On Monday, my roommates and I had our lets-give-thanks-dinner before we all departed our various ways. I got up, oddly, at 6:45am and baked a marble cake, using a recipe from The Cake Mix Doctor. It turned out moist but the almond flavor was a little too loud and overwhelming for me. Nonetheless, the dinner, of sweet potato casserole, cornbread, and string bean casserole, went well. We gave thanks, made a toast, and talked until I got up and went to the library.

Instead of continuing this communing, celebrating, and feasting the reminder of the week, I will be working on three papers due, every last one, on December 3rd and getting a head start on my two finals. Of course, these papers and finals will determine if I will earn the coveted, for some students, A+. I must admit that I am one who has been coveting. I have been working like crazy proofreading, researching, note typing, studying, and talking with my professors in order to ensure I am meeting their standards and understanding the concepts. This, however, does not supersede or negate the fact that I am a person that can think critically and creatively outside of and against the status quo or the standard deviation. I am always the dangerous outlier—the artists with mighty Pentel ballpoint pen. Nevertheless, I am not the grader in this scenario. I will be happy with an A, but, until it’s over, I am fighting for my A+. So, who can really enjoy a second helping, or a first, with that battle looming in the background of the tofurkey and stuffing?

I will warn you that when the work starts, it never seems to stop…there is no break…until the last day of the semester or field placement, which do not end, unfortunately, on the same day. You can let it go…go out on a Friday night…or go home for Thanksgiving. However, the work remains, accumulating alongside the leftovers and the dirty dishes. It’s doable but no less than a struggle, especially if you’re like me and strive for the A+ yet still know that it’s just a letter…”full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

Enjoy!

…together in the struggle…

…wan love…

Posted by Chad at 10:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

…this week brings a few events I wanted to invite everyone to attend. Life is busy, I know, and there’s not a minute already accounted for or an hour not already double booked. However, if you decide to ignore your current engagements or have yet to make plans, then consider the following options. They are, of course, nothing like a headbanging, body rocking concert or the sea, sun, and sand vacation. So if you have those kind of plans, then please...um…don’t cancel.

• For all my Returned Peace Corps or Peace Corps interested brothers and sisters out there, the Shriver Peaceworker Fellows Program is screening American Idealist: The Story of Sargent Shriver. Shriver directed and developed many social welfare programs, such as Job Corps and Peace Corps. As a Peaceworker Fellow, I highly recommend attending. 7:00pm on November 15, 2007 @ The Patterson Theater at The Creative Alliance, 3134 Eastern Avenue, Baltimore, MD.

• Unity Day sponsored by the Organization of African American Students in Social Work (OASIS). There will be food and discussions from 12:15 – 2:00pm on November 16, 2007 on the 3rd floor in the School of Social Work.

• Baltimore Writers Conference at Towson University Union on November 17, 2007. Registration begins at 8:00am; check out this website for more information: www.towson.edu/writersconference.

..regardless of what you do, enjoy it…and if you're undecided, then turn to Fiona Apple, “If you don’t have a song to sing…You’re ok…You know how to get along humming…If you don’t have a date…Celebrate…Go out and sit on the lawn…And do nothing…Cause it’s just what you must do and…Nobody does it anymore.”

…in the struggle together…

…wan love…

…and until next write…

Posted by Chad at 12:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As I eat the last remaining bites of my curried-potato samosas, I think about how new and fresh the day feels. The academic chaos has subsided until finals next month and I have suppressed all knowledge of whatever is due tomorrow. The apartment I share with three roommates contains weekend visitors. A roommate and I are walking through the Farmers’ Market in Baltimore. Let me say how profoundly amazing and relaxing hunting for fruit and spicy greens can be. Vendors from all over Maryland and beyond convene in a city parking lot under the Jones Fall Expressway between the intersection of Holiday and Saratoga, selling products and produce from cutting boards to pumpkin butter. Babies are strapped to their parents. Dogs are tethered to their owners. People are crowded around the various merchandises. The weather hints at fall with warm summer undertones lingering underneath. I purchase a loaf of orange-cranberry bread and begin scanning for my roommate. As I maneuver my way through the crowd, I laugh to myself about the chocolate milkshake cravings I had several weeks ago. For five consecutive nights the blender and I created some Zen moments with chocolate ice cream, milk, two dashes of cinnamon, and, of course, whipped cream topping. It got a brotha through some tough times and late nights—amen! Life feels good and balanced as I walk back to the apartment with my roommate—talking, laughing, listening, and living in the moment. We each carry bags filled with fruits and vegetables. Often we commune together, sharing our culinary delicacies and catastrophes, our life narratives. However, it’s Sunday and I am beginning to ramble, to lose the day to daydreaming. We have all week, all year. So I’ll see you next Sunday by the Curry Shack at the Farmers’ Market. Look for me in the 70’s leather jacket a la Shaft. I’ll bring the milkshakes and you’ll bring the daydreams…we'll chat over samosas...

…wan love…

...and until next write....

Posted by Chad at 11:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)