As a kid, I can remember having mixed feelings about Devil's Night (the night before Halloween in Detroit ... look it up).

It was right around the time of my birthday, so I usually kept the birthday celebration going -- through Devil's Night, Oct. 30, and then Halloween, Oct. 31.

So, when I had the chance to write my latest short novel, I had a real event that provided the perfect setting for a story about adversity, love, pain, race, violence and more.

I developed "They Still Call it Devil's Night" with that, and so much more, in mind.

Check out my latest short novel (I am saving the longer, better ones for the possibility of traditional publishing (it could be a long shot, but I am gong to hang onto that hope).

Antonin Scalia

Saturday night, I heard about the death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Immediately, a thought came to my mind: How soon would it be before the sides started to jockey for political positioning.

Well, it did not take long. The death of Justice Scalia has major stakes, politically speaking. While the sides balance sympathy for the Scalia family, it was all too inevitable that the sides (liberal and conservative, alike) would begin to battle.

But, honestly, the idea that replacing Justice Scalia should wait until there's a new president, nearly 11 months from now, is ridiculous. Join us in reality, here.

Honestly, though, people need to straight-up chill. The man just passed away and both sides are already fighting about a replacement that has not even be announced. But, in this day of hyper partisanship, should we really be all that surprised?

I was not and am not surprised.

No one should be surprised.

This, "It Felt Good at the Time," was one of those novels I really enjoyed writing. It's part of a series of stories I've written on taboo-type relationships with an emphasis on the consequences of the choices that people make.

Consider checking it out on Amazon.com. It will have periods when it is available for free. When it is available for purchase, however, the price is relatively nominal.

Read more about it, here.

In social media, everybody has a opinion and multiple platforms on which they can express that opinion.

Now, I will argue with you on Twitter.

Facebook, however ... I tend to avoid arguments on Facebook. Now, I will not run away from a FB debate if someone starts one with me.

But, a few years ago (actually, more like six, seven, eight years) I was one of those people who would start and finish debates (some might call them arguments) on Facebook.

In the process, I had lost some Facebook "friends" in the heat of battle. Some of them are no big loss. If you can't have a reasonable difference of opinion, without someone unfriending you, then maybe you were not good friends in the first place.

Facebook is where a lot of people come for lighter conversations (not all people but an increasing number of people). It's to the point, now, where you see someone bring up something political and you scroll down your news feed a little faster.

These days, that's my approach.

Politically speaking, I've discovered that my friends tend to be split almost right down the middle between conservative and liberal. So, if I post something political there's like a 50/50 chance I'll piss someone off. In my younger days, I would have had fun with it. Being older, I find such arguments not as worth it (at least on Facebook).

Yeah, Facebook is more for the soft stuff these days: family photos, photos of your dinner, quotes from famous people, conversations with kids, sports, etc.

Most of my Facebook friends leave the hardcore political stuff alone. There are exceptions to the rule, but they are just that ... exceptions.

Twitter is a different story and a different platform.

Bring on the Twitter debate.

I'll largely punt on the Facebook debate. Even when you win, you sometimes lose.

How many times have you had an electronic conversation (such as email or some sort of online chat function) with someone and left somewhere between annoyed and pissed off?

OK, how about we break it down a little more? How many times have you had a conversation with a person who had a good point, but made the point in a way that flat pissed you off.

Raise your hand. OK. OK. OK. It's impossible for me to see with all of the hands I would imagine are in the air at this very moment.

Sometimes, we kick a certain type of etiquette clean to the curb like an NFL placekicker on most kickoffs.

This is where the smart ones among us are successful. They are successful where others fail because of their ability to deliver an effective message.

Your message will become pointless if you deliver it with a tone that is: angry, condescending, hypocritical, unnecessarily harsh, etc. Instead, phrase your message in a positive way -- even if you may be frustrated for one reason or another. It's impossible to read body language in an email. So, the non-verbals that are readable in conversation have little to no value.

So, keep that in mind.

BUT, if you absolutely have to be negative, frame it in a soft way. Don't come out blasting at the end of the electronic message. And, try not to end it with a negative. But, especially avoid beginning the email with hardcore negativity. Chances are, the rest of your message will be lost in the eyes, head and heart of a pissed-off reader.

A word to the wise (and, in some cases not so wise). When it doubt, take a soft approach. You'll win greater support than by being a jerk.

This is a novel that I have written in the last year, "Playing the Player." It is available as an e-book on Amazon.com.

