possess a propitiously fresh 365 days

Road Trip

School got canceled for tomorrow because Philadelphians are afraid of snow, even after two days, so I got my Vans shifts covered and am leaving bright and early tomorrow morning. Chi town hold me down. Pella, I'll be seeing ya Tuesday.

With all that being said, I am extremely excited to come home in T minus 48 or 72 hours. Here is a list of things I would like to accomplish while home.

go sledding
build at least one snowman
bury my dog in snow
finish a season of either 2k9 or 2k10 with my brothers
beat at least one action or shooter video game with AC
get my root canal done
get my dog's leg fixed
fix my car's various issues
get a new ID
see every family member I can
fall back with my crew
stay up late and wake up early
go to church at least once with my family
eat as much mashed potatoes and corn as humanly possible
play some pick up bball
play some indoor footie
work out every morning
not freeze my tits off in the Iowa winter
maintain enough sobriety to remember at least part of my new years eve
love life

Renewal of spirits

This week has been incredible for a variety of different reasons, ranging from our full service site work party on wednesday, two half days, secret santa party, and finding a shit load of money. But by far the most important day this week was my last training workshop on Friday afternoon, with a couple representatives from the Witnesses to Hunger program that was started in our very own Philadelphia. The program was started by a professor of Drexel that was awarded a large grant to do a case study on hunger, or "food insecurity" as the government has renamed it. The professor gave a variety of mothers a camera and a few dollars compensation to record their lives of poverty and hunger, and raising children, often times without their fathers, or support from family. On Friday two of the original mothers given cameras spoke out our workshop, and shared their life struggles, which included rape, gun shot wounds, stabbings, drugs, death, and houses that are unfit for even mice to live in. It was a very sobering testimony that slapped me in the face for feeling sorry for my own financial predicaments. These women were so strong, in the face of the absolute worst odds, and came out on top.
The most important thing that I took out of the workshop, outside of just reaffirming my passion for those less fortunate then myself, was that a lot of the very same children that I attempt to reach in my school live in the exact same situations. Single parent households, drugs, violence, jail, hunger, peer pressure, and a laundry list of other obstacles all effect exactly how these kids come to school each day. It really put it into perspective just how important my work is. A lot of the boys that I talk to every day have no fathers, and I'm beginning to realize that I might be the most important male role model in their life at that particular time. It is a lot of weight to carry, especially for someone who's been going through his own shit lately, but its something that I have to learn to shoulder, cus I'm sure as shit not gonna abandon these kids too. If for nothing else, this single workshop will be the sole reason why I stick out my full year of service, in all its shittiness.
Regardless, please check out the website. www.witnessestohunger.org If you are dedicated enough to be reading my drivel of a blog that helps no one, you have absolutely no excuse not to follow the link. These are real people, with very real problems, that are getting things done on their own. Its a very important movement that is gaining a lot of momentum in Philly, and will hopefully start to catch on in other parts of the country. During the most giving season of the year, it is extremely important to be thinking about people outside of ourselves, or even family and friends, but those less fortunate then us. If for nothing else, at least have this information in the back of your head.

A day in the life

Little did I know that people do occasionally read this blog, and even request certain types of entries. I have my first request, and will fulfill it dutifully.
On a typical weekly morning, i wake up between 5:45 - 6 and walk Winston in not much more then my pajamas and a coat. After hurrying back into the house I hope that 1. winston didn't take too long (because my morning has very little time cushion) and 2. hope my roommate hasn't gotten into the shower before me. If this happens then I eat cereal while I wait for him to drain all the hot water in a 20 minute shower of power. Then I get it in for 5 minutes of lukewarm horror. If he's not beat me, then I still only take 5 minutes, I just get heat with it.
After getting clothed I then eat my cereal in a major rush, and mentally go through everything I might possibly need for the day so I don't forget anything. Chances are if I do, I'll have to either miss the train and be late, or get sent home and be late.
Everything gathered, I powerwalk my ass off to the train 3 blocks away, because more then likely I'm playing it too close and have the strong possibility of missing my train. Which sucks. At 6:34 a.m. the sun is still down, and the wind is usually unkind to those outside their homes. By the time I reach the train my nose is running and my cheeks (both facial and glutal) are freezing. The ride from Conshohocken to the North Broad stop is about 35 minutes in duration, and good for either half sleeping, or listening to some soothing music. By the time I get to north philly I have more then likely changed my tunes up to something that will either give me swagger and confidence, or something a little bit tougher. Even though at 7 a.m. there isn't a whole hell of a lot to be worried about but kids waiting for the bus, there are always a few sheisters hanging out on North Broad and Lehigh, so I try not to fuck around on my walk from the train to the braod street subway, which thankfully is only 2 blocks. For the 10 minute ride on the subway to the Olney transportation center I'm usually just closing my eyes, but trying to wake up a littie bit. The beats usually change to something that make me smile a little bit, usually inspirational, more often then not either Brother Ali, Lupe, or P.O.S., because once I'm off the subway it gets pretty rough, and I try to stay positive as I'm daily reminded of how hard it can get for people that are born either the wrong color or into the wrong social/economic class. My bus ride from Olney to Thomas Creighton Elementary in Lawncrest is completely dedicated to mentally preparing for another worst day ever, as far as school goes. Every day I'm reminded of how badly the Philadelphia school system, as well as America's has failed those who do not have money or privilege.
After a long and mostly ridiculous 2 weeks of waiting to see where my permanent placement would be, I was positioned with the 7th grade math teacher, who happens to be brand new, and happens to to have no idea how to handle middle school students, who also happens to be a University of Michigan alumni. Dickhead. Since math and literacy are the only scores that matter in philly, they are each given 2 periods while almost nothing of other importance, (science, social studies, etc.) are merely given 1-3 periods a week tops. 3rd and 4th periods are occupied by the 306 home room class. They are by far the worst behaved, and underdeveloped academically of any other class I've seen. But they are absolutely my favorite. I generally work with 4 or 5 of the rowdiest boys in a corner, while the math teacher struggles to captivate more then 1 or 2 students in the rest of the class. My usual suspects are Jose (from puerto rico who's brother is a drug dealer but he wants to join the army) Steven (one of maybe 10 white kids in the school, probably the least advanced) Kordell (a good kid but doesn't try because his friends don't) Matt ( a transfer student who was expelled from Feltonville, who lives with his grandparents and seems to be spiraling) and Marquis (who only talks about either pimping hoes, doubtful, and selling drugs, which he seems to have an extreme amount of knowledge in.) Attempting to settle them in for the first 20 minutes is an exercise in futility, and will only even consider doing work after I talk to them about bullshit first. Like who's the best football player in the NFL, who could win in a fight, and what brands are the coolest. Once math work begins its glaringly obvious that they have memorized almost nothing, and have to usually count on their fingers, or count in their head simple problems. They have a willingness to learn if you can captivate them for even 10 minutes, but you have to almost trick them into working, until finally when they are done, they discover a tiny sense of pride in their accomplishments. Its a rare but wonderful thing when we can actually finish a worksheet in the appropriate amount of class given time.
The rest of my classes are about the same, with different faces, similar stories of poverty, drugs or violence, or unfortunate circumstances, just trying to make due and hold a smile. Recess is usually occupied with full contact wall ball, or 4/5 contact football. Its fun, but these kids go hard when it comes to sports.
Afters chool programs are just starting so I don't have much to say about them yet, except that some kids have some amazing hidden talents that only come out only during our art club on mondays.
By the time 4:30 rolls around and our last students walk out of our programs, we are usually filed back into our office to do bullshit menial tasks to try and fill the rest of our hour and fifteen minutes mandatory work hours are done. This is usually the hardest part of the day, because the extra time wasted could be spent valuably in commute and at home.
The final commute is an even bigger pain in the ass, because the bus i really want is never on time, and the bus I usually get takes me to the El train, which is slow, and far away. But if I do catch the 26 bus back to Olney and then the Broad St line back to north broad, I have to be a bit more delicate with where I go. Its usually dark by 4:30- 5ish, and people definitely start patrollin the streets at this point. So I hurry my ass the 2 blocks, get on my train home, and finally start to relax aka fall asleep for half an hour.
By the time I get home its usually 6 or 7, and I just wanna go to sleep already. But I have to walk Winston for a solid amount so he can get rid of all his poo, and some of his energy. Then its dinner, and then, if I'm lucky and have been moving quickly, I will have anywhere from 1 to 3 hours of personal time, to be spent either playing video games, listening to music, watching tv or a movie, but usually working on my siblings christmas presents. Never later then 11 p.m. will I lay my head down to rest, and be ready to start the whole cycle over again.
With mostly nothing to show for it.

