Dome Pondering

It's been almost a week since the New York Knicks climbed the mountain and became NBA Champions. In no way am I turning the page, because as stated before, I'm basking in this alllllllllllllll the way until banner night. However, before looking to the future next week in one of my favorite sporting events of the year - the NBA Draft - I'm letting it loose. I'm letting it all out in this post.  It's a digital bonfire, and I'm airing some last grievances, tossing things in, and letting it go.  I'm exercising all of the stuff that comes with this fandom.  STILL PETTY Indiana Pacers Ahh, yes, forever no love for the Indiana Pacers, their fans, and everything that is them. I'll forever dislike them, and the mere fact that we now have a championship before them is wonderful.  Reggie Miller I'm over the supposed MSG villain who makes his mark off of one catastrophe in the Garden. Some "Knick Killer" at 44-58 all-time. I'm now released from the...

"Brunson gets it, fires up a three. Shot no good. The tip, IT'S GOOD! IT'S GOOD! IT'S GOOD! With 1.2 remaining! Knicks take the lead! OG Anunoby! And it's 107-106! Bedlam here at the Garden! They can't believe it!" I leapt off my couch, the blanket that was on top of me spraying wildly away upon my rapid motion.  I couldn't believe it.  Yes, it was good! (x3) Sports present plenty of moments and plays that grip us. Very few really resonate with us. For me, the Derek Jeter Flip Play will always be that moment for me. Like this one, I jumped out of my bed with instant disbelief, my emotions unraveling, and my impulses shocked.  OG Anunoby's Tip-in now finds room on the mental (and emotional shelf) with the Flip Play.  I will forever remember Mike Breen's call. Forever will have goosebumps EVERY this moment is replayed...relived.  It's good. It's good. It's good.  So good. 

It's difficult not to make it personal.  I stared at the words on the screen of my phone as I made my way to the section of S's... Saint Vincent and the Grenadines I knew it was coming. After all, before I got there, listed were Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, and St. Lucia...islands of the beautiful Caribbean that make up my family. My culture. My roots.  Then, yes, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.  Damn, son! What did we do?! Surely, we aren't considered a threat, right?  Interesting. --- The State Department will pause immigrant visa processing from 75 countries whose migrants take welfare from the American people at unacceptable rates. The freeze will remain active until the U.S. can ensure that new immigrants will not extract wealth from the American people. — Department of State (@StateDept) January 14, 2026 There is a lot changing in our country right now. There are also many people who have strong opinions on immigration policie...

He was the soundtrack to everything I did with my dad.  That's the greatest compliment and most direct reason for my love and appreciation for Jimmy Cliff. His music is beautiful, his lyrics evoke art, poetry, humanity, and justice, and his impact on the sound of reggae was groundbreaking. Jimmy Cliff will always be a memorable sound on the radio in the car, at home, or simply from what I can only hear - the humming voice of my dad.  Until his very last day on earth, my dad loved Cliff's Cliff Hanger album from 1985. It was one of his favorites. For many years, from a young kid well into my teen years, I listened to that album (among others), memorably through that single cassette tape he owned of that album, and the occasional skips and hiccups it had from its overuse.  Many times, Jimmy Cliff's tunes and soothing voice reigned supreme from the speakers of his 1975 Chevrolet Nova. Our trips to JFK airport in NYC are forever memorable - a core memory, if you will, as we ...

"Working in higher education must be interesting these days, huh?" That question was posed to me by several people who recently learned that I worked in higher education. The recent discourse around the industry and field has certainly shifted in narrative and the overall feel within it. I recently wrapped up my fourteenth (!!) academic year. It's remarkable to think that I've been serving students and following a passion for this long. This is especially the case considering the rising turnover, the documented yearly burnout, and the increasing exodus from the field.  And, yup, there is that whole enrollment cliff combined with the politics that are more present than ever on college campuses.  So yeah, higher education is weird right now. Very weird.  Some quick thoughts : IS IT TIME?  Yes, I have thought about leaving the field several times. Especially, over the last few years. COVID didn't really bother me, but it's safe to say that the world of higher edu...

I became a forty-year-old individual yesterday.  The milestone is very significant for many and has its societal measures and benchmarks that carry some fear for those approaching its gates. Regardless of approach, turning 40 is filled with reflection, pondering (of course), and preparation for what should be a "new" stage of life. A life stage centered around "transitioning" into a stage seen as the "pre-senior" years.  Sure. Whatever.  I won't disagree that the new "4" digit that sits in front of your age feels encompassing even without understanding completely. Yet, as I stated last year when I turned 39 (going into my 40th year on this earth), I was ready for it. Ready for 40. Today, oddly enough, I am not filled with profound life lessons, ponderings, or reflections.  I sit here, punching the keys, filled with gratitude. I am 40, and I love it.   I carry my baggage of life and bear scars from it at 40. I am grateful for so many experien...