This isn't the best novel I've ever written, but it was a fun one to write because of the topics that it touches upon: online dating horror stories, interracial dating and a horrifying act that leads to a novel-defining revenge.

Drawing the characters was fun for me. Creating and developing characters is always one of the best parts of writing a novel.

I've included the book cover for your visual pleasure.

Visit Amazon.com to purchase "Playing the Player" as an e-book.

I've long been a fan of Spike Lee movies. Now, in that time, I've seen some of Spike's movies that are great (Malcolm X and Do The Right Thing) and some ones that, to me, were not so good (Red Hook Summer). I've also watched some underrated films, by Spike (Get on the Bus and School Daze).

That all being said, I look forward to seeing the movie Chiraq. Obviously, the title is provocative. But, I look forward to absorbing the actual messages within the film that many of Spike's movies feature.

As I was taking advantage of my Amazon Prime account, the movie popped up as a pay film. Apparently, I will be able to watch it as part of my subscription next month. I am willing to wait a month, but I look forward to seeing it.

Movies with this level of controversy make me even more interested -- especially when it comes to Spike Lee movies. A lightning rod for controversy throughout his career, Spike knows how to generate some hype -- intentionally or unintentionally -- for his projects.

Many times, you hear people talk about the bad relationship situations the find themselves in at times in their life.

Are bad relationships a matter of circumstances? Or, are bad relationships the product of our own bad decisions?

As I've stated on this blog, in the past, I often read and watch people with views that run counter to my own views.

In this case, I watched a video of Umar Johnson as he speaks on interracial dating and interracial marriage. Certainly, I do not agree with the sweeping generalizations of people who find love outside of their race. I concede, however, that race is of paramount importance to a great many people.

Maybe more people should marry outside of their race. Perhaps if more people married outside of their race, and we lived more as one, we would have less worry about polarizing racial discussions.

We should encourage more interracial dating ... not less.

Dating outside of your race does not make you less down for a cause. Such talk is utter nonsense. We, as people, have to break down self-imposed barriers to collaboration and empowerment. Empowerment is not as simple as house slaves vs. field slaves. Empowerment is about discovering what brings us closer rather than what divides us further apart.

I must admit, I've thought about the point that actor Wendell Pierce makes in this Twitter comment he posted on Nov. 22. It is thought provoking to say the very least.

Would that many black males joining the National Rifle Association change perceptions for better or for worse?

It's, of course, difficult to say, but I have little doubt it would generate some discomfort.

I'm not even gonna lie to you ... I'm part of the Amber Rose fan club. (Full disclosure: If she has a real fan club, I am not a part of that  ... although I would welcome such an opportunity if fan clubs are still a thing).

Amber has the obvious physical sex appeal. It helps her garner a lot of attention. Unfortunately, some people get so caught up on her physical attributes that they miss the bigger and more important points that she makes.

Recently, I've had some differing experiences in the way of customer service.

Oh, when I say customer service that is not to necessarily strongly apply the old saying, "The customer is always right." Because, quite honestly, that is not always true -- taken literally. What that saying really means is that it is better to keep the customer happy even if the customer might be clueless, rude, etc.

Now, a happy customer can often be a returning customer. I thought of this the other day when I visited a fast food restaurant. Full disclosure: I've made a concerted effort to avoid fast food (for financial and health reasons). On this night, however, I had neither the desire nor the energy to come home to make food.

The cashier who took my order could not have messed it up worse if it had been his goal in life. He was somewhat aloof. The person who brought my order saw the confusion on my face when she told me what was in the bag. I ordered four items and the cashier got one right. That won't even get you in the Baseball Hall of Fame as a hitter (although, I suppose it could make you a lot of money).

Anyway, the lady who brought the food offered to fix it, but I was in a hurry and said I would take it, and not to worry about it. So, while the guy got the order wrong, her willingness to fix it, had that been my desire, made the experience a bit less unpleasant.

So, in customer service, here are some things to consider.

• Be clear up front with a customer. If you get it right in the beginning then you don't have to worry about a complaint in the end.
• An angry customer might not express his/her frustration to your face, but might instead use a more powerful tool: social media. Don't let it get there, if at all possible.
• Be nice.
• Make better than the minimum effort.
• Work hard.
• Be professional.
• Always treat people at least a little better than they treat you.

Good customers are returning customers. While the customer may not always be right, it's oftentimes better to do what is reasonable to keep a customer happy and returning. Granted, some customers are jerks and this is not always possible. So, pick your battles. It's possible you may not want a jerk-of-a-customer back.