Home

in t minus 2 weeks and counting.

Home

Optimist

We break their stride cause we break our mirrors
They hugging that pride like its all there is
We make our own and if they dont feel it
Then we are not for them (we start a riot)
- P.O.S.

We will overcome.
- Geoff Rickly

I started rhyming just to be somebody
Found out that I already was
Cause can't nobody be free unless we're all free
there's no me and no you its just us
- Brother Ali

One outta 1 million resident
Being dissident
Who ain't kissin it
The politics of chains and whips
Got the sick
Missin chips and all the championships
What's love got to do
Wit what you got
Don't let a win get to your head
Or a loss to your heart
Nonsense perseveres
Prayers laced wit fear
Beware
- Chuck D

This is a call to all you sleepin souls
Wake up and be in control of your own cypher
And be on the lookout for those spirit snipers
Trying to steal your light
- Flavor Flav

Just feeling inspired today, by life, by creativity, by positivity, even a little bit by hope. Haven't heard that word come out of my mouth in awhile, or felt it. Gonna try and do more good things, stand up for the right things, and begin a better, stronger, just life. And fight the powers that be.

The thin red line

Have You Passed Through This N...

I've never seen a war movie where I actually looked forward to the parts where there was no fighting until I watched The Thin Red Line today. Don't get me wrong, the battles were intense and realistic, and brutal and things of that nature, but the monologues, spliced with incredibly vibrant scenery and unique images were what made the movie so unforgettable. One of the monologues was sampled for this Explosions song, which happens to be one of my favorites. Sometimes life just understands me. This one was of those moments.

"This great evil. Where does it come from? How'd it steal into the world? What seed, what root did it grow from? Who's doin' this? Who's killin' us? Robbing us of life and light. Mockin' us with the sight of what we might've known. Does our ruin benefit the earth? Does it help the grass to grow, the sun to shine? Is this darkness in you, too? Have you passed through this night?"

Under the $cope

I know I've already posted about this before, but this project's got me buzzin harder then 4 beers and a blunt. In case you don't know, Curren$y, one of my favorite current rappers, has been working in NYC in Dame Dash's (former Rocafella Records co-owner) studio with Mos Def and producer Jay Electronica. I can't wait to hear what will come of it, but Spitta has been letting some of his own stuff out, and its decent. Peep the video here, and you'll see some familiar faces throughout. Also check out the entire website Creative Control. There's just some cool shit on there. Curren$y - Under the $cope

Enemy of the State

With that little bit of negativity released, I would like to turn it around and express another thanks to the best rapper alive, Lupe Fiasco. Dude, in my opinion, is without a doubt the smartest, and lyrically greatest rapper out there, and yes thats including Hov, Weezy or or Yeezy. He simply can't be touched. But even more important then his skills are his message. Its one of the most refreshing things to have a rapper be synchronized to my idealogy as well. Basically its just nice having someone be able to say what I wish I had the ability to say. And in such a filthy fresh way. So, dick riding aside, Lupe Fiasco's Enemy of the State. And be on the lookout over Christmas for another tape. Lupe Fiasco, the man with lyrics that just keep on giving.

thanksgiving prayer

I'm not gonna go on my own separate rant, at least for now, as Mr. Burroughs does a more then adequate job on his own, but I wanted to post this for people to see so they can at least open their eyes to the other, darker side of the national holiday we call Thanksgiving. Don't get me wrong, I have a lot to be thankful for, and am all for a holiday that allows us to express that thanks, but the foundation of this holiday is corrupt to say the least. If you don't know the history you better study up and get your mind right.

With that being said I am absolutely thankful for my family, my friends, and everyone else in this world that have good, honest, hearts. I hope that your "Thanksgiving" day is the most wonderful it can possibly be. I love you all.

illest turned iller

One of the dopest hip hop songs of 2009 just got doper. Hands down dopest dope I ever smoked. Off Consequence's upcoming album ConsTV, the original song just had John Legend and Yeezy, the remix features every rapper on the G.O.O.D. Music roster, aka the dream team of hip hop. I'll probably be riding out to this song until this time next year as well. GOOD music has arrived.


Consequence Feat. Feat Kanye West, Common, John Legend, Kid Cudi, Big Sean - Whatever U Want (G.O.O.D. Music Remix)

Early

Freeway - The Beat Made Me Do It!

city year

Things that should be going on during city year time.

Things that actually go on during city year time.

Over the last week or so my homie Alex and I have been freestyle spittin across a few blocks from each other via cell phone texts.
Best lines so far
My flows so focused,
I wrote this,
then it flows from brain to tongue like osmosis

My balls and a mic is what i stay grippin
step to me son you must be trippin
climbin to the top while others keep slippin
cus im nice with a mic just like scott pippen

followed by

I speak from my mind everybody be flippin
my words spread around like a new weed shipment
all them other rappers better know they need to listen
cuz the shit i be spittin is the best shit ever written.

