Funny As Hell

Lauren recently performed at Rock The Bells. Celebs and their spouses sat on the side of the stage to check out her set. I swear Chris Rock and Kendu look like Lauren let off a huge nasty wet fart. Their look is classic... it made my day!

Songs That Make My Skin Crawl

I am shocked by the things that are played on the urban radio stations today. It absolutely alarms me the things that are said or implied in the songs the programmers decide to play. What really pisses me off is they don’t even try to play certain songs during school hours or late at night to avoid the ears of young listeners.

One of the songs on my top hated list right now is Ciera’s new song called Ride. Here are a few of the lyrics.

I can do it big
I can do it long
I can do whenever or however
You want

I can do it up and down
I can do it circles
To him I'm a gymnast
This ring is my circus

I market it so good
They can't wait to try I I I I
Me e e a a
I work it so good
Man, these nigga's
Trying to buy I I I I me

They love they way I ride it (x3)
They love the way I ride the beat
How I ride the beat, I ride it


Just imagine your 8 year old daughter/niece/cousin singing this song. Then ask you what is Ciera riding mommy?


Although the next song is a great song I don’t think it should be played during the hours children are listening to the radio. Neighbors Know My Name.


Soon as we get started makin love goin harder hear a... (knock knock) knocking on the wall,
And as soon as I go deep getting it in then again there's a... (knock knock) knocking on the wall,
Girl your legs keep shakin I swear we breakin our new headboard headboard
And the love we make it feels so good girl you know I'm proud lookin in your lovley face scream my name you do it so loud


I bet the neighbors know my name
Way you screamin scratchin yellin,
Bet the neighbors know my name
They be stressin while we sexin,
I bet the neighbors know my name
My name my name
I bet the neighbors know my name



Again this is adult situations and it I just think it’s too much. I do believe in the first amendment and those artists have a right to create the best music they can. However, the PUBLIC radio station may not be the best place to exhibit some of the racier songs.

Janet Jackson has not had a #1 hit since her nipple made an appearance at Super bowl. We are not allowed to see explicit nudity scenes on public television, why then are we allowed to hear them on the radio.

I guess I am just old fashion in some

Pride Before The Fall

Michelle Fonville, an overweight woman who went to get a manicure, pedicure and eyebrow arch at Natural Nails in DeKalb, Georgia, was charged $5 extra because of her weight, reports WSBTV.com.

Fonville shares with the news station: "I was humiliated. I almost cried. Tears were forming in my eyes."

She realized the charges after looking over her bill. Fonville says she thought it was a mistake, until the manager told her she was charged $5 because of her weight.


Salon manager Kim Tran told reporter Eric Philips that the surcharge was due to costly repairs of broken chairs by overweight customers, reports WSBTV.com. Tran explained "the chairs have a weight capacity of 200 pounds and cost $2,500 to fix."

Tran says she shared this message with Fonville. "I didn't want to argue with her about $5. I wanted to make her pleased with her service," Tran said. "I whispered ... I said, 'I'm sorry, next time I cannot take you.'"

All I could think when I read this article is……………Are you serious?

This is pure bullsh*t. There would be no way on God’s green earth that I would ever patronize this business again. Then I would have contacted the news and had that business splashed all over the 10 o’clock. Then I would have got some more of my “fat” homies to help me picket the place and had leaflets to their entire customer on the way in advising them of their discriminatory practices. The store was found on essence.com but this need to get out to more people so fat and skinny chicks alike can let this business know how to properly treat their customer’s.





Read more: http://www.essence.com/news/hot_topics_4/nail_salon_charges_extra_for_overweight.php#ixzz0xS8jXDVC

Michelle's Vacation Scandal

I am running late but I wanted to address an issue concerning our First Lady, Mrs. Obama and her decision to take her daughter Sasha on summer trip to Spain. Before I speak on this issue please read the article below that was printed in the NY Daily News.

From New York Daily News:
Michelle Obama seems more like a modern-day Marie Antoinette – the French queen who spent extravagantly on clothes and jewels without a thought for her subjects’ plight – than an average mother of two … I don’t begrudge anyone rest and relaxation when they work hard. We all need downtime – the First Family included. It’s the extravagance of Michelle Obama’s trip and glitzy destination contrasted with President Obama’s demonization of the rich that smacks of hypocrisy and perpetuates a disconnect between the country and its leaders.

