How do you navigate the world when you have the majority of it at your fingertips? The World Wide Web has changed the whole wide world as we know it, and our children need help with navigating basic fundamentals. The web can provide a plethora of information and interactive experiences, but does the internet provide values? There is a new found freedom of expression on the internet and with such a powerful medium to express your self, in the grand scheme of things what is being said?
Apple Bottoms or Nasty Bottoms October 11, 2007
What is the verdict on these stretch jeans? Yes, a voluptuous body is something that needs to be glorified and embraced as we are bombarded with images of Barbie stature fantasies of air brushed and Photoshoped impossibilities. At the same time reality is a must. Stretch jeans are for comfort, to be form fitting, not to support denial! I don’t care how you try you cannot make them fit, if you are walking around with muffin top ( your waistline spilling out of, over, and beyond your waist band) then you need to move up to the size that will get all of you inside the jeans. There is an absolute epidemic going on with folks issues with weight and appearance, but little jeans on big people is not the solution. Weight is not a scientific phenomenon like cancer. Weight means you took in more calories than you burned, the end result extra pounds. The only ways to get the extra pounds off is exercise and eat a low fat diet….that is the quick fix miracle the world is searching for. So, if your apple bottoms are apple nots hang them up and hit the treadmill.
Love Yourself Through Transition October 11, 2007
Change is the way of the world. We reside on a planet that rotates on its axis. We live out our days oriented and unaware of these constant changes, as though they do not exist. How strange it is that when our individual lives shift on its axis against any degree from our norm we believe the world is coming to an end. We begin to deal with change with tremendous amounts of negative energy doing ourselves a disservice.
Change sparks the chain of reaction of the unfamiliar, and we feel because we do not know what is next then it cannot be good. How awful it is to respond to discomfort with an automatic belief that the end result will be undesirable. The low points in our lives are not easy because it means dealing with a loss or a lack there of, of someone or some thing.
A tree begins as a seed, positioning itself with its roots. Withstanding many storms and over and under exposure to many things before it can stand mighty in the forest, and even after building all of its strength it can still be knocked down by the wind. But it is the roots and the seeds, the very essence of itself that withstands and simply begins again.
Starting over does not mean the end it means the beginning. So, love your self through transition so that you may grow in the direction of beauty and learn to cast the ugliness of hate aside. It is when you let ugliness and hate seep into your essence that you begin to rot from the core.
54.11 vs. 154.11 September 24, 2007
Eighties babies know what 54.11 represents, that is the numerical value of 49.99 plus tax in New York City. It was a once popular code for Reebok classics, a very popular sport shoe/sneaker that was worn in the late eighties early 90’s, then Reebok got into some PR trouble about who makes the sneakers and I think something derogative about black people. All it takes is one rumor true or false to shut down a fashion lines popularity within the inner city community, but in any event the cost of an athletic shoe/sneaker can easily hit 154.11 if not more, and the sad thing is that poor people are buying them, pretending they are rich. So I did some math if a person buys one sneaker a month at that price by the end of the year they have spent 1849.32 in athletic footwear. There are so many children that don’t have a college fund, savings account, life insurance, health insurance, or taken a vacation outside of the state that they live in let alone a country. Yet there are millions of tennis shoes strewn across telephone lines depreciating in value severely!
- Today I talk about sneakers, and then tomorrow I will talk about weave…this was not in Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream nor Malcolm X’s and it isn’t in mine. It is an actual nightmare.
- What do you spend your money on?
From The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene September 12, 2007
NEW HIV DIAGNOSES RISING IN NEW YORK CITY AMONG YOUNG MEN WHO HAVE SEX WITH MEN
Young Blacks and Hispanics Hit Hardest
HIV infection is on the rise among young men who have sex with men (MSM) in New York City, according to preliminary data from the Health Department. New HIV diagnoses among MSM under age 30 have increased by 33% during the past six years, from 374 in 2001 to almost 500 in 2006. New diagnoses have doubled among MSM ages 13 to 19, while declining by 22% among older MSM. The under-30 group now accounts for 44% of all new diagnoses among MSM in New York City, up from 31% in 2001.
