nagging him everyday, and you are nagging him if you love him, but you never let him unwind. But he's gonna unwind with or with out your permission.  And once he starts lying about little shit like hitting the blunt with his homies, or stopping at a bar just to kick it; he'll realize he can get away with texting this girl he met at work too. I think y'all now were it headed from there.

So here's the solution, offer him his time away.  Encourage him to hang with his homies, leave him the fuck alone while he's playing his games. If he likes to smoke, let him smoke; he likes to drink, let him drink.  If you give him his space he won't take it, because he's gonna have it either way.

Your man is gonna have a life outside of you, he's gonna cheat on you with things you don't like to do. Let him do it.  Or he's gonna start regretting you and start talking to shawty with the curly hair and light eyes that's laughing at all his jokes in the office.

I'm trying to save you heartache, heed my advice.

-Irvin J Powell

Bring em Bring em back!

What's your favorite Nikes? Don't matter if they just came out or OG's... Mine are the Nike Pro Streak Max. They came out in '96 I think and I got em for $120. My grandfather paid $100 and I put the 20 spot with it lol. I happened to see a pic of them online and the price that followed made me wanna shoot whoever was around me then lol. $620 good lawd that's a lot of money! I couldn't afford em in 8th grade and now at 31 with a full time job I still can't! What part of the game is that!? So what's your favorite? 

Nothing really....

I feel like a lil kid trying to avoid sleep even though I work 8:30-7pm tomorrow I'm still up for no reason. You ever wonder how much control you actually have over your life? I mean of course you have free will and all but you ever think that every choice you make whether moving your finger slightly or deciding to marry your high school sweetheart was already decided way before you got here? How far back does it go? Is everything decided on a daily basis or right before it happens? That's crazy when you think about it! 

"What you eat don't make me s#!+"

Today I was vacuuming out my car and for some reason I thought about how old I was. I'm 31 but nothing in my life makes me feel like I am. Then I thought about how much I've grown mentally and how little I care about what anybody thinks of me. 

Does it come with age or just some level of the stairway we reach at different times in our lives. (Lives meaning either your life, my life etc... Or lives in the sense of our past lives because I feel like we've all lived before as a different form. This could actually be a past life we're living. Ok I'm rambling) I've gotten to a place where I really don't care anymore. I know this because I used to have to match when I left the house. Now I literally leave the crib wearing anything I can grab. Even if I'm going out and everybody is rockin jeans and hard bottoms, which I despise by the way, I'll be good with my jeans, Lebron's and a hat or beanie. I'm sure many can relate but it's a great feeling doing what makes you happy regardless of who's watching. 

I hate to see people living to please everybody else especially somebody they don't even know! That makes zero sense to me but maybe I'm crazy. The need to be accepted by strangers gotta be a disease or something. Just do what makes you happy and fuck what everybody has to say! I'm starting a Tshirt line AND recording a few joints because it makes me happy! Before you ask yes I can rap but that's neither here nor there lol. Imagine how dope the world would be if everybody did what made them happy without causing harm to anyone. Everybody wants or tries to be different but then that makes us all the same. I just want everybody to be themselves and make themselves happy because in the end that's all that matters. 

What You "Posed" To Do!?

      One thing I love about being black and our culture is how we can take normal things and go the extra mile with it. I don't need to go into detail about things because we all know of something that we put our own personal touch on. I'm here today to discuss the art of posing for pictures. I'm mainly talking about the fellas right now so ladies y'all can rest easy for now. Whatever happened to the days of just smiling and standing with, let's just say, your hands in your pockets? It was simple right? Someone would snap a pic and you'd do one of those two things or even both. If you were in the picture with a girl you'd put your arm around her. Those were pretty standard poses in my opinion. Then somewhere along the way we had to change the game.... Forever... So allow me to quickly breakdown the evolution of the pose.

             The Peace Sign- This was when the game changed. Two fingers up signaling peace had become the pose for all pictures. Men, women, kids, everybody was doing it. In high school one of our boys called it "Rockin the Peace" and we even had the old white people who supported the football team doing and saying it. Then it became the "deuces." This was acceptable across the board and became the norm for picture taking.

