Season of the Locusts

Miss Missy

2008-05-02T09:31:00.001-04:00

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Fill in, One Repair

2008-04-29T08:28:00.004-04:00

So...I go to get my nails done yesterday. I'm broke as a joke, but my hands needed help. I was overdue for a fill-in and had a broken/jagged nail. The manager guy, aka Head Master sent me to this girl...a rather new chick. I've been getting my nails done at that particular place for the past year & a half and she just started a couple months ago. I usually have my fav people there or if I don't know the person, I'm not open to going to them for my nails. But I didn't argue with the mgr when he sent me to her (I could have requested someone else if I preferred)...

So, chick is doing my nails and I decide that I'd like one of her nail decorations instead of my usual marble design:

I had this nice, green color that I envisioned on my hands. I purchased it myself and took it into the nail salon:

When I told her which nail art design I wanted, she asked if I wanted 2 or 10. Ten nails of that particular design (a painted on flower with squiggly lines & dots) would be tacky as hell...and I told her. I just wanted two fingers--both pointer fingers, then full color on the others. She said..."half nail...half nail is byootifool". I thought...heh, yeah, sure, let's do half. So, I let her talk me into doing a half nail. Fast foward to when she was about to actually paint my nails. I tried to back out and say I didn't want half. Well, I did, actually, and she replied with another, "Aww, but half nail is byootifool". I let her do it. It was all uneven and her idea of half was more like 1/4 of green on each nail. She put the design on the two fingers, then got up for something...when she came back, I told her that I didn't want to debate the matter anymore and that I HATED the half green on my nails. *sniff....sniff* Do I detect attitude in this chick? She pursed her lips and took a deep sigh. I went on to say that I'm the customer, so I thought...and it's about what I want on my nails, not about what you think is "byootifool". I'm the one who has to look at this for the next 2 weeks. She says "okay, okay..." So she reluctantly takes off my "half" nails. She apparently injured herself while working on the person before me, so the polish remover was burning her. Serves the cunt right. While she's doing it, she's still giving lip saying that it would look so much better with a half nail. I told her I've had half nail designs before, but this particular time, I want whole nail. Why the hell am I still arguing with this chick?
While she's polishing my whole nails, she first says, "Okay?" I said..."it's what I've been asking since I've been here, so yes, okay." She then concurs that it looks nice.
So, I've already decided that I don't ever want her to touch my nails again. I don't want her to so much as glance at my hands when I walk in the door. I will be telling the manager next time he tries to send me to her, too. She asks for my name...I said "my name is Nikki"...she says, "Monkey???" I said..."NO, Nikki". she laughed and said "ohhhh". So, we're done with my nails and I went to get my upper lip waxed. Yes, my upper lip, gotta problem with that? LOL! While doing so, she starts tinkering with my eyebrow and says, "I do eyebrow for you"--I guess to make up for my being upset earlier. Whatever. Like I said, you better not even glance at my hands the next time I walk in that door. Kelly.

Congratulations...It's a GIRL!!!

2008-04-12T17:55:00.005-04:00

So, after a week-long search, I finally found her. I had been scouring Petfinders.com and Craigslist until I finally found the perfect pup!

Her name is Missy. She's adoooorrrrrable!! A bouncing bundle of joy!

Problem is...my cats are giving me the gasface. It's going to take a minute for them to adjust and welcome her into their lives. She's dying to play with them, though...but they're not ready. They're pretty much in WTF mode. Like this:

But she's soooooooo cute! They'll get used to it. How can they resist this??

Miami here I come!

2008-03-26T10:26:00.005-04:00

Oh yes. Memorial Day Weekend.

This is the year of turning 30. My girl's birthday is in May and we're doing it big in the MIA. I've only been to Miami once and that was just to board my cruise ship. This time, I'll have the chance to hit the streets.

Coincidentally, I've started watching CSI: Miami and...LOVE IT!! I watched it one night a couple months ago and have really gotten into it.

Anyway, we'll be staying at the Savoy Hotel right on Ocean Drive.

Just last week, MTV Jams was celebrating "MIA Week" and were showing videos from the major Miami players:

DJ "We Da Best" Khaled

Rick "Can't Understand Too Much of What He's Saying" Ross

Katrina LaVerne

Pitbull

Trick "Luh da Kids" Daddy

The producing team, Cool & Dre

and then by association, we can't forget:

Fat Joe

Lil Wayne aka Weezy F. Baby (Please say the Baby)

I actually like all of them together. DJ Khaled hasn't missed with me, yet. He manages to make T-Pain and Akon tolerable. One of my favorites is We Takin Over

I'm So Hood was nice and the remix is nicer

Anyway, I can't wait! I'm hoping to meet up with my internet partner in all kinds of crime, Q

HOW could I forget to mention the place that everybody's been talking about. I've heard so much about this place from far & wide...especially about the "Call a Cab" joint. Wet Willie's is apparently the place to be.

And I will be there..."Callin a Cab" and everything.

The Fine & The Furious

2008-03-25T15:43:00.005-04:00

Can we please focus on the fineness of this man here:

Laz Alonso is a little more than a breakthrough actor. He's actually been around for a minute. He's finally getting more of a variety of roles and more big screen films. I have to be honest, some of his past credits have included some rather D-List and straight-to-dvd/low-budget flicks.

BUT, let's first talk about his most popular works...my favorites, anyway:

Jarhead where he played Scout Sniper Escobar

This Christmas where he played Malcolm Moore, alongside Regina King

Stomp the Yard where he played Zeke, leader of the Mu's

Those are the important ones. As you can tell from his IMDB page , he's been in quite a bit of movies/shows. He first came on the scene in 2000 via BET (when it was relevant), hosting a couple of shows on there (NYLA & AM @ BET). Some of his other works include bit parts on shows such as CSI: Miami, NCIS, Bones, The Practice, Entourage and more.

He was in (Lord Help) Leprechaun: Back 2 the Hood (Rory)

Captivity

I shouldn't even put this up here because it gets a serious "WTF", but this is from some movie called Bunnywhipped

So, his upcoming projects sound promising. He's starring in a Spike Lee Joint, Miracle at St. Anna which is a film based on four Black Buffalo Soldiers in the WWII. The movie is based on a novel by James McBride. The movie is set to be released sometime later this year--October or November.

He's also slated to be in a futuristic flick by James Cameron: Avatar which is scheduled to be released in December of 2009.

He's alongside some pretty big names in both of those. Another one to look foward to is The Fast & The Furious 4 with Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Michelle Rodriquez.

Though this was a horrible movie, he did get alot of facetime.

G had Richard T. Jones, Blair Underwood, Laz Alonso and Chenoa Maxwell...an unknown with a really short IMDB.com resume. It came out in 2005, but featured some very amatuerish acting by Jones, Underwood (a big WTF for him) AND Alonso. I delved into the center of Blockbuster--you know, the movies that nobody rents anymore-- to find G and now, it's being played on Showtime everytime I look up. I don't have Showtime, thank goodness. Jarhead gets alot of airtime on Cinemax, though, so I'm happier with that tradeoff.

This just in...another straight to DVD flick of his, Divine Intervention, was released today. I'd actually pick this up.

Yes, I will be picking that up today.

I won't get into some of the other films in his filmography, you can check out the
IMDB for that. Most of them hurt my soul, but hey, it's money and he's gotta get a start somewhere, right? Be sure to keep an eye out when you're seeing previews for the movies mentioned above (Avatar, Fast & Furious 4, Miracle at St. Anna). It appears that he's picking up more interesting and relevant roles (not the straight-to-dvd and typecast ones) and I'm sure he'll execute them well.

It's Goin Downnnn

2008-03-25T08:42:00.003-04:00

Detroit City. Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. Carlita Kilpatrick. Christine Beatty. Kym Worthy.

Those are the major players in the news right now. Well, not necessarily Carlita, but my heart goes out to her.

An ongoing investigation has been going on now, regarding the "Urban Legend" Manoogian Mansion party, the stripper, Carlita going after the stripper with a bat, the stripper ending up dead in another state, the Mayor sleeping with Christine, the whole "Sex Text" drama, the firing of the two police officers and the whistleblower case, lying on the stand, lying to the city, using tax payers' dollars to pay off the officers, the random trips, the North Carolina resort with a woman that was neither wifey OR Christine, the entourage, I could go on and on.

Yesterday, both Mayor Kilpatrick and Christine, his former Chief of Staff, were charged with 12 counts of Perjury, Obstruction, and Misconduct.

From ClickonDetroit.com :

In all, Kilpatrick faces the following charges: conspiracy to obstruct justice, obstruction of justice, misconduct in office, perjury in a court proceeding and two counts of perjury other than in a court proceeding.

Beatty is charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice, obstruction of justice, two counts of perjury in a court proceeding and two counts of perjury other than in a court proceeding

So basically, as the Mayor wasn't already in deep shit over this whole ordeal, the shit has really hit the fan now. I've tried to stand behind him, but wrong is just wrong. Dubbed as the "Hip Hop Mayor", he has really taken that lil title and run with it. The guy takes pride in "coming from the streets of Detroit" and he runs around the city like a rapper, complete with big, black Escalades and an entourage that could rival 50 Cent and his G-Unit. He has done good things for the city throughout his time here: The 2005 All Star Game, the 2006 Super Bowl, the 2009 NCAA games, housing developments throughout the city, park renovations/playscapes, somewhat better police protection (a project that's getting on the ground now), Casino developments, the new Riverwalk and its corresponding activities/businesses, the "Motor City Makeover" spring cleaning event, there are many other things that are escaping me at this moment.

The biggest issue isn't about him sleeping with Christine--although that's wrong as all hell, that's between him, God and his family. The issue, which alot of people are missing, is allegedly conspiring to fire those two officers. I'm not well versed on their whole deal, but I do know that it's been ongoing and pretty deep...and ugly. That and the lying on the stand. That's just not good, especially as a political figure and leader of a major city like Detroit. People actually look up to him and believed in him and I feel that he has given Detroit a big, black eye.

Aside from all that, I've always been extremely disappointed in Christine Beatty.

Come on sista, seriously? You're just going to play another woman like that?

Sleeping with her husband...her city-leading husband? Not just another woman, but your sista...your Sorority sister? Oh yes, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

I mean, I know trife lurks everywhere, but I mean come on Christine, have some respect. If not for Carlita, if not for DST, if not for your kids, your parents, your fellow citizens of Detroit, have some for yourself. Now, you're "devestated" and calling your Pastor to speak for you after booking. Now, you're looking "tired" and "exhausted".

Yeah, I'm sorry, but I don't have much sympathy for you.

In closing, here is an AP article from wxyz.com that pretty much better explains everything I tried to explain above:

DETROIT (AP) - Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was charged with perjury and other offenses Monday - and got a stern lecture about the importance of telling the truth - after a trove of raunchy text messages contradicted his sworn denials of an affair with his chief aide.

The 37-year-old "Hip-Hop Mayor" who brought youth and vitality to the job in this struggling city of 900,000 could get up to 15 years in prison for perjury alone and would be automatically expelled from office if convicted.

Ignoring mounting demands that he step down, Kilpatrick said: "I look forward to complete exoneration once all the facts have been brought forth. I will remain focused on moving this city forward."

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy brought charges of perjury, conspiracy, obstruction of justice and misconduct against the popular but polarizing mayor. In announcing the charges, she delivered something of a civics lesson on the importance of telling the truth under oath.

"Some have suggested that the issues in this case are personal or private," said Worthy, a Democrat like the mayor. "Our investigation has clearly shown that public dollars were used, people's lives were ruined, the justice system severely mocked and the public trust trampled on."

She added: "This case is about as far from being a private matter as one can get."

Kilpatrick turned himself in for booking about 5 p.m. at a Wayne County Sheriff's Department office in Westland, just outside Detroit.

