Note on The Ali Interview 5-24-14

Ali was a great sport in the interview we did this past Saturday. James wrote up an interesting set of questions for him and the panel and audience expanded on a lot of them. I felt like we may have lost focus at times, staying on one or two questions too long here and there, but  overall I felt we kept up a good pace. I'm glad that Ali was as open as he was to answering all the questions and keeping things upbeat even when we got into difficult territory. I hope Ali will continue to join us a as a regular guest. He added a lot to the conversation.

Post Hangout Wrap Up for May 17, 2014

We've yet again managed to have a great hangout on little more than a wish and a preyer. I've been making a point to call people days before the weekend to get a better idea of who will be able to join and to get them thinking about the topics before we start our planning session before we go life. This week I wasn't able to get a commitment from anyone. As it turns out I was calling a few wrong numbers and I didn't even consider Tony because he's usually busy of Saturday, but he messaged me to see if we could do the hangout. I was at that point just planning on it being Tony and me when Trebor, James, and Gerald also joined in. You can watch it here http://youtu.be/VCMDHalUwzs

Notes on the Live M3 Weekly Hangout 5-10-14

This past weekend I was not feeling to good. My seasonal allergies were really getting to me and I wasn't getting the amount of sleep I needed to recover. It's amazing how things can still come together even when you feel like shit. I wish our special guest, Ali Lopez, got to see me at my best, but I take comfort in the small victories. At least I didn't fuck it up. I wanted to have all the topics planned out by Thursday and review them with our regular contributors. I didn't. I will in the future. It felt a little like free falling when we're not prepared. Life send me a parachute most times, but next time I'll be prepared. Watch the hangout here http://bit.ly/1oBSqqe

Quick Note

Just had a interesting conversation with Breeze about naivety and it has sparked a writing jag for me. I'm hoping to bing it up in the next hangout as well. Why do we mourn a person getting realistic about life? It seems like the loss of childhood should be something we celebrate. It came up because we get a lot of questions from young men in the gay dating scene who just can't come to grips with how unfair it all is. By this point in my life I've abandoned those notions that kept me from accepting the world as it is. I also have quite a bit to say about hope and how abandoning hope in some situations can be a good thing.

I'm also looking to compile the notes for the hangouts by Thursday now so I can call everyone up and get them thinking about the topics about 48 hours ahead of time. I still need to make the trailer for the events and I'm working on making the audio from the hangouts into a podcast. Lots to look forward to for this weekend.

'Who's Afraid of Post Blackness?' by Touré

Originally Posted in The Male Media Mind

“If there are 40 million black Americans, then there are 40 million ways to be black.” - Henry Louis Gates Jr

We talk about race a lot on M3. We often disagree about what challenges we face as black Americans. We talk about racism and white privilege, ratchet videos that fuel black stereotypes and the people who exploit them. From my time as editor and moderator of the M3 Weekly Hangouts, I get a real sense that the conversation about race has a lot more to do with identity than we'd like to admit. It seems like we're stuck in the war paradigm, that if you're not on the front lines of black liberation than you should at least be supporting the troops. Whenever a person makes a criticism of black America we have to check his credentials. Is he one of us? What we most often lack in our conversations about race is the question of identity. With all the problems that we face as a race it would seen the question is frivolous, but it is far from it. Touré manages to get a wide range of perspectives by interviewing more than a hundred black intellectuals and public figures about what it means to be black and how it has changed over time. The result is a book that I would highly recommend to anyone who is interested in having a productive conversation about race in America.

"Who's Afraid of Post Blackness?: What It Means to Be Black Now" by Touré (with foreword by Michael Eric Dyson) available at Amazon and iTunes

Editor's Notes, New Video Trailers, and Updating the "About M3" Section

How The Editor's Notes Got Started

I decided to revamp my old blog in order to give members of M3 an inside look into the workings of our organization. I originally wanted to post on the main blog, but it didn't make sense to place these in the main news feed. After each Saturday hangout I wanted to write a wrap-up post explaining what we talked about and what our viewers had to look forward to in the week ahead. We have a pretty tight schedule of posts and after the hangout I'm pretty exhausted. So when Breeze came up with the solution of posting these notes on my personal blog and linking linking them to the main blog, I jumped at the chance.

Post Hangout Notes for May 3, 2014

Whenever I start planning for the M3 Weekly Hangout each Saturday morning I've very anxious. I'm anxious about everything anyway, but the biggest fear is that I will not have anyone show up. People have their own lives, and there is the real possibility that no one will show up except for Breeze. I just never thought he and I could do the show own our own. Part of what makes the hangouts so lively is the number of contributors we usually have. Without any guests where would all the dialogue come from? I'm nervous that we would be there all alone and have to cancel.