Yea were the next slim shadys.

memory lane

The stroll down Memory Lane is full of moments that I don't want to remember, but are too hard to forget. For some reason Present Ave is only given thought when it merges with Memory Lane, and Future St is a destination that can't be reached. So I'm stuck walking this endless road of a short lifetime's worth of moments that have made me who I am. Me, here on Present St. Will I find a dead end? A fork in the road? Or countless more street lights of varying degrees of illumination. Flickering, shining, to guide the way, on this unknown pavement.

creative constipation

I'm finding my inability to put pen to pad and fingers to keyboard more and more frustrating lately. For whatever reason I have been plagued, no scratch that blessed, no, plagued by an influx of deep, inciteful, original ideas, and some very decent rhymes, only to have them lost in translation from my mind to my fingers to the pad or computer screen. I've been in a very weird space the last few weeks of absolute vulnerability to the spectrum of emotions. I've run the gamut from bliss to near depression, everywhere inbetween, and all the way back again. It has resulted in an avalanche of life wandering , philosophical pondering, thoughts/question/concerns about the human condition, as well as the Tyler Boeyink condition. Unfortunately for me, and the 3 people that read this, these thoughts have not been able to make the jump to tangibility. At one point I considered myself a decently talented and creative writer, but recently have fallen far short of my own expectations and standards. I'm not sure if I'm just getting rusty, if I've killed too many brain cells, or maybe the talent was never there to begin with, but the goal is to get the creative juices (and the sexual reproductive juices) flowing, and start putting some more shit out. Even if it is just that, shit.

pick 6 pooty

fast forward to 3:13. thats all you need to know. nfl scouts already know what you havent heard about yet.

sheesh

Center Edge Territory

(in my greatest chris farley voice: oh. my god.)

current obsessions

Oh you didn't know? Then your ass better call somebody.

Iowa Hawkeye Football being 9-0

P.O.S. - Never Better (being one of the best underground mc's in the game)

Brother Ali - US (being the other greatest underground mc in the game)


Green Lantern - Blackest Night series (being epic as shit)

"I swear to god hip hop and comic books was my genesis."


Peanut Butter Jelly sandwiches (as if thats ever changed)


online blackjack (actually making money)

spittin like a python, runnin it like M. bison

being poor all the time
is teachin me how to grind
got me showin my behind
like my ass out
working so damn hard until I pass out
pull the flask out
put it to my head, pull the trigger
watch my mind blast out
life spiralin outta control on the fast route
but im still grindin from the grass routes
oops i meant grass roots
no high class suits
im grindin in my timberland boots
red jacket some khakis and a backpack
no louie knapsack
peanut butter sandwich an apple and a snackpack
you know thats all i need
my students for who i bleed
expectations we will exceed
well blow your back out
so im shuttin shit down like a black out
no ballin throw jordan, throw kobe throw shaq out
no quittin, no cryin no lyin
im here to get it crack out
yea I meant crackin, no im not slackin
no financial backing or money stackin
just microphone attacking MC sacking
running shit like im meet tracking
and im track meeting
keepin it dirty like im Nike cleating
flow so warm and its only heating
call my mic Tyson the way you catch a beatin

weekend roundup

Sorry for the hiatus folks, but its been an extremely busy, extremely stressful and all around shitty week. My school situation has majorly worsened, my city year situation has pretty much hit rock bottom, and halloween was a bore. I pretty much gave up on p.o.s.v.o.t.d. cus most of his videos were getting too hard to find, and lets be honest, I'm probably the only one that is actually watching them. If you really want them, hit up youtube yourself.
Iowa football has legitimately taken at least 10 years of my life this year alone, probably 5 those years lots yesterday. 9-0 never felt so awesome and horrible ever. Chiefs football looks good today.
Musically speaking last week was flush with good. Lil Wayne released his mixtape No Ceilings which has proven to bring him back to old mixtape weezy form. His verses for swag surfin and d.o.a. are among the best I've heard from him in a long time. Upon being left out of MTV's top 10 hottest mc's Lupe Fiasco has been dropping freestyle after freestyle of some of the illest, most intelligent lines I've heard in hip hop. Find the song "Say Something" and look up the lyrics and you won't be disappointed. Wale's album debut Attention Deficit has proved to be a mild let down for me. His mixtapes have always been fire, his lyricism amongst the top in the game, but he has chosen to dumb it down for the album, and left his punchline delivery mostly at home. Its a well rounded album about decent topics, but I usually like Wale for his braggadocio "I'm the best" lyrics, not his concepts. A delightful surprise that has been filling Wale's void has been Skyzoo, with his latest release The Salvation. His lyrics are also pretty solid, but there's something about his voice and smooth Brooklyn flow that really does it for me. If you haven't already, you should definitely be checking him out, be it this album or his other drop with the producer 9th Wonder titled Cloud 9: The Three Day High, that they created in 3 days.
Outside of this I'm still bumping P.O.S pretty hard, and really starting to proliferate my Brother Ali jams, in anticipation of his show at the Church this week.

weekend roundup

Friday starting off with a bang, getting a new phone for work (although its not a very good/cool one) and finally receiving my peanut butter tims. You don't need much of an imagination to realize how ill these babies are. 5 weeks of patience have finally paid off. That night i chilled at one of my city year buddie's pad in the outskirts of center city, just rapping about our favorite hip hop albums and how shitty our jobs are, but how awesome our schools and students are. Also felt kinda cool that i finally drove into the city while it was raining pretty tough, and made it without crashing, getting lost, or freaking out too much, not to mention nobody messed with my car. Score.

Saturday was pretty lazy, started reading the Green Lantern Blackest Night series, and have pretty already immersed myself. The next few days of train rides before I get my ipod back from Utah will probably be dedicated to those comics. The Iowa game was full of heartattacks and strokes, and eventually seizures (after we won with 2 seconds on the clock.) The madness of the game was soon followed by the madness of a party at our house for a friend heading to the Chi. Also awesome.

This morning included a hearty trip back to the midwest for some Cracker Barrel, followed by some casual football browsing, and then catching up on Flash Forward (awesome) and Its Always Sunny (hilarious) and attempting to watch The Wizard of Oz while playing Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. (overrated) The night was capped with an excellent viewing of 28 Days Later and folding laundry in my tims while listening to the new Curren$y album and Freeway mixtape. Both are undeniably awesome.

Chalk this weekend up to a success, and its not even Halloween yet.

Hope this week goes fast.

p.o.s.v.o.t.d.#5

From his 2006 release Audition, "Half Cocked Concepts"

Calm Before The Storm

When I think of rappers on their grind right now, Freeway would have to be near the top of the list. He puts a new track out at least once a week, and just put this mixtape out in anticipation of his other mixtape coming out in November with the producer Jake One titled The Beat Made Me Do It. After that he's releasing another mixtape titled Freelapse that is supposed to be some kind of tribute or remix of Eminem's Relapse. Either way, his latest releases have continued to get better and better, including his guest spot on Brother Ali's album. Speaking of, Mattie and I are going to see him in November at the church. Our only hope is that Freeway makes an appearance due to their newfound alliance with each other, through Jake One, and Rhymesayers Ent. Either way, this tape is nice. Cop it here.

Freeway - Calm Before The Storm

p.o.s.v.o.t.d. #4

with the final video from the never better album, i bring you "goodbye".

goodbye.

p.o.s. v.o.t.d. #3

P.O.S. - Drumroll

Ill video. Iller flow. Illest lyrics.

we're all thirsty.

p.o.s. v.o.t.d.

Another video from the his most recent release, Never Better, P.O.S - "Optimist."

p.o.s. video of the d.a.y.

back on my underground tip, thanks to my best friend ac, i recidiscovered one of the most slept on rappers of all time, p.o.s. i bumped this album a little this summer on my way to soccer games, but forgot it existed when heavier hitters in the game were starting to drop albums. ac brought it back to the foreground where it belongs. i won't forget this ablum any time soon. anyways, a video a day from p.o.s. until i run out of his videos.

p.o.s. - purexed

let the beat build

outside of mr. carter, let the beat build is by far my favorite song tha carter III. weezy definitely killed it, and fabolous has a pretty damn good remix of it, but nothing will compare to these verses and video. i dont remember where i stumbled upon this video, it was awhile back, but im glad for some reason i remembered it. enjoy.

