This album has been getting a lot of play in my iTunes playlist since I bought it a few weeks ago. In a few words, it’s Christian rap that doesn’t suck.

I’ve heard a few of his albums before, and while I’ve always liked a few songs on all of them, this is the first time I feel like he’s put out a really complete album. The production is BANANAS and varies from the down south style of ”It Ain’t Easy” to the much more melodic sound of “Fanmail” and everything in between.

I think what really makes this album special to me is the fact and sets it apart from most other Christian music I’ve heard is that he comes off as, well, human, and isn’t full of all the usual cliches. He still focuses on reaching out to his listeners and there’s a message in every song, but it doesn’t come off as preachy - instead, it’s relatable, fun and entertaining (especially “You Hang Up First” lol).

I wish I could post the whole album for you to hear, but if like these tracks, go buy it. You won’t regret it.

You Hang Up First You Hang Up First

Fanmail Fanmail

KJ-52 - The Yearbook on iTunes

In the last episode, a server crash claimed the life of the Blog - or so you thought - but now, The Blog is back and it’s better than ever - *cue Hess Truck music* - that’s right… The Blog is back.

Back by popular demand, I re-introduce to you my blog! Okay, so maybe the demand wasn’t so popular and it was more of a person indirectly reminding me that I had a dead blog, but the point is, it’s back and I hope to keep it active (and backed up) so that it doesn’t just disappear in the future.

I even went through the trouble of designing a new theme for my blog. The fact of the matter is I’m incredibly picky and I couldn’t find a really simple WordPress theme that I really liked. Granted, this isn’t exactly the prettiest design in the world, but it’s exactly what I want… for now

Some of my old posts were imported from a backup I had and have some garbage characters in them. Something must have went wrong with the charcter encoding. I’ve fixed several posts like that, but if you happen to come across any posts like that, please let me know. Thanks

My server’s hard drive died over the weekend (R.I.P. Johnny 5). I had anticipated that it might go down soon, but unfortunately I didn’t have complete backups yet, so Cue8Chalk is now a blank slate. I do have the database backups though, which means I do have all my previous posts and basically most of the content for my blog, but I think I’ll just start from scratch… but then again I may change my mind tomorrow lol. We’ll see what happens.

Time for another post. Let’s see. Chronological order lol. Well, first off, I’ve re-built that sorry lookin piano bench. Here’s a little before and after - the old and the new:

Old

New

Notice - the unwarped wood, legs that stand up straight, and it’s clean! LOL. This wasn’t built from scrap wood. It isn’t perfect, and in fact there’s still one more step. I was going to stain it but I decided to just fill in the screw holes and other gaps with wood putty and clear coat it. I love this new bench. It’s way more comfortable, sturdy, and even lighter than the old one.

Ok ummm, well, my friend Chel’s prayers have been answered. I won’t go into details, but thank God for that

Oh, yesterday I was visited from my buddy Camron and his family. I haven’t seen the little fetus in a long time. He’s talking a lot now. I was actually breaking in my piano bench, playing a tune when he walked in and said, “Music! So much fun!” I was actually wondering if he remembered me. I got my answer when they were leaving.

I gave him a hi-5 and then hugged his sister and mother, and my dad did the same, but as I did he looked at me with his arms in the air and he gave me a big hug That’s my buddy.

It’s been a while since I posted in my blog. I thought I’d give a few updates.

First, I think I need a new goal in my Bible reading. I took some time to jump into the personal evangelism notes & materials from the class I had taken, but it’s really difficult to work on something like that on my own. I don’t know where to start, and I’ve realized that the materials I have are really designed to be taught and not just read and followed. We didn’t really have a textbook or anything like it. There’re a lot of great verses and outlines, but it all serves more as a study guide than anything else, so I need to find a new project for now. I’m still doing my regular reading, but I need something to keep me more involved.

