I couldn’t. But I have met two persons (their names are withheld for their protection – just kidding (for those who didn’t know)) during post holiday chatter who comfortably revealed they had received the illustrious gift, and had waited 2 weeks and more than a month before ever opening it.

One got the item Christmas day and had it sitting on their desk for two weeks while they took care of “other priorities”. The other got it as a gift before Christmas, then proceeded to take it with them to Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and finally to Atlanta before opening it a month after receiving it. WOW! I don’t know if I characterize that behavior as impressive or insane.

In any event, both were brandishing their new iPads during our chat, and exclaiming how much they enjoy it. Yeah right! My guess is that joy will last right up till they get a new kitchen knife, tickets to the opera, or some other priority arises. I only wish Apple would allow my new Emailnery product to work on the device.

I’d say that half of us were surprised – okay shocked and gasping for breadth. The other half expressing no discernable emotion whatsoever. Just goes to show there really are different strokes for different folks. Amen.

I wanted to start this new year on a progressive and positive note. So, at the end of last year I set out to complete a dream project I had considered doing for some time.

It was one of those ideas we all have. But I have come to know that those ideas we get, those little voices that whisper our deepest hearts desires to us repeatedly, are all prompts for us to do what is in our hearts. These thoughts, if ever realized, are our unique contributions to our world. And they are overflowing with our passion, talents, and loving energy.

So I took action and brought this idea into realization. Introducing Emailnery.com!

Emailnery is beautiful email stationery for Apple Mail users. While the days of paper stationery and hand written letters may be gone, I felt that did not have to mean the end of beautiful text-based correspondence. So I created beautiful email stationery and called it Emailnery. Each design is inspired by the most beautiful stationery ever made, and hopes to add a hint of the wonderful experience of using paper stationery to email correspondence.

Emailnery makes all your email better looking, communicates your unique character, and showcases your exquisite taste. Our first deign is Classic. Designs are created for both personal and professional use, and come in Letterhead, Note Card, Thank You Card, and news layouts. You can get you logo added to any design. And you can get “Clean” versions of designs with the Emailnery logo removed from the footer.

My aim here is simple, use my talents as a designer and make everyone’s email better.

May all your email be beautiful. Enjoy!

I can think of no better music than that played by passionate musicians spanning the cultural diaspora. Music that provokes rhythm and dance in infants, adults and elders. Check out this video rendition of “Ahora Si”, performed by Israel “Cachao” Lopez y la compania. Enjoy!!!

1960 would change American film forever, and the revolution would occur nowhere near a Hollywood set. With the opening of the New Yorker Theater, a cinema located at the heart of Manhattan’s Upper West Side, cutting-edge films from around the world were screened for an eager audience, including the city’s most influential producers, directors, critics, and writers. Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, Susan Sontag, Andrew Sarris, and Pauline Kael, among many others, would make the New Yorker their home, trusting in the owners’ impeccable taste and incorporating much of what they viewed into their work.

I did a series of paintings right before the New Yorker was torn down, with the intent of recording what for me was a treasure trove of rich cinematic experiences. Recently, to my surprise, one of my high school buddies posted the painting of the facade on Facebook. I got recognition from the Society of illustrators for my paintings.

I hope it sparks fond memories for those who were there, and those who see the painting now.

‘This is the third Dharma talk offered by Thay at the Open Mind Open Heart Retreat, given in the War Memorial Gym of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, on Thursday, August 11th, 2011. Thay speaks about Right Speech, the practice of speaking that goes in the direction of non-discrimination. It is an instrument we can use to restore communication. When you sit down to listen, you say, ‘I listen like this with one purpose: to allow him or her to speak out and to suffer less.’ He shares about the experiences of Israelis and Palestinians practicing together in Plum Village, and how they learn to listen deeply to one another. Thay continues through the Noble Eightfold Path, discussing Right Livelihood and then the four practices of Right Diligence: 1) refrain from watering negative seeds, 2) embracing negative seeds with mindfulness so they go back down (changing the peg), 3) inviting the good seeds to come up, 4) allowing the good seeds to stay a long time.’

May we love ourselves richly…
with bold thoughts,
thoughtful and measured steps,
fearless actions,
and faithful vision.

May we love our children…
with principled direction,
compassionate interaction,
loving responsiveness,
and unconditional acceptance.

May our labors enrich the world…
with passionate initiative,
respectful and attentive collaboration,
and open and receptive issue resolution.

May love fill our souls…
that we may know boundless passion,
that we may swim the open waters of companionship,
that we may walk life’s beaches
hand-in-hand with love.

Happy new year!

We live in a world that continually changes, a world where thoughts, things, and experiences are all continually changing. Our world is not static, and God is not dead and did not leave the world unattended. We live in a living world, with a living omniscient creative intelligent force.

With these two stark realities in tow, we can begin to piece together why our lives seem so unfulfilled and why so many are left out of the immense prosperity enjoyed by the privileged few. The reason for our suffering, both individually and collectively? Fear. Fear and our acceptance of it as a driving force in our thoughts and reasoning. Many great texts and scholars have pointed to fear as a venerable debilitating and compromising force. But what is fear? Fear is defined as both “Extreme reverence or awe, as toward a supreme power.” and “a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined.”