Nyle "Let The Beat Build" from Nyle on Vimeo.

Nike Boots

Today we had to share a song with our team that is either our all time favorite, or just a song that means something to them. I chose "standing on the edge of summer" by Thursday for several reasons personal to myself, but the reason for this post is actually because our team leader chose "nike boots" by Wale. She is actually from PG county and specifically went to Largo High School where Wale shouts out in several of his songs. Anyways as the song was playing, and the intricate rhymes spilled out of the speakers I realized that as an anthem for unification, for any passion, not just DMV for Wale, it is an absolutely incredible and inspiring theme song. One of the main reasons is because of the video. So without further adieu, view and be inspired. Flyer then the rest of them.

Wale - Nike Boots
by UniversalMusicGroup

we are family

I've seriously been slackin on the bloggin, but to be honest I couldn't really care less. My last few weeks have been a whirlwind really. Like previously stated, I have finally been placed in the schools, and even after 3 solid weeks have not not settled in in the least. I think that's kind of a good thing, because I still look forward to going, but its also pretty stressful. More importantly though, my brother was just married to his high school honey. I honestly couldn't imagine a more perfect couple, and not just in the mushy romantic way, but in all ways. They are somehow funnier when together, more passionate together, and just all around more awesome when together. This will be my first go at having a sister, but I can only imagine it will go swimmingly, considering the caliber of kick ass Taylor really is. All ass kissing aside, this weekend was fucking awesome. My brother got married, I saw family from Colorado and California that I haven't seen in years, I got to chill with friends that I haven't seen in double digit months, I got to shamelessly hit on my favorite Sarver sister well into Saturday night, and got to wear a tux and mustache, and dance my ass off to Sandstorm and Shake Ya Tailfeathers. Its funny, generally I would consider my ipod one of my most cherished possessions, but even after losing it Friday night in an intoxicated haze, I would absolutely consider this weekend a smashing success. I'll be posting pictures up on facebook soon enough. But for now let this one sum up the night.

illies

yea so, i haven't given a flying 747 jumbo jet shit about baseball for the last like, 15 years of my life, but, considering that i live in a city that is very centered on their sports, i have decided to give the phillies a shot. i enjoyed the last 4 innings of tonights game where they clinched a spot in the NLCS and moved on to face the dodgers in a rematch of last year. i suppose they call this bandwagoning, but mostly i have no other baseball team i care about, so i might as well holla at the city that i live in, and that pays me. get it in phillies.

ah

That being said, griping aside, I absolutely love what I do. Today we made our first visit inside our school, to observe classes. While was forced to take a half day in order to head to the food stamps office, I showed up at about noon and was placed into a small room of slightly autistic children. The class itself had only four students, a teach for america teacher, and a few teachers aids here and there helping sporadically with any discipline or focus problems that generally arise with children with disabilities. I must say, that in the very very brief amount of time I spent in that classroom, I absolutely had a blast. Christian, a 5th grade boy afrcian american, is absolutely the least focused kid I've ever seen. Every few minutes he will break out in either a signature Michael Jackson squeal, dance move, or lyric. When asked what his favorite MJ song was, he responded, "I don't like Michael Jackson, I like the Jonas Brothers. I just like to dance." Alex, a 6th grade chubby asian boy has an absolute obsession with airplanes, and draws pictures of them on all his homework and any other media he can find. He draws everything from the cockpit, to the passenger area, to the plane itself. What's curious about these drawings is that he always has the plane's logo written in there somewhere. From United to Delta and anywhere inbetween. He hopes to be a pilot someday. Woody, birth name Lenwood, is a chubby african american 8th grader, who is preparing for high school. He is extremely proficient in math. I watched him finished 7 homework assignments in 20 minutes, that the rest of the boys didn't even finish by the time class had let out. He is also prone to long fits of belly laughs, that are usually spurred on by Christian doing something wrong, and the teachers aids getting mad at him. (For example he stole Alex's tape and tried to frame it on Ms. Munoz, the teach for america teacher) The fourth student Ricardo is also in 5th grade, and is a little bit more challenged then the other three. While he can clearly function well on his own, he does have troubles reading basic english and doing very simple math word problems. It is sometimes frustrating, sometimes saddening, but always inspiring to see these four students interact with their teachers and each other. It will be a sad day on thursday when I will have to say goodbye to that class and be placed into a full blown 25 - 30 student class.

ugh

Just found out that my new hours of work are from 8:00 am to 5:45 pm which being a slave to the transit system doesn't get me home any earlier then I normally would, but requires me to now get to the train by 6:30 to make it to school at 7:30, and sit around doing nothing for half an hour. Now don't get me wrong I love my job, and I am absolutely on board for everything that it includes, but from the time I first applied last Octoberish, to right now, current Octoberish, the hours that we are expected to work have been lengthened on 3 separate occasions. Add that to the fact that we have yet to receive our T-Mobile phones, have yet to receive our peanut butter Tims (the most important omission imo) have yet to receive our backpacks, hats and gloves, and have also had our stipend payment changed from weekly to bi-weekly. Now if that doesn't seem to be amateur, or extremely unorganized at the very least, then I don't know what is. It is becoming increasingly difficult and frustrating working for something that seemingly has little to no upside. I guess that's why they call it service. As has been the theme for the last few months, karma, you seriously fucking owe me.

lets go chiefs

I realized that the reason the chiefs are having another miserable season is mainly my fault. I have been blogging about anything and everything, especially the hawkeyes, but haven't said a word about my beloved nfl team. Here's to turning the season around right now, today. Sorry New York, the Chiefs super bowl run starts today.

hero

For the first part of our morning we were finally able to go check out the neighborhood and schools that we would be serving for the next 9 months of our lives. Mine is a K-8th grade middle school named Thomas Creighton Middle School. It's in the Northeast part of Philadelphia near the Olney part of town. When we first rolled up to the school I couldn't get over how massive and awesome it was. It was probably 4 or 5 stories high, but more importantly it looks exactly like a castle. While the first 2 stories' windows were barred shut so that no one could break in, the neighborhood itself was not that bad. It was mostly residential and consisted mainly of row homes, which is pretty typical of Philly. While it being a castle was pretty badass, the best part of the trip was when we walked by and recess was in session. As we walked by, a small group of probably 3rd graders or so noticed a couple of the red jackets our team leaders were wearing and shortly thereafter ensued a small child riot as one of the girls scream "Oh my god its City Year, I love ya'll!" When the rest of the crowd heard and realized what was going on they are rushed to the fence and commenced the greatest spectacle I have ever been a part of. I would probably equate it to what a sports team feels like when they come back to their respective city for the celebration. The kids were all shouting and waving and doing dances and jumping rope and whatever other skills they possessed to try and impress us. I have never felt so welcome, and so idolized in my whole life. And I haven't even gone inside the building yet. I can only hope the rest of the year goes this smooth.

top 10 things the ex has ruined for me

for whatever reason today on the train i was in a serious girly folk music mood, and realized that most of the women folk singers or bands i dig were tainted to my ears because of a certain ex girlfriend I once had. so instead of stopping there i decided to compile a short list of other things she has ruined for me. please enjoy, because i no longer can.

