Celebrating friends

May 23, 2016 by Soul On Ice

Everyone has one life to live, a born date and a death date, a beginning and an end. How people spend that time between the dates is due to circumstances can, at times, be beyond one’s control. Some people start fending for themselves at an early age while others are able to have the elements in place to do so later. While the components of people should be taken into consideration when it comes to how one chooses to go about their lives, the one element that can be controlled is how people choose to commemorate them, how people choose to honor them and how people choose to recognize their accomplishments.

Tales from the needle: Volume IX

May 20, 2016 by Soul On Ice in Tales from the needle

Tales from the Needle is a weekly series which will highlight people and their tattoos. Some people have a favorite tat, their most memorable ink. Some people put more emphasis on the needle from a tattoo gun penetrated their skin while others have one they wish they never put any ink on their body.

Every Friday, the blog will have a first-person story of a person and their tats of choice, using only images of their tats keeps the theme of this being a faceless site. The images seen here will merely aid in bringing nuance to the numerous layers that compose the person.

Malcolm X and the definition of authenticity

May 18, 2016 by Soul On Ice

One of the challenges of writing is starting; simply banging away at the keys or scribbling words on a piece of paper is a process that can be daunting in itself. However, it doesn’t have to be that way. A great man who once mentored a budding writer said, “Don’t think. Just write.” Granted, that great man was William Forrester and the budding writer being mentored was Jamal Wallace in Finding Forrester, but that’s not the point. What he was trying to convey to Jamal was not to complicate the process. When it comes to writing, the first draft is written with your heart, and the second draft is written with your head. When a person writes from the heart, that person is being authentic. Authenticity doesn’t always equal a terrific piece of writing, but it does equal an honest piece of writing. The goal when it comes to writing about Malcolm X is just that: an honest piece of writing, a piece of writing written from the heart.

Tomorrow, May 19th, is the birthday of Malcolm X, who would have turned 91 years old. One of the biggest things that has always struck a chord is the lack of reverence for X in relation to other historical figures in the world of history. The reasons for the lack of reverence are open to discussion and there are likely some plausible ones. However, for someone whose words, actions and transformation played such an integral part in this life, and still do, it’s hard to imagine that he isn’t more revered.

Reading is fundamental

May 16, 2016 by Soul On Ice

“To feed your brain, fool.” – Fudge, Higher Learning

“My alma mater was books, a good library. I could spend the rest of my life reading, just satisfying my curiosity.” – Malcolm X

One of the non-negotiable activities in life, on par with family, working out, and Dallas Cowboys football, is reading. It is something that is done in some form, each and every day. It is deliberate, it is intentional, and it is necessary. If it wasn’t for reading, too much time would be spent doing things that would likely lead to trouble. Reading brings clarity, peace, joy, and understanding to a life that is often routine, frustrating, and full of uncertainty. However, the process of reading isn’t done for certainty as the ending factor; it’s done because there is fun in being lost in someone’s story and it provides a reprieve from being lost in one’s own.

Reading is done anywhere and everywhere: at the house, at work, in the airport, at the washerteria, at Starbucks, on the train; there is no place or location that is immune to reading. If the book is thick as hell, like the Stephen King one which is being read right now, it’s lugged around in a bag. If it’s a thin read and can be palmed in one hand, then it’s carried around freely. A book is the one thing that can have wear and tear and still holds a certain fascination. The fascination stems from knowing the story contained in those pages has been consumed, in some fashion, which contributes to the feeding of the brain.