[Novel-Long Status Warning...] LOL (Day 5, Finale) Soooo... Thanks to my sister (and for a short time, one of my digital work-out buddies, lol) Tamika Kramer... I have been roped into this Things You Are Thankful For Challenge. Gotta say sorry that I just got the time to get around to writing it now... but, I will comply and over the course of the next 5 days, I will be publicly listing the Top 15 things that Im thankful/appreciative for in my life, and a brief why. Its Tuesdays, so heres the 5TH & FINAL SET... Enjoy! (3) – I am thankful for: Basketball. As a sport, exercise, passion, & life-long interest. I watched my 1st NBA draft in 1989 (I was 7 years old) and Ive been a hooked fanatic ever since. I played in both middle school & high school, been to countless pro games lives, and also enjoy watching any level of basketball on TV, but Im a super fan of the NBA especially. I love researching EVERYTHING about it, and learning new trivia... Even when I was a kid, I used to stalkerishly track down stadium & agent addresses, and mail them to get basketball cards signed. Anyone thats a friend of mine knows that we have had some of the most epic arguments/debates EVER regarding basketball, players, stats, & the league. And ask my wife - EVERY NBA draft night, I grab myself a few drinks & setup a war room of prospect sheets, statistics, & draft boards to try to mock my own draft, and YELL at the teams dumb enough not to listen to me. LOL. Basketball has always been one of the main things that Ive always been attached to. (2) – I am thankful for: My wife Jean Marie Del Valle & everything she has brought into my life. Ive known her for over 12 years, and everyday I still learn new things about her, and enjoy loving her to death. Like it or not, shes made me a better person, and helped me find skills/knowledge within me that I never knew I had. Were not the typical *two peas in a pod* couple = Shes not into sports while I am, she hates Star Wars & Rocky, she likes pop music more than Hip-Hop, shes not into athletics/fitness AT ALL, shes afraid of the dark & bugs, she dislikes horror films, she has absolutely no personal hobbies while I prolly have too many, shes an extremist while I like to compromise often, shes uber-positive/content/grateful while I like to focus on whats missing/improvements & I can get complainy, I talk waaay too much & she hates the phone, Im very very huggy/attention-needy while she enjoys her space & alone-time, Im a night-owl & she goes to sleep waaaaaay too early, she loves chocolate & I hate it, she salts food waaaay too much for my taste, etc-etc. But YET, opposites attract somehow, and our differences are always flavorful/interesting to look at, and they work out great in some crazy way... to the point where people think were perfect for each other. One area where we are the same though is our overall strength in morals - of friendliness, sympathy, faith, compassion, honesty, love, loyalty, & family. I think we both try real well in attempting to get into what the other likes, and have molded each other into better versions of what we used to be - and we both work very very very hard to support each other & the life weve built together. Everything/everyone thats mine is hers, literally! While I sometimes complain that she has slowed me down from my crazy, leap-of-faith, advantageous, pipe-dream, extra-curricular adventures ... I am very thankful that she has brought organization & caution into my life, and helped me find more stability. Ive very grateful for all she does & puts up with, and If I dont say it enough: Jean is incredibly awesome, and Im blessed to call her mine. (1) – I am thankful for: Hip-Hop Music & its Culture. Now, to clarify, Im not talking about acting thugged out, gangsta rap, pimpin, sagging pants, grills, Lil Wayne, or any other crazy false misconceptions people have, lol. Im really talking about the rich history, style, vernacular, freedom, art, & expression as a whole that comes from the Hip-Hop culture. Already being a writer of poetry so early in my life, it was an easy transition to get into Hip-hop music. I was so into wanting to try all of the elements, and I was better at some more than others, lol. Thanks to my cousin Ron Santana-deJesus... around 1991-1992, he introduced me to my first 3 rap artists (Rakim Casualties of War, Public Enemy Cant Truss It, & Wu-Tangs Protect Ya Neck). From that moment on, it became an obsession, that I dove right into head first. Since then, Ive collected, purchased, downloaded, analyzed, freestyled, song-wrote, ghost-wrote, copywritten, DJed, produced, recorded, battled, performed, reviewed, judged, paneled... and Ive enjoyed EVERY single minute of it. Sure theres negative stuff thats more popular, but theres equally more amazing stuff if you just dig for it, that I related to sooooooooo much. Hip-Hop & Rap Music has been there with me/for me for as long as I can remember; and helped me get through nearly every hurdle I had in life. Each sound/style/concept, I listened, used & enjoyed for a different life situations. Thanks to Hip-Hop... Ive made a little money off of it; won some nice accolades; traveled to some very cool locations; and made some very very awesome life-long friends who are just as passionate about it as I am. I now own over 7,900+ CDs on my wall of just albums (and BOXES of mixtapes in the closet). Im always at ease if theres some music playing, and I still write lines to this day, and think Im a better, more intelligent person because of it. Hip-Hop has taught me many many things, gotten out my rage, calmed me down, let me express myself creatively, and kept me interested all these years. No matter how corny/ratchet/foolish/retarded *Pop* Rap gets, I will still have my connection & memories & heart fully with Hip-Hop Music. Its one of the only things that hasnt disappointed me - and part of it has loved me allllllllllllllllllll this time, so I proudly love it back and am very thankful for Hip-Hop, and who it has made me. :)
Posted on: Sat, 20 Sep 2014 00:40:23 +0000
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