Yeah man… It’s just getting more and more crazy out here… And I just realized that I contracted an STD. Lemme explain…

I’m from New York City. I have NEVER been to the Statue of Liberty. I have NEVER been inside of the Empire State Building. I have NO IDEA where Gracie Mansion is. It wasn’t until I turned 27 that I went to Governor’s Island for the first time, and that was at the request of accompanying a friend of mine, since she wasn’t from here and wanted to check it out. I’ve never been ice skating a day in my life so Rockafeller Center is as good as a foreign country to me. Yes, I can admit… I have this new STD. There’s no itching. No scratching. No burning sensation while urinating. No bumps. No puss. No outbreaks. No… It’s a Socially Transmitted Disease called Backyard Ignorance. Here’s what it may look like if you have it…

Terrible ain’t it?!? Just sad…

Well, when it comes to the knowledge of, and compassion for where I live, there are parts of my brain that look like what you see above. I’m not sure if you remember the movie Hitch, in which Will said something to the effect that “most New Yorkers have never even been to Ellis Island.” Thank God we were all together at the movie premiere for Hitch, which was actually on Ellis Island, otherwise I’d feel even more crazy about my STD than I already do. Be honest, ask yourself how much you really know about your surroundings. Where have you never gone that, hands down, should already be on your list of accomplishments? How much do you really even know about your next door neighbor… If you even speak to them?!? How much do you know about people who are in need in your area? Do you help them? Well, if you’re like me, then there’s always room for improvement in that area… I even heard that when you help in that area, it reduces the chance of this STD spreading… And Lord knows, we don’t need this spreading anymore. I’m sure you have this STD to a degree and I want to help you keep it under control. I want you to take a pill called Jingle Bell Rocks;

And please watch this below… It’s only 1 minute long:

1- Go over to www.WarriorPoetBk.com and SUBSCRIBE. If you think this KelSpencer blog is the beez kneez, you’ll love what’s about to happen over there.

2- This is a disgusting disease. It can be treated even if you are NOT here in NYC. Get yourself cured. Stop playing games.

He graduated college… He wanted to do something else but wasn’t sure exactly what. So he decided to join the Air Force. While stationed at the Zweibrucken air base in Germany, he proposed to a woman… they got married… they had a baby… then another… then another… And that was the beginning of my family. My father is a veteran.

My birthday was this past Tuesday, Nov 8th. I had an indoor paintball party last night as one of a few ways to celebrate. I didn’t invite the entire world the way I normally do. I invited a few choice folks and we had a ball! Don’t let the photo above fool you… Yes, the balls sting for a couple of seconds when they hit you, and they can leave a mark but put it this way… We’re going back early January to do it all over again and to make it a regular thing. Anyway…

As I lay there on the field with a jammed paint gun lol, with paint balls flying and paint guns going off, I thought about the fact that RIGHT NOW, there is that same situation happening but with REAL bullets, REAL guns, REAL lives at risk (often for a FAKE cause but that’s another story) and the folks involved are doing this while people like you and I sleep in our warm beds, and flip through TV channels, and casually send tweets and update facebook statutes. These are the people who put their lives on the line for us for a variety of reasons. I guess my over thinking is why I got shot a few times lol! But we all did…

Paintball hickey, courtesy of my own little brother Flo Blitz Smh…

But seriously. It’s amazing how a fun outing like paintball, where we had about 40 adults, running, laughing, eating, and enjoying ourselves… brought me such a revelation of the value of life. Toady is indeed veteran’s day so I urge you to wish a veteran well on this day but really take a few minutes to think about your own life, the value of it, what you’re actually doing with it, and if what you’re doing with your life really matters. No offense, but there are some people who live life everyday for themselves and them themselves only, without ever making a deposit into humanity or the loves of others. Just think about it…

-Kel Spencer

I like to show love. But I want to go the extra mile and send some love to all of the people who don’t get love on a regular. I want to spread some love to all of those situations that we me encounter in which we’d like some love but it just ain’t happening. I want to spread some love to those people who are going through/have gone through a situation that the average everyday person can’t really understand. You probably don’t know what I mean so I’ll just jump right into it!

Shout Out to that person who is in a relationship and they’re adamant about their mate not having any contact with their Ex’s. They feel like, “Your Ex is your Ex for a reason so I don’t want you having any contact with them!!“… Only to learn that their significant other just got a new supervisor at their job… And that supervisor is their mate’s Ex.

