Gang members: Top cop's threats are harassment :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Mary Mitchell

Gang members: Top cop's threats are harassment :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Mary Mitchell

YOU’RE IT!!!

Hello WORLD! I been kinda quiet again lately but not without merit. I’ve been writing still, I’m almost finished with my next story, a tale about a pair of insightful vampires. Also, I’ve just got my Android phone and I’ve been on the Android Market finding some great apps I’m already loving. Besides that, I just joined a few websites that might better help me establish myself as a brand name, Digg and Readers In Motion.

   Now, as why I titled this post YOU’RE IT!!!!!, I really, REALLY want to clarify but alas I can’t. It’s not that I’m being secretive about it but I just found out that I am being read by co-workers and supervisors and yes, this was a update post as well as a job related post until I heard that little bit of info. Then it became just an update post. I love my job, but I do feel there’s some strange machinations at work here. I can say that much without repercussions. Fuck it! You’re updated now on to the next post!!

IS THERE A THIRD OPTION? By Smokkee Singleton

        Hello, WORLD!!!!!! It’s been a long time coming but I’m halfway through with writing my first book, a collection of short stories called IS THERE A THIRD OPTION? and I feel I can be through writing the other 6 or 7 stories needed for completion by the end of October. The book is part of the reason why I haven’t been blogging too much lately but I’m trying to focus more on it now because in a few months, both the NFL & the NBA seasons will be in full swing and will be getting a lot of my attention as well.

         I never wanted to stick to one genre when I write; I try to be as diverse as possible. It becomes too easy to do that after a while because of repetition and on the other hand, it makes itself difficult to do because how can you continue to write about something repeatedly and constantly keep the material fresh? I do tend to write mostly dark tales that I can’t quite call horror. I do have one flat out horror tale complete though and I figure there will be more before I’m through with this book. 

As it turns out, I didn’t have to worry about coming up with ideas. After the first story I wrote, which is where I got the book’s title from, ideas came from everywhere! I’ve got six stories already finished, at least 10 more ready to be written mentally and an abundance of ideas that I can tap at anytime. So, before I get back to writing them, let me give you a list and a brief description of what I have written so far:

IS THERE A THIRD OPTION?: A deceased man, who had no faith of any kind but still lived his life exhibiting selflessness and a genuine compassion towards other people while he was alive, finds himself in a place that he didn’t even believe in, much to his chagrin. (Sidenote: This is the first story I wrote for this book. The idea had been bouncing around my head before I knew I would write it. It took almost 2 days to write, one of the easiest times I ever had writing a story.)

COMING SOON: A double date at a movie theatre turns deadly for two couples. (Sidenote: While a lot of what I write tends to be dark, this was my first stab at flat out horror.)

THE WAGER: The story of two brothers who constantly make bets and the bet that changed their lives forever. (Sidenote: This one is probably not going to make this book. Although I wrote it as a short story and I love the ending, I think there is a lot more I can get out of this story and it may turn into a full length novel.)

HAPPINESS: In Chicago, at the intersection on Division and Ashland, a homeless man holding the secret to true happiness lives peacefully on a bench and spends his days watching all the unhappiness that happens around him. (Sidenote: At 3 hours, this is clearly the quickest I ever took to write a story. Also the first story I ever wrote based on an actually location at the location.)

A TEST OF THE HARTS: A couple is struggling with trying  to stay together after being the victims of a viscous crime. 

REHABILIATION, ROUND ONE: An ambitious warden has a plan for making room for more inmates of an overcrowded prison and make a few dollars along the way. (Sidenote: I wrote this as fiction but I do believe that this could one day be a reality, #SadButTrue…)     

More to come. Much more. That’s it for now, WORLD, but isn’t that enough for right now?

