TREAT'EM LIKE A PROSTITUTE

Whatcha mean 'Lik?  

In 1988, Slick Rick came out with a hit song "Children's Story".  That was my joint back in the day.  So I knew when the album....I mean the cassette tape...came out I had to get it.  The Great Adventures of Slick Rick.  I remember going to the record store to get it and couldn't wait to get home to pop it in my boom box.  I opened the package and hit play, turned the volume to about 10...and the first song went...."Here's an oldie, but goodie".... At this point I looked at the name of the first song on the cover..."TREAT'EM LIKE A PROSTITUTE".  

Uh oh...I better turn this jank DOWN before my Momma hears it.  At the lower volume, I commence to listen to the words, especially the chorus.  It goes...

"Treat'em like a prostitute; 
Don't treat no girlie well until you're sure of the scoop; 
'Cause all they do is they hurt and trample;
Listen up close here comes my first example....."

Before I knew it, I had hit rewind to listen to it again.  Slick Rick was breaking down his examples of dealing with women that he didn't trust.  However, let me use this song title to break it down a little further.  I am challenged to create a new interpretation of this song.  Think about it from an Economic Viewpoint - the Economic Turnstile called LIFE.  See daily, we run the streets trying to get all that we can get only to pay it back to our pimps (the system).  We, the skeezers, sacrifice our temple (mind, body, spirit, health, etc) to obtain that almighty dollar.  The prostitute is said to be the true provider for the pimp.  The prostitute pays the pimp.  The pimp receives this money and "appears" to protect and care for the hooker's best interest.  Like Slick Rick said..."cause all they do is they hurt and trample". 

We know the game right??  Look in the mirror if you don't.  Look around you for examples.  We are the prostitutes.  We go home after a long day at the job and ask ourselves, how do I get out of this mess...how can I break away from these economic challenges....why do they have control over me???  The key is for the "pimp" to NEVER allow the prostitutes to rise up or figure out the game.  At that point, the pimp has lost the prostitute and will have to be in search of another one.  The pimp (economic overload) says we are not good enough so they "smack us" with high interest rates, minimal paying jobs, unapproved credit, inflated costs, lay-offs, downsizing, etc.  They don't want us to be "sure of the scoop".


And there lies the answer.  We must prepare ourselves to know the "scoop".  We cannot continue to allow ourselves to be prostitutes and run the street with no clue.  Arm yourself and take back what you worked hard for.  First, stop giving the pimp all your money.  When you had a long day working hard on the avenue, pay yourself FIRST.  Save some up for the rainy day for when the pimp try to steal it all from  you with high bills and unexpected costs.  Stash it.  Don't let'em know all your financial resources.  Second, take back your temple.  You need to stop allowing the rat race of life to tear you down and raping you of your sanity.  Your mind and spirit is essential to growth.  Find that "trick" (job, investment, career, etc) and love it.  Stop allowing the pimp (economic challenges) to dictate where and what you need to do with your money you earn.  Third, become the pimp.  Become a part of the system.  Gain wealth instead of being a worker.  Invest in something that appreciates in value (house, business, stocks, bonds, etc) and stop giving it away.  We need to stop buying and spending on stuff that looses value.  

Slick Rick was on to something..more than about relationships, but more importantly about life.  We must look around us and not ignore the signs.  We have to utilize the examples and situations that we have seen to overcome and conquer the pimp. Get with the program people!  It is time to wake up and stop being HOOKERS.  We have to know "the SCOOP". 

The Company You Keep

"The Company You Keep"....

Eh, tell me who your best friends are, and I will tell you who you are.  If you run with wolves, you will learn how to howl.  But, if you associate with eagles, you will learn how to soar to great heights. The simple but true fact of life is that you become like those with whom you closely associate - for the good and the bad.

Sometimes, the less you associate with some folks, the more your life will improve.  As you grow, your associates will change.  Some of your friends will not want you to go on.  They will want you to stay where they are.  Friends that don't help you climb will want you to crawl.  Your friends will stretch your vision or choke your dream.  Those that don't increase you will eventually decrease you.

REAL TALK (learning this myself):

1. Never receive counsel from unproductive people.
2. Never discuss  your  problems with someone incapable of contributing to the solution,  because those who never succeed themselves  are  always first to tell you how.  Not everyone has a right to speak into your life.  You are certain to fail when you exchange ideas with the wrong person.
3. Don't follow anyone who's not going anywhere.  
4. Be careful where you stop to inquire for directions along the road of life.

