Kelvin's Corner

Chicago Bloggers Unite

Man this Friday really reminded me of why I LOVE Chicago....

Good Food...Good Drinks....and a whole lot of laughs...!!!

You see a few of us got together at Dave & Buster's for some drinks after work this past Friday...and just let me tell you...every one of these beautiful ladies is as genuine as they come...

Got  a chance to meet The Essence of Sunnchine and Ms. Keish...two of Chicago's lovely divas. I read Keish all the time and recently began frequenting Miss Chevonne's page. She has a Million Dollar smile that would light up any room...*wink* We all had so much fun and they all kept me in stitches the whole night. Now just let me tell you...I gained some valuable information on everything from C-sections to which Bloggers have road rage equivalent too, if not surpassing mine !!

I invited my girl Ebonie to come kick it with us so she met us up there when she got off work. Everyone was really cool and easy to be around....I thought we were gonna get put out at one point cause we got so loud, but nobody cared because it was Friday...end of the week...time to let your hair down so that's exactly what we all did.....July....will be RIDICULOUS!!!

Friday was something that I think we all needed....just to all get out, have a good time and cut loose a little bit...I updated the photo blog over to the right with more photos...so check them out...

Yeah, yeah, I know...a Saturday post is not a normal thing for me but I thought I would put this up cause I had a little time on my hands....so in other words...don't get used to this type shit....LMBAO!!!

Have a GREAT WEEKEND!!!!

Countdown to Chicago Blogger BLOWOUT....61 days...*wink*

...Friday Kudos

[Edit]...Updated the photo link with pics from the Chicago Bloggers Meetup over to the right...Check it out, we had a BLAST!!! [End Edit]

In keeping with the true essence of family, I decided to "borrow" today's idea for a post from Miss Xquizzyt1 without asking,... but eh...its Friday so I am sure she won't mind..*wink*...

Ladies and Gentlemen allow me to introduce you someone very dear and close to my heart...there are so many words to describe this person that I could not possibly begin to type them all out...Who am I speaking of you may ask? I would like to introduce to you all, none other than the Puerto Rican Boriqua known as simply....Golden....BITCHESSSSS!!

Now let me tell you this about my sister from another mother holding down the Boogie Down...I met Golden thru Schatzi when I was actually moving my page over to TypePad. I had become so frustrated with the vague ass instructions that TypePad has on moving your page from Blogger to here that I posed the question to my readers...Has anyone ever done this and can you help a brother out??....Like the next day, Schatzi commented that Golden had gone thru the import process...so I emailed Golden and asked if she could help me out...now anyone that knows G like I do, knows that she has like 7904837384949593839494.5 different things going on at any given moment....LOL.

**I always think of the Kathy comic strip when I think of G at work with papers flying and strange, random ass people drifting in and out of her office..lol**

..so anyway she emails me back and tells me that she was only on Blogger for a hot second and didn't really do many posts on there before she just opened a TypePad account, but promised me that she would dig thru the knowledge base and see what she could find....well like I said before, she has about 938484839928484 million different things going on and I ended up finding the more detailed instructions on my own and got the page moved before she emailed me back and let me know she had not forgot about me...LOL..I told her I took care of it and sent HER the link to where I got the better instructions and the rest as they say is history....

I talk to G on a daily basis and she has me constantly cracking up at some of the things she says and does...Who else do you know that can take dictation, be on IM, be on the phone, work on a spreadsheet, read blogs, and manage to post almost everyday???.....Who, huh? ...Golden...BITCHESSS!!! LMBAO

Now G has recently been the feature on Yolanda Writes and is the whole reason this Chicago Blogger BLOWOUT is happening...I was talking to her one day at work after the little fiasco with my basement happened and I guess she could tell I was sort of bummed about having to postpone the cruise we were all so geeked about...so what does she do??...she offers to come here along with the rest of you guys to help me bring in the big 3-0...*sniffle*...I am having a moment....excuse me...LOL....every since that day I have looked at her in a totally different light...she truly is like a sister to me and even though we have never met face to face...I feel like I have known her all my life...just a sweetie pie...

So I am looking forward to Memorial Day Weekend when I get to fly up to NY to visit and finally meet Miss Golden and the rest of the New York Blog Family, cause I know it will be a BLAST just like in Atlanta was...What son, what?!?!? LOL

Well that's all for today...just wanted to give it up to my Cyber Sis that I am so glad I met out here in the Blogosphere...*wink*

Big Ups to ya babe.....