Twitter users have big consumer influence

Twitter users have big consumer influence

Avoiding The Hazards of Facebook Hookups

WORLD, I'm fed up! For the past few days, I've been listening to some people complain about straight up BULLSHIT! Seriously, get over yourselves! I'm not sitting here telling yall that I'm perfect. I know I'm far from that. BUT I do know that the only way to truly be happy is you gotta be happy with yourself, which I am. To bad a lot of people can't say the same. I'm ranting n raving now, but not without reason. I'm not one to complain with out reason, but I see a lot of complaints coming from people over stupid avoidable stuff. I believe the problem is rooted in lack of attention, so they cry out for some on social networks like Twitter and Facebook. One "friend" (I gotta use this phrase loosely) of mine, has a note on her page: "Not here for cyber sex, perverts not wanted.". OK, absolutely nothing wrong with that; in fact, I too have a similar mantra (although I don't feel the need to broadcast it). Now if I WERE to have it like a warning on my page, I think it would bear a lot more credibility if it wasn't under a half naked picture!! In review, you telling perverts to stay away, and you're dressing for them = Stupid! Now, I'm not judging her as far as what she posts; it's her perogative wheter she showing her body off or not. What I'm tripping on is the lack of common sense that the whole thing makes; you say one thing and dress as if you're lying about what you just said!! I'm sure she could have found a more appropriate picture than the one of her all wet and glistening in the water at the beach to make as her profile pic. I'm more than sure she has clothes that reveal less and in them, she would still be attractive, so I gotta chalk this off to just plain stupid (or in need of attention but well, that's obvisous too right?) Then I got a friend who is an actual friend but I might have to re-evaluate that, who keeps putting her willingness to date online, meets somebody who usually winds up hurting her, only for her not to learn her lesson and go the same thing all over again. Then she tries telling me hat happened and by me being who I am I give her my take on the matter, which is don't date nobody you didn't meet in real life first, a motto that some people don't get and some people read too much into (the next girl I'mma talk about does exactly that!!). Anyway, what does this nut go and do? The very next day, she got a description of herself that would shame some porn actresses! Any, my take is that Erica Jong said it best "Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't." I know what she means. Now the last girl is even more of a friend then the second one; in fact, I've known this one for as long as I can remember (with my alcohlic ass, that aint a long time at all!). I haven't seen her in years but we reacqainted on FB and now, all of a sudden, I suppose to be tagging that ass. No problem there! The problem is HOW she going about it, trying to ruch me into it! Ruching yourself is one thing, rushing me is not happening or you'll not like the results. She aint liking the results now; I just got a inbox from her that I didn't answer yet. I gotta show her that I like taking my time with everything, especially important like that, feel me? You probably don't but hell I'm better off for not moving to nobodies speed but my own and I know you're feeling that, WORLD!!!

WHEN YOU LEAVE A JOB (AND AREA) THAT LOVES YOU

Hello WORLD!! Today is a good day like most of them are, but it is still a sad one for me. After today, tomorrow and next week, I will no longer be working out of Comet Messenger Service's office on 13th and Michigan. I have been at this one location since early 2003 and it didn't really hit me that I'm being relocated til just now. I met so many cool people around here, like the good people at Jewels, mainly in the liquor dept, and this 1 light-skinned cutie at the AM/PM on Roosevelt (Note to self: I gotta make sure I get up with her before I dip). But alas, all good things, right? The fact is change is a good thing, especially since the change is for more money and better benefits. And although I don't work for Comet or Comet's owner Mr Jim Sailer anymore, I still work with Comet in the same fashion I've always worked for Comet, so it's not like the change is gonna affect the regular day to day things I do. It's just crazy that I've made this area such a big part of my life and now I have to let it go. Oh well, CE LA VI! That's enough for now WORLD!!!

Tragic Updates For 2 of the Most Infamous Crimes Involving Children in Chicago

WORLD, I don't know what to say. For people who live in Chicago, the names of Eric Morse and Ryan Harris will always be in our minds as some of the most tragic news to ever hit Chicago regarding Chicago. Now both are in the current news again; an unbelievable chain of events stemming from some of the most unthinkable crimes in Chicago's history.

For those who don't know about Eric Morse, this excerpt was taking from the blogsite THE VIEW FROM THE GROUND (http://www.viewfromtheground.com/archive/2001/06/in-memory-of-eric-morse-part-i.html): "On October 13, 1994, two boys, ages 10 and 11, dropped Eric Morse, age 5, from the window of a vacant apartment on the 14th floor of 3833 S. Langley, a CHA high-rise at the Darrow Homes. Tried as juveniles, the boys were found delinquent in the killing of Morse and given the maximum sentence of five years."

