Being Jon Stewart

Here is Jon Stewart at his best!

Being Parents

My other parents, Bishop and Elder V.G. Clarke of the Bahamas, will be burying their oldest daughter, Merilyn, tomorrow. Please say a prayer for them and their family.


"Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted."

--Matthew 5:4

Being John Mayer

I love John Mayer's music, but his words in a recent interview with Playboy are quite disturbing. Here is a portion of it:

MAYER: It depends on what I picked up. My two biggest hits are "Your Body Is a Wonderland" and "Daughters." If you think those songs are pandering, then you'll think I'm a douche bag. It’s like I come on very strong. I am a very…I'm just very. V-E-R-Y. And if you can't handle very, then I'm a douche bag. But I think the world needs a little very. That’s why black people love me.

PLAYBOY: Because you’re very?

MAYER: Someone asked me the other day, “What does it feel like now to have a hood pass?” And by the way, it’s sort of a contradiction in terms, because if you really had a hood pass, you could call it a n****r pass. Why are you pulling a punch and calling it a hood pass if you really have a hood pass? But I said, “I can’t really have a hood pass. I’ve never walked into a restaurant, asked for a table and been told, 'We’re full.'"

PLAYBOY: It is true; a lot of rappers love you. You recorded with Common and Kanye West, played live with Jay-Z.

MAYER: What is being black? It’s making the most of your life, not taking a single moment for granted. Taking something that’s seen as a struggle and making it work for you, or you’ll die inside. Not to say that my struggle is like the collective struggle of black America. But maybe my struggle is similar to one black dude’s.

PLAYBOY: Do black women throw themselves at you?

MAYER: I don’t think I open myself to it. My dick is sort of like a white supremacist. I’ve got a Benetton heart and a fuckin’ David Duke cock. I’m going to start dating separately from my dick.

PLAYBOY: Let's put some names out there. Let's get specific.

MAYER: I always thought Holly Robinson Peete was gorgeous. Every white dude loved Hilary from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. And Kerry Washington. She's superhot, and she’s also white-girl crazy. Kerry Washington would break your heart like a white girl. Just all of a sudden she’d be like, "Yeah, I sucked his dick. Whatever." And you’d be like, "What? We weren’t talking about that." That's what "Heartbreak Warfare" is all about, when a girl uses jealousy as a tactic.

What precisely is Mayer trying to say here and for what purpose?

Being Me

It's been four years since I lost three loved ones consecutively. My beloved brother Peter passed one year, my dearest mother the next year, and my beautiful brother Tim the following year. Over these years I had not looked at myself in a full-length mirror or had not looked at myself for long periods of time in the mirror except to quickly apply makeup. I had been fit for years but was no longer.

Since I lost my loved ones I had gained weight. While I have basically been happy, I didn't altogether love the image that looked back at me. The other day I was in a department store and walked passed a full-length mirror. "Oh, hi," I said. The image smiled back at me. I bought the mirror and snapped these pictures the other day on my BlackBerry. Yeah, I remember her.







I've begun running again in preparation for a marathon this year. I'm up to 6 miles daily, 4 down from my usual 10 miles six days a week. But I feel great. I am not where I want to be, but I am thankful that I'm not where I used to be. It's amazing how we handle grief. I am grateful for God's goodness.

Being Bo

Where I am in Michigan we got over a foot of snow. The kids here have been given a snow day. It looks like Bo has been given one too.

How fun!

Being Funny

Here is the forever-witty Robert Gibbs during his press conference today at the White House answering Sarah Palin. She had mocked the voters of President Obama and the man himself by asking at the Tea Party gathering as if campaigning, "Now a year later, I got to ask the supporters of all that, how is that hope-y, change-y stuff working out for you?"

Gibbs replies with a grocery list:

Being Factual

"You are entitled to your own opinions but you are not entitled to your own facts."

--Daniel Patrick Moynihan