Happy Mother's Day

For those of you that know me, I'm probably one of the more detached people out here, but I'll try to put that aspect of me aside for a second. We all have our inspirations in life, and my mother happens to be one of my biggest ones. My mother is one of the main reasons that I have accomplished what I've accomplished today. She's also the reason that I continue to work towards my future goals and aspirations. Without her in my life, I'm honestly not sure where I would be. She pushed me before I was able/willing to push myself. If I could find a young lady out there like Mrs. Parker, I'd be set.

I could talk for days about how much I love my mother, but I encourage everyone to reach out to their mothers or any other positive female influences in your respective lives. I can't forget my grandmothers, aunts, cousins, or friends either. These women should truly be cherished.

Before I go back to my normal self, I'll close with Kanye West's song "Hey Mama", the Grammy performance version:

Cheers to all the Mothers,

JIP

Embracing Your Cool...

"I think I should have been around in the 1970s rather than now. I just like the whole energy of that era. There was this whole love movement: love for country and the world and fellow man. It was about standing up for the people—power to the people—and that's who I am. I just got here a little late."

-Baron Davis (courtesy of GQ)

I couldn’t agree more, Mr. Davis. If I had to pick my favorite decade, it would definitely be the 70s. Fact is, I think the world was a lot cooler then than it is today. I always say that one of my goals is to bring the 70s vibe to present day. Funny enough, that's a time period that started a decade (and change) before I was even thought of. But every time I look back at photos from this time, whether it be my parents, the musicians, athletes, etc., everybody just seemed to be have that natural cool element.

When I think about the 70s, I think of people who weren't afraid to express themselves, whether it be through the way they dressed or in their beliefs. I think there was a sense of coolness that nowadays is hard to find.

Let me pause here; I don't want this type of cool to be confused with the forced cool that we often see running through our lives. This isn't about walking around the clubs with shades on...that just doesn't make sense. I'll borrow from Lupe here and call that "chasing the cool". I'm talking about the way people carried themselves like they ruled the world.

While style has changed since this era, some for the better (no more bell bottoms), some for the worst (the sagging epidemic) there is no reason that the sense of being that was embodied during this time shouldn't still be with us.

At some point along the way more people started trying way too hard to be cool. The people we looked at as being cool changed, and now we are in a place where cool is doing whatever everybody else is doing or believes is what should be done, losing our sense of individuality in the process.

Truly being cool, however, IS being an individual; being yourself and embracing who you really are at your core. You don't have to wear Blac Label or Ed Hardy if you don't want to. If you rather wear a cardigan, go for it. You don't have to wear shades at night; if you'd rather actually see where you're walking, do that.

As much as style has changed since then, when I think about the 70s I think about one thing: being yourself can be cool. Power to the people.

Cheers to you,

JIP

Food for Thought: "It's not how you start"

Evening all,

I ran across an interesting article by ESPN's Rick Reilly detailing how it's not so important how we start in life, but rather how we finish.

For those of you who may not know, the Miami Dolphins GM asked arguably the best wide receiver in the NFL draft, Dez Bryant, if his mother was a prostitute. Now, for me personally, they probably would have had to pull me off of the guy. But Bryant kept his composure and answered "no" to the question posed to him.

But, as Reilly stated in his article, why should that even matter? That has nothing to do with how Bryant would perform for any football team. If anything, I would assume that if that were true those circumstances would have made him a stronger individual, not any type of liability.

I understand accountability, but you can only control what you can control, and your upbringing is one of those things.

Anyway, I encourage you to check out the full article here.

Cheers to finishing strong,

JIP

BHM: This is how you dress when you're getting an award...

Even though I'm not a huge Lebron fan, I wanted to give him a shout out for dressing the part of an award winner when accepting his second NBA MVP award. That's a solid mix of colors between the suit, shirt, and tie, with a tie bar to top it off. Hopefully this is his last award of the year.

Image courtesy of NBA.com

Good Music: Lupe Fiasco- "I'm Beamin"

This has been out for a few days now, but I figured that I would post it anyway. Solid song/video by one of the best lyricists out now. Check out the video for "I'm Beamin" below:

Lupe Fiasco - I'm Beamin (Official Video) HQ from Quality Control Blog on Vimeo.

Good Music: Aloe Blacc

If you haven't watched "How to Make it in America" yet on HBO, you've seriously been missing out. The show is solid from beginning to end...especially the beginning. That's because of the track on the opening credits by Aloe Blacc, entitled "I Need A Dollar". Check out the official video below:

Aloe Blacc - I Need A Dollar (Official Video) from Stones Throw on Vimeo.

Also, in case you're interested, check out the full song below:

Quote of the Day: Mark Twain

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. "

Sometimes it doesn't even take that long, right?