Fallen Shero

Friday I watched as Marion Jones broke down on the court house steps admitting that she used performance enhancing drugs during the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Marion looked ashamed, guilty, and very tormented as she FINALLY admitted to her wrong doing. I acknowledge that what she did was wrong but watching that women stand there crying her eyes out made me feel like giving Marion a big hug. We all know how it feels to get busted in lie now magnify that times 100 and I imagine that’s how Marion felt.


If you are wondering how all this went down, I will give you some insight on this issue


2003, federal law enforcement officials conducted a raid on the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative, or Balco, a California lab that specialized in nutritional supplements and that had ties to dozens of professional athletes. Records from Balco indicated that Jones was also a client, and its founder, Victor Conte Jr., said publicly that Jones used performance-enhancing drugs. Conte eventually pleaded guilty to federal charges of steroid distribution and money laundering. He served four months in prison for steroid distribution and money laundering

Now to make matters worst in June 2004, Hunter, Marion ‘s ex-husband told federal investigators looking into Balco that he witnessed his former wife use illegal substances during the Sydney Olympics (fucking snitch). Then to further complicate the matter the following year, Jones’s boyfriend, the sprinter Tim Montgomery, with whom she has a son, was barred from competition for two years by an international sports court after it accepted evidence that he had taken THG, a banned steroid.

When the men you have in your life are on drugs chances are very strong that the spouse shares the same addiction. You gotta know those men were encouraging her to up her game by taking performance enhancing drugs. I am not blaming the men for her behavior but it seems like taking drugs was an accepted practice in this camp.

Although Marion admits using performance-enhancing drugs she denies knowing that she was actually taking the drugs. Marion says "By November 2003, I realized that (then-trainer Trevor) Graham had given me a performance-enhancing drug," Jones said in a court hearing Friday where she pleaded guilty two felony counts of lying to federal investigators. He (Graham) began providing me with a substance he referred to as flaxseed oil," Jones said. "At Graham's direction, I took it orally. I put it under my tongue for a few seconds and then swallowed." ……. Really, now this sounds like some straight bullsh*t. You a grown ass woman and you just gone trust your coach to place a substance in yo mouth without asking what you are taking? I feel bad for this sistah, but even I don’t believe this lie.

And if you thought it could not get any worse that being humiliated in front of the entire United States, the poor girl is broke too. In June, The Los Angeles Times reported that she had only about $2,000 to her name and a bank had foreclosed on her $2.5-million house near in Chapel Hill, N.C. Well needless to say that the two stacks is probably gone by now and I bet she was thinking about taking some of that gold and bronze to her local pawn shop, too late now.
I wonder what the rest of Marion’s life will consist of, what will she do next, how will she make a comeback. It’s not like she could just go down to the local mall and get a job at Sears. I am not sure how she is going to bounce back; I am just hoping she does.

People if you have a natural ability or talent count on that to see you through, anything more than that is not of you. It is unfair to others that are crafting their skill while you are pill popping and looking swoller than ever (Dr. Dre, Frankie Andreu Mack McGuire, Chris Benoit, Berry Bonds, ect.) Plus when you start to shine too much “ those people” start to wonder how you get all that super human strength and start snooping around trying to find out your secret, then the next thing you know you’re on national television sobbing looking confused and sorry. Not to mention the sh*t could drive you crazy, remember Chris Benoit anyone? So Marion I feel for you, I am sorry you had to suffer this humiliation in front of the entire world and wish you all the best. However, I hope this discourages other dopers to stop using and to those to thought about to rethink your decision.

