Friends...How Many of Us Have Them?

I've been thinking quite a bit lately about friends. Having a good friends is soothing to the soul. Knowing you have someone who is there for you, rooting for you, and hoping the best for you is an incredible thing, but also a very rare thing.

My life has become quite the petri dish for determining true friends versus fake friends. I thought this process in my life ended after adolescence...but apparently is ongoing and lifelong. As much as I'd like to vent, even under the cloak of anonymity I can't betray the trust of a friend, even those who could give two shits. I'm just loyal that way...

UGH, why couldn't God have just made me a heartless bitch.

This weekend marked an especial realization that I do have wonderful people in my life (besides my mother) who care about me and are rooting for me, hoping the best for me, and intend to be there for me through ups and most importantly downs. I wish everyone friends like these. Because TRUE friends....how many of us have them?

Smile....What's the Use in Crying :)

I don't know anyone swimming in more shit than me, and no matter where I go, I'm still the most fabulous bitch of them all.

L'chaim!

What an Amazing Year

What a fucking fantastic year! Despite having the worst economic situtaion since nobody alive know when, and the passing of the Greatest Artist of All Time...this was a pretty phenomenal year.

In January I saw the first black man become President.

I don't even need to say anymore about that.

Vampires captured a nation. More icons died this summer than I don't know what! We lost a Kennedy, Ms. Buns of Steel, and Michael. For Christmas the Pope got knocked the fuck out! Oprah announced that she's ending her show as we know it and going to cable. Brittany Murphy died too young. A Nigerian is now on the terrorist list with Al Queda. There was a diabolical black serial killer. Everybody found out how much stoking Tiger's been doing. (And sadly to say...too many people were addicted to hearing and talking about it...)Dick Cheney talked entirely too much, and Sarah Palin is still dumb (she even put a book out to prove just how much...in her own words.) As if a Black President wasn't enough, Disney put out a Black Princess...(I went it see it...wasn't impressed.) They sent the parents of the boy in the bubble to jail....and they soaked up every piece of camera time they could. The economy ate jobs like the Cookie Monster eats Chips Ahoy, and Showtime actually came out with two good HBO quality shows. The Sex and the City movie came out...and women all over the country got dressed up and went to see it...and it was AWESOME! (Even though...personally...if a guy stands me up at the alter we can't ever speak again...)

What an amazing year.

with a year like this one, who knows what 2010 has in store? I can't wait to see.

It's Been a Long Time

It's been a long time, but I haven't forgotten. So many wonderful and so many awful things have been happening, it's a wonder I'm still sane, let alone able to write on this blog. I've been reading, writing, (*drinking), and doing all of the requisite activities people have who are going through a lot.

What does it seem that the Holidays bring about this whole weight of garbage? This recession isn't helping any at all. Many are STRESSED the hell out, and I am no exception. Overwhelming feelings of all the things I have to do have me feeling as if everyday is an out-of-body experience. I'll be glad when the holidays are over and everything can just go back to normal.

Some of the wonderful reasons that I haven't been able to jog on and rant as often is because I'm become quite the social butterfly and have next to no time to sit down and write on this blog. I mean...I am writing reviews for a literature site...but aside from that...a diva is OUT! (Macy's has become my new sanctuary...)

Well, with the death of Chris Henry, the scandals of Tiger Woods, and holiday shopping there need not be anything more stated.

Happy Holidays...and stay stressed free.

Precious

Last night I went out with my girls and watched the highly anticipated premier of "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire".

I am a HUGE fan of the book. The movie...not so much.

"Push" is the gritty story about Clariece "Precious" Jones who is illiterate, sexually, physically, emotionally, and psychologically abused by both her mother and father. Ths contemporary "The Color Purple" is brutal, honest, eye-opening, and inspirational. The film is not.

I was surprised at how funny the movie was. In the book, Mary Johnson - Precious' mother, is a heinous monster. Comedienne Mo'nique played the role realistically even if comical. I expected to cry my eyes out and instead I cracked up laughing. The movie is a sugar-coated version of the book but it will still leave those who hadn't read the book feeling the abuse Precious endures.