Hmm, what else. I actually wrote a letter yesterday to a good friend of mine. Not an e-mail - a real letter! I haven’t written a real letter in ages. It was actually kinda fun. I just wish it was as quick as e-mail. I can’t wait to hear back from her too. It may seem corny but I love letters (no pun intended, but love letters are the best kind in my opinion :)). They are a snapshot of a person’s personality, feelings, and voice.

In other news, lol, I will be re-building my sad, sorry-lookin, poor excuse for a piano bench soon. I have the right tools to do it now. It will be much better looking. I’m still debating whether or not I should upholster the seat or not. I probably will stain it instead. I wish I had a router to make it really nice, but that will come another time

Next Sunday is Easter! It’s also the end of my fasting. I had given up games. It’s been, well, kinda mixed feelings. I love playing games. Video games, online games, etc. They’re fun. But I think that I have spent too much time on them in the past. I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on my life and what’s important, and to pray more and work on my relationship with God. It’ll be fun to get back to playing games again, and I think that I’ll spend less time on it and keep things in perspective better.

On a side note, lol, I have a new friend. It’s funny. Whenever my parents have friends who have kids, they are drawn to this room like kids to a candy store - except this is more like a toy store to them. My dad has been helping a friend, who just officially became pastor of his church, find a house. The other day he and his family came by and had to step out for a few minutes, so I had the pleasure of babysitting their son Nathaniel. He’s probably 3 or 4 years old. I’m not sure. He’s a smart kid. He reminds me of me (not the smart part lol - just the way he is).

He’s a bit of a perfectionist. He learns quick, and like me, is often underestimated hehe. Funny kid too. I’ve got new artwork on my walls - a tracing of his hand, and his name, which I helped him with. He’s a funny kid too. I was watching TV with him, and out of the blue, he says to me, “I can’t have soda.” I asked him why, and he says, “I’m a sickle cell boy.” lol Good information to know (toldja he was smart!) but it was just a funny, out-of-the-blue comment.

Anyhow, yeah. There’s an update. That’s what’s been happenin!

Okay. Time for a blog entry that is a little more light-hearted than what I’ve been posting lately. The following is a picture that hangs on my wall just a few feet from me. My brother’s girlfriend’s daughter drew it for me in MS Paint…

According to her, this is me and my family lol. On the far right of the picture is my lovely wife, and that’s me standing next to her smiling (I’m the only one smiling in the pic - interesting lol). That brown thing in front of the garage is not poop, nor a squirrel, but apparently the family dog. You can see our kids in the window. They must have been grounded because they don’t look too happy lol. I love stuff like this.

Well, I messed up today. The day started off well. Church was great, and the sermon actually touched on a lot of the things I’ve been reading about, thinking, and sharing here in my blog, one of which I wrote about yesterday, about integrity. One of the lessons outlined in the sermon notes is “It isn’t enough to know what to do, we need the power to do,” and I was about to be put through a small test relating to that.

After church, a sweet, older woman named Betty (every one calls her Aunt Betty) normally asks me/my fam for a ride home. She normally takes the church van when we’re not around but always prefers to go home with us. When we drop her off, she always leaves a dollar with us and says that she does the same for the church van and insists that we take the money, so we don’t make a fuss about it anymore.

I was driving, as usual, and pretty quiet during the entire ride. My parents were talking with Betty and we pull up to a red light, where there is a woman walking in the street, begging, holding out her cup to the drivers of the waiting cars. The first thing that popped into my head was, “Give her the dollar Betty gave you,” oh but God knows me!

I love to give, but God knows that ever since we’ve moved to Newark, my heart has been a little hardened to give in situations like this. He knows about the time I took my cousin to Wendy’s. He knows about the woman who asked me for change before we went in. He knows that I told her I would give her something after we came out, and he knows I kept my word. He also knows how ungrateful the woman was, to the point of scoffing at what I gave her, which, by the way, was all I had on me at the time. And God knows about similar situations I’ve been in that have made it more difficult for me to dig into my pocket and give in certain situations than it has been in the past.

