I really don't know who started this whole interview thing, but what I do know is that somebody interviewed TDot, and then my Duck asked her to interview...her, and then my brother asked for one, and of course I had to get in the mix. And now TDot has fired off like 18 sets of questions.

Ready? HHeeeeeerrrrrreeeeeee we go:

1. How did you know your wife was the one?

Remember The Last Dragon? When Sho'nuff was dunking Leroy's head in the water and kept asking him "Who's the Master?" And then when he thought about he realized just WHO the master was? Kinda like that. One day (can't pinpoint) I was just thinking about the future and what not, and in my 10-years-down-the-line vision, she was there. That's when I realized that even though I wasn't necessarily ready to get married yet, that I would spend the rest of my life with her. I actually had two such moments. In our EARLY days of dating, we had a phase when we would talk on the phone first thing in the morning. Like 7:00am. Whenever we said we were getting up after talking the night before. Anyway, one morning we were talking and all of a sudden I just realized that this was no longer "the woman who I was dating", but my girlfriend. We had dinner that night, and I told her "I realized something this morning. You're my girlfriend." She was silent for a few moments, and finally said "I accept." Or something to that effect. We talk about that conversation often.

Give us details on your most embarrassing moment.

Most of my most embarrassing moments come from my name being mispronounced. When I was in high school, nine out of ten times it was said over the intercom, it was butchered. Forget that. Every time. The WORST time was not during high school, but college. Graduation. Florida A & M University. Tallahassee, Florida. Leon County Civic Center. May 1998. I'm standing there at the edge of the stage, shoulders back, head high. The chick reading names hesitated briefly, and then spit it out. My head dropped. My shoulders all but hunched over, and I slumped across the stage. Sigh.

What is your theme song and why?

I think I have a few:
If you ask my Wife, Simply Beautiful by Al Green. It was our first song at the wedding, by my request. This has been one of my favorite songs for at least the last 10 yrs.
If you ask my Mother, The Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding. It's always been one of my favorites, and we both love Otis.
If you ask my friend L, The Soul Glow Song from Coming to America. That's his ringtone for me, and he cracks up EVERY TIME he hears it.
Um, I've always had a thing for Soul Man, by Sam and Dave. (Obvious reasons.)
Lately, I've had Ledisi's rendition of In a Sentimental Mood on repeat. Powerful stuff.

If you couldn't do your current job, what would you be doing for a living?

If I couldn't do this? Oh, I'd be a ssaaaaaadddddd case. You see, what I'm doing now is really thing I'm best at, I'd say. I'm an IT Consultant/Project Manager. I help people with problems make stuff better. I even do that kind of stuff outside of work. I have friends calling me for informal consultative advice and such. I think it matches my mindset very well. If I couldn't "consult" in some shape, form, or fashion? I suppose I'd probably go into some sort of sales job. The thing is that it's have to be something I actually believed in. Promoting something you don't believe in is worse that doing something you don't want to do. I sometimes think I could have been a pretty good doctor, but I don't savor dealing with...other people's private lives.

You're writing a letter to your 18 year old self. What advice do you give him?

Let's see. 18. On my 18th birthday, I was about to start my second year of college. I'd tell that dude that it's okay to do things the easy way. I have this chronic habit of "NOT doing something just because everyone else is doing it, and you know what'll happen and you know it'll turn out okay." I find that to be a bit boring and not very adventurous. The thing is, the road less traveled is a lot rougher and much more treacherous. I'll tell that 18-yr-old to go with the more obvious route sometimes. Sure, getting there is half the fun, but if when you get there you're broke and tired and beat-down, was the trip worth it?

Thanks, TDot!!!

Know What I'm Sayin'??