10. The Dangerous Lives of Alter Boys
9. Edward Scissorhands
8. Regina Spektor
7. George's pizza
6. Cedar Falls
5. sweethearts drinks
4. trust
3. romance in general
2. Emiliana Torrini
1. Norah Jones

champs

oh yea and this happened duh


at about 25 seconds in, after the interception watch other players in the background, particularly a certain nubian linebacker. you'll know it when you see it. props to mattie for this one.

Us

In music news, it has officially become one of the best years for hip hop. Curren$y, Method Man & Redman, Kid Cudi, Rick Ross, Fabolous, Jay Z have already dropped fantastic albums, and there is only more on the horizon with Wale, Consequence, Lupe Fiasco, Big Sean and Drake set to release variously throughout the rest of 09.
Most importantly though, is undoubtedly the best hip hop album of the year, but underdog Rhymesayer Brother Ali. The street preacher has always been on the list of my favorite independent artists, and his skills are undoubtable, but this album completely knocked me off my feet the first spin through. If you haven't snatched this up yet than you need to wake up and get out of your jammies. I don't care if you what you gotta do to get it, buy/download/steal/trade/prostitute etc but you seriously need to check it out.
Every track is the best track on the album. The beats are original but not weird, and his lyrics and flows go unmatched. The substance he rhymes about on this album is fresh and creative, positive and uplifting but not cheesy and important for our generation to here. Suffice it to say that Us has become the anthem and theme music for my City Year tenure. Whenever I find myself doubting humanity, or losing steam with my mission and job, I just throw on a couple of these jams and I'm back on track. I seriously hope that people can not only vibe but align themselves with this album like I have.
Even awesomer is that I get to see him live in like a month or so. Hopefully Philly Freeway will make a cameo. Midwest stand up.

100th post

I guess that means I gotta post about something meaningful and worth your while. Its been too long since the last one.
Life on the east coast has become pretty awesome. I'm about 4 weeks deep into City Year, closing out basic training, and about to learn about my final permanent team and what school I will be placed in for the rest of the year. I'm pretty damn excited, but super nervous at the same time. My last team is seriously the rulage. I have really started to get to know a ton of cool ass people on the team and will be sad that I won't see them all day every day. But at the same time I will definitely be happy to be out of ear shot from this one girl on the team that never stops talking and interrupts people and constantly puts herself into conversations that she's not involved in. Imagine the sound combination of nails on a chalkboard, an alley cat dying and Lloyd Christmas making the most annoying sound in the world, and maybe, just maybe you might be able to understand what her voice sounds like. That being said, City Year has become my home away from home and am very much excited for the next 9 months of my life to serve Philadelphia and interact with the youth.
Unfortunately as much as I love what I do, it has become a major drain on my emotional and physical energy that I am away from my house and dog and personal time for up to 12 hours some days. To be downtown by 8:15 I have to hit a train by 7:15, and don't get done working until 6, which means not getting home until 6:45. By that time my dog has become so desperate for attention and desperately needing to kill some energy. Unfortunately for him I am so exhausted for having to get up early and working all day that I can't devote much time to running around with him. It's a situation that constantly weighs on my mind, but for now its just gonna have to do. He takes it like a G though.
After walking him and finally getting situated to make dinner its usually around 7:30, and probably around 8 by the time I'm eating and finally allowed to sit down and relax for about 3 hours before its time to go back to bed and restart the whole thing over again. It's awesome that I love my job, but it is seriously killing me softly on the inside (L Boogie what up)
For now though, until I get a real job, this will have to do, and I mean complaining aside, its doing pretty well.

moon man

props to the man on the moon for selling over 100k in his first week. most people were predicting half that. g.o.o.d. music lives.

Cudi Zone - Kid Cudi

best kanye diss ever

man oh man

shaking my head at last night's post. i don't know why i felt like writing a post while hammered drunk was a good idea, when it was so clearly not a good idea last time when i wrote something about the transformers movies. i don't remember writing most of it. so apologies.

that being said i do plan on writing an extensive post on previously mentioned topics sometime later tonight, but in the mean time i gotta watch my chiefs smash up the raiders and listen to the neighbors cry when drew brees throws 6 more touchdowns against their beloved eagles.

El Manana (prequel)

so after i got home from a pretty steady night of drinking, i meant to author a post that was very serious, about philanthropy and altruism, and my views and personal opinions on each subject. the post was to be read while listening to the gorillaz demon days album, and more specifically the song "El manana".

the post itself was meant to have been written after a long night of drinking so that it would be raw and unadulterated and be as honest as i could make it. unfortuanately, when i am under the influence of alchohol i become exteremly un-articulate, and possess the writing instincts of an under privileged 3rd grader. so in order to please my followers, and eventually to be recorded by historians, i have decided to post pone my original post on altruism and philanthropy for a later date. please excuse my lack of spelling and grammatical corrections, for i am wasted as shit after an intesne night of local drinking to celebrate not only the hawkeye football victory but also life and freindship in general. if you have beef with the spelling you can take it up with my hotline, which can be contacted at 1-800-i-dont-give-a-shit or emails to idontgiveashit.com.

that being said, i will actually post a serious, and sober report on my actual views on human rights and justice and altruism in the near future. in the mean time, go chiefs and saints. (i love you eagles on any other days but this week and next, so until then suck it)

And more slightly veiled racism

With Bill O'Reilly and special guest retard Glenn Beck. Obvious problems with racism aside, are these two cock sockets not the most annoyingly stupid pieces of albino shit you've ever heard?

52 shots fired in daylight gunfight

PHILADELPHIA - Philadelphia police say two groups of teenagers opened fire on one another as children played on a street in the city’s Eastwick section.

It happened around 3:30 p.m. Thursday outside a home on the 2800 block of Bittern Place.

Police say the shootout erupted after a group of teens drove from another neighborhood and confronted people hanging out on the front steps of a home. No injuries were reported.

Police say the gunmen fired a total of 52 shots from three different weapons, including a high-powered assault rifle. Seven cars were damaged.

Five teenagers have been taken into custody. One faces drug charges after crack cocaine was found during a search of the home, say police.

Detectives think the teen charged was the intended target of the shootout.

