I am my own superhero

I am impulsive by nature. It is one of the things I like about myself but I have realized that it can get me into hot water at times. I make things happen. I get up and handle my business. I resolve conflict. I go for what I want and who I want. It works most of the time. However, there is an art to being still. There is an upside to being silent. Sometimes you have to do nothing…say nothing…not one word…

*removing my cape*

My silence is due to my lack of knowing what to say and how to say it. 

*Microphone off*

Music: Michael Jackson

 

 I have been listening to MJ all week. Ever since last week we road through the ATL streets screaming Billie Jean to the top of our lungs.

Check out the remix produced by Kanye West. (It’s a banger even 25 years later!!!)

It is so hard for me to post this picture. Gosh, Mike looks bad! Back in the 80’s I used to fight my cousin Lisa over who was better, Micheal or Prince. I had the red jacket a la Beat It. I had the glitter socks that looked just like the ones he wore on the Motown reunion show. I had the glove, the books, the albums, the posters…I was a Michael Jackson GROUPIE! I liked Prince but I think he was too grown for at the time. I was too young to appreciate the genius. I just saw a half naked man woman squirming around singing about grinding on something. Remember Darling Nikki? I didn’t get it. Thriller? Oh yes, I got it. That video was BOSS!!!

Michael vs. Prince…who’s team were YOU on?

Music: The ARTists

I was LUCKY enough to see these artists perform this past year…

 

 Miss Erykah “Apples” Badu & the vibrant one himself, QTip

Perspective

…is really all we have…

I found this piece online the other day.

I am thankful for art as it reminds me that we are the masters of our own perception.

 

Clinton’s Experience = “Just being there”

mis·speak  –verb (used with object), verb (used without object), -spoke, -spok·en, -speak·ing.

1.	to speak, utter, or pronounce incorrectly.

2.	to speak inaccurately, inappropriately, or too hastily.

Mrs. Clinton said last week that she misspoke when she claimed she was in harm’s way in Bosnia. Hmmm.

Example A.

My story: I left the mall last Friday night with my girlfriend around 10pm.

Reality: You find a video tape of me exiting the mall Saturday night with my girlfriend around 10pm.

Assessment: I MISSPOKE. I confused Friday with Saturday.

Example B.

My story: I left the mall with my girlfriend and her two best friends last Friday night around 10pm. On our way out two men tried to rob us. I kicked one of the armed gunmen in the face causing him to drop his gun. Even though I was in this dangerous situation I remained calm therefore this would support why I should accompany others to the mall in the future.

Reality: I left the mall with my girlfriend, her friend and her 60 year old grandmother last Friday night around 10pm. We walked safely to the car and drove home.

Assessment: I LIED.

The Clinton camp likes to deflect their mistakes by pointing out their opponents’ mistakes. It is a smart strategy because the media then balances it out and they move on. However, this is BIG because Clinton’s selling point is her EXPERIENCE. For her to lie in detail about her trip to Bosnia means that her so-called presidential niche is a lie, therefore, making her no more prepared than Senator Obama if you only consider the fact that her being around counts for experience.

Another example, if my partner is an attorney, does that mean that because I listen to her cases and I accompany her to the courtroom that I can represent someone myself?NO! Is the wife of a heart surgeon qualified to open your heart and start tinkering around in there? NO! Senator Clinton has not presented a real case on her experience outside of just BEING there. Ironically, she is getting the feminist vote, but her political existence lies solely based on her romantic union of one of the most influential men in politics-Slick Willie.

Clinton supporters are obviously caught up in the hype of two things: 1. her being a woman and 2. her being a Clinton. They long desperately for those glorious Clinton years of prosperity. I can understand that but times are vastly different and the country is deeply divided. We need a leader that will not add to this division. Let’s face it, the Clintons are just divisive politicians. She will not be able to work along party lines if she were ever elected. Go check out some of the bills she has passed. She stands alone on most of them.

It is time for the Clinton love fest to end. Let’s get real about change in this country. Forget about a president ready on day one. No one is really prepared to be president. All presidents are on the job training. It is a very unique position and one that requires judgement. Most importantly, it requires character. Senator Clinton you did not misspeak when you spoke of your trip to Bosnia. You lied. Plain and simple. America deserves better.

Laura Bush 2012

Conspiracy?

Ok, so I was watching Maury’s show yesterday. I know, I know. Don’t judge me.

I am convinced that Maury Povich is receiving some type of kick back from the government to convince the masses that people REALLY live like that. It has to be a part of some big plot to perpetuate stereotypes of poor people in order to make the wealthy feel justified in screwing them. Look at Maury! They deserve the shit that happens to them!

Seriously…How can you not know who your baby’s father is? Most importantly, why do you feel the need to air that disgusting truth on television? If you ever date someone who thinks they can only have male children because that is all he has had so far, you are the missing link and should be banned from motherhood. And do you need Maury and his lie detector to tell you that your husband is cheating when he comes home with the condom still on his body? Really? And Maury do we really need to see the world’s oddest couples? I mean really! A 300 plus pound lady with a midget is not interesting television. It’s just stupid.