Avant-Garde of Encouragement

OVERCOMING...

Ah, encouragement, it is something we all need intermittently and perhaps, on a daily basis for some.  Nonetheless, life offers a tapestry of hard earned and unwelcome lessons, as well as, simple ones.  Given the last two years of financial disorder experienced around the world, many people lost jobs, have been displaces from their homes (i.e., Haiti), with untold mounting healthcare related debt; it's no wonder why many people have become discouraged and dispirited.

Well, despite these real events that is occurring and has occurred in your life or to a family member's life or others you know, you can surmount whatever challenge you are currently experiencing with your innate fortitude.  That's right, you can and must decide you will overcome.  It may not be easy, but you can do it!

How you ask?  By telling yourself first, "The challenges I am experiencing is just temporary and it is only preparing me for greater things to manifest in my life."  Sounds simplistic?  Well, if it does, that's just the initial 'doubt crepe' trying to grow.  The main thing is not allow 'doubt crepe' to blossom because it can become emotionally and mentally draining in your pursuit to effect the circumstance in your life, positively.

Second, do not wallow in self-pity because you do not h ave time for that and besides, you are not the only one faced with life challenges.  Prime example, just remember our fellow brethren in Haiti!

Third, be productive and manage your time wisely, by organizing and prioritizing things that matters most to you in life.  Eventually, things will work out for you, you'll need to trust and believe.  Now, all of this is relative to your overall perspective - how you envision the outlook for your life.  The only way to change anything is through action.  But be mindful, life does not and will not offer any guarantees.  It's all up to you.  You must pay the price to OVERCOME...

Be active.  Stay committed.  Be hopeful.

Tony D. Spencer

"That's My Song"

"That's My Song"...

I was just sitting here listening to some podcasts at work and heard,  "welcome to the terrordome" and automatically I wanted to get up and start marching like the S1Ws....(if you don't know who the S1Ws, you are not a PE fan).  What I realized is that there are just some songs, no matter when you hear them nor how long ago they were made, it just touches/sparks your "soul".  It just speeches energy or subject matters in  your life.  That is why I know music is so crucial and influential.  Taking nothing off the new artists of today, but how we go from "Ribbon in the Sky" (Stevie Wonder and/or Intro) to "Bust your Windows" (Jazmine Sullivan).  Something just ain't right with music today!

I can name numerous songs, that when I hear them.....everything stops.  Just one of those...."that's my song"...finger snappin episodes. 

1. Love Ballad - LTD (Jeffrey Osborne).  George Benson made an uptempo version of this same song but LTD slowed it down and it is a classic to me. 
2. Special Kind of Fool - Basic Black.  A one hit R&B wonder that went under the radar. 
3. Forever in Your Eyes - Mint Condition.  Those dudes from Minnesota were a beast.  It is a must to see them in concert before I leave this earth.
4. Scenario and Scenario (remix) - Who can say when they here Busta Rhymes' part, they don't want to tear something up??? "Heel up wheel up bring back come rewind"
5. Set it Off - Big Daddy Kane...."let it roll get bold..." How Marley Marl chopped this JBs drum pattern for this track is amazing to me!
6. I Ain't No Joke - Eric B & Rakim....I don't know if it is the song or the video for the song I love the most.  Graffitti, B-boy stance, boom box, gold chains, Eric B scratching at the end.....That was classic hip hop at its best.
7. Andre 3000's verse on International Player....I don't care what folks say...He is in my top 5 lyrics of all time.  What he says....folks cant relate to so people don't give him his props  "like a premie out the womb, my partna yelling too soon don't do it, reconsider" 
8. Gotta Get Mine - MC Breed & Tupac.  The HARDEST Tupac verse to me ever.  "I keep my mind on my money, money on my mind, finger on the trigger, hand on my nine" RIP Tupac and MC Breed...
9. As - Stevie Wonder off Songs in the Key of Life.  If you don't have that CD in your collection, you missing the best of the best.  But "as" is songwriting at its greatest.  Listen to the words. 
10. "By the Time I get to Phoenix" - Issac Hayes.  Hot Buttered Soul.  A 16 minute song that tells a story.  WOW.....
11. "Yes" - Shekinah Glory Ministry.  Just say "Yes" to the Lord.
12. "Encourage Yourself - Donald Lawrence.  This song will truly help you overcome trials and tribulations 
    

....I could go on and on.  I know there are several contrasts, but that is what music is. It has to challenge you mentally and physically.  To me, stuff today don't do that.  Don't get me wrong, Jill Scott, Ledisi, Musiq SoulChild, Anthony Hamilton., Common, and even Kanye (sometimes)....their music speaks to me.  I can relate, but it gotta be more substance than just fighting, shooting, and saying I got the most cars and stuff.  Bring back the soul music.