Another disappointing aspect of the book was that if took some of the serious themes and almost made it cartoonish. Myself and many of my friends felt we saw a lot of our own mothers in Precious' mother. I don't think there's a person in America who hasn't seen a black woman beat the living shit out her child. The physical violence Precious endures is common in the Black community. A cultrual flaw that many praise instead of correct. The sexual abuse Precious encountered that was a dibilitating force in her life was eluded to. I understand that in order to bring the movie to the masses they couldn't go that deep...but still.

The acting was very good throughout, with Mo'nique leading the pact. As good as her performance was, I can't call it Oscar worthy. All of the characters were surprisingly good considering the heft of the material.

Synopsis: If you read the book, be prepared to be disappointed. If you didn't - you'll still get enough of the grime to feel moved.

Is Trick or Treating Dead?

It could be that I live in crazy ass New York, or the fact that I live in a high rise apartment, or just the fact that I'm childless and loving it...but it just seems that trick or treating has been on the decline for a few years now.

I grew up trick or treating like most kids. I would dress up as a fairy princess, or a biblical character, or cleopatra, and fill the largest pillow cases I could find with candy. The next day I would take a zip-lock bag of candy to school and swap unwanted candy for more desirable candies from classmates. I sleep with my candy, steal some of my sister's candy, and try to hide my candy from my mother who always seemed too willing to throw the candy in the trash.

I remember Halloween as a special time of year when all of the neighborhood's babies, toddlers, children, pre-teens, and teenagers would dress up and partake in the community outreach farmality of begging their neighbors for candy. Halloween was my second favorite holiday on the Christmas. Each year I would notice that there were less and less children trick-or treat, of any age. I've often attributed to all of the reports of razorblades found in candy apples and poised stuffed in candies. It also could be the ever looming fear of some psychopathic pedophile who waits all year to deliver a trick to unsuspecting children in search of treats.

One year, at about the age of 13 or 14 I discovered where so many children had gone. Why, they'd gone to the local mall! How fantastic! The stores of the mall had all come together and where giving out stale miniscule pieces of candy that could barely fill a plastic jack-o-lantern. Oh, the horror! My parents would buy boxes of candy only to find a mere two or three handfuls given to the only two or three children brave enough to ring doorbells.

Last year the only costumes I saw were on the subway. Drunken adults on their way to over-the-top alcohol binges summoned quite a few stares and laughs evn from jaded New Yorkers. What happened to trick or treating? Halloween has definitely become an adult holiday with women dressing up as sexy witches with see through boustiers and men wearing fake dildos that read "Kiss me, I'm Irish". It almost seems as children aren't safe after 4:00pm! Happy Hour has started, so let the games begin!

Maybe, just maybe I'll seem some kids out trick or treating. With this economy, a pillowcase full of candy might be the only meal some of these kids can get. Whether trick or treating makes a resurgance or not, I'm not buying any damn candy.

Where Did I Hear That Again?

My current obsession is www.overheardinnewyork.com. This website is absolutely HILARIOUS!!!!

I learned of this website well over a year ago. My boyfriend and I were having breakfast at a cafe in midtown where we overheard two hookers giving each other a progress report of the night and sharing prostitute tales. We ate our breakfast in awkward silence. It was impossible to speak over or ignore the raunchy conversation happening right next to us.

My boyfriend told me of this site. It sat in my memory bank as a great NY tidbit, and nothing more.

Yesterday I was at work, bored out of my fucking mind, and decided to look up the site. To my surprise, the site was blocked through the campus web filter. Reason stated: tasteless and offensive. I've seen a lot of content blocked at work, but never for this reason. Needless to say, I was intrigued.

I ran home, visited the site, and proceeded to site there for the rest of the night entertaining myself with real life quotes from anonymous New Yorkers.

Examples of Current Favorites:

Although I Do Recognize a Treasure Chest When I See One
Mother with little girl: Excuse me. My daughter wants to know if you're a pirate.
Woman wearing bandana: No. I'm just a lesbian.

--Crema Restaurante, 17th & 6th


Girl: Are bums allowed to be vegetarian?

