The Underground [Revisited]

"Sometimes you need to take your cause Underground, in order to make a difference."

For a long time I've been meaning to write about one of my earliest foray into writing, my first attempt at humour[sic] and producing material for public consumption. 

Not so long ago, in a city that's not actually too far away. I created an inter-office newsletter entitled, 'The UnderGround'.  The newsletter consisted of made-up gossipy stories for the workplace. Now since the stories were about people within the office, anonymity was the key. So to make sure I or anyone else in my party were never caught, there were a few simple rules that needed to be followed: no copy was ever allowed to be saved to the computers, hardcopies were only personally handed to a few and like Fight Club no one every talked about 'The UnderGround'. In the literally sense, the newsletter was an underground cause. It never saw the light of day and it gave me an opportunity to cast aside my introvert ways and showcase my humorous style.


So why am I talking about an old newsletter? Beside that one of my good friends [Ali] who I worked with, still remembered the old newsletter. For a long time I forgot about the newsletter and simply moved on. I created newsletters for other properties, which then lead me to create the blog that you see today and the one good thing I like about my blog and how I operate it is that it is always evolving.


When I started writing this blog about a year or two ago, I had the mission to make this blog  about expanding on the little quips or Gregisms that I posted on my facebook page. It also gave me the chance to expand on ones some ideas that I genuinely thought were funny and need more of a through explanation.  Then, I found myself adding Random Thoughts to the blog. Which I equate to taking a side journey off the main trail where I get to talk about things that pop up in my head, situations I find funny or things in the world that just do not make any sense whatsoever.


Now that 2012 is here front and center, I continue to take a look at myself and at the blog and feel the need to evolve and improve ever so slightly. As you saw earlier, I introduced Social Commentary to the blog. With Social Commentary, my goal is to put a flashlight on a subject matter where humanity needs improvement on. Now I am far from perfect, but that doesn't mean I want the world to go to shit. 


And finally, I want to introduce the last new section to the Daily Gregisms blog, The Underground. It will echo the previous version of the past Underground, where the stories are purely made up and are nothing but sarcastic. Will I try to compete against the like of The Onion or Andy Borowitz....umm no! Those guys are nothing short of fantastic, but  I can try to become just as good as they are.


Well I thank you for taking the time to read this blog and hope you are excited as much as I am for the new things, ideas and thoughts I will be writing about this year. 

My Thoughts on Turning 31

“When I turned 30 the first thing I did was watch the sunrise over the water, while in The Keys. Who knew that the sunrise I saw that morning, was the sunrise that showed me a way past the horizon and onto a new adventure in life. Now and forever I will always look to chase that sunrise.” ~ Gregory Modé

When one turns older you start to go through that phase in life when you start putting things in perspective. You look at your own mortality as if it was a fragile egg in your hand, worried that any tremor, ding, bump or accident will cause it harm. You look at past and current accomplishment and compare them to other people. Sometimes you feel proud of yourself, other times you feel like you are limping behind the pack.

You look around at all your material wealth, the people around you, where you are at that moment in time and wonder out loud, “Is this it? How many times can I get by and be lucky, before my luck runs out?”

And there’s that one question everyone seems to ask. “What is my purpose in this world? Do I have a role to play, a part to play on this stage?”

Too much do we look to the future and worry of things that have yet to be and too many times we look at the past and try to grasp at wisps of memories of the way things use to be. Yet we always forget to live in the present. We do not take the time to sit down and enjoy that sunrise every morning. To appreciate the little things that life has to offer.

No matter how you dress it up…

I am 31 years old.

I have been alive for 11,334 days

For 272,016 hours, my eyes have seen many life events, some happy some sad.

And it was not until I hit 30 and I saw that sunrise, that I finally understood what the meaning of life truly was.

Cheesecake and Paradise

Now I don’t normally take on requests when coming up for my next blog topic, but this time I made an exception since it centered around the devious…cheesecake.

First, who could have ever guessed, that going out of your comfort zone would taste so delicious. I may claim to be an adventurous eater, but in reality I stay pretty close to foods that have been proven time and time again to taste good going down. However if I were to compare to that to how one should live their life, I always say to go outside that comfort zone and take a chance. Life is about taking risk and experiencing new things. Not reliving the same old tried and true methods over and over again.