Shout Out to the recovering alcoholic who canNOT find a job but the only gig that’s open and will pay you rather well is a job as a bartender. I’m praying for you.

Shout Out to that person who just did the quickest foot shuffle towards the bathroom and is now taking the most uncomfortable DOO-DOO at someone else’s house, trying to run the water and slide everything out nice and quiet, while sweating, only to glance at a roll of tissue-less cardboard on the rack. Oh, and there’s no air freshener around either. Whew… I wanna show you that love.

Shout Out to the Ex-Entertainer/Ex-Athlete who has just been hit with the harsh reality that you now have to get a regular job. Not only does this switch up your income but you may now have to wear that cinnabon uniform with people constantly asking you, “Wait! Ain’t you such and such who used to play for Team X?” OR “What are you doing working here?! Didn’t you have a hot song on the radio?” I really wanna show you some love… I REALLY do!

Shout Out to the dudes that don’t take care of their kids BUT the few times that you do see them, they always share with you how great Mommy’s new boyfriend is and how nice he is and how much he teaches them and does for them.

Shout Out to that girlfriend who was so gracious enough to put his vehicle in your name… why? Because he luuuuhhh me! And now that it’s over and he now luuuuuuh the next girl, you’re stuck with the car payment in your name. I want to show you some love!

Shout Out to the person who just go splashed all crazy as that 18-wheeler just plunged through that puddle.

Shout Out to you who are cheating on your mate and as you go to your mate’s facebook page you learn that 5 minutes earlier, your mate just became friends with your side piece. Niiicceeeee!!!!

Shout Out to that one person on twitter who sends tweets to celebrities all day, everyday, never gets a response from them, but just does not get the hint. If that’s what you’re into… I guess.

Shout Out to those of you how went in your cell phone to show a person a pic but you forgot about the cyber-freakiness that you were involved in last night so that first pic in your album now has their eyebrow raised and your cheeks turning red. I’d like to show you a little love.

Shout Out to those of you who were involved in all types of debauchery and foolishness at that event and didn’t realize there was a photographer there. So when the pics go on-line, you get tagged in the photo and you’re the one in the back with your shirt wrapped around your neck being spanked by the 6ft drag queen. Dopeness.

Shout Out to the person who is depositing coins into their bank account just so that it stays out of the negative but of all people at the bank, the HOTTEST Bank teller of them all calls you over… “NEXT IN LINE PLEASE!” I wanna send love your way, homie.

Just know that your situation isn’t the worst. But regardless of what you’re going through, somebody loves you… And it’s probably me!

More Shout Outs coming soon… In the meantime… Sit tight and tell your peeps to subscribe and/or join me on facebook/twitter because I have some stuff for you all in the next few weeks…

Anyway, it made me think… How many times do we look, and search, and waste time doing what my pastor calls “The fallacy of the elsewhere”? Meaning, we have exactly what we need right under our noses yet we spend time, effort, money, energy, resources and a bunch of other stuff searching and looking elsewhere for the answer.

I don’t want to spook anyone out but I’m about to use a word that is sooooo taboo… You ready? The word is… “BIBLE.” And the reason I’m using it is, there’s a situation in there that illustrates this exact situation. It’s in Exodus 3 & 4 when Moses meets God in the form of a burning bush. In a nutshell, God let’s Moses know that He had a job for him. He wanted Moses to deliver the nation of Israel from Egypt. Anyway, Moses gave all these wack excuses for why he didn’t feel that he was the right person for the job and how he felt that he wasn’t equipped enough to do it and God said, “What’s in your hand?” I’ll let you read it on your own, if you’re not familiar, but basically, God was trying to show Moses that it’s not complicated so stop making excuses… Your answer is not out there so stop searching out there! Your answer is not in your excuses or in your thinking that you’re not equipped enough. What you need is simple and it’s right here in your hand.

This is your assignment for this week *Puts on school teacher glasses… Think about what you’ve been putting off or making excuses about because it seems too difficult or uncomfortable to accomplish. Think about what you’ve been searching and searching for. The answer to them both just might be simple… And it might be right there in your hand. No need to make excuses or keep searching elsewhere for an answer. The answer might lie in a simple conversation with God and Him showing you what’s in your hand because ultimately HE IS THE CAPITAL ONE…

*Drops mic and moonwalks off stage….