Do you smell that….it seems like someone is preparing a plate of hateration to service the American people. I am sure that the President and his wife are very concerned with the plight of our economic situation. I am certain that they are acutely aware of the financial issues many people in our nation are facing. However, the President and his wife have worked very hard to obtain the financial blessing they enjoy today. Let’s not forget that Lady O was a six figure sistah… out earning her husband for many years of their marriage. This is no run of the mill family that just haphazardly run the presidency. No they are not billionaires but according to their 2009 taxes they are millionaires. Guess what….millionaires take glitzy, expensive and sometimes extravagant vacations. I know I would be sitting in Fiji enjoying some coconut rum and getting a deep tissue massage at this very moment if I was a millionaire. Not to mention that the Obama’s paid for their vacation out of their own pocket. Mrs. Obama took this time to spend with her girlfriends and her girlfriends bought their daughter’s too. I think it’s their money to do what they want to do with it. I don’t see anyone getting upset when Jay-Z and Beyonce travel around the Mediterranean in their yacht or when Warren Buffet decides he wants to spend millions of dollars on purchasing more stock not to mention how many vacations were taken by the previous president. George Busch was the vacation kang (king for you proper folks). In his first 18 months in office, Obama has taken 65 days off. At this point in Bush's first term, he'd taken 120 days off – almost double Obama's total.
Bush was on vacation during the 911 attacks and during Katrina. He did not leave his vacation when Katrina hit N.O.. He also refused to leave his vacation when Palestinians attacked towns in southern Israel in December 2008.

It’s also been stated that the taxpayers had to pay for the secret service to travel with the First Lady and that should not come at the tax payers expense. That’s a joke because all previous presidents have secret service accommodations and I am sure they travel out the country from time to time. Not to mention there is a budget that congress approves for the travel expenses that the POTUS and his family may incur.
I wrote all that to say to all those complaining people, get a life and if you unemployed worry about paying your own damn bills and keep your eyes off of other people’s funds.

Growing Up Too Soon

I remember going through puberty with both dread and excitement. I was super excited when I started getting hair up under my arms. I would show off that I had hair under my arm pits. My cousins were so jealous that I had hair and they did not. Then my boobs started to develop as strangely as it sounds it didn’t even notice. My dad told my mom that he think it was time I started wearing a bra. Without explanation was wearing a sports bra that flatten my chest even more. Then around 12 I started my cycle and was given a pad and shown what to do and that was it. No one spoke to me about sex, womanhood or pregnancy. Then again I was still playing with dolls and watching cartoons every chance I could get, boys were not even on my radar. It was 1987 and things were quite different then compared to now.

However, scientists are reporting that girls are going through puberty at a much earlier age than the girls before their generation. Nearly half of African-American girls start showing signs of puberty by 8 years old, and some American girls are developing as young as 5, even 4 years old, experts say.

As reported by MSNBC News:

The changes in Kiera’s body scared her parents. Though the 8-year-old seemed her usual chipper self, she’d started to develop headaches and acne. More alarming to her mom, Sharon, were the budding breasts on Kiera’s thin little chest.

“I thought, she’s too young,” remembers the Pittsburgh mom. “She’s still fearful about sleeping by herself. An 8-year-old just isn’t mature enough to handle this.”
For Kiera, whose last name is being withheld to protect her privacy, it was all so embarrassing. None of her friends seemed to be experiencing what she was. When they asked about the acne and her expanding chest, Kiera was evasive. “I didn’t want to tell them what was going on,” says the Pittsburgh girl, now age 9. “So I had to kind of lie to them.”

When Kiera’s parents took their daughter to the doctor, he assured them that nothing was wrong with the girl. Kiera was simply starting puberty early.
As it turns out, puberty at age 7 or 8 isn’t so unusual these days. A new study, published Monday in the journal Pediatrics, shows that more American g
The changes in Kiera’s body scared her parents. Though the 8-year-old seemed her usual chipper self, she’d started to develop headaches and acne. More alarming to her mom, Sharon, were the budding breasts on Kiera’s thin little chest.