His former chief of staff, Christine Beatty, 37, who also denied under oath that she and Kilpatrick had an intimate relationship in 2002 and 2003, was charged with many of the same offenses. Beatty turned herself in for booking earlier in the afternoon.

Both were fingerprinted and photographed, sheriff's spokesman John Roach said.

Kilpatrick and Beatty are scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday. No trial date has been set.

Mayer Morganroth, Beatty's attorney, said Worthy's comments were full of "assertions and conjecture."

"I was sort of stunned by the prosecutor laying out the charges in the way that she did," he said, noting Beatty's right to a fair and unbiased trial. "It sounded more like a closing argument to a jury.

"We have full confidence she will be exonerated."

The charges could be the beginning of the end of Kilpatrick's six-year career as the youngest man elected mayor of Detroit, one of America's largest and most troubled cities, with deeply entrenched poverty made worse by the downturn in the auto industry.

The mayor's lawyer, Dan Webb, said forcing Kilpatrick to resign now would punish him before he has had his day in court.

Worthy began her investigation in late January, the day after the Detroit Free Press published excerpts from 14,000 text messages that were sent or received in 2002-03 from Beatty's city-issued pager.

The messages called into question testimony Kilpatrick and Beatty gave in a lawsuit filed by two police officers who alleged they were fired for investigating claims that the mayor used his security unit to cover up extramarital affairs.

In court, Kilpatrick and Beatty strongly denied having an intimate relationship, but the text messages reveal that they carried on a flirty, sometimes sexually explicit dialogue about where to meet and how to conceal their trysts.

Kilpatrick is married with three children. Beatty was married at the time and has two children.

The city eventually agreed to pay $8.4 million to the two officers and a third former officer. Some of the charges brought against the mayor on Monday accuse him of agreeing to the settlement in an effort to keep the text messages from becoming public.

"I'm madly in love with you," Kilpatrick wrote on Oct. 3, 2002.

"I hope you feel that way for a long time," Beatty replied. "In case you haven't noticed, I am madly in love with you, too!"

On Oct. 16, 2002, Kilpatrick wrote: "I've been dreaming all day about having you all to myself for 3 days. Relaxing, laughing, talking, sleeping and making love."

All of the charges against the mayor are felonies. Under the city charter, a felony conviction would mean the mayor's immediate expulsion.

In announcing the charges, Worthy delivered a 14-minute lecture on the oath that all the witnesses take, and how the criminal justice system relies on people to tell the truth. "Even children understand that lying is wrong," she said.

"If a witness lies, innocent people can go to jail or prison, people can literally get away with murder, civil litigants who deserve money may not get it or may get money they don't deserve," she said. "And lying cannot be tolerated even if a judge or jury sees through it."

She also said the investigation was ongoing and other people could be charged. She said she has had conversations with the U.S. attorney, but would not elaborate.

The City Council asked Kilpatrick to step down last week, but he refused, and the council has no authority to remove him in the meantime.

Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, a Democrat, has the power to remove local officials for misconduct, but spokeswoman Liz Boyd said Granholm believes "it's important the legal process be allowed to work," and doesn't plan to get involved at this point.

Council President Ken Cockrel Jr., who was among those who called on Kilpatrick to resign last week, would succeed him if he left office. "On a personal level, certainly it's a tragedy for him, although one could argue that he set himself up for it. The moves he made led to this," Cockrel said.

The mayor's attorney said he will ask a judge to prevent the text messages from being admitted as evidence. Federal law prohibits the text messages from being produced by the city's communications provider, SkyTel, Webb said.

"I am as certain as I stand here that the initial production of those text messages in fact were illegal under the law," Webb said. Webb is a former federal prosecutor who was the chief defense attorney in the corruption trial of former Illinois Gov. George Ryan, who is now in prison.

Controversy has surrounded Kilpatrick since his 2001 election. Embraced by many Detroit residents for his boldness and confidence, Kilpatrick, then 31, embodied the new black politician and wore a diamond stud earring that helped earn him the unofficial title as the "Hip-Hop Mayor." His mother is Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, D-Mich.

During his first four years, he caused a furor over his use of his city-issued credit card for expensive travel, the city's lease of a luxury Lincoln Navigator for his wife and unsubstantiated allegations of a wild party involving his security team and strippers at the mayor's mansion.

At the start of his second term, Kilpatrick vowed to not make the same mistakes and announced a residential redevelopment along Detroit's dormant riverfront, hosted a Super Bowl that shone a light on the city's renewal efforts and initiated other improvements. He had been expected to seek a third term in 2009.

"What we are witnessing is the 21st-century rerun of a classic Greek tragedy: fallen heroes, lost opportunities, unfulfilled promise," said Republican L. Brooks Patterson, county executive in neighboring Oakland County.

Thank You for Not Smoking...and Talking to Me

2008-03-24T08:02:00.005-04:00

People still don't understand that they're not going to get any conversation out of me first thing in the morning. I get to work early to avoid having to speak to a million and one people in the office. I sneak in (because there's likely someone in the back of the office who always wants measley chit-chat) and then I organize my desk, check email, type up blog posts, check my Myspace, check my banking, etc while nobody's here to disturb me. Then, when the office wakes up, more people are coming in, talking, asking annoying questions like "How was your weekend?" (OKay, that was evil of me, LOL), but when you jusssst start your work for the day and you're kind of into it, you don't really feel like pausing your progress & productivity to answer such questions and pretend that you care to know how their weekends went.

Why must I feel like throwing up when someone who reeks of stale cigarette smoke and dirty hair stands near me? It's a foul stench that just overtakes the air and puts me in a chokehold. I won't get into too much about that, but the previous two sentences sums up the torture.

My PLAN is to be productive today. Let's see how that goes.

WTF??

2008-03-24T07:48:00.003-04:00

Yeah, I'm puttin this fool on blast. I open my Myspace inbox to see THIS foolishness first thing in the morning?

Date: Mar 24, 2008 12:39 AM Flag as Spam or Report Abuse [?]
Subject:
WHAT'S THE DEAL...
Body:
WHAT'S THE BUSINESS MA... LOOK THIS THE DEAL I GOT TWO PROBLEMS AND I WONDER IF YOU CAN HELP A NIGGA OUT... FIRST I'M JUST TRYNA GET SOME FEED BACK ON SOME THANGS... ME AND MY NIGGAS DO THIS MUSIC SHIT AND EVERYBODY ROUND US SAY WE HOT BUT FOR SOME REASON WE AIN'T ON LIKE WE SUPPOSED TO BE AND I'M JUST TRYNA GET ANOTHER OPINION ON THE MATTER SO IF IT'S NOT TO MUCH TO ASK COULD YOU HIT A NIGGA PAGE UP AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK... NOW FOR MY SECOND PROBLEM I SEE YOU THAT YOU NOT ON MY FIRNED LIST... NOW HOW CAN WE RECTIFY THAT...

DONN......
ENUFFSAID RECORDZ......

He thinks he only has TWO problems??

All Jacko, All the Time

2008-03-23T19:53:00.004-04:00

When I was younger, I don't recall being that big of a Michael Jackson fan.
Well, I had a MJ doll, complete with glitter glove and white socks that always came off.

But anyway, there's this Commemorative XM radio station,
XM Thriller channel 63 dedicating the entire month of March to the 25 Year Anniversary of the Thriller album .
The beauty of it is that they play allllllllllll MJ songs, Jackson 5 songs and I never realized how many of his songs I really like! I know for sure, though, that I can't stand "She's Out of My Life". That song's just boring.

They aren't playing ALL of the songs on the new album, though, but the ones they have played, I like them, too! I can even tolerate Akon's "Wanna Be Startin Somethin" and I can't stand Akon's oily lookin self. I like Kanye's "Billie Jean" mix and Fergie's "Beat It".

Anyway, I've been listening to XM channel 63 every day now and I'm going to miss it when it's gone! I think it was a good idea for them to dedicate an entire channel to MJ. He has enough songs for one station alone.

Happy Anniversary Thriller!

Blogspot is the Debil

2008-03-21T09:14:00.002-04:00

So yesterday, I typed up this rant-filled blogpost and when I clicked "Publish Post", it said *poof* and disappeared. Son of a bitch. So, I said to hell with typing it over and left it alone.

Anyway, onto weekend news. I'm going to see Jilly from Philly tonight at the Fox. Raheem Devaughn is opening. It should be a very good show :-)

"Are You Ready for Easter?"

2008-03-20T13:54:00.003-04:00

I'll be damned if one more person asks me if I'm "ready for Easter". I know that's like... a random small-talk conversation starter and all, but I'm not sure what all that entails. This morning, someone asked me and my co-worker if we were ready for Easter and we both said "no" real slow and kinda low. We chuckled and then I said, "well, I don't really have much to get ready for" and my co-worker said "yeah, I guess that should have been our response".

So, just now, someone else asked and I just said, "sure"... I swear, these people are going to make me ready whether I want to be or not. So, does being "ready for Easter" mean having my white patent leather shoes ready? My frilly pastel colored dress with lots of ribbons? My plastic-woven Easter hat? I don't know. I don't have kids, so it's not like I have to get those items for them. Maybe they mean, do I have my Honeybaked Ham order in? Have I purchased my eggs and dye? *shrugs*

I guess the only thing that's next is... "Are you ready for Spring?" Oy Vey!

Playing Nurse

2008-03-20T13:43:00.003-04:00

My mother had total knee replacement at the end of February. That semi-explains my absence. I've been running a bit ragged, taking care of her and my spoiled grandmother, who likes to be waited on hand and foot. My mom was usually the one to do that, but since she's pretty much out of commission until she recovers, I'm that one. I'm not typically a caretaker. I have horrible patience and I'm just not good with waiting on people, so imagine the stress I was initially undergoing and imagine the drinking I started out doing. In the morning, I'd have to set my mother up for the day: get her fresh water, set some fruit, OJ, meds by her bed, give her a blood-thinning shot (to prevent clots in the leg), etc, etc, then get to work, run home, feed them (mother, grandmother & cats), then cleanup, give meds, shot, fresh water, set her knee up with ice packs and get to bed to start it all over again.

Luckily, she's recovering very well. It hasn't even been a full month and she's walking throughout the house without her walker. She's doing a lot more for herself, but I'm still relied on for the most part. It's less of a hassle now, though, because I don't have to give the shots anymore and she can do much more by herself. I'm able to be out amongst civilization again, sing with my friends again (yes, we still do karaoke and even picked up the new SingStar 90s game just last night), drink with my friends, do wedding stuff, etc.

I'm not really sure of the point I was trying to make with this blog, but that's just a brief update of what I've been up to lately. I think I needed that quick explanation before I delve into my next post. Stay tuned.

$801 Bob!

2008-02-14T19:58:00.004-05:00

You know what used to irk me? When contestants on The Price is Right ask Bob (I know he's not the host anymore) the amount the last contestant gave and then wager one dollar more.

This occured to me tonight while watching Jeopardy.

Both guys got the "question", but one wagered just enough to beat the first guy by $2. TWO DOLLARS. That's enough to make somebody want to beat ass. Could you imagine a brawl poppin off right on Jeopardy? But it made my mother & I reminisce back to when people used to be on the Price is Right and ask Bob the last bid--say for example, $800, then they go and bid $801. Then, the retail price ends up being like...$825, then the "one dollar more" person has won. That's just rude.
You gon ask about MY wager, then bid ONE dollar more...and WIN?!? Nah, playa....ain't goin down like that.

Nigglature in Motion

2008-02-10T15:42:00.003-05:00

I ate lunch with Telma Hopkins!