So while out on a date I decided to go out of my comfort zone, both with how I approached the date and with the tasting of my first true cheesecake.  For those that keep up with my blog will know my feelings on the dates, (and don’t worry, what I am currently writing now was already brought up during my date…yes I’m serious!), are basically job interviews.  But I am not here to recount that night’s date. I am here about the cheesecake. There are certain foods I’ve placed on a list that I will not touch (Ranch, Feta Cheese, Deer meat, Cheesecake, and etc.).  And if someone tries to get me to eat it, I politely turn them down and go on my merry way.  But that night I decided to try something new, with of course some prodding by my date to try the cheesecake [side note: tried my first true cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory]. When the cheesecake came out, I have to admit I was nervous. The first thought that popped in to mind was that I really hoped that I don’t throw up cheesecake over my date. But luckily after that first bite, I felt what amounts to an orgasm in my mouth (okay maybe not an orgasm, but it was enjoyable). 

Now as someone who enjoys eating the right things (from time to time, I still do treat myself to a burger every month) and staying in shape. It is a very dangerous thing for me to start loving Cheesecakes. Also I can finally understand why people seem to go ga-ga over this delightful dessert.

In all, the lesson that I left with that night was that…When you start to become comfortable and use to certain things. You close yourself off to some beautiful things around you.

The Tale of Greg ~ Part 1

This is my attempt at writing a alliteration poem. I have to admit that I think I did a good job, but when it came to the end of the poem, there was no clear way to end it. I hope you enjoy the poem as I enjoyed writing it out and coming up with some wonderful rhymes and g-related words.






Greetings, my name is Greg! 

Sit as I tell you a good ol’ great tale.

A story quite minute, yet on a grand scale.

Grievous, grim, gory narrative you will not find.

Only about a gracious, genial giant who fate was intertwined.

A gregarious, gallant, grandiose of a guy.

A gambler, a gangster and a gunslinger, was I.

No gimmicks, no guarantee, please do not worry.

No garrulous narrative, for this here shorten story.

A Gator Graduate, gladly to be.

A guile cunning gambit, majored with the ladies.

Giddy of grin and full of drink

Gaffes abound, while I was made to think.

Grandma once told me long ago

All that glitters is not gold, no?

Glorifying glowing gizmos and gadgets was never the way.

A generally good guy would gain at the end of that day.

I Job, there for I am

I finally have a job!

There is no sweeter sentence that one could write (well actually I’ve been working at this job for the past two weeks, so I’m a little late getting the news out). That sentence sounds so pleasant, so sweet to my ears.  Unlike most people out there in the world today, I was fortunate not to have to spend months or years being unemployed. However, due to a bit of an underhanded circumstance from my previous employers, receiving unemployment checks were always out of the question. Oh well!

The only thing that sucks is that I cannot really write about where I work; don’t worry my place of employment does operate in a legal manner. Disclaimer: To those who are friends of mine on Facebook or Google+ should have an idea of where I work. However, for legal reason and the fact I do not want to lose my job, I will not use the company’s name on this blog. I will simply call it Company V.

My first day on the job, was nothing short of a scene straight out of a sitcom. First Company V had me on standby, since my paperwork had not yet been cleared by the time the Orientation class started. So I did what any able body young thirty-something would do when you have time to kill…I took a nap (well more like I fell asleep on my couch while still in the sitting position). When the phone rang, it was their HR department telling me that I was cleared to start work today and that I should rush to the main building since the Orientation class had just started 30minutes ago. Well I rush down there wearing nothing but a nice pair of khakis, an untucked polo and my running sneakers. My thinking is that training class should be real laid back. That was my first mistake. I run into the class to see everyone dressed up as if they were getting ready to attend Sunday services. Embarrassed? That was an understatement.

Fortunately the rest of the day went smoothly. When asked by my new classmates as to why I was dressed the way I was, I simply informed them that Company V had called me while I was out running errands and had no time to run home and change. (I think they bought that little white lie).  And oddly enough later that week they declared Casual week for the entire site, so I basically saw it that I was ahead of the curve.

So there it is I am working again. (Well more like stuck in Training for a long long long time).  It is nice to have a job and to have some source of income coming in.

There was one thing I learned from my previous, a life lesson if you will. “Once you get too comfortable, you need to do something that puts you out of your comfort zone. That is the only way you will get better personally.”

