CEDTalks

"It's real out here." This is arguably the most common phrase you hear about life after school. As most college graduates/working people will attest, life becomes really interesting after college. Some people focus on the more difficult aspects: limited free time, minimal levels of energy, and the stalker. Many of us know this stalker; he goes  by the name "Bill" (Insurance Bill, Credit Card Bill, Cable Bill, etc.) Despite these trials, there are a lot of positive opportunities that open up from leaving school. In addition to building your career and making adult purchases, you make attempts at "streamlined" relationships. Biz: Are they real or "Just a Friend"? Streamlined relationships are situations that have more long-term potential as opposed to "it's Wednesday and I'm bored" dates. As one legendary philosopher (Biz Markie) said, "We started talking, getting familiar/Spending a lot of time so we ca...

Hello, everyone. I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving and African American Friday (Black Friday). Unfortunately, I had to work on Friday, or so I thought. There's no feeling more bittersweet than driving to work and realizing you have the day off. Black Friday is perhaps the worst day it could occur on. I had a splendid Thanksgiving evening, but prepared myself to work early in the morning. As I neared the empty parking lot around 9 am, I begin to drop expletives like hot rhymes to express my frustration. I couldn't imagine no one calling or sending any notification to a brother that we were off! I drove up to the security booth, just to check and make sure. This doofus sticks his head out and says, "..the hell you doing here?" First off, who you talking to; secondly, that's why you're working, because of your stank attitude. During the last two days, I've had some very interesting events take place; I've had an altercation with my neighbor, enjoyed ...

I hate my favorite football team. No, I'm serious. For nearly half of my life, the Washington Redskins have occupied my heart as the team I root for. My mother hails from Washington, DC, and I have fond memories of visiting my uncles, aunts, and cousins who bleed the burgundy and gold. When my Uncle Charlie passed, they created a display of Skins memorabilia to stand next to his casket (*Lil Wayne voice* It's real). Despite the love and support that myself and fans show the franchise, we have not seen any parts of consistency since the early 90s. I'm 25 years old, the last Super Bowl win was in 1991; I was 5...5, dog.  Lately, it's been the same old same old. We win some games early, people get excited, Wale comes on TV to discuss are the Skins "for real", and then the Hogs let us down. Come on, man! We're tired! We're weary! Every time we lose, the same Trey Songs melody rings in my head; "The things you do...make me wanna cheat on you!" M...

Today is the 100th Anniversary of the founding of fraternity Omega Psi Phi, a historic black greek letter organization (BGLO). Known to many as "Ques", the Omegas (like all BGLOs) are very important to Black College history and Black culture overall. As an Alpha I interact with Omegas quite often, but having three of them as close friends and business partners, we share a unique bond. There are three classic memories that truly cement the previous statement: "The Haircut", Lethal Weapon "Q", and Moss. The Haircut It was three weeks into my freshman year at Cheyney University, and my fade line stood in dire straits. With my 1990 Toyota Corolla "Cool Whip" parked in Morrisville, it became necessary to find a campus barber. Enter Tr...let's use fake names; enter "Clevis". Clevis was the prototypical Omega: husky for no damn reason. I mean just "swoll"; his goatee had  biceps. My hair began to look unkempt, so I finally st...

(Ed. Note: Hey folks. I hope all is well with you. In an effort to re-establish myself as a strong story writer, I've decided to shift the focus of my blogs to recollections of the daily happenings in my life. Hopefully you gain lessons from each narrative, but the attempt is to make you smile.) Last weekend, I visited my friend and We're Just Talking co-writer Ray Bracy at his home. In an attempt to improve our cohesion as a writing team, we decided to start having more face to face meetings and dub ourselves "Ribs and Bibs"(He's Bibs.) Normally we meet on Sunday, but the thought of staying home alone in Trenton on Friday sent me into a bit of a breakdown. Time being a sensitive issue, I made the call to Bracy and he set up a night of NBA 2K12, adult beverages, and hilarity. It was established early in the trip to his home that this would be a great night. First, I was able to hit all the high notes on the Miguel album. When wearing the special Miguel glasses...

I, Cedric Charles Perry, am a hater. Whew...though it's tough to say, admission is the first step to recovery. It's a gene that has traveled throughout my family tree; my great-grandmother has been recognized as one of the more influential haters during the civil rights movement. My sister Dee actually holds the Pennsylvania state record for most consecutive statements using the word "corny", with 46. It appears that there are numerous types of haters; my type is called "Conditional Hater", where in attempts to create humor, I will break out in uncontrollable hating. Recognizing that this trait runs in my family, I was bound to be a hater and it's better for me to acknowledge this now and help others who share this condition. To better address this addiction, which currently affect approximately 3.6 million people in America (I made that number up), let's identify what hating is. Rapper LL Cool J once stated that hating is "identifying a perso...