Happily Nappy..... Thank You Very Much

As y’all know I am in the process of trying to go natural with my hair. I stopped relaxing my hair about 4 months ago because of all the damage and I really hated all the products and heat that was required for my hair become straight. Not to mention that after exercising in the morning I really don’t have the time or the patience to curl my hair, style my hair, spritz it down, ect. Plus I already get up at 5:30am I really don’t have it in me to get up any earlier. Also I look better with more natural hair styles, so I thought it would be best to do what works for me. Now I do not have a problem with relaxers or women who choose to relax their hair, everyone is entitled to their choice. Not to mention I have had it all: the Jheri Curl, Wave Nuevo (it still was a curl but for people who wanted to believe they had an elite curl), relaxers, weaves, braids, extensions, and wigs. So you see, I’ve tried it all, and most of they time my hair just breaks off and feels really brittle. Of course I can solve this by going to the salon every week or two and plopping down $75.00-$85.00 (that does not including a relaxer, if you want a relaxer make that $120.00, oh now you need a cut and a relaxer make that $145.00). So you see it can easily get out of hand and I simply can not allow myself to be spending massive amounts of money on something as simple as my hair. Don’t get me twisted I don’t want to walk around looking like boo-boo the fool, but I also don’t want my stylist planning on purchasing her new pair of Jimmy Choo’s at my expense. So I decided it would be best to take a sabbatical from relaxing. I can’t lie it has been a hard journey for a sistah. A few weeks back I even had to miss a day of work because my hair would not cooperate. But most days I look great and love my pretty afro puff. My hair routine is so easy, I just use 100% shea butter, a brush and a little Optimal Care moisturizer and I’m good. You would not believe how soft my hair is, I love touching it because it really feels so different. So today at work my co-worker asked me if I planned on strengthening my hair, I told her no. She then went on to tell me that her mom and brother has hair similar to mine and she is glad she did not inherit that type of hair because it is very resistant and she would not know what to do with kinky hair. In cause y’all wondering my co-worker is Mexican. I was a bit offended but not much because as a black woman I’ve dealt with these issues all my life. People please tell me what is good hair? Is long straight hair good hair? Is wavy hair good hair? What constitutes good hair and who makes the determination on whether the hair is good or not? Because to be honest with you my hair is in the best condition its ever been in in my life. So my kinky natural hair is good to me, I don’t give a damn what other people say is good. And I hate hearing people say “I got good hair”. Let me be clear here, I am not saying that I will never put another relaxer in my hair, but I do want to see how my hair grows without a relaxer. I do want a chance to experience my hair in its natural state and I do not want to be judged while doing so. If you haven’t guessed I like to challenge people and their thoughts. I do not want to be considered good or pretty because I possess qualities that people have predetermined are pretty and good. Do I look like Beyonce or have an ass like Buffie the Body, no and no again. But am I phyne, hell yeah. I am in a stage in my life that what other people thoughts does not matter, what I think of myself matters more than what others think. Black women are beautiful. We come in every color of the rainbow and our bodies come in different sizes and shapes, we are a very diverse group. Instead of celebrating our diverse looks we try to fit everyone into a mold and sometimes that mold gets very boring and tiring. I for one am tired of trying to look like mainstream America; for once I just want to look like me.

