Life Stories and Lessons

[monahvee]

This guy is trying to “gatekeep” Blackness as a unique trait of Black people from the United States and it is evident to me that he is just as well versed in history as I am in underwater basket weaving.

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[monahvee]

Imagine That

Back in 2002 when I was living in Japan, I went back home for a much-needed vacation. I was right in the middle of my spiritual journey of trying to become a better person. Not really what 21-year-old guys typically do, but that’s what I was on. Part of my journey was apologizing to people I did wrong or believed I did wrong. I wasn’t asking forgiveness, in my mind, that was up to the people to…

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[monahvee]

Hits Different

I was talking to a friend of mine about investments not too long ago. He’s one of the most disciplined people I know. He’s one of the few people that I know that gives legitimate thought to every financial decision he makes…and he’s able to relate a lot of things to finances. One of the coolest things we talked about was opportunity cost, versus mental health. I imagine that’s his way of staying…

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[monahvee]

Ask Your Self

I was doomscrolling the other day and came across this wildly disrespectful Jewish guy speaking on Christianity. He was mocking the belief system, saying “so what if we killed your god, if we could kill him, he wasn’t a god”. At the same time, he was also stating his opinion on why it is ok for Israel to manipulate the U.S. government. I reacted to that, and I believe my algorithm figured “ohhh…

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[monahvee]

To Leave

When I was a kid, Reebok came out with some shoes that had an air pump built into them. As a longtime dreamer and shoe collector hopeful, I remember seeing them in East Bay and hoping to get a pair. My dad wore Reeboks mostly at that time, so I figured I would too. When it was time to get new shoes, my brother and I went different directions. He went with Nike’s I went with the Reebok Pump’s, and…

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[monahvee]

Prepare

Back in 2011 my friend and I got into high end fragrances. We didn’t quite have high end money to buy them, but we would load up on samples. Every week we’d get some new samples or repeat of the ones we liked, faking it until we made it. Then came the research into the notes and what these companies were using, then came the bright idea (for me at least) to try to make my own. I’m not a chemist,…

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[monahvee]

Maybe

I think with the doom and gloom of the last post…and the seemingly continuation of that in my follow up to it, I should lighten the mood. I figured I’d try to provide respite from this idiotic administration, however brief. More is coming though. For now, I’ll play with a different controversial topic again. I used to know this guy in high school that always had designer stuff, but no money. The…

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[monahvee]

Lower Expectations

Back in 2016 in the lead up to that year’s elections, I remember speaking with one of my co-workers about what I thought a potential Trump presidency would be like. At the time I said it would probably be like Woodrow Wilson part 2 in effect, because his only platform was racism. Objectively speaking, his first term was bad, but mostly because he was embarrassing the nation everywhere he went.…

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[monahvee]

Glasses

Sometimes I have these weird memories of seemingly insignificant moments. Usually in relation to me thinking about someone that I wasn’t really that cool with, but I wonder about them anyway. Several years ago, I was talking to this guy named Paul that sat in the cubicle across from me at work. We weren’t friends, but we talked fairly often, usually about whatever was on his mind since I don’t…

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[monahvee]

Falsely Accused

Back in my dorm life days I remember this one young lady that was very promiscuous that I hung out with. I honestly had no idea at the time because I only hung out with her in group settings and when we went to church. She seemed like a super holy roller and though she was a nice human being, she wasn’t really my type in any imaginable way beyond platonic. I was however, very quietly involved…

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[monahvee]

I Ain't Surprised

I’ll address the elephant first, yes, this is a slight rebrand, it’s legitimately me. The other domain expired and here we are. Same old me though. Now, let me go ahead and get into this thought. So, I’m 44 years old at the moment, I was born and raised in the hood, went to actual war zones in the military and I believe I came out with roughly the same amount of sanity in the process. A few…

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[monahvee]

The Uncomfortable Fight

I went to this barbershop one time when I was significantly younger and dumber. I was in desperate need of a haircut and had no desire to let the lady on base butcher me that day. I didn’t have a car, but I saw this barbershop right off base one day, so, I figured they HAD to be better than where I was already going. I woke up early on a Saturday morning, didn’t tell anyone where I was headed,…

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[monahvee]

When They Go Low...

Back when I was a young kid, I used to fight with my brother and cousins all the time. My brother used to teach me new stuff and then tell friends of mine I said something wild about them, just to see how I would handle myself in a fight. There was one Saturday in particular that he went outside like 20 minutes before I did. When I stepped out, I saw my friends standing near my brother, but they…

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[monahvee]

WE The People

I saw this video of a guy showing how he does the two-card monte trick. Clearly my algorithm knows how to inspire me with loosely related metaphors when the time is right. As I watched this video fully knowing that a trick was being performed, it sparked a thought about what we’re currently seeing in the United States. The guy shows one card up, one card down, flips them over seemingly revealing…

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[monahvee]

And So, It Begins

It has been quite some time since I’ve written things. It’s something about Texas that sucks the creativity out of me in a bad way. I have been thinking and observing the entire time. I attempted to write a couple times but when I finished the thoughts, I didn’t feel they were worth sharing. I watched many of my political predictions unfold almost exactly the way I expected them. There was no joy…

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[monahvee]

Ain't This Bout a...

Back in March 2024 I asked “what else you got” regarding our politics here in the U.S. and it really didn’t resonate with many folks. Back in July I mentioned my desire for an awakening down the ballot  because a blue W wasn’t likely at the top. I watched countless podcasts and interviews, the debates, news stories and so on, at no point did it look like Kamala would do anything besides lose…

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[monahvee]

To Alienate, or Not

Of the top 20 most populous cities in the United States, only 1 has Republican leadership, Dallas Texas. Of the top 20 most populated cities, all of them have a minority population that accounts for at least 47% of its inhabitants. The implication here is that these places are technically diverse before actually diving into how these cities are segregated. Sadly, these places experience the highs…

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