-Kel Spencer

Yeah, at first glance it kinda weirded me out a little bit too… No, but try this… As my song ASPIRATIONS is playing and the line “I wanna be your boyfriend” comes up, look hard and straight at the picture above, Bwuahahaha!! Ok, Ok…

Ok, so this is NOT a post about homosexuality or bi-sexuality or tri-sexuality or even my-sexuality, it’s about this new phenomenon called “BROMANCE.” Now don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a new topic but the intensity of it is rising at a rate that I don’t think any of us are realizing. Allow me to set the scene… It’s 10pm, on a Wednesday evening. There’s a group of guys at the bar after work and they’re having drinks, smoking cigars and watching the game. There’s 3 seconds left in the game, the score is tied and just before the buzzer, their team hits the game winning shot. They all stand to their feet, jumping up and down, hugging, and hi-fiving. At that point, the bartender lets them know that its last call and it’s almost time to close up shop. One guy does a light jog over to the coat rack, grabs his coat, gives the guys all hugs and handshakes and makes it known that he has to head home to his wife. The rest of the guys do the same thing though not quite as urgently. Then there’s that last guy who basically does not want to go home to his wife. He practically cries at the thought of having to walk through his front door and be greeted by his wife… Wanna know why? It’s because of a simple word… APPRECIATION.

Now, the word APPRECIATION is similar to the word RESPECT. They are both things that people should both give and get automatically (at a basic level) but your performance determines how much RESPECT and APPRECIATION people will continue to give you and show you. The problem is… Too many men aren’t real men which is why they often don’t get the respect and appreciation they feel that they deserve. But on the flip side, a lot of men… (I’ve been in this boat myself) go above and beyond in their relationships yet still don’t get the appreciation that they’d like in return. Uh Oh… wait, here goes the ladies thinking, “Well it’s the same way the other way around, Kel!” And this is indeed true but we’re talking about Bromance right now so back off, sister!

Like I was saying, Men gravitate towards where we feel appreciated. For example, a prostitute, stripper, mistress, and maybe even that woman down at the gym with the skimpy outfit, all visually and often verbally (Compliments, Flirting. etc…) show your man that they appreciate him. Granted, they may not be genuine with it but it sure feels like it! Maybe even more than you do… So he gravitates towards them. Your husband doesn’t want to throw away that old football jersey or his trophies that have been in the garage collecting dust, why? Because those are symbols of appreciation. He wore that jersey while a crowd was screaming his name. He received those trophies as a result of his athletic efforts being recognized.

If a man is worthy of respect and appreciation and his woman is not supplying him with it, he will seek that appreciation elsewhere and often in a group setting with his buddies… BROMANCE! Furthermore, the increase in Independent Women can cause an increase in overlooking how much your man needs to feel appreciated. Just keep this stuff  in mind.

So, if you happen to know a man who is heavily involved in John Madden marathons with his boys and/or extra hours at the gym taking back to back zumba classes, don’t be so quick to question his sexuality. He just might be an immature weed-smoking video game nut with a kinky spandex fetish… That’s possible. But he also might be screaming for the attention that his woman isn’t giving him so he resorts to…

Think about it… Oh, and fellas don’t think that if you don’t appreciate her she can’t get that elsewhere either, playa!!! Please feel free to share…

-Kel Spencer

We’ve all seen that Christmas cartoon with the ghost of Christmas past, present and future, right? Well, I had an interesting encounter like that, this morning… Minus the Christmas of course lol! Now before I start, I don’t want to spook anybody out with what I’m about to share. I am indeed a Christian but as most of you know, I don’t use my blog nor my music to push a Christian agenda (so to speak). Although I try not to contradict what I stand for and who I serve in the way that I create, I try to just let my life and my choices and my overall character be the primary way that I push that agenda in pleasing God. With that being said, this will be one of the few times that I will touch on spirituality but I’m not pushing what I believe on anyone. I think that what I am about to share can be felt and appreciate by us all regardless of where your Faith lies…

This morning, before I even got out of bed, In a matter of about 20 minutes, I was walked through about 15 years of my life. Literally, hundreds of scenarios that I’ve encountered, flashed before my eyes. Things that I know that I had no business doing. Things that I thought were a good look but in hind sight were just plain ole stupid. Relationships that I mis-handled. People whom I’ve hurt. Money I’ve blown. Opportunities that I botched up. Time spent on people and in places that was just all wrong. Relationships that I never should’ve even entertained. Health risks that I just walked right into. And even situations in which I was protected and didn’t even know that danger was hovering over me. To go through all of these things and still be here… in the condition that I am in right now, I had to give thanks. And if you can relate, then you can relate.

