Christmas Break Top Ten

"And if you keep it young, your song is always sung."

-Randy Crawford & the Crusaders, Street Life

#1 The test of wills it takes to see if it's humanly possible to remain in ones pink pajamas the entire day. (Trust me, it is).

#2 Watching the first viable black candidate for president GET CRUNK and come away with victory in the Iowa caucus, hereby spawning the relaunch of those "Uppity Negro" t-shirts world wide. (I'm ordering two, one in pink and one in green! The audacity of hope ... loves it!! Methinketh Sam Cooke is right. A change gon' come. Oooh yes it is.)

#3 Within the span of two weeks being in three separate states in the midwest (Michigan), northeast (New Jersey) and southeast (Florida) and it somehow manages to be cold in each one. I guess Murphy's Law has a frequent flyer plan. Cause why the ham sandwich would I be wearing a wool coat in Florida!?! Dang it. Lol.

#4 Watching the late night shows with Leno, Letterman and O'Brien just to marvel at how funny the first and last ones look in those scruffy beards. This further confirms my theory that O'Brien is a leprechaun. It's why he dances like that. He just hides his pot of gold under his desk.

#5 Going to the theatre to see the Great Debaters and loving how it made me remember my passion as a high school debater. (Best speaker against Moorestown High School, Fall '97 thank ya sir. Lol) Why God made a way for me to be here in law school the first place. During Samantha Booke's speech and James Farmer Jr.'s closing before the distinguished Harvard alums I found myself pointing my right index finger toward the screen like an old Baptist deaconess. Tell da story chulrens!!! Those young men and women were amazing. "To be young, gifted and black, what a lovely precious dream!" Donny Hathaway sang. Amen and amen.
#6 Seeing my grandmother smile as my mother, cousin and I did a Soul Train line to Stevie Wonder's "As." Even better was her declaring that she was going to be our road manager and "make a lot of money off of us." Eighty-six, sweet as pie and still sassy. Gotta love her.

#7 Listening to the radio for hours. I am fully convinced that the best music station in the country is in Phi-la-del-phi-a. (Speaking of, is it criminal that I'll do practically do anything for a small chicken cheesesteak? And a Wawa soda. Good thing I'm away at school most of the year.)

#8 Reading the best biography of Muhammad Ali, King of the World and getting a great context for all of the forces and circumstances that made the man the man he was. Even better was reading it on a frigid Florida beach a day after New Years whilst getting menaced by seagulls. No lie, three of them cornered by beach chair after I momentarily laid a banana peel in the sand. I get up to throw it away and they are still like at me like, "Wassup?" Me: looks back, reads a few more pages. Looks up again. Birds: [Walking up on me, talking to each other, like "Brrrr" (Clipse)]. Me: "What do you want? I mean, if you're gully, we can get down..." [But thinking not really, cause I went to private school.]

Kay, that's only eight. But it's '08 so it's skraight. Ha that rhymed. That officially makes my rapping skills a shade better than LL Cool J's. Which isn't saying much. Oh well, they don't pay me for my mike (or math) skills. Till next time. Toodles. And Happy New Year!

- M. Dot