His Heart

So, I'm on Ghostface Killah's "Ghostdini the Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City" album - its been in consistent rotation for weeks now. Most know Ghost as one of the shoot em up bang bang members of Wu-Tang who, every now and then, can drop one of those very Carl Thomas-y (read: emotional) songs that the ladies will love and the guys will respect. His current album goes through a range of emotions from how he feels losing the woman he loves, believing he's found love at first sight, his rage at a cheating woman, and the list goes on and on. Anyway, listening to the album makes me think: Is he representing all men?

"...Any other day, I would of just let you, pass me by
Cuz I see you got situations
And I've got mine, but baby its OK
It's alright, I'm not gonna let you pass me by
Cuz this was love at first sight
Cuz this was love at first sight
It's OK... - "Paragraphes of Love" (chorus) Ghostface feat. Vaughn Anthony and Estelle

Now I certainly am not naive enough to believe that men do not have emotions and feelings and thoughts that can be just as deep as the women's thoughts and feelings. But of course, we don't often hear about it because "society" has made us believe that men shouldn't be able to express themselves and that results in them generally closing themselves up and leaving us to try and figure out what's going on in their heads. Lack of communication has often been a huge part of the reason couples cannot work our their differences and ultimately break up. Often times, the men are "blank stared" or even worse, laughed at when they do express themselves (even if it takes them an hour to get the words out). It's kind of like a Catch 22.

Case in point.

I was on the phone with, who was then and I'm not sure about now, a friend that I haven't seen in about a month. As we played catch up, he comes out and says "I miss you. I want to be around you because you're just so cool and sweet. I'm so glad we re-connected." He went on and on but I'll spare you all from that. Anyway, I kind of just looked at the phone and while I didn't laugh at him, I was saying to myself, "Oh yeah? Is this dude serious right now?" I'm not completely sure if I blank stared the phone because I can't imagine a guy saying stuff like this (he's over 30 so he should be at least a little comfortable with certain words) or if it was because it was HIM and with him, you're not sure if he's for real or trying to drop some game. I responded by telling him that I thought he was real cool and nice too and that it was fun chilling out with him. Said man and I still haven't seen each other and I haven't spoken to him on the phone since that day but that's beside the point. It kind of went along with my thoughts of: Do we really belittle a man's feelings and emotions? Do we truly believe that they could never be honest enough with themselves and us long enough to be expressive?

"...I appreciate your concern and support for me
Most important, your honesty and trust, your heart's incredible
This the truth spilling out of my guts
If I, would of took the chance to see
What was place right in front of my face
For sure, nine out of ten times
My actions wouldn't allow me to be so naive..."- "Do Over" by Ghostface and Raheem DeVaughn

Obviously, this is a man who may not have a chance in HELL of getting back with his woman. But the question is: in the general sense, do you believe a man can speak like this or do you laugh right from the jump?

Let's talk.

*Miss BB Note: If this were a Music Snob post, I'd tell you to go pick up this new Ghostface album - men and women will enjoy it!

THIS or THAT.

I had a talk with a friend the other day and she was talking to me about her new fiance. It was quite the surprise to me because they've been together less than a year and it hasn't been the "honeymoon" it should be during that time. There's been lots of arguing, complaining, cancellations and just so many different things going on. To put it lightly, I was shocked and unfortunately for me this time, I couldn't help but to say "Wow, alright. That's wild because our talks about this dude have not been in line with an upcoming engagement. She agreed but she simply said "I demanded what I wanted." Hmmm, ok.

I had nothing more to say on it except "Well girl, I hope you're happy!" No one wants to hear their skeptical friend continue with their skepticism on their happy moment so I shut up. But in my mind all I kept thinking was, "She gave the man an ultimatum?" Truth be told, I'm nervous for the possibility of this "union." Times haven't been good for many reasons with them and they haven't known each other for that long; add to that an ultimatum, I think this smells like a recipe for a disaster. These things still work in today's world of people not giving a damn about others' feelings, the ratio of women to men being at an alarming rate and just the idea of it being dumb? REALLY?

Personally, I've never been one for ultimatums when it comes to men. I've voiced my opinion on how I feel about situations and maybe they agree and maybe they don't. But I've never said "LOOK, I want this to happen and if it doesn't then xyz." Not my style and I don't believe, if the outcome is in my favor, it will last very long. Understanding that my friend and other women may have a goal for their personal lives, giving the man (or "friend" or whatever) you're with an ultimatum is not the way to go. If he was interested in this notion, would he not have asked? Or at the very least, would he not have at least bought up the conversation with his lady to get her opinion on it? I'm just confused.

In my friend's case, this man is not ready. It's not an opinion - more of an unsaid fact. He is barely her boyfriend (it's been observed through mutual male and friends and we've never got a clear answer on how she can consider him her boyfriend) and it seems like he just wants to make sure he has her AROUND more than him being committed to being WITH her. I'm very nervous for her feelings as well as her inability to see the writing on the wall. But she has to know this isn't good...right? She has to know that by saying "This or THAT" is not going to make him be the one for her....RIGHT??

Ultimatums. Let's discuss.

*Miss BB note: The story of the friend is not complete accurate - there are a few things changed to protect my lil homie.