These days, in customer service, you never know when someone is recording you on a smart phone. You don't want to be on the ugly end of one of those videos viewed tens or hundreds of thousands of times.

This is from one of my conservative Facebook friends.

Oh, to read some of the comments attached to the original post. We do not live in the same world with some of these people.

Needless to say, the evidence was pretty flimsy.

Online dating is how a lot of dating is done now and, almost undoubtedly, how dating will be done in the future.

Sure, people are busy. Some people are even busier than others. Even some people who participate in online dating are too busy for the new-wave,cyber dating process.

But, do not let your desire for meeting your match rush you into one of these online dating con jobs that looks too good to be true. Because, in all honesty, if it looks too good to be true ... it probably is too good to be true.

Newbies can easily be suckered. Here's one that I remember: A beautiful woman from Russia, her English is a little broken, she becomes quickly enamored, and she soon wants to progress things to off the dating website. It's not long before she is trying to shake you down for some money so that you all can meet and your mutual dreams of a perfect relationship can turn into reality.

Here's another one. You hear from this woman who has one spectacular photo. In the back of your mind you're thinking, "Damn." She lets you know that if you provide her your email address and/or phone number then she can share a few more photos with you. You get offline and then she tells you that you can see her on her pay website (yes, one of those websites). All you need to do is have a credit card and you can talk to her all you want.

Come on,now. You have to approach online dating like a boxer: Keep your guard up and protect yourself at all times. Let your guard down and they'll drop you like a bad habit.

I did an online search of people scammed as a result of online dating. It is chilling. tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars have been lost by people.

So, what can you do?

Here are a few tips:

If it looks too good to be true ... it probably is too good to be true.

• If they quickly try to take you off the website (trying to get your personal email address or phone number), it's probably a scam.
• They drop on you that they're actually from a foreign country. I've seen Russia, the Philippines and Nigeria.
• If you're over 50 and a hot girl in her 20s seems strangely interested, don't fall for it, bruh.
• They cater to your ego (they skim your profile and try to hit on things they think that you want to hear, and do it a little too well).
• The conversation is superficial and they make excuses about meeting in person.
• Or, they want to meet too soon and it feels unnaturally rushed.

Play it smart and play it safe. Take your time to be sure you've discovered your true match.

I've noticed a growing trend among people in the so-called black community to attack a certain type of person with which they have disagreement.

What I've noticed is an increase in the use of the slur "coon" to attack black people who hold a certain type of view on particular political and social issues.

So, I see "coon" used in a couple of different ways. But, before we get to that, let me start with the word's definition. It's a derogatory term (obviously) used to attack black people who are perceived to be against the interests of the majority of black people. It is sometimes, for example, used to attack black conservatives. More recently, it has been used to attack black people who do not do everything humanly possibly to serve the interests of black people as perceived by the "conscious" and "scholarly" black community leaders.

"Coon" is a dangerous and ugly term. What I find particularly ironic is that most of the people who use it are the same ones who call for black unity. Is this to say that we can only be united if we agree on 100 percent of the issues? If so, this seems like a nonstarter to true collaboration.

People have to be able to come together to solve issues. However, it seems counter intuitive to the true spirit of collaboration when some are deemed "coons" basically because they do not agree on every single issue.

Next time you see someone call another person a "coon" you should ask a few questions:

• What do they really mean?
• Is the slur based on a true large body of evidence, one incident, a few incidents?
• Is it used to create dialogue, to call attention to something significant, or is it a petty and one-dimensional ad hominem attack designed to hurt?
• Does the person attacked have a reasonable position?
• Is it done because the person using the slur lacks the ability to articulate a coherent and reasonable counterpoint?

I believe "coon" is an ugly slur that needs to largely be put to bed.

Think before you slur.

For the life of me, I will never understand the thrill of Black Friday shopping. Maybe I should research the genesis of Black Friday madness. Whoever came up with this concept should be both saluted for brilliance and cursed for the madness created as a result of this shopping holiday.

I thought of this as a New York Daily News article popped up in front of me on a social media channel. The article details fighting, wrestling and other foolishness as fools be fools. Whether it's toys, clothes, Air Jordans, video games, or whatever -- fools spending money they likely don't really have is epidemic.

My first memory of shopping foolishness was way back in the mid-1980s when people were losing their minds over purchasing Cabbage Patch Kids dolls.