--Chipotle, 6th Ave between 21st & 22nd

Overheard by: Rabid-Panda


Mom Used up Her Niceties on the First Few Kids
Small child in stroller: Mommy, why did you wake me up? Don't wake me up when I'm sleeping!
Mom: Fine. I'll leave you on the train and you can miss your stop and then the rats will get you.

--Brooklyn bound Q train


Feminism Didn't Die, It's Living Comfortably as a Stay-at-Home Mom in White Plains
Girl #1: I am like, totally addicted to Days of our Lives.
Girl #2: Really?
Girl #1: Yeah, but I am so fucked up, because this one character totally got fired and they put another guy in his place. I can't even watch him, because, you know, he's not the same guy.
Girl #2: Really?
Girl #1: Yeah, it's really fucked up my TV viewing schedule. I mean, what am I going to watch, one of the judge shows?
Girl #2: Well, you could go to class or study instead....
Girl #1: I don't need to. I'm studying to be a second wife. That girl's shoes are so cute. They would match my bag. Excuse me, where'd you get those shoes?
Girl #3: My husband.
Girl #1: See, class dismissed.

--53rd St & 3rd Ave



The Buddha Was a Tough Kid to Raise
Mother: Don't you ever do that again! [slaps child hard]
Child, calmly: Well, are you happy with yourself?

--Union Square


Witty Repartee Is One of the First Things to Go When the Brain Doesn't Get Enough Glucose
Anorexic JAP: What, you couldn't afford an entire outfit?
Obese woman in Britney Spears get-up: What, bitch, you couldn't afford an entire meal?
Anorexic JAP: [silence]

--Uptown E train
(JAP - Jewish American Princess)

Good and Bad Hair

Yesterday I went to see Chris Rock's advanced premier of "Good Hair". I was hoping to learn something I didn't already know all the while being entertained in the process. Instead, I laughed at Chris Rock's shock into the perm and weave business empire, none of which is new to me.

Stars like Nia Long, Raven Simone, Lauren London, Meagan Good, and Maya Angelou offered their opinions on the good hair/bad hair question.In the movie you learn about the harsh chemicals of perms (not news to me...I've had chemical burns many times in my life and am currently dealing with the aftermath of my last burn), how expensive weave is (I now this all too well as a near lifetime purchaser of weave), and that human hair comes from out of the country, (Rock visited India in the movie, but if he'd properly done his homework, most black women don't wear Indian hair. It's too expensive!!! Most human hair that black women wear come from China or a yak.)

Rock also didn't discuss WHY black women are so obsessed with hair and why they're willing to torture themselves to fix their "bad hair". The documentary basically says that magazines are why black women are sacrificing their follicles, health, and rent money to get long silky locs. I agree and don't agree with this. It really does depend on the magazine you're reading. Black hair magazines, which are sourced in the film, like Black Hair Sophisticates and beauty hair magazines from hair shows almost always have relaxed hair styles with a few pages set aside for "natural" hair. In most high fashion and white magazines, there's always that one black girl in the group and she almost always has a natural style.

As a woman who has been getting perms since she was seven and wearing weaves since I was eleven I have been thorugh the perm and weave gamet and back. I have dyed my hair, worn a short hair cut, worn wigs and weaves, worn my hair natural, had box braids and micro braids...e'rythang!!! I don't have an answer for this problem (best described as possible self hatred) and neither does Chris Rock. Instead, the choice belongs to the millions of black women and a few men (how-you-doin'-Al-Sharpton!) who fuel this multi-billion dollar industry everyday.

Ass Whoopings, Beatings, Spankings, and Punishment

I was beaten as a child.

I wasn't beaten to the point of hospitalization like my cousins. This is why for years I thought I wasn't abused. Some of my friends have had cracked ribs, been beaten with sordidly invented duct tape bound extention cords, and had hot water poured on them before beatings so that the sting of the whip would be more painful. The fact that I was kicked in the air before I reached the ground doesn't really sound as bad as the previously mentioned.