I define fear as our minds response when it cannot do what it does, think and solve problems. This condition is rampant in our lives in light of the previously mentioned realities of death and change. So, since we wake up each day not really knowing if we’ll even make it out of bed, our minds go to work creating conditions it can do its work on. We concentrate our thoughts on, and invent things we can control. We create plans and schedules. We invent beliefs and make agreements to be bound by them. We teach these beliefs as foundation understandings to our children. We spend the overwhelming majority of our precious time and thoughts on organizing and managing our lives functioning in the realm of those beliefs we invent that provide a sense of being in control. And all the while life happens around us with no respect for our choices. While we are locked in the narrow scope of our beliefs, understandings and agreements; some of us are operating beyond the confines of these understandings and daring to dream new things. To create and fashion new designs into new things. And whenever we dare to look into the unknown, using our thoughts as the blueprint for our future reality, our world is changed and we go to work making use of these new realities and manifestations. We revise the rules, our beliefs, so we can cope with our new world.

Fear plays a key role in shaping what we do. And what we do shapes our future. So ultimately we are responsible for finding the balance between embracing and casting aside our fears. We decide our fate, our future with our choices. We are God. Here are some thoughts on how to cope with the unknown in our lives. Seek to understand what is meant by core concepts like eternal life and forgiveness. They provide a foundation for overcoming our fears.

Now is all there is. Eternal life is the endlessly unfolding moment in which we exist. It is each one of us, as we are, in each instant. And forgiveness is granted to us eternally, for in any moment we have the opportunity to choose what we will think and do. Those choices we make in each moment dictate the future. This knowing is the foundation for freedom. This knowing is the evidence that fear of the unknown future is unwarranted. For the future is unknown precisely so we can create it. We have this power, each one of us. And we use it every day without giving it the attention and reverence it warrants. It is the thoughtless use of this great power that creates undesired outcomes and causes suffering.

Seize your power. It is an immense task to challenge all our core beliefs and assume power over our thoughts which dictate our reality. But it is an awesome journey that highlights how truly interdependent we are. We literally need one another to have a shared vision, a shared view if we are to achieve any desired outcome. That is why we can accomplish so much in groups, where we merge our thoughts and desires into a common vision. So the key is to coalesce and create collective visions based on our natural aspirations for peace and prosperity. This is the “brotherhood of man” that is so commonly referred to in theological texts of all faiths.

Ernest Holmes wrote “Find me one person who is for something and against nothing, who is redeemed enough not to condemn others out of the burden of his soul, and I will find another savior, another Jesus, and an exalted human being.

Find me one person who no longer has any fear of the universe, or of God, or of man, or of anything else, and you will have brought to me someone in whose presence we may sit and fear shall vanish as clouds before the sunlight.

Find me someone who has redeemed his own soul, and he shall become my redeemer.

Find me someone who has given all that he has in love, without morbidity, and I will have found the lover of my soul. Is not this true? Why? Because he will have revealed to me the nature of God and proved to me the possibility of all human souls.”

There is an oath we would do well to live by. It reads as follows:

Be fearless in the face of your enemies.
Be brave and upright that God’s love may emanate through you.
Protect the helpless. For they have not faced their fears, and your grace shines the light of awareness upon them.
Do nothing against another.

I am grateful for another day with all of you in it.

Eunika and Kevin are two people who have managed to live rich lives. They are driven with intense passion for life and have managed to remain true to the pursuit of their dreams. For that matter, the fact is they dream – and let their dreams be the foundation of their life plans and actions. Too many of us, in my humble opinion, never live this way. Eunika is a visionary and creative entrepreneur. She is currently leading an initiative to work with black farmers to grow and distribute organic foods in poor Southern rural communities. Kevin is among the most knowledgeable Black art historians and advocates I know. An accomplished artist, he also serves as a host and curator at Hammonds House.

Family and friends in attendance were treated to a savory medley of southern and caribbean cuisine. The event was photographed by Jim Alexander and Sue Ross – whose exhibition was on display in the museum for viewing. Other guests included Radcliffe Bailey, Ed Spriggs, Larry Walker, and Charmaigne Minniefield.

I took some photos as well.

[Show as slideshow]

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“I got two A’s” the small boy said.
His voice was filled with glee.
His father very bluntly asked,
“Why didn’t you get three?”

“Mom, I’ve got the dishes done,”
The girl called from the door.
Her mother very calmly said,
“Didi you sweep the floor?”

“I mowed the grass,” the tall boy said,
“…and put the mower away.”
His father asked him with a shrug,
“Did you clean off the clay?”

The children in the house next door
seemed happy and content.
The same thing happened over there,
but this is how it went.

“I got two A’s” the small boy said.
His voice was filled with glee.
His father proudly said,
“That’s great! I’m glad you belong to me.”

“Mom, I’ve got the dishes done,”
The girl called from the door.
Her mother smiled and said,
“Each day I love you more.”

“I mowed the grass,” the tall boy said,
“…and put the mower away.”
His father answered with much joy,
“You’ve made my happy day.”

Children grow confident from praise
for things they’re asked to do.
To help them lead a happy life
so much depends on you.

And by the way, a note for you
this works for grownups too.