Countdown to the Chicago Blogger BLOWOUT....62 days....

....*smh*...Part Deux

Since I have been going around reading blogs, I have noticed that alot of people are changing the look of their pages and I started playing around with my banner...I guessed it was time to change it up a bit...and wouldn't you know...as soon as I do change up the quote under the bottom...I get an inspiration to do this post for today....like the quote says..."Just when you thought it was safe"....shit like this happens....

Today I wanna lay out for you all what I just find hard to understand...listed below are a few pics that I recieved in my email yesterday...I could not help but be reminded of what Chris Rock so clearly pointed out during his Never Scared standup routine...A father's main goal in life...Keep His Daughter Off The Pole...

Now I like to call this one here..Chocolate-NonSensation...and its pretty self explanatory by just looking at the pic..LOL...I mean seriously, how could you let YOURSELF come out like this...I understand that BET has show's like 106th and Park and Ciara videos that run rampant, but what Miss NonSensation fails to realize is that the dancers and singers on BET actually work out and have a little thing that they call "wardrobe"...as I said....Just when you thought it was safe..

Now this one here I have bestowed the name..PureRat....nothing else can describe her better...LMBAO...I mean look how she is just giving it to the camera...tounge sticking out...bedroomish eyes...LOL....Seagram's in her cup..(straight mind you...not that watered down shit)...an outfit that she obviously picked up at a very "urban" neighboorhood spot that had a buy one get one free sale..so she has something to wear to the club next weekend..LMBAO!!. Once again...Just when you thought it was safe.....

Now everyone here knows and loves Fantasia..I mean I know I do...Lord.Have.Mercy...that girl can blow!!..and she has lips that any man can fall in love with...hehehe...but I just wanna show you what could happen if she ever fell off...Now you tell me...don't this chick look like a BrokeAssFantasia?? LOL...Let this be a lesson to all young girls that think once you drop a hit album you can remain on top....she is living proof that if you don't keep it hot..your ass can and will fall the fuck off...

The two in the pic above...I can only describe as "Rats In Training"...LOL. They are obviously young and are learning the proper technique for Dropping It Like Its Hot...as you can see...the striped socks and red heels indicate that she didn't have enough money to go to the ghetto spot with Miss PureRat to get a matching outfit so she had to work with what she had...once again to all the fathers out there...your main objective in life...Keep Your Daughter Off the Damn Pole..!!!

And one last one for you guys...

This last one I simply like to call...Miss Tit-tay...for obvious reasons...LOL...now I never got the memo that says that having your cleavage out AND knowing there is enough space to fit a middle finger in them was the HOTNESS!!...and then you top it off with a bowtie from you little brothers prom tuxedo!!! WTF??...Obviously her girl thinks she is bogus too because she told her to cover up her chest to hide all the damn bumps and shit she has up there...I mean is that just bad skin, an awful rash, or just a plain old case of not-washing-yo-ass which results in dirt buildup...LMBAO!!

And Just When You Thought It Was Safe......

Countdown to Chicago Blogger BLOWOUT...63 days and counting..*wink*

....Open Communication

I know you all have heard about Alicia Hardin, the 19 year old college student that admitted to sending hate mail at Trinity University in Illinois??

Apparently Ms. Hardin was unhappy about attending Trinity and decided that the best way to get her parents to take her out of that university was to try to make it seem as though the school was an unsafe environment for her to be in by sending bogus hate mail to different students on campus......

**Scratching my head as I ponder this**

Okay, I can sympathize with this young girls plight....she wanted to attend an HBCU...Jackson State as a matter of fact...its her methods of doing this that I don't really think she thought through all the way...

News reports say that the young lady attended Jackson State for a brief time and did well in her pursuit of a Special Education teaching degree...Why did she stop going? Who knows, but she ended up at Trinity and out of the 1100 students enrolled there are only about 300 "students of color", as the article so un-eloquently put it, in attendance...My personal guess is that the parents probably thought that Trinity was a better school and their daughter would be closer to home maybe?...In any case I think that if she had simply talked to her parents about not wanting to attend Trinity she would not be facing 5 years in prison and a felony on her record. The sad part about all of this..(as if the whole situation isn't sad) is that the girl was from the Southside of Chicago and of course the media interviewed some of the people that knew her and they all spoke very highly of the young lady..(although she did tell the judge during a bond hearing that she was taking anti-anxiety medication and had been charged with battery and criminal damage to property).

