February 15, 2022 Edition

I would like to apologize to everyone who attempted to leave a review for Smorgasbord A Collection of Thoughts Experiences and Stories on Amazon. My friends and supporters are starting to come back to me because they’re having a problem writing reviews; Amazon is not letting them. There’s a pop up message about guidelines or something. I haven’t had time to look into this issue yet, but I will Thursday. If you would still like to write a review, I kindly suggest visiting the Barnes & Noble website instead and writing one there. Like I said, I don’t know what the issue is yet with Amazon so I’m not going to speculate. Thank you for trying, please don’t give up. Head over to Barnes & Noble.

It seems like it took forever, but Smorgasbord 2 Catch Up and Relish is near completion! What you see there on the left is the official front and back cover. I’m beyond excited for the release of this book, and I think you’re going to enjoy reading it. Fulton Books in Meadville, Pennsylvania is the publishing company.

Upcoming Projects: I’ve been working on Smorgasbord 3 for a few months now. I don’t want to give away too much too soon, but there will be a third book. The title will be Smorgasbord 3 Poverty & Prophecy, and it’s going to blow you away! Also, I’m thinking about having a Smorgasbord 2 release party somewhere. I will keep you updated and in-the-loop on that.

Well, it’s old news now, but the Rams beat the Bengals and won the Super Bowl! Super Bowl LVI (56) was played last Sunday, February 13th, and it was a close one. The Rams won the game by 3 points with a fourth quarter touchdown pass from Mathew Stafford to Coffee Cup? Oh wait, Copper Kupp. Sorry. 🤣🤣 Up until that point, the Bengals held a 20-16 lead that went all the way down to the wire. To be exact, there was 1:25 left to play when the Rams scored the go-ahead touchdown. Stafford completed 26 out of 40 passes for 283 yards and 3 touchdowns. The Ram’s rushing game was nowhere to be found; Cam Akers ran the ball 13 times for 21 yards and never even reached pay dirt.

Joe Burrow completed 22 passes for 263 yards and 1 touchdown. They were able to run the ball well with Joe Mixon (4.8 yards per carry), and WR Tee Higgins caught 4 passes for 100 yards and 2 touchdowns. In the end though, none of that mattered for the Bengals. On that day, the 13th of February in the year 2022, the Rams were the better team.

♒♓Wow! How fast did the Aquarius birthday season go? I mean seriously, in three more days on the 18th, the sun will move into the astrological sign of Pisces. Honestly, though, I can’t wait. I’m so ready for spring, and I know a lot of you are too. 🌔Currently, the moon is on the 20th degree of fiery Leo, and Venus and Mars are in a body to body conjunction on the 16th degree of Capricorn. Talk about war and peace, huh…

💥Speaking of war, according to Greek Reporter dot com, Russia is now withdrawing its troops from the Ukraine border. I guess they just wanted to get in Ukraine’s face and talk some shit?

💩Oh, BIG STORY here. Eminem kneeled during the half time show.

🏛 I just called the office of the registrar at my alma mater WPUNJ because I wanted some information about registration deadlines. Afterwards, I was scrolling the web, and a story popped up from 2014.

So, five William Paterson University students are or were on trial for the alleged gang rape of a freshman female. The alleged gang rape took place on campus and in a dorm on Tuesday, November 25, 2014.

The five men that were involved all knew each other from the Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF), which offers low-income students an opportunity to go to college with financial aid, preparatory classes and counseling. (Wait a second, wasn’t there just a big issue recently about systemic racism? 😢😢Immigrants and people of color don’t get the same opportunities as white people?)

Well, these five guys (no relation to the restaurant) had a golden opportunity. I told you, all that was bullshit. I can’t speak for other states, but I know for a fact, that New Jersey’s system of higher education has done an amazing job ensuring everyone has a fair and equal opportunity to get educated.

Anyway, there was another incident, but I don’t think it was related. Cherelle Locklear, a 21-year-old junior at WPUNJ committed suicide and her body was found on November 22, 2015. Supposedly, she was raped at an off-campus fraternity house, and her allegations were never investigated. William Paterson University took blame for failing to investigate and paid her family $800,000.

Damn! This isn’t the William Paterson I remember. WTF WPU! Seriously though, this is a shame. I can’t believe it.

🤓I’m gonna drop some real knowledge on y’all. I was totally indoctrinated by the college educational system, and especially because I was a teacher. I believed everything. They used to tell us that inner-city school students are way behind because there’s no money to get them the tools they need to be successful and compete with schools in higher income areas. I was on board with everything-fighting for my students. I was so gung-ho.

And then I get into the classroom, and see students throwing scientific calculators worth hundreds of dollars at the floor and walls. Literally, trying to break them.

And I just sat there for a brief moment watching this, and to myself, I’m like, “wow, if you only knew how hard people fight to get you the shit you need, and here you are trying to break a calculator your parents would have to work two weeks to pay for.”

Case in point-Don’t believe the hype!

Second Case in point-In order for schools to be successful, the students have to be successful, and money has nothing to do with it. The best schools are those where parents, teachers, and administrators have found a middle ground-all coming together, working in unison for the betterment of the child. And of course, once the student sees this cooperation between teachers and parents, their behavior miraculously changes.

Alright my friends, have a wonderful night and a blessed Wednesday. Stay warm!