A Learning Process

I'm doing a lot of reading a writing lately/ Mostly it's due to M3 blog and discussions. I want to keep my mind sharp, but lately I've been questioning its effectiveness. I feel like I've been here before. Back in my early twenties I bought hundreds of books on writing and scanned them into my computer. I read them, but I didn't retain much of what I read. I want to take a moment to see what I can do differently.

Taking Care of Yourself

I can remember thinking about fitness for at least half my life and I've yet to reach any of my goals. Even though I haven't reached any of my goals I realize now that I'm much better off for my efforts even if I don't have the ripped body that I always wanted. I learned some things about myself along the way. I found that is possible to enjoy going to the gym. In fact I think that's why I've been doing so good is because I actually get something tangible from the experience of working out. I always leave the gym feeling better than when I go in.

I just like the experience of working out. I get on the elliptical I start going and my head just starts to feel in tune with the music. I also just get to listen to a lot of cool music. Pandora is awesome by the way. Today I supposed to be going to the gym and it's raining. In fact there's a tornado warning and I doubt I'm going to make it today. But it's bumming me out. I really want to get my routine on.

I also noticed how working out seems to have improved the rest of my life. I just feel better. I sleep better, I feel more focused. I can deal with the changes of life a lot better. And In my mind I know I can do things I set my mind to because after all I did do this one hard thing and I'm sticking with it. At least for now. I started a blog and a YouTube Channel with my boyfriend. I cleaned dishes today  I never do that! Really did it so I can continue to eat better

I noticed that I lost weight the other day. I don't want to look too closely becuase I think if I do the results will turn out not to be real. But I took pictures and weighed myself and both seem to indicate the weight loss is real.

Say Everything by Scott Rosenberg

So starting a new blog wasn't as hard s I thought it would be, but by no means was it easy. There were days where I was frustrated by people's lack of enthusiasm for promoting and writing posts. There were days when I felt like throwing my hands up and quitting and it's only been a week. However the whole time I was going through this process I was reading Say Everything which was a great book about the history of blogging. It really gave me perspective and made me appreciate the tools that are averrable to me now.

It also solidified the concept of the blog. What is it's papoose? As a writer I just saw it as a way of self publishing. I wanted to write and I needed people to read it. Now I understand blogging as a conversation. That my posts are only half of the equation and that I really need to get people to read and invite them to be a part of the process.

A new direction for the blog

After launching The Male Media Mind I realized that I can take this blog in a whole new direction. Since I'm going to be posting daily at Male Media Mind all the information and options I can't see the point of this blog being the same. So I feel it's a good idea to turn my blog into something more personal.

I've always been a little scare to bear myself online. I don't want to be messy or cause drama. Of course I am entitled to discuss my own experiences, but I'd rather do without the consequences that could emerge. The thing is my life isn't interesting anyway. The only thing of interest right now is the launching the new blog. So for now I think I'll use this space to discuss my feelings and thoughts about the new blog.

The Male Media Mind

Launching my new blog today. Put a lot of work into it this weekend. There's a lot of work left to do, but I'm already proud of what we have built and am looking forward to getting the conversation started. I have two great authors who will be posting about the things that matter to them. And we have so many ideas we have to pace ourselves to not get burned out. We have big plans for the blog and it will be a journey implementing the things we have in mind.

Of course the morning of the launch my internet connection is down. Luckily we got all the hard work done over the weekend.

Big Thoughts

You don't get to choose what you're interested in. Ideas, in a way, have you rather than the other way around. One such idea is God. I love big ideas and nothing is bigger than God. I can't get away from it. I stopped going to church because Christianity feels like bullshit to me now and yet I can't stop talking and thinking about God. Some people call it "The Universe" but come on we all know what you're talking about. Even if you don't believe the bullshit in the Bible you still believe in bullshit. There is no God except the one in your mind, that construction of moral rules that makes life easier to understand. The notion of a soul that inhabits your body seems like the source of all religion. It's hard to imagine that we are our bodies. It's hard to think of not existing one day. But anyone who doesn't think their mind and body are the same thing has never gotten drunk before. But then I think if my mind is my brain and we have no idea how these pattern create mind, how could we rule out patterns in the greater world around us creating a mind there as well? 

A few Thoughts about Thoughts

I sometimes can't believe that I am the way that I am. To describe myself would be to miss the point, but I know I don't see the world like most people do. Sometimes I have to admit I like the fact that I'm different. It doesn't mean that the the way I see the world is valuable or even interesting to anyone outside my own skull, but it does mean my life will be more difficult. It means that in some ways I'll I will always be a a little separate from others. Sure that's unfair and I could be upset, but what's the point? I mean I will still be the same way and nothing will change.