Beware of Ticketmaster Scam

I am pissed to the highest level of pisstivety right now. I got played, jacked and bamboozled by a Customer Service Representative (CSR) at Ticketmaster. I recently purchased the new Jill Scott CD (which is fire, I’ve played it like a million times since I bought it.) and thought I would really love to see her in concert. I went online and discovered she was coming to LA on Oct 16th and the tickets were $45.00. I was excited that I would get a chance to see Jill so soon and quickly called Ticketmaster to purchase my ticket. I get the CSR on the phone and he gets all my information and tells me that there will be a service fee, a convenience fee, taxes, and a facility fee. With all the fees the ticket price increased to $61.20. I’m like hell naw, I don’t want to pay all those damn fees. F*ck it, I will catch Jill later cause I’m not trying to pay that much money to go to the House of Blues. So I told the CSR that I was not interested and he advised me that Ticketmaster has a program that would save me $20.00 off my current ticket. I asked him if the program cost and he said it was around $1.00 a month for the program. Of course I was like sign me up then, cause getting $20.00 off the $61.20 was right up my alley. So the CSR took all my information and told me at this time the ticket price is still $61.20 but he would transfer me to the department that handles the discounts. Suddenly, I am transferred to an Asian woman doing her best English impression trying to sell me a frequent traveler’s discount program. Okay, now I am totally confused. I told her I was transferred from Ticketmaster and he obviously transferred me to the wrong place. She then told me I was at the right location and that they give $ 20.00 off a Ticketmaster future purchase with the purchase of the frequent traveler’s discount program. Now by this time I am starting to get mad. I let her know that I am not interested in a future ticket purchase I wanted money off my current purchase, she let me know that the program she was offering did not allow that and that I was given misinformation and by the way the travelers program will cost $132.00 . By this point I ready to go completely and totally off on these people. So I hung up on the lady and immediately called Ticketmaster back to see why that CSR lied to me. I got a really nice guy on the phone and of course I was not in the mood to act civilized. I basically told him is mutha f*cking co-worker lied to me to get me to purchase a ticket and I think it was unethical and I wanted his ass reprimanded. The nice guy apologized vigorously and said that they are paid on commission and that many of the CSR’s use that program as a selling point. I advised him it would be in his best interest to place a supervisor on the line. So the supervisor gets on the line and I told her that I was reporting Ticketmaster to the Better Business Bureau for misrepresenting a service and for unethical practices. I told her that I did not appreciate her CSR lying to me to get his commission for the sale. The poor supervisor had to listen to me threaten rant and rave about how I planned on bring down Ticketmaster. Again all I got was a bunch of apologies but this time I was told that the employee would be reprimanded for his actions. If you think I believe that bullsh*t, then you better think another thought!!!!! So all I can say is Jilly from Philly better bring it. I want to hear all my jams and I aint playing. I do not want another repent performance of the Raheem DeVaughn situation (http://wisdomispriceless.blogspot.com/2007/08/party-like-rock-star-sike.html) cause that was horrid. But then again I might have some fun and Jill is one of my favorite artists so it may all work out in the end, I just don’t like the way home boy went about it.

The Things People Say

Did any of y’all tune into the View yesterday. I know most of y’all got jobs but I was watching Access Hollywood and they were showing a clip of a fight between Whoopi and Elizabeth. Actually they had two disagreements the first one was about having babies out of wedlock and the second issue was abortion. First I must give a shout out to Whoopi cause this sistah keeps it real. I never actually met Ms. Goldberg but she always came across as the crazy aunt with money in the family, and very relatable. She seems to be a person that will be professional and nice but if you piss her off she will give it to you like a real sistah. And that is what she did to poor Lizzy.

Everyone knows that Elizabeth is very annoying and tries to push her beliefs and political views onto other people. They were on the subject of Halle Berry getting pregnant and how she seemed to be very happy about the pregnancy when she appeared on Oprah. Here is Elizabeth’s thought on the situation


During the debate, Elisabeth suggested having children out of wedlock was tough and potentially offensive to at least one segment of the population.
“Here’s the problem with it though . . . this is a big trend now – you have people who are cohabitating and bringing children into the world,” Hasselbeck said. “If you owned a car company for instance, you wouldn’t rent somebody a car without a contract and you wouldn’t sign up for a phone without a lease.”

Hasselbeck then began quoting literature she said she obtained from the Urban Institute in reference to children of parents who cohabitate, suggesting they are “more likely to experience marital hardships such as poverty and food security.” Before reading those stats however, Hasselbeck made sure to note the organization was non-partisan.

“There are people in the gay community who wanna be married to be able to protect their children and have insurance rights and if I were them I’d be pissed right now because people who have the right [to marry] are choosing not to,” Elisabeth later said.
Hasselbeck then seemed to flip-flop, suggesting Halle and Gabriel couldn’t be offensive for not marrying because they are “rich.”

“Also, you have to remove Halle Berry and whoever she’s with out of the circumstance because they’re in the ‘because I’m rich’ category and can do this. If they didn’t have the money that they have, you have issues when it comes to not being married with children.”

Whoopi quickly jumped in as Elisabeth wrapped up her point, saying she previously was part of the population Elisabeth referred to – those with little money and unwed.

“I was not married with children,” she stated. “I totally disagree and I think you are very young to have such a strong idea.”
Hasselbeck quickly responded noting she is “30-years-old.”
The conversation then continued about raising children without money.
“I didn’t have any money,” Whoopi continued.
Elisabeth retorted suggesting it was probably easier on the former “Ghost” actress when she found herself with plenty of funds.
“It wasn’t easy with money,” Whoopi stated. “It’s not easy raising kids.”

