Monday Proof: Civic Duty

My third week at CityView magazine started today and the primary task at hand was to proof the Dec/Jan issue.  I am excited about the opportunity to proof, mainly because it allows me the opportunity to contribute to improving the content of the magazine.  Broadening the scope of interest in CityView is one of my top priorities and in doing so getting my ideas and edits considered is going to be a balancing act.   I don't want to come off as too pushy or opinionated and I try to be objective in my critiques and stance.  I have a history or being too wordy when I write- and have trained myself to eliminate as much useless wording as possible.  Space-fillers will not do well for improving readership and the more concise our pieces are the more room we have to do other good stuff.  I refuse to take the approach that we must replace the mediocre with what's better- but rather make everything excellent and continue to get better.  I feel certain the magazine would be better off if more people proofed it more carefully.  4 sets of eyes aren't as good as 8 sets per se- but I reckon it depends on which eyes and which mouths and which fingers are offering the feedback.  After around 3 hours I completed my first read through and know there is plenty of room for improvement.  I feel useful and continue to brainstorm.  Brainstorming is one of my specialities and a department of savv.

I like to stay informed about what is going on in my community.  Fayetteville's City Council has a lot of say in what goes on in our city with taxes, zoning/development, public services, etc and I like to make it to as many meetings as possible.  Tonight they will be meeting downtown at 7pm and I will be there.  One of the more important topics on the agenda tonight is to discuss how the council will fill the vacancy left by Wesley Meredith after he won the NC Senate seat from Margaret Dickson.  I am not too familiar with  city government, but I learn a lot at every meeting I attend.  Fayetteville's city council is a diverse group of white males, black males and black females ranging in age from probably 28-65.  The group seems to have pretty good rapport amongst themselves and their fearless leader, Mayor Tony Chavonne is a sharp guy and a tough read.  In political life an even keel is necessary and from what I've see he's got it in spades.  Sometimes I have premonitions and I've predicted the future more than once.  Sitting in on Fayetteville's City Council meetings makes it easier to see the future of the Ville.

My Accountant Handles That

If you've got an accountant handling your personal business on a daily basis chances are you either made it, have a tremendous ego or just aren't responsible enough to take care of your own stuff; or all 3.  The man presently known as J.COLE has an accountant handling all of his finances, and there's a pretty good chance he shares said accountant with JAY-Z.  If you've been in a hole and haven't heard of J.Cole you should get on youtube pronto and check him out.  He is straight out of the Ville and graduated from my high school, Terry Sanford, the year before I did.  Jermaine Cole wreaks of talent, can rhyme like Socrates omniscient uncle and I think he might be next.  Back in the day I can remember depositing money in his account when I worked at the bank.  His mom came through the teller line while he was in school up at St. Johns and she seemed like a classy woman.

I want to get an accountant and a lawyer on a retainer on the off chance that I will need one of their services at the spur of a moment- or if I need to refer someone I am dealing with to them.  Affording this retainer is a problem and after 3 months of having no income it simply isn't happening.  A team of professionals that can rely on each other for their individual specialty could go a long way and I am working on putting a team together.  Problem is somebody will always get the short end of the stick.  How would you feel if you were always putting others off, never bringing enough to the table, frequently falling short of expectations?  If you feel that way you won't make the team, so just don't do it and you might make the cut.

Do The Damn Thing

If you aren't at least somewhat versed in hip-hop and Top 40 lyrics you will find yourself scratching your head regularly when reading my blog.  Find the errors and/or name the song, artist, date and win points.  towards good stuff.

Clearly I am not tech/Mac savvy; I am football, carolina, golf, chill, PGD and small talk savvy.  Most of the time I happen to know what I am talking about and I like to think I have a keen eye for character.  In the long run I hope to give you the run down on my departments of savv and one of my top priorities is to help you not look like a goon on the golf course.  You would be suprised how easy it is to look stupid on the golf course, and I am going to help out.  It's the least I can do.  No metal spikes.

Verse #1

I just bought this here MacBook for a couple nickels from my buddy Doug downtown. Been wanting one for quite some time and I was probably going to wind up spending $1500+ if I were to rack up at Best Buy or the MacStore on all the apple I wanted. The fact that I bought from a friend and have a face that I trust tied to the product makes me happy. As I venture into the world of Apple buying local and having someone in the loop will go a long way. The fact that the guy I bought it from is downtown Fayetteville constitutes my quarterly contribution to rejuvenating the district, in addition to the regular stout, stroll and sandy. Buying from friends is something I really like to do, and calling my Mac guy a friend just might be a stretch. Either way I've never met a stranger, so we are at least half way towards friendship after I gave him too many benjamins approx. 2 hours ago.

At some point you've got to decide to pick something and do it to the best of your ability; I have yet to do so. I know that I will never be the most tech savy guy in the world, or on the block for that matter, but I am going to make a concerted effort to become more competent in the tech world. Between Youtube and a number of Mac Friends I will turn the corner in internet usage, content creation and networking capabilities. I've got a lot of ideas in mind and an above average “creative mind” but without a way to put it into action or push it to the web it's not worth jack. Stay tuned for smiles, insights and a laugh or seven. Here goes something. Something special.