***Update: As of September 12, I was offered a second job.  A job that I really really wanted.

Moment of Random Thought: Where have all the black TV shows gone?

And I will not count the stuff by Tyler Perry and Ice Cube on TBS and I be damned if I’m going to include anything on BET (sorry guys but come on guys, really!).

One day I came to realization that there are not any shows out there that feature a black person or anyone of color in the lead role. I am not implying shows are devoided of any color amongst their cast. But the days of such great TV shows like “The Cosby Show” are unfortunately history.

I know most of us don’t want to admit it or even acknowledge it, but people of color having their own shows on network TV is something of rarity. If memory serves me right the last show to feature Black lead was JJ Abrams “Undercover” (which didn’t do so well and was later cancelled) and I think before that, there was Chris Rock’s “Everybody Hates Chris” where the entire cast was Black.

And I do apologize if it sounds like I’m getting on a soapbox and preaching (that’s for another time and blog entry). But one of the few memories I have, is of me and my family gathering around the family room TV watching “The Cosby Show”.  “The Cosby Show” was one of those external factors that persuaded me to want to go to college and become a doctor (should have thought that one out since becoming a doctor was harder than I thought). To see those Huxtables kids (Sondra, Theo..I think Vanessa. Denise went but dropped out) go and graduate from college was something inspirational to me. It should people who looked similar to me accomplishing something that I didn’t think was possible at that time. But where are those role models today. Most of the time people of color are being portrayed as rappers/musicians, athletes or gangsters.  Where are the Harvard graduates, military leaders, and other positive role models?

Heavens forbid if someone of color talks intelligently, then all of a sudden he is not “black” enough (which I hear quite a lot). If talking like I have marbles in my mouth and have no sense of the English language means talking “black” then I want no part of it.  When someone talks, skin color should not be attributed to it. It’s either you talk like an educated person or not!

To be continued…

Jobless, Will Work to be able to Watch TV Again

Well it is official. I am still jobless, for now that is! I have those mornings where I look in the mirror, all rough and haggard and mumble to myself “Well don’t you look like a tired bum today.” I should probably rewind this story and give a brief recap as to how I reached this unfortunate predicament.

Previously on, ‘Greg: Mocha Man of War.’  The valiant yet lovable hero Greg, asked his bosses above to have some days to attend his cousin’s wedding (which I was to be a groomsman in don’t forget to add that part when doing the recap). Yes, he was to be a groomsman at this cousin’s wedding in the city of Brooklyn, NY.  However, Greg knew the shit storm that was to be when requesting the days off.  For the day of the wedding was to fall smack dab in the middle of the company’s TURN.  With his work unable to accommodate, Greg was forced…FORCED I say to make a tough decision. Either choose work and the stability of a meager paying job or choose family.  Well it is safe to say our hero chose Family.

All that’s missing from the flashback was Scrooge and some kid named ‘Tiny Tim’ claiming to be my son, who limps to my side either on a crutch or wheelchair.  As I go out on the hunt for a new job, I never ever regret the decision I made. I look at it as a kick in my ass, to move forward with my life. For too long I become complacent, I take things as they are. If I want to make changes in my life and the world around I can’t do that by sitting behind a small dank office looking at screen (even though I am certain the new jobs I’m applying for will have me doing the samething).

As one of my most recent Gregisms, I say, “Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom in life in order to find out what you are made of. Some people give up and some people accept the challenge, rise out of the muck and become a better person because of it.” I can say I haven’t given up; in fact going through this low period in my life has made me hungrier for life and reinforced what is really important to me,  my Family and their well being.

I honestly do not know what the future holds. Things can get a lot worse; things can get a lot better. As of right now Fate is holding the coin and has just flipped it. Heads-Things get better. Tails-Things get bad. But you know what; sooner or later it’s going to have to come up Heads.

On another note, now that my funds are cough* limited, I’ve had to make some cutbacks. One being cable TV and internet (well the Bright House made that decision for me). When my cable first went out, I think I threw a hissy fit because I could gain access to what was on my DVR (Thundercats is so out of my reach). As the days went by, I sort of felt like a junkie detoxing off of some substance. Until one day that TV craving wasn’t there. Now of course it would be nice to have a TV to know if a hurricane is approaching my state or if an earthquake just occurred in a metropolitan city in the US.  

And damn if football season is just around the corner. Oh well!