Then Lizzy went on to talk about abortion and how it is offensive and truly not a good thing to do. Man if you would have seen Whoopi’s face you would know she had to hold back to keep from slapping the sh*t out of Lizzy. Whoopi said, “Most women that get abortions are in undesirable circumstances and wish that having an abortion was not a decision they had to make.” She then told Lizzy “You probably have had money all your life, and never had to worry about things like food, clothes and things like that, so you don’t have any idea what a woman who is considering an abortion is thinking.”

I was like get-em Whoop. This woman gets on my last nerve with her views and opinions. Don’t get me wrong everyone is entitled to their opinion, like my mama used to say, opinions are like assholes, everybody’s got one. You don’t have to agree but at lease agree to disagree. And in case any of y’all give a damn I believe in abortion and I also believe that if a grown ass woman wants to have a baby out of wedlock its fine and dandy with me. As long as you are not on welfare and sucking up MY tax dollars, have as many babies as you want. Now once you start popping out kids like yo name Char Jackson and you on welfare, married or not I got a problem wit it. But hey, that’s an augment for another day

Conflict Between the Black and Brown

Until moving to Arizona and California I had no idea or interest in immigration and illegal aliens. I was totally unaware of the “conflict” between African Americans and Latinos. To be quite honest I had never met a Latino while living in St. Louis, and I spent over 20 years of my life in the Midwest. When I moved to Arizona I was naïve to the fact that some black people actually thought they were better than Latinos. For example, I was eating lunch at Taco Bell when this lovely sistah with beautiful locks ask me if she could sit at my table. I said “sure” and continued to enjoy my lunch. Then the sistah let something completely stupid fall out her mouth, she said “I sat with you because I didn’t want to sit next to no stanking Mexican.” I raised my eyebrow and the sistah took that as I interest in what she was saying. Then she went on to say that she goes to Home Depot and picks up a few illegal immigrants to clean her house and do her gardening. She said she worked the sh*t out of them all day and only gave them $25.00 a piece. I told her that was unfair and not the market rate. She laughed and said what they gone do call the police and continued to laugh like she was an audience member of Last Comic Standing. I was totally sickened by this sistah attitude and could not believe how racist this woman was and how she seemed happy about the way she acted.


But if you think this is a one way street you would be wrong. There have been times when I have seen Latinos mistreat black people. I worked for a utility company in AZ and had to help customers with billing questions or other concerns they may have had, and was completely face to face contact. I can not tell you how many times Latinos came into the office and refused to speak with me. A few of them only wanted to speak with another Latino. They would wait for my Latino co-worker to become available, it didn’t matter if she had a line wrapped around the corner they only wanted to speak with her. I found this to be very amusing and she found it very frustrating because she had to work twice as hard as anyone else.


This issue was also addressed by CNN columnist Ruben Navarrette Jr., here is a brief excerpt.


Welcome to the black-brown thing. That's what my African-American friends and I called it back in college. It's shorthand for the uneasy relationship between the nation's largest minority and the group that formerly held the title. In college, Latinos and African-Americans got along well. Ours was a small and prestigious school in the Northeast where neither group was in large supply.
As I walked through campus, if I passed a black classmate -- even one I didn't know -- he'd acknowledge me with a smile and a nod. And I'd do the same.
These days, the groups trade elbows. It's wasted energy. I like a good fight as much as the next columnist, but I won't fight for crumbs with people who -- like my own -- had to scratch and claw for everything they have, only to be told that they don't deserve it.

My opinion on the matter is that African Americans and Latinos need to GET OVER IT. We are in a very similar situation and could be a louder voice of change if we united instead of acting like one group is more elite than the other. Both groups deal with a high rate of poverty, high drop out rates, increase in gang activity, a large number of men in jail, teenage pregnancy, HIV, inapt school districts, shall I continue. Blacks and Latinos want a better life and the best way to do that is to join forces and put the pettiness aside.

