As the Incense Burns 🔥

On this episode... I'm thinking out loud. In the run up to this forthcoming cookbook, something to consider. A cookbook, recipes? Are truly love letters and historical documents, especially when you think of the love and stories shared by way of a meal. This truth has been something that has echoed for me in my role as a genealogist and a chef.

On episode 61, I have the tables turned on me (I usually do the rummaging) as my son rummaged through my literary crates to remix some prose that I dedicated to his Grandfather, my Pops... and published in my first book: From the Water's Edge Volume I (2019). This piece which is entitled: "Taking the Mantle" is a reflection on the notions and the honor of Fatherhood and how our children are truly...

On this episode, I talk about the dangers of bending our knees to idols, false Gods and Charlatans. I also delve into the historical significance of a former President being convicted of a crime; the hold that conspiracy theories hold on some of our fellow humans we attempt to dodge the uncomfortable truths of our inhumanity towards our fellow man being the ugliest conspiracy of them all. Truth be...

On the last day of April 2024, I reflect on this upcoming series called: "Filling of the Cups" and the importance of us being centered on the business of our... humanity with one of my closest friends and the souls who I love the most while this music of my son plays in the background.

A dialogue on the forthcoming cookbook, I guess we can call it the... simmering. The meeting of a culinary trinty of Pescatarian, Vegan and Plant-based juxtaposed with my 3 decades in the act of creating food poetry in the form of recipes. On this episode I'll expand on the poetry or the connectivity of Food, Family and the intersectionality of our humanity, while living life on Earth. Case in poi...

We face uncomfortable truths in the form of the lies that we tell ourselves. The only ones who can save is... is us, but how can we do that when we don't like each other that much? On this episode I reflect on the lessons gifted to me by my Elders before they left for their reward and how that wisdom can serve to lead us to higher elevations with a mandate from my Bigmama that served to echo with...

On this episode, I talk about conspiracies, contradictions, random cruelties and the duality of humanity, while digging in the crates of some old poetry and citing some findings in an article in the journal of the American Psychological Association entitled: The Conspiratorial Mind. Key takeaway... maybe the conspiracy, is us? In that we seem to be in the act of conspiring replace our humanity wit...

Food for the soul or soul food? The communal aspects of food cannot be understated, it is what defines our humanness. On this episode I delve into the poetry of food with a couple readings from some new work: origins of the forthcoming Pescatarian; Plant-based and Vegan themed cookbook (book number three); and a spark from my Paw-Paw with a reminder that beautiful histories are known to repeat, es...

On Episode 50, I take a repreive from the dark places of grief, as I mourn the passing of one of my oldest friends, Stu from the land of the Mighty Mighty Square, my dear brother from another... and I reflect on one of the greatest gifts that we can offer to another person, one that doesn't cost much, but how can you quantify the power of a selfless act of love? Now this is something that we often...

Polawadism is the abbreviation that I came up with for this epiphany of sorts, yes I did, all by myself... it sounds mysterious doesn’t it? There's more, read and listen on. The Poetry Of Living As We Are All Dying In Slow Motion. A simple realization that we will be gone... a lot longer than we are here. It was/is epiphany of sorts, especially when you consider how fleet time seems to feel nowada...

On this episode, I muse out loud about our serial arts of inhumanity, our fealty to lies and how we stand at the precipice... a point of no return. An uncomfortable truth that only WE can save US. It is these thoughts that served to inspire the spoken word/poetry piece at the end of the episode. It is my humble hope... that I am wrong on all counts.

On this episode, I read from some selected passages of a series entitled: Words for Black Boys... from a former one. These assorted reflections on coming of age in Chicago during the 1980's and 1990's and how I contended with the darts of invective from a group of teachers who seemed determined to break my spirit. Being told routinely, that I was a hoodlum in training... at best or a perspective j...

