White Boy Email 36th Edition

White Boy Email 36th Edition
I. Quote of the Week
II. Ebonics Lesson of the Week
III. Catch 22
IV. Mama’s Korner (being taken over by maya angelou for a couple weeks due to vagina monologues)
V. You Speak
VI. Announcements



Quote of the Week:
“Maturity is the agreement for a person to take responsibility for the space that they occupy.” Maya Angelou

Ebonics Lesson for the Week:
Sic= if u are trying to explain how cool something is or trying to comment on something stylish
Salina, those pin stripe pants are sic, or Joe-Ferg that new cut by the Roots is sic.

Catch 22
Peacemaker
“Relationships are always worth restoring” Sometimes you need to put aside pride and wear humility. Humility is not thinking that you are less than the other person by any means. We must learn to be a peacemaker. To be a peacemaker takes courage. First off peace is not avoiding conflict. Running from a problem and pretending that it does not exist, or being afraid to talk about it is cowardice. However sometimes we do need to avoid conflict, sometimes we need to create it, and some times we need to resolve it. Avoiding conflict may mean forgiving someone(s) and letting the conflict go. Creating conflict may mean rocking the boat a little so that people are met where they are and there is no progress without some struggle. Resolving it may mean that even though you may not have started it, owning up to your part in it is just as important. You may need to take the initiative, if you take your time to navigate the issues that delay could deepen the resentment and cause hurt to fester. Sympathize with the other person’s feelings. Learning to listen is one of the biggest steps to knowing how to resolve a dispute. Take ownership of what you were responsible for. Discuss the problem and not the person. Cooperate and remember why you had a relationship with that person in the first place. IF you go into a conflict without the focus on you, then you can come to a place of peace. Remember that being a peacemaker is a person who is courageous, not someone who just waits for things to happen. Sometimes being a peacemaker takes the initiative to realize that it is not about you all the time.


Maya’s Korner

The first woman said One thing about me, I'm little and low, I find me a man wherever I go.
The second woman said They call me string bean 'cause I'm so tall, men see me, they ready to fall.
The third woman said I'm fat as butter and sweet as cake, men start to tremble every time I shake.
The fourth woman said I'm young as morning and fresh as dew, everybody loves me, and so do you.
The fifth woman said I'm little and lean, sweet to the bone, they like to pick me up and carry me home.
The sixth woman said When I passed forty, I dropped pretense 'cause men like women who got some sense.
But the seventh woman is my favorite, for obvious reasons. The seventh woman said fifty-five is perfect, so is fifty-nine, 'cause every man needs to rest sometime.


You Speak
Laughter Is Really Good Medicine
Laughter and humor are two powerful tools, helping people cope and get through threatening situations. Looking at life's situations with a sense of humor and laughter provides perspective and helps keep things in balance when life seems unfair. Humor and laughter are a source of power, healing, and survival. We often forget this when caught up in the troubles and trauma of life. Bill Cosby says, "If you can find humor in anything, you can survive it."
What You Get When You Laugh
While we are working at surviving, laughter can help us to maintain our perspective. The next time you feel like you're losing control, allow yourself a little "humor time." If you can find what's funny in a situation, your upsets might not seem as important as they once did.
Humor gives a sense of power.
There are many things in life that we have no control over and can't change. As long as we have a sense of humor, however, we can do something -- such as minimize the hold that upsets have over us. Humor has the power to turn any situation around.
Humor helps us cope.
A lot of the suffering and troubles we experience are not a result of our difficulties, but how we view them. Gail Sheehy notes in her best seller, Pathfinders, that the ability to see humor in a situation was one of the four coping devices that "pathfinders," people who overcome life's crises, used as a protection against change and uncertainty. Using humor in difficult times can be one of the smartest ways of coping with them, easing our worries, and getting on with life.
Humor helps establish communication and rapport.
Laughter knows no cultural boundaries. You don't have to speak the same language to laugh together. Laughter also helps break the ice when you're in a group. It is the one form of communication to which everyone can relate.
Humor relieves tension.
We all know the relief we feel when someone in a group makes a funny comment during a tense situation.
Humor dispels anger and aggression in ourselves and others.
It helps to use humor when dealing with an angry child. A study of humor in the classroom showed lower scores on aggression for students viewing a humorous videotape.
Humor increases learning and retention.
Laughing stimulates both sides of the brain. People get the message quicker and remember it longer.
Humor can be used as "diagnostic tool."
If we listen carefully to a person's humor, it can help us realize his or her fears and worries. When a person jokes around, he or she may be indirectly telling us about the things that are bothering him or her.
Humor is an important, often overlooked tool. The better adjusted you are and the more satisfying your lifestyle, the more readily you will respond to the humor in jokes, cartoons, and everyday situations. Be aware of taking yourself too seriously. It is important to learn to laugh at yourself.
You can learn to share your laughter and help make others laugh. This doesn't mean telling jokes unless that is one of your talents. It means beginning to share your humorous perspective and giving others permission to do the same. A good sense of humor is something everyone can work on. It doesn't just happen. Here are some suggestions to help add more laughter to your life:
· Recognize the value of humor.
· Don't worry or analyze why people laugh -- just participate.
· Think funny -- look for the humor in every situation. Learn to laugh at the incongruities in life.
· Keep a notebook of funny things and write in it daily.
· Adapt material. Use humor from any source. Personalize it and change it to suit your situation or the problem at hand.
Remember that laughter not only makes you feel better, but the use of humor can be a major tool for insight. George Burns says it best: "You can't help getting older, but you can help getting old. Chronologically, the clock is going to keep on ticking for all of us,
but if we take a lick of humor, we can prevent a hardening of the attitudes. If we savor humor, humor can be a lifesaver.


Announcements:

Want to really show some love on Valentine’s Day, give your time by taking some time to help someone else:
The Council of Graduate Students
Outreach & Engagement Committee
presents
Share the Love
Habitat for Humanity Moving Day
Be in front of the Ohio union at 8am, February 14th, 2004 (hoping you stay with us until the job is done or at least 1pm)
To RSVP please email me or Chad Combs at combs.76@osu.edu