An Exclusive Interview with Associated Content Producer: David Patrick

Recently I noticed that Dr. Jamie Marable has a host of exclusive interviews with well known and interesting Associated Content producers. That seems to be her niche in this game. But unfortunately, she has not yet contacted me for an interview. (*sigh*). Well I have always been a believer that if it doesn't come to you -- you go and get it. So ladies and gentlemen, allow me to re-introduce myself. I have decided to interview myself and publish it. (Take that Marable!!)

David (as Interviewer) (DAI): David, this is such a privilege to get a chance to have this exclusive interview, I thought you were going to turn me down and interview with that Dr. Marable.

David (as Self) (DAS): Don't mention it.

DAI: Why do you write on Associated Content?

DAS: Well, initially, I just wanted to make some quick cash. But when I found out the cash is not so quick on this thing, I just decided to write because I am a heavily opinionated guy and since no one asks me for my opinion, I can force them to read my articles by disguising them behind interesting article titles and then-- BANG! I got 'em drawn in. Seriously, though-- I do it for the cash.

DAI: How long have you been writing?

DAS: I have been writing a long time. I used to love to write as a kid and in high school. I won lots of awards as a child in the Young Authors Contest in Illinois. I have been known to be quite controversial from a young age. I remember being in the fourth grade and writing for the Young Authors Contest in school. While everyone else was writing about kid things. I wrote a story called, The Diary of Mfunti. It was written as a first person account of an African from the day he was captured in slavery in Africa, taken to America, his life there and how he ended up escaping to freedom. It was really well-written for a fourth grader and I ended up winning in my school, district, county and then I went to the state level, and lost.

DAI: Wow, that's interesting. If you were a...

DAS: You are so rude. I wasn't finished with the last question. Anyway... (geez) in high school I was on the school newspaper but I wanted to quit the paper, but the teacher would not allow me to. So in an effort to get kicked off, I wrote a huge editorial piece for Black History month edition of the paper in the sports section about how Black athletes are superior to White athletes. I just knew that would get me booted. But it was so well-written that at that time that paper became the most widely talked about edition among students and in teacher's classrooms that the my teacher appointed me as editor and gave me a column. It was awful. But admittedly, it was an interesting article.

DAI: Who inspires your writing?

DAS: Interestingly enough, my younger brother is probably one of the best writers I know. Once he gets focused, there won't be many who can touch him.

DAI: If you were a fruit what kind would you be?:

DAS: Huh? That's an odd question. But maybe I would be a banana. Somewhat rough or hard exterior, but once you peel that back I have a softer side. Don't get me wrong, I ain't no punk-- I just care about people. I sometimes watch that show Scrubs, and I laugh when I see the character Dr. Cox because he reminds me a lot of myself. I have gotten a lot better with not being so rough, but my wife thinks I am only making baby steps.

DAI: So you are married? Tell me about your family

DAS: Why are you so nosey? Yes, I am married. As of the this moment I am one month shy of a year married. (Insert applause here). We don't have any kids yet. We are trying to wait a couple years to enjoy each other before we throw a kid into this already complicated mix. My parents recently moved here from the Chicago area where we are originally from and I have 2 sisters and 1 brother. My wife she was born in New York, and we met here in Atlanta. She has 3 sisters.

DAI: Congrats on that almost year. What have you learned so far?

DAS: I learned that you have to be totally committed to this thing if you are going to make it. Marriage is no joke. No matter how well you think you know somebody, you don't truly know them until you get married. My parents have been married just about 30 years and they tell me that they are still discovering things about each other. But I can tell why so many marriages fail. If you are not in it forever and are unselfish- you will not make it. I have adopted a new motto when it comes to marriage and I think I will write an article about it. It goes like this: "You are not ready for marriage until you are willing to be miserable forever."

DAI: That sounds harsh! What do you mean by that?

DAS: I don't mean it the way it sounds. I just mean that people go into marriage thinking that it is going to be all rainbows and skittles all the time, so they are only committed up to that point. But you have to be committed all the way up to the point of being miserable because you are in a covenant agreement. And just when you thought you have reached your limit you have to be willing to go a step or two beyond that and then you are ready for marriage. But ultimately the good times outweigh the bad. And the bad times when handled probably can bring you closer. I think that is one of the reasons I like the traditional vows. You know, "in good times and bad, richer or poorer, sickness and health-- til death do us part." because that is talking about real life. You got people these days writing their owns vows and coming up with all this flowery stuff, like "as long as the wind echoes and our love shines bright." That crap sounds good on wedding day, but then the next month real life begins.

