Ordered from least expensive at 1200 sq ft and $89k to most expensive at 5,271 sq feet and $210k.

…

That LAST HOUSE IS $210K!

Townhomes like the first one are the only ones that are reasonable for me as I don’t have furniture to fill up more than 1200 sq ft, but MAN! I hope Atlanta struggles for a few years more…

• The fam came Thursday
• Daddy rode out to his sister’s 70th birthday celebration in Louisiana. It was a Black and White party. (She isn’t even the oldest sister! This is why I have no grandparents.)
• Dr. Sister and Mommies* stayed and I took Friday off.
• Took Dr. Sister to get her hair done or her birthday. She’s natural now (win for me) but keeps her hair pressed.
• Mommies and I bought her a Galaxy tab.
• Dr. Sister went out with her ex. They had the same situation of one person move to Atlanta…will the other one come too? Except he decided he didn’t want to be in a long distance relationship at the time.
• He wants to be in a long distance relationship now and said he plans to marry her within the year. Suggested they go to couples counseling.
• She was like o_O
• Drove Mommies and sister back to South Georgia.
• Went to my friend from high school’s wedding. It was beautiful. (She finally got her Masters in Mathematics Education!)
• My favorite part of the wedding is when the Grandparents are seated. That’s really neat! Deference and the start of a new generation!
• I’m sad though because my last one passed when I was 11..didn’t really get to know them.
• It’s weird when people you actually know in real life get married…guess we’re grown up after all.
• Went to see Think Like a Man for Mother’s Day. I’d seen it already, but Mommies and Dr. Sister hadn’t.
• Again, lessons for all.
• I opted to stay the night instead of leaving Sunday. It was raining…and there was free food and delicious watermelon in the house.
• My mother wants me to dance to this at my wedding should I ever have one. I was offended. I think she likes the melody and the “angel” part but hasn’t actually listened to the lyrics.

NOT HAPPENING

• Woke up at 4 am this morning and drove back after a fitful 4 hours of sleep.
• The trip was 3 hours and 15 minutes
• Went to work at 9
• WORST IDEA EVAR.
• It’s 8:43 now and I haven’t passed out yet for some reason.
• Bout to have some lemonade.
• I’m famished.
• Goodnight.

*I call my mother Mommies. Just one mommy…

I post this at least a few times a year, and I really feel like it’s one of the best works in the English language…simple statements, but if you can really do the things it talks about, you really are a phenomenal person (which is sad when you think about it…that it’s actually “difficult” to live your life this way…)

It’s especially bothers me that many Black Greeks memorize this during their processes but the message of it goes out the window as soon as they cross…I mean it’s a staple for a reason…

For the 348th time…

If By Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:.
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build’em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

Sunday

Game of Porns Thrones – HBO
The Newsroom (June 24) – HBO

Monday

Single Ladies (May 28) – VH1
Web Therapy (July 2) – Showtime

Secret Life of the American Teenager  I marathoned this sometime last year. It is absolutely unbearable to watch now.
Make it or Break It  Not much more of this left. It was cancelled…while they were at training camp. For the Olympics… o_O
Pretty Little Liars  Started off good, but stopped watching sometime last season. ABC family over saturated the market with this show. Give people time to miss it instead of all the short seasons followed by a month long hiatus!

Wednesday

Dallas (June 13th) – TNT

Thursday
Wilfred (June 28) – FX

And that’s it! How wimpy is that?!

See what else is on

“I’m selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can’t handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don’t deserve me at my best.”
― Marilyn Monroe

I often see people quoting this last part and I’m like “um…so you know that’s sentiment isn’t really something to be proud of, right?”

She’s saying she admittedly treats  you wrong…but if you can’t handle it when she treats you wrong, then you don’t deserve to be treated better?

Does. not. compute.

A lot of times, when I see people misquoting this, they actually are a lot like Marilyn. They’ve been through things…and haven’t coped well with what they’ve been through, and take their pain out on others…but still.

Read that again people. Do you really want to celebrate that kind of sentiment?

That people shouldn’t be treated well unless they can handle you putting them through the ringer?

Out of context, it MIGHT have more of a “if you don’t have my back while i’m making my way to the top, you don’t deserve me once I make it” ring to it, but I’ve hardly ever seen it used that way according to the people who quote this…

Am I missing something?

I’ve got so much to say, but probably going to be unpopular.

Instead, I’ll just say 2 very important skills I want to teach my future mini-me’s that I think would help them to avoid a lot drama in their lives.

Skill 1 : Being a great judge of character

Want my kids to be able to read people or pick up on subtle cues and clues. Unless a person is a sociopath, it’s pretty easy to figure out what they value based on their actions…or even if their expressions are inconsistent, when a person overcompensating for something. I want them to be able to figure those things about the people they deal with…and use their knowledge to temper their interactions with people.

Skill 2 : Critical thinking in everyday situations

Time and time again, I’ve learned that common sense is not so common. People will walk into situations that the “common” person would know are dangerous/dumb/etc. and then get mad when they are in danger/in trouble/etc. Want them to really think about the decisions they make and consider what the possible outcomes will be.