I ask you.....What songs touch your soul? 

Regards,
"Bobby Womack" (...if she's lonely now...)

THINGS TO ADDRESS IN 2010....#1

. . . . DUDES  THAT RESPOND TO YOUR MESSAGES WITH, "K."  Like broads.  It's getting out of control and it's hurting me. 

___ * * * (pop, pop, pop)

/

GREAT DEBATE: Will KOBE end his career in top 5 EVER??

Will/can Kobe end his career top 5 best ever to lace em up?

Undisputed top 5 ever to date (in order):**

MJilla - [silence]

Wilt - most skilled big man to ever play. 7'0 of hot monkey balls dominance. A beast.

Magic - ushered in modern era of nba ball. He's a champion. You respect magic more now that he has retired. Unbelievable court awareness. He's 6'9 of crustacean funk dominance

Bird - saved whyte america from bball extinction. Unlike magic, you respected bird MORE when he played vs now (he hates n*groes now). His shot was unorthodox and he and my father are the reasons my J is unorthodox, but I'm so deadly. GUUTgawd I luv my game :-( UNTIL WALMART MAN FROM OXON HILL BURIED ME ON A LAST SECOND J IN 2005. But lookahur, bird is 6'9 full of orangaTANG hot balls dominance.

The Doc (J) - brought gracefulness to the game. Carried two leagues on his back -- aba and nba. His up and under move against LA IS the single greatest move ever in the nba. If u deny that ur a clown. You look at the Doc and envy this cat. Smooth. 6'9 of teraDACKtul dominance. Amazing.

IN-D-FACE.

Re: kobe, Whom would he supplant? And why?

**if u debate that list, you're a schmuck. Those 5 revolutionzed the game and were absolutely dominant. Only wilt didn't play in a era of parity. the big O, albeit h*lla nice, the triple double avg for a season wasn't all you think it was. Read about that season. O would be top 10 tho.

I luv me and hate u all.

'I'm Understanding"

"I'm Understanding"....
 

I think a lot.  I analyze everything.  The whats, where, whys, what nots, how comes…basically everything and all questions.  If you know me personally, you know this about me.  I feel sometimes there is a realization or "understanding" of situations that occur and it becomes frustrating trying to figure it out.  That is me.  I need answers.  

Recently, I have been troubled with death, disputes, arguments, and relationships.  I have puzzled my mind trying to understand…."what is going on?"  Why is this happening?  What is God trying to tell me?  Can I work this thing out with them?  What have I done wrong?  What could I have done differently or more of?  Just a lot of questions.  Then it hit me….

Why stress?  If I believe God is in control that is enough.  I must continue to pray through trials and tribulations.  My pastor says all the time that "a storm with Jesus is better than a storm without Him".  I know I am in a storm and it is overpowering.  I am not going to be able to understand everything.  No one can.    Everything does not deserve an answer.  I can not ask and even tell people to do what they are not able to do.  If they do, they do, if they don't they don't.  I have to keep moving on with what I have to do for me.  Which leads me to my other realization...  

…I stress, analyze, and question I know because I care.  I care deeply for people and their feelings, thoughts, and actions.  I bend over backwards for just about everyone and everything. Is that a bad thing?  Is that a weakness?  Sometimes I think (scratch that…I know) because I care so much it makes me vulnerable to things that should not affect me.  I step in and try to figure things out that sometimes I can not resolve.  It is just my nature.  I can not save everyone and sometimes people don't want to be saved. The key is to "semi"-transform this pattern, and accept what you can not change.  I can continue to care, but don't let it consume me.  I can not help everyone.  

I say all this to say, that we are in critical times and true understanding is going to happen within.  You have to truly know yourself.  Know what you are capable of; know what drives you; know what challenges you.  I know this thought pattern has been erupted in me because of situations that have happened recently, but I thank GOD, for giving me the discerning spirit to recognize it.  Years ago, I know I wouldn't have been able to see it.  It is a process and I am learning.  

Like I said, I am "understanding"….