Yeah, interesting memories. It probably doesn't feel quite as good to look at it 30 years later.

Skip Black Friday. Shop with sense and avoid fighting over toys and other items. It's really not that important, folks.

This a video that I found to be quite interesting. This is one of those classic segments on a news program where someone comes out to cook and demonstrate a recipe. These segments pop up this time of the year during Thanksgiving and perhaps Christmas.

The recipe, in this case, is for peach cobbler (one of your blogger's favorites). During the course of the segment, with a black cook and a biracial child, host Brian Kilmeade inexplicably asks the woman about making Kool-Aid. For those of you wondering why this is significant: Kool-Aid is a drink stereotypical, in the eyes of some people, for black people. I'm pretty sure people of other races and ethnicities drink it, too, but that's not the main point.

It was quite the "What were you thinking?" awkward moment, to say the least.

The question is: Was it asked on purpose, with malice, or was it asked based on sheer ignorance?

President Barack Obama

I doubt that anyone, even the most loyal fans of President Obama, will tell you that he has been what you would consider a perfect president. Of course, have we ever had a perfect president in the history of our union? Think about that and let me know, seriously.

I started to think about that as I read a CNN analysis piece that focused on race relations worsening during the Obama presidency. This headline, of course, popped up in my Facebook news feed (along with probably items from the hundreds of pages I have come to "like" during my time with a profile on the social media giant.

I digress.

Have race relations worsened under Barack Obama's presidency? A majority of those surveyed (CNN and Kaiser Family Foundation polling) said, "yes" -- rather emphatically so.

I get why some would feel this way. So, the poll suggested that "racial strife" is getting worse. Poll results further indicated that tensions among Americans of different ethnic/racial groups has increased. About 64 percent of Americans believe this to be true, including 67 percent of whites, 65 percent of blacks and 55 percent of Latinos.

Is it worse? I can appreciate how some people would see it that way. The real question is: Why is it worse (if that is what you believe)?

I do not believe it is worse. I believe that it is simply been brought from the closet to the front porch. Regardless of how you feel, the sentiments of the Tea Party and Black Lives Matter (not necessarily to equate the two, but to make a bigger point) were always there. Certain incidents, however, opened the door for individuals affiliated with these two movements to become more activist and vocal. For the Tea Party, you could argue it was the election of Barack Obama, the first black president. For Black Lives Matter, it appears to be incidents involving black people and the police.

The growing power of social media and video have given certain movements more power than they could have had in even the 1980s.

But, none of this is about Barack Obama. Feel free to try and ultimately fail to link it to the Obama presidency.

The headline of the article I linked, above, asks an important question about who will be blamed for race relations in the post-Obama era. It's a good question, indeed. Because, if you're foolish enough to believe racial issues will vanish once Obama leaves the presidency, then you were probably foolish enough to believe it started the day he became a viable presidential candidate and after he took office.

As Billy Joel once famously sang, "We didn't start the fire. It was always burning since the world's been turning ... No, we didn't light it though we tried to fight it."

Once, blogging was all about what you may be reading right here. You go to a free blog site and you start to type away to express your opinions.

Well, that was what I did years ago. While, I would imagine the blogging world has no shortage of men and women who still express their views, this way, I do also enjoy the video bloggers. Actually, I don't always agree with everyone I watch (or read). In fact, I often read/watch people I do not agree with to better understand the other side of the argument.

I do wonder about the value of the video blog, as I look toward the future. On the other hand, to me, there's nothing like sitting here and writing my blog in what I guess you might begin to call the old-school way.

Old-school as it may be, it's still comfortable for me. I'll blog on, here.

One day, however, I might take on that video blogger deal (some of them call themselves "YouTubers")... one day.

What must be going through the mind of that celebrated "patriot" Cliven Bundy?

Bundy, and the "outside agitators" or "out-of-town" people who supported him were celebrated as patriots standing up for rights against an oppressive government.

Now, fast forward to the current situation in Ferguson, Mo. These individuals, for some reason, are not be hailed as patriots for their protests in the wake of the shooting of Michael Brown.

They're being called thugs, out-of-town agitators, race hustlers, race baiters, hooligans, criminals, outside agitators and ... well ... you get the picture.

Interesting how are perspective changes as we look through the prism of our biases.

Check out Salon.com for a perspective.

Take a look at the photo and think of the response in Ferguson when police heard that some people might be armed among protesters.

#Ferguson