This all happened today just a few neighborhoods over from where I was doing service today. Highly messed up. Still not deterred though. I will change this city for the good whether they like it or not, kicking and screaming.

worst night ever

I can't believe I almost forgot to post this, but last I had absolutely the worst nightmare ever last night. It started out by having to relive the entire day of Taylor's funeral, which was absolutely the saddest day of my life. But it only steadily got worse as the days progressed and each one of my friends from that group was dying daily. So every day there was a new funeral for someone whom I have admittedly fallen out of touch with since high school, for like 2 full weeks. Naturally in my dream I was a mess. Just absolutely bawling my eyes out to the point where I was physically exhausted to even breath. When I finally woke up it was around 5 in the morning, about an hour before I have to start my day. I checked my pillow to see how soaked it was and was surprised to see that the only evidence of my being there was a small drool spot, but no tears. It's a wonder that I could be crying so hard in my dream but there was no physical manifestations of my sadness. Suffice it to say I was pretty shook up and had to walk around the house for a little bit to gather myself before dozing off for a paltry 45 minutes. But shit, what a horrible way to begin a day. Fortunately it shocked me into realizing that despite our differences and varying paths traveled, I need to get back into touch with some people that I promised I would stay in touch with since Taylor passed. Its been over a year and a half and those scars are as fresh as the day he died. I miss you so much man, and think about you every day of my life.

truth

put on for my city

nuff said

List of things kharma owes me back for

including but not limited to:
broken passenger side window motor
broken tooth requiring oral surgery
front right paw disfigurement of Winston
saturday night New York City debacle
losing my monthly train pass worth $150
not having been able to find a job the first 4 months of living in Philly
every bump, scrape and bruise that is generally allotted to clumsiness but is actually kharma (there are a lot of them)
the vicious bug bites this season (worst of all time)

At this point I'm reaching a little bit but still, if you consider all the positive things I have or am trying to do, you would think that kharma would at least toss me 5 bucks here, or a favor there, or you know, at least make things neutral as opposed to the extreme lopsidedness. Oh well, all I can do is keep on keepin' on and hope there's some kind of good out there that's coming my way. Considering converting Scientology in the mean time though. At least those mother fuckers stay paid.

Jets

Just one of my favorite rappers doing what one of my favorite rappers does.



and

NYC (continued)

Sorry folks, just thinking about the situation last boils my blood all over again. Suffice it to say it sucked major deez. If you really really wanna know the story you can ask me in person sometime when we both have the time, and hopefully some kind of intoxicant for me afterwards, cus I'll be all stressed out just from talking about it.
In the mean time stay classy buttholes.

NYC

Humiliating story to follow soon. Right now I'm not far enough removed to be able to openly talk about how shitty last night really was. Words can't describe the negative thoughts and feelings I'm having about certain people and situations and life in general. Again, more thoughts to follow. I'm gonna get some Pineapple Express in my life to make myself feel better. Fuck you kharma, you owe me so big right now.

3 day retreat

If your wondering where I've been for the last 3 days, or probably not, I've been on a 3 day retreat with City Year to a retreat center in Malvern PA to do team building exercises and continue basic training for the job that starts the first few days of October. Overall it was about as corny as expected, with some fun stuff sprinkled in there ever so often. However I did meet and get to know a bunch of cool ass people, including the entire hallway of brothers from different colored mothers that I lived with for 3 nights. Connections were made and hopefully will be continued for the next 10 months, but I'm definitely happy to be home with puppy and extremely not black roommates that don't stay up until 2 in the morning being loud, and wake up at 6 continuing to be loud.

distant relatives

Wow, the tracklisting just came out for the Nas and Damien Marley joint coming out hopefully sometime soon this year. Take note of the K'naan double feature and also a Snoop appearance. This album is gonna take em to Africa.
01 Intro (Something New) (prod. Damian Marley)
02 As We Enter (prod. Damian Marley)
03 Revolutionary (prod. Damian Marley)
04 Count Your Blessings (prod. Damian & Stephen Marley)
05 Belief is Key (prod. Damian Marley)
06 Africa Must Wake Up f. K’naan (prod. Nas, Damian & Stephen Marley)
07 Black Horizon f. K’naan (prod. Damian Marley)
08 Only the Strong (prod. Damian & Stephen Marley)
09 Our Generation f. Joss Stone & Stevie Wonder (prod. Damian Marley)
10 Empowerment (prod. Stephen Marley)
11 AID (prod. K’naan & Nas)
12 Let’s End It (Poverty) f. K’naan (prod. 9th Wonder & Damian Marley)
13 The Earth f. Bob Marley (prod. Salaam Remix, Damian & Stephen Marley)
14 Black Man’s Paper f. Erykah Badu (prod. Afry) [UK Bonus]
15 Weed On f. Snoop Dogg (prod. Damian Marley) [iTunes Bonus]

Here's a little sumpin sumpin for your viewing pleasure.

dear iowa football

you did not score 8 touchdowns. please correct this next week.

love tyler

dear iowa football

I expect the amount of beers I drink tonight to be in direct correlation with how many touchdowns are scored tomorrow. Its been a long week so I'm thirsty.

(Yea I know I twittered this too. What can I say, sometimes I find myself clever. Suck it.)

Day 3

Basically just consisted of workshops and speakers all day. Extremely tedious and boring and mind numbing and necessary. (I suppose) Sorry for the lack of enthusiasm on this one. 10 hour days are hard enough, but when you gotta start your waking up process at 6 in the morning things start to get pretty difficult. Especially when I have probably seen 6 o clock in the morning times from staying up that late, then actually getting up that early. City year quote of the day...

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek."

-Barack Obama

Truth.

QOTD

With all the excitement of starting a new job, I forgot to mention the best and simplest part of my day, that I actually look forward to every morning. Being a night person, it is of no surprise that waking up 3 hours earlier then my body would prefer has been a burden to say the least. But after changing my routine of cereal and cartoons to running with Winston and breakfast on the go, I can already start to feel my body get a little more settled into the early morning. That being said, the greatest part of this new routine, after all of the grumbling, is finally getting onto the train and, not being able to fall back asleep for fear of missing my stop, watching the city skyline slowly make its way into view after about 30 minutes of travel time. The city itself does not have an extremely impressive skyscraper arsenal compared to that of say, a New York or Chicago, but there is something very moving about seeing the city that I am about to serve, creep into view, and shine in the morning sun. But what's even more fantastic is finally crawling out of the underground train station, and first emerging into the already bustling and thriving center city streets. Even with the rampant trash and sewer smell, mixed with the exhaust of speeding cars, the fresh almost autumn air immediately fills your lungs, and the sun shines down on you, and lets you know that you're in the city. I can't help but have a big stupid grin on my face for the first block or two on my way to the office.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm really starting to embrace Philly. And with that I leave you with the City Year quote of the day, that actually ties in very well with my current reading of Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being which I will absolutely be blogging about later...

"Life is not an easy matter... You cannot live through it without falling into frustration and cynicism unless you have before you a great idea which raises you above personal misery, above weakness, above all kinds of perfidy and baseness"

-Leon Trotsky

Day 2

Today was the second day of BT (basic training) which was basically one long day of workshops, ranging from the history of City Year and Americorps, to the rules and regulations of the mantel (batman joke about the uniform). I must say the workshops themselves can be interesting at times, but sitting in a hot room with 60-230 other young adults ready to serve can be trying. I am already a very restless person by nature, so having me sit in a sweltering room, in uncomfortable chairs, surrounded by a horde of other uncomfortable, and quite tired individuals is a drain. I understand that its absolutely necessary to be as trained as possible, especially when the lives of our future are at stake, but its hard not to be more then a little frustrated in such a boring setting.

On a positive note, I have started to hit it off with more then a couple of my team mates (naturally, since I'm one of 3 males in the group) and have already been invited to enjoy some beverages for the weekend. I really hope I stay in touch with some of these people once we get our placements and are more then likely split up. Its only the second day of knowing these people, but there is something extremely compelling about knowing that all of us are in the same boat, both literally, and ideologically.