Okay, not really. It was a day in which we were served hot bowls of "nothing good" at work, so my co-worker & I decided to go for a chilly walk up the street to Hunter House in Harmonie Park. She had a taste for their sliders and I wanted their turkey burger. Before we left, she leaned over and asked if I thought the lady in the corner booth was that woman from Family Matters... she couldn't think of her name, but for whatever reason, I blurted out "Telma Hopkins? The other lady in Tony Orlando & Dawn?"

Sure enough, after listening to the voice, the woman with the bandana doo-rag on her head, and track suit, was in fact, Telma Hopkins of Family Matters, Gimme a Break and Tony Orlando & Dawn, and most recently, Half & Half fame. We then wondered what she was doing in town. After returning to work, I googled some things and found out that she was actually raised in Detroit, by her grandmother. But that's not why she was here.

You all know of those plays that start out with, "Mama, I wanna _____________"
It could be "Mama, I wanna sing!" or "Mama, I wanna act" or something. Or it could be one of those Je'Caryous Johnson plays or a Tyler Perry play, anything typical of a "chitlin circuit" tour... Well, the latest one is Rumors with George Wilbourne, LeToya Luckett, and Telma Hopkins.

Eh, I don't know what it's about, but you can check out the link above for info on it, if you please.

Drink Up!

2008-02-10T15:04:00.001-05:00

So, like I mentioned in the post below, my friends & I have been experimenting with various drink recipes. I think we're going to make it a habit to venture out and try different drink concoctions. Our latest adventure has been to perfect the Bomb Pop.
It's really simple and it tastes and looks JUST like a bomb pop. Well, our color order may be off, but dammit, you get the point.

1. Take a tall glass and fill with ice.
2. Add ONE (tall) shot of UV Blue Vodka
3. Fill the rest of glass with Lemonade
4. Top off with a touch of grenadine (red, of course)

The grenadine actually sinks to the bottom, but the presentation is still beautiful and it tastes perfect.

After falling in love with this wild berry martini at a martini bar outing this weekend, we are currently trying to perfect the drink. Between 2 of us, we tried to remember the contents that we read on the menu. We think it's Strawberry dacquiri mix, blueberry vodka, cranberry juice and maybe Sprite. It's really best to blend the items and make it slushy, otherwise the dacquiri mix will kill you with it's sugary goodness. SO, we threw the items together in a tall glass, tossed it in the blender and voila! We concocted the drink to the best of our ability. We'll play around with it some more, though, to perfect it.

Do you have any drink suggestions?

Singing My Heart Out!

2008-02-10T14:38:00.001-05:00

I've never performed in a karaoke bar. I've never sung before any crowd...but let me tell you. I've never had so much fun playing Singstar on Playstation 2!! THAT's why I'm not online that much anymore...I actually have found other things to do and people to do them with. So, my homies, Ed, Linda & Lori and I sing every weekend and sometimes nights during the week. Okay, so we can't get enough of it! We'll concoct drinks, make or buy dinner (always healthy!) and sing!

We started out with SingStar 80s, then we got Singstar Pop. I always thought I had an expansive knowledge of music, but I definitely learned some newer pop/alternative songs that I never would have listened to before, on my own free will. Now, when I hear certain songs & groups, like "Panic! At the Disco" and their song "I write sins, not tragedies", I'll listen to it and jam to it because I may have to sing it in a couple of days. Songs that I often listen to, like Alicia Keys' "Fallin" seem 10 times harder to me because I'm being graded on it. Oh yeah, I can jam in the car...but try to follow the bars and get it 100% correct and you'll see what I mean. Who knew Rihanna's "S.O.S." and Natasha Bedingfield's "These Words" would be so fast & difficult to keep up with?? Then, there are the sure fire, easy ones like Hoobastank's "The Reason" (which I LOVE!!) and Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance with Somebody". Between the 80's and Pop versions of this game, my friend's neighbors should want to evict them from the block, our voices should be permanently hoarse and we should know just about every song word-for-word.

This weekend, we got American Idol's Karaoke Revolution. It doesn't have the video feature which I love about Singstar--while you sing, they play the actual video of the song in the background of the lyrics. AIKR is more of a cartoon concert performance in which you can compete in front of judges or not, you can choose your performance venue, dress your character--almost like the Sims. It's alot of fun, too... the songs are not directly from the artist (someone is singing the song in the likeness of the artists), but it's still alot of fun. There's a wide variety of songs and some good up-to-date tracks to choose from.

So, it may sound corny, but hell, it's aLOT of fun. Get some alcohol flowing and let the competition begin, cause believe me...you DO manage to get extra cunty and competitive during the game. Just wait until we get another AIKR microphone!

Well Damn! Late as usual...

2008-02-08T09:28:00.001-05:00

I've even missed the Lunar New Year. (Happy year of the Rat!)

Again, I'm about to get back on the wagon and blog some more. I don't have TOO much exciting stuff to tell, but I have some updates on what I've been up to and what I have coming up for this year.

You just wait & see! I really will...

Chill Homie

2007-09-15T23:41:00.001-04:00

This stuff isn't half bad. It's lighter than your average "light" beer (read: flat)...which is fine for me, because I'm not too much of a beer drinker (all those calories!) It's a girly beer and you can taste the lime. It's like the poor man's Corona. Cheers!

Roar!

2007-09-15T18:45:00.001-04:00

I've only been to one Tigers Game in my entire life. I've never really been interested in going, but last weekend, my girls invited me to go (see "Lessons in Beer Drinking post) and I had alot of fun! I'm not into baseball, but just being there, deep in the excitement of it all was great. I do, however work in a building right next to Comerica Park, so I see it all the time. Since I love to take my camera out & about with me, you know I have tons of pics of the stadium.

Snappin

2007-09-14T18:37:00.001-04:00

I call myself a "fake photographer" meaning I have no kind of photog training, but I love taking my camera out & about and snapping what I can. If it looks random, pretty, busy, whatever...I may take a picture. Yep, that's my camera in the pic above.

Here are some of my shots:

Welcome to Hart Plaza--Downtown Detroit

These are all pretty much the same thing--The Hart Plaza Dodge Fountain:

Plus this Ring sculpture:

Here is a picture of the Detroit Princess Boat:

Here are a few shots of the General Motors Headquarters, housed in the Renaissance Center:

I'll include shots of the home of the Detroit Tigers in my next post.

Birthday Season

2007-09-14T18:07:00.002-04:00

Wednesday (the 12th) was Linda's birthday! I'm so upset I missed bar night, Tuesday. I was lounging around the house, starting to exercise and realized that I had missed several test messages inviting me to an impromptu bar crawl. My girl got pretty wasted on a Tuesday night. Good girl!

But on her actual birthday, Wednesday, we went out to eat at J. Alexander's...

Here are more pictures from the evening:

Birthday Girl, Linda

I gave her this pin, "Aged to Perfection". She's my elder now, gotta show some respect :-)

Lori & Linda

Nikki & Linda

Linda & Ed

Dinner was great and she had fun! She was surprised by a couple of her other girlfriends that came out for the evening and we snuck a cake into the restaurant without her even knowing.

Linda

RoRo, Sean, Linda, Ed, 1/2 of Dave ("sorry bro")

Nikki, Linda, Natalie, Jessica, Lori

Next up is Lori's Birthday, then mine. Lookout for those pics...mwahahahha *rubs hands together*

Lessons in Beer Drinking

2007-09-10T08:32:00.001-04:00

I had a blast this weekend...2nd weekend in a row!
Mad love to my girls, Linda & Lori:

We went to the Tigers game Saturday night. But before the game, we went to Coaches Corner for drinks & a good bar burger.

But back to the lessons in beer drinking...As we devoured our huge burgers, I had a Mike's Hard Lemonade and the girls had Bud Light. We each had 2 rounds and wanted more of a buzz...at least I did. I think they already had a slight buzz. Anyway, we decided to have a beer guzzling contest...from a STRAW for a quicker buzz. Bad idea. We sipped and sipped until it felt like we swallowed a small glass jar. The best thing to do next was to belch, but not only did it hurt, it felt like that burger was going to come back up, as well. Needless to say, I LOST.

I haven't had a beer in months! I've been on the diet thing, so I cut beer out because it has SO many calories. As the loser, I had to buy a round of $8.50 beers at the stadium, but we were so full, we couldn't stomach another beer.

We did have tons of fun. We weren't *completely* into the game, but we clapped & cheered when we were supposed to. We had funny people behind us who kept sneaking into our pictures.

We tried desperately to take the picture on our own, but it kept coming out like this:

But anyway, we had a blast!

Season of the Locusts

2007-08-30T09:14:00.001-04:00

I received this blessing this morning and it would be a sin not to share:

Today's Scripture

“And I will restore to you the years that the locust has eaten...” (Joel 2:25).

Today's Word from Joel and Victoria

God is a god of restoration! You may have had some disappointments or unfair things happen in your life, but instead of dwelling on the past and living defeated, take a stand and focus on God's promise of restoration. Draw a line in the sand and say, "I am a child of the Most High God, and I'm not going to live my life negative and defeated. This is a new day, and I’m taking back what belongs to me!" That's having a restoration mentality. God wants to restore everything that's been stolen. He wants to restore your joy, restore your peace, restore your health, and restore your finances. But here's the key: you have to have a vision for it. You have to get your hopes up. You have to decide to get your thoughts and words going in the right direction. Focus on the future and release past hurts through forgiveness. Decide today to get up every morning hoping, expecting, and believing. Know that God is going to pay you back. Thank Him for restoring everything that the enemy has stolen from you!

A Prayer for Today

Heavenly Father, thank You for choosing to restore my life. Thank You for the truth of Your Word that sets me free. Fill me with Your power today so that I may stand strong and move forward on the path You have for me today. I love You and bless Your Name. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Attitude determines Altitude

2007-08-27T19:37:00.001-04:00

My girl, Adjoa sends me daily Words of Wisdom from the Good Reverend Run. This one hits home:

Good morning. You cannot remedy anything by fighting or condemning it.
Other people can't bring you down if you're operating on a higher energy
level. NEVER respond to hate with hate. If you feel that those around
you are bringing you down, its because you're joining them in their low
energy. This week.. Stay on a high note! Enjoooy your week! :)
God is Love
Rev Run

Tickled to Death

2007-08-26T21:08:00.001-04:00

Sometimes we just need to laugh.

I was watching America's Funniest Videos (with Tom Bergeron) today and they were doing a contest where the winner wins AFV on DVD. I was surprised that they were on DVD since they show so many re-runs on WGN, but then realized that sometimes, late at night or on the weekends, you just might need something to make you laugh. I watch the show aLOT and it's very helpful when I'm in one of those 'Fuck the World' moods.

Another one of my laugh out loud favorites is Whose Line is it Anyway?
It used to come on every single night on ABC Family from 10 to 10:30 pm, but now, ABC Fam shows it when they get good & ready. I usually have to catch it when I'm lucky. I've seen most, if not all of them, anyway and it's still not enough. This is one of the few shows that make me laugh until I'm screaming or crying just before going to bed.

Dear God, make me a bird. So I could fly far...far far away from here.

2007-08-20T19:57:00.001-04:00

Wow, I go from not blogging in months to 3 posts in one day. I'm not PMSing or anything, but I feel emotional. Ugh, my blog isn't even supposed to be all sappy & shit, it's supposed to be funny & sarcastic...cynical, even.

With a pep-talk from the Athletic Director at my j-o-b, I took my arse to the gym today to get back in the game. I walked the treadmill for 50 mins, then did some weights/strength training for a bit. I feel lightheaded, though, because I tried to read a magazine while walking. Boo. I feel all nauseous now. So much so that my ride home was terrible. I tried rolling the window down, but that made me feel worse. I thought I was going to throw up along the side of my car door, which reminded me of the last time I went out binge drinking a few months ago. That wasn't a good look...and I didn't feel like cleaning the side of my car (inside OR out) tonight. So, I chanted the famous line from Jenny Curran in Forrest Gump, Dear God, make me a bird. So I could fly far...far far away from here.
I don't know what made me to it...but it just came out. And I cracked up. That's not the first time I've said that, either. I think I said it earlier today, too. This post is really random, but hell, isn't that what a blog is for?
My momma always said, "Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." --Forrest Gump

Fuel to My Fire

2007-08-20T16:31:00.001-04:00

Motivation is the push of the mental forces to accomplish an action. Unsatisfied needs motivate.
Motivation is the tendency to expend effort to achieve a goal
Motivation is the desire to accomplish a goal or participate in an endeavor.