ps.... For you people that do not know the flags for Mexico and South Africa

Me And These Dreaming Eyes Of Mine

Today I feel grrrrrrrrreat. I got a massage before coming to working this morning and I left the masseuse walking on cloud nine, feeling very groovy. I slept like a baby last night and felt absolutely fabulous this morning. Today is one of those days that feel like the Archangel Michael is hovering above me waiting to slay any negative thoughts or any depressing, angry, hating, unloving, demon that may try to attack me today. I’m having a great day at work (co-workers are staying the hell away). I wish I could feel like this everyday. Actually life is too short to be consumed with bullsh*t. With that in mind, last night I started working on my Life Plan. I plan to be a thousand-aire next year so this requires me to get my financial house in order and think about career moves. The photo above is my goal board, I actually have two but this is the one I created when I was really in a funk. My dream board keeps me in touch with my ultimate goals. The boards are comprised of more than just material possessions; it also has words, emotions, and spiritual goals. My board is the first thing I see when I wake up and the last thing I see when I go to sleep, it keeps me grounded and focused on my future. There are times when I get off track and get stuck in everyday life and let my dream slip momentarily, it rarely happens, but be advised it can happen. If you do not have a life plan I suggest you get one real quick. Focus on what makes you happy and go from there. Please, as hard as it maybe, don’t let money be your motivator. What would you do if money was not an object? What brings you joy? When do you feel on purpose? These are the questions you should consider when drafting your goals. Having goals is just a step to bring your dream into fruition. The next step is getting education or training and/ or surrounding yourself with people who are doing what you want to do. I am on this step now, I completed graduate school a few years back. However, school can not teach you what experience or training can. It took me awhile to understand this concept (yes I was a fool and thought an education guaranteed a great paying job) but it is part of the success journey. My goal is to open two businesses. One will be a real estate development firm and the other a non profit. Because I do not know anyone in these business fields I am joining Ladies Who Launch ( http://www.ladieswholaunch.com/) which is a business organization that help women launch their businesses. This group will surround me with women that are actively excelling in my area business. I also plan to volunteer at a non profit business so I can get a better understanding at how they are ran, and some of the challenges they face. When I dream, I dream big. That’s the only way I know how to do it! Cause I’m not trying to stay a thousand-aire forever.

T.G.I.F

Hey People,


Today I’m tired as hell. I was on the phone all night with my home girl from Orlando. She is trying to convince me to move to FL, needless to say I am not interested, there’s not much difference been FL and CA so that’s defiantly a no go. With that said, y’all know I didn’t get my exercise on this morning, I barley made it to work, I thought about calling in because I was just tired and really not feeling it, but I called in last Friday, so I had to woman up and come in to work.

So then I get here and hafta listen to my co-worker blab on and on about her damn baby and how she reacted to her booster shots yesterday. You would think people get the non verbal queues (like when I start to yawn, or roll my eyes up in my head) that I just don’t give a damn about your kid or you right now. If you thinking I’m in a bad mood then you would be right. It’s rent time and at the first of the month I get real pissy cause I gotta pay this high ass rent and the sh*t just makes a sistah straight mad. Plus, I purchased my plane ticket to go back to STL for Christmas and the lowest fair was with crappy Southwest. I absolutely totally extremely dislike flying with Frontier and Southwest because the flights are usually packed to full capacity. I’m always seated next to an arm rest hogger, snorer, people with babies, or people that love to talk to people they don’t know. But, what’s a sistah to do when all the other airlines are charging between $415.00 and $550.00 for a round trip ticket from LA to STL. Southwest here I come, just have my Grey Goose and tonic ready cause I’ma need about four of those jokers. I want to be knocked the f*ck out for the entire flight, that way I won’t give a damn about what kid is screaming and who is snoring.
Since y’all already know I’m in a bitchy mood I’d like to talk about my co-workers some more. Why the hell do some people on the same level as you, at some point try to become the designated boss? Ya know how they do it, the boss misses a day of work and the suck up tries to regulate what everyone is doing and assigns herself boss for the day. That’s they type of sh*t I’m dealing with today, and home girl is about to get the business. I am a consummate professional, but when people try to play me or treat me substandard the hood just jumps right out of me, and I wind up saying things like “ho go sit yo ass down sum where.” That usually gets them off my back and avoiding me for the rest of the day. Well I’ll holla at y’all on Monday, hopefully I won’t be in a meeting with HR because I got a feeling Ms. Co-worker is about to get a verbal beat down.