Not all black folks were beaten as children. My family went from being poverty stricken and homelessness to middle class before my very eyes. As I child I could share my "whippin'" stories with my friends and we'd laugh til the tears rolled. Now I've had to lock those stories up somewhere dark inside so I don't scare potential mates and future friends.

Even though there are a lot of blacks who haven't been beaten, there still are a lot of blacks who've been. There are still many more who feel that being beaten is a part of the "Black Experience". I am not one of those people.

I was watching "The View" on DVR and couldn't help but see guest panelist LaToya Jackson whitewash the abuse her family experienced at the hands of her father. I don't think Michael exaggerated when he descirbed Joe Jackson's beatings being so severe he'd throw up when he knew his father was approaching. This was something he talked about before any scadals ever broke about him; these allegations weren't some vain attempt to color over misdeeds.

Growing up I've heard that Michael Jackson's crazy antics were no excuse. After all, we've all been beaten. People always talk about how I got beat, and I turned out ust fine. Even I used to say this. But have we really? I don't think so. Instead of trying to defend bad behaviors as a part of our culture we really should shed them. Don't get me wrong, we shouldn't throw the baby out with the bath water (I'm not giving up by black dialect!) but we can stop beating the hell out of our children and we can start eating healthier.

Sex and Travel

I just finished reading a memoir about a cuddly perverted bachelor who details his sexual exploits with women around the world. Reading this novel exposed my own naivete. I hadn't realized just how many willing women there are willing to satisfy the thirsty and insecure needs of sexually inadequate men. I sat and read the book in a few short hours and recounted the numerous advances and propositions I've recieved in my young 26 years.

I'm often chided for my conservative stance on dating, relationships, and (dare I say it!) courtship. Men are either repelled or intrigued. However they feel, I'm not giving up the drawers!

This young bachelor spoke of how he'd traveled all the way to Denmark to have sex with a brazen blonde with an acute case of jungle fever. Ms. Booty Mama welcomed him initially and as they had little to nothing in common, and his sexual release craved within three minutes of their initial encounter, the trip quickly turns bad. The part of this stroy that struck me was how willing this young man was willing to travel for a little peice of ass. Ass it only took him three minutes to fuck.

The thing about this is that people do this all the time. I just don't get it. I know I'm famous the world over for my prudish behavior and puritanical attitude. But don't let this fool you, and can be quite the sex kitten when a deserving candidate finally comes along. I'v eonly traveled outside this country once. I was literally chased down the street, followed into clubs, had men jump inside my taxi, all hoping to get a taste of a little brown sugar. Every night I had to run home; I've never been so toned.

Work

I love the librarian profession. I enjoy helping patrons with research, in the process I always learn something new myself. I have a daily set of routine rituals that I go through that make the library fluid and more accessible. I love the time to think, and the opportunity to learn that presents itself everyday. This is why I joined this profession in the first place.

The thing that makes my job SUCK is my coworkers. They are nasty, backbiting, and petty. It is very frustrating to work your hardest only to be rewarded with the most unflattering unapreciation. For instance, I would arrive to work about a half hour early. This is not easy inasmuch as my commute is two hours long and I take two trains and a bus to get there. Every one else in my office drives to work and thier commute is less than twenty minutes. I am often there in the snow, when the other librarians refuse to come out. They refuse to give me a key to the door, and I often sit in the elements waiting for someone to come in and open the door.

I am also the youngest librarian on my job by about 40 years. Of course I know more about computers than all of the other librarians. This causes a lot of grief tension. The librarians would rather call an IT person to come and help them with a PowerPoint slide, than to ask me to help. Even when I offer my assistance, it has been decided that I'm useless with computers. I could be such an asset to my co-workers, yet they'd rather shun me, and complain about everything I do.

So, if anyone knows of a great library job that is looking for a fast, productive, knowledable librarian - I'm your girl!

Dieting

Last weekend, I sorta-kinda decided to become a vegetarian. It lasted only one day. What can I say, I got hungry!!! I didn't try to be a vegan or anything, there was no spiritual awakening or call to a greater purpose. I just wanted to lose weight.