Are the rates rising due to lack of information, or the structure of Black and Hispanic communities myths about HIV/AIDS?
Savings = Investments September 10, 2007
This is a fundamental principle of macro economics. It is also a fundamental of good sense. You cannot invest what you do not have. Investments should be a goal for those who are trying to accomplish certain financial goals. The stock market is a risky investment, and only those who can afford to lose money can afford to invest in the stock market. If you have large amounts of debt, you cannot have savings. You may have a savings account with money in it but if your debt exceeds your savings you are still in debt, and if the interest on your debt is greater than the interest on your savings account or money market account it would be wiser to clear your debt and then save. Be smart with your money, you work for you money so allow your money to work for you, by learning and understanding the true value of a dollar.
Love Times Two September 5, 2007
Love times two is a paradox, because we always confess love in terms of only for one. Most would say that true love is only present for one person at a time, but as you live out your days you can and will experience the paradox of the two syndromes, might even hit three. I am gathering it is about the CHOICE to stay with one out of honor and commitment for a significant others feelings as well as your own mixed up emotions. As sad as it sounds you can love two people at once. Unfortunately, you must keep it a secret because it hurts everyone involved or not involved (you don’t have to confess your undying love). It is just to explore that fact that it is a possibility. People get dogged out when they get caught out there. False claims are made about the sincerity of their feelings and you are taught to believe that love can not exist when someone loves an additional person. Cheating is different; when you cheat on someone it is because you don’t explore your all with that person. You lend yourself out to a third party to fill the void of a weakness on your or your others behalf, or for simple amusement and lack of sound judgment. To love someone else means you care deeply about the person and respect the boundaries of the relationship without cheating…if that is possible.It’s tricky that is why most people in the world feel it can’t exist….maybe because sometimes it involves choosing one over another….and if you love someone no one is supposed to be better than them right?
Lost Love August 29, 2007
An ancient philosopher said that you cannot lose love because it is never yours to posses. In our culture today, we practice the exact opposite: “Be Mine”,” Yours Forever” and “I’ll never let you go”. We set ourselves up for excruciating pain for our reckless commitments to love and or the individuals we confess it to. Love doesn’t have to last forever for it to be meaningful. True love doesn’t mean forever either. We live in a world of constant change and at the end of the day the only thing we can truly hold on to is our own physical self. Love is a free agent and comes and goes as frequently as the sun rises and sets. Love is evolutionary.
Riding While Black August 27, 2007
We already learned that DWB (Driving While Black) is a crime. However, there is a new crime on the rise RWB (Riding While Black). It is now against the law to switch cars in the subway, if you are a black man and commit this minor offense you will be asked to step off the train and be issued a ticket, NOT A WARNING, a ticket that then puts you at the risk of being arrested if you are ever stopped for any public nuisance again. For example: spitting in the street, taking up more than one seat on the train, urinating on a tree, etc. So, while people are being murdered, mugged, and committing suicide on New York City transit platforms and subways, please make sure to protect your loved ones from unnecessary police harassment and tell them to endure the hot sweaty train car without AC, or the stinky smelling train from the individual that hasn’t bathed in months and has urinated or possibly defecated on him/herself. The million dollar question is why isn’t there any advertisements on the train doors that say switching cars is illegal and you will be fined on all of the train doors? Because not knowing is not sufficient enough to be excused with a warning.
A Good Sale August 23, 2007
A good sale is only a good deal if you have the money to pay for it. Good sales on good credit cards often times leads to bad credit. If you let that charge sit on your credit card longer than a month your great sale item accrues great interest. So, that 20 dollar blouse after a year ends up costing you 80 dollars and it was only 50 dollars to begin with, at the end of it all you lose!Why are so many of us addicted to our purchasing power? It is the use of that power that leads us happily down a path of financial and emotional destruction.
