- Peaceful Journey: singer & actress Whitney Houston. Over a few hours ago (around 7 PM eastern time), Whitney Houston, singer and actress, passed away in Los Angeles. This is a shock as it came from out of the blue. There are going to be many people including me mourning this for a while. She did have a lot of personal issues related to relationships and drugs, but I don't think anybody cares about that now...and they shouldn't. She will probably be best remembered as a gifted singer with a God-given voice matched by only a few people. She performed one of the most iconic renditions of the Star-Spangled Banner at the Super Bowl 25 (SB XXV) back in 1991. She won 6 Grammys, 2 Emmys, and a ton of other awards and was one of the best-selling recording artists of all time. It's coincidental that her passing comes a week after a Super Bowl and on the eve of the Grammy Awards tomorrow night...two events where back in the day she made history. Because of her passing, I decided to call this entry the "greatest love of all" edition based on one of her best known songs. Rest in peace, Whitney Houston.
- I've stated over the past few DJRTs that I'm in the middle of a transition. I think the more apt description of what's going on is that I'm at a crossroads in my life. I'm not sure where I'm going or what I'm going to be doing in the short term or the long term at this point in my life (aside from the blog, of course). I'm just trying to keep strong in the face of this transition and it has been pretty difficult. A lot of things that used to be my present are now in my past whether I like it or not. As a result my emotions have been on a roller coaster and I'm struggling to keep positive about things as of late. Some blurbs in the last edition of DJRT were more likely a reflection of that struggle, showing more anger and outright frustration than I have in a long time here. Even though I will continue to stand by what I said there, I do apologize to those of you who were put off by how I went about it last time out. I'm not talking so much about the chain letter stuff as that was primarily written to help people avoid a nasty potiential pitfall but a bit of my frustration regarding some of what I wrote there was apparently evident to some folks. I have to admit that, as far as what I'm currently going through, there are some similarities to thoughts and feelings I had around the late 1990's and early 2000's but unlike that time I actually know who I am and a lot of what I've done good and bad, so that uncertainty about who I am or was is not as big a factor in the crossroads I'm at now. What is affecting me here is that the immensity of my mistakes and issues from the past and the decisions I've made good and bad in almost every area of my life have all caught up to me. Not everything has been bad, so to speak, and there has been good in my life. I'm just struggling to put all that stuff into a workable perspective with which I can move forward with my life and wherever it's going to take me. In facing this, I'm taking a cue from the Parable of the Sower from the Bible. In the Bible, the Parable of the Sower speaks of faith as a mustard seed and finding the right place and the right conditions for that faith to grow. In my case, I'm taking a seed and I'm searching for the right place to plant myself and the most ideal conditions for where I can fluorish. Given my past, my strengths and vulnerabilities, and abilities as well as my inabilities, this is and has been a painstaking process. It will take some time to get myself where and who I either need to be or want to be. I'm taking this at an extremely slow pace because I've made enough mistakes trying to speed things up in the past and hurriedly take others' suggestions without vetting them and that has put me behind the 8-ball more than I want to admit. There is one thing from my past I can use as an inspiration and maybe a partial blueprint...the only time I ever did anything like this and had any success: going back to Ohio State in 2004 to get my degree. I know I am putting some people off now just from how I'm currently going about dealing with this stuff but for now that's gonna have to be how I go about things whether those people approve or not. Oh, and I'm still gonna do my blog.
- As you've probably noticed by the look of the page, I've made some more changes to the blog, though nothing all that earth-shattering. I've stabilized the look of the top of the page (I think I'm settled on it) and added Book of DJ quotes that I post and I've posted on Facebook to the randomizing queue up top that currently includes DJ Facts. I did do a couple of major things that I've ideally wanted to do for a while but only made the effort to do so recently. The first thing regards the Past Edition page. I've finally been able to take all the pre-Blogspot posts and split them out into separate individual links here on DJRT. Every single Random Thoughts post is now listed individually in Past Editions as well as some individual blogs from my former Myspace account and blog entries from the ProgressOhio blog I did way back. I did have to make some changes and cut and edit a few things here and there but now my entire blogging history dating back to 2007 is now up in the Past Edition section of the blog for all to see. Now, if anybody needs to see something I wrote or needs to be shown something that counters something that was said, I can post a link to an individual entry instead of making people scroll through the compilation blog links I used to have. You can click on "Past Editions" in the menu above to check out that page and the new individual blog entries. The second thing is an addition to the blog called "Original Works." This is a page that includes the best of all the essays and creative pieces I've created or adapted and posted in DJRT. Click on the corresponding menu link to check out some of my creativity at it's best.
- A query for a potential future blog: for the past few years there have been way too many media types and politicos that seem to get themselves intoxicated by the actuality or potential of being in power or control of things or people. I know of many I can name off the top of my head, but my question to all of you is how many can you name and how do those particular people exemplify this? In other words, who are they and what do they do that proves they do this? I might post some of your answers in a future DJRT (I can keep those of you who wish for anonymity anonymous, but I would like some quality feedback).
- The U.S. Army is considering adding an amphibious tank called the "Riptide" to it's vehicle arsenal. Take a look at the pics below and tell me it doesn't remind you of a Cobra H.I.S.S. tank from the '80s G.I. Joe cartoon:
- Peaceful Journey: former Soul Train host Don Cornelius. As the host of the iconic dance show "Soul Train," Don Cornelius will probably be recognized as one of the most influential pioneers in music history, helping to popularize and bring R&B and rap music that at one time were relegated solely to clubs and the streets to the masses. I'm sad at his passing, but I am more saddened by the fact that he decided that he couldn't go on anymore and took his own life. Regardless of the circumstances behind his passing, he will be remembered as an icon for the good he has done in the world. He will be missed. RIP Don Cornelius.
- There's a couple of good things I want to bring up before I forget. First, an anniversary: I became a Christian five years ago next week. The acceptance of Jesus into my life still plays heavily into it even if it doesn't come across like it does. Second, I am finally at a 34 waist size. I haven't been that size since I worked at Sears. I didn't even work at it or even think about going on a diet...I just stopped eating a ton and the weight came off. I just hope I can keep it off.
- About a month and a half ago, I decided to create a new personal logo for myself to get away from a potential trademark issue with DC Comics. A month after my changeover, DC Comics decided to up and change their logo to a new design themselves. There's a small part of me kicking myself for changing my logo before DC did this, but only a small part as their now former logo is still one of their trademarks and I needed my own logo anyway. I'm not gonna put it up here (you can search for that on your own) but their new logo, in my honest opinion, is pretty bland and generically lame. I can truly say that I have cooler logo than the one they are changing to. I think I lucked out here.
- DJ Customs: I recently created an alternate logo for the Westerville Browns Backers group I used to be a part of (a link to their site is now up on the Links page). I did it just to see if I could do it and the person I sent it to loved it. Here is the pic:
- Song on Repeat: "My Love Is Your Love" by Whitney Houston. This is one of my favorite Whitney Houston songs. It is also one of her last pop songs that hit the airwaves as well over a decade ago. It wasn't that big of a hit but I liked it nonetheless. Here's the song:
- SLP to the following: Debbie, Holly, Michelle, Bob, Cara, Aunt Sandy, Griff, Rita D., Ernest, Dave, Lynn, Jenny K., Pastor Cory, Todd, and Al.
That's all for this edition. I had other stuff planned to post here but given what I've written already for this edition I think it may have been best to leave what I have up as is. It's late so I'm gonna take off now. Until next time, folks. Take care and God Bless.
DJ