This coming from anyone else is not strange, but from me it's incredible. I've never been on a diet. I've never had reason to. All my life I could eat as much as I want and I'd never gain a pound. Now that I know you're officially hating me, I'll give you a reason not to feel sorry for me.

Now I'm gaining weight.

Since moving to NYC, I've become the worst kind of finicky foodie that won't dare eat a franchises. Loves exotic international dishes, and spends countless hours of my life blogging about restaruants to anyone with time enough to read. My weight has ballooned and I'm getting bigger everyday.

About a year ago I went out with some friends from college. One had gained weight and the other had lost a significant amount of weight. She wasn't the fat girl I'd known at school. When my friend asked her how she did it, she said she became a vegetarian. I wondered, how many other women had become vegetarians in order to lose weight?

It seems everywhere I go I'm in the company of vegetarians. This city is full of them. Even when I was hunting for an apartment, many of the advertisements seeking roommates requested that you be a vegetarian. If you weren't a vegetarian, it was requested that you not even cook meat in the house!

I'd always thought of vegetarians as these deeply holistic people who didn't believe in eating baby lambs. And although there are still people who are vegetarian and vegan for that reason, it can't be ignored that there are also people who are just taking on this lifestyle in order to get or stay thin.

I tried to maintain the discipline, but after eating my first veggie burger, I went righ to Burger King.

The Neighbors at Town Hall

Apparently, the most dangerous places in America are Town Hall meetings. Cursing, Shouting, threatening, punching...these are the norm around the country - but most brutal in the south.

There is a whole constituency of America that is angry about a black president, and they "...want their country back." Back to what, is what the rest of us are wondering. These people are showing their whole ass, while the rest fo the country can only sit back and watch with. Post-racial is a farce that we need to contend with. People need to stop acting like everything is peaches and roses. That may have been why some people voted for Barack. They thought that maybe this could heal old wounds. It has become more than apparent that there is a portion of this country that thinks that because a person is black they should excel at anything, they can't be smart, and that the best place for them is to havetheir neck crushed under a boot.

If things don't calm down soon, I'm fearful that there may be a fatality at one of these meetings. Is this what we're to expect for the next 3 1/2 years? I hope not.

G.I. Jooooooe...Real American Hero!

I went to see G.I. Joe with my boyfriend who still harbors fondness for the iconic special forces para military figure. Of course, half way through the movie I gave up trying to be interested and fell asleep. As a person who really doesn't like action movies, I've been proved wrong by some of this and last years blockbusters that were full of heart, action, had great story lines, and kept we awake for sometimes more than two hours.

This is not that type of movie.

The only likeable character in the entire movie was Marlon Wayans, and I can't even remember his character's name in the movie. I was overall bored with the movie. The plot revolves around the stereotypical corporate bad guy who works for an organization called Mars, who develops weapons for NATO, (I know...the political agenda is astounding). The "Joes", as they are called, assembel with swords and million dollar mechanical suits to stop Mars from unleashing a biochemical agent, nanobyte, in Paris France. After completely demolishing Paris and its citizens the Joes save the day, and all is at peace except for I can't stop thinking about the good hard earned money that is now wasting because of the time I spent watching this trash.

See it if you just have to have that trip down memory lane. See it if your pissd at the world and just need to see shit blown up. See it if you're going on a date with a cute guy and you have a fetish about being felt-up in the movie theater. Aside from these reasons...stay home.

I'm Suing Every College I Ever Went To!

There is a woman, who goes by the name Trina Thompson, who is suing her college because she can't find a job.

She can join the club.

Even though I have a job during this time of soaring unemployment, I'm nowhere close to living the type of fabulosity (yes...I made that up) that I invisioned when I was an 18 year old high school student. I, like many other teenagers around the country, thought that a degree would be a one way ticket to fame and fortune. I thought I was going to me some hot shot grad making at least $80,000 a year my first year out of college. It didn't take me long into my freshman year to realize that my fantasy was probably not going to happen.