I've somewhat realized that with the strenuous new hours of BT I will not be blogging/facebooking/twittering even a fraction as much as I normally do on a given day, but there is something a little bit liberating in knowing that I can't look or think about a computer screen until I get home and have thoroughly taken care of myself and the dog first. Assuming my days stay eventful, I will hopefully at least have one entry per day.

Can you tell I'm a little excited about starting work?

Give a year. Change the world.

Today was the first day of training to become a better human being, and help others do the same. Half the day was spent getting to know our new team members for the next month, followed by some intense clean up efforts of a kids playground on the west side of Philly. I wanted to break into the fresh prince of bel-air theme song, but figured there were probably hundreds before me that have done the same thing, so I quietly kept it to myself. The playground itself didn't stand a snowballs chance in hell against 200 some odd workers, spirited workers at that. It took just under 3 hours to completely clear out a playground and football/baseball field, two basketball courts and an open lot of a forest of weeds, broken glass and various contraband. It really is quite remarkable how much a huge difference a group of people can make in such a short amount of time. I can only hope for the same results for the youth of Philadelphia, and America for that matter. It took literally one day for me to be fully in line with the ideologies of City Year, and can only hope everyone else subscribes to the same thing. Unfortunately it will be another month before I can put this positive energy to use in the classrooms and lives of children. But I know it will be worth it.
On a different note, I had the song Empire State of Mind from The Blueprint III on repeat today, both riding the train to work, on the walk to the City Year office, and again on the train back and the walk home. Its looking to become the anthem for anything positive in life, especially changing others. Alicia Keys should be deified or at the very least made a saint for the hook on this one. So without further adieu.
Jay-Z ft Alicia Keys "Empire State of Mind" The Blueprint III

Big day

Tomorrow i finally start working. Looks like a simple painting project to start things out. But either way it'll be nice to get off my ass and do something that matters in the community. Serving coffee and blowing up christmas trees just wasn't enough. Look out Philly, I'm about to change you.

Blueprint 3

After some recent Jay Z doubting, and almos tmaybe bashing, but certainly doubting, The Blueprint III leaked onto the internets and shut my big mouth up for awhile. Not gonna support downloading illegally or anything, but cop that as soon as possible. I can't say if its as good as Black Album or not yet, but I would say its bordering classic status even after first listen. And to coin and trademark a new phrase to be used often, please, bump liberally.

Let em know them Philly boys in the area

This song has been on blast since July when I got the Network mixtape by Young C. Its nice to hear the song with out Don Cannon talking all over half the damn track, and its also nice to come back from Iowa and DC to a plethora of Philly beards. Mostly I'm just glad to know that nothing has changed since I've been gone.

I start work tomorrow, so I can actually confidently start saying that I live and work in Philly now, as opposed to just telling people without the justification.

secrets to success

For anyone that was wondering or caring where i get my seemingly endless supply of hip hop mixtapes and leaked tracks, here's a little website I like to visit every once in awhile, where basically you can type in the artist you wanna find and it will come back with like 300 mixtapes per guy, depending on his popularity of course. While most of the tapes are unofficial and made by random dj's trying to get downloads, there are always a gem here and there that have collected alot of songs that I have not been able to find, or didn't know about from other hip hop blog sites. Also the art on these mixtapes are hilariously awesome. My two favorites so far are one with jadakiss and lil wayne in futuristic war gear holding giant fuck off machine guns, and the other one is lil wayne again, with angel wings holding a dead baby or some shit. The art really has nothing to do with the mixtape, and are obviously photoshopped, but come on, who doesn't wanna see their favorite rapper holding huge guns and smoking giant blunts with angel wings and sweet cars and city sky lines in the background? Anyways the website is mixtapetorrents.com but you gotta have Vuze/Azureus to download them. Also, I'm just gonna warn you now that there are alot of jank tapes on the site too, so you just gotta sift through the poopy and figure out which is better. Happy hunting.

movie night

with the roomies being gone on their broke back mountain cowboy ranch fantasy vacation, i had nothing but free time on my hands tonight. with tonight's double feature i decided to get all goofy and go to district 9 and almost inglorious basterds but then last second decided to savor that with some homies, and ducked into 500 days of summer instead.
had to say, it was a very fantastic movie night. outside of being 15 minutes late to D9 due to an unfortunately rear ending accident, i was completely enthralled by the rest of it. i will definitely be seeing this one at least 2 more times. in the words of dennis from its always sunny, "that fireball was badass"
500 days of summer was not to disappoint either, with zooey deschanel being her typically presidential baberaham lincoln self. its definitely a date movie tho, or at the very least something you watch with the babe that you want to be your babe. or past babe. either way, moral of the story is a need a babe. thanks 500 days of summer for pouring the salt in the wound of my 500 day drought. dick. leaving with a pleasant thought. love you.

yes

new addiction

fantasy football drafting. fantasy football on its own is pretty fun, but lets be real, if we could redraft every week, we would. its just so damn fun.

racism. yaaaaaaaaay!!!!

copped this video from just about every rap blog ever, but its hard to ignore. i will admittedly say (without remorse) that i never watch o reilly, or limbaugh, or fox news or propoganda for that matter, but seriously? people are allowed to just be racist on tv like that? i just feel like maybe there is or should be some kind of law against it at this point. i shudder to think what he could possibly be saying about obama off camera. or on camera for that matter. and you wonder why he talks about being in 1864. racist, ignorant, hog-fucking, goat-raping, cousin marrying backwards ass hillbilly motherfuckers. this is why i hate people sooooo much.

you cant buy this, triple flyness

With my first real post after the all star break, it only makes sense to do something philly related. I must admit that I didn't sleep on, but actually ignored this Philly native for the longest time. He was originally in the hip hop duo Young Gunz, which were signed to jay-z's rocafella records, and enjoyed some medium fame, with a few "hot" singles. Well he is back after a major hiatus, and looking to make some more dents in the rap game, as he teams up with Wale, Curren$y, Freeway (another philly native) and a whole slew of other hip hop notables, for this Don Cannon (i know annoying) sponsored mixtape. I have listened to this jam at least 8 or 9 times through and none of the songs have gotten old. He is quickly climbing my list of favorite mc's right now. Wale, watch your ass dude.