I once had a motivation to lose weight & get in shape. I was on a roll! My self-steem boosted, my confidence boosted, I was reaping benefits, feeling good, etc. Then, my motivation changed. I started slacking for various reasons. Time, weather, people, etc. My eating habits changed. I tapped into the world of "emotional eating". I've been slipping for the past couple of months. But guess what?

You can look me in my eyes, see I'm ready for whatever
Anythang don't kill me, make me better

I'm getting back in the saddle. I'm getting back in the game. Damn the weather, damn everything, I'm getting back into it for ME.

Take my freedom for the moment but it ain't fo-ever
I got the spirit of a god, heart of a dope dealer

SO...I'm ready.

Revenge is Sweet

2007-08-20T09:24:00.001-04:00

So yeah... does anybody have any good ideas for revenge tactics against someone who pulled a "hit it & quit it" move?
Not that I'd actually *try* any of them *cough*, but it'd be fun to see what demented ideas you all come up with.
Oh, and if any readers know of any good hackers or other friends in low places, let a sista know, thanks! *cheese*

Cameo Appearance

2007-08-15T20:46:00.001-04:00

Damn, it's been what? 5 Months? I haven't posted since MARCH! It's not like anybody's really reading this anyway, though, so poo.

I've had an eventful summer. I've learned a few lessons, I've been reminded of a few things, I've composed a list of things I'll never do again. Fuck the whole "never say never" gig. I'll NEVER do certain things again, point blank. What things do I speak of? I'm not typing it, but I have my list up here *points at head*

I've been dieting and working out and dammit, I'm the cat's meow! However, I've fallen off the grind and need to step my game back up really soon. I let myself fall when I became victim of the ol "hit it & quit it". Bastard. 40 y/o men still play the same games as 16-19 y/o boys, believe that. Pleeeease, ladies, don't settle for less than you deserve. If you have your list of standards, do not break or bend...the minute you do, you get exactly what you ask for: Pieces of shit. Don't let a lil sexy swagger fool you.

ANYway, where was I? Oh yeah, when it stops being so damned hot, I'm going to whip myself back into shape so I can turn some heads of some REAL men...preferably someone with a CAR. Fucking Loser.

Hmm, what else has been going on with me? I went to Philadelphia with my girls to see John Legend perform in a private concert. I had a blast. I have yet to upload pictures...actually, I'm in the middle of it, but haven't finished. When I do, I'll post them in a slideshow or something. In another 4 or so months, haha. Hopefully, that's not the case.

All my C+D folks need to stay on my ass about this blogging thing. Speaking of which, I need to add some more of my fav blogs, so Q'cifer, hit me up with your URL and any other crunksters that I don't already have, please do the same!

Peace

I Quit this Bitch

2007-03-21T21:32:00.001-04:00

And one wonders why I drink. Here we are at the top 10, now, of American Idol and another quality singer has gone home when it should be Vajayjay Malakar instead.

Singer, he is not. The American population of girls (& boys for that matter) 12 & under may be his biggest fan base, but the most destructive is that of Votefortheworst.com. While I hate everything they stand for, they DO have the most hilarious recaps ever.

This season, they are plugging Sanjaya and are ferverously voting for him to stay on the show. By doing this, good singers are sacrificed and this week's sacrificial lamb was none other than Stephanie Edwards.

Do better, America. Don't let Punjabi MC's heavenly locks fool you. And don't let that lil crying cunt fool you, either.

Super Nanny My Ass

2007-03-12T21:20:00.001-04:00

I'm watching this show, but it's not one of my regular TV shows to watch. It disturbs me, actually. I'm already not one for kids. Then, I have to watch a show with parents who can't control their kids, letting them talk to them any kind of way while this lady comes into their home talking about a "time out corner" and "counting" to calm down...wtf?

I'm mentally writing a book. There are things that I often see and hear that can be included in my mental book, titled "I don't have kids, but if I did..." and in that book (which I'll outline my chapters in another post at a later date), I'd include this list of dealing with a mouthy/bad assed kid:

1. Learn how to sternly say the word "Hell NO" and "WAIT"
2. Have quick reflexes. Have your pimphand ready to fly back and pop lips.
3. Carry a purse with a detachable strap. Easier to grab than a belt.
4. Punch them in the throat. Okay, that was a joke...kinda.

Those are just for starters...

The Little Mermaid...on Ice

2007-03-04T21:47:00.001-05:00

So, Friday night, I took my Goddaughter to see Disney On Ice: Princess Wishes. It was cute. Tons of screaming kids dressed up in their lil Disney Princess Halloween costumes. Whatev.

Anyway, the story starts off with Mickey & Minnie introducing "wishes" and how each princess has a wish of some sort. We then follow the tales of Cinderella, Snow White, Belle, Jasmine, Aurora, Ariel and Mulan as they hook up with their Princes and skate. Oh yeah, Tinkerbell was there to confuse children by being out of her element and sprinkling her magic on each scenario to bring the characters to life.

So, all is well until the very end when each Princess and her Prince skates out for the final ensemble skate. Ariel from the Little Mermaid takes a dive and plunges onto the ice. Nevermind the fact that the one in this picture looks like a dude. But nonetheless, it was interesting to see her hit the ice. Not that I wanted her to, but hell, that's something you just don't see everyday. I blame America's Funniest Home Videos for making us laugh at people hurting themselves for money.

Television is great!

2007-03-01T21:25:00.001-05:00

It's your window to the world. Whether you're watching the news, to stay up to date with who got shot in the hood or what Bush is doing to screw up, TV is great. I don't budge when my favorite show is on, no phone, no computer, nothing. Since my tv season is kicked up a notch with the start of a couple new seasons, here is my tribute to my fav tv shows (in no particular order).

I can't wait for the Sopranos' final season:

Right now, I'm diggin this show:

Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? (let's see how long this one will last)

I love watching various shows on:

and in the spirit of cooking:

I think I'll do a fav movie post at another date. It's almost time for... wait for it... the news!

MENopause

2007-02-27T08:58:00.001-05:00

You know how when you run, walk fast, walk up stairs, or any movement in which you over-exert yourself, you breathe heavier, your body warms up, your heart rate is higher, etc. But once you slow down and relax, that all changes. You calm down, you cool off, your heart rate goes back to a normal pace. Well, every morning, a man in my office, who takes the stairs everywhere he goes, comes in as if he's had 10 cups of coffee and he's warm. He opens his office door, which does have computers & such in it, so they have probably generated heat, but while he still has his coat on, he comes out front to adjust the thermostat. I might as well keep on my fucking coat. It's FEBRUARY, about to be MARCH, in Michigan, so it's cold no matter what. The engineers in this building act like they don't know what heat is, so it's constantly cool, which is fine...but now, it's COLD. While I'm only 28, sometimes, I DO have hot flashes, but dammit, I'm not menopausal. And I'm not the only one who's cold throughout the day. My co-worker on the other side of my cube is constantly cold and she wears a big sweater. As a matter of fact, let me put my sweater on. But midday, I swear, my fingers are going to be so cold that I can't even type. He's not even IN the office the whole day. He's in & out and we have to suffer the cold. That's okay...when the lady that sits at the front desk goes to lunch or steps away from her desk, I'm changing the thermostat back, dammit.

Monday Morning Road Rage

2007-02-26T08:59:00.001-05:00

Woman allegedly shoots at driver during road rage incident
By Cortney Casey
C & G Staff Writer

HARRISON TOWNSHIP — A struggle for dominance on the freeway became shockingly violent Feb. 21, after a woman allegedly pulled a gun on another driver in what the police have dubbed a case of road rage.

According to the Macomb County Sheriff’s Department, Macomb Township resident Bernadette Headd, 39, and a 46-year-old New Baltimore man, whose name has not been released, were “jockeying for position” on westbound I-94 near North River Road at about 8:10 a.m. Feb. 21 when the incident occurred.

Headd reportedly told police that she was merging onto I-94 from Hall Road when the New Baltimore man came close to the rear bumper of her Chevrolet Cavalier. She allegedly proceeded to pull alongside the man’s Dodge Ram pickup truck, aim a semi-automatic handgun at the man, and fire one round at the Ram’s tires.

Capt. Tony Wickersham said the bullet did not strike the vehicle, and police were not able to locate it as they investigated the incident.

“The roadway was very busy that morning and … fog was also there, so it made trying to look for it almost impossible at that time,” he said.

The victim managed to maneuver behind Headd’s vehicle and follow her until he spotted a sheriff’s deputy, at which time Headd was taken into custody. Nobody was injured, and deputies recovered the firearm from her vehicle, according to police.

“This could have been a much (more) dangerous situation if she would have shot at the driver and driver loses control of the vehicle, or if she would have made contact with the tire and blew that tire out, that vehicle could have lost control and we could have had quite a traffic crash out there with injuries,” said Wickersham.

Headd was arraigned Feb. 21 at Clinton Township’s 41-B District Court on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and discharge of a firearm from a motor vehicle, both four-year felonies, as well as a two-year felony firearm charge. Her bond was set at $50,000 cash or surety.

Wickersham said he’s heard of and received reports of altercations of road rage in which drivers have exchanged threats or obscene gestures, but never anything like this.

“This is the first time we’ve seen it where the individual got so upset that they actually pulled out a gun and fired a round at another vehicle,” he said.

Wow. And I thought I had road rage bad.

CP Time

2007-02-25T16:53:00.001-05:00

I'm late. In real life, I'm a stickler for time. I like to get to things early, I hate creeping into something already in session, I arrive early for appointments, etc. But in terms of blogging....I'm late. My last post was September 2006 and so many things have changed since then....well, not really. But alot of time has passed. Like holidays...yeah, holidays have passed, a new year is upon us, Superbowl has taken place, James Brown has died, Anna Nicole has died, neither are buried yet, though. Talk about CP time.

So I see blogger has changed...see how much I know. I'll have to get with the program at some point and make lil cutesy labels & shit for my blogs. I'm sure "complaints" will be one of them because I have alot of complaints about alot of things.

I'm excited today because the Academy Awards are on tonight. I've been parading around the house in my Oscar best as I prepare for the evening's event. Of course, I'll be pulling for J. Hud to win the Best Supporting Actress award. There's no excuse for the award to go to anyone else. I have FedEx on standby if rootboxes need to be sent out after all.

I'm watching E!'s Red Carpet preview special which has been on since 1 pm today. Debbie Matenopoulous annoys me a great deal. I love, love, LOVE Jay Manuel, though. I've got the sparkling white zinfandel on chill for the start of the show.

So again, I close this post with the promise of posting more. I'll have to make it a habit to maybe drop a post during the workday or something, just in case I don't go online from home. After ~~working all day on a computer~~ fooling around on C+D all day, sometimes I'd rather not go online from home at all. But yes... here's the obligatory "promise" to blog more. Bear with me folks. Thank you, I love you, buhbye.

Did You Have a Good Weekend?

2006-09-05T09:41:00.001-04:00

"Yes and you?"