             The Salute- Around 1997-98 Terrell Davis, former running back for the Denver Broncos, introduced the "Mile High Salute." This touchdown celebration was simply a salute. I'm guessing it was to the military, which is where it comes from obviously. Of course "we" figured this would be a great pose and there you go. The "Salute" pose. I can't lie I'm guilty of this one. Earlier this year for my brother's birthday celebration I did it twice. In true negro fashion thought I only used two fingers smh. Don't ask what it meant I just thought it looked cool. 

             The Praying Hands- This of course has a biblical or religious origin but do we care about that? NOT AT ALL! First it was a tattoo but that wasn't enough. Somebody and I'm guessing a rapper decided to pose like this now this has become a favorite among the hip hop community. I'm not one to judge they might actually be praying. For what though I'll never know. Success? Money? A hit? Kush connect? Groupies? Maybe all in one brief picture. I haven't done this yet but I'm just waiting on the right time to break it out!

              The Pointless Pointing- The first person I saw pointlessly pointing at something or at least called it that was Charlemagne The God. It goes back further though. You'd put one finger up to simply say "We're number one" after winning the big game. It was simple back then but guess what happened... "We" had to take that as well! Now on any given picture you'll see somebody pointing at something. I'm guessing it's something outside of the picture but who knows. All I know is hand placement is everything! No lower than the stomach and no higher than the chest. I don't think I've done this but I might as well. 

      So that's the history of the picture pose brought to you by black people everywhere. You definitely have to love how we can make something out of nothing. 

Full Speech: Jim Carrey's Commencement Address at the 2014 MUM Graduation

This is quite possibly the best speech I've ever heard.... a real gem!

12:19

I don't know why I thought I needed to space my posts out like it was a set of blog rules I had to follow. A post here a post there but the reason for this blog is to get my thoughts out to whoever cares to read them. 

I'm sleepy but I got too many ideas in my head and too much food on my stomach smh. Some screwed up Drake mix is playing and for whatever reason listening to certain artists make me go in my head and explore thoughts that have been growing. Today alone I've come up with a dope idea for a future project, a logo idea (not for anything particular just a stamp almost) and an add on to a previous idea. 

The ideas aren't a problem at all. I gotta see how I'm gonna fund all this. I'm determined because these ideas are my babies so why wouldn't I wanna do my best to make sure they come to life and grow? I wish I had somebody who shared the same vision I have because it would make it that much sweeter. Most times I'll mention something to somebody and they'll show interest for that moment and that's it so I don't bring it up anymore. I won't say I told you do when things start moving I'll still hold my hand out and pull you up so we can do great things together! I really feel like the next few months are gonna be good for building a brand for myself. 

Hater-ade

Aight.... Before y'all get ready to look at me funny let me put a disclaimer on this! I'm not hating on anyone for something they've done or just hating on anyone period. I could never be mad at what somebody else is doing. This is just me mentioning a few things I hate. I try not to truly hate anyone and I've done a good job I think but there are plenty of things i despise. So if you happen to do something I hate guess what... I hate you... Not really tho just for that action LOL. Enjoy!

 Mayo- It looks disgusting and smells worse than it looks! 

 Green text bubbles- C'mon on man..

 Gas prices- Is this what we Rocked the Vote to get Obama in office for?

 "I'm the Man" by Aloe Blacc- I can't tell y'all how much I despise this song

 Aloe Blacc- For making "I'm the Man"

 Atlanta traffic- If we all do 75-80 mph everything will be ok.

 "Drunk in Love"- No matter when I've turned on the radio for the past few months... there it is. Maybe God wants me to like it. I just can't

What you wanna do?

I decided to write this short post just to see what it is that you would like to do in this lifetime. Just pretend age doesn't exist and your wildest dreams can be achieved. Do you realize how much power your mind has? You actually have the ability to turn your thoughts into actions and do whatever you want. The three worst things you can do are not dream, not act on those dreams and listen to others saying you can't reach your dreams. The "haters" are another topic for later but there will be some people who don't believe your dreams and that's ok because God gave you the vision. Some people are scared to dream because they think dreams have an expiration date but that type of thinking separates the happy from the miserable. If you think it, dream it and want it GO GET IT! Don't be scared to fly. Be scared to watch others fly and you're stuck on the ledge watching. 

Happy Father's Day

   I know it's late but I'm sitting on the porch drinking some... Never mind what I'm drinking but this is the perfect time to reflect. The Heat just lost the series and I'm bored out of my mind in Valdosta. I came home this weekend to celebrate Father's Day with my son and my dad. 

