Why do we ignore tragedy?

Wishful thinking? Optimism? Shock? Trauma? Or a mixture of all of these...

Tragedy, ranging from an F on a test to, lets say, a deadly disease spreading through your city taking the lives of rats an humans alike, is not something anyone necessarily wants to deal with. Unless you're Olivia Pope. 

I think some of use just ignore it and kinda push it to the side to deal with later rather than facing it head on and having to get a grip on reality. Take, for example, people who seem to be keeping calm and collected when someone close to them has passed but break down at the funeral. They ignored tragedy. More than likely because they did not want to come to terms with the fact that they won't be seeing that person anymore. And I get it. I'm one of those people.  

Facing reality is hard.

People ignore tragedy because facing reality is hard.

Just a new thought: denial. Like a (tragic) break-up with the peanut butter to your jelly, the cheese to your macaroni (you get where I'm going with this)... You can't wrap your mind around it, so even though it happened, somehow in your mind it didn't. Or you may be in denial about the fact that someone is just completely done dealing with your bullshit so you ignore it assuming that they'll come back.

They won't. 

Is poverty a choice?

Is it? Poverty isn't a choice...it's more like a system you are put in when you're born. The education you get (street education, school) and the things you learn are reflective of your community and surroundings. I'm sure there a percentage who just made bad decisions but a lot of people are just born into that culture. The question is then: does everyone in poverty have the potential to get out? Are only the "brilliant" (yet poverty-stricken) children able to find their way out? Take Malcolm X for example. After the assassination of his father, his family was left poor. He was, in fact, extremely smart, but the environment he was in forced him to use his intelligence for evil. Nevertheless, he freed himself from the shackles of poverty. It was only when he was placed in jail (a life change that was forced upon him) that he started to think differently. But even then, to keep his brain active and study was a choice he made. He very well could have say in jail and done nothing. It just so happens that the choices he made given his situation led him out of darkness.
So now, I guess I'm saying that poverty isn't a choice, but staying in it is THE choice, or number of choices that one makes.

Theophilus London >

chrome://newtabhttp//indy.livemixtapes.com/mixtapes/11717/theophilus_london_i_want_you.html

I will be reviewing Theophilus London's street album, titled "I Want You". This my actually be my favorite mixtape of all time.... well its definitely my favorite of the four TL has out. Va$htie plays DJ on this one.

I don't even know where to start....

This album is so great because London samples some classic songs like Marvin Gaye's "I Want You", Alicia Myers' "I Want to Thank You", Tweet's "Oops", Stevie Wonder's "Love Light in Flight", and more.

Starting with my favorite, "Light Years" (sampled from Alicia Myers), is London reminiscing back on what could possibly be a teenage love affair (I think its his prom night), while Alicia Myers brings in the chorus from "I Want to Thank You"... then it flows into "Hey Wonderful" (sampled from Stevie Wonder) as smooth as butter (we have Va$htie to thank for that). This is a feel-good song with catchy rhymes and thanks to Stevie, a killer chorus.

Next up is "Flying Overseas". I appreciate the drums on this one. I enjoy the nostalgic taste behind this track. Listening to it... you kinda just float into another world. I wont talk about "Oops" because I want to keep this post PG. lol. But its a Tweet cover, not a sample.

"Give it up dad" is a song that I like because it has humor. He samples Vampire Weekend's "Giving up the Gun"... and its just great. He tells a story about a secret love affair between him and the prime minister's daughter and there's actually a short skit at the end that I love.

Last song I'll talk about, I promise. "Departure" is important to discuss because it opens the door to a new world involving Theophilus London.  This song is by a duo he's in called Paris 96, featuring him and Jesse Boykins III. The link to the Paris 96 mixtape is below.  I lovelovelove this song because I am a big r&b fan, and this is like, r&b but you've got Theophilus London's beautiful musical mind behind it... its so fresh and genre-bending and the whole thing is just amazing please listen to it.

chrome://newtabhttp//www.livemixtapes.com/mixtapes/14635/theophilus_london_jesse_boykins_iii_paris_96.html

Something meaningful to me

I originally was stuck on what I wanted this blog to be about but reading the end in Frank Kafka's "the metamorphosis" made me realize how meaningful family really is to me.

Mr. Samsa, at the end if the story, says "let's let bygones be bygones" to his family and they indulge in some long overdue family quality time. This quickly became my favorite part I the book because it made me really think about how my family is. Maybe I'm Lon overdue for some binding time with my mom or my siblings. We get so caught up in our lives and careers that we sometimes don't take the time to really bind with those who will love us and accept us for who we are. So yeah, family means a lot to me.

Who would Camus/Voltaire vote for?

This is a challenging question if you don't pay that much attention to politics.

In my opinion, neither Camus or Voltaire would vote at all. Camus is an absurdist, so he doesn't believe that there is no meaning in life. He would feel like his vote wouldn't matter. Voltaire sees little sense in society and he would feel like his vote would be for the lesser of two evils. So he would just not vote.

However, I can see Voltaire voting for Obama. In Candide, he satirizes the upper class and seems to be more supportive of the average/middle class, which is parallel to Obamas campaign.

What is life?

What is life? The answer depends on who you're asking. Life, in my opinion, is defined by its two constants: the constant battle between right and wrong, or good and evil, and the constant of change.

The battle between right and wrong would define life because it consumes us in almost every thought. Just about every decision that we make us based on if we thought it was the "right" or "good" thing to do. And for most of us, we feel bad when we have done something wrong or evil.

Therefore, the meaning of life is to define right and wrong, pick a side, and try to live by it.

Life wouldn't be life without change. Which is why I believe change defines life. As humans, we change constantly, no matter how much we try to keep things consistent. Change is an inevitable aspect of every day life, meaning we should embrace change and with it, try to maximize the richness of our lives.

Candide is a murderer and is still alive.

Candide has murdered three men. In my opinion, he deserved to die but he is LUCKY that he was only robbed of all the fortune he gathered in Eldorado. Especially since the wages if his crimes back then was death (by being burned alive at the stake).

Candide, at the beginning was innocent and some if his actions were excusable. And we can even let his first murder slide. But when he killed that first man... I know he felt something inside of him, and I know it felt wrong. Not to mention he was running away from possible punishment (which tells us that he certainly knew it was wrong). So with that being said, he had to have known murder is wrong by the time he killed man #2.