Late Night Randomness

Instead of being out somewhere, having a life, I am at home working on a paper for Monday. In case you are wondering: YES my professor assigned a paper on Day One. On top of that, my professor that teaches my Thursday night class has the thickest accent ever. And did I mention that is an advanced business math class? *le sigh* It's gonna be a long semester. Surprisingly though, I feel pretty good about it. I just know I'm gonna have to put in work. But I'm taking a break for a second because I have too much randomness floating around in my head.

The shirt & I, when we both loved each other a little more...

Today I committed a crime against big girl fashion. I wore a shirt that was really too snug. It was from my New York & Company phase, which truthfully was about two sizes ago. But in my defense, my boobs look GREAT in that top, and with the pants I had on, it gave the illusion of having a nice lil booty back there. However, it was not flattering to the tummy :( I vow to give it away, along with a few other tops and skirts from the NY&Co. era... To my fellow big girls (or at least, the ones to have their stuff together appearance-wise), I apologize. I'll be on my A game from now on except for when I just really don't care!


If I have a girl, I'm not gonna have everything decorated in pink.
I like the color and all, but ever since I heard one of the supposed reasons behind why blue is for boys & pink is for girls, I've been kinda turned off from the idea. There are many explanations and speculations about how this tradition came about. The one I heard was that in ancient Greece, the color blue represented the gods. Since it was assumed that the boys would grow to be great men and warriors, parents wrapped them in blue to incur the favor of the gods. On the other hand, girls were seen as inferior. So they were wrapped in pink rags--clothing that was once red and worn by the elite. Once they faded pink, the clothes, like the girls they swaddled, were deemed worthless.
Now, being somewhat of a feminista (I like that term better than feminist; it's.... softer, not as off-putting) this just doesn't sit well with me. Even though no one chooses these colors now for that reason--and who even knows if that is the reason--I still don't like it. So if you buy little Naomi Elaine something, try to find something blue. Or purple. She'll definitely like purple. ^_^

I wonder if there is some kind of karma repair. I mean, you can get your credit cleaned up no matter how slaw it is. The Universe must have something like that for karma... I think I need it. My actions from my first serious relationship are still biting me in the butt. Not fair, but I did mess up pretty bad. But the same thing has happened so much that I think I may have done some kinda permanent damage. I want to talk to a priest at the new Hindu temple in Brandon about it, but I'm sure he or she would laugh me out of the building...

Planning My Life Around Myself

My last semester of grad school has started... and as usual, I'm not feeling it. Truthfully, I've felt like grad school was a mistake from the beginning. But I did it because it was part of "the plan" that my ex and I came up with. Do this little academic stint, then have the life we wanted together after I did my time. Now I'm sitting here wondering what changes for the better (or worse) would have come about if I'd followed my heart & mind and gone to Texas or Georgia like I planned when I planned.

Maybe I'd be married already.
Maybe I'd have gone straight into real estate and been super successful by now.
Or maybe I'd be broke and halfway crazy, crashing on a someone's couch. Who knows...

It's really futile to go over the shoulda, coulda, wouldas at this point. However, I find myself doing just that from time to time. And while I think it's incredibly sad that I let myself get so wrapped up in someone else that I neglected what I wanted & needed, it is a reminder to not put my needs on the backburner. Selfish? Yeah, I guess so. But why plan and live my life for people who may not even be around to see those plans come into fruition?

Randomness: "F*ck You!"

I've finally heard Cee-lo's new song, and I LOVE IT! I've never heard an emotional i-hate-you love song that made me wanna smile & dance like this one. I caught myself humming it in church today after someone came in that reminded me of an ex LOL



I'm working on changing the words around to fit me :)

"Wake Up Everybody"

From mymoodismusic.com:

The Roots, Melanie Fiona, Common and John Jegend release the video for their collaboration, “Wake Up Everybody”. You can find this song on The Roots and John Legend joint project, “Wake up!”

This is a great video & an awesome cover!

VH1 TV Shows

Music Videos
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News & Gossip

...and the madness continues...

Young Man Gunned Down for Glasses in Detroit



Updated: Monday, 16 Aug 2010, 11:27 PM EDT
Published : Monday, 16 Aug 2010, 11:27 PM EDT
By SIMON SHAYKHET
myFOXDetroit.com



DETROIT - He was an accomplished athlete with a promising future, but a gunshot ended it all. A young man was killed while leaving a club in Detroit; gunned down over a pair of glasses.
Detroit Police say whether they are real or just knock-offs, you can loose your life over Cartier shades.

...

Miller was leaving a Detroit nightclub early Sunday morning. That is when Ford says her son was shot in the back. It was over a $2,400 pair of sunglasses that he refused to give up.


Miller had worked to pay for the Cartier shades and the killer took them after pulling the trigger.
"I never thought in a million years... that my brother would be the one to get killed over some glasses," said Latoreya Till, the victim's sister.

I'm not even going to say anything. It's the same tragic, confused commentary/question that are asked with every senseless act of violence and every display of the lack of humanity people display toward one another.
Prayers for this young man's family and friends.

"All In" (a partial poem)

Since I haven't shared any poetry in a minute, I figured I'd give y'all a little bit of what I've been working on.

part of a poem inspired months ago by a conversation with HWHadNT

I wanna be all in.
I want to love you like my first love
When I wasn't afraid of being hurt
And I gave my all.
Now memories of the past
Have me holding back
But baby believe me when I say
I wanna be all in.
I want that completely exhilarated emotion again
Without fear
Without doubt
I admit, I've been holding out
But trust, I want to change that.
I want that giddy love again,
The so-happy-it's-silly love
The I'm good long as you're with me love.
I wanna be all in...