The fact that Ms. Thompson thinks that all the professors who spent time reading her absolutely boring papers, the cooks who made her mediocre lunch, and all of the other staff and faculty who ere compensated in order to make her pursuit of a better life a reality should now return the money because she can't land a job - is ludicrous. The campus grounds needed to be maintained. College, like everything else in this country is a business. These institutions need money to operate. How can she think that she can just get a refund? Does she intend to give back the degree? And if so, how does she intend to give it back?

She may need to concern herself more with what it is about her that is unemployable. Maybe she stinks? Maybe she shows up on job interviews looking like she just doesn't give a damn, and never did. Maybe (and I tend to think this is true) she has a bad attitude that is more than apparent on interviews.

Another question I have, is who's the lawyer that took this case? I mean, are times this hard that lawyers are taking bullshit cases! (As if lawyers ever needed a reason besides bullshit to take a bullshit case...) This story is just one of the most preposterous arguments I've ever heard. Since Ms. Thompson has only graduated in April - she may find her job search tougher. Now every employer in the country is aware that she is a spoiled brat who has no fundamental understanding of the benefits of a college education. A poll on the New York Daily News say that approximately 30% of pollsters believe that this case has merit and that Ms. Thompson should be refunded her money.

If someone tells me how a degree, credits, faculty salary, and maintainance of facilities can be refunded - maybe I'll consider Ms. Thompson's argument.

Cindy's Got the Look

I know I'm a day late and a dollar short, but I'm a HUGE fan of She's Got the Look, a modeling reality show much like America's Next Top Model, only the models are 35 and older. The oldest model was a 72 year old grandmother. These women were sexy and beautiful in a way never before portrayed on television. My only fault with the show was that the higher end fashion names didn't come out in heavy support of the project.

TV Land brought this pioneering show to its second season and I ate up every minute. So often the media sets the standard of beauty at blonde hair-blue eyed-teenaged girls...what the hell do they think the rest of us do? Beauty comes in all shapes, sizes, colors, and ages. And these women proved it.

Unfortunately, I didn't catch the show at the beginning. I came in somewhere near the middle. I watched enough to hate Shelley, grow to love Leanne, and be inspired by Dolores. Although I liked Cindy, Leanne was definitely the winner. Every challenge proved to have some difficulty that only she endured, and no matter the situation, she handled it with grace. I mean, she had a monkey hump and piss on her!!! Cindy was a beautiful stiff who I feel lacks the requisite heft to make it in the modeling industry. Leanne was that bitch/diva that every love to hate and hates to love.

I wish all of them success, and hope like hell the show is still running when I turn 50 so I can put the twenty year old bitches to shame!!!

Gates Update

Now...
Who can defend the cop now. Before there were so many arguments claiming that Professor Gates was deserving of an arrest. The fact that he was an upset victim didn't get him even the slightest bit of sympathy from the media. Now that we find out what the police officer really thinks about Gates, who besides Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh will rush to his defense?

Swindling Ass Kindle

Exactly how ironic is it that Kindle recalled all eBook versions of 1984? I was carousing the internet the other day, looking for interesting book-library-publishing news. (This is what we librarians sometimes do so that we have cool tidbits to share when we have awesomely dorkish conversations!) I came across a frightening article about just how easy it is for these huge media sales-machines like Amazon and iTunes to take back your stuff, even after you've purchased it, and believe yourself to be the proud owner of said merchandise.

I used to could defend these types of electronic devices. (I don't go ANYWHERE without my iPod!) My chief praise was how convenient these things are. I was a mess carrying around all of these clumsy CD holders everywhere. A few years ago, I was dodging the metallic debris when my car flipped on an old dirt road in rural Alabama. Imagine how much easier going to school could be. There would be no more use for a book bag if you could just download a copy of your textbook onto your kindle and bring it to class. Children would no longer have bad backs from all of the books and homework they lug around.

After finding out just how easy these companys can take these purchases back, I can press pause on doing a Farenheit 451 on all of my books and using my iPod and Kindle exclusively. Now we see why there is still a value in owning and purchasing a book.

With more and more things being bought and sold digitally, this drawback of eCommerce is all the more frightening.