The Yankees are headed to the 2024 World Series.  It's the eighth time in my lifetime that they will be playing baseball for the sport's biggest prize.  On this very night, I feel young again. After all, that's where so much of the Yankees' success in my lifetime was experienced. Yeah, cue the tiny violin. But, it's been fifteen years since the last Fall Classic visit. That's fifteen years of life, growth, and other stuff that has happened - nostalgia is easy to engage in with a gap and life parallel such as this.  Also, there is the obvious - I always watched baseball with my dad. This is the Yankees' first time in the World Series since he's left Earth, and of course, my experience during this run has carried that void. This upcoming World Series - win or lose - we won't be staying up late agonizing over games. Or as we did in 2003, my freshman year in college, connect briefly on the phone to say hi, talk Yankees, and hang up.  Nonetheless, this ru...

I turn 39 today, and everything I read in regards to such a "milestone" is that it's dealing with the anxiety of turning 40. The big 4-0!  Yet, I sit here punching the keys completely unaware of fears, trepidations, and emotions towards the future. Instead, I find myself immersed in the present - in exactly that, 39. I also find myself slightly looking back on the road to get here - my final year in my 30s.  I look back on my thoughts on turning 30 ( Praying on a Cool Thirty ) and, ironically, I very much vibe and can feel the essence of where I was at the time. At the time, turning thirty meant a whoooooooooooole sort of different expectations and responsibilities. I am in that same place - a center of gratitude for the journey. My 30s have been a ride.  For me, I became a father, and I lost my father. I lost one of my best friends, yet, I gained another in my son - and then a second one just recently. I finished coursework on my second Masters degree, and I also ...

I wanted to write a "Dear Freshman Self" note in this post to mark the twenty-year milestone of when I first stepped on as a college student. I just couldn't find the words and the disconnect that brings about the romance of connecting with one's former self.  It's partly frustrating because the day is so very vivid in my mind to this day. And of course, the next four years to follow, like many, provided such essential moments and life jewels that would develop me in various areas - some that I've still yet to understand.  So yeah, it's been twenty years. Twenty freakin' years!  As amazing as the time since has been, I still somehow continue to struggle to find the words to capture what that milestone means. I know it's important. After all, I'm punching the keys to search for it! I've tried so many times to sit in front of my laptop and pen a letter to an eighteen-year-old me who had no idea of what was to come.  Twenty years ago, I carrie...

The world feels like a heavier place these days.  I wonder if it's my own circumstance (just a me problem?) - the way I constantly look at the world for my son, and through my son. Or if it's the constant - what feels like, never-ending - negative news (and crazy people!) that is always there. The always-updated feed with 'happenings' leaves you wondering if these crazy things happened in the past - maybe we just didn't know?  Or, if it truly has become as heavy, and as out of control as it feels.  Lately, I've been thinking about the story of Ralph Yarl. I've been thinking about everything that worries me about the story in regard to our society's climate. I've agonized about how easy Ralph could be my son if we continue to move in this direction as people. I also feel on the inside (with severe empathy and experience) for the weight carried by today's children of color. I know the weight of attempting to disarm yourself. I still do. Yet, I wond...

I didn't want to watch the video of the five Memphis police officers beating killing Tyre Nichols.  Yet, I knew I had to.  For myself, I needed to feel the entire situation. Not just the details from the incident. Not the sadness from the confirmed facts. Not the hurt as I empathize from my own experiences. Not the thoughts from the social discourse and political climate.  Nope. Just for the raw evil that it is. That is us. America.  I've shared my story about my own encounter with police officers when I was a teenager. Now, at thirty-seven, that experience still carries with me. I'm forever marred by the idea that my skin, my look, my presence - which at the decision of someone else  who may consider it a threat - can be the complete elimination of me.  And that is not entirely understood from a viewpoint that even loved ones, or those who may claim to love me, love my skin, my body, and my presence, still may not completely understand. They may not und...

I sit here quite unsure how to celebrate a birthday this year - though, it's not something I've always done. I leave that to my wife and now, my son, to create that spectacle that I'm unable to drum up. However, I've always had some reflection on each year, and each new "age" or trip around the sun completed. Thirty-seven successful trips, and on this day, today, my birthday, I just can't seem to find the words that resonate with how I feel, or simply, to feel.  For starters, there is the idea that forever, my birthday, May 25th, will always be linked with the death of George Floyd. That's heavy enough. And then there is this year, just yesterday, the horrific events of the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. That is the only thing really at the center of my thoughts, emotions, and concerns. It's challenging to pull myself out to be a focus under the current climate.  But if I tried to mesh the feelings of the current times as well as look inward, ...

Last week, I found myself in the back of a church service. For the first time in years, I was seated in God’s house. It was redeeming. It was joyous. It was uplifting. It was long overdue. It was also conflicting. Very conflicting. This moment was a culmination of the see-saw contention that has been the road traveled by my heart and soul since my last time present with a congregation. A lot has happened since that last time, and as I’m sure you’ve experienced, the world has endured and changed quite a bit since then too.  I’ve maintained my faith through that entire time. Though, it did wane and weigh throughout moments, periods, happenings, and various reflections. We all have our struggles. There were moments I failed. And others where I've held on steadfastly. Regardless, it continued as a vital source of my existence - my faith, my substance for being, and my purpose for existing.