Quote of the Day

Taken from a Soror on Facebook (thanks Dana!)

The best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own. No apologies or excuses. No one to lean on, rely on, or blame. The gift is yours - it is an amazing journey - and you alone are responsible for the quality of it. This is the day your life really begins.

Double Standards

There are certain double standards that people might as well get used to. It would take a MAJOR paradigm shift for them to change.

A promiscuous woman will pretty much always be seen as a whore; a promiscuous man is seen (by most people) as just doing what a man does.

If a woman messes around with other women for a period of time she can claim she was "experimenting" or "curious," and a lot of people will accept that. If a man messes with another man even once, he will forever be labeled "gay" by some people.

White people should not ever use the word nigger/nigga/nig/othervariationhere, even though they may hear Black people use it.

Tori D.'s Guide to Interviews & Job Fairs

It was hard as heck trying to find a picture of "black professionals."
What are you trying to say, Google?

As part of my 8-to-5 torture that sponsors my not-so-lavish lifestyle job, I occasionally participate in state-sponsored job fairs. While I am not happy with the idea of saying the same thing over and over almost non-stop for hours, it is a much welcomed break from sitting here banging my head on the desk.

It also gives me renewed determination concerning the nonprofits that I want to start. There are so many people who don't have the first clue about how to present themselves. One of my goals is to provide help for those who may not have had the opportunity to go to college career centers or didn't have family/friends/mentors to give them the Dos & Don'ts  of seeking an interview. Although I don't have the resources to do that now, I do have this forum to share some tips. I wish I could still get to my tweets from the job fair I worked several months ago, but of course Twitter makes it pretty much impossible to go back that far. Soooo here we go:

Randomness: I visited a new church Sunday...

Well not exactly new. I attended school there up until 5th grade. I just haven't been back in forever.

Service was pretty good. A lot different from the more...uuuuuh rambunctious spirited service I'm used to, replete with a full concert, multiple offerings and amped up preachers. This service was quieter, but didn't feel dead.

A few minutes after I got in, the pastor did altar call & said he felt an unusual spirit of heaviness. He began talking about carrying the weight of the world and how God wants to relieve us of our burdens and whatnot... I sat there and cried from that point until the end of service. I didn't go to the altar though. I probably should have. The things he was saying... I felt like he was talking directly to me, but something stopped me from going and letting someone pray with me. After all, I didn't know these people. Who's to say that their prayers are any more effective than mine?

So yeah, that was that. It was refreshing to go to a service that didn't leave me feeling beaten across the head for not singing or having to cringe as someone was coerced into joining the church when their expression clearly said that's not what they wanted. Did feel a little odd being at a predominantly white church, but the atmosphere and the people were welcoming enough that it wasn't really an issue. I may have to visit again some day.

I Can't Get Off the Merry-Go-Round! (Can I?)

Last night on Twitter, as I contemplated a crazy move (trying to live off student loans this semester and quitting the full-time job so I could do real estate full time), one of the people I follow tweeted something that stayed on my mind all night and is still bothering me. @happyblackwoman tweeted:

Our addiction to having so much stuff is what keeps some ppl chained to the job from hell. One feeds the other.

*sigh* She got me told in 140 characters or less.

AT HOME LIPO PROCEDURES... ASK ME HOW!

Feeling like those extra pounds aren't going anywhere? Not really up to the challenge of hitting the gym regularly and monitoring what you eat? Want to bypass the frivolous diets that those money grubbing doctors want you to try? Call me to find out how YOU can have at home liposuction!

Chins! Tummies! Thighs! Love handles! I do it all!

FAQs:

How does it work?

First, you're loaded up on codeine. Then I make strategically placed incisions and use a vacuum cleaner medical suction device to remove that unsightly fat! Then you're stitched up by my favorite weave expert... err, ummm, I mean.....

Are you trained to do this?

Heck yeah! I've been vacuuming since I was eight, AND trimming fat off meat since I was twelve. Add them together and I got ya!

What happens to the fat you remove?

Well, there are options. We can dispose of it for a nominal fee. You can have it redistributed to another area, such as your buttocks, for much less than those cosmetic surgeons would have you pay. Or you can buy it back to use for cooking. The choice is yours!

How much will it cost?

I charge by the pound, sorta like your local deli.

Is this safe?

Of course! What you mean, "Is this safe?" You got problems with a sista trying to get her side-hustle on?! *flips table* This is that bull....

I'm just saying, if people are falling for things like this, why shouldn't I get a piece of the action?

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles police are searching for two sisters accused of running an illegal cosmetics business that led to the death of a 22-year-old woman.

Deputy Chief Kirk Albanese said Wednesday that 53-year-old Guadalupe Viveros and her 50-year-old sister, Alejandra Viveros, did not appear for a court hearing Monday as ordered. The pair were arrested June 21 and booked for practicing medicine without a license.

Albanese says one of their customers, Mayra Contreras, died July 24, one day after being injected in the buttocks with silicone by one of the two sisters.

The cause of death has not been determined, according to the Los Angeles Times, but initial reports indicate that “Contreras died from respiratory distress.”

Police say some customers complained that fillers they were injected with hardened, and others developed infections.

Guadalupe Viveros claimed to be a physician in Mexico, but is not allowed to practice medicine in the United States. (Source)