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Lately, I’ve been thinking about writing a book, but have started to wonder if a book is what I need to write.

See, the publishing industry is hurting, which is evident by the many book store closing throughout the country. Borders, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million are as scarce as internet cafe’s once were. Remember how you could only get internet access in the chic boutique coffee spots?

If you don’t, ask someone who was living in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. I’m sure they remember internet access being rare in public places, kinda like the public telephone.

My whole point is my concept of writing a book use to be traditional, NY Times Bestseller hard copy 200+ pages color cover w/my picture (of course) which could be seen in libraries around the world. Well if you’ve been to a library lately, you know that people are there to use the computers as much as they are there to read the books.

Times are changing so fast that my concept of writing a book has changed to the point that you may never turn a page in my book, but click or scroll with your finger how you view it. You may actually listen to my notes as you read my words on your ipad, iphone, tablet, let’s just say “screen” without ever seeing me sit on Oprah (ohh well), Ellen or Wendy Williams’ couch to tell my story.

My book may be just a bunch of text written that floats from device to device. So, I’m not really sure it’s a book at all anymore. Is the future of books a format that doesn’t exist in a tangible form, but as a collection of themed thoughts that act as a unit regardless of the platform? I don’t know what it will be, but I’m writing a book!

10.) I can pop my own popcorn which is cheaper and taste better.

What ever happened to the great taste of movie popcorn? When I was younger it use to be the second best thing about the movies. Now, not only does it taste like I’m eating popcorn gummie bears, but it cost too damn much. Then they try and sell you on the combo deal which is “cheaper” because you get a drink and popcorn for less than if you bought them separate. Are you kidding! Want to know how to save money at the movies? Eat before you go or watch a movie at home.

9.) You don’t have to move, unless you want to.
Have you ever gotten to the movies a little early, got a good seat in the middle of the row, half way up and had to turn sideways the whole movie because everybody has to pass you to get an open seat or go to the bathroom? Well I have and I hated it. I found a way to avoid the big sexy sista’s ass in my face as she passes me on the phone to get to an open seat. From the size of her bag, she went ole school and brought her own snacks.. but I digress. When I’m at home, I only move when I want to go to the bathroom or answer the phone or get something to eat…like some more popcorn. The best part is that I move when I want to, not because I have to. The comfort of my own seat is priceless.

8.) Nobody is on the phone in my house during the movie.

Don’t you hate it when somebody is on the phone in the movies telling someone on the phone that they are at the movies…but continue to talk. Just don’t answer your phone. Why? Because you’re at the movies! At home, if i need to talk, I can push pause. If I have company and they need to talk, I can make a gesture to them like “will you go the hell outside?” (you know the look and gesture.)

7.) I can always get a good seat.

Have you ever gotten to the movies just before the previews end and have to sit in the section right in front of the screen. I watched a movie a couple of years ago looking straight up in the air. It was the worst. I almost felt like I could look under Paula Patton’s dress (okay, I tried, but I couldn’t help it). There have also been times when I took a date and we had to sit in between an old couple and a family of four that shouldn’t have brought their 4 & 6 year old children to an R movie. Terrible! At home, life is good on my sofa or in my recliner.

6.) Volume Control
When I’m at home and I can’t hear what they are saying, I can turn it up on my Super Dolby Hi-Fi 6-channel Surround Sound THX Digital All media compatible Whatchamagiga. When I’m in the movies, the action sounds awesome and then Idris Ilba says something smooth and sexy for the ladies and I’m like “What the hell did he say?” From then on everytime he starts talking in that soft smooth tone like the Quiet Storm DJ, I have to turn my head so I can hear with my good ear. AT home, I just turn it up and rewind…oh yeah…

5.) Rewind
When you forget to hit pause before you leave your comfortable seat and run to the bathroom real quick, there is nothing better than “rewind”. And if you have kids that have no respect for movie time, quiet time or daddy time and they want your attention “now”, give it to them and just press rewind so you can get back to your movie. But there is nothing better than realizing you missed a subtle gesture or clue in the movie and rewinding to make sure you have all the evidence and they don’t get you like they got me in “Usual Suspects” (one of my favorites…a rewind classic). You are a friend of mine if you like a little rewind.

4.) No parking hassle
Have you ever gotten to the movie theater just before another movie let out and can’t find a space? And then you see the swarm of people exiting and you are filled with the joy of a kid on his/her way to Chuck E. Cheese. Then you realize that you only have about 10 min to park get your ticket and get a seat. SO what do the people do who are leaving the theater, they walk like they are trying to make you miss your movie. Slow, slow, slow. At this moment, you are entitled to lose your cool! Note: Whooping someone’s ass in the parking lot and getting arrested will cause you to miss your movie.Why even deal with all that potential drama? Watch your movie at home. It’s safer and less stressful.

3.) I can watch it with whomever I want to watch it with

When I go to the movies, I have no idea who the hell the other 200 people are, nor do I care. But every now and then I want to say, ” Hey Michael, will you stop getting up or Kiesha, will you get off the phone or Tony, will you turn the volume up?” Instead, I have to be politically correct and keep my mouth shut and my thoughts to myself. If I knew their names, those rules wouldn’t apply. At home, I know who’s in my house and who I want to watch a movie with. You can’t watch every movie with everybody. All movies and all people don’t mix. Recommendation: Don’t watch any movie about a cheating man with a broken hearted woman. The movie will become a discussion you don’t want to have during the movie. It will force you to use #5 and #6 often.