That's usually how Mondays...or in this case, Tuesday mornings are after the weekend. People around here ask the yes/no question of "Did you have a good weekend?" and I reply "yes and you?" although, I really don't care. My ass is just not chipper in the morning. Actually, I'm ANTI-MORNING. I don't come in singing "Good Morning" and kicking my heels. I slide in quietly, hoping to not say much to anybody until well after NOON. I sit quietly at my desk (which is around a corner, fully cubed off) hoping people don't even notice I'm here. I tense up when I hear certain footsteps or voices approaching my cube. Yes, it's that bad. (Pray for me). I'm fully awake and up & at em by 5pm, when it's time to LEAVE. Other than that, I need folks to kick rocks. Now, there ARE a couple people I don't mind chatting with throughout the day. They're cool peeps...but other than that, beat it!
Also, must people be so loud in the office? If you're trying to be funny by being loud and "extra", but nobody is finding it funny, then you should probably lay off before you get cursed out.
Here is my ode to the office cube:

Enough about offices... for anyone who cares, I did have a good weekend.

Friday, I went to a step show to kick off the Detroit Football Classic weekend. Saturday, I went Targeting and Sam's Clubbing. It was damp and ugly Saturday, so that's pretty much all I did. Sunday, I went to Arts, Beats & Eats for some jazz and good eats. Monday, I went to the Detroit Jazz Festival and had a heavenly Funnel Cake.

So that is the recap of my weekend.

Argh.

Almost the Weekend

2006-08-30T22:06:00.000-04:00

It's 10 pm and I should be blow-drying my hair. Instead I'm BLOGGING (about nothing)! I still have yet to clean my cats' shit boxes. See dareal, I told you you could blog about nothing in particular...ha!

Anyway, this weekend should be pretty eventful. I'm going to try to take pictures of my whereabouts. This weekend is the Detroit Football Classic and there are a lot of events surrounding this one. Friday, my mother & I are going to the annual step show. Friday also marks the start of the Detroit Jazz Festival. It's always a good time. I'll especially take pictures there. That'd be some good photography.

Umm, yeah, I think tha's all I have for now.

Unbeweavable

2006-08-28T15:22:00.000-04:00

So, today, in my favorite net spot, C+D, we are discussing lacefronts.

I have been inspired to post pictures of myself wearing misc wigs & weaves...

This is me au natural:

This is me with extensions:

Here is the wig:

Here is my quickweave:

And here is one of my ponytails:

I don't really want a sermon on natural hair, I'm all for it and wear mine often...I just like versatility from time-to-time, too.

Detroit: Super Bowl Weekend

2006-08-26T20:17:00.000-04:00

Super Bowl Weekend in Detroit was a lot of fun. It was the first weekend of February 2006 and my friends came out to paint the town red. Here are some random pictures of the city, as it prepared for the huge weekend.

Construction

2006-08-26T20:01:00.000-04:00

A couple of years ago, a building was being torn down to make room for a parking lot just in time for Super Bowl Weekend. This is located right in Downtown Detroit's Harmonie Park. These pictures were taken from my job's parking garage.
I threw in one of my favorite pics... it's a streetlight that was taken down due to the construction in the area.

Detroit: Up Close & Personal pt. 2

2006-08-26T19:43:00.000-04:00

Here are more pictures of misc things in the city:

This is the Detroit Athletic Club. It's a private, city club (country club minus the golf course):
This is a local bar in Harmonie Park...Coaches Corner:
This is a small theatre for plays & various productions:

Home of Tigers Baseball

Skyline of Detroit from the Detroit River:
The Renaissance Center...Home of GM Headquarters:

Detroit: Up Close & Personal

2006-08-26T19:29:00.000-04:00

I'm no photographer. But for some reason, I feel the need to take my camera with me where ever I go. Just in case there is a perfect picture opportunity. Or, I may like the way something looks so abstract that I may snap an impromptu picture. I especially love taking my camera downtown on a nice Saturday. Well, here are some miscellaneous pictures of some things in and around Detroit.

This is a ring that symbolizes the manugacturing industry of Detroit (I think):
Renaissance Center
This is the Ambassador Bridge that connects Canada to the USA:

This is Casino Windsor shot from the Detroit River:
This is the Fountain in the new Campus Martius Park
This is an bldg in which will be available for loft living in the near future:

This is a Harmonie Park bar/lounge:

Sassy Saturdays

2006-08-26T13:07:00.000-04:00

I swear I posted something yesterday. I guess it didn't go through because Blogger was on its period at the time. Figures.

Anyway, I saw Idlewild last night.

It was decent. You have to have an open imagination when you go see it. It blends eras, music, visuals and acting. You have talent such as Terrance Howard, Ben Vereen and Ving Rhames, then you have mediocre acting talent such as Big Boi. Yeah, I said it. He's no thespian, that's for sure. Andre was okay...I'll give him a little more credit since he has more acting experience under his belt. Macy Gray usually does a good job playing drunk. Actually, that's how she "acts" most times she's on tv for some reason or another, anyway.
You have to keep in mind that the movie was directed by Bryan Barber, so the cinemetography was...interesting. Actually, the cinemetography was innovative and nice. But there were other strange things that might remind you of their video for "Ms Jackson" and "Morris Brown". I mean, it was entertaining...as is their videos. It was typical OutKast.

I don't really have much else planned for the weekend. I trimmed our privacy fence this morning and cut away weeds, etc that come through the fence from the neighbor's yard. I now, have welts and scratches on my arms from the top of the fence. Since they obviously don't know the first thing about lawn care, I stood in a chair and leaned over the fence to cut some tall, tree-like weeds down. It's so nice out (not too hot) and I want to do something outside. I haven't seen my Goddaughter much at all this summer, so I called my cousin and suggested we go to the zoo. I know it's last minute, and she was even willing to go, but they close at 5 today and she & the kids had some other running around to do first, so I don't think we're going to make that at all. SHe said maybe we could do something else, but other than that, I can't think of anything else that I'd want to do with 3 kids, so I think the opportunity has passed. There's only so many times you can go to Chuck E. Cheese and I'm not trying to do that today when it's so nice out.

So maybe I'll get caught up with magazines today (Essence, VIbe)

Save Room!

2006-08-25T08:43:00.000-04:00

The 3-Time Grammy winner, John Legend is back, y'all!

Hook a Sista Up!

2006-08-18T11:22:00.000-04:00

Friends, Fam & Passersby,

I am in need of flight assistance! I know there are tons of lower-rate flight search sites out there and I've visited some, statravel.com, cheaptickets.com, expedia, travelocity, priceline, orbitz, cheapo.com, etc. If you know of any others, please drop them in the comments below.

Thanks!!

On the Jungle Floor with Van Hunt

2006-08-18T09:33:00.000-04:00

I should have blogged about this a long time ago. Earlier in the spring, on Mother's Day, to be exact, I went to see Van Hunt live. I had been anticipating the show since I've been a supporter of his ever since his debut. BOTH his CDs, and are items that all fans of the real soul music should have in their possession. According to Van, though, he makes pop music more than soul. Go figure. Needless to say, the show was a hell of an experience. If you haven't been to a Van Hunt show, you need to make it your business to be there.

I had the pleasure of Interviewing Van for BrownGurl Magazine

Here are some pictures from the show:

"Get Prayed Up"

2006-08-18T09:03:00.000-04:00

This is one funny man:

His act is a bit much, but I like the guy, though :-)

Backslidin'

2006-08-15T21:08:00.000-04:00

Okay, okay, it's been a few weeks... make that about a month and a half and I haven't posted anything. I did it again. I fell off. Well, I'll post up again real soon. My 10 yr Class reunion just took place! Damn I'm old...sike. It was a great time.

Hmm, what's on my posting agenda? Maybe a few pics of moi! Oooh, ooh, I know...I have some pics of the Detroit Skyline and Ambassador Bridge (that connects the US to Canada). I'll post those tomorrow and maybe some other stuff.

Til then, folks. Folks = the 2 people that might pass through here by mistake. Ha!

Build it up!

2006-07-19T20:08:00.000-04:00

I've been having the urge to hear this song...so I downloaded it. Then, I found the video (I heart Youtube).

Shout out to my girl, Nikki, who said

I always wondered why they shot that video in a cave in a park

Funny stuff.

Dammit, I was on a roll

2006-07-19T19:51:00.000-04:00

But guess who's back?

I've been on lock at work, stressed and PMS-ed (had to make it rhyme somehow), so I haven't been giving much attention to this thing. I don't really have a damn thing to say, so I guess I'll ramble.

* May the lil bastards down the street go to hell with their plastic motorcycles. About 5 or 6 tween negroes were standing around in the stree--nevermind the cars that NEED the street--hovering around their funky lil motorcycles. Tell you what...stand in my way, if you want to, when I'm on my way home from a LONG day at work. THEN, they're all on cell phones. WHO THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING TO?? All your lil croanies are RIGHT THERE. Hmph. Then, to top it all off, they take off zooming up & down the street. Danger is soon to follow, I'm sure. That'll learn them a lesson.

*I'm excited about having some days off next week. I'm going to kick it with my homies in Ohio. I'm NOT excited about having to get "ahead of the game" at work. My job is very deadline based, so I'll be hauling ass for the next few days since I'll be off Weds-Fri. I'm also not excited about missing the fun & action on C+D. It's a hellish job trying to play catch up...then you miss all the jokes. Fun times.

I think that's all I have. I need a drink, so I'll be handling that, then pay a couple of bills, then just hang out online a lil bit.

Peanut Butter Jelly With A Baseball Bat

2006-07-16T00:00:00.000-04:00

Hilarious.

This made me go out and buy some of this today.

Diddy & Bentley

2006-07-15T23:17:00.000-04:00

Here are pictures of the babies:

<--- Diddy

<--- Bentley

Yes, Diddy & Bentley. See, when I "found" Diddy, I initially called him "Kitty". But when we took him in, got his shots, got him neutered so his piss wouldn't stink, I figured he'd need a REAL name. So he wouldn't be confused, I went with the next best thing to "Kitty" and that was "Diddy".

Here's Diddy when he was just an outsider hanging around the house:

I adopted Diddy when I still had Spicey:

Spicey passed away, so we needed to get a buddy for Diddy. I adopted another kitten by the name of "Seiko" from a local pet shelter in conjunction with Pet Smart. I quickly changed his name. Guess what I changed it to?

Yes. I changed his name to Bentley. I think "Making the Band" with the thugs was on. What were they called? "Da Band" or some shit like that.

Anyway, here's MY Bentley:

I found this picture of him from the shelter's listings. They hadn't taken him off the list, yet, and I found a picture of him as a baby.

<--- would you look at those ears! awwww

It took Diddy a while to warm up to Bentley. They're about a year and a half apart. It's such a big brother/little step-brother situation. Diddy doesn't want to be bothered half the time, but he entertains Bentley. They groom each other (allo-grooming), play together, run around the house, etc. They get along very well for the most part.

They're not always cuddled up. And when they are, Diddy's the unwilling party. Diddy usually minds his business, trying to be "the man" and Bentley is the cuddler. It's sooo cute, but I imagine it's annoying as hell to Diddy.

Although cats' faces are always expressionless, Bentley always looks "happy to be there" and Diddy always looks...bothered.

I've always been a pet person. I've been a dog person for the longest, but for some reason, these SCATS (what I used to call cats to my dog) have come into my life. Hell, I have more patience for pets than I do people. People can bite me. But I'll fight a kid (yeah, the lil products of a broken condom next door) for my Diddy & Bentley.

Abolishment

2006-07-15T10:07:00.000-04:00

Hater: jealousy,not liking someone for what they have or what they look like.

It's 2006. There are certain words that just need to be caught in a drive-by shooting and buried in a corn field. Term #5468741 that burns my ears is the word "hating" or "hater". In the very beginning, when the word first surfaced, it meant the above definition. But now, the minute you speak out against something or the minute you say you don't like something (or someone) or the minute you crack a joke on something (or someone), somebody's hollerin, "You hatin!".

Ummm, no, I do not want what that person has.