Paint this picture… A man and woman get married. In that marriage, obviously a certain amount of time, effort, dedication, etc… must be given by each party. But imagine instead of the man giving that time to his woman, he gives it all to other women… AND she even allows him… Better yet, she even pays for the dinners that he takes these women to. She supplies him with protection while he sleeps with these women. She gives him gas money so that he can drive to see these women. That analogy might be a bit crude but that’s what God (Or a higher power, or an energy, or the universe, etc… depending on what you believe) does for us. It’s called Grace. It’s a protection and sort of a “Get out of jail free card” for all of the foolishness that we do. God loves us so He gives us grace. For most of us, Grace is the reason that we even have anything left… Grace is the reason that we’re even alive.

I was shown just how much time, dedication, money, and overall effort that I stole from my own purpose, from my own destiny, from my own loved ones, and from my own marriage to God and gave it to all of these other people and things that don’t even matter. He showed me that this morning. He also showed me that Grace is not something that lasts forever. Grace is a limited time offer. Grace will run out one day.

Side Bar- One key thing that stuck out to me was a relationship that I mis-managed. It’s a situation that’s sensitive to me, and something that I’ve known long before this morning but it was shown to be again and in an even more important light this morning. It is/was a relationship with a Big Brother figure of mine. This is a dude who put my career into position, my mind into proper perspective with several things, my bank account in the black, and even my creativity/talents into a new arena. And out of me wanting to step out and do things in a selfish and even inconsiderate fashion, I put a major dent in our relationship. I know you’re reading this right now, Big Bro, and in front of the thousands of followers, fans and supporters that I have, I want to thank you again for the talk you allowed us to have a couple of months ago and again I offer up my most sincere apologies. I know I still have obligations on my end as well as some tasks of reconciliation but please know that our bond is one of the major things that flashed before my eyes this morning and it’s a bond that God granted me as a deliverance from a path that I was headed down that I thank God never came to fruition.

This is deep y’all. If you can relate to Grace, then you can relate. If you can’t, you won’t… but maybe one day you will. Let He that hath ears listen…

Enjoy your weekend, family.

-Kel Spencer

Dear Ms. O’neal…

I hope all is well with you and your family. I’ve seen a handful of episodes about these basketball wives. I personally don’t subscribe to it but there are some funny parts here and there. And it does give people some insight on what it’s like to live that life. I don’t really relate to it all and I think some of it is just a hot mess but there are glimpses of female bonding here and there as well as a “fly on the wall” point of view in regards to the lifestyle of the rich and famous so if it all works out for you then I guess you did your thing. Good Luck.

#2 Pissed/Concerned:

Dear Ms. O’neal…

Actually, I should call you Ms. Nelson since O’neal is NOT your last name anymore. But basically, I was always taught that a pimp was a person who A- lured another person in and/or appealed to their weaknesses and insecurities, B- found a way to get that person to share their most intimate and private attributes publicly, C- showed that person how to trade their “sharing” for compensation, hereby making them a prostitute and then, D- giving the prostitute a significantly smaller cut of the earnings while E- continuing this cycle as long as the prostitute can perform or remain relevant to the buyers. Can you please explain to me, based on the above definition, how you’re not pimping these sisters who obviously need more love, attention, and guidance than they do drinks, chit-chats and a TV slot. Please explain that to me how this isn’t a form of prostitution and low-level slavery, Ms. O’neal…

#3 Excited/Encouraging

Dear Ms. Shaunie O’neal…

Let me start by saying that there is nothing better than seeing a (black) woman doing her thing. I’m sure that you sit in meetings with mostly men and YOU are the shot caller. I love that! I also think that most of the women who date ball players get a bad rap, automatically. Your show allows the public to see just who these women are from the good, the bad, and the ugly. We all know your story and what happened between you and Shaq (well at least what the media has allowed us to know) and since you come from this world and have had to endure the pain of it while also tasting the fruit of its rewards, who better than you to provide the public with information & entertainment while also being compensated for it and establishing your own brand? PS… You need to get the Odom and Kardashian family involved in your show too! Keep doing your thing, girl!

After you read em, please forward this on to some friends, ask their opinion, and make sure they subscribe for free over there to the left. All you have to do is submit your e-mail address and with the events and give-aways that I’m doing over the next few weeks, it would be to your advatage if you did so. It’s that easy…

Anyway, Which letter would come from your pen… Or your keyboard…

-Kel Spencer

Aight, so I always give you my opinion on certain stuffz, and things that are goinz on so now let’s do it in reverse….