2.) Movie time is whenever I feel like it!

I hate looking online to see when the movie starts. Once upon a time, scheduling a movie time was an all day event. You had to schedule drop-offs, pick-ups, traffic allowances, blockbuster lines around the block,etc. Well, those days are over for me. When I want to watch a movie, I don’t need to see what time it’s showing on the big screen at the 14 theater cineplex that’s 20 minutes away. No sirreee! Now When I have time or when I make time, I just go to my special spot, turn on the tv, slide a dvd in or plug my laptop up, push PLAY…ahhhh. I love it. My seat, my tv, my movie, my popcorn on my time.

1.) It’s cheaper than going to the movies in the long run!

I recently took my son and his best friend to see one of these new 3-D kid movies at the theater and I was pissed the entire movie. Not because the movie wasn’t good or the 3-d sucked. But because I had spent almost $60 bucks including tickets, popcorn, drinks and some Twizzlers. In the end, I’ll still be going to take my son to the movies so he can have his own experiences. As much as I love the movies, I can wait until a movie leaves the theater and is available On Demand, Netflix, or shall I say it…bootleg.

I prophesied years ago that the only reason to go to the movie theater will be to see 3-D film and if you haven’t noticed, every movie is in 3-D for that reason. Now even that’s on the clock with the new 3-D tvs on the market. Going to the movie theater will become a distant memory very similar to going to the drive-in. Although those days were good, they are gone.

Over the holiday weekend, I attended a reunion celebration for a media company I use to work for some years ago. It was a sad affair all around. You know when you first hear about reunions they sound like a good idea until it actually happens. They are like strip clubs. They never live up to the hype (except for this one time in NYC…whew. I digress.). Anyway, it sounded like a good idea because I would get to see some your old friends and show all the old haters how good I’m doing now.

I got myself together like prom night with my wife looking like the local version of Will and Jada. We look good, smell good, feel good and to top it off we had a babysitter for the night so we could be full grown adults all night.

We walked in smooth as the Mack walking the red carpet at the Players Ball. As my mother would say, “there weren’t no flies on us” cause our sh!t didn’t even stink that night.
NOTE: This is not a picture from the actual event, but very easily could be.

When we walked through the doors, we expected to enter a Diddy party…music bumping, people dancing all over the place, happy people popping bottles for old times sake…ahhh the dream. In reality, we walked into a party with a bunch of middle aged people too tired to try an recapture their youth. All the women had gained a few pounds (I’m being nice). The men who had the long flowing locks and muscles of the African Adonis looked like Forrest Whitaker. It was a sad site to see the dance floor almost empty until the line dance songs came on. Then all 75+ of the single women rushed the floor to dance with each other because there weren’t any single men at the party looking to dance with them. It was a perfect time to hear Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” for the third time that night. It was sad.

My wife and I were sitting at a table of with 10 other women and none of them were there because the worked for the company, but were hoping to party like a celebrity for the night. They were all single, relatively attractive (I’m being nice again) and appeared to have their stuff together. Kinda reminded me of a Black “Sex in the City” crew.

Much like I heard one reviewer say after seeing “Sex in the City 2″ instead of admiring these women at the table for their freedom and accomplishments, I felt sad for them. And in the end, I felt sad for myself as well.

The reunion party could never live up to the expectation I had for it because I wanted it to be like it was. It ’s hard to admit, but I I’m not the man I was either. But that’s also a good thing. You can never go back and as you grow and get older, you realize that your time has come and pass in certain arenas. That’s why you have to enjoy it while it last. We have to learn to stop trying to relive the old memories and start making new ones.

Although the party was sad, it was good night. I did get to play dress-up and hang out with my wife. We can be the local Will and Jada for life.

Every morning I have the pleasure of riding the metro to work with millions of people who don’t look all to happy to be going to earn a paycheck in today’s struggling economy (I’ll speak more on that in another blog).

Fortunately, I get on at the second stop with only 12 more to go, about a 40 minute ride, so there are plenty of seats available. Majority of the people are just like me, working class professionals. Going to work isn’t a problem at all. It’s the ride home that bothers me.

After a hard days work, soon as I get on the train I look for a seat. Usually, I can get one, but it wasn’t long before I realized that at the stop after mine, a ton of men and women get on. Mostly women.

See I have always prided myself on being a gentleman that acts as like chivilary is alive and well. So like any gentleman, I offer my seat to women when I see one standing. The problem is it appears that I’m the only one who thinks this is normal. So I try to lead by example and offer my seat to a lady who may have been standing on her feet all day or needs to clear her mind before she goes home to some bad ass kids or a mooching husband or she could just be tired.

Without fail, another brother will do the same for another lady. He may not have forgotten that we are here to take care of our sisters, but sometimes we need to lead by example to help remind those of us who get lost in society’s trap of lost consciousness.

Some young brothers may not know how to treat a woman or how to be a man, so maybe if enough brothers will stand up for sisters on the train, we can start standing up for our families in our communities.

It’s not really a choice. It’s a part of being a man.

Insight: Isn’t it amazing how 500 people can be crammed together on one train and no one says a word to each other.