So although the first thing on my mind/heart was to give her the dollar, which wasn’t even really mine to begin with, I didn’t. I wish I could say that I had. The woman walked by several cars without stopping and stopped when she reached my window. I don’t know if she saw the dollar laying near the handbrake, or if that was just God’s way of giving me a chance to, literally, put my money where my mouth is, and trust God to do this small act of kindness.

I failed miserably, and realized it as soon as the woman started walking away. I know it seems insignificant, but I really felt like that was a small opportunity to do exactly what I wanted to do. It may seem like I’m making a mountain out of a mole hill, but the fact of the matter is, if God can’t trust me to do the small things he wants me to do, how can he trust me to do more for him? If I can’t trust him completely in little issues like this, how can I trust him when I need him in bigger situations. This isn’t a big hangup for me, but I know it was an opportunity to grow.

So, as we drove away, I spoke to God in my heart and asked him to give me another chance to give, and I’m waiting for it. I feel so silly about it all, but what can I say. If I’m going to fail, I want to fail forward.

I stand corrected on the title. Thanks

El Shaddai

Sometimes I wish I could be more like Sy, the photo guy, or at least I wish that there were more people like him in this world. You have to really watch the movie, One Hour Photo and look at his motives to really understand what I’m talking about. I can’t really go into detail about it here because I’d be betraying a friend’s trust, but I know someone going through a situation much like the Yorkins in One Hour Photo, but worse. All I can do is pray for them, and pray that certain individuals decide to change themselves instead of trying to change their circumstances, but I wish I could do more. Part of me wants to be like Sy, who threw caution to the wind and risked going to prison in order to liberate a man from his inability to see just how precious his family is - the very thing he was tearing apart. Grrrrr.. that’s all I have to say about that for now

Twenty years ago, I drove a cab for a living. When I arrived at 2:30 a.m., the building was dark except for a single light in a ground floor window. Under these circumstances, many drivers would just honk once or twice, wait a minute, and then drive away. But, I had seen too many impoverished people who depended on taxis as their only means of transportation.

Unless a situation smelled of danger, I always went to the door. This passenger might be someone who needs my assistance, I reasoned to myself. So I walked to the door and knocked. “Just a minute”, answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor. After a long pause, the door opened.

A small woman in her 80’s stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940s movie. By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets. There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware.

“Would you carry my bag out to the car?” she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, and then returned to assist the woman. She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb. She kept thanking me for my kindness. “It’s nothing”, I told her. “I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated”. “Oh, you’re such a good boy”, she said.

When we got in the cab, she gave me an address, and then asked, “Could you drive through downtown?” “It’s not the shortest way,” I answered quickly. “Oh, I don’t mind,” she said. “I’m in no hurry. I’m on my way to a hospice”. I looked in the rear-view mirror. Her eyes were glistening. “I don’t have any family left,” she continued. “The doctor says I don’t have very long.” I quietly reached over and shut off the meter. “What route would you like me to take?” I asked.

For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator. We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds. She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl. Sometimes she’d ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.

As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, “I’m tired. Let’s go now.” We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico. Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move. They must have been expecting her.

I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair. “How much do I owe you?” she asked, reaching into her purse. “Nothing,” I said. “You have to make a living,” she answered. “There are other passengers,” I responded. Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly. “You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,” she said. “Thank you.” I squeezed her hand, and then walked into the dim morning light.

Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life. I didn’t pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly lost in thought. For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk. What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away? On a quick review, I don’t think that I have done anything more important in my life. We’re conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments. But great moments often catch us unaware-beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.

PEOPLE MAY NOT REMEMBER EXACTLY WHAT YOU DID, OR WHAT YOU SAID, BUT THEY WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER HOW YOU MADE THEM FEEL.

Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance. Every morning when I open my eyes, I tell myself that it is special. Every day, every minute, every breath truly is a gift.