On this episode, I'm thinking out loud about the things that we honor, what we serve and how we abandon our humanity in the pursuit of titles and other shiny trinkets or minimal worth while wondering out loud about those who disowned me for speaking ill of a certain orange fella (that is so weird... what's wrong with y'all) choosing ideology over your humanity? Then I close with some selected read...

I ask the uncomfortable questions in the face of what seems to be the obvious. Humanity excels in the art of being cruel to each other. In the U.S we spend 10 times more on our national defense budget than we do on education, people lean on the fanciful and feeling over facts. I talk about it on this episode and I issue a challenge or a way forward. I challenge us to reflect love... the kind that...

On Episode 49, I discuss how I spent my time on "podcast vacation" outside of the recording booth during the month of July and what I learned on the omnipresent search to be better than my past incarnations. The reality that our legacy will outlive us and that urgency should serve as our fuel, but instead it is an afterthought. There is a lot of reflection on the fickleness of humanity, the rapidi...

On this episode, I lean on some wisdom gifted to me by way of my son, who told me to break patterns and a gem given to me by one of my favorite Authors, my dear sister from another DNA helix, K.E Garland... that is Dr. Garland if you are literary, as she told me to empty my shit (poetry of the auditory). So, I use some musicial freqeuncies created by way of my son, a professional musician.... and...

On this episode, I discuss the filling of cups, the serving of others, the power of affirmations to change our trajectories and how it healed me, as it is apparent that many are abdicating this critical role, but why? I also have readings of freshly scripted poetry, teasers from an eventual Volume III, possibly? The power of lessons gifted in the frequencies of love, metaphors in Star Trek, extend...

On this episode, I'm thinking out loud about what we honor, what we love, what/who we place on pedestals and how we cheat ourselves out of our humanity by way of choosing ideology over facts. It is against this backdrop that the creative process can serve to redeem, because if we stand by and do nothing... all is lost. Aren't we better than that... or not? #mindset #selfcare #healing #writing

On this episode, we take on current events or the poetry of living. The understanding or the acceptance of the inconvenient truths... in the form of telling lies to ourselves because our cowardice won't allow it. We point the finger at others to distract from the crimes of betrayal that we commit against ourselves. Who do we honor and what... does this say about us?

On Episode 44, I take on the notions of love without grace, namely the phenomenon of those... who say they love Jesus, while hating everyone that he said to love. My goal? Is to understand... just who are they... serving? Grab a seat and take a listen or let's hash it out on a walk.

On Episode 43, I'm rolling out a test pilot of historical fiction on the 183rd birthday of my 3rd Great Grandfather Church Tipton, who was born on Valentine's Day in 1840.  Given that I have born witness to so much love by way of my genelaogy efforts, it only makes sense that my esteemed Ancestor was born on a day known for its deference to the notions of love.  In this piece from 2017,...

On Episode 42, I have the incense burning and the waterfall bubbling. I'm thinking out loud about mankind's most consistent trait, along with some accidental, incidental poetry, a reading from my second book; and an esoteric question on the necessity of being our own cheering section, versus being poisoned by the siren song of faux cheers. Come through and grab a listen to the diction... and if I'...

On this episode... the first of 2023. I ask if our propensity for cruelty towards our fellow man is the best that we can do? We offer thoughts and prayers while rejecting their humanity, why even bother? I wonder about the hard truths that we run from, the resolutions that we should make in serving others... on a higher order and a fresh reading of some fresh prose based on current events.

On this this episode, I talk about the poetry of living and the importance... no, the necessity of being our OWN best cheerleader. I also read from my series: Finding the Glorious Ones a narrative called "And they laughed" a reflection on a life lesson gifted to me from my Elders. Now if this episode and podcast echoes for you? I talk about ways that you can help spread the word: sponsorships; buy...

On this episode, I delve into a discussion of the genealogy lean and the beauty of history repeating, especially in families. I am joined by my cousin Anita, one of those souls who comprise my family tree, who I refer to as the Glorious Ones, as we have a winding dialogue on the power of love, the interconnectivity of family, dream work, the ancestors, history, music and food... by the way we cuss...