I think its just a sad situation all the way around...and I wouldn't classify this under "Yet another Reason We Can't Rise as a People" Category ( Copyright Xquizzyt1 2005) but I think that its a shining example of the old adage that

PARENTS NEED TO TALK TO YOUR KIDS !!!

What do you guys think?

Countdown to Chicago Blogger BLOWOUT...64 days and counting.....

....ReCoup and Recovery

So I left work yesterday feeling like I had been working on a damn railroad......

I was so damn tired from the traveling this past weekend...mainly the sitting in the airport I think..and all the fun we had in Atlanta. I knew I should have taken Monday off, but I am trying desperately to save my remaining vacation time for when the weather finally turns warm....and STAYS warm for more than a week!! I swear I could not have picked a better weekend to leave because I heard on the news that they actually got SNOW in Michigan...*smh*..that's a damn shame, snow in April....oh well what can you do. News reports keep saying its supposed to rain off and on for the remainder of this week but I am looking out the office window now and it looks like its gonna be a GORGEOUS DAY!! I am actually feeling pretty rested up this morning as I am typing this...amazing what about 10 hours of sleep will do for you when you are really tired.

**Thinking what's in the freezer that I can throw on the grill this afternoon** LOL
On the way to work this morning I am listening to the radio and there was a question posed by the on air personalitites that was something to the effect of

"If you could rename your neighboorhood for what it really is, what would you name it?"

Now you can imagine some of the ghetto ass folks calling in that early in the morning!! LOL This one dude calls in from Englewood ( for those that don't know Chicago, its one of the roughest areas in the city, but supposedly certain parts are in transiton) and says that instead of Englewood, it should be called EngleLead....Why?? Cause its so bad, that the damn dogs carry guns..*smh*...and yet another dude calls in who lives out West in Maywood and is bragging about the fact that there were 40+ murders in his little suburb and it should be called MightWood...Why?? Cause there is a good chance you MIGHT get shot..*smh even harder*...

**In other news**......

All those Bloggers in Chicago that haven't RSVP'ed to SunShyne about this Friday's get together need to head on over there and handle that...the tentative plan is to all meet at Dave and Busters this Friday after work for some drinks...



Oh, I finally found a guy that I am gonna let redo the basement. I have seen some of the work he has done and he seems to be real professional. I am gonna fax that estimate into Allstate today and no sooner than I get the check the work is scheduled to begin.

Well thatsaboutitfortoday....LOL

Countdown to July Chicago Blogger BLOWOUT...65 days and counting...*wink*

.....Welcome to Atlanta

This weekend was a BLAST!!....Took a little mini-vacation to the ATL...home of where the playas dwell and got a chance to meet up with some of the Atlanta Blog Family. We all had soooo much fun it was almost illegal !! LOL

The weekend started off kinda rocky because my damn flight kept getting delayed...
**Damn AirTran....**
I sat at Midway from about 5:30 till 11:00...the service representative for AirTran kept telling us that the flight was delayed...the original flight was to leave at 7:25...then....8:30....then 9:15....then 9:51...then 10:26...(see a pattern forming here?? LOL)..so finally the plane lands and we take off at like 11:00 Chicago time and I made it to Atlanta at like 2:00 a.m.....I want to thank all the Bloggers that tried to hang in there till my flight came in while kicking it in Barley's...I hate I missed you guys there...

Finally got a chance to meet the man that they call the Brutha Code...

This was a brief encounter since Ted was actually flying back out and we took this photo at the airport.....You gotta make it in July man, I still owe you a drink!!

We all decided to meet up for drinks and appetizers on Saturday night at The Olive Garden...

I got a chance to meet EJFlavors....this man is a living, breathing, walking musical database!! And Miss NaTanya (Brown Sugar) a.k.a. Always Ready for The Camera kept me in stiches the whole night!! I told her she looked like my homie Indya that I went to college with...you know they say everyone has twin somewhere in the world...I swear they were living proof of this!!

Here is a shot of all of us at Chequer's where we had Brunch on Sunday Morning....and let me tell you...the spread they had was FABULOSO!! That is a really nice spot and we all were stuffed by the time we left....they were all saying how it was nippy outside even though the sun was out, but me being from the damn Windy City, I was loving the weather....I heard it actually snowed in Michigan on Saturday...*smh*....anyway, we all had a ball and The Southern Hospitality was in full effect...:o)

Well I know I didn't post too much last week and that was in anticipation of the return from Atlanta...I updated the photo link over to the right too with the rest of the pics!!