DAI: You don't sound like you like the whole marriage thing...

DAS: Oh no, I love marriage and I love being married to a woman that is my best friend. And it's awesome because you can also have sex with your buddy! (smile) But I get so sick of the fact that people are jumping and out of marriage like they are changing clothes. I think it's a mess. People need to take it more seriously and that is what I was talking about.

DAI: Wow, you seem to be a passionate person

DAS: I am, I am thinking about running for a political office one of these days. Right now I have been researching how the process works. David for President. Yeah right... maybe not that far. You have got to be nuts to want to be president.

DAI: Speaking of president, have you been following the elections? What do you think?

DAS: I have been all over this thing, I am a politics junkie. And I am always watching CNN or something. I think this has been the most interesting election-- at least in my lifetime. And I know you are going to ask so I am going to tell you. Right now I am a Obama supporter. I don't consider myself a Democrat or a Republican but I definitely support him this time around. For many reasons that I don't want to get into right now. I spend a lot of time on each candidates webpage and that votesmart.org is a really awesome site. It has each candidates voting record, what the bill was about in full detail, and the transcripts of every speech ever given by each candidate. I advice people to check it out. I think although the election is close, Senator Obama will win, except if all those registered to vote don't actually vote. Kind of like in the last election. Do you remember those vote or die T-shirts and campaign? That was awful. P-Diddy had all of those spokespeople who weren't even registered to vote. But Obama is a lot of people's hero so maybe they will "rock the vote" this time.

DAI: Is Barack your hero?

DAS: Not yet, not really. But I very much admire the man. He is really a uniter. I can see it. He brings very complicated topics to the table and make them palatable for people. Like racism, abortion. You seem him talk and see people nodding their heads. It's really an amazing ability. He is so good at it that people are accusing him of being the anti-christ, when in actuality, Oprah is the anti-christ. Ha ha, I am only partly joking. Maybe we can get into how I feel about Oprah in another interview. But my heros are people who are able to be successful with integrity. I am generally fascinated with people who make it to the top honorably. My parents are great heros of mine, because they... well they are really great people. I may write an article about them and what I learned from them. But I am look up to Dr. Creflo Dollar. Despite how people bash him in the media, he is a great guy who has a great deal of integrity. I think he handles his name being dragged through the mud with such dignity and grace. I am also a fan of this man who is not very well known. His name is Michael T Smith, he is the pastor of The Church Group Worldwide. www.cjax.com . He has such integrity and character. That is the kind of person I want to be.

DAI: Why don't you think Dr. Jamie Marable didn't choose you for an interview?

DAS: She must not like me. You know, this Associated Content is one big popularity contest. Frankly, I am not sure that she has even read any of my articles. She goes after the big fish. You gotta have like a million page views for her to even look your way. I am only half joking. I am sure that she interviews people that she finds fascinating, or that everyone else finds fascinating because of how many subscribers they have. It's the American way, right. The whole bandwagon phenom. For instance, on youtube there is this guy who's page is called sxephil. I accidentally rolled up on his page one day, and I think he is brilliant. And so do others. Now, on his page, if there is ever a time that he mentions someone else's youtube page in his videos then that person immediately gets like twenty thousand subscibers. It blows my mind. One time I submitted a video response to one of his videos and I got one thousand views within hours. He's got that Oprah touch. But that's the way of the world. So I will allow nobody but Dr. Marable the next interview.... because I want her to make me a star.

DAI: One last question... explain your motto, "Live Intentionally, Die Empty"

DAS: I came up with that motto because I told you earlier that I am fascinated by people who are successful and do it on purpose and can keep it going. I believe that there are things that the successful do every time that the mediocre just don't practice. I believe in living life on purpose and with a purpose. But one thing that I notice that many "successful" people fail to do is share that information. I think that is a tragedy. I remember reaching out to some people and never getting a response back from them. Every one should have a mentor and a mentee. Someone to pass the love onto. That is the Die Empty part. You live intentionally, but you Die Empty by imparting all your wisdom on to another person. It's the best life. Like Jesus. He lived that motto and years later we are still learning from his wisdom.

DAI: Great motto, do you have anything against Dr. Marable?

DAS: Are you trying to start a Associated Content beef? Of course not! I am sure she is a stand up human being. Although if when Jamie reads this she wants to start a fake Associated Content fight, I am all for it. Kanye West and 50 Cent did it and it drove records sales up. Remember I am in this thing for the money.

DAI: Thanks for the interview David, you've been great.

DAS: Thank you