I am a proud user of the Blockbuster-by-Mail system. Last year, to save money, I decided to place a hold on my account. This hold was supposed to keep me from closing my account, yet allowing me to take a break from recieving movies and thus paying the monthly fee. On January 1st, Blockbuster decided to "re-activate" by account and proceeded to take money out of my account without warning. Could you imagine them going into my pocketbook and forcing me to purchase a product against my will? This is in essence what they did. I find that once you give you credit card number out, a lot of companies will freely go in and out of your account. just like Amazon and iTunes can give and take back things you've purchased.

There used to be a time when a person could purchase a product. After you purchased if, you could do with it what you liked. Those days seem to be fading fast. Nowadays companies are tracking your purchasing history, taking back items you've purchased, going into your bank account, and probably doing worse things I couldn't imagine if I tried.

Post Racial

I don't think I need to do yet another recap of the Gates/Police debacle. Instead I will offer my opinion on this whole notion of America being post-racial. This morning and last night I had some very interesting conversations regarding the matter.

First of all, I'd like to say that there is absolutely no reason that Professor Gates should have been arrested in the first place. I was unaware that a non-violent overreation warranted an arrest. If it were so, Rush Limbaugh and nearly every person in America would be hauled off to hail.

Second of all, we're not even sure IF Professor Gates "overreacted".

I'm bothered that reporters keep wanting to "trip" Obama up with this incident. I don't think Bush, or Clinton would have been asked about this matter. I don't think this would have gained as much attention as it has. The only reason that this is such an issue, is because most Americans truly believe that because we have the first Black president, this somehow means that we are post racial. Marginal reporting is done on the growing number of hate groups ignited by this historic presidency.

No one talks about all of the snide water-cooler comments that Blacks endure when well-meaning liberal whites want to "ask a Black Person" about Obama's politics.

Racism is embedded in American society. Don't fault me, I didn't make it so. Nevertheless, it is what it is. In what circumstance is it okay to arrest the VICTIM of a crime. Do we arrest people who have been raped, robbed, buglarized...for being upset at the scene of the crime!!??? Apparently we do. And there are a lot of people who think that because Professor Gates is Black, he had absolutely no right to be upset. He should "stay in his place" and be as accomodating to the officer as possible. (For goodness sakes, a Black man can and should be arrested and or shot for being upset!)

This incident is another wake-up call to America that will probably, unfortunately, be ignored.

See Obama's "Apology Speech" here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D22ZzIvWe6A

Sookie and Bill

I proudly admit that I'm a self-respecting woman who indulges every Sunday night to the "Trueblood" trash phenomenom. I got hooked near the end of last season after my sister put me on to these post-bellum vampires in hot and humid Louisiana. Not only am I surprised that I can stomach a show about vampires, I've actually begun seeking out more vamp entertainment to hold me over until I get my next weekly fix.

I absolutely love Lafayette. I have been watching with lackluster enthusiasm because he's not the shit-poppin' homo thug from last season. But I can just satisfy myself with the fact that he's even alive (apparently in the book he does, in fact, die.) But I must get on to my main issue....Sookie and Bill. First of all, I can't stop staring at Sookie gap sitting dead in the middle of her face. Am I really supposed to think that she has seduced a pseudo-sexy vampire? Not me, that can't slip that one pass me!

I find myself just wishing I could fastforwad them...OMG!....they're totally taking up my hour! Shit! I mean really, all of the other characters are way more interesting than Sookie and Bill. Jason (and his fine ass) is definitely way more interesting than Sookie and Bill whining over some vampire beef that I could care less about. I LOVED Tara last season (even though she was the stereotypical "Black Bitch"...but she was just so damn FUNNY!!!! This season's she's too soft and vulnerable for my tastes....but I have enjoyed the whole MaryAnne and (Ok...so I just googled Tara's boyfriend, and apparently his name is....Eggs???) Eggs dynamic. Discovering that MaryAnne is a "maenad" had me online researching...what the hell exactly is a maenad?

As shocked as I am that I even enjoy this whole fantasy world filled with shape-shifters, vampires, "maenads", and telepaths... I'm even more surprised how much the main characters SUCK!