Happy Monday!!

Tuesday Ramblings

Thanks you guys for all the funny comments you left about yesterday's post. I was reading over some of them last night....you guys are a riot!! From Kajuana's nailing me for copyright infringement to Xquizzit1 falling the fuck out from seeing all the Patron...!!LOL

Get togethers like that are always fun and you get to meet alot of new people. Suffice to say, the same with this blog. I have met sooooo many new people on here and I talk to most of them on a daily basis. You guys help me make it thru my day. I can just about count on which IM's I will get and which emails should be coming thru at some point throughout the day. I think it may be time for me to revisit my post about the Blog Family, since there have been some new additions lately..*taking mental notes for future updates*

Not whole lot is going on this week at work. I spoke to one of the secretaries down in the dean's office about a good contractor to start work on my basement

**Sidenote: Is it just me or does everyone have their job have that one "goto" person that you can ask about damn near anything and they have a good answer or can point you in the right direction?**

...so she gave me a number to a general contractor that is actually putting in hardwood floors for her right now. I asked if it would be okay if I stopped by one day after work to see how they looked. I plan to go one day this week and if the work is professional  and looks good, then I am going to have him redo the floors and walls in my basement. I spoke to him yesterday and scheduled an appointment with him today to stop by and see what all he has to do and give an estimate on the materials and labor.

Also I may have a possible connection on some furniture for the basement too. Just have to find out the condition of it and a truck to get it to the house. Speaking of houses, I am starting to get that itch again so I think its time to start looking for another investment property. I want to have another by the end of the year...I gotta call my mortgage broker and find out what the rates are looking like right now......

Well I am still trying to damn detoxify myself from last weekend and I need to actually start my day so.......until next time....

...RNN (Random Negro Night)

Nice weather, good food, good drinks, and friends....what more could you ask for??

This weekend was great. I played host for most of the weekend you see...My buddy Mikey turned 30 on last Friday and we celebrated...for two days...You know how WE do...lol. Friday night started off our shenanigans. The BBQ was, to say it mildly, a BLAST. We had soooo much food and the drinks flowed all night long. Spades and dominoes tables were set up and live all night long.

Steady, Me, Mikey, Kwasi.....and all I can say about them is this.....

After last weekend I am sure that all my friends are certified alcoholics..LMBAO!! The photo from above is one that some sober female managed to snap of all of us after a few shots of Patron...well actually it was more than a few shots as you can tell by the large amounts of liquor in the photo below. There were so many other pics that I wanted to post, but decided not too in the event that I might self incriminate myself at a later date...*wink*.

And I am sure you all know how it goes when somebody hears about a party...they tell a friend, that friend tells an associate, that associate tells some more random negroes and before you know it you have a good old fashioned house party...It was all love though, because everyone that came thur knew the golden rule..."And what is that Golden Rule, Kelvin"  some may ask...

Don't show your ass up empty handed at the door, or you might get turned around and sent to the store...LMBAO!!

The party went on till well into the morning and I am sure that some of my neighbors were maybe annoyed, but that first pic about sums it all up on how we felt about that one....I mean it was my man's 30th birthday and we had to do it BIG...These 4 bottles of champagne were only to get the night started. I was manning the grill so I was busy for alot of the night. I was able to partake in a few shots of Patron but had to go easy if I wanted to make it thru the night.

And like I told you guys...it carried over till Saturday. I was so damn tired that I told them I was NOT doing it like the night before so this time we shut it down at around midnight. And since I was cleaning up as the night went on I didn't have that much to do on Sunday morning *whew*. All in all it was a great time and I was happy to do it for my man!! I was telling my buddy Kwasi that since we have the same birthday, it will be 10 times what Mikey's party was....lol Except...I won't be the host!! *wink*

Oh there's more pics in the photo album over there to the right so check em out..

Happy Monday!!

....A Little Help Please?

I began thinking to myself last night and started contemplating on what were some of the main problems facing Minorities in 2005. I came up with some very interesting things and thought I would share my views on some of them. Then I began to think what could be done to help rectify some of these problems and came up with what I like to call Kelvin's Recovery Program...

