Take a look...

June has been a crazy month. A lot has happened that I didn't see coming. I'll talk about that more in a future entry. I've had a lot of time on my hands lately. With this time, I wanted to be as productive as possible. I wanted to grow spiritually, physically and mentally. 

So, I've been having more conversations with God. We're pretty tight right now. I've been working out more often. I've been addicted to calisthenics for a few months now. Which is good for me because I'm allergic to the weight room. (My basketball coaches hated me for this. I would tell them that I wasn't a bodybuilder, I'm here to get buckets. Weights didn't do nothing but throw my shot off. ) I've been playing ball a little bit here and there. (Still got it.) Al and I have been running, which I hate to do alone but it's not that bad when we're together, plus, I have to run with her because whenever she runs alone, men literally come out the wood works to hit on her. I ain't got time...She just got a damn Fitbit yesterday and I'm already coming up with ways for it to “come up missing”. She's obsessed with getting her 1 millions steps a day in now, so of course I have to go on these walks with her. I didn't sign up for this.

To grow mentally, I've been doing research for a few projects that I'm working on that I'm really excited about. I've also been trying to guard what I give my attention to. I haven't been watching as much TV. With the exception being The NBA Finals. No way in hell that I would miss King vs. Chef. And now that OITNB is back I will be stuck on that for the next couple of days until I'm mad at myself that I have to wait another year for the next season. Last week I decided to take a break from Instagram. I was becoming addicted again. The break lasted a whole 7 days. I downloaded the app back on my phone yesterday just in time for SPS. 

With this time, I also wanted to read more. I love to read, I just don't do it as consistently as I would like to. Living right across the street from a huge library, I have no excuse. This summer, I'm challenging myself (and anyone that would like to join) to read a book a week.  

I decided to start with a re-read of a book that I first read years ago but didn't own because my brother Jordan “borrowed” my copy and I never got it back. The book is an American Classic, Pimp by Iceberg Slim. In this autobiography, Slim tells a great story. It is described as, “A blueprint. A bible. What Sun Tzu's Art of War was to Ancient China, Pimp is to the streets.” The book is very entertaining. Slim makes his story really come to life, he makes you feel like you were riding in his Cadillac pimping right with him. When he goes to prison, you feel like you're his cell mate. He was an amazing author. He didn't glorify pimping, or his drug addiction,  he just told his story, the ups and the downs. He's a master storyteller. Yesterday, Chuck saw the book sitting on the counter and read the title, I had to take it and put it away, I don't want her getting exposed to the pimp game EVER, especially not at 7 years old.

I remember my Pops bought me Pimp because he wanted me to embrace reading, but when I was young I never did. He used to buy me books like The Miseducation of the Negro, or The Prince but I wasn't interested in them. In the late 90's/ early 2000's, I was fascinated by Pimping. I Blame Pimp-C and my Uncle Doug, who according to him was the best pimp Kansas City ever produced. You couldn't tell my early teenage self that I wasn't a Pimp in training. He knew this, he also knew how good of a book Pimp was, so he put two and two together and hoped that it would spark something in me.

Pops didn't care what I read, he just wanted me to love reading. He knew how important reading is, how much knowledge can be found in books. Since then, I have read all types of books. Now I love it, I'm geeked whenever I get a new book. If you have a good book in mind, feel free to share it with me.