If I say "I don't like bologna", someone will pop out of the shadows with, "You hatin!" What the hell?

If a joke is cracked about someone or something, someone will pop out from the underbrush with, "You hatin!" Come on people! Cheer up...Have a sense of humor!

The word has been taken SO out of context, it's ridiculous. I think people say it just to say it nowadays.

I'd like to form a coalition for the abolishment of the word HATE/hatER/hatING. In the words of one Julia_Claudine_Deveraux: Fatwa, it is written.

It's Friday, Bitches

2006-07-14T18:49:00.000-04:00

I'm SO glad it's the weekend. It's supposed to be a scorcher this weekend and I plan on having NO parts of it. I'm sitting IN the house, up under the air. I'm planning on re-working my resume. It's about time I do that...it hasn't been done in a couple of years. Hell, I hear Google is hiring.

Today surprised me, though. It was RAINING when I got off of work. Unfortunately, my office has no windows, so I didn't know what the hell it was doing outside until I stepped out the door.
I picked up pizza on the way home and that's it. I'm done for today. I also plan on getting creative with Bacardi Grand Melon. Oh, add watching a movie to my list of things to do tonight. I could use a great laugh.

This will be my place to vent about my HOOD ass neigbors. If they don't come from the gutters of hell, I don't know where they came from. For the past few days, when I come home from work (of course since they DON'T work, they're sitting their asses on the porch or engaging in some other noise-making activity to make me shake my head), they've been sitting in their raggedy car. SITTING THERE. Doing nothing. Talking, I guess. Well, today, they were in a van in the driveway. I realized, they were smoking. Okay, keep on until you mess with some laced Mary Jane and end up like DMX. It's 7:00 pm EST and I imagine they'll be outside until well after midnight. Heathens.

Before I go, I saw something funny. As I was driving home, on a main street, I saw a little kitty running along. I thought it was so cute until it almost collided with a small bird who was flying rapidly from the other side of this corner. Imagine two people running on opposite sides of a corner, then running into each other when they approach the corner. Well, intead of an actual collision, the cat, in one swift motion, opened its mouth and took the bird right in! He continued running, without missing a beat, with the bird in its mouth! HA!

Oh--I'm going to hell in a handbasket for honking my horn and not slowing down for a handicapped crackhead. I thought he was just an ordinary crackhead until I got up on him and saw he wasn't exactly right.

Eh.

I think I'll post more this weekend. Peeeeeace!

"New, New, New...More New Stuff"

2006-07-12T21:56:00.000-04:00

I love new things. New cars, new hairdo, new magazine, new music. So, since I'm making a new start on blogging, I got a new layout. It could take some getting used to. It's rather narrow, but it's new. I'm trying to keep up with blogging...hell, I keep forgetting to type something. Either that, or I'm too lazy to do so.
Let's see how long I can go without dropping off on blogging again!

More pictures

2006-07-08T18:35:00.000-04:00

Well isn't this some backwards shit.

Here are more pics. Read the post below first, though.

Super Bowl...Super Late!

2006-07-08T18:16:00.000-04:00

Ugh, I hate being on C.P. time. But better late than never, right?

The weekend of February 2-4, the NFL's Superbowl was held right here in Detroit and my girls came out for the weekend. My main chicas, Nikki from the Chi, Terri from NY, Kristi from AZ, Sandria from the Chi and Janene from right here, in the city lived it up that weekend.

Here's a very brief rundown, then some pictures that capture the weekend.

Thursday, we went to see Kanye West perform at the Pepsi Smash show at the State Theater.

Friday, we hit the streets, hit an early morning Happy Hour with my gurl Terri, then went to Pontiac, MI, later that night for a concert/party thing with Slum Village, Kanye West & John Legend. It was supposed to be only HOSTED by John, but he ended up hitting the stage real quick with Kanye & Slum to do a quick rendition of "Selfish". Kanye performed one time, and of course, made sure we knew that he volunteered to do it. Oh, Goapele also performed.

Saturday, we hit the streets, etc, blah...That night, we went to a Motown concert or something to see our boy, John perform. After that, we hit an afterparty "hosted" by Goapele, John & Nik from ANTM.

Enjoy the pics:

<--Me & Don C.

<--Happy Hour w/Terri & Nik

<--Me & Tony Williams

It's been a minute

2006-07-08T17:30:00.000-04:00

I knew it. I knew I wouldn't be able to keep up with this blogging thing. I shouldn't have given in to the pressure. Another force took me over. That damned Myspace. (see previous post) Speaking of that previous post, I posted that in JANUARY. Now, it's mid-year and here I am making only my 2nd post of 2006.

Besides Myspace being my addiction, I've also grown addicted to THE best gossip blog, Crunk + Disorderly. It's going to get me fired one day, I just know it. Either from being on there or laughing out loud in my CUBE at the daily humor, ignorance of the stars, hilariously sarcastic comments, ahhh, right up my alley.

Hmm, let's see what else I've been up to. Ahh, I never even posted on my Super Bowl weekend. Maybe I'll go back and post some pics from that weekend. Yeah, maybe I'll do some picture posts to make up for lost time.

I hope everyone (ha, yeah right, nobody reads this but me! and if you're reading this, leave a comment so I can be proven otherwise, lol) is having a good summer. Although, I haven't really felt the excitement of "summer" since my school days. Hell, work is year round, there IS no summer break. Dammit.

I'll post about mine in another post to come. I'm back bitches.

Myspace

2006-01-19T22:28:00.000-05:00

I tried! I swear, I tried! I tried my damnnest to not get on that Myspace! I was pulled, dragged, poked & prodded until I made it over to Myspace. I did it and now, I'm hooked! It's more user friendly than Blackplanet and just...well, better and more fun. Ugh, I always hated BP... it's been dead to me for years.

But yeah, back to Myspace... It's the hotness. I've been playing with my page, tweaking it out, decorating it, everything.

Happy New Year

2006-01-01T14:35:00.000-05:00

Overall, 2005 wasn't bad. I went to a lot of concerts, met a lot of people, traveled quite a bit, experienced G.O.O.D. music, helped launch an online magazine, so far, so good. There was a lot of death in 2005, though. Other than that, 2005 was a year of success and growth.

I hope--no, I know 2006 will have a lot more in store. I'll go more places, meet more people, keep old acquaintances, network more, grow more, pursue extracurricular activities more. Browngurl.com will prosper, HipHop-Magazine.com will be hot, Johnthelegend.com will continue to stand strong.

May this new year bring many more blessings. Happy New Year.

Holidays & Such

2005-12-23T19:13:00.000-05:00

This year has flown by so fast that all the days and months have recently run together. I can't identify the beginning or ending anymore.

This year was all about change. Did everything change? No. Did some things change? Big time. Some was good, some was bad and some appeared bad, but was really good.

I can't say that I'm too big on the Christmas spirit this year. It's in 48 hrs and it's beginning to feel like just a regular day of the year. Maybe because it's on the weekend and I'm off on Sunday ANYway...who knows.

Next year should be cool. Next year should be pretty major, actually. We'll see.

I currently have a nagging cough.

I'm currently reading the following books:

The last one will be featured on the next issue of
www.browngurl.com so be sure to check that out Jan 1st.

Happy Birthday Kristi!

I think that's all I have this go-round, kids...

Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Season of the Legend

2005-12-08T09:05:00.000-05:00

HUGE ups to Mr. John Legend, one of 3 artists to win 8 Grammy nods. He's among top performers, Mariah Carey and Kanye West, who will make a spectacle if he doesn't win "Album of the Year". It's gonna be okay, Ye...

John is up for the following categories:

SONG OF THE YEAR

BEST NEW ARTIST

BEST MALE R&B VOCALIST

BEST R&B PERFORMANCE BY DUO OR GROUP (SO HIGH REMIX F/LAURYN HILL)

BEST TRADITIONAL R&B PERFORMANCE (STAY WITH YOU)

BEST R&B SONG (ORDINARY PEOPLE)

BEST R&B ALBUM

BEST RAP/SUNG COLLABORATION (THEY SAY BY COMMON F/JOHN & KANYE)

Best of luck to him for this upcoming Grammy show in February of 06!

Shout out to www.johnthelegend.com for being the best supporters in the world!

R.I.P. Ivy Janai Reeves

2005-12-04T22:34:00.000-05:00

I lost my good friend from elementary school last week.

She & I have been friends since the 3rd grade and continued to be friends through middle school, and half of high school. The other half, we had different networks, different circles of friends, but we were still friends...just grew closer to others. We both went to college together, though, both still stayed in the same neighborhood after school, etc.

Last year, she was diagnosed with lymphoma. She had been in & out of the hospital for chemotherapy treatments, but this most recent one gave quite a blow to her immune system. All systems were failing, her kidneys were failing, etc. I went to see her last saturday and the hard reality that I may lose my sister had hit me. We were both only children and were around each other so much when we were little, we were basically sisters. Her parents took me with them on trips, and vice versa with my mom.

Well, last Sunday, she passed away. This past week has been the most difficult, long week. I went to her viewing this evening, which was mind blowing...she looked nothing like herself. There were so many friends from school that I hadn't seen in a long time. It was bittersweet... it was good to see everybody, but just not on these kind of circumstances. It's so unbelievable and still hard to grasp the fact that we're losing our peer at such a young age. We haven't even had our 10 yr high school reunion yet. (it's in 06)

Tomorrow is the family hour/funeral.

A Long Time Comin...

2005-11-26T23:57:00.000-05:00

Happy Belated Thanksgiving.

It's been 18 days since I've posted.

This is why I was so slow to pick up on the blog thing.

Hmm, so much has happened, where do I begin? I went to Chicago on November 17th, then traveled with my girl, Nikki, to Milwaukee to see John Legend & his amazing band perform. Props to him and his entire crew for a wonderful show and great hospitality.

My childhood best friend has lymphoma and has overcome several chemotherapy treatments, but the most recent one was stronger and more intense. It zapped her immune system and she is on a respirator. Her kidneys are failing and the Doctors don't even know what to do anymore at this point. It truly saddens me to see someone who was so close to me, but is still close to my heart, near death. I could not stomach the sight I saw today in intensive care. It was very frightening, but I'm praying for her recovery. She's strong and I know she'll pull through.

Making G.O.O.D. use of Boredom

2005-11-08T21:54:00.000-05:00

It's the first Unofficial Fan Site for John Legend. Visit the site to learn all about John, his upcoming tour dates and tv appearances and see previous footage and pictures of him & his amazing band.

BrownGurl.com

2005-11-02T21:36:00.000-05:00

Please visit http://www.browngurl.com , a brand new online magazine for, but not limited to brown gurls between the ages of 16-26.

Happy Anniversary

2005-11-02T20:56:00.000-05:00

Wow, overall, the show was great! A highlight was John's performance. Although it didn't MOVE me like most of his performances do, it was nice.

Rosa Parks was laid to rest this evening. Her funeral services were held earlier today.

Such an amazing program this afternoon, from what I understand.

People were waiting since 6 pm yesterday to get inside the church. It started somewhere between 11:30 and noon and lasted until around 6pm today. It lasted so long, because there were SO many dignataries there, a lot who were supposed to be there and a lot who were not *on the program* (Mrs. Clinton, Barack Obama, etc).

The procession started with a horse drawn hearse, but in the interest of time, they switched to one of those old fashioned Cadillac hearses.

There is a parade of people following the caravan of limos and cars in the processional, as well as people lining the streets all the way to the cemetary (which is a straight shot down 7 Mile Rd.)

It's been broadcast on tv all day. It's very amazing to watch. I should be out there, but that's a take-the-day-off-work type of deal that I should have planned ahead for. There are school classes that were out there as a class project.

I'll regret not being out there to witness such history.

Why the hell is ANTM a recap show tonight??

