All Matters of Dopeness (Musings and Comedy in Erie's World)

At a going away party some years ago you could feel the anticipation in the air as people wondered who would be showing up for me as a date. It was my party after all, and even though I did not move away (the absence of a relocation package will mess that plan up every time), I did manage to have some "movement" and that was demonstrated by the fact that I decided to have a date. For years my friends had been used to me talking about a certain man almost religiously, but that day had gone on. I had a new outlook and a few new beaus in my scope. That is what earned me the nickname Ms. Options ("Mrs" currently), and that is precisely what kept people wondering who the heck I invited as my special guest. Even though the special guest and I ultimately ended up just being friends. The nickname "Ms. Options" stuck because it was clear that I had choices beforehand and could decide if I wanted a couple of other guys to accompany me. Its good to have choices...

You know folk by the books they read. I am not sure if this statement is true at all but maybe there is some truth in it? Who knows? But several months back, while at a friend's house, I was thumbing through a book called "The Art of Manipulation" and I kinda looked at her crazy. I have to admit, though, the book was quite enthralling--at first. It was also scary. This book literally broke down the steps and gave "how to's" on manipulating people and playing mind games with folk so that they would behave and/or react in certain ways, and it also explained just why some people are so skilled at doing so. The truth is that outside of your everyday sociopaths and psychopaths, everybody has the capacity to manipulate, deceive, and play games. While most do it subconsciously (or at least use self deception to pretend they do no know its what they are doing), there are those who practice this "art" in very specific ways. At times there are peop...

"Anybody can fall in love, falling in love ain’t sh**. But somebody please tell me how to stay there....” (Love Jones) A crucial question is asked above for those of us who are married, involved in romantic relationships or desire to be in one. In the movie Love Jones, Darius is expressing to his best friend, Savon, his disappointment in the fact that Savon brought a woman other than his wife to a party his friends were hosting. Savon and his wife were only recently separated and he turned his affections to another woman. He was clearly acting out and Darius decided to confront him as any real friend would. When confronted and told that he was wrong for what he was doing, his response was filled with searching and questioning. Many of us, if we have ever had deep feelings for someone and they have hurt us or made us angry, may have had the same thoughts and questions as Savon. "Anybody can fall in love": is one of the truest statements ever. In fact, I am not sur...

You know you can't go in the past and erase every chick that your man has ever dated or went out on at least one date with, so you shouldn't be bothered by the thought of a chick he had before you. Right? Seriously, if they were that deep he would be her still or possibly even be married to her. This is not the case; he is with you, so you just have to let the thoughts fly by. You may even come across a pic or two, politely tear to shreds, and move on. Or you may come across an article of clothing and toss it out after judging the chick's lack of taste...you know, respond in harmless ways to those intrusion from the past. Because she is the past...right? There are those times, however, when an intruder from the past seems like the dead wife from "Inception" who keeps trying to trap herself in her your man's memory. The difference is that the ex is not a ghost, nor a memory from your man's guilty conscience a.k.a. "the Inception Ex" a.k.a. th...

I am not sure if you all remember the episode of "A Different World" where Whitley Gilbert was about to get married to Byron, the statesmen, but I have long since said that this was my favorite episode...ever! I guess I liked the fact that love won in the end. She was still in love with Dwayne Wayne (not to be confused with Dwayne Wade. Ironic? I know) but they had broken up and both were simply trying to move on. And move on she had; Whitley was pursued hotly and it was so effective that she and Byron soon found themselves engaged and at the altar. Herein lies the problem: you really should not be at the altar with someone other than the person you really want to live the rest of your life with: things may not turn out so peachy keen. Check out this video and you will see what I mean and soon how someone plotted this on my big day...lol. Now, while this worked out for them lets keep in mind that this was a sitcom episode and so the chances of this actually working ou...

I have several thoughts about why President Obama needs to remain the President of these United States. Many of them are hinged on the fact that as Collin Powell stated when endorsing Obama on CBS news: America came up from a downspiraling nose dive thanks to the leadership of President Obama. The truth is Obama was given a &*^&* job and told to turn everything around when he stepped in the office. Once he started he was met with nothing but opposition and attack. He was met with extreme racism, degradation, and hatred and yet he..."brushed his shoulders off". Four years later he is still brushing off the hate and the bigotry. He is still holding his head up and responding like a responsible leader. In addition to his great leadership, over the four years I have watched our President fight for health care for those of us who would be bankrupt from medical expenses, bail out business, give back stimulus money to jump start our economy again and deal with foreign ...

Why Women Cheat…According to Men What’s good for the gander is good for the goose, right? That is what people say, and I suppose people can say that in regards to relationships and cheating. Usually there is much discussion about why men cheat and what women can do to prevent this, but when the shoe is on the other foot things can be a bit interesting. Well at least according to what some men think. Below you will find some comments from a survey conducted, and I am sure you will find them…interesting: 1) Women cheat because they are missing out on other people treating them better. 2) Some women cheat because they like variety. ”Variety is the spice of life”. 3) Women cheat because they don’t see the value in the men they have at home, but they like the fact that they still have someone around. 4) Some women cheat in order to feel appreciated or get the attention they need. 5) Often when a woman cheats it is because she doesn’t feel sexually desired. 6) Some women cheat becau...