“I thought, she’s too young,” remembers the Pittsburgh mom. “She’s still fearful about sleeping by herself. An 8-year-old just isn’t mature enough to handle this.”
For Kiera, whose last name is being withheld to protect her privacy, it was all so embarrassing. None of her friends seemed to be experiencing what she was. When they asked about the acne and her expanding chest, Kiera was evasive. “I didn’t want to tell them what was going on,” says the Pittsburgh girl, now age 9. “So I had to kind of lie to them.”

When Kiera’s parents took their daughter to the doctor, he assured them that nothing was wrong with the girl. Kiera was simply starting puberty early.
Personally I feel the exposure to different chemicals in the air and inside our food has girls to mature faster. Back in the 1700s, girls didn’t start to menstruate till they were 17 or 18, Garibaldi says. That had a lot to do with malnutrition. The assumption is that the steady decline in age since then has to do with more abundant food. Now we are shooting our meats up with hormones and dye, we pollute out air and use dangerous chemicals in household products that would kill if used in larger dosages.

Studies have linked an early start to menstruation with an elevated risk of breast cancer. And other research has shown that girls who go through puberty early tend to have lower self-esteem and a poor body image. They are also more likely to engage in risky behaviors which can result in unplanned pregnancies.

I could not imagine having a daughter and trying to tell her about the changing in her body at the age of 8. I also wonder if this will lead to menopause occurring at a younger age. We all know that women are given a set amount of eggs and the sooner we start using them…the sooner they are gone. I think this is something that must be investigated and taken seriously.

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Need A Mental Health Day

Today I am mentally exhausted. My brain is just not connecting with the work. As a matter of fact I feel like I am miles away from work……actually work is the last thing on my mind. I wish I could go back home get in the bed, cover my head and fall into a deep sleep.

I am starting to really detest my job. I really hate saying that because so many people are without jobs and I do not want to sound ungrateful. But I found that it worse to make good money at a job you hate, than making less at a job you love.

It’s crazy when your young you focus solely on the money and as you get older and wiser other things become more important. Today I am struggling liking my job…it’s too easy and I want to use my brain. Don’t worry I am not complaining out loud at the job, and I damn sure not submitting my walking papers. I guess I will just focus on school and chill out until other doors of opportunity swing open.

Today has been one of those crazy days…. my heel broke on my shoe. I needed more “always” and had to stop and Wal-Mart because I only had one in my purse. I wonder if I am just going through hormonal issues our something. Lately I get upset so easily….the slightest thing send me into a fit of rage. Sometimes I have to tell my self “it’s not that serious, calm down”. Not to mention I have been cussing like a sailor.

School is about to start in two weeks and I have to get my mind back in school mode. I guess I am just full of complaints today. I’m sure things will get better soon.

Being A Black Man

Check out this series about being a black man in America. I thought it was thought provoking an and a good read. Let me know your thoughts


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/metro/interactives/blackmen/blackmen.html

Chase Bank Can Kiss My AZZ

If you have read this blog for any length of time you would know that I used to be fiscally irresponsible and this lead to my bankruptcy. Bankruptcy was a very hard and very personal decision of me. Trust me I lost a great deal of material things when I decided to file Chapter 13, but it made me a better more responsible adult. I now understand that a person’s credit is tied directly to their character. However, I do understand that things in life do not always go as planned and even if your intentions are to pay the funds back….. if it’s choosing between eating and paying a bill, let’s face it we EATING!

About two years after my bankruptcy Washington Mutual ( WaMu) was nice enough to give me an unsecured credit card with a decent line of credit. I was so happy to have this credit card that I made a promise to myself to always make the payment. WaMu was the first bank to trust me and give me an opportunity to rebuild my credit. A few years later Chase purchased WaMu and they sent me a bunch of literature promising nothing would change.

This year I made a promise to myself to pay off all my credit card to a zero balance and only use one card as needed. I decided to make that card my Travelocity card because it offered air miles, so it is benefits me. I paid the rest of the credit cards off and was feeling really good about building my credit back to an acceptable score. I am also very thankful of the institutions that helped me get over the bankruptcy blues.


So imagine my surprise when I checked my Chase account (which was paid in FULL and has not had a transaction since April) and the credit line had been reduced to $300.00 ! WTF…. I was livid and confused. The account had never had a late payment and I always paid the bill so I was fit to be tied when I saw the line of credit had decreased.