CDs I bought today:

Eh, I pretty much don't feel like typing much else. I'll holla...

Fall Back Homie

2005-10-29T21:07:00.000-04:00

Daylight Saving Time
A trip around the world reveals that time isn't a synchronized science
by John Gettings

At 2 a.m. on October 30, groggy Americans will turn their clocks back one hour, marking the end of Daylight Saving Time (DST).

The federal law that established "daylight time" in this country does not require any area to observe daylight saving time. But if a state chooses to observe DST, it must follow the starting and ending dates set by the law. From 1986 to 2006 this has been the first Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October, but starting in 2007, it will be observed from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November, adding about a month to daylight saving time. (See: New Federal Law.)

No More Sunlight in Arizona and Hawaii
Arizona (with the exception of the Navajo Nation) and Hawaii and the territories of Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa are the only places in the U.S. that do not observe DST but instead stay on "standard time" all year long. And if you've spent any time in the sweltering summer sun in those regions you can understand why residents don't need another hour of sunlight.

The Dawning of DST in Indiana
Until April 2005, when Indiana passed a law agreeing to observe daylight saving time, the Hoosier state had its own unique and complex time system. Not only is the state split between two time zones, but until recently, only some parts of the state observed daylight saving time while the majority did not.

Under the old system, 77 of the state's 92 counties were in the Eastern Time Zone but did not change to daylight time in April. Instead they remained on standard time all year. That is, except for two counties near Cincinnati, Ohio, and Louisville, Ky., which did use daylight time.

But the counties in the northwest corner of the state (near Chicago) and the southwestern tip (near Evansville), which are in the Central Time Zone, used both standard and daylight time.

The battle between the old system and DST was contentious and hard-won—bills proposing DST had failed more than two dozen times in the past until it squeaked through the state legislature in April 2005. The old, familiar, bewildering system will remain in place for 2005; Indiana will join 47 other states in observing DST in April 2006.

New Federal Law—Springing Forward in March, Back in November
But just months after Indiana got in step with the rest of the country, the federal government announced a major change in Daylight Saving Time. In Aug. 2005, Congress passed an energy bill that included extending Daylight Saving Time by about a month. Beginning in 2007, DST will start the second Sunday of March and end on the first Sunday of November.

Comparisons Around the World
More than one billion people in about 70 countries around the world observe DST in some form. Here are interesting facts about some of these countries:

Most of Canada uses Daylight Saving Time. Some exceptions include the majority of Saskatchewan and parts of northeastern British Columbia. In the fall of 2005, Manitoba and Ontario announced that like the United States, they would extend daylight time starting in 2007. The attorney general of Ontario commented that "it is important to maintain Ontario's competitive advantage by coordinating time changes with our major trading partner, and harmonizing our financial, industrial, transportation, and communications links." Other provinces have indicated that they may also follow suit.
It wasn't until 1996 that our NAFTA neighbors in Mexico adopted DST. Now all three Mexican time zones are on the same schedule as the United States.
Also in 1996, members of the European Union agreed to observe a "summer-time period" from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October.
Most countries near the equator don't deviate from standard time.
In the Southern Hemisphere, where summer arrives in what we in the Northern Hemisphere consider the winter months, DST is observed from late October to late March.
Three large regions in Australia do not participate in DST. Western Australia, the Northern Territory, and Queensland stay on standard time all year. The remaining south-central and southeastern sections of the continent (which is where Sydney and Melbourne are found) make the switch. This results in both vertical and horizontal time zones Down Under during the summer months.
China, which spans five time zones, is always eight hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time and it does not observe DST.
In Japan, DST was implemented after World War II by the U.S. occupation. In 1952 it was abandoned because of strong opposition by Japanese farmers.

from http://www.infoplease.com/spot/daylight1.html

It's been a minute...

2005-10-28T21:30:00.000-04:00

Okay, I know it's been a minute, but hell, I've been tired & busy.

Considering I have nothing else to do tonight, I might as well get caught up in the online world of blogging. Last weekend, I went to Chicago to kick it with my girls. Let me backtrack. Thanks to the wonderful music of John Legend, I happened upon the flyest, FIRST Unofficial John Legend Fansite, www.johnthelegend.com. Via that site, I encountered the messageboard and met some amazing women, who just like me, enjoy John's music, performances, his band, etc. The site is maintained by Nikki Noble, an amazing chick from Chicago whose creativity and computer savvy has knocked on the doors of some of hip hop and R&B's heavy hitters and up & coming. In June of this year, I attended the very first Chicago/Midwest Meetup and met who are now, my friends. Well, I went to the Chi again for the weekend to kick it with them and have a messageboard Meetup outing. It was a good time...check out the pictures:

We also spent some time with poet, J. Ivy, who was featured on Kanye West's "College Dropout" and John Legend's "Live from the Knitting Factory" and his wife, singer, Tarrey Torae, who was featured on John Legend's "Live it Up" and various Kanye West tracks. Check out their sites www.jtoraeday.com, www.tarreytorae.com and www.izntitivyous.com

Overall, it was a good weekend. Bigg upps to my girl, Adjoa
for the hospitality and bigg upps to my girl, Nikki

for creating such an outlet for all of this to take place. Last, but not least, bigg up to Jessica-Lashawn
for being Jessica-Lashawn. And bigg upp to Sergio & Sandria
for coming out to chill this weekend, as well!

And they say Chi city!

I had some bomb Key Lime Cheesecake from the infamous Cheescake Factory.

and some Harold's Chicken
I didn't get the full Harold's experience because I didn't get the sauce. I just don't do sauces & shit on my chicken...not even hot sauce. Yeah, I said it.

So yeah, that was last weekend in Chicago.

RIP Rosa Parks

2005-10-25T21:50:00.000-04:00

RIP, Dear Mother of the Civil Rights Movement

NPR.org, October 25, 2005 · Rosa Parks, the woman known as the "mother of the civil rights movement," has died. Parks turned the course of American history by refusing in 1955 to give up her seat on a bus for a white man.

In 1999, when former President Bill Clinton presented Parks with the Congressional Gold Medal, he said her short bus ride went a long way for civil rights.

Born Rosa Louise McCauley on Feb. 4, 1913, she married Raymond Parks in 1932. By the early 1950s, Rosa Parks and her now deceased husband were long-time activists in Montgomery Alabama's chapter of the NAACP.

Parks worked as a seamstress at a local department store, and on her way home from work one day, she engaged in a simple gesture of defiance that galvanized the civil rights movement.

It was nearly 50 years ago, Dec. 1, 1955, when Parks challenged the South's Jim Crow laws -- and Montgomery's segregated bus seating policy -- by refusing to get up and give her seat to a white passenger.

When the police officer boarded the bus, Parks, who was 42, had one question for him: "I said, 'Why do you push us around?' He said, 'I do not know, but the law is the law and you are under arrest.' "

Parks' grass roots activism had prepared her for this moment. She had attended a session the summer before at the Highlander Folk Center, the educational center for workers' rights and racial equality in Tennessee. Several years earlier she had been thrown off a bus by the same bus driver.

There were other black women in Montgomery who were arrested in 1955 for violating the segregated busing policy. But this time, the black community fought back in force. The NAACP had been looking for a test case to challenge segregated busing and Parks agreed to let the group take her case.

Parks lost her job and had trouble finding work in Alabama after her public stance. She and her husband moved to Detroit. For many years she worked as an aide to Congressman John Conyers, and she remained a committed activist. In the 1980s, she worked in the anti-apartheid movement and also opened a career counseling center for black youth in Detroit.

She received numerous awards and in 1999, President Clinton presented her with the nation's highest civilian honor, a Congressional Gold Medal. "We must never ever, when this ceremony is over, forget about the power of ordinary people to stand in the fire for the cause of human dignity," Clinton said.

Parks died Monday night in her Detroit home of natural causes. Her attorney said close friends were by her side.

Safe & Sane

2005-10-19T22:46:00.000-04:00

So I made it through the day without maiming myself or anybody else.
I made my deadline and have myself organized with what I need to do over the next couple of days at work.
I can't wait until Friday. Right after work, I'm driving to Chicago to hang with my girls. I'll post all about it next week.
In preparation of the weekend, I got my nails done today. $13 fill in.
Tomorrow, I'll wash my hair & finish packing.

Well, it's late and I don't feel like typing too much more. I'm out, peace!

Chi-city, here I come!

Got me workin workin day & night

2005-10-18T22:26:00.000-04:00

I feel like I've been beat with a blunt object.

Do I work outdoors? No.
Do I work in a factory? No.

I work in an OFFICE with frequent deadlines.

My job is exciting because of this, but as this season has picked up, my inboxes look like grizzly monsters have settled in and I spend 11-12 hours of my day there.
I'm a food & beverage revenue auditor for a prestigous club and I reconcile the daily f & b sales, then compute the gratuities for the waitstaff and turn them in weekly. My deadline is Wednesday, so Monday & Tuesday, I'm swamped. I'm pretty much a bitch those days, because I'm on edge and don't want to be disturbed. Once I've turned in my work, I have 1/2 of Weds and all of Thurs to do my end-of-the-week duties/reports, then get back into the swing of things for the next week. I'm the only one in my dept that does my job, so my inbox is nonstop.
I'm not complaining, but man, am I tired. My neck & back hurts, from holding my head down, in my work all day, and I'm exhausted when I come home from work. I can count the number of hours I spend in my home, on my hand.

Monday, my immediate supervisor asked me why I had overtime last week. I almost cursed at her. I just looked at my desk and asked (jokingly), "Do you see all of this?" She understood and *remembered* how busy it's been and how busy it's going to be.
I mean, did she forget the influx of business we get around this time of the year? Did she forget I had a weekly deadline? Did she forget why she hired me? Because I'm capable of meeting my deadlines and doing what I have to do to provide accurate reports and information at the time they are due?
I could go on & on (this IS a blog, isn't it?), but I digress...

Unappetizing

2005-10-17T22:55:00.000-04:00

I sure hate this is a restaurant in Windsor, Ontario

Throwback

2005-10-17T22:38:00.000-04:00

While the pre-hype of the vh1 Hip Hop Honors was going down, Vh1 Soul played some throwback videos that included videos by Kwame of Kwame & the New Beginning. I always thought he was a cutie back then and my, is he handsome now. ---------->

Speaking of throwbacks, how about, I ran into the video for "Spread my wings" by Troop...

How about Salt n Pepa, Kid n Play, MC Lyte and Queen Latifah come out with Greatest Hits cds?

Syndicated

2005-10-17T20:12:00.000-04:00

So I've discovered a new radio station today. It's new to me because I'm in Detroit and this station is out of New York. I listen to WBLS in the morning for the Steve Harvey show, then just keep it on during the day (at work via internet) because of the good R&B (classic & today's hits). I listened to the "Wendy Williams' Experience" and actually enjoyed it. This Disc Jockey Diva is brutal, and she just doesn't care. She's nice to listeners, though, when they call in.

Off topic, I learned that John Legend has cancelled his November 23rd show at the Michigan Theatre in Ann Arbor, MI.

Further off topic, I'm gearing up for an eventful tv watching week. It kicked off last night with Desperate Housewives, which has been pretty slow & lame, thus far. One would think that Alfre Woodard and her man-trapped-in-the-basement would put a twist on the show, but that, combined with the sleezy, stupid efforts of the other women is really making this season start out to be a dud. However, all that said, it was actually decent last night.

Tonight is "Las Vegas" night. The woman that bought the casino and runs it (over Big Ed Deline) is a bitch and makes the show uninteresting. Not to mention that the sista on the show, Marsha Thomason, is no longer there.

Hmm, nothing important comes on tomorrow night (Tuesday). Oh, "My name is Earl" and "The Office" and last week's re-run of "America's Next Top Model".