I have my own opinion on these things but I’d like to hear yours. Most of you who subscribe to this blog are rather intelligent and I’m sure that I could learn something from a few of you so, I’ll ask you a question and then you give me your view-point, Deal? Deal…

Scenario #1- You go out to a restaurant. You see your best friend who has been married for about a year, out at this same restaurant. You were in their wedding. You gave a speech at the reception. You think that their spouse is a great match for them. Your best friend is sitting in a booth in the corner of the restaurant, hugged up with someone else. The best friend sees you… OR Let’s say they DON’T see you… What do you do? SHOOT!

Scenario #2- So… I’m on the train yesterday and there are these 2 guys sitting next to each other. They’re dressed pretty decent… pretty clean. A lady walked by with a nice shape and one of them looked at her just as long as I did. He then turned and looked at me with the “Wow, she’s friggin hot isn’t she?” look on his face and I nodded in agreement. A few stops later the other gentlemen reaches down to pick up his bag off the floor as this was his stop coming up and as he grabs his bag, he turns to the one who was admiring the woman with me and plants a 2-3 second tongue kiss on his lips. If my (future) child is with me and asks me about that, how does a person explain this in a non offensive and politically correct way? SHOOT!

Scenario #3- You are friends with a couple who is expecting. The entire time that you’ve known them, you’ve campaigned and made it known that when they have a child, You want to be the God-parent. Time goes on and you now have reason to believe that the male in this relationship may not be the actual father (In my Maury voice). You don’t have hard-core proof but certain things are being said by certain people and there is some doubt. This couple honors your wishes and asks you to be the God parent of this expected child. What do you say? SHOOT!

Scenario #4- Your family member wants to buy a car. You introduce them to someone who can make it happen. That person finds your family member the car they like at a discounted price of $5,000 instead of $7,000. They meet up and your family member only has $2,500 but agrees to pay the rest within a week. The dealer agrees to do so ONLY because this family member is YOUR family member. 2 days later the car is feeling a little “funny” and making noises so your family member feels that they shouldn’t have to pay the remaining balance since, in their eyes, the car isn’t running as well as they thought, but they want to keep the car. The dealer wants their money OR the car back and they are both running to you to play the referee since you put it all together. What do you do to help the situation? SHOOT!

Scenario #5- You’re out on a date with your significant other. They’re phone rings and it’s from a non-recognizable number. They answer and it’s obvious that they don’t know who it is. The person is making your mate play the “guess who it is” game and judging by your mate’s face and body language they’re both trying to figure it out AND getting a little fidgety and nervous. They start speaking in a bit of short-hand english with a bunch of “Mmm Hmms” and “Nuh Uhs” and “Yups” and then they end the call with “Yeah, erase. Yeah” When they hang up, they instantly start talking about something way left. Do you ask anything about it? Do you chalk it up as an awkward moment that they really had no control over since they weren’t the one who initiated the call so that can happen to anyone? What do you do? SHOOT!

Scenario #6- You meet someone who is in the same line of work as you. They are further along in that industry, more well-connected, and more established. You speak pretty often for about 2 weeks and then you both finally hang out. When you hang out, you make it known to them that you are interested in getting further in your career and you’d like their help with that. After that hangout, their contact with you decreases drastically. You see them a few months later at an event in which you are attending with people who this person would love to be in the company of. They run up on you with open arms and smiles and a desire to hang out again and the whole deal. What do you do? SHOOT!

Lucky Scenario #7- You hate pedophiles. They make your skin crawl. You feel like they should be jailed under the jail that’s under the jail. This is how you feel about them. Reason being, you were sexually abused as a child. You eventually vent to one of your older relatives about how you feel about them and how you feel about who abused you and how you feel about the entire situation. You confide in this relative because they love you, they’ve always been good to you, they’ve always been there for you and you know that their wisdom and older perspective is and always will be beneficial when you come to them for advice or to vent… You then find out that this relative is also guilty of indecent child sexual acts from 40-50 years ago. What do you do? SHOOT!

I just felt like engaging you all a little bit. I hope you don’t mind… Speaking of engaging, a good friend of mine, Holley Monelle, has a dope program that I know you all can enjoy. Check out this link for The Hall Pass Tour and if it’s your cup of tea, handle your handle or at least share it with some folks. But I’d love to see some of your feedback on today’s post…

-Kel Spencer