    I'm definitely a mama's boy but the bond I have with my dad is special. I'm always hoping that whatever I do I'll make my dad happy and proud. I try so hard because I know I didn't grow to be who he wanted me to be. I'm not a doctor, I don't work in the medical field and I don't have this huge salary. I'm not with the mother of my child. Shit I don't even live in the same city as my son but I'm here every month to see him and help raise him. I'd like to think I do a great job. I think my dad has a better relationship with my son than he did with me and I want it to be that way because he might feel like it makes up for ours. It's never too late to work on a relationship so now a few more jokes or a few more minutes of conversation can go a long way. 

   I know my dad did the best he could in raising me and I'll be the first to say he did an awesome job. What better way to thank him than by raising mine the best way I can and being the best man I can be. Happy Father's Day dad! Love you! 

Turn up the Heat!

Aight so last night was game 3 of the 2014 NBA Finals *takes a second to completely turn down Drunk in Love* 

and I'm still in disbelief hours later. I mean wtf was that!? We played like trash from the tip! Offensively wasn't so bad except for Chalmers and I can't blame him. They showed his pops on TV and he had a drawn on beard for Christ sake! Wade held it down and Lebron did too but he had about 5-6 turnovers and you can't win like that. With that being said our problem last night was DEFENSE! How on God's green earth do you allow them to shoot 90% from the floor in the first half!? Seriously... You can't even put up them type of numbers in 2k! That was the best shooting performance in Finals history so we pretty much got washed in the first half. Coming out in the third down by 25 we cut it to 7 and that was closest we came. That lead was just too big to come back from. A 19 point loss ain't a good look man especially in the Yayo! Now that I think about it... Let's ban DJ Khaled from the games or at least court side I'm sure he had something to do with that blowout sandwich last night. Down 2-1 with two blowouts against one of the best teams ever is not where we wanna be but it was the same scenario last year so lets see what we can do Thursday. And can we please... PLEASE get some Opalaka goons to slide and cut Khawi Leonard hair!? Go Heat! 

Shorties (Random thoughts)

Everybody does or should know how random I am especially if they follow me on twitter but if not here are a few random thoughts. Hopefully I'll make this a regular thing: 

-All these different smells from everybody on the bus/train is absolutely disgusting

-Being broke is wack but having somebody to be broke with you is dope

-You have to hate your girl if you really love her

-I feel so out of touch with the world without cable

-I need to find some white people to hang with 

We Shall Overcome!

As I sit here on my "throne" where I do my best thinking I'm tryna figure out a way to get out of the struggle. Anybody that knows me knows how much I wanna make it. To me making it means being able to pay my bills on time and still have excess money to give my son whatever he wants, go out with my people, save hella money and be completely happy with what I do. I mean we all have dreams of being rich and have our face all over the TV and magazines but sometimes you gotta realize God didn't have that in the plan for your life. I've always felt that I could be a star but maybe it's not meant to be. I've accepted the idea that a 9-5 is what's in store but maybe I can use that as a means to an end. Right now I'm going through the interview process for a job that could pay almost three times what I make now so I'm praying that works out so I can make it for me and everybody around me. I wanna see everybody achieve complete happiness in whatever they do because what's happiness if everybody around you is still in the struggle. So lets do what we have to in order to overcome the struggle and when we do Hooters crablegs and the first round of Yuengling is on me! "Don't be good my nigga be great" 

I'm byke!

So I've been thinking about doing a blog for a while... well another blog... I tried it a few years ago and just didn't follow through with it. Now I'm back a few years older and a lot wiser and ready to give y'all some of my thoughts. Today is Memorial Day so the first thing I wanna do is say thanks to all the men and women that gave their lives so I can be here doing this. I woke up this morning too hype that I finally have a day off from the stress of waking up at 5:30 am and going to work but that's neither here nor there. I started drinking at 8:45 and haven't stopped all day smh. I don't feel like I've accomplished a single thing but proving to myself that I can drink multiple beers and actually starting a blog which is something I guess. Ima try to use this just to get some random thoughts out and maybe post some dope stuff. But I just got my boy Irv ESPN log in since we don't have cable so let me enjoy this Heat game.