I thought he was married to Connie Chung who if my memory serves me correctly was a respected award winning journalist. How does Maury look at her every night? Seriously! Povich has even go as far as to sell Baby Daddy shirts!!!! WTF? *dead*

This your country.  Don’t worry about terrorism. We’ll end it all first at the rate we’re going!

Lessons re-learned

People may not say exactly what they mean or feel but they usually show you. You have to pay attention.

That’s a pearl from my momma.

Walmart vs. Humanity: Brain-damaged woman being sued by Walmart

Everyone that knows me knows I detest America’s number one retailer, Walmart. When I heard this story I could only shake my head.

Walmart 1

Humanity 0

Story Highlights:

Debbie Shank, 52, suffered severe brain damage in a traffic accident

Debbie and her family received $1M from the lawsuit. After legal fees they were left with $417 placed in a trust to pay for on-going medical long term care.

Wal-Mart’s health plan sued Shank and her family to recoup what it paid out ($470k)

The Shanks got money in suit; Wal-Mart says policy means couple can’t get benefits

At this time, the Shanks’ trust balance is $277k so they are short $193k and WM wants their money back!

One more thing: Couple’s son was killed in Iraq after they lost lawsuit to Wal-Mart

Details under the cut…

Oprah & Gayle 2.0 (the gayER version)

Let’s be honest. Friendships are hard to find. Adult friendships (real ones) are damn near impossible to find and even more difficult to maintain. I have a small, but very close circle of friends that serve as my surrogate family. Being an only child can be a lonely place but I have been lucky enough to have friends that I can just lean on and just lean on some more.

A little over a year ago I met my Gayle. Yes, I’m Oprah bitches! Get over it! Anyway, I met that person that I can literally talk to on the phone 9696969 times a day and never run out of things to say. I honestly cannot remember a day now that I have not talked to her. I respect her thoughts, admire her drive and love the shit out of her silly ass (ok, not literally, but you know what I mean). She’s like the sister that I never thought I wanted and the one that I now so desperately need. So I could not let this anniversary month pass without a shout out to my Gayle! Brooklyn STAND UP! 

Woman…I appreciate you for listening to me bellyache over all the women (the good ones, the bad ones, the petite ones (hehe) and the ones I KNOW I shouldn’t deal with)…for not judging me when I do (smile)…for being the voice of reason when I need it…for processing my theories which I’ll admit are sometimes a little off in left field…for making me laugh until the air can hardly escape my body…for letting me hide out with you when I needed to just get away…for ignoring the fact that I DON’T listen and for repeating the story over and over again…for creating skits with me for our never-ending version of SNL…for understanding and supporting my narcissism in the most delicate way possible…for knowing exactly how I would react to things to the point where I do not have to even say it…for supporting my goals, dreams and crazy ideas…for listening to my incessant political rants…for being awake and ready to take my call at any time of the night…for being the person that wears down my phone’s battery daily…for always being present for my VEET process…for riding out like a rockstar no matter what we end up doing…for not letting the miles separate us…for listening to my drunk voice mails or babble and ramble…for choosing to love those I love even though you may not even like them…for never judging me no matter what I do or choose…

I have lost a lot over the past year but finding a friendship like ours makes my world even out. I know God dropped you into my life for a reason. I want you to know that I will always be there for you no matter what. We will be vacationing in the Turks 20 years from now with our wives and kids reminiscing on the Critter! HAHA!

Ok, enough with the sap. I love you kid. Thanks for being my Gayle. (I swear our convos would be a hit…I should have my agent call Sirius Radio man!)

The Black Man: The white man’s fixed star

I wonder if James Baldwin’s letter would be considered hate speech these days?

Below is an excerpt from Baldwin’s MY DUNGEON SHOOK LETTER TO MY NEPHEW ON THE ONE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE EMANICIPATION.

 ”…Know whence you came.  If you know whence your came, there is really no limit to where you can go.  The details and symbols of your life have been deliberately constructed to make you believe what white people say about you.  Please try to remember that what that believe, as well as what they do and cause you to endure, does not testify to your inferiority but to their inhumanity and fear.  Please try to be clear, dear James, though the storm which rages about your youthful head today, about the reality which lies behind the words acceptance and integration.  There is no reason for you to try to become like white people and there is no basis whatever for their impertinent assumption that they must accept you.  The really terrible thing, old buddy, is that you must accept them.  And I mean that very seriously.  You must accept them and accept them with love.  For these innocent people have no other hope.  They are, in effect, still trapped in a history which they do not understand; and until they understand it, they cannot be released from it.  They have had to believe for so many years, and for innumerable reasons, that black men are inferior to white men. 

Many of them, indeed, know better, but, as you will discover, people find it very difficult to act on what they know.  To act is to be committed, and to be committed is to be in danger.  In this case, the danger, in the minds of most white Americans, is the loss of identity.  Try to imagine how you would feel if you woke up one morning to find the sun shinning and all the stars aflame.  You would be frightened because it is our of the order of nature.  Any upheaval in the universe is terrifying because it so profoundly attacks one’s sense of one’s own reality.  Well, the black man has functioned in the white man’s world as a fixed star, as an immovable pillar: and as he moves out of his place, heaven and earth are shaken to their foundations.