Wednesday, is of course, "AMTP" and Martha's Apprentice. Then Thursday is the big tv night: "Everybody Hates Chris", Trump's Apprentice, Making the Band and Run's House. (I'll give Run another shot and see what he has to offer this week).

Blog Shopping

2005-10-16T16:22:00.000-04:00

I swear, when I'm not online, I think of things to type about, but once I sit down at the keyboard, I forget everything. In this case, I'll scan blogs and see what other people type about. It's pretty much about nothing. (as is here)
I guess that's the point of these things. To ramble on & on about nothing in particular. Hmm, I'll continue ramble later....when I think of something to ramble about.

Makeup Art Cosmetics

2005-10-15T22:42:00.000-04:00

Yeah, I'm a fan of MAC. I faithfully collect my used containers to recycle 6 of them for a free lipstick.
Well, I recently switched from StudioFix to StudioTech. They're always trying to get you to try something else. I fell victim this time. And stupid me bought that $30 brush to apply it with. Right now, I hate StudioTech and don't think I'll ever like it. Although, once I get out & about the results are pretty darned nice. It feels like mud when I put it on and makes my face feel and look wet. But once it dries and settles, it looks great. I still miss my StudioFix.

Short & Sweet

2005-10-15T22:08:00.000-04:00

Another Hallmark Holiday? Well, let's read the history of the day most of us know as "Sweetest's Day". (Most commonly mispronounced as "Sweetie's" Day)

Observed the 3rd Saturday in the month of October, Sweetest Day observance originated in Cleveland in 1922. Herbert Birch Kingston, a philanthropist and candy company employee wanted to bring happiness into the lives of orphans, shut-ins and others who were forgotten. With the help of friends, he began to distribute candy and small gifts to the underprivileged.

Primarily a regional observance celebrated in the Great Lakes region and the Northeast, Sweetest Day is gradually spreading to other areas of the country. People tend to take the Sweetest Day tradition with them when they move. Ohio is the top state for Sweetest Day sales, followed by Michigan and Illinois. Texas, California and Florida are among the top 10 states in sales.

Over the years, Sweetest Day has evolved into a time to express romantic love and also to show appreciation to friends.

Happy Sweetest's Day, folks

Who's House?

2005-10-13T23:26:00.000-04:00

I love Thursday nights.

TV watching has never been so much fun. First, "Everybody Hates Chris" has me in tears. The Black Wonder Years...how funny!

Then, there's the "Apprentice". Business Principles, backstabbing and bitching, all in one show. Can't beat that.

Now, I will add MTB3 to my Thursday night schedule. If you're not in the know, MTB3 means "Making the Band 3". Didders' 4th attempt to make a "band", which we all know that hip hop groups and/or all-girl-groups are not considered "bands" in the R&B world. Maybe that's why these "bands" aren't really "making it", which totally goes against the title of the show. But the Diddy won't give up. He "can't stop, cause he won't stop". Or "won't stop cause he can't stop". One or the other. I don't know, though, what they do to make people like me tune in to the annoying bickering and everyday struggle/rich-and-fabulous doings of these wannabe up & comers. My guilty pleasure was watching the last "band" whose creativity soared through the roof by naming themselves "Da Band". (no wonder they flopped) Who cares, though...they had 5 things: 1. Dylan 2. Dylan 3. Dylan 4. Dylan 5. Dylan

Last, and least, for my Thursday night schedule, is "Run's House". Now...I've been looking forward to this show, based off the commercials. That's how they get you.
This Angela (the 18 yr old daughter) is turning my stomach. She's totally being a Paris Hilton from the suburbish hood (which makes no sense, but I just made it up and she's acting like it). Justine (Mother Run) is a ditz, the youngest boy annoys me--actually, both the younger boys annoy me. They're equally annoying and I can't tell which is which (shows how much I pay attention to them) and everybody else just...exists. Puffer Dad was the executive producer on this. Doesn't surprise me. Oh, and he gives his "moral thought" at the end. This show isn't right.
Don't get me wrong...I LOVE hip hop, I love Run D.M.C., I like the Simmons brothers (Run & Russell) and respect their business endeavors, but this one is one stone that should have been unturned.

Okay, off subject, but I can't wait for the Boondocks to air on Cartoon Network.

What You Crave

2005-10-12T21:24:00.000-04:00

I know White Castles are good. Especially after a night at the club, it's the only thing open and you're actually hungry enough to sit in line for 30 mins waiting for about 4 greasy sliders.

But why, tell me why my co-worker brought some into the office to eat at 9 am?? I'm sorry, but that's just....not healthy. It's way too early to digest grease in the form of a burger-like substance. The smell permeated throughout the office and made the entire surrounding area STANK. I tried my best to avoid it so the smell wouldn't seep into my clothing.

I understand White Castle is open for 24 hrs. I understand it's "What You Crave", but damn.

May the Good Lord Bless You...

2005-10-09T15:22:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday to me!

No More Technical Difficulties...

2005-10-08T16:57:00.000-04:00

I can't wait for the Alicia Keys Unplugged cd to drop. I'm really diggin the song, "Unbreakable" and I love it when MTV Jams plays the entire "Unplugged" set with Alicia doing her thing. Her performance is amazing and I'm glad I got to see her live on the Diary Tour. Who could ask for anything else? Alicia AND John Legend in one show! JL is a whole 'nother subject, I can go on for days, so I shall digress here.

ANYhoo, I've been listening to "Diary" a lot lately. It's so soothing while at work, dealing with the daily b.s. of the working world. I can't think about Ms. Alicia without thinking about her #1 fan, Ivana, from Norway.

First of all, how amazing is it that music can bring people together all over the globe?? I met Ivana through a John Legend messageboard and we've been friends ever since. All the way in Norway, with today's technology, it feels like she's right next door in the house next to mine.

She listened to me boohoo about some things, she's listened to me rant about some things, she sends me the BEST chocolate from Norway, she's sent me some really G.O.O.D. music, she's been so thoughtful, caring and sisterly and I just want to tell her THANK YOU for being you!

Ivana, this one's for you!

The Grunt

2005-10-04T08:48:00.000-04:00

My musical tastes vary from hip hop, r&b, soul, gospel, funk, old school, some pop, some rock, you name it. Well, except country and metal.

The topic of today is “old school”. There are many songs out today that sample from old songs, which I’m still learning. You have your regulars that are easy to pick out, but sometimes, you may have a favorite song, and may not even recognize the fact that the current artist sampled the beat of an old song until you come across that song. You may come across the original in a commercial, in which companies have started using old tracks for advertising, or a tv show. I’m still finding out that some of my old school favorites are actually covers of OLDER ones.

In honor of VH1’s “Hip Hop Honors”, for several days, VH1 Soul played some nostalgic hip hop videos. These artists are the pioneers of the rap/hip hop game and it’s important we pay homage to them. As I age, gracefully, I forget that those younger than me didn’t come up with Big Daddy Kane, Kool Moe Dee, LL Cool J, Run DMC, KRS One, BDP, Get Fresh Crew (Slick Rick, Doug E. Fresh, Kwame), Sugar Hill Gang (a lil before my time, but well known in my eyes), Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five, Salt n Pepa, Oaktown’s 357, JJ Fad, MC Lyte, The Real Roxanne, Roxanne Shante, YoYo and so on and so forth. I know I left out many good ones, but you get the point.

I urge people to delve into their hip hop history…notice how I said “Hip Hop”, not “rap”. There IS a difference. Well, I can give two differences: Quality & Content, besides the obvious contributors to what defines “hip hop”. Anyway, if you haven’t heard of some of those artists, take a listen, use all the (legal) downloading services to do some research.

Same for other genres…funk. Parliament, Gap Band, Cameo, Kool & the Gang are all groups that made a mark in funk music. The J.B.'s, George Clinton, James Brown…look into these people, turn off the same ol crap that you hear everyday on the radio for just one day and listen to music that gave you the urge to move your feet, bob your head, dance in your seat at work, turn it up loud in the car, dance in your car seat.

Listen to the old school that you don’t hear everyday on your local “old school and today’s r&b” stations. Listen to some B-Side music. You’d be amazed at what you find.

Listen, Learn and have a Funky Good Time...

Cracks me up...

2005-10-03T18:41:00.000-04:00

In my disappointment of the change of the Boondocks' premiere on Cartoon Network, I turned to Adult Swim anyway and caught Family Guy. That show has me in major tears watching it! I hollered at Stewie's grown wisecracks and Peter's ignorance. But November 6th? It's on & poppin.

This morning, on the way to work, I listened to Steve Harvey, who also had me screaming laughing in the car. I miss my Russ Parr and Tom Joyner was cool, but Steve's morning show is where it's at.

If I may change the subject, I must say that Common's video for Testify is very cinematic and enthralling. I find myself watching it every time it comes on. It contains well put-together cast and definitely pulls you into the song. I rate it a perfect 10!

Shave it bald and start fresh

2005-10-02T22:20:00.000-04:00

It's too often that I get frustrated with my hair. For one thing, I don't have the time or patience to run to the shop every other week. In a day & age where hair stylists schedule 5 people at one time, then another 3 people on the next half hour, I've given up on shops.

Plus, in a shop, you walk in and people gawk at you like they've never seen another human being before, then you spend the rest of the DAY (because that's how long you'll be there) trying to avoid eye contact with these people. You know how when you're looking at someone and you make eye contact, you're supposed to look away? Well, these chicks (& grown women) don't.
Then your ears are bleeding because you're hearing a language beyond slang. It's just downright incorrect english: liked = like-ded, seen = seent, and God knows what else.

ANYway...

I'd perm my own hair, color my own hair...switch up from wearing tracks to a ponytail to a wig or two. Well, I recently got my hair done in the shop, super early, for a wedding. I got a relaxer and a good conditioning. I've worn my own hair for the past few weeks. I don't want to weave it just yet...I want my hair to be able to breathe and be comfortable. However, I find myself curling it every morning. So now, I'm back to the drawing board. I want to cut my hair--no, I want to SHAVE my hair and start anew. I've cut my hair short before, but it's hell growing it back. Mine will get to this one point, then stop growing and that starts my level of frustration.

Well, I put some color in it 2 weeks ago. I can't stand going too long without some hair color. Another damaging enemy to my hair, but hell, what can you do?

So, either I'll pull it out from frustration, it'll fall out due to damaging agents (hair glue, curling irons, dryer, relaxer, color) or I'll take the clippers and shave it off myself.

Insert Cool Title Here

2005-10-02T19:10:00.000-04:00

Okay, I see this as a problem. For blogs, you have to come up with some cool title and some cool worthless topics to ramble about. All throughout the day, I think of random funny things, but once I sit down in front of the computer screen, I can't think of ANYthing.

Let's see... it's been 7 days since I've had an 8-track on sale on Ebay and nobody bid a dime on it.
I'll be 27 in exactly one week and I find 19 yr old Brandon T. Jackson (Roll bounce, BET Comedy Awards, Teen Comedy Tour) attractive --->
I sure hate the Boondocks' debut on Cartoon Network has been pushed back a month.
I'm kicking myself for falling asleep on Saturday Night Live last night
Note to self: Watch "Everybody Hates Chris" this week

How random was that? Not very...but who cares? ha, I love this thing! I'll holla!

I hate fads...

2005-10-01T19:53:00.000-04:00

Main Entry: blog
Definition: to author an online diary or chronology of thoughts
Usage: blogged, blogging; blogger, n

I knew sooner or later, I'd be sucked in. This blog craze has swept the nation and then some and here I am, caught up in it.

Well, as you can see, it's my season and you've just entered the marketplace. From here on out, you'll know what I want you to know. I'll invite you into my sarcasm, randomness, ability to not make sense, ability to make plenty of sense, love for vocabulary, broad range of music, googlehood and anything else I feel like inputting. Here's your evite. Enjoy!