Download Here

im baaaaaack

alright so im back in philly. which means alot of things, but more importantly for anyone who is reading this, which is probably no one since i didnt update at all during my iowa stint, i have internet at my house. which means a lot more updating. i will hopefully still be updated about hip hop, interesting things in general, my views on everyday life, worldly happenings and hopefully interesting things that happen at my job downtown. i can only hope that everyday i come home from teaching, and learning from little philly kiddies, i have at least one story worth sharing for the world. so tell your friends and grandmas and hair stylists, that philly phreestylin' is up and running and back with a vengeance.

home sweet home

there's something about being home that makes me not really care about many things. it has this very subtle cleansing and healing quality that makes me feel like everything will be alright. no matter what. which seems awesome, and it is awesome, to a point. it is starting to get to where i almost care too little. about anything. i come home and everything, all the loud noises in my brain, all the fast paced life around me, all the pressing things that used to stress me out, become mute, like in the movies when a grenade explodes next to the hero and his hearing is gone for 2 minutes, but the action is still going on around him. home is that grenade for me. all the worries are put on mute, but unfortunately, that doesn't mean they are gone.
i have, for better or worse, subconsciously made pella my retreat from reality. Pella: a retreat from reality. (ive already copy written it so back off) but seriously, i come home, already have my old job waiting for me, my same friend group is still around from last summer, i play soccer 3 times a week, i see my brothers and family everyday, and i have what seems to be an unlimited amount of chill. but for some reason everything seems off by a smidgen.
i feel like i have already worn out my welcome home. i started to become complacent at work, and justifiably so, i was put back in check by my manager, who also happens to be a good friend. its hard to disappoint any boss, but when you happen to be close with him too, the disappointment is shared with myself, for myself. i get to see my friends every single night, which would be awesome, and mostly is, but we are quickly running out of things to do on a given night, and there have been many wasted hours sitting around a tv asking each other what were gonna do next. soccer is great, but it is only pick up ball, and most of the people that play are either rusty, over the hill, or too far under the hill to even really know how to play the sport (boot ball and running fast is not, in fact, soccer) i do get to see my fam, but its always extremely rushed, and i have yet to actually sit down and eat with more then one or two of them at a time. never has the family gotten together wholesale. as for the chill, well, i am quickly realizing that while maybe its awesome, and makes things better temporarily, even peter pan has to grow up some time, and being able to fly to the clouds does not mean that the world below is going to disappear, or change to the way i wish it was. my escapes, it seems, are quickly turning their backs on me, and making me face reality in a way i have never done so before. alone.
its definitely a turning point in my life, one that has turned too damn sharp, and going at speeds far surpassing the limit written on the signs. but it seems, that is the way life goes, and you either deal with it, or let it take you down. unfortunately the quicksand has dragged me pretty damn low, and is even threatening to steal my horse Artax. i guess it seems cheesy, but if there is anything i learned from the neverending story is that when your sinking in the mud, the more depressed you get, the deeper you go, and obviously if you continue the trail, staying positive, knowing that you have to save the princess and rescue the fantasy world from the nothingness, then you will be ok. and sooner then later you'll be flying on a luck dragon and chasing the bullies that led you into the school attic in the first place.

moral of the story, stay posi motherfuckers. and this will be yours.

sorry for the delay fam

this is just a post to let people know this blog does in fact still exist, even though im slacking on the updates. my internet time is very limited. ill try and change that soon. im currently trying to compile a nice little summer jam playlist. mentally its only comprised of about 5 songs. but it will flourish soon enough. maybe ill put a tracklisting up so people can bump my shit.

Dear Philly,

It's been a good run (not at all). Three months of unemployment had its ups and downs (mostly downs). You have defeated me this time, but only for a month. I'm gonna regroup, recuperate, and come back stronger as a person, both emotionally, mentally, and physically. (Hell yea I'm gonna be working out this whole time.) Hopefully by the time I get back you will have seen the error in your ways, and missed me as much as I will kind of miss you. Please don't forget about me, I'll need at least a little bit of that brotherly love when I get back, cus its gonna be at least 10 months of grinding outta this midwest boy. And don't think because you've won this battle you have also won the war. I'll be back. Oh yes, I will be back. Peace until then my dude.

Love always,
Tyler "Hobbes" Boeyink

L.A.S.E.R.S. manifesto (video)

A few weeks ago I posted the manifesto for Lupe's new album, which still has no release date. Here is the manifesto in video form. There is just nothing I can say using real English words that show my absolute adoration and respect I have for this man. On purely a musical level, his lyricism goes absolutely unmatched in the hip hop world. But philanthropically speaking, he has used his celebrity and fame to spread a positive message through his music, and to me, that is the greatest thing a celebrity or musician can do. I can only hope to touch a minute fraction of the people that he will.



The song in the background is his first single from the album "Shining Down" featuring Matthew Santos. It leaked awhile ago, but I'm not going to post the link as it doesn't officially get released until July 7. You can read this if you don't agree with my decision not to post.

EDIT: Upon relistening to the song I caught this quick little stanza that made my face melt with its brilliance.

so i say hello and this is for the third time
to everybody out there that ain't never heard mine
and if you have then you know you ain't never heard lyin
Lu don't move no cow-words, you only heard lions.

ILL.

amazing

kanye said it best. this shit is too good not to show. fake or not. props to kyle for showing me this one.

King of Pop

Lets be real, I can't seriously call myself an 80s baby without paying tribute to the king of pop, and in many's opinion, including my own, the king of music. For real though, name someone more influential in music then the moonwalker himself.
(http://nahright.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/samples.png) Anyways, I honestly can't remember hearing MJ for the first time, but I do know that I have loved his music my whole life. I've told this to many already, but it seems surreal when someone who is basically the quintessential symbol of our generation passes away. We all know Mike's legacy, both in music and outside of it. No one will ever know the truth about some of the more bizarre moments in his life, but I feel like his musical career will always outshine the darker moments of his life. I for one will be playing his music all day tomorrow and blasting some of the many mixtapes that dj's have been putting out in his name. This one being the most interesting so far.
http://www.zshare.net/download/619031452871443b/
Either way, let us all take a moment of silence and watch the King of Pop do his thing all over that dance floor...


RIP. You will be remembered forever, and probably longer.

Woke up this morning with one of the worst feelings in the world. Actually sick to my stomach, that still hasn't worn off that much an hour after the fact. I had one of the worst nightmares my whole life, it was pretty short but to the point. Basically the only thing that happened was that my dad had died, and my ex girlfriend was found out and called me to say her condolences, before anyone had bothered to call me about it. Even though she has refused to speak to more for months now. So not only was my dad gone, but I was woken up by this news from someone I have been developing a pretty mean grudge on. (justified or not) The feeling I had was so terrible that I actually had to spend some time in the bathroom hugging the porcelain, trying not to call the moose. I still don't feel very good, and am no one near being able to fall back asleep even for just a little bit.
Got me to thinking about the state of affairs my life is in right now. I was joking with my roommate yesterday about why the world hates me so much. It seems like it's been such a downward spiral since April when I moved out here with such high expectations, and a reasonable chunk of change. I can't believe I burned through so much money in such little time, and have pretty much nothing to show for it. They always say that having money isn't everything, but to those with nothing, not having money is absolutely everything. Got me thinking about something the tour bus guide said about how up until recently, I think, Philly had more millionaires then New York City, or something like that. Sure would be nice if one of those millionaires would bless their communities once in awhile. Break me off a little piece of that "brotherly love" that people talk about, but is rarely seen.
I never thought I would live to see the day where I was actually excited about the prospect of becoming another employee to such a monolithic corporate entity as Starbucks, but at least its a coffee shop and not a bathroom, and at least its a paying job. Got the interview today at 11:30, and if everything goes smoothly I'll hopefully become Starbucks employee 133478937598379208734375. If not then I'm gonna have to turn tail and head home for a month, and work my ass off. I'll probably turn into a recluse too. One man can only stand so much rejection, even if it is just from employers.
Anywho, I think I'm gonna head back to bed and not try to throw up all over everything, maybe stare at the ceiling a little more contemplating what I'll do with the lottery ticket that karma definitely owes me.

One grande mocha frappe coming up!