title soon to come

making our way to Chattanooga.

Even though it was only weekend trip it was something that the family needed. I haven't beening blogging much...haven't felt up to it. Different things have been going on with me personally. I have lost touch with myself, with my Lord and Savior, haven't been missing the internet, just been in a funk. Sometimes you have to see a different scenery to make you realize how blessed you are. Going to Chattanooga, Tennessee was a true trip me, Z, the step-children and the grandchildren needed.

The drive up there was truly peaceful. We only stopped a couple of times but overall the weather was fantastic. We did not have to run the air in our cars which was truly a blessing because that means no extra gas burning. One thing I made a misstep on is not burning driving CDs because I can truly say, they is nothing on commercial radio (we have to invest in either XM or Sirus satelite). Our next trip I will not make that mistake. Once we arrived to Chattanooga we took are stuff to our rooms and then headed downtown Chattanooga and walked around Tennessee Aquarium. The children had a blast and so did the grown ups. After being down there for a couple of hours we headed back to the hotel, changed and went ou to eat at the Shoney's. The food was cool and I must say I did not stuff myself, which is a big difference for me which is a good thing.

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The next day we got everything together and checked out then headed to Ruby Falls. That line was too long so we headed to the Incline Railway which is pretty cool. To see the look on everyone faces to see how beautiful the landscape is made them realize that this is what life is all about...seeing different parts of the world. Next we went to Lookout Mountain. Me and Z have been there about 4-5 times but each time I enjoy the site. Being up in the mountains, seeing what God blessed man to carve out and to show the world is just breathtaking. Being here made me forget about the internet, my podcast and what it made me think of was God first, my wife second, the step-children and grandchildren. It put in perspective that it is truly good to experience life, share life with the ones you love and enjoy every moment.

I am playing around with recording outside. I want to begin recording my intro and outro for my MyLoveForMusic podcast to give it a more relaxing, serene feeling to it.

Outdoor_test_2

Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite

Maxwell

Found an old mixtape I put together I'm pretty sure back in the mid or late 90s (why does that seem like ages ago for me) of Maxwell and Erykah Badu (the mixtape also is saying Paula Cole is on here...which lets you all know how I was mixing different genres before my podcast) and guess what I'm doing...yep converting it to WAV and later it will be converted to mp3s. What is catching my attention is how good the mixtape sounds and how I take care of my music.

It's really weird, but I think that my love for music and how I envisioned myself sharing music with the masses and now I am doing it. I doubt if I showcase this music but it's good to know that I have this cassette because I think this is around the time that I stopped listening to R&B because to me after hearing this talented brother and sister I truly thought Soul music was dead.

at one of my favorite libraries

Right now I am converting one of my favorite all time music duos...Special EFX.** Listening to this takes me back to when I was single, being able to express myself when it came to loving music. It's amazing when you are dating how the other person says, "don't change who you are" but then once you become involved with them they have a way of sometimes making you think what you like, what makes you whole feel...well, stupid. Why is that?

Lately I have slowed down on things that truly bring me joy, recording my podcast, listening to music, it just doesn't seem the same and this is what truly brings me happiness. Question, why is that we spend more time researching a car we are going to drive, a pair of shoes, a computer we may purchase, a home but when it comes to relationships we spend a couple of months with the person, hop in bed with them, then think that is our "soul-mate" for life. Then when divorce happens we blame it on "marriage". Marriage is not the problem, the people getting married is the problem.

Marriage is a beautiful thing but as I heard one person say, we spend more time on the "wedding" than the marriage, and it's true. I have written somewhat on this before but when it all boils down, we truly need to let our mind lead us instead of our heart. Yes, being attracted to the person is very important but we have to look beyond just the physical attraction. We need to ask hard question...

• Do you want children?
• Do you want to get involved with a person with children?
• How is the relationship between the person you are dealing with and the ex?
• Is this person a good parent?
• If a person want children...why?

The last question people may ask, how could you ask that? Simple, some people want children for the wrong reason. Some think it will bring them wholeness, some think "well, "so and so are having them so I should". If a person want children because they truly want children and know that this is a "lifetime" commitment, they know there will be sacrifices, if they know they want children because they truly love children then by all means do so because these people know they will not perfect parents but loving parents. They know they will have to say no sometimes and sometimes their children may not like them for it but these are the type of parents that will hang in there. All I'm saying folks is just take your time when you are seeing someone because if you are thinking of marriage you have to thing beyond the bedroom and just having "butterflies in your stomach".

I know I said this blog will not be serious and it will not be. This is just thoughts that are popping in my head close to 1 in the morning. My Vox pal Lauren suggested that I need to begin just writing and letting it flow, just being myself, and you know what...it feels really good.

Thank you Lauren.

Darrenkeith_Simpsonized01

I think I will begin recording my podcast on a bi-weekly basis. This one I have to be honest came out pretty good. Check it out.

yep...that's me

So funny starting a new blog because to be honest this is the first time in a while that I feel I do not where to begin but I feel I know how to blog now. What do I mean by that? I know now when which blogs to post my "deep" feelings and my "fun" feelings and Vox is the place for the latter for me. There are a few things I will cut back on and cut out of my web life so to speak...

Twitter is out: Twitter is a cool thing don't get me wrong but it is no longer for me. I find that the more I'm on twitter the less I wish to write and to be honest I love to write. I also found myself loathing to be on the web period and I thought that would never happen to me. So I will begin to use twitter for what it is made for...updates and cool links I come across. I'm not going to lie, I like to run my mouth and twitter is not made for that and I know better than to try and make twitter into something that I know it is not.

I found myself becoming lazy when it comes to reading when it comes to twitter. I have to step back and get back to when I first began blogging, what made me fall in love with writing in the first place.

Having fun again: It's hard to believe but I think I will be coming up on 2 years since being on Vox. Things have change, some of my Vox neighbors have moved on, some I have lost contact and others I still have a closeness to so with that said with my new Vox blog I truly consider those my friends and family and this time I will be very careful on who I follow. This blog will be for my random thoughts, photos I take, music I like...like my very first blog. My more in depth thoughts will be on my main blog. This place will be for me just let my hair down(that's a poor choice since I shave my head every two weeks)...how about for me just being me, no serious post, no thought-provoking/face frowning/political/theology post because I have a place to post those and will provide links for those because that way whoever wish to check them out and vise versa.

It's amazing that sometimes we have to tear things down completely, step back and reflect to see what you need to keep, what you need to throw to the wayside and what to do to truly make yourself happy and feel at peace again. Vox is a very cool place and most of the people I have encounter are some of the best so I want to step back get to know my neighbors again and for me to get to know me as well.