Embracing Diversity

As you know, I recently hit the 100 follower mark. People from multiple backgrounds around the globe fill that list and it feels great to interact with them all. It's a feeling that I welcome because I wasn't able to experience as a kid.

I enjoy meeting people from different backgrounds. I'm not just talking about someone who may have grown up in the "deep country" or in the "big city". I'm talking about people who have immediate roots in foreign countries.

Growing up in Mississippi, pretty much everything in my school was black and white. Literally. We had roughly eight Hispanics, maybe two Asians and one Indian. I was vice president of our high school Spanish Club, so I knew most of the Hispanics. I had a class with the Indian, Pratop, who was fascinated by blondes and saw little-to-no time to hang out with the likes of my crew. I didn't know either of the Asians classmates while in school, but later met one of them a decade later in a nightclub when she recognized me. My knowledge of her barely went past a brief conversation that night.

So, pretty much through all of my youth, everyone I came in contact with daily was either black or white. I never got a chance to embrace different cultures until much later in life as I got into the workplace. Over time, I got to travel and I met and established friendships with my first Asian, Russian, German, etc. Now I have a melting pot of associates and the blogging world has extended that opportunity even more.

I've interacted with people from all over the world and I would just like to say "thanks." From Paula in Germany or Alice X in England to my Cuban-born blogging inspiration, Annah.

So, regardless if you're a Ukrainian-Canadian redhead named Cherie living on the west coast or a black, Mississippi educator sharing my home state like Diana, then I have much love for you!

If you're one of my readers from out of the country, please say "hello" in the comments below! I'd love to hear from you and find out how you found the blog.

Blog Stalking 12.31.10

I want to take time to thank some of my fellow bloggers who entertain me with their contributions to the blog world. I try to show love for them by mentioning them in one of my posts every chance I get. However, I thought to myself, "Why not just spotlight them?"

And here is another installment of that! I present "Blog Stalking!" A phrase I started regurgitating after seeing Falen AKA Thundercat type it a few times.



Today, I present to you: "This Is What Famous People Do" by Annah

The blog is titled "Red Means Go" and this is my favorite post from her spot. This post is one of the first blogs I ever read and Annah is the first blogger I ever followed. Yes, she's my first.

When I become a billionaire blogger, I'm going to buy Annah her very own designated driver!

Be sure to comment and let her know what you think!

Blank

Have you ever wanted to blog, but couldn't? That's the dilemma I'm in now. I'm out of town on business in Windsor, CT, and I've started four blogs only to crap out midway on each of them.

So, I figured I'd just type whatever came to mind. I'm sitting in my hotel room (Courtyard Marriott) and watching the Miami/Pitt NCAA football game on this ugly, 25-inch, tube TV they stuck me with during my stay.

Really, Marriott? All kinds of hotel revenue and you can't get flat screens for the room?

Wow, Miami just scored again and I swear there are 13 Pitt fans left in the stands.

Anyway, I thought about how much I've enjoyed my trip to Windsor. It's my second time here since May and the one thing that has surprised me is the hospitality. All of my northern co-workers have broken the stereotypes on "northern rudeness". Each and every last one of them has made me feel as if I were at home and it's been a great feeling. I work with some really great people.



Also, the weather has been absolutely beautiful here! When I left Jackson on Monday, it was 97 degrees. I get to Windsor and it's been 78-85 degrees all week long with partly sunny skies.

Then, mix in the fact that I had some great food while I was here. I had no idea that anyone other than southern folks could throw down on BBQ, but there's a restaurant here called Nat's that blew me away! I couldn't believe how good the ribs were. And you would think ribs once in a week would suffice, but I got tempted in another restaurant called the Tunxis Grill. I got the fried rib appetizer and I almost clotheslined (wrestling move) the bust boy because he failed to tell me in a past life that those ribs were so good. Although they were fried, they were glazed with sweet and tangy BBQ and sprinkled with sesame seeds.

Lord, have mercy.

Well, that's been my week in a nutshell. The one thing that I've realized about myself is that TV fuels my "bloggability". And for the record, I wasn't the first person who use that term. Trust me, I checked. But, being at home and watching MSNBC and FOX News really gives me ammunition to start blogging. Well, that and drunk guys or women with bad odors at gas stations.

But, blogging is something done with passion and not just something to do. Annah even has a birthday for her blog. And I swear that I can visualize Falen frowning as she's typing her blog and then laughing uncontrollably after she reads it back to herself.

They're writing with passion. With a purpose. Unfortunately, this week, I have nothing. Nothing to fuel my fire. The Mrs. is at home and I miss her. Watching this hotel TV from the 90's is lame. And absolutely no one has pissed me off this week because my Windsor co-workers are the bomb (oh, yes, I did go back to 1997 on that term "the bomb").

For some reason, my mind is just... blank.