Hope Springs Eternal...

Today was rough- no other words to describe it...just rough

But the reason i am writing this is not to vent but to let everyone know that GOD is the man. Im not tryna preach (well actually i am...i dont know why people say that right before they talk about religion), but today was one of those days where i just wanted to just give up. What did i do you ask!

I PRAYED.

Lets just say the MAN upstairs came thru (as he always does)...I got lost in probably the most beautiful place ever. I think it was so "purdy" cuz it reminded me of home, and boy oh boy do i miss that place, but then HE got me thinking about slowing things down...when im home everything is smooth and calm but things still get done; this city life made me forget that a little bit. But i sure do remember now!

So a little piece of advice for everyone who is having a rough day, week, month, year, decade, life...SLOW DOWN, NEVER GIVE UP, and ALWAYS HAVE FAITH becasue it always works out, maybe not the way you want it to, but things always work out.

Hope springs eternal in the human breast;

Man never Is, but always To be blest:

The soul, uneasy and confin'd from home,

Rests and expatiates in a life to come.

-Alexander Pope

Mr. Dantley's Neighborhood

Well ladies and gentlemen i have a very interesting subject of conversation for you all today....last night i had a conversation about the importance of college in today's society- hmmm you say! go on you say! RIGHTO on we go!

Today, where the power of your network is much more important than the power of your brain (sad but true) how important is a piece of paper that says you took 123 credits and learned what it means to be an economist (or whatever your respective major)...now the terms of the conversation:

1) think long and hard about how much of what you learn in school you actually retain

2) understand that there are millions of people without a degree who are doing amazing things

3)realize that most jobs today are obtained through a connection that someone has within an organization

4)ask yourself what exactly do you want to do with your life and how well is college preparing you to do that

On my end I truly do understand the value of a college education and am extremely proud to say that I graduated from .:cough:. Temple.:cough:. (only joking TU is great), but I like to play devils advocate a LOT and often times wonder and argue that every opportunity i have availible to me now would be availible if i didnt go to college. I have this conversation pretty reguarly and was just wondering what others think about it....particularly those who didnt go to college.

Ill be throwing out these convo topics every now n again...let me know what ya think folks

Memorial Day Weekend!!!

I love Memorial Day weekend....its like the national cookout weekend, and i love me some picnic food.

Will Smith described Philly to a T (i dont know what that means but old people say it so it sounds right)...he had to have been talking about this weekend..listen to the words then if your in Philadelphia go outside look to your left and to your right and head towards the grill thats closest to you...or just follow the music

Heyyyy Duuuude!

hello everyone...sorry i have been MIA, but me n YODA just moved and we havent had internet.

in reference to things goin on...GOOD!

and in regards to my last post i have lots of updates for you folks-


In short...im back!

Urban Development

For all that do not know i am an economics major (yes ill wait while you all make ugly faces and say how you dislike econ). to be completely honest i dont even really like econ, but i do like some of the topics that we discuss; for instance we just briefly spoke on issues of development and unemployment (vague i know) but after the talk i began to narrow the topic down to what interests me: urban economic development - in particular Philadelphia economic development.

let me get everyone up to speed>>>

Philadelphia was once a happenin' place, all the movers n shakers were coming here. BIG GAP. here we are today. we see rundown buildings and homeless people all over. the city is now trying to make a comeback. in N. Philly (where i be @) real estate is one of the biggest money generating activities- however, because the locals don't have the $$$ to buy real estate it leaves the market wide open for outsiders (Jerz, NY, DC) to come in buy up all the property and take the revenue generated from rent back to their state....now you're with me.

N. Philly's problem is not the lack of $$$...its there, trust, i hear tell of students parents droppin' stacks on whole buildings just so little Timmy and Susie can be "comfortable". the problem is that the money leaves once it comes in. thousands of dollars of revenue created via rent leaves Philly every month and makes its way to NY, DC, Jerz...not good!!! it leaves the area marginally better than it started, i say marginal because property taxes and such help keep us afloat (essentially these outsiders are pimpin Philly). thus N. Philly struggles to increase its $$$, businesses leave, those who come barely make it, people have no $$$ to reinvest into the local economy.

Solution ---the moment you have all been waiting for!

Economic policies that allow for local residents of an area to purchase property at a highly discounted rate and provide city assistance in the reconstruction of property would boost the local economy. enticing businesses to move in, pushing the outsiders elsewhere, and turning N. Philly back into that happenin place from way back when.

what am i doing?

i am going to find out if anything like this really exists, if not and if so i am going to improve or create it, then i am going to bust my ass to get this thing enacted the way that it should be, so that when i leave Philly i will leave it in better condition than when i came...puttin that good ole noggin to use ;-)

how can you help

Im going to need help...my date of completion for this endeavor is August 17th, meaning whatever action that is going to happen i want to be starting on that date (gotta bust down some bureaucratic doors here). so that means anyone interested in helping or providing some insight should contact me via email: c.dantley@temple.edu or just comment on this post and the others that will follow

this is the first step to taking over the world...one city at a time, my plan is beginning to unfold (dont worry ill keep yall posted) <--pun intended