I think one of the main problems hindering the advancement of our people, hell minorities in general is BAD CREDIT. This is no joke. Seriously. Now most folks that read this blog range in age from anywhere between 21-40 I am guessing. And for most of us our problems began in our teenage years, mainly the college years when you are a broke ass college student and they begin throwing all these credit card offers at you knowing you are probably depending on your family or a part-time job to keep some dough in your pocket. I personally think its all a conspiracy, because they also KNOWINGLY give you exorbiant credit limits on these cards. All of them, Discover, Visa, MasterCard...they all know that an 18 year old kid away from home with no rational for spending will run the card up. At least that's how I was when I was 18 and got my first card. And like alot of other folks, my shit was shot for a LONG time...lol But as I got older and realized in today's world your credit score is basically all lenders look at when assessing whether they will grant you credit or not, I began the task of fixing my shit myself. I will admit, it took some time and diligence, but it all paid off for me and now I keep up with it faithfully. I check it at least once a month from all 3 bureaus, hell I even splurged and paid for the Credit Monitoring service with 2 of the agencies. Trust me, its well worth it....

I think the second major problem facing minorities is the fact that we can't seem to get it that we can't HATE ON OUR OWN....you know what I am talking about. Hating to see one of our own do better that us. Tyrone and his family just bought that 5 bedroom 3 bath out in the suburbs and invites you and yours over to see the place and the first thing you do when you get there is start hating on what that man and his family have worked and saved to buy. You may not do it verbally, you may only do it subliminally....and don't lie...everyone has done it. Instead of letting jealousy's ugly little head come out, applaud that man and ask him what were the steps he took to get to where he is now. And if you happen to be Tyrone, share the knowledge, don't hog it for yourself. Give him some pointers and set him on the path to get where you are.

Lastly, I think one of the biggest problems we face, cause there are SO many more, is the fact that we have to learn to make the SYSTEM WORK FOR US. By this I mean, we have to learn to use what THEY have to GET what we want. Look at it as a means to and end if you catch my drift. That's one of the things I love about Blogging, it opens up another venue for us to share ideas, thoughts and concerns for whatever may be going on in our lives. Work the system people...if you have no idea what I am talking about then email me and I can try to clarify it more for you....

Well that its for today boys and girls....later

....My Little Angel

I got inspired to do this after talking to my little angel on the way home yesterday.....

This is you when you were 6 months old. Your moms and I went to Olan Mills to have these pictures of you taken for your first Christmas. I still remember carrying you in my arms inside the studio. It was freezing outside that day and your mama and I wrapped you in extra blankets to make sure the wind didn't hit you.

...a pre-school pic. I remember the day you took them I got the phone call from your mother and when I spoke to you all you could say was "Dad-dy pic-tuh day today". All I could do was smile and try to hold back the tears. I managed to get it together enough to utter the words "Ok baby, remember to smile" while driving to work that morning. I kept thinking to myself that being a father has to be the greatest gift that God could ever bestow upon man, and to top it all off he gave me a little girl....

..1st Grade....Where is the time going?? I could have sworn I was just changing diapers and going to the doctor alot more than usual for me..:o) Now I look up and you are already in the first grade....and taking school pics at that!! Folks are starting to tell me that you are starting to look more and more like me everyday and it just makes my heart feel like its about to explode at the very thought. Its hard to believe you are reading so well. 2nd grade level so the teacher says. I still have that copy of your report card that your mama sent to me and it had all the "O's" for Outstanding.....

My God!! What is really happening Miss Lady?? 8 years old and almost at my chest. School pic and I can see that the confidence of your mother and I are shining through. She being a Libra and I a Leo joining as one to bring you into this world....a Cancer....all the strength and stubbornness of a Leo and the inquisitiveness and determination of a Libra....watch out world here comes Miss Deja!!

9 years old and in the fourth grade....my ass is getting old..lol. I can't really grasp it yet. I have a little girl that will be 10 years old this year and I couldn't be more proud of her than I am. God has blessed me with a beautiful healthy little angel and for that I am forever grateful...Thank you Ms. Washington for bringing her through 24 hours of labor to get here....really, I mean that....thank you. Straight A's, Honor Roll, Principal's List, and too many others to name only make my heart flutter when I think back to a time when I had no idea where the next paycheck was coming from, how the next bag of pampers would be purchased, or how I was gonna come up with the dough to get that next batch of formula....these words aren't doing it justice.....

....one last one before I go....last summer on Navy Pier....we had a BLAST!!! Rode the Ferris Wheel, Ate Chilly dogs, funnel cakes, cotton candy. We rented a tandem bike and rode down the lakefront. That was the best day of my life...I will never forget it. You made me be 9 years old with you that day and I will forever thank you for it...:o)

....and since its rare that I am at a loss for words, I will just end this now by saying that I LOVE YOU!!!