toussaint the liberator

Sheba.  Most know her as the Ithiopian queen who stole the heart of King Solomon in biblical days.  I know her as a spirit of kindness and love that has embodied herself in a 1.5 year old Rottweiler who has recently come into my life and done the same. 

The circumstances around her arrival are just spooky! My wife has been asking me for a dog for more than a couple years, all starting when we had to take in my daughter’s dog Wilie for a few months while her and her mom travelled.  That little taste was all…

It was six oclock in the evening. I remember the time because i had gotten up early after an uneasy night. The uneasiness swelled and when i woke up, though it was cold out, i jumped in my clothes and started the ritual of getting Queen Sheba ready for her walk. Early morning on election day and i swear there were more than 30 dogs and their respective owners all over the neighborhood. Not only them, but everybody was walking with this determined gait. This "im doing this now because there is so much else…

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dduyFh67zia2TikQusBL3tj5m_iKB3Z3/view?usp=sharing

So as part of the ongoing conversation within the Black Men Build group that i have been a part of for the last several month has been how we take care of ourselves.  It was dope to have Stic from Dead Prez come on and give us presentation about the RBG fit club.  And it was during /Black August which was meant to be a time for FasT, Study and Train.  So we were all fellowshipping with one  another and c=encouraging each…

Since this pandemic began, i like most every one else was out of work and sitting at home laughing with my wife as we took to sharing that time we never had because we were working doing this and that, in the flow of regular life.  Now we were ordering food and binge watching shows and cuddling and thinking about it like a vacation.  After a couple weeks of this, i kept looking at myself in the mirror and seeing that what was looking back at me was pizza and hamburger face.  it was a sit around too much and…

So when i was a much younger man and i was living in Western Massachusetts, i had this practitioner that i went to quite often for acupuncture.  We were in a session one day when he gave me this breathing exercise that has stuck with me ever since.  He told me that if i did this exercise every day for fifteen minutes it would be like giving myself acupuncture.  It has been years since this was told to me but it has remained a very crucial part of my daily regimen.  

ok ok.  so without further due.

this is…