Here's the update, taken from a July 2nd 2010 Chicago Sun Times story by RUMMANA HUSSAIN (Criminal Courts Reporter)(http://www.suntimes.com/news/24-7/2456852,CST-NWS-lemon02.article):
"When he was 9, Derrick Lemon took the stand to testify how he tried to save his younger brother before he was tossed out of the 14th-floor window of an abandoned Ida B. Wells high-rise. The case received national attention in 1994 because of the age of his 5-year-old brother's killers: 10 and 11. Lemon, now 23, was back in court this week. This time, however, it was Lemon who was convicted of taking the life of someone trying to protect another. A Cook County jury found Lemon guilty Thursday of murdering his aunt's 40-year-old boyfriend, Illya Glover, on March 1, 2006, after Glover tried to stop Lemon from choking her at a family barbecue.
Lemon started attacking his aunt when she asked him to leave the residence in the 400 block of West 57th during a heated argument, prosecutors said. When Glover attempted to intervene, Lemon shot him several times.

Earlier this year, Lemon was also charged with home invasion and intimidating a witness to the murder after he allegedly broke into the home of a witness, prosecutors said. Lemon, who had been free on $750,000 bond, had a gun with him when he sneaked into the residence at 3 a.m. on Feb. 18, prosecutors said.
Lemon's brother Eric Morse was thrown out of the Chicago Housing Authority building by two boys who were apparently angry at Eric because he wouldn't steal candy for them. Lemon suffered from nightmares and extreme feelings of insecurity after watching his inseparable brother die, fellow CHA residents said at the time. A fund was established to pay for his long-term counseling needs, and officials at the Doolittle School gave him a plaque declaring him "the Little Hero."
During the trial of Eric's killers, Lemon said he couldn't save Eric because one of the boys bit him when he tried to grab his sibling's dangling body. "I let him go, and [the older boy] still had him, and he let him go, and he fell," Lemon had testified."


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Now, for those of you who don't know the story of Ryan Harris and one of the stupidest arrest in Chicago history and an update,courtesy of a July 6th CHICAGO BREAKING NEWS article (http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/07/boy-held-in-1998-ryan-harris-slaying-convicted-of-attempted-murder.html):"

"When Romarr Gipson was just 7 years old he and another boy were the youngest people in the country to be charged with murder.
While he and the other boy were later exonerated of the 1998 murder of Ryan Harris and he was awarded $2 million in a settlement with Chicago officials, Gipson was convicted today by a judge for attempted murder in a separate case.
Gipson, now 19, along with attempted murder, was also convicted of aggravated battery with a firearm and aggravated discharge of a firearm into a vehicle following a bench trial at the Markham courthouse, said Andrew Conklin, a spokesman for the Cook County state's attorney's office.
Cook County Judge Brian K. Flaherty convicted Gipson in a bench trial. Gipson is expected to be sentenced on Aug. 18, Conklin said. Gipson faces six to 30 years in state prison.
Gipson's conviction stems from a 2006 double shooting in south suburban Calumet Park where he was charged as an adult along with his stepbrother, Roman Foreman.
Gipson and Foreman were caught on video surveillance as they approached a parked car at a gas station, then opened fire with handguns, police said. Both men had guns, but Gipson's gun jammed. One of the victims was on a breathing machine as a result of the shooting.
The shooting stemmed from an incident that occurred involving a female in Chicago, officials said.
In 2008 Gipson was arrested on charges of drug possession, aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon and resisting arrest, according to court records. He was also charged in June with aggravated battery to an officer, according to court records. Those cases are pending, according to court records.
In 1998, Gipson, then 7, and another boy, then 8, were accused in the murder of 11-year-old Ryan Harris, making them the youngest murder suspects in the nation at the time.
The girl's body was found in a vacant lot on the South Side. It took almost a month before they were cleared in the killing after tests showed semen on the girl's clothing that could not have come from the children.
DNA tests later led prosecutors to charge Floyd Durr, a convicted sex offender, who pleaded guilty to the girl's murder and was sentenced to life in prison.
A lawsuit filed by Gipson's family against the city of Chicago was settled for $2 million. The other boy received a $6.2 million settlement."

WORLD for a change, I have nothing left to say except we simply MUST do better than this!!!!!