The season is upon us we all begin to reflect on the year, explore our deepest thoughts and feelings of gratitude, and express appreciation for the truer, more meaningful things in life.  I would be lying if I didn't admit that I am so incredibly excited for this holiday season. The combination of wanting the rest from what has been a demanding and exhausting semester (shout out to everyone in Student Affair realms and in Education around the country - hang in there), seeing these holidays through my son's eyes as he now understands and appreciates them, and my experiences over the last few years (losing my dad and the effects of the pandemic), all of it makes for an anticipated Holiday season - Thanksgiving included. I'm not quite sure what it is, or why the sudden feeling, but the need to express gratitude is even more abundant this year in my heart than it is has been. I have tried to remain more mindful over the last couple of months - being more present, spending energ...

It's certainly surreal to think that it's been twenty years since the horrific events of September 11th, 2001. 20 years ago is a long time (I was sixteen), and is a round-reflection number for what was, has become, and still is in regards to the hurt, scars, emotional damage, and overall life-changing effects that day brought us.  I decided to read some of my thoughts from a post I wrote ten years ago for the tenth anniversary of 9/11. There, I shared my personal experience and story from that very day ,  as well as some other thoughts on questions that remained unanswered at the time - and in many ways, still so to this day. Today, I punch the keys on a few more thoughts on 9/11, now twenty years removed from a day in which I burst through the exit doors of Canarsie H.S. in Brooklyn, NY, and ran home terrified.

I haven't done one of these in a while... Quite frankly, these "Corona Times" sort of morphed itself into a new normal - allowing us to not feel strange at all work from home; in grabbing our mask and phone as urgent necessities leaving the house; for standing six feet away from another individual in any setting; to seeing empty seats at sporting events as a good thing; to absorbing and dissecting "the real science" for all updates; for sitting on a zoom call for hours...and on, and on. You get the drift. What is this time?!!  This somehow became life.  Corona Times Corona Times II Corona Times III As I write this, New York State (where I work) and New Jersey (where I now live - imagine the confusion when one state was ahead of the other in rollbacks!!) are now fully open with no COVID restrictions. I sat in my car for almost three hours yesterday in NYC traffic (yes, NYC is back and she is letting you know and feel it) and I found myself less frustrated with th...

He curled up in my arms, laying there on my lap, then randomly uttered, "I wuv you." It's a moment like that where I continued to learn, at this stage, that's all I needed. And really, that's all I wanted.  --- I often write these birthday posts for myself as a reflection on where I am in life - a mere examination of what one year older feels like. For so long I've titled them as "What [enter age here] Means" or some other catchiness to match the age number (kind of like this post), and for many of those years, the thoughts and words that came to me reflected growth, external desires, and some sort of assessment of where my life currently was at each milestone.  Today, I decided to look back and read them, and of course, I find them interesting. Not wrong, embarrassing, or naive in any way - the posts do and did what they should - reflect where I was at that point in my life. Heck, the post reflecting on turning 27 back in 2012 ( What Does 17 Mean? )...

Today marks one year since I had to let my hero leave this earth.  March 13th will always be a VERY complex day for me going forward as the death of my father will very much be significant with the day. Especially the time of 1:58pm, his death, and 2:02pm, when I received the phone call from the doctor that he had gone home.  I'll spare you the details of that horrifying day, but if you're interested, you can read HERE .  Today, I made my way back to Brooklyn to do something that I rarely do - see my dad at the cemetery. I've only visited once before since his burial for two reasons - one, being that we are still in the middle of a pandemic, and two, well, I truly believe my dad is with me, and not stationed at this burial site. The cemetery simply serves as a memorial site. 

I recently finished re-watching all six-season of "A Different World". Yes, the pandemic has us all in various modes of binge-watching with myself deciding to take a blast from the past.  The 144 episodes that my eyeballs went through, the same amount of times my shoulders danced to the amazing opening theme song ( Aretha's version - Seasons 2-5 are the best, by far), served as a tribute to my youth, my upbringing, and in a time when the world feels chaotic and beyond understanding, takes me into a realm of laughter, culture, joy, and intrigue.  Little did I know, the show I was using to take me away suddenly reminded me of where we are. 

I sat there easily maneuvering the car on Route 3 as we moved fresh out of the Holland Tunnell. The transition from New York to New Jersey out of the tunnel was lost as I listened to untold stories of my father via my mother who sat in the passenger seat. Recently my mom has been diving into her vault, releasing much about my father that I never knew. For so long, I always thought there was plenty that my parents never knew about me - what I've seen, heard, experienced - you know, for their benefit. Very rarely - if ever - did I think that there was another side of that two-way mirror.  "Dad always believed in this step [owning a home]. You don't know this, but he used to lend people money, many times, to help with their down payments."  Of course, now I was super engaged - I wanted it all on this one.  "What? Like, for real?" "Yeah! He believed you come to America, you work hard, and the most important thing to get was a home. Make something of yoursel...