I promptly called the credit card company and was told by a very RUDE “portfolio manager” that because I filed bankruptcy 4 years ago that I did not fit the standard set by Chase. She stated that Experian was showing a negative account on my bureau and between that and my bankruptcy I did not qualify to have such a high credit limit. I nicely explained to her that I got the card after I filed bankruptcy; she said we have different criteria than WaMu. I then told her that I have been faithfully paying this account on time for three years and have proven that I can handle having a substantial credit line. She nastily told me that the decision was final and I could accept the line of credit or close the account. I then said how the hell JP Morgan Chase get a bail out for 25 BILLION dollars from my tax dollars and say that I am not worth a line of credit. Not to mention the bail out was not used to make new loans….but to purchase more companies! I asked her who I could complain to because this was not acceptable to me. She smugly said, “ the decision in final.” I then said what could be done to increase my credit line, she told me to send in a copy of my pay check stub and proceeded to give me a PO Box in Delaware. Really…. Have you ever heard of anyone sending in a copy of a check stub to a credit card company? I then told her that I did not like the way she was speaking to me. She said I am not speaking to you any kind of way. I told her to close my account because I did not have to be mistreated by the person I pay to give me a line of credit and if I was not deserving of a substantial credit line, they were not deserving of my business. She closed the account and ended the call with a “you have a great day”. You know she said it in way like, I hope I ruined your day and this is my way of giving you the final jab before I let you off the phone.


I was more pissed when I hung up the phone. But I decided to calm down and call back. I called back and I reached a person that sounded delightful as soon as she answer the phone. I told her that I had just been treated rudely by one of her co-workers and I wanted the person’s name so I could include it in my complaint to the company. She said she could not give the person name out but would like to hear what happened so she could elevate to a supervisor. I explained the situation and she was apologetic and asked me some questions about my credit and took my gross pay over the PHONE…. in under 15 minutes my line of credit was restored!


It seems that credit can be given and taken at the discretion of company workers……….NOT your FICO score….NOT your payment history. It makes me really wonder what the underlying reasons could be. Yes I know the country is in a credit crunch but then again Black people have always been in a credit crunch.

Statistic show we pay more to borrow money even when our credit scores are comparable to white people. Lending institutions make more money off of selling black people cars, houses, boats and basically anything we finance because 9 times out of 10 the APR is higher.

Now that my credit line is restored…. I have vowed not to use that credit card. Chase should really watch whom they employ to speak with their customers. It’s sad to see people abuse power, especially when that power has such broad repercussions on others

The Cry Heard Around The World

I’ve finally completed my Chemistry class only to find out that I got a D in the class. Trust me when I tell you I cried like a new born baby when I found out that I had a D. I worked so hard in that class that it felt like I was giving it my call and I deserved at least a C. But honestly I could not remember and regurgitate all the things I learned when it came time for the test. There were times when I would literally have brain freeze. Most of my summer was spent at work, class, and studying. I haven’t attended a chemistry class since 1991, I don’t know what the hell made me think I could take an accelerated chemistry class and pass! I guess I was overconfident, but I really thought I could do it.

Tests were every Tuesday and we covered 2-3 chapters a day. So the test could easily cover 8 chapters and went on for 6 weeks. My problem was I never had time to really let the stuff sink in my brain. The class was Mon-Thurs, 6:00pm-9:20pm and because the class was only 6 weeks the teacher could not spend a great deal of time finely explaining every concept. I tried I really did. But a D was all I could muster.

I cried and even thought about reconsidering going back to school, heck I do have a master’s degree in Human Resources! I called myself dumb, stupid, comprehension smart and conceptually illiterate! Yes I beat myself up.


Then it happened………..God intervened. I went to do some job shadowing at a water treatment facility and was introduced “by chance” to the environmental compliance manager was introduced to me. We chatted pretty easily and I told him I was interested in becoming a civil engineer with an emphasis in environmental sciences. His face lit up and he told me he just finished up his master’s degree with that exact degree. Then I told him about the D situation and how I was starting to question if that was the path for me. He said, “Don’t sweat it……the classes are very hard, and I was no straight A student myself.” He admitted that he really struggled with it because he had no experience with science but he got through it and eventually began to understand it. And as a matter of fact he would be teaching chemistry at one of the junior colleges next year.

He made me feel…normal. I did not feel so stupid anymore, not all scientists were geniuses! With a little patience, studying and non accelerated pace I had a chance at success. So needless to say I will be back in chemistry this fall.