I’m sure you’re saying :

“Yeah right KaNisa…you think you have all the answers, but wait until you have kids of your own…”

I always go to the “My sisters and I were raised with these things embedded in us…so my parents must have done something to have us all turn out this way…” excuse…

…yeah not sure how to finish that statement…

But yeah I think early exposure to something as simple as technology really helps with stuff like this. Like I’ve mentioned, I’ve been a computer gamer literally since age 4. For real in DOS loading up my games with the big floppies, one for the OS, one for the game I want to play. Command prompt scripts…all of that. Didn’t do video games as we just had an Atari, but big into Adventure games like Commander Keen or similar Apogee games, Monkey Island, Zork, Kings Quest (as I got older). Those adventure games had a HUGE impact on me and the way I think about things now…and I really feel like they contributed to why I’ve been able to avoid a lot of drama and learning things “the hard way”.

Here’s a classic list of Adventure Game Tips :

Always look at everything. Sometimes an item you need is only represented by a few pixels (a coin on the street). If you can pick it up, do so. There are only a few cases I know of offhand where this is not a good idea, and usually, you will have warning that picking the item up is not a good idea.

Pay close attention to dialogue. Clues are frequently embedded into the comments that one of the characters makes. Clues may also be found in the form of notes left around, sounds that you hear, along with the description of every object. In other words, you should always pay close attention to anything that happens. It may mean nothing, but you may suddenly realise later that it is a very important clue.

Double check for exits. This one frequently gets me in Sierra games. There is an exit at the bottom of the screen, it just isn’t obvious to me. It can be a good idea to first wander around, just looking at places and picking up any items that you can. Once you have some idea what’s around, then you may be better able to solve puzzles.

If there is even a slight possibility of death, save the game often. You should get in the habit of saving the game after solving any major puzzle. In general, don’t keep saving over the previous save. There may be situations where you’ve used the last match and you suddenly realized that you used it in the wrong way. If you don’t have a saved game from before using the match, you’d have to start the game again.

If you are stuck, think about the following. Have you talked to everyone about everything you can? Have you tried combining items in your inventory (when possible)? Have you tried doing something odd, just to see the reactions? (Sometimes, the comments made make the correct thing more obvious.) Are you sure that you’ve looked in detail at everything in every scene in the game?

My spare time ages 8-18 or so were spent playing dozens of games that employed this kind of logic. No way that wouldn’t roll over to real world decision making…

Don’t always have to teach lessons directly, I plan to set foundations. Make logical decisions. Be aware of your audience. Be respectful of others. Pay attention to your surroundings. More specific correction in their later years.

If they shore up on those skills and practice them in various ways…later down the line it’s easier to not be swayed by the fast tailed kids, or fall for the player, or pick the crazy chick who busts windows out of cars…

Not because “it’s bad to be free with your privates”, or “it’s dumb to fall for someone who doesn’t want you”, or “crazy chicks are exciting”….but because they know how to weigh each circumstance, truly consider the consequences, and make decisions that will net their desired result…(in the framework of someone who has respect for themselves and others, etc.).

At least that’s what worked for my sisters and me…

• Started watching Revenge after hearing so  much about it. I remember watching the pilot, but I fell asleep to it (doesn’t take much). I tried again this weekend though and it was actually really good! I’m on episode 11 of 18. Thanks Hulu Plus!
• Work is finally slowing down. We have a release in about 2 weeks but my part is done. Enjoying this “time off” before it ramps up again.
• Managerial duties are always exciting…I’ll just say…uneasy lies the head the wears the crown.
• Dr. Sister and Mommies are coming for Mother’s Day weekend. I figured my gifts would be a spa day for them. Might be tricky though since middle sister is coming too and it’s not her holiday…she’s the type to have an attitude for not being paid for too…maybe we can all go to the theater with steak and I can pay for that…
• Kiiiinda side eyeing the whole grad chapter thing. The perils of joining a large one. They’ve had my money since February, but I haven’t gotten any correspondence from them. Thinking of switching back to General membership and shopping around for a chapter that’s a little more organized. I’d only picked that one because they oversee my undergrad chapter. Kiiiinda don’t appreciate how they treat new members…but I guess it’s hard to keep up when you have like 400 of them. I bet their records are in an excel sheet somewhere rather than a database that is actually used by a system. Normally I’d jump in and fix all their IT stuff, especially since they insist on paying some random dude 2500 bucks to design a wordpress site for them (WHY?!)…I offered to do it for free. Gave them my name and number, twice. No one contacted me…I need  people to meet me halfway at least…
• Also why did I find out about our next event (a party) on Facebook…from being invited by a Que who was co-hosting it with us? Nice…
• Collecting articles about responsive design. Meant to start on my first HTML 5 project, but I spent the weekend sleeping and derping around instead. I needed some time to recover from the previous weekend of birthday happenings and Frog visit. Did I mention he got me a Fabio Napoleoni? Remember when I talked about him a while back?
  
  “Who Would I Be Without You”

  You can’t tell from this picture, but the colors are extremely vivid. I’m pretty sure staring at it is akin to taking some drug that calms your brain and stuff. Couldn’t take my eyes off it. I asked Frog to turn it around because if it’s in your field of vision, you can’t help but stare.

So yeah that’s pretty much all that’s going on that I can talk about. Interesting times! Happy Birthday to my fellow Taureans!

I’ve been playing with the idea of getting a tablet, but hadn’t decided which one….besides it not being an ianything. I’ve decided that this shall be Chip Poindexter VI’s little sister, Erica. Together with her big brother and and play cousin of the Droid X variety, they will help me delve into the world of responsive design for Android (or HTML 5 friendly) platforms.

Welcome Erica! (AKA an Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime)