Friday Five

This was a quick way to kill a little time on Friday afternoon. The writing prompts can be found here!

Where’s a good place to check out some pretty lights?

 That’s a really good question. I don’t think I’ve ever looked for a place here in Houston to go and see pretty lights. There are certain neighborhoods that are known for having really nice Christmas decorations and lighting displays but that’s all I can think of offhand.

 How well do you sleep with the lights on?

I don’t. I’m a light sleeper anyway so having a lot of light in the room is a real distraction. There is a light right outside my bedroom window that I wish I could tear down but it’s attached to my building. I should get those black out shades.  I don’t do night lights either.

 What’s your favorite song with the word “light” or “lights” in the title?

 Of course, All of The Lights by Kanye West.

What “light” version of some food or drink is as good as (or better than) its regular version?

 The diet versions of Snapple drinks are just as good as the original, IMO.

 Which light in your house seems to need changing the most frequently, and which the least?

 The light bulb that seems to need to be changed the most is right about the washer and dryer in the garage. It is always blowing out. (That may have to do with the cheap bulbs we use too!) I have the old school “Hollywood” style clear bulbs in my bathrooms and they tend to need changing pretty frequently too because they are high wattage. We had several of the long lasting halogen bulbs but we haven’t gotten around to picking up more of them. They’re expensive too!

Have a go at the Friday Five, if you like, in the comments.

I Have Questions, You Have Answers: Round 10

This is shamelessly stolen from my Twitter follower @WitTitsOrSTFU. Thanks, dude!

• Where do you live now?
• Where were you living when you graduated from high school?
• Where were you living when you graduated from college?
• Comparing where you lived when you graduated HS vs graduating from College, which area would you prefer?
• Did you live on campus during college? If you lived at home during college, did you have a curfew?
• If you didn’t go to college after HS, what did you do?
• Where were you living in 1996?
• Where were you living in 2008?
•  Do you keep in touch with any of your college roommates?
• What’s the farthest you’ve traveled for a wedding?
•  If you’re going on vacation this year, where are you going?
•  What’s the farthest you’ve walked, and why?

What’s In A Name?

I didn’t watch the Academy Awards last night because they are too long and boring and I was tired from my out of town trip, but I did periodically check my Twitter account to see what my timeline had to say about the show. Mostly there were tweets about how Seth McFarlane pretty much sucked and that per the usual, the show ran WAY too long. So I got ready for bed and figured I didn’t miss much.

I got in bed and grabbed my phone (I have an addiction, I know), settled in and pulled up Twitter again to see folks final commentary and when I logged back it my feed was ON FIYAH. Apparently the Onion, a website known for its biting satire had called a 9 year old girl a very ugly name. I’m not going to link them but this blog post pretty much gives a good summary.

I typically don’t hop on the Twitter bandwagon about a lot of things because if you did, you’d be mad about something every 30 seconds and half the time it’s faux outrage but I have a 7 year old niece and I certainly wouldn’t want her called out of her name. It’s very telling that there have been other Oscar nominees who have been children who apparently are off limits, but when a little black girl dares to correct someone about how to pronounce her name, then it’s a problem. I get that Quevenzhane Wallis is a celebrity and is in the public eye, but she’s still a kid. There was a time in our society when kids were exempt from public ridicule and attack. Apparently that time has passed. This should be one of the happiest days of her life and it’s tarnished because some asshole on a Twitter account thinks it’s cute and funny to call out a kid in the name of laughs. I’ll be first to say that people, black folks especially, have a knack for coming up with some creative names for children. I have seen some names that have made me shake my head and wonder how to pronounce them. But the point is, a person’s name is a person’s name and they have to right to be called by that name. And calling children, be they celebrities or the 9 year old around the corner words used to crudely describe female genitals is bad business and out of line.

I’m getting tired of the coarseness of pop culture and the mindset that anything goes and you can’t tell folks shit cause they can do what they want. Unbeknownst to them there ARE boundaries and there are folks who still believe in common decency.

I took the time to drop a few sentences to the good, fine upstanding folks at the Onion and I hope you will too. Here’s how to get at them:

Please send all press inquiries to: press@Theonion.com

Chairman David Schafer (davidkschafer@gmail.com)

President and CEO Steve Hannah (shannah@Theonion.com)

COO Mike McAvoy (mmcavoy@Theonion.com)

Update: The Onion apologized. Yeah, no. The comments on the status are a mixed bag. Read at your own risk.

On A Centennial

Today is January 13, 2013.

One hundred years ago today, 22 college educated black women conceived an organization for the betterment of women, the African American race and on a larger scale, mankind. The fact that they were even able to visualize such an ideal during a time when most woman and all blacks were considered lesser than in greater society is amazing itself.

I’m not going to go into the history of my sorority, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. You can go online and look at our website or pick up the excellent book, “In Search of Sisterhood” by Soror Paula Giddings. I’m not going to get into the struggles that affect black Greek lettered organizations, because what affects one, affects them all.

Instead, I’m going to tell you what being a Delta means to me. I was initiated into Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. via the Eta Beta chapter in the spring of 1994. I was 20 years old. I was a finance major and active in several clubs on campus. I was watching the Deltas like a hawk. The Deltas on campus were the bomb..they were the president of this club and that club, our campus queen was a Delta, top administrators were Deltas and I wanted to be just like them.  I went to the rush, along with several hundred other girls, and submitted my application. I waited on pins and needles for a call for an interview and when it came, I cried. But I wasn’t there yet. I interviewed and waited some more. It was make or break time. Did my service, grades and recommedations speak enoiugh on my behalf?? It all came down to the vote of those women in that chapter. It did. I “made line” and entered into the sisterhood with 28 other women on that spring day in April.

I reflect on that day nearly 19(!) years ago and I think of the hours of service to those less fortunate, the thousands of dollars collected in dues in fundraisers for scholarships and donations to other non-profits, the hours spent planning and meeting thinking of programming that assist our communities and youth and I don’t think people really truly realize that all this WORK is done by an ALL VOLUNTEER ARMY. This is not a boast or a a “humble brag” but simply the truth. While it is certainly true that you don’t need to be in a sorority to do community service, I certainly believe that the collective efforts of my sorority have a greater impact as a whole.

Growing up without any sisters, my sorors have become the sisters I never had. Whenever I have needed a listening ear or to be tapped on the shoulder because I may have been getting out of line, my sorors have been there for me. Through college and grad school, marriages, babies, divorces and deaths, we’re still standing together. We all get busy with life, but one phone call is all it takes to reconnect. That type of bond is invaluable and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

I could go on and on, but I won’t. Sorority life is not for everyone, and I respect that. But it was for me and I am glad to be in the fold.

Happy Centennial to my beloved Delta Sigma Theta!!! My first love is, and will always be..D-S-T!!!!

WWYD???

• You are a sassy single chick.
• You make plans to attend a NYE party with a single, platonic male friend.
• When ya’ll meet up, there’s another chick in the car with him. You didn’t know she was coming, but whatevs.
• When you get to the party, the party hosts want guests to remove their shoes at the door.
• You have on heeled boots that are difficult to get on and off and you don’t want to take them off.
• The hosts make you sit in the kitchen.
• Your male friend is texting you and tells you that you offended the hosts.
• The hosts tell you that you need to leave. You get mad (understandably) and tell your male friend to take you to your car.
• He says he’s too drunk to drive and offers to call you a cab.

Do you:

1. Take your soon-to-be-former male friend up on the cab offer and get the hell out of there??
2. Stomp out the house, walk 2 miles in high-heeled boots, in the dark, in a strange area on NYE to the nearest convenience store and call a cab from there to get back to your car??

WHAT WOULD YOU DO??????

(Editor’s Note: This did actually happen. This is the condensed version.)

Thanks Santa!

I love getting gifts in the mail. Hell,  it beats getting bills any day of the week. And my Secret Santa for the fourth edition of Christmas in Blogland really delivered, quite creatively I might add.

First I got this very nice card and upon opening, it told me to open the scroll. I follow directions (well most of the time anyway) so I did.

Sorry it’s a little blurry but do you see the handwritten note and the holiday decorations?? How cute is that!!!

Obviously my Santa is really reading because she knows all about my parking garage struggles and sent me this car tag to hep me explain to the  ”safety ambassadors” why I am speeding!!! LOL!!

And to top it all off, my Santa remembered me lusting after a Michael Kors bag because she sent me a cute  Micheal Kors wristlet to place my coins into and this cute necklace (that I happen to have on today at work.)

THANK YOU ONDREA!!!!!!!! I really appreciate it!!!

The Case For Being Rude

I’ve had this idea for a blog post in my head floating around for a few weeks and I didn’t really know how to word it. So I’m just going to take a stab at it and let the words fall where they may.

I was raised to be polite. I was raised with home training and a general sense of decorum. If I didn’t act in a way that was socially acceptable, I got my ass whipped. And being how I didn’t like my ass getting whipped I learned from trial and error not to engage in the behavior that got me in trouble again. In general, I think people (and women in particular), are taught to be sweetness and light and be non-confrontational when dealing with people whose social graces tend to be sub-par.  However, it seems that at my advanced age of 39 point 5, my patience and tolerance for rudeness is at all time low. Let’s look at a few examples, shall we?

For instance, if you happens to run into your husband’s ex-girlfriend at the mall while Christmas shopping, it is NOT OK for you to tell her the following: “Before you go, I just want to say that I appreciate how you whipped Bill into shape and then let him go to be with the woman he was supposed to be with.” …”The things that he learned from you well, it was great meeting an emotional grown-up that I didn’t have to train, you know?” In this scenario, I make the case for rudeness. You have my permission to throw a mean side-eye and walk the hell off from that drivel mid-sentence.

Or as described by Serenity23 on Twitter, it is NOT OK for you to come to someone’s house for a visit  and inquire about A) why someone’s children have so many presents under the tree B) what are the contents of said Christmas gifts and C) when is the person you came to visit is going to settle down with her children’s father. I also make the case for rudeness. That’s 3 flags on the play right there!! You have my permission to cuss that person out and escort them from your home.

I make the case for being rude and in some cases downright nasty (on a case by case basis) because folks these days have no filter. Social media gives people a falseness sense of security. We interact with people online and think we “know” the ins and outs of their lives. There is a tendency to get too informal way too fast. We overshare. Boundaries get pushed further and further in terms of our interactions. People think they can say anything, to anyone, anytime with no repercussion. And when some people go too far, and in turn get told about themselves, they act surprised.

I’m not saying make it your life’s mission to go out and be a douchebag but I certainly endorse fighting fire with fire, especially when the offender has just gone off the rails with the rudeness. I think too often we just smile, suck it up and go home to gripe about how such and such is an asshole. If said asshole, is never called out about their rudeness,  then they keep on doing what they do. And they still might be an asshole with everyone else but I bet that you won’t have an issue with them anymore. Sometimes mofos just need to get TOLD.

I know this is kind of rambly, but it’s really been bothering me as of late and I needed to get off my mind and into words. Hope I made some sense.

 P.S. If the asshole is your boss or your mama, I don’t advise getting yourself fired or getting slapped in the mouth. You’re on your own if you decide to get buckwild. LOL! 

I Have Questions, You Have Answers: Round 9

You know the drill, chat at me in the comments!

• What’s on your Christmas present wish list? If you have kids, what do they want?
• Are you doing anything charitable for the holiday season?
• Been to any holiday parties? How were they?
• What are your plans for Christmas? Are you traveling anywhere?
• What’s on your Christmas dinner menu?
• Do you even celebrate Christmas?
• What are your plans for New Year’s Eve?
• Are you ready for 2013??

Odds And Ends: It’s Monday, Bishes!

• How was your weekend? Mine was pretty good. We laid low on Friday and Myron whipped up a tasty curry chicken dish. Our house was smelling like an Indian restaurant all evening. I’ll have to snag the picture off his FB page to show you guys.
• Saturday was a lot of sleeping. We woke up, ate French toast, fell asleep again, woke up and ran a few errands to pick up some shoes I’d ordered and hubs got an early Christmas present: a new Nexus 7 tablet. I’ve played with it a bit, I’ll try to have a full review up sometime this week.
• Hung out with my BIL and my homegirl @CaliGirlED to watch some football yesterday and my Houston Texans are 11-1, baby! Bulls on Parade! My husband had a GREAT time and is currently at work drinking a LOT of water.
• Got a pedicure yesterday. What’s the big deal you say? Well the fact is that I got BLUE TOE NAIL POLISH!!! LOL! Being that I am risk adverse and resistant to change from my normal pinks, red and oranges..going blue is a walk on the wild side. Hubs liked it too. Now green polish is probably a bit too much for my delicate sensibilities right now.
• I decided I’m going to do some Christmas cards this year. I felt quite trifling after all the nice ones we got last year from folks. Hubs wants to take pictures but it’s December 3rd, I might need to get in where I fit in with these cards.
• Does anyone out there use Amazon Prime? I signed up for it to get free shipping when I ordered a case for Myron’s tablet and you get 30 days free. Is it worth the $80 bucks per year??
• Read this article on the NY Times site this morning and had a lot of say about it on Twitter -

College isn’t for everyone, but EYE cannot in good conscience suggest to a black/brown kid to skip college/trade school/military svc when the majority of our black/brown kids are already undereducated coming out of high school. Per the usual, the NYTimes article is written from a place of privilege and that’s annoying. The playing field for US that encourages entrepreneurship is still not level and the barriers to entry to run your own business for people of color are still very high. Not to say that it cannot be done because it is occurring, but right now if I had a kid, I’d be sending them to college.

That’s all I got this morning..what’s going on random with you?

 

 

The Great Debate Is Over Today

The sprint to the finish line is almost done, a BILLION dollars has been spent, a ton of mud and accusations have been slung, hundreds of speeches have  been given and after 4 nationally televised debates Election Day is tomorrow. If you have not early voted already, I hope you get out and vote tomorrow. I hope that you assist someone with getting to the polls or babysit so someone can get to the polls. I hope (because I am biased and it’s my damn blog) that you will consider President Obama as worthy of your vote. I hope that you will be encouraged and not disgusted by the potential for long lines and will stand in them anyway, despite others attempts at suppression. I hope that if you are black, brown, yellow or a woman, that you recognize how important your vote is, because in the very recent past a lot of us could not vote all, or died trying, or were swindled out of a vote by a test or a tax.

I hope you look down the ballot, because after all politics is local. I voted to pay a few cents more in property taxes this time because all kids deserve to have better schools and some parents can’t afford private school, although I am not a parent. I voted for state representatives that represent my values and thought process even though I live in a state that routinely goes crimson. I might be outnumbered but I can’t be unarmed.

I hope you recognize that as a voter you have rights, that poll watchers are supposed to just watch and you should not be disenfranchised. If you have an issue at the polls, contact Election Protection at 1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683).

I hope that you recognize that every vote counts, even yours, and because this race is going to go down to the wire, that you will be steadfast and not let nobody turn you round.

It’s election day today. To the victor goes the spoils. May God bless the United States of America, no matter the outcome.